everythinguneedtoknowoninsurance

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2012-02-13T06:07:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-12T17:19:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-11T18:21:00.001-08:00

gone too soon

2012-02-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

today, i have just come to learn of the most untimely passing of an ex-colleague who is in the prime of his/her life.

this person is in the late 30s, and has 2 young children and was diagnosed with early stage cancer approximately 5 years ago.

when i met this person 2 years ago, i was happy to know that the cancer was in remission.

therefore, this person's passing came as a rude shock to me which was totally unexpected as the road ahead seemed to be clear.

my comments:

having lost my younger brother to cancer, i can certainly emphatise with this person's family.

this person was under the care of one of singapore's (and perhaps the region as well) most well known oncologist. when the cost of the treatment started piling-up, the family could no longer continue with the same oncologist and had to be referred to the national cancer centre.

at this time, other than the grief, trauma and emotional up-swelling as well as trying to cope or come to terms with the loss of a loved one, there is the other perspective of the financial mountain that has to be faced. this is really significant as the family's (current and potential) income has suddenly taken a nose dive.

i do not know of the family's wealth protection portfolio but my sincere hope is that they already have a comprehensive financial plan in place should the unexpected turn into reality.

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2012-02-09T01:29:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-08T00:38:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-08T00:05:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-07T01:25:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-05T01:07:00.001-08:00

foreign maid insurance (2)

2012-02-04T00:51:00.001-08:00

yesterday, i blogged on the abovementioned topic with a twist to the cancellation of the foreign maid insurance policy in terms of the refund being subjected to a penalty of 30% of the premium being imposed by ntuc-income on my client.

and this is the appeal which i lodged with ntuc-income on behalf of my client:

sorry to have to trouble u with regard to my case which is an appeal for the full refund of premium for foreign maid insurance policy number 5xxxxxxxxx.

what happened was my client's maid, ms xxx's test for pregnancy (while back home in indonesia) was positive and therefore, her in-principle approval by the ministry of manpower to work in singapore was cancelled.

because the policy, although incepted and issued is of no use to my client and the latter has just received a nasty surprise because the cheque for the refund (just received) amounted to only 70% of the premium paid for the policy.

but what is more significant is that my client has chosen to go with my recommendation and placed their trust in me because i mentioned that ntuc-income, being the only co-operative insurer is different because your ceo, mr tan suee chieh has said more than once that his job is not to maximise profits but putting people (first) before profits.

therefore, with a furious client confronting me and my tail between my legs, i'm formally appealing for my client's premium to be refunded in full.

ps: fyi, the maid agency recommended a foreign maid insurance plan from another insurer.

my comments:

sigh, the liability we shoulder when things go wrong, though no fault of anyone is something very real as this episode clearly illustrates. not to mention that i have to absorb the full costs of the 30% refund of the premium to my client from my own very small pockets.

nevertheless, i remain hopeful for the favourable response of my appeal from ntuc-income.

stay tuned.....

foreign maid insurance

2012-02-03T02:29:00.001-08:00

on my recommendation (against the one sold by the maid agency from another insurer), my client took up the foreign maid insurance from ntuc-income.

short and sweet, right?

no, because there is a twist here in terms of the maid's pregnancy test (while in indonesia) proved positive which invalidated her in-principle approval from the ministry of manpower to work in singapore.

and to cut a long story short, i applied to ntuc-income to cancel the foreign maid insurance policy and here, there was another twist because there was a 'penalty' imposed on the cancellation which amounted to 30% of the premium paid.

my comments:

contractually, ntuc-income has the legal right to impose the penalty because there is a clause in the policy document stating there will only be a refund of 70% of the premium for cancellation within 60 days of the inception of the policy.

needless to say, my client was extremely displeased with me and the only way for a resolution of my client's unhappiness was for me to make up the loss of 30% of the premium paid.

but i'm not letting this episode end here as i'll be appealing to ntuc-income to refund the premium in full.

stay tuned.....

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2012-02-02T00:39:00.001-08:00

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2012-02-01T01:35:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-31T02:15:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-30T00:01:00.001-08:00

travel insurance to avoid

2012-01-29T03:00:00.001-08:00

ms teo siew hoon's letter; captioned: travel insurance to avoid was published in the st forum online on saturday.

in her letter, ms teo recounted her claim's experience with general insurer, chartis on her damaged luggage which took almost 4 weeks (add another 2 weeks after her claim submission) for her to be informed to obtain a quotation to repair her luggage and send it to her insurer.

as a comparison, ms teo cited that if she had made a similar claim for damaged luggage to an airline, the latter would probably pick up the luggage, assess the repair and inform quickly whether the luggage would be repaired and returned or replaced.

she ended by expressing her hope that other insurance companies do not make their customers wait the way chartis has done.

my comments:

as a financial planner and a traveler myself, i can empathise with ms teo over her damaged luggage and also her claim experience with chartis.

many of my clients take up travel insurance, which is probably the smallest priced component of any vacation for peace of mind.

i am not trying to discount or minimise ms teo's feedback but in my experience, travel insurance claims like damaged luggage are very much the norm, rather than the exception and insurers usually admit and pay such claims speedily, after due diligence of course.

but take a step back and look at the big picture in terms of the comprehensiveness of what a travel policy covers and not what ms teo has chosen to focus on how an airline will deal with her damaged luggage.

after all, as the saying goes, one swallow does not a summer make.

whole-of-life alternative to universal life

2012-01-28T06:05:00.001-08:00

an article with the abovementioned title by ms genevieve cua in the weekend edition of the business times caught my eye.

in her article, ms cua touched on some basics of whole life and universal life products. she also said that the appeal of universal life lies partly in the flexible premium financiing and rightly pointed out the latter calls up a different set of risks of which one caveat is that as the client ages and a scenario should rates fall to the minimum crediting rate, it may be possible that the death benefit may decline and clients may be asked to top-up the premium to ensure the policy does not lapse. on this, ms cua pointed out that some universal life products do have a 'no-lapse' guarantee option but this comes with an additional premium.

the article singled out tokio marine life insurance tm legacy vip, a single premium participating whole of life plan with an immediate cash value, making it possible to take a policy loan after inception of the plan.

mr odd haavik of charles monat associates said that he liked what tokio marine life insurance is doing and their history of never cutting bonuses is a good selling point and reckons that this product is appropriate for a high net worth client so long as they are comfortable with the less transparent nature of the whole-of-life product as compared to universal life.

my comments:

testing

2012-01-27T01:03:00.001-08:00

cashing in on the lunar new year?

2012-01-26T00:27:00.001-08:00

during the first 2 days of the lunar new year, many consumers (including myself and my family) would have discovered that stalls levied a 'premium' for food and drinks purchased during this festive period.

just to cite an example, hot drinks like coffee and tea has been hiked to $0.90 to $1.20 instead of the usual $0.70 to $0.90. and simple meals like a bowl of noodles cost $3.50, or $0.50 more than the usual $3.00 during the non-festive period.

however, in an article by the free local tabloid, today, it was reported that even though the lunar new year (public holidays) are over, prices have remained high when prices are expected to return to normal when stalls resume business after the holidays.

one example is ltn food village at east coast road where 3 of the 10 stalls put up signs to indicate higher prices. another one is food xchange coffeeshop where drink prices were also raised by between $0.10 and $1.00.

some of the stallholders responded that suppliers had increased their prices also driving costs up by as much as 20% this month.

my comments:

whether justified or not, i feel consumers can still exercise their choice of whom they wish to do 'business' with during the lunar new year holidsay but i must admit the choices are rather limited during this time as many stalls remained closed.

on the other hand, our insurers do not and have never indulged in the practice of driving prices of insurance products up during this festive season or any other time to cash in on the timing of the season.

during my entire 15 years in the financial industry, i have noticed a clear trend of the repricing of insurance products to the benefit of the consumer and the community. this is particularly true of term assurance, both level term and mortgage reducing term assurance products.

even more recently, the cpf board has repriced their home protection scheme premium rates (effective january 01, 2012) to be much lower and in sync with the insurance industry resulting in huge savings of as much as 12% for cpf members.

and i'm sure that in an environment of high inflation (it was 5.2% in 2011), u will agree with me that every penny counts.

the dragon year, in more ways than one

2012-01-25T01:50:00.001-08:00

i read the abovementioned article with great interest by mr toh yong chuan, senior correspondent, published in today's edition of the straits times.

he started off by illustrating that the word, dragon denotes firstly prosperity or something that is grand.

he cites the local stock market using the example of the sti which ended the year 2000 (the last dragon year) at 1,927 points and market capitalisation then was $417.8 billion. at the end of 2011, the sti had gone up to 2,646 points and market capitalisation at a much higher $716.3 billion.

other statistics:

singapore's gdp was $165.2 billion in 2000 to $284.6 in 2010
trade nearly doubled from $470 billion to $902 billion
singapore got bigger from 683 sq km to 712 sq km
population grew from 4 million to 5 million
literacy from 92.5% to 95.9%
life expectancy from 78 years to 81.8 years
more doctors, from 14 per 10,000 people to 17 per 10,000 people
more nurses, from 40 per 10,000 people to 57 per 10,000 people
more government spending on health from #301 to $808 per person
mobile phone subscriptions from 606 to 1,436 per 1,000 people
more driving cars from 92 to 111 cars per 1,000 people
more watching pay tv from 255,000 to 802,000 subscriptions
newspaper circulation from 1.38 to 1.53 million
more borrowing books (and other materials) from public libraries from 24.5 to 33.2 million

and also on a positive note, crime fell from 720 to 650 per 100,000 people.

on the negative side, he said that there is a difficulty faced by those in the bottom 20% of the income ladder because the incomes of the bottom fifth stood still, from $12,00 to $1,400 growing only 0.3% after taking inflation into account. this group would have fared worse if not for government programmes like workfare.

he also pointed out the worrying trend of families under strain in terms of marriages falling apart. while there have been more marriages from 22,561 in 2000 to 24,363 in 2010, more are ending in divorce which rose from 5,160 to 7,405.

and there are more elderly staying at old folk's homes from 6,022 to 9,755 in 2010 when they should be spending their golden years with their families.

the author ended by reminding us not to take for granted we will always be prosperous, not to be deaf but listen to those around us and give a lift to those who feel caged.

my comments:

after one chinese zodiac cycle, it is noteworthy to know that the majority of the statistics are positive for our tiny red dot nation and the vast majority of our population.

but many of the negatives are also real, with the income of the bottom 20% standing still, more marriages but more ending in divorce, and more elderly living in old folk's homes compounded by the fact that life expectancy is constantly growing.

and these are all real life issues and they have everything to do with financial planning and the 4Ws of wealth management.

the good news is, it is never too late to plan, but rather it is usually failure to plan which is almost like planning to fail. and so long as u are alive and well, the years ahead can be better than u think or imagine but only if u do something about it and the key is, the earlier the better.

the world's first trillionaire?

2012-01-24T06:16:00.001-08:00

my first blog to kick off the lunar new year is on wealth or lots and lots of it in the form of the world's first trillionaire who is known as mr kamal ashnawi.

many people probably would have heard of mr carlos slim helu, the mexican mega tycoon with an estimated worth of US$63.3 billion and acknowledged as the richest person in the world.

but who is mr kamal ashnawi?

Kamal Ashnawi, 42 years old was born in Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia and is the president of sierra petroleum.

according to sources as reported by the malaysian media in a news conference, mr kamal ashnawi said his net worth was $6.4 trillion, and yes, u are reading right, it's trillions and expressed in numerical form, it is $6,400,000,000,000 which is equivalent to approx RM20 trillion ringgit.

my comments:

wow, imagine the number of digits of the wealth of this person and if true, may be accorded the title of the world's very first trillionaire.

i do not know whether there are any other trillionaires in the world but we can certainly boast of the highest number of millionaires in our tiny red dot nation.

even if u are not a millionaire yet, taking up a seven digit insurance policy* should have the effect of the creation of a large estate or if u like, leaving a huge legacy for your chosen beneficiary/ies and or adopted charities.

and an insurance policy, specifically a term policy is perhaps the most cost-effecitive solution with this end in mind.

*terms and conditions apply.

happy chinese new year 2012

2012-01-23T05:17:00.000-08:00

wishing each and everyone, a blessed chinese new year running over with good health, abundance, prosperity and success in all areas of your life.

