In the articles below you will see various sources of finance for business, start up business loans and the legal position when good loans go bad.
Small business finance-some options
Mortgages and charges-what is the legal position?
Commercial mortgages and the commercial loan
Small business funding can take many forms and in the current climate is increasingly difficult to find. Start up business loans need to be structured in such a way that if things don’t work out as planned then you personally will not be held liable.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Small Business Loans | Small Business Finance | BusinessAndLegal.ie
Wine investment
Hi Mr. Tan,
A year ago, I made a wine investment with a local company called (name deleted). They told me that I could see good returns after holding the wine for three years. I checked the materials online and learned that many people have been holding the wine and this company has not sold of the wines for them yet.
I went down to their office and told them that I wanted to sell off my wines immediately. They said that I must hold the wine for 3 years. I argued that there was no such terms in their contract. They then said they would help me to sell the wine off. I threaten to bring the matter to CASE but they replied that other investors had already done so, to no avail.
I just can't believe they are operating like a legalized "scam" company. As long as they get their sale done, they don't bother to look after the investor, and would only call to sell more wine with promises of high returns.
They are still giving seminars and talks at Suntec at an investment expo. Many elderly folks are being cheated. hope you would be able to advise me on what I can do.
REPLY
Many people are caught in this type of situation. You can make a police report, if you feel that they have cheated you. But, I do not know what else you can do.
A year ago, I made a wine investment with a local company called (name deleted). They told me that I could see good returns after holding the wine for three years. I checked the materials online and learned that many people have been holding the wine and this company has not sold of the wines for them yet.
I went down to their office and told them that I wanted to sell off my wines immediately. They said that I must hold the wine for 3 years. I argued that there was no such terms in their contract. They then said they would help me to sell the wine off. I threaten to bring the matter to CASE but they replied that other investors had already done so, to no avail.
I just can't believe they are operating like a legalized "scam" company. As long as they get their sale done, they don't bother to look after the investor, and would only call to sell more wine with promises of high returns.
They are still giving seminars and talks at Suntec at an investment expo. Many elderly folks are being cheated. hope you would be able to advise me on what I can do.
REPLY
Many people are caught in this type of situation. You can make a police report, if you feel that they have cheated you. But, I do not know what else you can do.
Gold investment
View posted in my blog:
Hi Sir,
My parents recently invested in this company 'The Gold Label' who promises a return of 1% every month. It has since closed down and a portion of their money has been wiped out. They do have some 'gold bars' as collateral though, but the value of the gold is merely 70% of the actual price they paid for. What is your take regarding Gold instruments then? Is there any way to help regulate such schemes? It seems like a Ponzi scam to me after my parents told me, but it's too late now.
My comments
So sorry to learn that your parents lost money. It is quite sad that people are allowed to operate scheme that was designed to cheat the public. The various government agencies claim that this is not their responsibility. It seems that no agency is responsible to stop this type of fraud, even when it was brought up to their attention.
I have written about this type of fraud a few times in my blog. I also helped an investor to avoid exactly the same kind of investment. But there is only so much that I, as an individual, can do. The government has the responsibility and the resources, and they do not want to act. It is quite sad.
Hi Sir,
My parents recently invested in this company 'The Gold Label' who promises a return of 1% every month. It has since closed down and a portion of their money has been wiped out. They do have some 'gold bars' as collateral though, but the value of the gold is merely 70% of the actual price they paid for. What is your take regarding Gold instruments then? Is there any way to help regulate such schemes? It seems like a Ponzi scam to me after my parents told me, but it's too late now.
My comments
So sorry to learn that your parents lost money. It is quite sad that people are allowed to operate scheme that was designed to cheat the public. The various government agencies claim that this is not their responsibility. It seems that no agency is responsible to stop this type of fraud, even when it was brought up to their attention.
