If you have a friend or colleague who has just delivered a baby, the ideal gift is a fashionable and comfortable baby pouch. You can order it here, to be delivered to the mother directly.
http://www.pupsikstudio.com/
Monday, February 15, 2010
Financial Planning book available at bookstores
My book "Practical Guide on Financial Planning" is now available at the major bookstores and at Seven Eleven outlets. The retail price is $12.
You can order the book at Internet Shop at a discount of 15% (Promotion code - BLOG) during February. The discount also applies to other books (e.g. Public Transport Guide, Shape Quiz, Intelligence Quiz, Logic9) and the rechargeable torchlight.
It is easy to order online, as the shop front only displays a few books. There is no need to search for them. Payment can be made by internet banking transfer, PayPal or ATM.
You can order the book at Internet Shop at a discount of 15% (Promotion code - BLOG) during February. The discount also applies to other books (e.g. Public Transport Guide, Shape Quiz, Intelligence Quiz, Logic9) and the rechargeable torchlight.
It is easy to order online, as the shop front only displays a few books. There is no need to search for them. Payment can be made by internet banking transfer, PayPal or ATM.
Draft letter to MAS on Mini-bond settlement
I suggest that the investors send this letter by fax or mail to MAS:
Date
Dear Sir,
I am a holder of the Mini-bond Series XX. My particulars are:
Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Certificate Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Amount invested: $xxxxxxxxxx
DRAFT LETTER
Date
Managing Director
Monetary Authority of Singapore
Monetary Authority of Singapore
10 Shenton Way MAS Building
Singapore 079117
By Fax: 6229-9229
Minibond – Series XX
Dear Sir,
I am a holder of the Mini-bond Series XX. My particulars are:
Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Certificate Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Amount invested: $xxxxxxxxxx
I have received a letter from the Trustee of the above Notes informing me about the liquidation of the Notes as follows:
Fee to LBSF: xxx%
Fee to liquidator: xxxx%
Legal fee: xxxx%
Residual value to Note holder: xxx%
I wish to ask for the assistance of the Authority to request the Trustees to clarify the following:
Fee to LBSF: xxx%
Fee to liquidator: xxxx%
Legal fee: xxxx%
Residual value to Note holder: xxx%
I wish to ask for the assistance of the Authority to request the Trustees to clarify the following:
1) What is the authority on which the Turstees have acted to liquidate the above Notes?
2) Why did the Trustee fail to call for a meeting of the Note holders to discuss the above action?
3) Who decided on the fee to be paid to LBSF? How is the payment of this fee in the interesst of the Note holders?
4) As a Note holder, am I legally bound to accept the action that you have taken to liquidate the Notes without my approval?
I wish to ask for for your assistance to get the Trustee to convene a meeting of the Note holders for the above Series, so that these issues can be discussed and the appropriate explanation given to us.
Name
2) Why did the Trustee fail to call for a meeting of the Note holders to discuss the above action?
3) Who decided on the fee to be paid to LBSF? How is the payment of this fee in the interesst of the Note holders?
4) As a Note holder, am I legally bound to accept the action that you have taken to liquidate the Notes without my approval?
I wish to ask for for your assistance to get the Trustee to convene a meeting of the Note holders for the above Series, so that these issues can be discussed and the appropriate explanation given to us.
Name
Address
Telephone
E-mail address
Telephone
E-mail address
Draft letter to Trustee of Minibond
I have prepared a draft letter for the Mini-bond investor to sebd by fax to the Trustee, HSBC. You have to change the letter to contain the details that is relevant to your case. So far, 31 investors have provided their particulars to me, asking for collective action to be taken. I will be e-mailing them to take this action.
If you have changed the draft to suit your circumstance, please send it to kinlian@gmail.com. I will share the draft with other investors (after removing your personal particulars)
DRAFT LETTER
Date
HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited,
21 Collyer Quay, #14-01 HSBC Building,
Singapore 049320
Dear Sir,
I am a holder of the Mini-bond Series XX. My particulars are:
Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Certificate Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Amount invested: $xxxxxxxxxx
DRAFT LETTER
Date
HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited,
21 Collyer Quay, #14-01 HSBC Building,
Singapore 049320
By Fax: 65331077
Minibond – Series XX
Minibond – Series XX
Dear Sir,
I am a holder of the Mini-bond Series XX. My particulars are:
Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Certificate Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Amount invested: $xxxxxxxxxx
I have received a letter from you, as the Trustee of the above Notes, informing me about the liquidation of the Notes as follows:
Fee to Lehman Brother Special Financing (LBSF): xxx%
Fee to liquidator: xxxx%
Legal fee: xxxx%
Residual value to Note holder: xxx%
I wish to ask for your clarification on the following:
Fee to Lehman Brother Special Financing (LBSF): xxx%
Fee to liquidator: xxxx%
Legal fee: xxxx%
Residual value to Note holder: xxx%
I wish to ask for your clarification on the following:
1) What is the authority on which you have acted to liquidate the above Notes?