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2012-01-22T09:06:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-22T01:12:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-21T01:52:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-20T06:08:00.001-08:00

financial stability top list of insurers' concerns: geneva association

2012-01-19T06:19:00.001-08:00

in a newly published study by the geneva association*, it lists out the top concerns facing the insurance industry in 2012 which includes:

a. current global financial instability
b. concerns over governmental management of natural catastrophic risk and
c. the demographics of dealing with ageing socities.

the secretary general and managing director of geneva association, mr patrick m. liedtke on the current financial crisis said that:

"no other topic has worried nation states around the world more persistently in 2011 than the question of global financial stability."

on claims for natural catastrophes that struck in 2011, mr liedtke said that it is:

"by far the most expensive year on record for natural catastrophe insurance with estimated claims reaching some US$380 billion. even given some variation from current loss estimates, 2011 will turn out to be nearly two-thirds more expensive than 2005, the next most expensive year (US$220 billion). but the issue here is not only one of claims and payouts - it is one of human tragedies and loss."

on the concern regarding the demographics of dealing with ageing socities, and while it is a positive that people are living longer, this poses a dilemma for the governments of the countries they live in, which is in turn worsened by the financial crisis.

on this, mr liedtke said:

"in light of the current state of many sovereigns and their finances, they do so facing greater uncertainty than other retirees in several decades. doubts over heavily indebted states' ability to provide social security have increased. volatile returns from many private sector investment products have eroded confidence in pension provisions and retirement planning. yet, individuals continue to seek stable streams of income that will afford them a decent standard of living beyond their working years."

In conclusion Liedtke urged both society and politicians to “grasp the nettle and face up to the inevitable implications of these long standing challenges. Given the role of the insurance industry and its ability to provide long-term stability, it has the potential to be a significant part of the solution to this problem. This is a great opportunity for all involved. In 2012, insurers should raise the profile of this issue and be the leading private sector counterparty to help governments develop a credible and sustainable way forward.”

*from wikipedia on the geneva association:

The Geneva Association is the leading international insurance “think tank” for strategically important insurance and risk management issues.

The Geneva Association identifies fundamental trends and strategic issues where insurance plays a substantial role or which influence the insurance sector. Through the development of research programmes, regular publications and the organisation of international meetings, The Geneva Association serves as a catalyst for progress in the understanding of risk and insurance matters and acts as an information creator and disseminator. It is the leading voice of the largest insurance groups worldwide in the dialogue with international institutions. In parallel, it advances—in economic and cultural terms—the development and application of risk management and the understanding of uncertainty in the modern economy.

my comments:

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2012-01-17T02:55:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-16T01:54:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-15T09:03:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-14T06:28:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

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2012-01-12T03:54:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-11T01:00:00.001-08:00

ns man dies after finishing 2.4km run

2012-01-10T05:54:00.001-08:00

it is really heart wrenching to learn that a young man in his prime fainted and then died after completing the mandatory 2.4km ippt run during in-camp training which was widely reported in our local media today.

in a statement from the defence ministry said that 28-year-old cpl Li Hongyang, a security trooper from the 62nd Combat Service Support Battalion, fainted after completing his 2.4km run at 8:38am which happened at the kranji camp III where cpl li was undergoing in-camp training.

my comments:

surely our hearts and prayers go out to the family and relatives of the late cpl li who's gone too soon.

i remember my reservist days and when notified to attend in-camp training has always been accompanied by much anxiety over completing the 2.4km run which is the so-called gold standard to clear because the other physical exercises like chin-ups, push-ups, broad jump, etc were considered to be a walk-in-the-part for young men in their prime.

looking back, i thank God for clearing each ippt test without having to go through the mandatory re-calling for an additional in-camp stint should any reservist fail their ippt.

i suppose in today's point of reference, the thingy to do is to prepare for the tests and more importantly, a health screen prior to putting oneself through physical tests where the body has to respond to additional demands from everyday living.

and from the prespective of wealth protection, the clause on exclusion of pre-existing conditions is central to the contract where any claim is admitted and paid because modern day living is perhaps filled with more stress than before.

and doctors will readily tell u that stress is a link in almost every disease and so on and so forth.

therefore, do be gently reminded again that an insurance contract hinges on the material information in the application form and any incomplete disclosure may render the policy to be void and no benefit payable.

testing

2012-01-09T01:28:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

axa sells hong kong-based ipac advisory firm

2012-01-07T01:19:00.001-08:00

recently, there was an article with the same captioned headlines which was reported in the international adviser* by ms helen burggraf, deputy editor of the publication.

the artilce said that Ipac chief executive Rainbow Pan declined to confirm that Ipac was on the block, saying it was company policy not to comment on “speculation [and] rumours”.

Ipac specialises in providing high-end, fee-based advice to wealthy expatriates as well as to a growing number of local residents in all its jurisdictions but the firm has never produced a profit for Axa since it was acquired in 2002 for A$250m.

*International Adviser

International Adviser provides up to the minute news, tools and professional resources for Independent Financial Advisers in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

my comments:

ntuc-income: repricing of growth plan

2012-01-06T01:01:00.001-08:00

this is really fresh from the oven because we have just received an urgent email notification from ntuc-income (at approx 6pm):

Dear Valued Partners,

Over the last few years, interest rates have declined significantly. 12 months fixed deposit rates are now hovering around 0.4% p.a. compared to 0.9% p.a. 5 years ago. Similarly, 5-year Singapore government bond yields have declined from 3.2% p.a. 5 years ago to 0.9% p.a. today. As a result, it is becoming increasingly challenging to design and price this type of single premium savings plan, such as our Growth Plan. As you know, many of our fellow competitors areno longer selling such plans.

We will be _replacing_ thecurrent version of *Growth Plan (GRL3)*with a new revised version. Details of the new version of Growth Plan to replace the current version will be made in a separate announcement. The new Growth Plan will be available from 09 January 2012.

*Last day of submission for existing **Growth Plan (GRL3)**will be _09 January 2012_ at the close of business day. Application Form and BI bearing date after 09 January 2012 will _not_ be considered for **Growth Plan (GRL3)**.*

There are some letters sent to policyholders with maturities due in February 2012, inviting them to reinvest. For these cases, _if application comes in by 09 Jan 2012_, we can make an exception to issue these policies on maturity date. For maturities beyond February 2012, the reinvestment will have to be under the new version of Growth Plan.

Kindly note that all *Growth Plan (GRL3)* applications pending for payment or documentation must be completed and issued by 31 January 2012, otherwise they will be considered as ‘Not Taken Up’ (NTU).

We recognize the demand for single premium savings planand its place in the financial plans of our valued customers. We will continue to make available such plan to our customers as long as we are able to do so sustainably.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Warmest Regards

Financial Advisers, Sales Division
FA Hotline: (65) 9746 2663
www.income.com.sg

my comments:

to be really honest, it comes as no surprise to me that the current growth plan* will be repriced wef january 09, 2012.

if we look at a similar class, non-anticipated, participating single premium endowment product, it is a really near extinct animal, with tokio marine life insurance tm wealth enhancement (enrich) plan still left on the shelf.

but ntuc-income growth is probably pretty accessible to everyone, open to cpfis-oa, cpfis-sa, srs and cash payment. what's more, entry level is a very low single premium of just $5,000 whereas tokio marine life insurance tm wealth enhancement (enrich) has a much higher single premium requirement of $20,000 and is definitely not open to cpfis-oa and cpfis-sa as well.

furthermore, ntuc-income growth is also open to medically sub-standard lives.^

^terms and conditions apply.

my guess is the new revised version of growth will see the guaranteed cash value on maturity to be lower and the non-guaranteed cash value, headed north.

anyway, i do not want to jump the gun and shall await with bated breath, the new growth plan to be rolled-out this coming monday, january 09, 2012.

^mtuc-income growth plan is a non-anticipated participating single premium endowment plan.

and benefits at a glance:

■Flexible investment term
■Guaranteed1 returns on your principal sum upon maturity
■Yearly bonus2 based on financial results of the Life Participating Fund
■Payout of sum assured plus accumulated bonuses2 or cash value, whichever is higher, in the event of Death or Total and Permanent Disability (TPD before the age of 65)
■Payout of 2 times the sum assured plus accumulated bonuses2 in the event of an accident resulting in Death or Total and Permanent Disability (TPD before the age of 65)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1 The guaranteed returns are payable only if the policy is held until maturity, on the condition that no policy alterations or related transactions have occurred during the entire policy term

2 Bonus rates are not guaranteed and the actual maturity benefits may vary according to the future performance of the Life Participating Fund.

3 Policy term of 11 to 20 years are only available for CPFIS and SRS and not available for cash investment.

4 The projected maturity benefit are based on a level of bonus rates, deemed supportable based on the assumption that the Life Participating Fund earns a projected return of 5.25% per annum in the future.

This blog is for general information only and is not a contract of insurance. The precise terms, conditions and exclusions of this plan are specified in the Policy Contract.

You should seek advice from a qualified adviser if in doubt. If you choose not to, you will have to take sole responsibility to ensure that this product is appropriate to your financial needs and insurance objectives.

Buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment. An early termination of the policy usually involves high costs and the surrender value payable may be less than the total premiums paid

study shows memory loss can start as early at 45

2012-01-05T01:00:00.001-08:00

in a reuters article which highlighted the findings of a 10-year study of more than 7,000 british government workers show that loss of memory and other brain function can start as early as age 45*, which contradicts previous notions that cognitive decline does not begin before age 60. and this poses a big challenge to scientists looking for new ways to stave off dementia, researchers said.

*the research findings were published in the British Medical Journal, alongside an editorial by Francine Grodstein of the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who described the results as convincing.

to pinpoint the age at which memory, reasoning and comprehension skills start to deteriorate is imperative because drugs are most likely to work if given when people first start to experience mental impairment.

the research team led by Archana Singh-Manoux from the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London found a modest decline in mental reasoning in men and women aged 45-49 years.

Archana Singh-Manoux said in a telephone interview that they were expecting to see no decline, based on past research.

Archana Singh-Manoux also said:

"It doesn't suddenly happen when you get old. That variability exists much earlier on. The next step is going to be to tease that apart and look for links to risk factors."

the participants were assessed three times during the study, using tests for memory, vocabulary, and aural and visual comprehension skills.

and over the 10-year period, there was a 3.6 percent decline in mental reasoning in both men and women aged 45-49 at the start of the study, while the decline for men aged 65-70 was 9.6 percent and 7.4 percent for women.

since the youngest individuals at the start of the study were 45, it is possible that the decline in cognition might have commenced even earlier.

factors affecting cardiovascular function -- such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking -- are believed to impact the development of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia through effects on brain blood vessels and brain cells.

most research into dementia tend to focus on people aged 65 and over. In the future, scientists will need to devise long-term clinical studies that include much younger age groups and may have to enroll tens of thousands of participants, she said.

and Archana Singh-Manoux added:

"One way to deal with this "major challenge" might be to use computerised cognitive assessment tests, rather than face-to-face interviews, although more research is still needed on this approach."

my comments:

wow, so what was thought to be conventional acceptance that memory loss does not begin until one reaches his/her sunset years has been stirred by this latest findings conducted over a 10 year period.

i know several individuals who has cognitive impairment and they can be classified as being healthy without risk factors like obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. neither are these people smokers and furthermore, they are not in the 'over-the-hill' category because one was in her early 40s who needed a 24/7 full-time care giver and her beloved husband to carry out everyday functions which we take very much for granted.

it is indeed sobering to digest the latest findings that memory loss can start as early as in one's prime of life but it is even more heart wrenching to lose loved ones to mental impairment.

for those of us who are not on the wrong side of the equation, thank God there are tools and solutions to take care of that eventuality (which hopefully will not happen) and engaging a competent financial planner is surely the first step in the right direction.

aia singapore pte ltd

2012-01-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

with effect from january 01, 2012, aia, in a media release announced that aia in singapore will be known as aia singapore pte ltd with the insurance business in singapore being successfully transferred from a branch to a singapore-incorporated and a wholly-owned subsidiary of american international assurance company, limited. aia singapore also announced its inaugural AA- financial strength rating with stable outlook from rating agency, standard & poor's.

the ceo of aia singapore, mr tan hak leh said:

"having been in operation as a branch office in singapore for over 80 years since 1931, the transfer of our business to a singapore-incorporated company - aia singapore - is a very significant milestone for us. it reinforces our commitment to meeting the protection and savings needs of singaporean families across generations and we will continue to introduce innovative products and deliver quality service to help singaporean families bridge their underinsurance gap."

my comments:

existing aia policyholders have been informed of the transfer in september 2011 and all existing policy contracts with american international assurance company limited have been automatically transferred to aia singapore. with the transfer now formalised, all aia policyholders will continue to enjoy the same terms and conditions of their insurance policies.

we are proud to be part of the aia story and i have noticed a discernable change in the company's more customer-centric focus in many areas especially in the enhancement of existing products and in the development of new products (akan datang). and to quote one product, aia secure term plus has been re-priced (since november 2011) to be super competitive amongst similar class products in the market place.

we wish aia singapore pte ltd every success in the years to come.

