Twisting of Life Insurance Policies

Twisting occurs when an insurance agent ask the consumer to give up an existing life insurance policy to buy a new policy by stating that the new policy has some useful features. This is usually misleading and bad for the customer. It has been a rampant practice in many countries, including Singapore, for many years. By switching insurance, the consumer has to incur the upfront cost (of two years premium) again. This is how insurance agents continue to make a big income at the expense of the consumers.

Many consumers are not aware that they are being skimmed. Those who are, felt embarrassed and prefer to overlook it, rather than bring the agent to account. This is how the bad practice has continued for so long.

If consumers allow this type of practice to continue, they will have very poor return on their hard earned savings that they put into life insurance. They will not get a fair return. What a pity!

Tan Kin Lian

The Apathetic Generation

"Lucky Tan wrote" :

I got the idea to write the above from Tan Kin Lian's blog in which he posted this brilliant piece, The Lost Generation, by Jonathan Reed.

 

I rewrote some of the words from the original to make it more relevant to Singapore:http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/02/apathetic-generation.html

 

Agent tried to sell high cost insurance policy

A consumer wanted to buy a Term Insurance policy under a Family Policy. She approached an agent who recommended a Whole Life policy (Vivolife), on the argument that the Whole Life policy provides a return on the premium. The comparison is not made on a fair basis, and the consumer was confused.

I asked the consumer to send the benefit illustration to me. I found that the Whole Life policy had a high "effect of deduction. The amount deducted represented more than 40% of the accumulated premiums - which is too high. Why should a consumer give away over 40% of the accumulated value of the savings to the insurance agent and to the insurance company?

Many consumers are still being given bad advice by insurance agent. To get an idea about the premium that you should be paying for Term Insurance, go and visit this website in America.

Tan Kin Lian

Practice to develop a skill

I have practiced more than 100 games on this simulated environment to pick the best stocks. I find that it is possible to catch the trend and to make better decisions. While this is applicable to the simulated environment, the skill is useful in the real world. I will look for data from the real world, to see if the strategy also work well.

Click here to try this simulation program. Be patient and persistent. Try the simulation many times, until you get the skill. Go from level 1 to 9, and try again. And again. Skill comes from constant practice.

SCMP:Legco panel to call senior bankers over Lehman minibonds sales

Hong Kong's parliament is active in investigating the minibond saga. Read this report.

The Legislative Council committee investigating the Lehman Brothers minibonds saga will summon senior representatives of six banks to testify before its hearings, committee chairman Dr Raymond Ho Chung-tai said. The banks are: DBS, ABN Amro, Citibank, Dah Sing Bank, the Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank. Securities and Futures Commission chief executive Martin Wheatley will testify before the inquiry again on Tuesday.