Wednesday, March 31, 2010

NATO: No action talk only

Someone passed a cynical comment that the comments on land banking in this blog is "no action, talk only". This person posted anonymously and did not indicate whether he is a land banking investor or cynic or just a nuisance. If he is willing to come forward and propose some concrete action, I would be happy to post his offer.

Someone suggested that a rally be held in Hong Lim Park about land banking. Another person suggested to protest against the lavish spending at the annual general meeting of NTUC Income. Can the people who make these suggestions offer to arrange the rally or attendance?

On a positive note, a few investors in land banking are now in contact with each other and discussing some form of collective action, including visiting the office of the land banking company together to ask for re-payment of their investment. However, some investors still think that they will have a better chance to be re-paid if they give the land banking company more time to sell their land.

Tan Kin Lian

Painful experience of land banking investor

This message has been edited by Tan Kin Lian. Other investors who wish to join this action to visit the office of X collectively can send an e-mail to kinlian@gmail.com.

Hi 
I wish to share my experience. X (land banking company) is not interested or motivated in repaying the investors. Their main focus currently is to hold more road shows to attract more new and unsuspecting investors so as to further line their own pockets.


In my case, I have personally went down to CAD a couple of times and also seen my MP twice to try to recover my money since August last year. However, till today I am still at a loss as to when I could ever recover my money from X.


I also went down to X's office many times to recover my money but they kept giving excuses and use all sorts of ways and excuses to delay payment. I have also called up X 'hundreds of times' but they simply either refused to take my calls or give excuses that their directors are out of town (their directors are basically out of town 365 days in a year).


Personally I think that the best way to get my money is to constantly 'harass' X for payment personally at their office. In fact, that could be the only way to get our money back unless CAD decides to take action against X.


However, X would not be bothered with our 'harassment' if we go to their office individually. Therefore I suggest that if we are serious in getting our money back, maybe we could gather more investors like ourselves and together pay X a visit to settle payment dued to us once and for all. We need to really force X to pay us back our hard-earned money before it is too late.

UK - action taken against land banking companies

Comment: surely it is time for the Singapore authorities to act against similar shady practices in Singapore?


http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=11496

....were all involved in operating an unscrupulous land investment business. The companies falsely claimed to provide the best land and property in the UK with future development potential and the capacity to deliver maximum returns to investors including selling land they had no right to.

The grounds for winding up the companies were that they made misleading and unfounded statements in marketing the plots of land to the public; sold land on two sites (Worplesdon and Thorndon) that they had no right to sell and that over a third of company receipts were found to have gone to those involved in the running the business, namely.....

In ordering the companies into liquidation Registrar said: “This is a very serious case where considerable amounts of money have been obtained from members of the public. I am satisfied that the evidence, based on a very full report, substantiates all of the allegations. The evidence shows diversion of funds and the intermingling of funds by the companies that can’t be unravelled. I am satisfied that Mr .... and Mr ..... have demonstrated complete lack of co-operation and that this is very obviously a case where winding up orders should be made.”

The investigation also found that the companies had failed to keep proper accounting records; had failed to comply with Companies Act requirements; failed to co-operate fully with the investigation and operated with a serious lack of transparency as to who controlled the companies and with a lack of clarity regarding the structure and roles of the companies.

Coping with a critical illness

When a person meets with a critical illness, there are two financial losses:
- medical expenses to treat the critical illness
- loss of earnings

The medical expenses have to be managed in a sensible manner. I know of a few people that spent a lot of money on treating the critical illness, usually at private hospitals and specialists. In many cases, the large sum that was spent did not make any difference. If the illness was serious, the patient died.

I also know of other people who survived cancer or heart surgery. Those who were treated in a restructured hospital did not spend a lot of money as they benefited from the government subsidy. They were also covered by catastrophic insurance (i.e. MediShield or private Shield).

The best way to handle the loss of income is through personal savings that can be drawn down in an emergency. You do not need to depend on critical illness insurance to give a lump sum payment. If you put all your money in a critical illness policy, you may find your claim to be rejected for some technical reason, at a time when you need the money most. It is better to invest the savings on your own and be free of this uncertainty.

The proportion of people that suffered from a critical illness during the working life is estimated to be less than 10%. More than 90% will retire without suffering from a critical illness.

Tip: Spend less than 2% of your earnings on insurance against death or critical illness. Invest the rest of your savings in a low cost investment fund.

Read my book on "Practical Guide on Financial Planning". Spend $12 and save a lot of money (say $12,000) on wasted premiums.

Tan Kin Lian

Personal risk management

We need to accumulate savings and invest them wisely to get an adequate return that is higher than inflation. Most people invest too much of their savings in a life insurance policy that locks them up for 20 years or longer, is inflexible and gives a poor return. When they need cash for emergencies, they have to borrow on credit cards or on their own policy and pay a high interest rate.

Most insurance agents frighten them about the risk of premature death or critical illness (which is less than 10% during their working life) but did not tell them about the risk of insufficient savings for retirement or future emergencies (which represents more than 90% chance of occurrence).

The solution is to buy a low cost term assurance (covering death and critical illness) or personal accident policy (with less than 2% of your earnings) and invest the rest of your savings in a low cost investment fund. If the insurance cover is not available at a low price, it is more important to take care of the 90% risk and have adequate savings for the future.

What are your views about this approach to personal risk management? Share your personal experience.

Tan Kin Lian

Public transport in Singapore

What percentage of people in Singapore uses public transport to go to work? I guess that it must be 80%, but I wonder if the proportion is lower? Can someone help to do some research?