Saturday, August 14, 2010
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Wait for property market correction
One big, costly mistake that a consumer can make is to overpay for a property, out of panic, and to watch it fall. Look at what happened in the USA.
The property prices in Singapore are too high, due to low interest rate and temporary shortage. This applies to all types of properties, including HDB flats. It is better for consumers to wait for the price to fall to a more affordable level, rather than pay a high price that will burden you for the next 30 years.
Read my FAQ, "invest in property" in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx
The property prices in Singapore are too high, due to low interest rate and temporary shortage. This applies to all types of properties, including HDB flats. It is better for consumers to wait for the price to fall to a more affordable level, rather than pay a high price that will burden you for the next 30 years.
Read my FAQ, "invest in property" in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx
Insured perils and exclusions
Many people get the impression that their insurance policy covers all types of situations that cause a losss. This is not correct. The perils that are covered are stated specifically in the policy. You should also read the exclusions, as they state specifically the perils that are not covered.
For example, some property or car insurances may not covered losses caused by flood. You have to read the policy wording to be sure about the cover.
You also have to be careful about the statements made by the insurance agent. They agent may tell you that certain types of losses are covered, when it is not really the case. The agent may make the wrong statements either by mistake or intentionally (i.e. to get you to complete the sale). You should ask the agent to show you the policy wordings on the insured perils and exclusions, just to be sure. Make sure that the wordings are clear to you.
You can read more about the insured perils in my FAQ, available at www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx. Search for
"insured perils".
Tan Kin Lian
For example, some property or car insurances may not covered losses caused by flood. You have to read the policy wording to be sure about the cover.
You also have to be careful about the statements made by the insurance agent. They agent may tell you that certain types of losses are covered, when it is not really the case. The agent may make the wrong statements either by mistake or intentionally (i.e. to get you to complete the sale). You should ask the agent to show you the policy wordings on the insured perils and exclusions, just to be sure. Make sure that the wordings are clear to you.
You can read more about the insured perils in my FAQ, available at www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx. Search for
"insured perils".
Tan Kin Lian
Living policy taken in 2004
A reader of my blog sent an e-mail to me. He read my blog and website and paid special attention to my writing on the benefit illustration. He checked the benefit illustration on the living policy that he bought from NTUC Income in 2004 (when I was still in charge) and found that the effect of deduction was 40%. He asked me to explain why I am now advising people to avoid buying a policy with a deduction of more than 20%, when the policy that was sold during my time had a deduction of 40%.
I asked me to send the benefit illustration to me. Here are my findings on his 2004 policy:
1. The distribution cost at end of 5 years is $1,817, representing 96% of the annual premium. Most policies from other companies have a distribution cost of 130% to 180%. (Still, I consider 96% to be high, compared to other alternatives available to you now, such as a low cost investment fund).
I asked me to send the benefit illustration to me. Here are my findings on his 2004 policy:
1. The distribution cost at end of 5 years is $1,817, representing 96% of the annual premium. Most policies from other companies have a distribution cost of 130% to 180%. (Still, I consider 96% to be high, compared to other alternatives available to you now, such as a low cost investment fund).
2. The effect of deduction at the end of 25 years, based on an assumed yield of 4.5% p.a. is computed as follows:
Cash value (non-guaranteed) $68,548 (78%)
Effect of deduction: $19,843 (22%)
Value of accumulated premium = $88,391 (100%)
In this case, the effect of deduction is 22% of the total accumulated premium. It is quite close to my benchmark of 20% (as stated in my book on financial planning) and is much lower than what other policies take away from the consumer,(i.e. 30% to 40%). As this is a living policy (covering critical illness), it is all right for the effect of deduction to be slightly higher than 20%, as the policy provides a wider protection.
3. His calculation of 40% was wrong, as he used the wrong figures. I told him that the policy that he took in 2004 gave good value, compared to other policies available at that time. However, the policy may not be so attractive if the bonus had since been cut.
Read Practical Guide on Financial Planning
Read Practical Guide on Financial Planning
Medical Transcription from Home Salary | Transcription Software
Average Salaries For Medical Transcription
The average salaries for medical transcription are about $40,000. The pay is based on your productivity that is the number of transcripts that you can do. Therefore, the more productive a transcriptionist is, the more they earn. An experienced medical transcriptionist with high production can easily earn about $70,000 per year.
Those who already have a decent training and experience will see their medical transcription from home salary being increased over time with ever increasing opportunities. The best part of medical transcription from home is that you can enjoy flexible hours and have the pleasure of working at home with the possibility of building your own work from home transcription business with the long term possibility of hiring your own MT professionals and contracting out your service to various hospitals, medical professionals and healthcare centres over time.
Law Firm Time and Billing Software | Law Office Software
Time And Billing Software For Small Law Firm
Getting the most appropriate law firm time and billing software based on the size of your firm will ensure the right assistance for maintaining proper records for each client while also being able to invoice without any errors. In order to make the correct choice in getting effective and useful law billing software, understanding the technology behind the functioning of the software is quite necessary. Order a free trial or request support services from the vendors providing this software solution. When ordering the software for the firm, look out for features like convenience that is whether it can be used online as well as offline, flexibility in the invoicing options. The software should offer multiple billing options, track firm performance and moreover should pay special emphasis on security.
