Articles
Useful articles curated by our gurus.
Life Insurance 
There has been a long-running and seemingly never-ending “term policy versus permanent life insurance” debate in the insurance circle. Each side has ardent supporters as well as equally passionate detractors. Needless to say, both term policy and permanent life insurance policy have their strong and weak points. This article asks a number of questions and presents arguments from both sides of the debate to help you come to your own conclusion.
Comprehensive personal financial planning encompasses everything from wealth protection using life insurance policies, growing your wealth with equities and properties, to wills and trusts for estate planning. Though life insurance is a vital element of financial planning, there are however, several misconceptions about it. Many people view it as an unnecessary burden on their financial resources. In the past, it was even viewed with distaste because of its association with death, accidents and other misfortunes. Fortunately attitudes are changing as the public becomes more educated with the usefulness of insurance policies as risk management tools.
Insurance is not the most popular topic in any chill-out joints, or any place for that matter. But it is one of the most important personal financial planning issues to address first to ensure a peace of mind.
This article requires an average reading time of 1min 23sec
Pre-existing condition is a common term used by insurance advisers whenever you buy any life insurance. It is often defined as “any condition or illness which existed or was existing or the cause or symptoms of which existed or were existing or evident, or any condition or illness which the Life Assured suffered or was suffering from, prior to the policy issue date.” In short, it simply means any medical conditions you have before buying this life insurance policy.
This article requires an average reading time of 3min 15sec
“It takes two to tango.”
“It takes two to tango.”
The above expression is all the more apt in a client-consultant relationship for personal financial planning. The partnership between a client and his personal financial consultant has evolved over many years in Singapore. From the days of having only “insurance peddlers”, the financial planning industry has since produced many fine degree-holding professionals possessing other industry-specific qualifications such as the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP), the equivalent of a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the field of accounting. Nevertheless, even with the various regulatory measures in place, the client-consultant tango can still be an awkward dance item for some with toes accidentally stepped upon. As the case with other industries, black sheeps can still be found, both in the client and consultant community.
Planning for Life Events
Do less and have more for retirement? Is there a typo mistake here? Fret not, read on!
A simple question for all: Do the ‘golden years’ of comfortable retirement occur by itself without any intervention or does it take wise planning to do so?
If your answer is the former, please sell me this magic formula.
If your answer is the latter, then check out the example below.
The arrival of a new child in the family is a good time to take stock of your finances and start planning for the child’s future. As a responsible parent, it’s natural for you to want to give your children a solid foundation in life so that they can build on that to live a successful and meaningful life. In today’s highly competitive world, the best way to do that is through good tertiary education, which equips them with the knowledge and skills to hold their own and forge ahead in life. So what are the key factors to think through in planning for your child’s university education?
Many parents will agree that one of their most defining moments in life occurred at the birth of their child. A child is a blessing from above and he/she is seen as a ‘continuation’ of ourselves when we depart from planet Earth. As such, many parents would want to have a glorious ‘continuation’, by planning for their children from the school they must attend to even making it a personal goal to buy a house for their children. It is also no wonder that many parents would purchase education savings or investment plans in order to save up for the hefty university fees for their children in future. However, there are “must-knows” factors to consider first before we embark on education fund planning for our children.
Financial planning involves establishing goals, working out what assets and liabilities you have, evaluating your current financial position, developing a plan to achieve the goals, implementing the plan, and monitoring and reviewing the plan whenever needed. The main goal of a financial plan is to achieve financial freedom and this cannot be done without doing the 4 things below:
Let’s admit it
It is a headache for those who are not in the car industry to know exactly the financial implications to choose between whether it is more ‘worthwhile’ to buy a new car in Singapore or an used one. To make the matter worse, Singapore’s cars are ranked as one of the world’s most expensive! If you can buy a Toyota in Singapore, you can easily afford a Porsche in the USA (yes, my heart pains as well when I think of this). So let’s assume you are adamant on buying a car in Singapore. What are some of the key factors to consider in choosing whether to buy a used or a new car? Let’s examine them one by one.
Investment Knowledge
Wanting to be the next Warren Buffett is one thing; actually making even a fraction of the money he makes in a year is quite another. Truth be told, the biggest enemy of an investor is none other than himself. More often than not, it is no one else but yourself who prevents you from making the right investment decisions.
As perhaps the most successful and famous investor of our time, Mr. Warren Buffett should know a thing or two about money management. When he took over the management of Berkshire Hathaway in 1964 until today, the company has an average growth rate of about 18% per annum. $1,000 invested in 1964 will be worth a staggering $6.4Million today! In comparison, the same amount if invested in an S&P index fund would have grown to about $60,000 in the same period. This speaks volumes about his genius in financial management.
This article requires an average reading time of 2min 9sec
Looking for an investment strategy that works in any market conditions is like searching for the proverbial fountain of youth. Neither exists in reality. The financial market is subjected to too many unknown factors eg the collapse of oil prices that can hurt blue chip stocks like Keppel Corp or a sudden war (God forbids) that may take place in any part of the world; all these events will affect the performance of the stock market. Every kind of investment strategy has its limitations but what are some time-tested investment strategies out there for us to consider?
Many people have unlimited desires but limited financial resources to fulfill them. If you think you are one of them, then you should read “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Samuel Clason. This book is unlike any other book on personal finance. It dispenses financial advice in a simple yet powerful way through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon.
Here are the 7 time-tested secrets of becoming rich shared within the book:
Other interests
14 February is Valentine’s Day, a day where those with a partner celebrate love and those without partners celebrate friendship. It is also a day that florists look forward to and boyfriends dread – the one single day where the prices of flowers like roses sky-rocket, much like the tulip craze in the 20th century.
This article requires an average reading time of 3min 39sec; to understand, it requires 3min 39sec, a little longer into the future or never at all.
In the busy world we live in, it is not difficult to find an individual who is self-motivated to strive for greater heights in life as measured by power and position held at work, the car one drives, the dwelling the person stays in or the amount of cash stashed up in the bank. Many success stories are shared on how one struck it rich at a young age with an innovative idea that sprung into a tech company but little light is shed on how an over-achiever with abundant physical possessions and money can also fall into deep depression.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, besides the usual hustle and bustle of doing spring cleaning, clearing out the trash, buying some new clothes, coordinating the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, the next big thing on everyone’s mind, especially if you are the giver and not the recipient, is: how much Ang Pow money should I be giving?