aia promotion

2012-01-03T01:23:00.001-08:00

i shall kick-off my very first blog entry for 2012 with some good news from aia.

aia is currently having a promotion for 4 of their champion products:

a. aia complete critical cover
b. aia family first protect
c. aia life plus and
d. aia secure term plus

where there is a special premium discount of up to 25% for taking up any one of the abovementioned products.

the promotion period is from january 01 - 31 january 31, both dates inclusive, except aia secure term plus for which the promotion period of december 12, 2011 to january 31, 2012, both dates inclusive, applies.

the 25% premium discount is limited to aia complete critical cover as well as any and all optional riders purchased with it and plans eligible for the 20% discount are limited to aia family first protect, aia life plus and aia secure term plus as well as any and all optional riders purchased with such policies.

but do take note the 20% or 25% premium discount rates (as applicable) only apply to your first year premiums for annual mode of premium payment. however, if u choose to pay your premiums, monthly, lower rates of premium discounts will apply and your 3rd and 4th months' premiums in the first policy year will be waived.

the other promotion comes in the form of the early bird lunar dragon lucky draw open to all singapore citizens and residents who are aged 21 and above collectively, the 'eligible persons' and each, an eligible person). the promotion period for the draw is from january 01 to 22, 2012, both dates inclusive.

a chance to win a lunar dragon 24k gold ingot worth $988.00 will be allocated to each eligible person for every eligible plan applied and incepted within the promotion period (plans must be effective by march 31, 2012).

the draw will be conducted on february 16, 2012 at aia tower, 1 robinson road, singapore 048542 at 3.00pm (or such other date or time or at such other venue as may be determined by aia) and 3 winning eligible persons will be selected at random by such means and methods (which may be manual or computerised) as aia may determine in the presence of an external public accountant.

each winner will be entitled to only one prize, regardless of the number of wins.

important notes:

all insurance applications are subject to underwriting and acceptance by american international assurance company, limited (before january 1, 2012) or aia singapore pte ltd on or after january 01, 2012.

my comments:

testing

2012-01-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

happy new year

2012-01-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

as we reflect on the year that was 2011, here's moi wishing one and all, good health and an even more successful, peaceful, joyous and prosperous 2012 filled with abundance and all the good things in life.

God Bless.

reflections on 2011

2011-12-31T00:21:00.000-08:00

as this is the very last day and hours of the old year being 2011, it is perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on the last 364 days that has passed us by.

this year has turned out to be a mixed bag of blessings for me in the financial industry where i wear many hats including:

1. the one and only appointed life insurance specialist for promiseland
independent pte ltd
2. a key member in the team of the company's managing partners
3. being a trainer, coach and mentor to new advisers
4. a fa director leading a team of both new and seasoned advisers
5. a front person/spokesperson handling media comms
6. principal life insurance partner to many insurance companies
7. a sought after 'expert' to the media and
8. a financial planner

come 2012 which is just around the corner, will be my 15th year in the financial industry and also marks the same number of years with promiseland independent pte ltd.

my comments:

2011 has seen a constant number of referrals throughout the year but i mentioned that it has been a mixed year of blessings.

why?

because this year has also been the most challenging in my entire career in my role as a financial planner.

up to 90% or more of prospects has proven to be 'not-so-simple' cases and i can broadly categorise them to be:

a. seeking rebates
b. anti-selection, meaning unwilling to commit to full disclosure of
material information
c. taking me for a ride, getting work done on my part and then, simply
disappearing into the horizon

the flip side of this is that many new wannabe promislanders has joined our family and i can see promiseland independent pte ltd continuing to grow in terms of the quantity and quality of our advisors. and we now operate out of 3 offices in the same building, keypoint at the junction of beach road and jalan sultan.

another positive is that many insurers have continued to involve me for both feedback and involvement in their focus groups in the enhancement and design of old/new products. the most significant of these is aia, where the new management has invited the creme-de-la-creme of the industy practitioners in the last couple of months and i can verify that aia is focused on delivering to consumers, champion products that are not only value-added but are competitively priced as well.

i have ceased writing or contributing articles to publishing companies and prefer to blog on a daily basis because the outreach is to a wider audience and i have been blogging since 2006.

and to each and everyone who has been instrumental in my successful transition from a full time salaried employee to where i am now and because it is not possible to name each and everyone of u, please accept my sincere thanks and appreciation.

and last but not least, please accept my very best wishes for a blessed, joyous, healthy, peaceful and prosperous happy new year. huat ah!

insurer goes to court over 'unlicensed' driver

2011-12-30T02:54:00.001-08:00

today, there was an interesting motor insurance case which was highlighted in the straits times headlined:

"insurer goes to court over 'unlicensed' driver".

what happened?

it seems a young motorist by the name of tan yong ren who was driving his uncle's car collided with a lorry leaving one man dead and subsequently, there was a claim submitted.

what's the twist?

the insurer, direct asia investigated the claim and found that mr tan who is 21 years old allegedly held an international licence which is not valid in singapore.

direct asia has brought the case to court and claimed it was duped into including mr tan as a named driver in the motor insurance policy*. the insurer says it should not have to shoulder any compensation payouts to victims of the accident because it insured mr tan based on a misleading claim that his licence was a valid one. direct asia wants the high court to declare it is entitled to cancel the policy.

*the policy does not cover motorists aged under 25 or those with less than 2 years' experience on the road, unless they were offical named drivers.

the insurer is also seeking the high court's declaration that any compensation payouts are settled by the motor insurers bureau* where cases are dealt with when the policy is void and the bureau can then bill the driver.

*The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) is an independent body that was set up by insurers in 1975 and is funded by all motor insurers in Singapore. Its main purpose is to compensate people injured in road accidents caused by negligent untraced or uninsured motorists. The MIB provides a safeguard for consumers who are victims in road accidents. The MIB’s registered office is at 180 Cecil Street, Bangkok Bank Building, #07-03, Singapore 069546.

my comments:

testing

2011-12-29T00:00:00.001-08:00

testing

2011-12-28T00:00:00.001-08:00

even more reasons to worry about salt

2011-12-27T00:16:00.000-08:00

u do not have high blood pressure, check.
u are not overweight, check.
u exercise regularly, check.

give yourself a high-5, pat yourself on the back and therefore, u need not have to worry about salt, right?

well, think again.

one of the latest major studies, based on data from more than 12,000 american adults, took all the abovementioned factors (for death from heart disease) found that while a diet high in sodium - salt is the main source- increases your risk, even more important is the ratio of sodium (harmful) to potassium (protective) in a person's diet.

the study compared people whose meals contained little sodium relative to potassium to those whose diets had a high sodium-to-potassium ratio, the latter were nearly 50% more likely to die from any cause and more than twice as likely to die from ischaemic heart disease during a follow-up period averaging 14.8 years.

dr elena kuklina of the centres for disease control and prevention, the author of the study (published in the archives of internal medicine) said:

"we controlled all the major cardiovascular risk factors and still found an association between the sodium-potassium ratio and deaths from heart disease."

the average american consumes more than 3,400mg daily while the dietary guidelines for americans recommend a maximum of 2,300mg for people over age 2 but only 1,500mg for the 70% of adults at high risk of sodium-induced illness: people older than 50, blacks and those with hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

the report also pointed out that "population-wide reductions in sodium could prevent more than 100,000 deaths annually".

my comments:

according to our health promotion board, the daily recommended intake of salt is one teaspoon or 2,000mg per adult.

it has been estimated that 9 out of 10 singaporeans are consuming 2 teaspoons of salt which is twice the recommended daily intake probably because they may be unaware of the hidden sodium content in foods and most likely, due to the fact that many have outside meals where there is no control over the amount of salt in the meals consumed, unlike home-cooked meals.

most of us would probably point fingers at the salt content of potato chips, french fries or even instand noodles as the culprits leaving out the so-called healthy breakfast snack of cornflakes?

but one cup of cornflakes has about 270mg of sodium which is about the same as 20 potato chips, according to the vancouver food authority.

and the other ever present salt-laden item on the dining table is your humble soya sauce which is one of my favourite sauces to go with anything like noodles to stir fried dishes.

excessive consumption of salt on a daily basis can lead to serious health ailments like high blood pressure which in turn is linked to more serious problems like stroke and coronary heart disease.

therefore, for the sake of your own health and considerations on taking up wealth protection solutions which hinges on your insurability, do watch your salt intake, always eat in moderation and have at least 2 servings of fruits and 2 servings of vegeatables each day.

medical disclaimer:

this blog entry is for information purposes only and it is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. readers should and must always consult their healthcare provider/s to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

taiwan billionaire to donate almost all to charity

2011-12-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

it was reported in the taiwanese media that one of taiwan's business tycoons, mr samuel yin has pledged to donate 95% of his wealth to charity after he dies.

although he has not publicly disclosed the value of his assets, mr yin's wealth is estimated to be worth an estimated Tw$95 billion ($3.2 billion).

and mr yin who is 60 years old said:

"I've mentioned this to my family, and they've all agreed with me."

the billionaire's pledge is the biggest ever of it's kind in taiwan.

my comments:

God bless mr samuel yin richly for his most magnanimous selfless giving of almost his entire wealth to charity.

in the Christmas season, the real reason for the season is God's gift of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ and how apt to know of this person's gift to his fellow homo sapiens.

i have known wealthy businessmen/businesswomen who has similarly bequeathed their wealth to charity but alas, they are too few and too little.

some of these people have taken up insurance policies to leave their legacy to the masses who have been marginalised by society and my wish for this Christmas Season is to see more of the wealthy doing the same.

after all, no one needs to be reminded tis the season of giving.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

wishing each and everyone, especially every christian, all the joys, love, peace, goodwill and blessings of the Christmas Season.

and not forgetting the very real reason for the Christmas Season is the gift of God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ and one of the scripture verses found in Luke chapter 2 verses 10 and 11 proclaims this:

"10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

my comments:

when celebrating Christmas eve mass on saturday night, pope benedict xvi lamented that Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration and urged the faithful to look beyond the "superficial glitter" and to discover it's true meaning.

ditto from moi and my Christmas wish is for everyone to focus on the true meaning of the season and for it to touch u in a real and personal way.

ps: my other Christmas wish goes to the LTA and Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Lui Tuck Yew and Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMRT Corporation Ltd and her team to resolve all mrt ridership issues and to Mr Chew Men Leong, CEO of PUB and his engineers/staff to work out a solution to the flash floods affecting many parts of our tiny red dot nation. Amen.

11 nabbed for drink-driving in early morning op

2011-12-24T01:07:00.001-08:00

today, the traffic police arrested 11 drivers for drink-driving in an early morning operation in the early hours of the morning as part of a reminder to the public not to drink and drive ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

the traffic police set-up road blocks along jalan bukit merah, crawford street, macpherson road, keppel road, telok blangah road and kampung bahru road to nab errant drink drivers.

there were a total of 60 motorists who had to take the breathalyser test and of these, 11 failed the test and were arrested for drink driving. the motorists' ages range between 21 and 55 years old.

the highest breathalyser test clocked was 60 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, nearly 2 times the prescribed legal limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

although the number of accidents caused by drink—driving has gone down over the past two years, the number of fatalities has increased.

my comments:

in the interests of the season and everyone, i have to digress and today's blog entry does not have anything to do with insurance.

the message of if u drink, don't drive and if u drive, don't drink needs to be repeated because of the Christmas and New Year festivities.

as it is, already 11 motorists have been nabbed for drink-driving by the traffic police and the statistics on the number of fatalities resulting from the tipple cannot lie.

so, drink if u must (in moderation) but please leave the driving to sober people.

Singapore Nov inflation +5.7 pct y/y, exceeds consensus

2011-12-23T01:23:00.000-08:00

today, the singapore department of statistics released the consumer price index data for november 2011 and it came in at 5.7% year on year, much higher than the consensus forecast of 5.3%.

i reckon the higher inflation figure could have been influenced with transportation prices being spiked by the higher certificate of entitlement premiums and petrol prices remaining high and ditto for housing costs which include higher rents and power tariffs.

with the government's policy of restricting the vehicle population, there have been a reduction in the number of certificates of entitlement available compounded by fewer cars being scrapped which led to more intense bidding in order to secure COEs and therefore, saw an escalation in the premiums paid.

my comments:

with the monetary authority of singapore forecasting gdp growth in 2012 to slow to the range of 1% to 3%(from an expected 5.1% this year), the good news is our consumer price index is expected to moderate to 2.5% to 3.5% in the new year, which is also our government's forecast.

but on the flip side of the coin, our savings and fixed deposit rates will continue to stay low and net negative real returns and in a slowing economy, every cent counts.

therefore, surplus cash should not all be left in these traditional channels to earn meagre returns, although a financial planner will always recommend at least 6 to 12 months of emergency funds stay highly liquid.

but over and above these, the question to ask is; where are u parking your excess funds?

testing

2011-12-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

hospital bed crunch looms in next few years (2)

2011-12-21T01:55:00.001-08:00

in my blog entry, hospital bed crunch looms in next few years on december 08, 2011, i missed mentioning the on-poing construction of a new private hospital which is the farrer park hospital due to be completed in early 2013. this may not be surprising because there has not been extensive and ongoing publicity on the work-in-progress since 2009.