Good info. about law office software at http://lawofficesoftware.org
Fountain Pen Bottled Ink | Fountain Pen Ink
The choice of the best fountain pen bottled ink is essential for optimizing the performance of your fountain pen.
Whatever be the price of the fountain pen, the quality of your writing is based on your nib and the fountain pen ink. Those who have a love for good quality pens and are knowledgeable about the various fountain pen brands are also passionate about the best fountain pen ink for their pen. There are a number of manufacturers who have come up with the choicest range of quality ink products and fountain pen aficionados have recognize the difference in inks.Choosing the right ink for your very treasured fountain pen is extremely important. This ensures that your pen not only provides the best performance but also stays intact for years. A blend of solvents, pigments, dyes and water comprise the fountain pen bottled ink that you use and will make quite a difference to your writing experience as well as the longevity of your fountain pen. There is indeed an intimate relationship between the ink and your fountain pen. The controlled drip of your fountain pen works through the gravity and capillary action of water. The slots in your fountain pen allow the ink to flow out of the chamber and the air makes it flow back into it. This is how a fountain pen works. The credit of inventing the fountain with this simple mechanism is attributed to Edson Waterman.
There has to be a perfect balance between the capillary action that helps in pulling the ink down into the nib and the vacuum in the ink reservoir that holds the liquid (that is the ink) in the pen. The ink of a fountain pen is basically water with dyes and other chemicals that are required for ensuring the proper functioning of the ink. Most of the fountain pen inks use dyes to create their colors. Some of the pre eminent brands of pen manufacturers who also excel when it comes to their bottled inks are Aurora, Dupoint, Levenger, Montblanc, Panache, Parker, Pelikan, Shaeffer, Waterman and so on.
Parker Fountain Pen Ink
Parker fountain pen ink has been manufactured since the early 1900s with their famous Quink fountain pen ink being first manufactured in 1928.
Other leading manufacturers of fountain pen bottled ink include Pelikan and their Pelikan 4001 series of fountain pen inks, the most popular of which is the Royal Blue. Waterman fountain pen bottled inks are also very popular and flow and lubricate well.
Sheaffer fountain pen ink is another ink which is considered to be safe by fountain pen enthusiasts and which does not cause any major clogging or staining problems with your fountain pen.
Fountain Pen Bottled Ink
Sailor produce the Jentle ink range and whilst Sailor is a leading pen manufacturer, many fountain pen lovers have found that their fountain pen inks can be quite high in alkaline which renders them unsuitable for celluloid pens.
Other leading suppliers include Private Reserve, Noodlers, Lamy, Pilot, Conway Stewart, Caran d’Ache and the Italian manufactured ink, Aurora, which comes in only two colors, blue and black.
The chemicals are what creates the properties of the fountain pen bottled ink. There are other antibacterial additions that are included so that the fountain pen bottled ink does not grow new life in the bottle and get mucked up in the inside of the pen. The flow of the ink is thus very crucial to the performance of your fountain pen.
Mixing Fountain Pen Bottled Ink
Many pen lovers like to experiment with mixing inks from different manufacturers and getting different colors but you need to expect variable results as the chemical reaction between the inks from different suppliers can lead to inconsistent and unpredictable results.
Fountain Pen Bottled Ink Best Results
The performance of your fountain pen bottled ink will depend on your pen, the paper and your ink and the interaction between the three will ultimately determine how your ink performs. For example the invisible ink from Noodlers is rendered so by the interaction of the ink with the cellulose in the paper on which it is used and not strictly as a result of any of the chemicals, dyes or water that is used in the manufacture of the ink itself.Noodlers fountain pen ink..
Good post about fountain pen ink
FAQs in TKL website
I have 35 FAQs in my website, www.tankinlian.com, covering different aspects of investments and insurance. You can access these FAQs at www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx.
You can search for a FAQ by typing a keyword, e.g. "unit trust" or "flood" or "critical illness", to display a short list of FAQs. This makes it easy for you to select the appropriate FAQ. Sometimes, you have to type in another keyword to get the FAQ that you need.
About 400 people visit my website daily. Most of them went to search for the FAQ. It is free, but I like to ask visitors, who have benefited from the advice in the FAQ to buy my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning, or to join FISCA.
You can search for a FAQ by typing a keyword, e.g. "unit trust" or "flood" or "critical illness", to display a short list of FAQs. This makes it easy for you to select the appropriate FAQ. Sometimes, you have to type in another keyword to get the FAQ that you need.
About 400 people visit my website daily. Most of them went to search for the FAQ. It is free, but I like to ask visitors, who have benefited from the advice in the FAQ to buy my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning, or to join FISCA.
Junk Mail
Unfair to blame agents for littering
Small businesses need fliers
Costly, messy
Take action against indiscriminate advertising
http://www.straitstimes.com/
My view
I will be building a portal called Easy Ads. This will allow the small business to advertise their products and services, instead of paying money on flyers.
My view
I will be building a portal called Easy Ads. This will allow the small business to advertise their products and services, instead of paying money on flyers.
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