Dear Mr. Tan,
Like many young Singapore couple, my wife and I plan to retrieve an amount of 20K from my CPF account for other investment before all our money in the CPF is wiped out by HDB for our HDB flat. Basically, the reason for doing this is to save our money for rainy day in case anything happen (i.e. retrenchment).
As we are not a high risk taker, we decided to just invest our money into unit trust. We met up with our insurance agent from AIA and he introduced us to these few AIA funds.
1) AIA Greater China Equity Fund 30%
2) AIA Regional Equity Fund 20%
3) AIA Regional Fixed Income Fund 50%
As such, we will appreciate your expert advice on the following:
1) Is this the right time for us to invest our money into unit trust?
2) Is unit trust the best option for us?
3) Is it advisable for us to invest onto AIA Company in view that they may be took over by other company soon.
4) Please advise if the three funds that our agent introduced to us is suitable for us?
REPLY
I normally advise people to invest in the STI ETF due to low charges. You can get most of the returns. Read the FAQ in my website.
If you buy an investment linked product from an insurance company, you should ask about the charges that are taken away from your investments. This is also explained in the FAQ.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Civic Advocator
I invite readers of my blog to visit the Civic Advocator. It is managed by my friend and is aimed at educating the public about social affairs.
High birth rate in France
France has a high birth rate, compared to other European countries. I asked a French friend for the reason. He identified two key factors:
1. The income tax system favours large families. The larger the family, the lower the effective tax rate. Some high income earners does not have to pay any income tax, if they have a few children.
2. There are adequate child care facilities in the community and the workplace. This is supplemented by a system of nannies who take care of children in their homes. The cost of the nany is largely borne by the state.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
City watchdog promises 'banking revolution'
Financial regulators may in the future ban financial products if they are too risky or too complex, Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said today.
Read this article.
TKL Blog passes 1 million visitors
My blog passes 1 million visitors on 26 February 2009, just slightly more than 2 years since the count started in February 2007.
Palm Jumeriah, Dubai
The Palm Jumeriah is built on reclaimed land. It is a very large development shaped like a palm tree. It comprises of the trunk, crescent and many fronds.
There are several large apartment blocks built on the trunk. Atlantis Hotel and its supporting developments is built on the crescent. The expensive villas are built on the fronds. Almost all developments have a waterfront.
The development is served by a monorail system that is connected to the Dubai Metro. It is opening in April 2009.
Atlantis is a popular attraction for the locals and tourists. You can watch this video to get an idea of the Palm. There is a tunnel that goes under the water connecting the mainland to the Palm and from the trunk to the crescent of the Palm.
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