The Farrer Park Hospital is one of the first private hospitals to be built ground-up in Singapore after 30 years. As a wholly new development, it is able to incorporate and effectively integrate the tremendous advances in hospital design and medical technology that have transformed healthcare in the past three decades.

As such, The Farrer Park Hospital is well-equipped to deliver the best medical outcomes to patients from 11 operating theatres, three day surgery units with a total of 60 attached beds, a 23-bed Intensive Care Unit with state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging services, three endoscopy suites, a radiotherapy department, clinical laboratories, a full-service pharmacy and the most advanced implementation of hospital information technology.

the farrer park hospital is a part of connexion which will be one of the world's first truly integrated healthcare and hospitality complexes, comprising a premier specialist medical centre, a private tertiary hospital, and a luxury hotel with state-of-the-art wellness and conference facilities.

connexion is owned by singapore healthcare partners pte ltd and with effect from 20 November 2011, changed its corporate name to "The Farrer Park Company Pte Ltd" which will better reflect the company's dynamic and distinct corporate identity.

my comments:

when completed in 2013, the farrer park hospital is a welcome addition to the local hospital scene and will provide another 60 beds with another 23-beds in the intensive care unit with state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging services and other world class facilities.

obviously, patients who demand the very best in health care can add the farrer park hospital to their list of options available. ditto for those who are already covered with a top-notch comprehensive h&s insurance plan.

therfore, consumers should be well advised when they decide on their h&s coverage, whether the plan gives them the widest options available or is restrictive, whether with dollar-capped benefits and or designed for governement restructued hospitals only.

and making the right choice today is more imperative than ever because there is no turning the clock back especially with insurability the key issue to taking up insurance and not dependent solely on whether the premiums are affordable or not.

smrt suspends driver after woman's fall

2011-12-20T00:35:00.001-08:00

in what is a shocking but rare occurence while travelling on a bus, a woman, madam ding weibo, age 54 years old, fell and hit her head on a seat, after the smrt bus driver allegedly braked suddenly, leaving her in a coma.

this incident happened on sunday evening, after madam ding and her daughter, ms ding xiao sui, 27, had been shopping in orchard road and took bus service 167 outside the heeren shopping mall to commute back to their home at cantonment close.

after hitting her head, madam ding immediately fell unconscious and yesterday, her condition had deteriorated.

doctors told madam ding's husband, mr you bu jia, 58, that his wife's brain swelling had worsened despite an emergency operation on sunday night to remove part of her skull, to relieve pressure in her head.

mr you and his family who hails from the poeple's republic of china are singapore permanent residents and have been living in singapore for more than 10 years.

my comments:

surely, our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

i commute by bus and mrt daily (also by taxi occasionally) and as a 'young' man of 61 years, i have to be extra careful when i board and alight from the bus/train. often times, as all the seats are taken, i have to stand throughout the journey and this is where things can go wrong (especially on the bus) because most of the buses are pretty new and the braking system is powder-ful and super effective.

and things can turn dicey when the bus driver applies the brakes and this will cause passengers (like children, infant-in-arms, pregnant women, the elderly and those who are physically/medically challenged) to hang onto the poles/hand graps/seat handles with whatever strength they can muster for dear life. i remember there were times i almost lost my grip and sometimes, because the driver applies the brakes suddenly, i simply couldn't hold on and landed on fellow passengers, who thankfully prevented me from falling.

therefore, travelling on buses especially presents challenges to people like myself who fall into the group of those who are 'more fragile' than those who are in their prime of life.

for this reason alone, i have taken up a personal accident policy which is not only affordable but this plan comes with what i term as a unique benefit (not covered in all other insurance products) falling under the permanent disablement table of benefits covering even your fingers and toes.

if like me, and knowing just commuting daily is fraught with risks and uncertainty, please take my superficial (but not comprehensive) advice, don't leave home without at least a personal accident plan.

cpf members to enjoy 12% savings on HPS premiums

2011-12-19T21:38:00.001-08:00

i bring u good tidings because cpf members on the HPS (home protection scheme) can expect to enjoy significant savings from january 01, 2012.

the cpf board said that as at december 20, 2011, approximately 362,500 members will benefit from the lower premiums from the reduction in premiums for the hps. they form 80% of members who are currently paying annual premiums for their hps while the rest will continue to enjoy the low premium rates they are currently paying.

for example, a male member aged 36 years old servicing a $150,000 housing loan from the hdb for a term of 25 years, will pay the new reduced premium of $195.30, instead of $223.05 when he joins the scheme from january 01, 2012.

members who join the hps on or after january 01, 2012 will enjoy the new rates while existing members paying annual hps premiums will pay the lower premiums when they renew or adjust their hps coverage on or after january 01, 2012.

and the last revision in premiums was implemented in 2006.

my comments:

with inflation expected to be higher than normal for 2012, there should be real savings for all cpf members on the home protection scheme with an average of 12% reduction in premiums wef january 01, 2012.

in terms of pricing, how does the hps stand against the competition (from private insurers) even with the average reduction of 12% savings in premiums?

i shall quote just 1 private insurer, ntuc-income's mortgage protection 2004 plan for the given profile of a male, aged 36 years with sum assured of $150,000 for a term of 25 years:

cpf hps: $223.05 (current)
$195.30 (from jan 01, 2012)

ntuc-income: $205.25

although ntuc-income's premium is slightly higher by $9.95, the premium payable is for 18 years only whereas the cpf board will deduct premiums payable for the hps on an annual basis.

therefore, considering the total premiums payable which is $4,882.50 (hps) versus $3,694.50 (ntuc-income), there is a difference of a higher $1,188.00 in premiums for the hps policy if it is kept in-force for the full term of 25 years.

but more can be done to further enhance the home protection scheme. for example, private insurers already have mortgage decreasing term assurance products which offer additional layers of protection through:

a. critical illness coverage and
b. waiver of premium upon diagnosis of any of the 30 specificed critical
illness

because the hps is a plain-vanilla plan, it does not have additonal layers of protection which the consumer can take up through a private insurer's mortgage decreasing term assurance product.

with the re-pricing of hps, i expect private insurers will probably do a review of their current pricing of mortgage decreasing term assurance rates and clearly, competition can only favour the consumer.

agents fear they can't measure up

2011-12-19T00:15:00.001-08:00

as part of the new safeguards to protect retail investors, a new test, namely the capital markets and financial advisory services examination module 9a (M9A) for insurance agents marketing life insurance products has been introduced by the monetary authority of singapore.

this test applies to those who join the industry from next year but existing agents have been given the dateline by june 2013 to pass it.

the test will be based on the knowledge and understanding of the advantages and risks in structured products, especially structured investment-linked policies (ILPs), and covers a variety of derivatives in the market, both on-the-exchange and over-the-counter.

those who are exempted from the test must have a degree or higher qualification in finance, financial engineering or computational finance, or have chartered financial analyst (CFA) qualification awarded by the CFA Institute. i reckon a minority will have the specified higher qualifications and therefore, the majority in the financial industry will have to sit for the test.

the test will be administered by the singapore college of insurance, a non-profit company incorporated in 1994 and will cost between $107 and $151.94 for first-timers, and between $85.60 and $130.54 for subsequent attempts.

on the new test, MAS have also said they will be reviewing the entry requirements of four O-level passes, given that our investor population is becoming better educated and more sophiscated.

my comments:

these days, it is becoming increasingly harder to stay in the financial industry as there are already many veterens who may not have the minimum educational qualifications but are chinese-educated as well.

on the new compulsory test, mr tommy wee, president of the insurance and financial practitioners assocation of singapore said:

"it is definitely a daunting prospect for some of the older agents who are chinese-educated and may have difficulty understanding the syllabus."

and i reckon the financial industry will continue to support our government's initiatives to enhance and or raise the level of professionalism of practitioners.

but with our economy expected to slow to a range of 1% to 3% in 2012 and the financial services sector's growth to come down to 4.2% (from a projected 9.4% this year) and the new test being compulsory for all financial advisors, i can't help but wonder how the new year will unfold for the financial industry and all financial advisers.

news release by the cpf board

2011-12-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

the CPF board has announced that cpf members will continue to enjoy an interest rate of 4% on their Special and Medisave Accounts (SMA) from 1 January 2012 to 31 March 2012. but for their Retirement Account, the 4% interest rate will apply from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012.

this is in line with the Government’s announcement made in September 2011 to maintain the 4% p.a. floor rate for interest earned on all SMA monies and Retirement Account (RA) monies until 31 December 2012.

but the savings in the SMA currently earn either 4% or the 12-month average yield of 10-year Singapore Government Securities (10YSGS) plus 1%, whichever is the higher. The interest rate on SMA savings is adjusted quarterly, based on interest rates on 10YSGS over a preceding 12-month period.

The average yield of the 10YSGS plus 1%, from 1 December 2010 to 30 November 2011, works out to be 3.19%. Accordingly, the SMA interest rate payable to CPF members from 1 January 2012 to 31 March 2012 will be maintained at the current floor of 4%.

Additional Interest of 1%

An additional 1% interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a member’s combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the Ordinary Account (OA). The additional interest received on the OA will go into the member’s SA or RA to enhance his retirement savings. If the member is above 55 years old and participates in the LIFE scheme, the additional 1% interest will also be payable on his annuity premium, less annuity payouts already made. The additional interest earned on the member’s LIFE annuity monies will be paid into his RA.

another announcement is in the form of the adjustment of the medisave required amount which will be raised from the current $27,000 to $32,000 wef january 01, 2012.

Since 1 January 2004, CPF members who turn 55 and are able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum are required to set aside the MRA in their Medisave Account when they make a CPF withdrawal. If such members have less than the MRA in their Medisave Accounts, their Ordinary and/or Special Account balances in excess of the Minimum Sum will be used to top up the MRA.

source: http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/News/News-Release/N_19Dec2011.htm

my comments:

with the world markets continued to be dogged by one crisis after crisis, the interests earned in the cpf accounts can be said to be almost free of risk as they are guaranteed by our government.

against the backdrop of guaranteed cpf returns, many cpf members i know have regretted investing their cpf-oa monies and worst, some with their cpf-sa funds as well. and liquidating these investments now is not even an option because of high surrender costs.

that's why consumers should think carefully when they are approached into investing their cpf funds from chasing potentially higher returns which were never even guaranteed in the first place.

murphy's law? (2)

2011-12-17T03:33:00.001-08:00

murphy's law*?

2011-12-16T17:23:00.001-08:00

i read with a great dose of empathy, an article in today's edition of tabla (a weekly free tabloid) about a family's ordeal being struck by stroke and stuck in singapore.

mr jaswal and his wife from india arrived in singapore on november 23, 2011 to celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary.

but on november 25, 2011, mr jaswal suffered a stroke and has been in the intensive care unit of the neruosurgery ward in the singapore general hospital since.

the hospital bill has already chalked up a whopping $42,000 and the jaswal's only child, 25 year old ms svaneel arrived in singapore on november 26, 2011 carrying whatever money she could arrange. and what's worst is that mother and daughter have spent the last 21 days in the corridors of the hospital because they have no relatives or friends in our tiny red dot nation.

and thank God, mr jaswal's condition has improved and the family wants to move him back to india but the cost is highly prohibitive, at $35,000 with a doctor and nurse accompanying him.

*murphy's law states that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong and at the worst possible time.

my comments:

as a financial planner, my advice is that one of the most important items in planning for any holiday, whether near or far away is your ubiquitious travel insurance.

and because this is probably the lowest priced component of a vacation, it is something that is so invaluable and yet brings peace of mind.

it is truly unfortunate that the jaswals' travel arrangements were made through an agent who never mentioned anything about insurance.

if mr jaswal does not have any pre-existing medical condition, i believe a travel insurance policy will have coverage for many benefits including medical expenses incurred overseas and medical evacuation and repatriation.

lest u look down on the humble travel insurance policy because premiums are really affordable, i heard from an insurer that the highest claim paid for a travel policy was for emergencxy medical evacuation and repatriation from latin america (back to singapore) and the bill amounted to a staggering us$750,000.

and last but not least, my thoughts and prayers are with the jaswal family that everything will work out well for them.

widening smoking ban?