I have written about this type of fraud a few times in my blog. I also helped an investor to avoid exactly the same kind of investment. But there is only so much that I, as an individual, can do. The government has the responsibility and the resources, and they do not want to act. It is quite sad.
Midview City - a bad experience
I have bad experience with the poor service provided by the management office of Midview City. They do not answer telephone calls or reply to e-mails. Even a fax to their directors remain unanswered. Nobody bother to return a call.
Their poor service has caused me to spend $3,500 (which could be avoided) and waste two months of valuable time to start my renovation. My experience is set out here.
Another owner wrote to tell me that he had experienced good service from the office, but he asked me not to post his e-mail. I wonder why? Several other owners have told me that they had bad experience similar to mine.
My bad experience with Midview City is reflective of the situation in many organisations in Singapore, including our government agencies. The staff are too scared to take initiative and follow the rules set by their directors blindly. They worry about "what can go wrong" rather than "what is fair and right for the customer". They are so busy with paperwork and following rules that they cannot answer telephone or reply to e-mail.
They are scared to be held "responsible" for what is put down in writing, i.e. e-mail. Even senior people are scared to take responsibility - preferring to push the buck to someone else.
Tan Kin Lian
Their poor service has caused me to spend $3,500 (which could be avoided) and waste two months of valuable time to start my renovation. My experience is set out here.
Another owner wrote to tell me that he had experienced good service from the office, but he asked me not to post his e-mail. I wonder why? Several other owners have told me that they had bad experience similar to mine.
My bad experience with Midview City is reflective of the situation in many organisations in Singapore, including our government agencies. The staff are too scared to take initiative and follow the rules set by their directors blindly. They worry about "what can go wrong" rather than "what is fair and right for the customer". They are so busy with paperwork and following rules that they cannot answer telephone or reply to e-mail.
They are scared to be held "responsible" for what is put down in writing, i.e. e-mail. Even senior people are scared to take responsibility - preferring to push the buck to someone else.
Tan Kin Lian
Sample financial plans
You can view the sample financial plans for a person age 25, 35 and 65 here: www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx.
You can carry generate a financial plan statement for your own personal situation here: www.easysearch.sg/life21
You can carry generate a financial plan statement for your own personal situation here: www.easysearch.sg/life21
Convoluted - the Singapore way
Singapore policy makers have a convoluted way of handling issues. For those who are not familiar with this word, it means "Extremely complex and difficult to follow."
I have mentioned the CPF contribution rate that requires a person to refer to 6 brightly colored booklets of 19 pages each. How about setting the CPF contribution rate at 16%? It does not require many complicated tables.
How about workfare - which is lauded by our MPs as being better than a minimum wage. Here is the convoluted WIS (in case you don't know, it meas Workfare Income Supplement). I hope that our MPs, who love workfare, are able to understand how much is being paid to the low income workers. http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/WIS/WIS_Scheme.htm. Why can't the supplement be paid monthly and depend only on the income of the worker for that month?
What about GST Offset Package? Here is the table: http://www.gstoffset.gov.sg/GSTCredits.htm The table is simple, but figuring out the category that a person falls under require some research, i.e. the annual value of a house or the assessable income. What's wrong with giving every person a flat $300 or whatever amount?
There are many more of our convulated practices all over the place. Many of us experience them all the time. We give up trying to understand them. Each set of convoluted practices is designed by a large team of highly educated experts who can spend long hours to produce the complex tables and web calculators. They can spend the time because this is their job. They forget that every citizen has to do his daily work and live his daily life, and do not have the time to figure out the complexities that are created by five, ten or more agencies.
Welcome to convoluted Singapore.
Tan Kin Lian
I have mentioned the CPF contribution rate that requires a person to refer to 6 brightly colored booklets of 19 pages each. How about setting the CPF contribution rate at 16%? It does not require many complicated tables.
