Monday, January 25, 2010
Quality of Life Index
According to this report, Singapore ranked 70th in the Quality of Life Index by International Living. Singapore needs to improve its ranking to be a good place to live in, for its citizens.
France topped the list, followed by Australia, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand. This is explained here.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Social studies - a compulsory subject
The Ministry of Education is making social studies into a compulsory subject. This is helpful in getting our young to be more social responsible and less self-centered (or selfish).
I suggest that a more important step is to reduce the competition in the school to go for the top places and win scholarships. This competition is unhealthy and brings negative consequences. My views are elaborated here.
I believe that a better approach is to educate our young to be literate, numerate, have social skills and character. We can find the leaders after they start work and solve real life problems. This view is shared by many people in this survey.
I suggest that a more important step is to reduce the competition in the school to go for the top places and win scholarships. This competition is unhealthy and brings negative consequences. My views are elaborated here.
I believe that a better approach is to educate our young to be literate, numerate, have social skills and character. We can find the leaders after they start work and solve real life problems. This view is shared by many people in this survey.
Ethical financial consultants
There are ethical consultants and bad consultants in the financial services field. The ethical consultants offer advice and products that are in the best interest of their clients. The bad consultants think of their own benefit and offer products that give bad value to their clients.
The tied consultants can only offer the products that are available to them to be sold. If they work for a financial institution that offer ethical products (i.e. transparent and fairly priced), they can earn a honest living. However, if the financial institution designs products that are meant to deceive or mislead the consumers, the consultants face a dilemma. Do they act ethically, in the interest of their clients, and avoid these products? Alternatively, do they sell these products, as they are "bribed" with attractive commissions?
It depends on the ethical and moral values of each individual consultant. Some are upright, but others are not. In our current market environment, it is more likely to find an bad consultant - but there are good ones around.
Some consumers will trust consultants that they know personally. However, there are many cases of such consultants betraying the trust and taking their friends for a ride. If you are not able to differentiate between an ethical or bad consultant, it is best to avoid them altogether.
Tan Kin Lian
The tied consultants can only offer the products that are available to them to be sold. If they work for a financial institution that offer ethical products (i.e. transparent and fairly priced), they can earn a honest living. However, if the financial institution designs products that are meant to deceive or mislead the consumers, the consultants face a dilemma. Do they act ethically, in the interest of their clients, and avoid these products? Alternatively, do they sell these products, as they are "bribed" with attractive commissions?
It depends on the ethical and moral values of each individual consultant. Some are upright, but others are not. In our current market environment, it is more likely to find an bad consultant - but there are good ones around.
Some consumers will trust consultants that they know personally. However, there are many cases of such consultants betraying the trust and taking their friends for a ride. If you are not able to differentiate between an ethical or bad consultant, it is best to avoid them altogether.
Tan Kin Lian
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Talk at NLB: Financial Planning in Time of Crisis
The talk at Yishun Library was successful. More than 60 people turned up. Due to the limited capacity, I had to carry out two sessions at 3 pm and 4.30 pm. The second session was for those that turned up late and could not be accommodated. Apologies for the inconvenience.
The talk was stimulating and enjoyable. The participants asked a lot of questions, relating to the topics and outside the topics.
FISCA (Financial Services Consumer Association) will be organising more talks in collaboration with National Library Board, to be held in the Head Office in Bras Basah Road and in other community libraries.
Many participants expressed interest in attending a 12 hour course on financial planning (covering 8 topics in more detail). More details will be released later.
The talk was stimulating and enjoyable. The participants asked a lot of questions, relating to the topics and outside the topics.
FISCA (Financial Services Consumer Association) will be organising more talks in collaboration with National Library Board, to be held in the Head Office in Bras Basah Road and in other community libraries.
Many participants expressed interest in attending a 12 hour course on financial planning (covering 8 topics in more detail). More details will be released later.
Successful start to Pro-Investor
Nearly 40 participants have registered to play Pro-Investor during the past 2 days. One participant log in 7 times and played around 30 games. Another participant achieved Level 9 - which is the top level.
I have created a new entry under Guide to share my personal experience about playing this simulation game on stock selection. I have given some tips on how you can find a technique that can reduce your learning curve. You can experiment with variations of this technique to get better results.
Picking the right stocks in the real world environment is a matter of experience and learning. There is no single magic formula that you can use, as the environment keeps changing. What you can learn is the secret of watching the right trends and making the right choices - and hope to be right 60% of the time or better. Pro-Investor aims to give you this chance to learn through experience, and to acquire a lifetime of experience within a few days. I hope that you enjoy this learning experience.
Tan Kin Lian
I have created a new entry under Guide to share my personal experience about playing this simulation game on stock selection. I have given some tips on how you can find a technique that can reduce your learning curve. You can experiment with variations of this technique to get better results.
Picking the right stocks in the real world environment is a matter of experience and learning. There is no single magic formula that you can use, as the environment keeps changing. What you can learn is the secret of watching the right trends and making the right choices - and hope to be right 60% of the time or better. Pro-Investor aims to give you this chance to learn through experience, and to acquire a lifetime of experience within a few days. I hope that you enjoy this learning experience.
Tan Kin Lian
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