2011-12-15T06:35:00.001-08:00

the NEA or national environment agency launched an island wide consultation exercise last month to gather feedback on widening the smoking ban.

currently, smoking is banned in the majority of indoor locations in our tiny red dot nation, which includes shopping malls, cinemas, swimming pools, basement carparks, night spots, and bus stops.

the nea is considering extending non-smoking areas to include public places like common corridors, staircase landings in hdb blocks, parks and park connectors, beaches, smoking corners in entertainment outlets, hawker centres and food establishments.

although the smoking population here is in the minority, the nea has caught an increasing number of smokers breaking the law. in the first 10 months of 2011, it issued 4,462 tickets but for the whole of 2010, the number was just 4,646.

my comments:

i confess i have been a smoker myself and therefore, the habit can be highly addictive. i particapted in a public consultation exercise some years ago with the chairperson being dr lily neo held at a community centre. and one of the most radical suggestions we heard was for the government to impose a total ban on the import of cigarettes .

but when it comes to breathing in second hand smoke, we should be aware of the risks to non-smokers and the medical evidence from this 'exposure' is real. and what is worst may be taking-in smoke from an ambient environment which can be labelled as third hand smoke*.

*from wikipedia - Third-hand smoke is contamination by tobacco smoke that lingers following the extinguishing of a cigarette.

the male toilet in my office building can be loosely identified as a smoker's haven where the latter indulges in his habit but leaves the whole place lingering with third hand smoke but i have no other choice but to do what a man's gotta do here.

and there are many other places where the risk of breathing in third hand smoke can be quite overwhelming like the public lifts in hdb blocks, bus stops, outside office buidlings and shopping malls. and the list goes on and on...

therefore, the nea must not only widen the smoking ban but step up enforecement against errant smokers.

on lung cancer, here's the stats from the singapore cancer society:

Lung cancer is the second frequent cause of cancer in men and the third most common cancer in women.* One out of every five persons who died from cancer had lung cancer. An estimated 85% of lung cancer cases in males and 75% in females are caused by cigarette smoking.

because we are exposed to both second hand and third hand smoke on a daily basis, our risks from contracting lung cancer has also gone higher.

therefore, there is no escaping the fact that everyone of us are (passive) smokers, even though we are not smokers, per se.

there is perhaps nothing much we can do against being unwilling (passive) smokers ourselves but in terms of wealth protection planning, there is a wealth of solutions available.

singapore's economy may grow 3% in 2012 : mas survey

2011-12-14T00:56:00.001-08:00

according to the median forecast in the monetary authority of singapore's december survey of professional forecasters, singapore's economy is expected to grow by 3% in 2012.

the most likely outcome as reflected by the mean probability forecast is for growth of between 3% to 3.9% which is much lower from the september survey range of between 5% to 5.9%.

growth in the manufacturing and financial services sector is expected to come down sharply to 3.4% (from an expected 8.5% this year) and 4.2% (from an expected 9.4% this year) in 2012 respectively.

for hotels and restaurants, growth is expected to be around 4%, down from 5.9% in 2011.

the one silver lining in the survey is headline cpi inflation is expected to be lower at 3.1% from the forecast of 5.1% for this year.

my comments:

yes, there are dark clouds hovering in the horizon as voiced by the consensus of opinions from economists and experts aplenty here and abroad.

and this is echoed in an informal poll at the website of channelnewsasia:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/polls/index.php?action=vote&id=772&ranid=9015&voteNr=2

where an overwhelming 75% of respondents think a recession in our tiny red dot nation will happen any time between the next 3 to 12 months. only a minority of 7% believe our economy is sound and there will be no recession.

if the official government forecast for our economy is to grow from a rather tepid 1% to the upper range of 3% in 2012, it should translate to adding to the numbers unemployed from the current 2.1%

many people i know have already cut down on spending and have revised their budgets to eliminate wants and stay focused on needs. but those who are wiser should take another step which is to review and or revisit their wealth management planning.

all u need to know about estate agents

2011-12-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

yesterday, the cea (council for estate agencies) rolled out a brochure which gives tips on all a consumer need to know about estate agents such as:

a. how to identify a registered property agent
b. how such agents should handle transaction monies
c. a listing of the responsibilities of the property agent or salesperson in
explaining to consumers all the relevant forms and documents in a binding
agreement
d. a list of what consumers need to be aware of on their part,
such as providing one's terms and requirements clearly to the agent
e. what to do when a dispute arises.

the brochure also highlights that dual representation, where a property agent represents both the buyer and the seller and collects commission from both parties is an offence.

and it is also an offence for a property agent or agency to introduce or refer a buyer to any moneylender.

property agents and agencies are also prohibited from handling money on behalf of any party in the sale or purchase of any property here.

and last but not least, the brochure also advised consumers not to respond to flyers where the property agent or salesperson has not provided a registration or licence number.

the consumer guide can be viewed (and downloaded) at the cea website:

http://www.cea.gov.sg

my comments:

our parliament passed the estate agent's bill on september 01, 2010, and the new measures will be overseen by the cea (council for estate agencies).

since january 01, 2011, all property agents and property agencies besides other enhanced licensing rules, have to be registered with the cea and aspiring property agents will require a minimum of four GCE 0-Level passes and are also required to take a mandatory industry examination.

on the recent rules and regulations governing the real estate indutry, i see many parallels in the licensing of financial advisors in the financial industry.

but i view the real estate industry to be homogeneous in nature but not so with the financial industry.

what do u mean?

if we look at the distribution of new life business through the lia (http://www.lia.org.sg), the tied channel accounts for 48%, the bancassurance channel with 35%, the fa and other channels, 13% and 4% respectively.

this should be simple enough, right?

but till today, when i mention the word, independent as in my company's name, promiseland independent and my independent standing, the person/s sitting with me is rather clueless about my company and my standing as a financial advisor.

the authorities would be well advised to similarly educate the general public on the differences between the 3 main channels of the distribution of life insurance products, be it from the tied agency, the bancassurance and fa channels.

an example is in the number of companies being holders of a financial adviser's licence at the mas website (http://www.mas.gov.sg/fi_directory/index.html), and we can see a total of 66 companies here which is truly mind-boggling.

and one question immediately surfaces, are all these 66 companies similar?

therefore, just like what the cea has done, the consumer should have a guide on the different entities in the financial industry.

zurich international life

2011-12-12T00:19:00.001-08:00

today, david choo, md of promiseland independent and myself accepted the invitation to attend zurich internationl life's client appreciation evening. zurich international life, part of the zurich financial services group established it's presence locally in may 2005.

the occasion was graced by zurich financial services group ceo, mr martin senn who flew in specially for the event.

mr senn filled us in on the company's directions and goals for the new few years and also informed us that they have applied to set up a subsidiary in singapore and a full licence to give the company, access to sell and distribute a greater variety of life insurance products to a wider group of consumers.

currently, zurich international life serves mainly corporations, expatriates or high net-worth individuals because of the limited licencing as given by the monetary authority of singapore.

my comments:
zurich international life is probably well known by one of it's champion products, vista, an investment-linked plan and another is their international term assurance, a non-participating regular premium term protection product.

by next year, i am excited by the news that zurich international life hopes to roll out more insurance solutions for singaporeans and permanent residents, such as savings and retirement products.

my hope is that zurich international life will incorporate a focus group to tap into the feedback/inputs of selective industry practitioners like what many other insurers have been doing, which will translate to not only more innovation but better competitive products available to the consumers here.

how to claim against foreign motorist

2011-12-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

on an accident involving a foreign motorist, there have been a number of queries on how to go about filing a claim.

here's the response from the general insurance association of sigapore which is available from their website at:

http://www.gia.org.sg/pdfs/Claim%20against%20Foreign%20Motorist.pdf

How to Claim against Foreign Motorist

The General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) would advise motorists to claim against their own policies, if they have a comprehensive policy, in instances of accidents with foreign motorists in either Singapore or Malaysia. This would save them the inconvenience of making a claim against motorists from another country.

However, if motorists wish to make a third-party motor claim against insurers in Malaysia, motorists are advised to seek recourse directly with the insurer concerned by submitting the following documents:

The claimant’s vehicle registration card (photocopy);
Certificate of Insurance, cover note or policy schedule (photocopy);
Identity card (photocopy);
police report;
a police sketch plan and key (if available);
result of police investigation (if available); and
proof of losses incurred

In addition, an adjuster’s report with original photographs, a repair bill and proof of payment, a rental-car bill (if the car was rented) and proof of payment and bills and receipt for other expenses incurred.

Registered post should be used when sending any original document.

If the action taken by a claimant against the motorist in Malaysia is unsuccessful after all avenues have been exhausted, the claimant can approach GIA’s Malaysian counterpart, Persatuan Insuran Am Malaysia (PIAM) or GIA at the following address:

Persatuan Insuran Am Malaysia (PIAM)
3rd Floor, Wisma Piam
150 Jalan Tun Sambanthan
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel No: 0203-274 7399
Fax No: 0203-274 5910

General Insurance Association of Singapore
180 Cecil Street #07-02
Bangkok Bank Building
Singapore 069546
Tel No: (65) 62218788
Fax No: (65) 62272051

The PIAM and GIA will assist only after evidence is produced that all necessary actions have been taken to pursue the matter.

run run shaw retires as tvb chairman at age 104

2011-12-10T01:10:00.001-08:00

yesterday, there was a media report that caught my eye(s). it featured mr run run shaw, the co-founder of Television Broadcasts (TVB) who will retire as chairman after more than 40 years at Hong Kong's largest television company. according to consultant media partners asia, TVB accounted for more than 80 per cent of Hong Kong's free-to-air television market by advertising sales in 2009.

mr shaw will step down officially on Dec 31, 2011 but will be appointed chairman emeritus of TVB after he retires. he will be replaced by executive deputy chairman norman leung, who will become chairman on Jan 1, 2012.

mr shaw, who set up Hong Kong's biggest free-to-air television operator in 1965, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

my comments:

for all skeptics who find it hard to believe that any person can live well beyond today's life expectancy, mr run run shaw is an excellent example who is not only tremendously successful but is now well past his centenarian years at 104 years young.

and the honour of being the oldest person in singapore is probably ms teresa hsu chih, born on jul 07, 1898, living past her 113th birthday but has since passed away very recently on december 07, 2011. perahps one factor in her longevity is the fact that she advocates and practises laughter and i quote:

"I prefer to laugh than to weep. Those people who cry to me, I always tell them it is better to laugh than to use tissue paper, as laughing is free but tissue paper still cost five cent. 'Ha ha ha' cost no cents."

what's my point?

because living to a ripe old age, surpassing today's life expectancy of 80 to 90 years presents challenges to any financial planner and specifically, retirement planning.

often times, i have looked at the retirement plan of both individuals and families (executed by other financial planners) and the following variables and or their assumptions does not sit well with me:

a. assuming too short a period of retirement, with life expectancy to be
either 70, 75 or 80 years.
b. expected rate of inflation assumed to be very low at sub 2%.
c. expected rate of returns to be too high at 2 figures. i saw one retirement
plan with an assumed rate of return to be 15%.

and last but not least, the retirement plan may be too aggressive with the retirement age assumed to be 35 years or 40 years old which brings forth the twin challenges in both the shorter time horizon (from current age till retirement) and the longer number of years in retirement (based on current life expectancy).

therefore, the bottom line is this, which is the importance of not only engaging a competent financial planner but the retirement plan should not have overly benign assumptions, for example, on the rate of inflation and adopting too aggresive a rate of return from investments.

the ten most hated jobs

2011-12-09T23:12:00.001-08:00

yesterday, my blog entry was on the ten happiest jobs, according to the general social survey by the national organization for research at the university of chicago. but how about jobs at the other end? in other words, what are the ten most hated jobs?

believe it or not, these are the ten most hated jobs:

1. Director of Information Technology: Information technology directors hold almost as much sway over the fate of some companies as a chief executive, but they reported the highest level of dissatisfaction with their jobs. Why? “Nepotism, cronyism, disrespect for workers.”

2. Director of Sales and Marketing: A director of sales and marketing plans reported the second-highest level of job dissatisfaction, “a lack of direction from upper management and an absence of room for growth”.

3. Product Manager: Product managers complained of restricted career growth, and boring clerical work even at this level.

4. Senior Web Developer: Senior web developers reported a high degree of unhappiness in their jobs, because employers are unable to communicate coherently, and lack an understanding of the technology.

5. Technical Specialist: A technical specialist reported that for all their expertise, they were treated with a palpable disrespect. Their input was not taken seriously by senior management.

6. Electronics Technician: Electronics technicians complain of having too little control, work schedule, lack of accomplishment, no real opportunity for growth, no motivation to work hard, no say in how things are done, and mutual hostility among peers.