2) Why did you fail to call for a meeting of the Note holders to discuss the above action?
3) Who decided on the fee to be paid to LBSF? How is the payment of this fee in the interesst of the Note holders?
4) As a Note holder, am I legally bound to accept the action that you have taken to liquidate the Notes without my approval?
I wish to ask for you, as the Trustee, to convene a meeting of the Note holders for the above Series, so that these issues can be discussed and the appropriate explanation given to us.
Name
2) Why did you fail to call for a meeting of the Note holders to discuss the above action?
3) Who decided on the fee to be paid to LBSF? How is the payment of this fee in the interesst of the Note holders?
4) As a Note holder, am I legally bound to accept the action that you have taken to liquidate the Notes without my approval?
I wish to ask for you, as the Trustee, to convene a meeting of the Note holders for the above Series, so that these issues can be discussed and the appropriate explanation given to us.
Name
Address
Telephone
E-mail address
Telephone
E-mail address
Fee to swap counter party on Mini bond
First posted on 11 Feb 2010
If you wish to join in a collective action to ask the trustee to explain why they paid a large fee to the counter party to unwind the Mini bond, please give your particulars here. I will need some investors to volunteer to take the lead in this collective action.
If you wish to join in a collective action to ask the trustee to explain why they paid a large fee to the counter party to unwind the Mini bond, please give your particulars here. I will need some investors to volunteer to take the lead in this collective action.
Update:
Total of 31 people replied up to 16 Feb. The response has been quite poor. Nobody volunteered to take the lead.
Needs and Wants
In financial education, the consumer has to distinguish between Needs and Wants.
Needs are those that have to be met. They are compulsory and cannot be avoided. Wants are those that are discretionary.
Needs - to pay tax, school fees, to have meals, transport.
Wants - toys, entertainment.
What do you consider to be Needs and what are Wants? Do you have any interesting story to tell about real life experiences?
Needs are those that have to be met. They are compulsory and cannot be avoided. Wants are those that are discretionary.
Needs - to pay tax, school fees, to have meals, transport.
Wants - toys, entertainment.
What do you consider to be Needs and what are Wants? Do you have any interesting story to tell about real life experiences?
Logic9 (pocket size Sudoku)
Someone sent me a message on Facebook asking for the Logic9 (pocket size Sudoku) that was sold by NTUC Income a few years ago. Volume 3 and 4 are now available here. This is a handy size and is convenient for you to pass the time bus, train or plane.
Switching to a limited payment whole life policy
In the past, many people bought a whole life insurance policy. It provides life insurance cover for the whole of life and requires the premium to be paid for the whole of life. It has an option for the policyholder to terminate the policy and receive the cash value, or to stop the premium payment and receive a paid up value (payable on death). This option is usually exercised at an older age, when the policyholder has retired from work.
Take a hypothetical example. The policyholder insures for $100,000 and pays an annual premium of $2,000. After 30 years, he can terminate the policy and receive a cash value of (say) $75,000. Alternatively, he can stop the premium payment and continue the policy for a paid-up value of (say) $95,000, inclusive of bonus. The paid up value is payable on death.
Some insurance agents are unethical. They approach their existing policyholder and tell them that their company has introduced a new whole life policy that requires to be paid for only 20 years. They advice the policyholder to terminate an existing whole life policy and take up the new policy. They did not tell the policyholder that the existing policy already has the option to convert the policy into a paid up policy at any time.
If the policyholder is presented with a proper analysis of both options, the policyholder would have found that it is better to continue with the existing policy. However, the policyholder is usually presented with misleading advice to switch to the new policy. This bad advice is in the self-interest of the agent and is against the interest of the consumer. The insurance agent is able to earn a large commission on the new policy that has been sold.
