I spoke to someone, who is familiar with the motor trade. He made the following points:
a. The recent change resulted in a drop of 40% in COE allocation. This caused COE prices to shoot up due to the cut and also to increased demand generated by fear of further price increases. It is better to have a more stable market, rather than fluctuating prices to drive consumer behavior.
b. Taxis are now in the same category as private cars. They should be kept in a spearate category as the owners of taxis are driven by commercial consideration.
c. There is need to improve the feeder services, so that more people will take the train and buses at the interchanges.
d. Taxis should be considered as public transport. They are more efficient than cars and do not require parking spaces. The taxi fares should be simplified into a flat rate structure. Taxi drivers should be allowed to own a taxi licence and build a taxi business, rather than be renters of taxis.
I agree with these points and will bring them up at the TV program tonight. I will also raise them in other occasions in my blog.
Tan Kin Lian
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Vera has artistic intelligence
I made the shape of a cat using the tangram pieces. I asked my grand-daughter Vera (3 years old) what is the picture. She looked at it for a short time and said "Cat". Next, I made the shape of a man sitting down. She said, in a naughty manner "House". Later. She said "Man". My tangram book containing 100 puzzles and solutions, will be available soon and can be bought online. I will take advanced orders now.
Tan Kin Lian
Tan Kin Lian
Inadequate savings for retirement
The Sunday Times have an article that showed that many people have inadequate savings for retirement. Why is this the case? The same question was posed to me by a journalist recently. I gave the following reasons:
1. People spent too much money on their property.
2. They got a poor yield on their savings in life insurance policies, due to the high charges which takes away more than 30% of their accumulated savings
3. They were badly advised by insurance agents to switch from an earlier policy to a new policy, incurring the high upfront charges again. This can occur several times during a working lifetime.
Better late than never. Consumers should be educated to avoid bad investment decisions. They should spend $12 and 12 hours to read my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning. This book also contains tips to the consumers on:
a. What to do with their existing life insurance policies
b. What should they do with their future savings?
c. How should they invest their money during retirement?
d. What type of life annuity should they pick?
3. How much should they spend on a property?
They should advise their children to start their working career on a proper footing and avoid making the same mistakes. Order online.
Tan Kin Lian
1. People spent too much money on their property.
2. They got a poor yield on their savings in life insurance policies, due to the high charges which takes away more than 30% of their accumulated savings
3. They were badly advised by insurance agents to switch from an earlier policy to a new policy, incurring the high upfront charges again. This can occur several times during a working lifetime.
Better late than never. Consumers should be educated to avoid bad investment decisions. They should spend $12 and 12 hours to read my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning. This book also contains tips to the consumers on:
a. What to do with their existing life insurance policies
b. What should they do with their future savings?
c. How should they invest their money during retirement?
d. What type of life annuity should they pick?
3. How much should they spend on a property?
They should advise their children to start their working career on a proper footing and avoid making the same mistakes. Order online.
Tan Kin Lian
Investors of Pinnacle Notes
A US law firm, Kirby McInerney, has spoken to investors about possible legal action that can be taken in US Courts in connection with the Pinnacle Notes. 45 investors have expressed interest to join this action. Other investors of Pinnacle Notes who are interested can send an e-mail to tkla.km@gmail.com quoting the following: your name
mobile phone
email address
amount invested
type of Pinnacle Notes.
Tan Kin Lian
Friday, April 16, 2010
Existing life insurance policies
Many people asked me about their existing life insurance policies - should they keep it or terminate the policy? In many cases, the policies were bought for them by their parents and are now transferred to them to pay the premiums. My usual advice is, "Keep your existing policy. You have already incurred the high upfront cost. Going forward, it should provide you with a modest return. "
However, if they have difficulty in paying the premium or they have better options to invest their savings, they can consider terminating the existing policies. Before they do so, they should calculate the return on the existing policy for the next five years. Read this FAQ.
They should think carefully before they put in more savings in a new life insurance policy. They should NEVER terminate any existing policy to buy a new policy - as it means incurring the high upfront cost all over again. They should avoid the insurance agent who makes this recommendation as the agent usually wants to make commisison at the expense of the client.
Some of these tips are given in my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning.
Tan Kin Lian
However, if they have difficulty in paying the premium or they have better options to invest their savings, they can consider terminating the existing policies. Before they do so, they should calculate the return on the existing policy for the next five years. Read this FAQ.
They should think carefully before they put in more savings in a new life insurance policy. They should NEVER terminate any existing policy to buy a new policy - as it means incurring the high upfront cost all over again. They should avoid the insurance agent who makes this recommendation as the agent usually wants to make commisison at the expense of the client.
Some of these tips are given in my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning.
Tan Kin Lian
Tips for young people
I wrote the book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning to educate young people who has just started work, about the importance of savings and the need to invest the savings in a liquid form so that they can be withdrawn without any penalty for urgent cash needs. You can save lot of money by avoiding high interest payments on borrowings or installment payments.
You should NOT lock up their savings in a life assurance policy that has a high distribution cost, poor liquidity and a heavy penalty on withdrawal. Be careful of insruance agents who will approach you soon after you started work. They are well trained to tell one-sided stories about the benefits of life insurance, but not the serious drawbacks.
Do not worry about protecting yourself against the risk of death. You only need to worry about it when you get married. If you can buy a group term insurance (i.e. SAF or SAFRA) or personal accident insurance, go ahead. If not, it does not really matter that you are not insured when you are still young.
Remember: when you sign on the dotted line to buy a high cost insurance policy, you will be giving away one or two years of your hard earned savings.
You should spend $12 and 12 hours to buy and read my book which is available online. By being educated, you can save several thousand dollars by avoiding bad investment products. Do your friend a favour. Order additional copies to sell to them or present as a gift to them. It may be the most valuable gift that you can give them.
Tan Kin Lian
You should NOT lock up their savings in a life assurance policy that has a high distribution cost, poor liquidity and a heavy penalty on withdrawal. Be careful of insruance agents who will approach you soon after you started work. They are well trained to tell one-sided stories about the benefits of life insurance, but not the serious drawbacks.
Do not worry about protecting yourself against the risk of death. You only need to worry about it when you get married. If you can buy a group term insurance (i.e. SAF or SAFRA) or personal accident insurance, go ahead. If not, it does not really matter that you are not insured when you are still young.
Remember: when you sign on the dotted line to buy a high cost insurance policy, you will be giving away one or two years of your hard earned savings.
You should spend $12 and 12 hours to buy and read my book which is available online. By being educated, you can save several thousand dollars by avoiding bad investment products. Do your friend a favour. Order additional copies to sell to them or present as a gift to them. It may be the most valuable gift that you can give them.
Tan Kin Lian
Bid for COE
I found that a car buyer can bid for the COE and, after being successful, is given 6 months to find a car. The deposit to bid for a COE for a car is $10,000 and the balance of the COE price is payable on the purchase of a car.
If you have $10,000 in cash, you can bid for a COE on your own and benefit from any drop in price. You may be negotiate a better price for a car, if you have a COE and can go to shop around. If you do not have $10,000 in cash, perhaps you should not consider buying a car?
If you have $10,000 in cash, you can bid for a COE on your own and benefit from any drop in price. You may be negotiate a better price for a car, if you have a COE and can go to shop around. If you do not have $10,000 in cash, perhaps you should not consider buying a car?
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