7. Law Clerk: Clerkships are among the most highly sought-after positions in the legal profession and the job beefs up a resume. Yet law clerks still report high levels of dissatisfaction. The hours are long and grueling, and the clerk is subject to the whims of sometimes mercurial personalities.

8. Technical Support Analyst: Technical support analysts help people with their computer issues. This typically amounts to calmly communicating technical advice to panicked individuals, often over the phone, and then going on site only to find the client simply hadn’t turned the printer on. They may be required to travel at a moment’s notice, sometimes on holidays or weekends.

9. CNC Machinist: CNC machinists operate computer numerical control machines. For the uninitiated, this is a machine that operates a lathe or a mill. Now that the CNC operator has had most of the physical hazards of manufacturing replaced by a machine, there’s not a lot to do but push buttons and maintenance. Since it’s a specialized skill, the job offers no room for advancement.

10. Marketing Manager: Marketing managers often cited a lack of direction as the primary reason for job dissatisfaction.

the ten happiest jobs

2011-12-09T00:15:00.001-08:00

according to the general social survey by the national organization for research at the university of chicago, the ten happiest jobs were:

1. Clergy: The least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all.

2. Firefighters: Eighty percent of firefighters are “very satisfied” with their jobs, which involve helping people.

3. Physical therapists: Social interaction and helping people apparently make this job one of the happiest.

4. Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness.

5. Special education teachers: If you don’t care about money, a job as special education teacher might be a happy profession. The annual salary averages just under $50,000.

6. Teachers: Teachers in general report being happy with their jobs, despite the current issues with education funding and classroom conditions. The profession continues to attract young idealists, although fifty percent of new teachers are gone within five years.

7. Artists: Sculptors and painters report high job satisfaction, despite the great difficulty in making a living from it.

8. Psychologists: Psychologists may or may not be able to solve other people’s problems, but it seems that they have managed to solve their own.

9. Financial services sales agents: Sixty-five percent of financial services sales agents are reported to be happy with their jobs. That could be because some of them are clearing more than $90,000 dollars a year on average for a 40-hour work week in a comfortable office environment.

10. Operating engineers: Playing with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders, backhoes, scrapers, motor graders, shovels, derricks, large pumps, and air compressors can be fun. With more jobs for operating engineers than qualified applicants, operating engineers report being happy.

my comments:

i can loosely agree with the findings identified as the ten happiest jobs. and sitting at the number one spot is clergy and i can relate this to new creation church where i've been attending for more than 11 years. i believe our senior pastor joseph prince can be said to be one of the happiest in his role and i'm certain many in our congregation will go along with this.

and being a financial adviser myself (one of my roles in promiseland independent), i can testify that in my 14 years in the financial industry is not because i was raking in the moola (contrary to the survey). what drives me is my passion and satisfaction in helping others to enhance their financial freedom.

because, although money is important but can it satisfy all of one's needs? therefore, if we go by abraham maslow's theory of meeting needs, the ultimate is in the acheivement of self-actualization.

aviva and dbs launch singapore's first renminbi-denominated insurance plan

2011-12-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Singapore: Aviva and DBS launch Singapore's first Renminbi-denominated insurance plan

08 December, 2011

The Dragon Renminbi Plan is Singapore’s first single premium non-participating endowment plan, offering investors a yield of 2.85% per annum over a five year period.
The Plan, underwritten by Aviva, will be available exclusively to DBS customers at all DBS Treasures Centers.

Aviva and DBS Bank Ltd (“DBS”) have launched the Dragon Renminbi Plan – Singapore’s first five year Renminbi-denominated (offshore Chinese Yuan, CNH1) single premium non-participating endowment plan. The product, underwritten by Aviva, will allow investors to take advantage of opportunities on offer in the rapidly developing Chinese market. The Dragon Renminbi Plan is available to investors at all DBS Treasures Centres, with a minimum single premium of RMB250,000.

According to Jeremy Soo, managing director and head, Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), DBS Bank: “We’ve seen a strong demand for Renminbi products, since introducing our suite of Renminbi offerings in February this year. We’re confident the demand for Renminbi-denominated products will continue as investors seek to diversify their portfolio and capitalise on the relative strength of the Asian economy. The launch of the Dragon Renminbi Plan provides our customers with another product that leverages on the rise of Asia and China’s growth, allowing them to enjoy potential currency gains.”

The suite of Renminbi products that DBS launched earlier this year includes current and fixed-deposit accounts, currency-linked investments, as well as CNH-denominated bonds, unit trusts and structured notes. The Dragon Renminbi Plan is their first Renminbi insurance product with a five year term.

Although volatilities are expected in the short term, investors will likely see a gradual appreciation of the RMB against the USD over the next five years, making the Dragon Renminbi Plan’s five year tenure an attractive one.

Simon Newman, CEO, Aviva Singapore, says that the current economic landscape has made it important for insurers to seek opportunities within the region to meet the growing financial appetite of customers.

“We felt that the time was right for us to offer a Renminbi product to our customers, backed by a rewarding yield. The Dragon Renminbi Plan is the first product of its kind and unlike anything seen in this market before. As the only Renminbi endowment product in the market right now, the plan provides investors with a mid-term financial planning solution into a currency that is expected to gradually appreciate in the next five years. Moreover, with the fixed return of 2.85%, it allows investors to gain access to China without taking on excessive market risk,” explained Mr Newman.

“The development of such a product would of course not have been possible without the strong partnership between Aviva and DBS that has been built over a number of years,” Mr Newman continued.

Aviva and DBS have been in a bancassurance partnership since 2001. This partnership has been a significant contributor to Aviva growing its business extensively in Singapore. The third-quarter results this year showed that Aviva’s life insurance sales grew by 65%. Bancassurance sales tripled when comparing the nine months in 2011 against the same time in 2010.

1 RMB is traded both onshore (in Mainland China) and offshore (primarily Hong Kong). These are traded at different rates and there are regulations that keep the currency markets apart. The differing demand and supply conditions also lead to separate market clearing exchange rates. “CNH” is used in statements and advices to denote the RMB that is available outside of Mainland China, based on offshore board rates for RMB.

my comments:

About the Dragon Renminbi Plan

Maturity Value of 115.09%, or equivalent to RMB 1,150,900 (for a single premium investment of RMB 1,000,000).
The Maturity Value amounts to an effective yield of 2.85% per annum, compounded yearly over a five-year period on the single premium, plus the return of the single premium.
Peace of mind with death benefit cover.
Guaranteed issuance basis (ie 100% acceptance by Aviva) with no health questions asked.
Upon policy maturity, policyholders have the option to choose to receive the payment in the contract currency or any other currency made available by us such as SGD or USD.

i understand this product is exclusive to the tie-up between aviva and her bancassurance partner, dbs and presents another option to investors seeking to invest into renminbi (RMB) related products and services.

some of my company's advisors have asked me whether we can market this product and i have responded by emailing to mr steven baxter, head of partners distribution, aviva for his clarifications.

announcement from tokio marine life insurance

2011-12-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

we have just received this email notification from tokio marine life insurance singapore:

Dear Partners,

with effect from 15 December 2011 (inclusive), TM Wealth Enhancement (Cash) will no longer be available for investment under CPFIS-SA.

The product will continue to be available for investment under CASH, SRS and CPFIS-OA.

All proposals using CPFIS-SA funds must reach our office by 15 December (Thurs).

Please disseminate this information to all your advisers.

Thank you.

Warmest Regards

Ms Joyce Soh
Assistant Manager
Partnership Distribution Department
*Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore Ltd. *
(Company Reg. No. 194800055D)
Tel: (65) 6592-6229
Fax: (65) 6223-9120

hospital bed crunch looms in next few years

2011-12-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

ms salma khalik, the health correspondent of the straits times warns of "hospital bed crunch looms in next few years".

the recent news that our government has pushed the opening of sengkang general hospital, 2 years ahead of schedule in 2018 may be testament to the fact that our nation faces a shortage of hospital beds, even though augmented by the opening of the new ng teng fong hospital with an extra 700 beds, scheduled to take in patients from the year 2014.

current occupancy rates at public hospitals (with the exception of alexandra hospital) are hovering at or above 85% while the latest figures showed changi general hospital crossing the 95% mark on some days last maonth.

in contrast, the biggest private hospital chain, parkway pantai group comprising of mounth elizabeth, gleneagles and parkway east have average occupancy rates of 65% to 70%, although there should be an extra 333 beds with the opening of another hospital, the novena in mid 2012.

according to ms khalik, singapore's public health sector is chronically short of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. but with more private hospitals coming up, the public sector can expect to see many of its highly skilled doctors leaving for greener pastures. last year, 310 doctors including 103 specialists left the public sector and in the first half of 2011, another 146 doctors, amongst them 35 specialists left the public sector.

and ms khalik notes that there is already a disproportionate number of specialists in the private sector. as a comparison, as at the end of 2010, the private sector with 1,873 acute hospital beds had 1,314 specialists while the public sector with 6,231 beds had only 2,030 specialists.

ms khalik draws this conclusion that there are not enough beds in the public sector to cope with the high demand, and even so, there may not be enough doctors and nurses to give patients the quality care they need.

my comments:

in my own experience, getting admitted into a private hospital comes with a problem in terms of the choice of being alloted a single-bedded room because they are usually fully taken up and i'm placed in the queue when one becomes available which may never happen and in which case, i have to be contended to stay in a 2-bedded room with a fellow patient.

on the other hand, getting a heavily subsided bed in a government restructured hospital (especially a bed in a 'C' Class Ward) may incur a long waiting time. there was even a media report that a patient had to be wheeled to the corridor and waited for up to 48 hours for a hospital bed. and i recall my own late beloved mother had to be placed in an observation ward awaiting the availability of a bed in a 'C' Class Ward for nearly 6 hours some years ago.

what's my point?

if one of the problems lie in the looming hospital bed crunch in the next few years, are there any options open to u, should the day come (touch wood) for the need to be admitted to a hospital.

the answer is yes, in terms of the solution in the availability of h&s products, because the choices can be mind-boggling and it definitely pays to know what are u looking for, should u wish to avoid the looming hospital bed crunch.

for example, the basic medishield plan is designed for limited options, and meant only for lower class wards in government restructured hospitals. the other drawback is the plan does not provide for lifetime coverage. and do take note the applicable deductible and co-insurance will not be covered.

moving up the h&s chain, we have the integrated shield providers like aia, aviva, great eastern life, ntuc-income and prudential where many benefits come 'as-charged' and not dollar-capped like older shield products. and all of these integrated shield plans come with different options, whether the life assured can exercise being admitted to all hospitals (whether private or government restructures hospitals) or just government restructured hospitals and the lowest plan usually restricted to lower class wards in government restructured hospitals only.

and because the shield providers also allow the purchase of the rider to cover the deductible and co-insurance, this may translate to a first dollar reimbursement arrangement between insured and insurer (with the exception of ntuc-income assist rider which does not cover 100% of the co-insurance).

shield coverage is essentially designed for local consumption with the exception of emergency overseas (outside singapore)* but is usually pegged to the reasonable and customary charges which would have incurred for similar medical treatment in a hospital in singapore, whichever is lower.

*aviva defines this as in-patient medical complaint outside singapore and if u are covered under Plan 1, aviva will pay the actual incurred charges or the reasonable and customary charges for equivalent medical treatment in any singapore private hospital, whichever is lower.

moving to comprehensive h&s plans that provide international coverage (outside singapore), we have a whole suite of products that have defined geograhical limits as well as worldwide coverage.

therefore, know what u are looking for and the limitations of each h&s product because in the final analysis, the plan that provides for the most options does not come cheap but is there when needed.

Polytechnic lecturer dies after collapsing at school

2011-12-07T00:35:00.001-08:00

it is truly sad to read in today's edition of the new paper that another young life has gone too soon and in this case, ms jacqueline ho, a singapore polytechnic lecturer in her 40s who collapsed in school along the corridor outside her office. the new paper reported that she suffered from a heart attack.

the report also said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a call at 11:06am and, upon arrival nine minutes later, found that ms ho had no pulse and was not breathing, upon which an automated external defibrillator was used on her. they took her to the National University Hospital (NUH) while giving her cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) along the way.

ms ho died in NUH soon after.

my comments:

i believe each and every time we read about someone who is gone too soon, our hearts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones.

for those who die suddenly, perhaps the only positive aspect is that the person need not have to go through a long and arduous period of suffering and incurring big or even huge medical bills. and i remember how my late beloved younger brother who not only suffered for 9 long months (in and out of hospital) but the final medical bill came to more than $300,000 not counting the loss of dual incomes, including his beloved wife who became his 24/7 care giver from the date of diagnosis of his late stage cancer.

whilst on this subject, i have come across prospects who have taken up specifically stand-alone 30 critical illness protection products which provides for a payout of the sum assured upon diagnosis of the 30 specified critical illness but is not aware that the payout is contingent on fulfilling first, the specified survival period from the date of diagnosis of the critical illness and then, meeting other terms and conditions before the claim can be admitted and paid. this survival period can be as short as 7 days, or 14 days or even 30 days. for example, in axa life's living enhancer plan:

"benefits are paid only if the life assured survives at least 7 days from the date of diagnosis of the critical illness while the policy is in-force."

therefore, taking up a stand-alone 30 critical illness protection plan comes with an inherent risk of dying suddenly and not meeting first the specified survival period and hence, no benefit will be payable.