If you have been given this type of wrong advice, you can write to me at kinlian@gmail.com
Tan Kin Lian
Take a hypothetical example. The policyholder insures for $100,000 and pays an annual premium of $2,000. After 30 years, he can terminate the policy and receive a cash value of (say) $75,000. Alternatively, he can stop the premium payment and continue the policy for a paid-up value of (say) $95,000, inclusive of bonus. The paid up value is payable on death.
Some insurance agents are unethical. They approach their existing policyholder and tell them that their company has introduced a new whole life policy that requires to be paid for only 20 years. They advice the policyholder to terminate an existing whole life policy and take up the new policy. They did not tell the policyholder that the existing policy already has the option to convert the policy into a paid up policy at any time.
If the policyholder is presented with a proper analysis of both options, the policyholder would have found that it is better to continue with the existing policy. However, the policyholder is usually presented with misleading advice to switch to the new policy. This bad advice is in the self-interest of the agent and is against the interest of the consumer. The insurance agent is able to earn a large commission on the new policy that has been sold.
If you have been given this type of wrong advice, you can write to me at kinlian@gmail.com
Tan Kin Lian
Economic strategies committee - real change or just words?
Read this article by Dr. Wong Wee Nam. I share his view that we should not continue to follow the strategies that do not seem to work. We need new approaches, rather than keep repeating the same nice words.
Cut working week to 21 hours
Read this report in the BBC. I agree with the general thrust of the suggestion, i.e. that people should work fewer hours and earn less, so that more people can be employed and older workers can continue to work longer. This will give a better balance and improve the quality of life.
We do not need to go all the way down to 21 hours, but 35 hours would be a good start.
In Singapore, many people are putting in 60 hour weeks. Instead of working fewer hours with higher productivity, we are working longer hours. This is why we have one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
We do not need to go all the way down to 21 hours, but 35 hours would be a good start.
In Singapore, many people are putting in 60 hour weeks. Instead of working fewer hours with higher productivity, we are working longer hours. This is why we have one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
Alex Tan's talk at Speaker's Corner
About 20 people (including TKL) turned up at Speaker's Corner. This was rather disappointing. Most Singaporeans are apathetic and will take the trouble to show their support for causes that they believe in, e.g. the need for change to our policies in Singapore.
Alex Tan gave a good speech. He said that it would be reported in Temasek Review. He intended to give a weekly speech at Speaker's Corner at 5 p.m. (most probably on Saturday afternoon).
I met Alex Tan for the first time today at Speaker's Corner. He had asked for my help earlier to publicize the event in my blog (which I agreed).
Alex Tan also organised a Facebook group on the need to make a change in the political system in Singapore. It attracted over 1,000 fans.
Update: A video of Alex Tan's speech is now available here.
Alex Tan gave a good speech. He said that it would be reported in Temasek Review. He intended to give a weekly speech at Speaker's Corner at 5 p.m. (most probably on Saturday afternoon).
I met Alex Tan for the first time today at Speaker's Corner. He had asked for my help earlier to publicize the event in my blog (which I agreed).
Alex Tan also organised a Facebook group on the need to make a change in the political system in Singapore. It attracted over 1,000 fans.
Update: A video of Alex Tan's speech is now available here.
Slow start for Integrated Resort in Sentosa
The newspapers reported that there was a long queue in the foreigner entrance and a short queue in the local entrance for the integrated resort. I thought that it meant a successful start for the resort.
A friend told me that the people in the foreigner queue were not tourists but the foreign workers in Singapore. They went to the resort to enjoy the free drinks, cheap meals, showers and new facilities. Few Singaporeans went to the resort as they were deterred by the $100 entrance fee.
Something is wrong. The expensive facilities are now enjoyed by the foreign workers, and not for Singaporeans. This is an unintended consequence.
Of course, this is early days, and the discrepancies will be sorted out. But, it is a bad sign. Surely, we are capable of better planning in Singapore?
Tan Kin Lian
A friend told me that the people in the foreigner queue were not tourists but the foreign workers in Singapore. They went to the resort to enjoy the free drinks, cheap meals, showers and new facilities. Few Singaporeans went to the resort as they were deterred by the $100 entrance fee.
Something is wrong. The expensive facilities are now enjoyed by the foreign workers, and not for Singaporeans. This is an unintended consequence.
Of course, this is early days, and the discrepancies will be sorted out. But, it is a bad sign. Surely, we are capable of better planning in Singapore?
It is quite sad that I could be misled into the wrong impression. I hope that the newspapers would be more upfront in giving the correct impression.
Tan Kin Lian
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