How about workfare - which is lauded by our MPs as being better than a minimum wage. Here is the convoluted WIS (in case you don't know, it meas Workfare Income Supplement). I hope that our MPs, who love workfare, are able to understand how much is being paid to the low income workers. http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/WIS/WIS_Scheme.htm. Why can't the supplement be paid monthly and depend only on the income of the worker for that month?
What about GST Offset Package? Here is the table: http://www.gstoffset.gov.sg/GSTCredits.htm The table is simple, but figuring out the category that a person falls under require some research, i.e. the annual value of a house or the assessable income. What's wrong with giving every person a flat $300 or whatever amount?
There are many more of our convulated practices all over the place. Many of us experience them all the time. We give up trying to understand them. Each set of convoluted practices is designed by a large team of highly educated experts who can spend long hours to produce the complex tables and web calculators. They can spend the time because this is their job. They forget that every citizen has to do his daily work and live his daily life, and do not have the time to figure out the complexities that are created by five, ten or more agencies.
Welcome to convoluted Singapore.
Tan Kin Lian
Rechargeable torchlight - handy for the house
The electricity in my home tripped yesterday. I was able to get my rechargeable torchlight, placed next to my bed, to locate the control box and turn back the switch. I also use the rechargeable torchlight to move around the house in the dark, instead of turning on the main lights. The rechargeable torchlight has a locator lamp that can be turned on at night. It uses rechargeable battery and can save on battery cost. This torchlight is available at $6.50 (discounted price, $5) in www.tankinlian.com/ishop.
Torchlight
Torchlight
Buy the right life insurance policy
Are you getting a good yield for your savings in your life insurance policy? You can follow the calculation shown in this article.
If you find that it is giving a poor yield, there is nothing much that you can do now, as you have already incurred the upfront cost. If you wish to terminate the policy, you should carry out the calculation here to see what is the yield over the next 5 years.
If you want to know how to plan for your financial future, you should carry out the calculation shown here. You will get a 2 page statement (in PDF) and guidance on how to read the statement. There is reference to several FAQs in my website. You can also consult an expert who can guide you on this matter.
If you find that it is giving a poor yield, there is nothing much that you can do now, as you have already incurred the upfront cost. If you wish to terminate the policy, you should carry out the calculation here to see what is the yield over the next 5 years.
If you want to know how to plan for your financial future, you should carry out the calculation shown here. You will get a 2 page statement (in PDF) and guidance on how to read the statement. There is reference to several FAQs in my website. You can also consult an expert who can guide you on this matter.
Solicitors Fees-How Solicitors Fees Are Calculated in Ireland | BusinessAndLegal.ie
Section 68 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act of 1994 sets out how solicitors are permitted to charge for services provided to their clients.
S. 68 compels the solicitor to let the client know, in writing,
- what are the actual charges he intends charging the client or
- an estimate of the charges where the solicitor feels that it is not possible to calculate the actual charges or
- the basis on which charges are to be made.
When the solicitor takes instructions from his client he is obliged to provide the information set out above in writing.
Letters to SGEP
Do you have any views to share about the social, economic and political priorities in Singapore? Send your letter to sgeportal@gmail.com. The letter must bear your name and email address, but you can ask for a pseudonym to be used. It must be within 400 words. They will be published in the SGEP portal. Let your voice as a citizen be heard!
Going beyond the limit
I asked my staff to show me the formula for calculating CPF contribution. She passed me 6 brightly colored booklets, each with 19 pages. For someone who is not familiar, it takes a lot of time to understand how to calculate CPF contribution. There is a risk of making a mistake. To avoid this problem, it may be necessary to send someone for half day training in calculating CPF contribution.
Do our policy makers realize that all these complications take up a lot of time of the staff and that salaries are high in Singapore. This is so wasteful. I do not know why things have to be so complicated in Singapore!
Tan Kin Lian
Do our policy makers realize that all these complications take up a lot of time of the staff and that salaries are high in Singapore. This is so wasteful. I do not know why things have to be so complicated in Singapore!
Tan Kin Lian
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