1 in 5 men here cheat on partners

2011-12-06T00:31:00.001-08:00

wow, this is the headlines carried by mypaper in the front page which highlighted the latest global sexual wellbeing survey commissioned by condom maker, durex.

the survey carried out between september and october polled men and women from 36 countries which included 506 singaporeans. other countries in the survey included australia, malaysia, china and the united states.

women in singapore have, on average, 6 sexual partners from the time they first had sexual intercourse and for men, on average having 16 sexual partners from the time they lose their virginity. around 17% of men here admitted to losing their virginity through paid sex.

and what is more worrying is that 42% of male singapore respondents said they did not use any protection against HIV, aids and other STIs when they had sex for the first time and ditto for approx 50% of women respondents here. and almost 25% of the latter who had unprotected sex said it was a risk they were willing to take.

my comments:

when i read the article, thoughts like the very real risks of contracting HIV and sexual diseases through unprotected sex went rampant in my mind but other thoughts occupied my mind as well which dwelt on financial planning and wealth protection planning.

firstly, if 1 in 5 men cheat on their partners, our island's statistics on divorce and divorce rates are already pretty alarming. for example, our divorce rate has doubled over the last decade, and as of 2003, for every 10 marriages registered in our tiny red dot nation, almost 3 ended in divorce. and looking at the government's statistics (http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/keyind.html#mardiv) on the general divorce rate as at 2010, it is 7.6 and 7.3 per 1,000 married resident males and females respectively. (see chart on age specific divorce rates)

and in terms of a scenario of a future parting of the ways for the married couple (however unlikely), i wonder whether financial planners have factored this into their clientele's financial plan.

and secondly, due to the very high percentage of male and female respondents who engaged in sex for the very first time without protection may or may not have made full disclosure when entering into contracts of insurance. if this is true, then the relationship between insured and insurer may not be binding and the insurance policy incepted may not be valid.

i have posted on the principle of uberrima fides often enough and this blog entry serves as another gentle reminder here to everyone involved, be it the consumer, tied agent, bank adviser, or financial adviser.

aia

2011-12-05T05:07:00.001-08:00

today may mark the beginning of yet another major milestone in the annals of aia, since their existence in singapore some 80 years ago, in 1931.

Why?

besides tapping on the feedback from consumers, aia's senior management has decided to incorporate a focus group (from the fa channel) into the design of new life products as well.

21 year old dies after stanchart half marathon

2011-12-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

on my way to church today (by bus) to attend new creation church's 3rd service, i overheard a conversation between 2 fellow commuters that went like this:

a: u heard or not, someone died running today's marathon?
b: don't joke lah, where got?
a: this thing can joke, meh?

yes, i can now confirm the conversation to be true because i just caught the same news over channel news asia's website that a 21 year old chinese died after completing the stanchart half marathon.

other deaths at endurance events in singapore:

2005 - mr ho wai piew, aged 40 who suffered a heart attack during the swim leg of the new balance corporate triathlon.
2006 - colonel bernard tan, 39 who collapsed 600m from the 10km finishing line during the singapore biathlon.
2007 - national triathlete thaddeus cheong, only 17 years young collapsed after finishing 3rd in a sea games triathlon selection trial.
2007 - army officer ho si qiu, 25 collapsed after completing the half-marathon at the singapore bay run.
2009 - mr calvin lee, 42 ran into trouble in the swim leg of the lsim singapore international triathlon.

my comments:

just like many others, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the 21 year old who has met with such an untimely demise.

alas, life is always unpredictable, isn't it? the sad fact remains that no one can claim to be immortal and all of us must face death at any point of time in the future, be it sooner or later.

but since there's no way to avoid death, is it not imperative to plan ahead while we still can? so, if u have either not engaged a competent financial advisor and also not reviewed your financial plan especially for wealth protection planning, perhaps today is as good a day as any to do so.

because who knows what tomorrow may bring?

buying travel insurance didn't offer peace of mind

2011-12-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

today, there was a letter by ms yeow soo yong published in the straits times who lamented on her not so positive experience of buying chartis travel insurance, not once but twice.

the first time in may, chartis erred in the coverage which should have been international, rather than asia as she was travelling to maldives.

the second was for her trip to europe this month but the salesperson at the travel fair stated the period of coverage to be 14 days which should have rightfully been 15 days. and the story goes on and i quote ms yong:

Subsequently, a Chartis staff member called me and told me I had to top up the premium because I was to be covered for 15 days, not 14. Upset that I was inconvenienced by the insurer's mistake again, I refused to accede and sought an explanation for the poor service.

"As my travel date neared, I did not hear from Chartis, and I did not have my money deducted for the policy. Uneasy, I called Chartis to confirm coverage but was shocked when I was told that it had lost the policy. I had to send Chartis a copy of my policy, which it is now reviewing."

which led ms yong to ask this question:

"Did the staff member who sought an increase in premium for the mistake made by Chartis arbitrarily cancel the policy without informing me?"

ms yong concluded by saying that if she did not check again with chartis, she would have travelled to europe with the assumption that she was covered by her travel insurance.

my comments:

sometimes, it really boggles my mind as to why should any consumer have to put up with the hassles of taking up travel insurance, diy or going direct when the simple solution is to engage a financial adviser who will only be too happy to effect the travel insurance policy even at a moment's notice.

what do i meant?

i remember just last week, my client and his wifey were on their way to changi international airport and he called me and the conversation went like this:

client: sorry to trouble u, patrick, i will be reaching the airport soon and i forgot to take up travel insurance. can do now or not?

myself: sure, no problem so long as u are not already boarded on the airplane.

there u go. all it takes is a short call and the travel policy is as good as done and all u need to do is to enjoy your well deserved vacation anyway in the world.

but i should still applaud ms yong for not leaving home without her travel insurance policy because this is the most affordable component of any vacation and yet, it buys the much desired peace of mind.

testing

2011-12-03T05:01:00.001-08:00

pet peeves?

2011-12-02T06:07:00.001-08:00

i suppose everyone of us has our pet peeves. today, two of my pet peeves happened, one after another, just slightly more than one hour apart.

pet peeve number one is when a propect who called me when i was in my office approx a week ago requesting to meet at city square mall (coffee and tea leaf outlet) in the evening to discuss his protection needs.

i waited for more than an hour and at the same time, realised i did not have his mobile number as it was an unregistered one. it then struck me that i have become a victim of another person's idea of a joke and or prank and i became a 'willing' party simply because i was too naive.

after this, i had dinner and strolled into the ntuc-fair price supermart to purchase my favourite yeo's canned drinks. on offer was 3 cans for $1.90.

pet peeve number two happened at the check out counter, and the cashier (a lady who was probably in her late 50s) charged me $2.10 and insisted was the correct pricing. i told her it was on offer for $1.90 but she did not accept my explanation. rather than spending more time arguing, i went to the supermart's office and spoke to the manager on duty who confirmed the pricing to be $1.90.

my comments:

tokio marine life insurance - launch of tm legacy VIP

2011-12-01T03:51:00.001-08:00

today is the official launch date of tokio marine life insurance's latest plan, tm legacy VIP.

being part of tokio marine life insurance's focus group, i had the privilege of giving our feedback to the management when the product was rolled out before the focus group some months ago.

what is tm legacy VIP?
tm legacy VIP is a participating single premium whole life plan designed as a solution to legacy planning needs by providing a high guaranteed death benefit in the event of death and terminal illness.

my comments:

tm legacy VIP is open to juveniles as well as adults and is denominated in S$. one unique selling proposition is in the form of a guaranteed (and non-guaranteed) cash value right from the very first policy year which is not found in currently available participating whole life products with the exception of manulife's solitaire which can be categorised as a similar class product.

the projected reversionary bonus struture is $10 per $1,000 sum assured compounded at 1% (based on a 5.25% projected investment rate of return) which has been assumed for many other tokio marine life insurance's participating products for many years and is not what i consider to be overly optimistic.

and tm legacy VIP rides on the insurer's sole distinction of never cutting bonuses in the entire history of the company since their existence in 1948.

this product is as 'plain vanilla' as u like without any complexities lurking in the contract and presents another option to legacy planning and merits serious consideration especially for those who are adverse to the risks of foreign currencies.

testing

2011-12-01T01:18:00.001-08:00

aviva: launch of my protector - level plus

2011-11-30T02:09:00.001-08:00

today, we received an email notification from aviva on the change in their quotation software.

the upgraded software incorporates the launch of my protector - level plus from december 01, 2011 which is a repriced version of the current my protector - level term plan which has been withdrawn to make way for the new my protector - level plus term plan.

what is my protector - level plus?

this is a regular premium non-participating level term plan and offers protection against death and terminal illness.

aviva my protector - level plus plan is available for policy term of:

a. 5 years that is embedded with guaranteed renewable option or
b. 10 years to age 82 or up to age 99 next birthday, whichever is lower.

and the plan comes with a guaranteed issuance option for the following life stage events without evidence of health and they are:

a. any change of marital changes of the life assured, such as the life assured marries or divorces
b. the life assured becomes a parent or adopt a child
c. the life assured graduates from tertiary education.

then, the life assured can exercise this option to increase the sum assured of the basic policy if the basic policy has been fully underwritten and accept as standard terms without any sub-standard premium loadings, exclusions or counter-offers.

The Life Assured can exercise this Guaranteed Issuance Option:

a. up to maximum 2 times per life time.
b. before the Policy Anniversary when the Life Assured attains age 50 at next birthday.
c. if there are no previous admitted claims or currently applied for a claim on this Policy within the Policy term.
d. with the consent of the Policyholder if the Life Assured is not the Policyholder of this basic Policy.

The premiums are level and guaranteed throughout the policy term. Six currency options are available: SGD, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD and HKD.

my comments:

with longer life expectancy, many of our insurers have taken this factor into the repricing of term products and the latest to do so is aviva. this year, we have seen insurers like tokio marine life insurance (jan 2011), axa life (mar 2011)and aia (nov 2011) repricing their term rates.

with aviva my protector - level plus joing the band wagon, consumers are the real winners in terms of having to pay much, much lower premiums for plain vanilla term protection especially for life insureds up to the age bracket of 30 years.

this is important because our population remains grossly under-insured to the tune of more than $330,000 based on the latest aia survey some months ago and with term rates heading south, the bar on affordability has been lowered significantly.

for example, aviva my protector level plus pricing for the basic plan for a non-smoker male and non-smoker female, age 30 with a sum assured of $1,000,000 and term of 5 years is just $360.00 and $230.00 respectively which does not even equate to $1 per day. One caveat here because aviva has set a minimum entry level in the form of a minimum annual premium of $351.70 but other terms and conditions apply as well.
but pricing wise, younger insureds will have plenty to cheer because i believe term rates will continue to head south.

if u are the lengendary singaporean consumer already famous (with apologies to ms michelle chong) for sniffing out bargains, it will be worth your time to check out the repriced term products currently available from aia, aviva, axa life and tokio marine life insurance.

testing

2011-11-30T02:09:00.000-08:00

cosmetic chemical may cause cancer

2011-11-29T04:37:00.001-08:00

this must surely come as bad news to those who use cosmetics and or sunblock, especially if on a regular basis.

if the risk of contracting cancer, which remains singapore's numero uno cause of death, is of a high probability like 1 in 4 will die from cancer, scientists from nanyang technological university (ntu) have found a possible link between a popular ingredient, identified as zinc oxide and cancer.

the popular ingredient, zinc oxide used in sunblock and cosmetics, in its nano* form could be harmful as the particles are so tiny, they could be absorbed easily into skin cells.

*a nanometre is one-millionth of a millimetre.

because the tumour-suppressing protein, called P53 may not be present in some people, or do not produce enough of it in their cells due to hereditary reasons, these people could be susceptible to cancer.

the ntu researchers, led by assistant professors joachim loo and ng kee woei and nus's assistant professor david leong, found that when they combined 10 micrograms per ml of zinc oxide nano particles with human cells, the cells were damaged.

my comments:

the scientists involved in the study says there is no cause for alarm yet and the study is in its prelim stage but little is known about the use of nanomaterials in consumer products and their possible ill-effects.

because cancer is aleady singapore's number 1 killer, most people would probably know these statistics taken from the singapore cancer society:

1 in 4 Singaporeans dies of cancer

12 people die from cancer every day

28 people are diagnosed with cancer every day**

**49,412 incident cancers diagnosed among the resident population during 2005-2009. Singapore Cancer Registry, Interim Report.

due to the fact that the older generation ci plans (first product launched in 1987), and the availability of state-of-the-art diagnostic tools, coupled with consumers' health consciousness, our insurers have recognised the limitations of the former and since 2006, we have seen many new generation ci products that cover early and intermediate stage critical illnesses, including carcinom-in-situ of specified organs and some of these products also allow for multiple ci claims.

what all this means is the diversity of choices available on the coverage of critical illnesses which is no longer limited to the traditional older generation ci plans.

but of course, like what confucius has said, "the essence of learning is application" meaning now that u know, what are u going to do about it?

testing

2011-11-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

testing

2011-11-28T01:02:00.001-08:00

testing

2011-11-27T05:16:00.001-08:00

uberrima fides

2011-11-26T05:15:00.001-08:00

today, in my lighter moments, i was browsing the life insurance association of singapore website (http://www.lia.org.sg) and the following quiz on life insurance caught my eye:

question:

What can happen if a customer does not tell the life insurance company all about his health/medical history and current status?

True or False: The customer is not penalised.

as a financial professional, i clicked 'false'.

what is the correct answer?

my comments:

False is correct! The insurance company has the legal right to decline the claim and regard the policy as if it has never existed

but to my surprise, there were 22 who clicked true, out of a total of 141 who responded to the quiz, myself included.

this represents 16% of consumers who are rather 'clueless' on insurance where contracts are based on the principle of uberrima fides (utmost good faith) and insurability.

and this is why i have to turn down business, (and believe me, some of these can reward me with a good five figure commission) when the person/s in front of me is in disagreement on full disclosure of material information.

because i can't imagine a worst possible scenerio to start-off with any potential client (without full disclosure) and when the crunch comes, what matters the most to the client is having the peace of mind knowing they have a contract that is fully binding with the insurer.

can eating too much make your stomach burst?

2011-11-25T00:35:00.001-08:00

i came across an article with the question, can eating too much make your stomach burst?

this is an interesting question because the holiday season is just around the corner and school's already out for most of our youngsters and for them, it's a very long stretch of holidays till the start of the new year.

with shopping and dining being the most favourite of activities here in our tiny red dot nation, i thought this article may be of interest to everyone.

and do u wish to hazard a guess as to the answer to the question?

the aweful truth and answer is yes, u can rupture your stomach if u eat too much.

on this, i believe u must have heard someone saying or even yourself say, "i ate so much, i feel my stomach is about to burst."

my comments:

amongst those with higher risk are anorexics and bulimics. in rare cases, the person can eat so much during a binge that the stomach bursts and or the esophagus tears and if this happnes, can be life threatening.

ditto for individuals with prader-willi syndrome, which is a congenital disease characterised by a kind of disorderly eating and an intense craving for food where there have been reported cases of spontaneous stomach rupture.

there have also been well documented cases of people who literally ate themselves to death, although these are extremely rare.

the stomach can actually hold approximately one or one and a half liters and pathologists' reports seem to suggest the stomach is able to do ok to handling up to about three liters but most cases of rupture seem to occur when a person has attempted to stuff their stomach with about five liters of food or fluid.

and thank God, the body's natural response to over-eating is to vommit or throw-up. but in some people, their bodies' reflexes have been ignored or abused for so long that they no longer vomit at the appropriate time.

when this happens, the increasing volume of stuff in the gut extends pressure on the stomach's walls causing the tissue to weaken and tear which in turn sends the contents of the stomach into the body resulting in infection and pain. at this point, the person needs surgical intervention to repair the stomach and save that person's life.

on over-eating, our former pm and mm, mr lee kuan yew dishes out pretty good advice because he eats only up to being 80% full which will never put him in a position of overstuffing himself.

so during this holiday season which will probably stretch to the lunar new year holidays next year, just another reminder that life is ever so fragile and death may occur from over-eating.

therefore, before your next 'buffet' or foodie adventure, now is as good a time as any to review your wealth protection portfolio because nobody knows what tomorrow may bring,

chip-maker AMD lays off more than 50 s'pore staff

2011-11-24T00:17:00.001-08:00

it was reported in the straits times today that a chip-making giant, AMD retrenched more than 50 of their staff. what is worst is that this is likely to be the first of two rounds of retrenchments.

a technician identified as ravi was one of the employees retrenched and he said:

"it was a very sudden thing, we always thought it would happen to other people and our jobs were safe, but now it's happened to us."

AMD said the retrenchments were part of a global restructuring plan and the exercise aimed at strengthening its competitiveness, and emphasised that singapore remained a vital part of its operations.

my comments:

i can certainly emphatise with mr ravi and those who received their pink slips from AMD yesterday. like what mr ravi opined that he thought his job was safe and it will only happen to others. but in real life, is any job really, really safe?

i remember during my time as a salaried employee, there was always the fear of being retrenched when times were bad.

from that time and fast forward to 14 or more years later, i have never looked back when i decided to leave my full time employment with an american mnc.

and my advice to those who fear being laid out in times of economic uncertainty, perhaps u may wish to consider a career as a financial advisor just like me. although there is no guarantee of success, one of the trade-offs is that there is no one to 'boss' u around especially if u are constantly being 'micro-managed' by your superiors. further more, in terms of being your own boss, u hold the keys to your own pay cheque and the icing on your cake is, there is no mandatory retirement age, although there is a law (kicking in from next year) for employers to re-employ older workers.

testing

2011-11-23T20:15:00.001-08:00

manulife's ads on highest par fund returns

2011-11-22T05:01:00.001-08:00

over the last few months, i'm sure u cannot have failed to notice manulife's signature green ads spread over our tiny red dot nation, whether plastered on taxis, the media, mrt stations, etc. (an aside, green is probably my fav colour and for every other investor i know as the global stock markets have been tanking due to a confluence of factors, all drenched in a sea of red).

i would like to add my congratulations to the management and staff of manulife for the achievement of celebrating the highest participating fund returns in singapore for the last 5 years from 2006 - 2010 which is based on rolling 3-year, 4-year and 5-year average investment returns on their participating fund.

because of the fact that the insurance act specifies that insurers have to distribute at least 90% of surpluses to participating policyowners, achieving higher (and consistent) participating fund returns is usually positive for the latter in the form of the distribution of bonuses.

my comments:

besides manulife, i would like to acknowledge ntuc-income for having distributed 98% of surpluses to her participating policyowners. what's more, ntuc-income's head honcho, mr tan suee chieh, has also declared 2 additional bonuses, one being the 5 yearly bonus and a cash bonus for participating policies kept in-force for at least 10 years or longer in the year 2010 which was co-incidentally, the 40th anniversary of ntuc-income.

but i will have been seen to have dishonoured this insurer if i do not give them due praise and recognition because i take my hat-off to tokio marine life insurance singapore, the one and only insurer for still maintaining the record of never cutting bonuses since the company's existence in 1948. this is indeed a rather rare distinction and my hope is tokio marine life insurance singapore will continue to deliver all non-guaranteed bonuses long into the future.

changes to the cpf act/wica

2011-11-21T22:54:00.001-08:00

besides the special needs savings scheme, there are other changes to the cpf act which was passed by parliament today and they are:

1. allowing voluntary contributions by other parties

previously, cpf members could contribute to their own account or those of
family members. employers could also contribute to the accounts of
employees.
now, voluntary contributions to a member's account can by made by any
person, company or association.

2. allowing reversals of some inter-account transers

funds can be transferred between an individual's cpf accounts: for instance,
from the ordinary account to the special account, to benefit from the higher
interest rates.
before, such transfers could not be reversed. now, they can be reversed
under special circumstances. for instance, a cpf member who suffers
unforseen financial hardship after the transfer may need the transferred
savings to service his housing instalments.

3. portability of HPS (home protection scheme)

the hps is a mortgage insurance scheme which pays off the outstanding
housing loan if the cpf member is incapacitated or dies.

unlike private schemes, it is tied to a specific property. if a member
sells the property and buys a new one, they will need new hps cover.
but a member must be in good health to be eligible for hps. this
disadvantages members who may not be in good health when buying a new
property. the amendment allows the cpf board to waive the requirement of
good health for members who were insured under hps for their previous
property.

besides the changes to the cpf act, there were also significant changes to the wica (work injury compensation act):

1)higher minimum and maximum limits of compensation

from june 01 next year, employers are liable for a minimum of $57,000
($47,000)and a maximum of $170,000 ($140,000) in the event of a work-
place death under wica. if a worker suffers total permanent incapacity,
the range is between $73,000 and $218,000 ($60,000 to $180,000).*

*this excludes the additional 25% compensation that is paid to workers
with total permanent incapacity to offset the cost of care for the
injured worker. figures in brackets refer to the old limits.

2)Disallowing compensation for work-related fights

The rationale for the amendment is that while work disputes may arise from time to time, employees should not resort to fights to resolve them, and employers should not have to bear the cost of injury.

As such, employers will generally not be liable under WICA to compensate workers who are injured in work-related fights, except in certain scenarios such as when the worker was a victim and did not participate in the fight, or when he was injured while exercising private defence, or instructed to break up the fight, safeguard life/property or maintain law and order.

3) Expanding scope of compensable diseases

Currently, diseases are compensable only when they are listed in the Second Schedule, for example noise-induced deafness, or as a result of a specific accident at work. With the change, diseases contracted due to work-related exposure to chemical or biological agents will be compensable. The Second Schedule will also be refined to include a new occupational disease (exposure to excessive heat), remove SARS and Avian Influenza and broaden scope of some of the existing occupational diseases.

4) Disallowing work-related exclusion clauses

Work-related exclusion clauses, except pertaining to asbestos, will be prohibited for the purpose of WIC insurance. With these changes, insurers will be liable to make payment of the compensation even if work-related exclusions exist in the policy. Insurers will continue to be able to seek contractual recovery from the employer if such recovery is allowed in the insurance policy.

5) Clarifying the liability of employer’s insurer to pay when there are multiple insurance policies

Certain industries have the practice of having multiple parties provide insurance coverage for workers. When there is an accident, the various insurers may dispute liability and compensation to the injured worker is unduly delayed. With the change, where there are multiple work injury compensation insurance policies, the employer’s insurance policy will first be used to satisfy a claim. MOM will allow third parties to pay compensation as long as they convey in writing to MOM their intent to pay compensation on behalf of the employer’s insurer, before the notice of assessment is issued.

6) Clarifying the timeframe for filing a claim if one wishes to claim under WICA after having filed a common law claim earlier

Injured employees have up to one year from the date of the accident to decide whether they wish to file a claim under WICA. Claimants who filed a common law claim but subsequently wish to file a claim under WICA have to do so within one year of accident. If the claim was made after this one year timeframe, it will not be admitted under WICA.

my comments:

it is indeed timely to effect changes to the cpf act and wica.

i can understand the rationale for allowing voluntary contributions to be open to any person, company or association and without the previous restrictions in place, it is as good as getting one's godpa/godma/goduncle/godauntie and other kind souls to 'beef up' a cpf member's account.

on transfer of funds, i have always advised against transferring funds from cpf-oa to cpf-sa because of the fact that it is irreversible and because cpf-sa funds are more illiquid than funds in the cpf-oa. but with the change, i will now look at such transfers differently with one caveat because the new formula for computing the cpf interest rates will kick in on january 01, 2013 (if there is no further deferment of the new formula since january 01, 2008).

the change in portability for the home protection scheme is a good move but my feedback to the cpf board is to add another layer of protection for the enhanced hps in the form of a waiver of premium for critical illness. this is really important when a cpf member is hit with a critical illness and the future payment of premiums becomes challenging and unaffordable.

and last but not least, thumbs up also for the changes to the wica (since 2008), taking into account for both inflation and rising healthcare costs to reflect higher minimum and maximum limits of compensation.

even with the improved wica, employers should also consider looking at providing a more comprehensive h&s coverage because the medical expenses are capped at up to $30,000 (from $25,000) or 1 year from date of accident, whichever is reached first.

just my 2 cents' worth to the latest changes to cpf act/wica.

more cpf protection for children with special needs

2011-11-21T20:17:00.001-08:00

one of the changes to the cpf act was passed by parliament today, through a new special needs savings scheme (SNSS).

through the SNSS, parents can arrange to have their cpf savings disbursed in monthly payouts to their disabled offspring/s after their deaths.

prior to this scheme, the savings of a cpf member who dies are distributed to his/her nominees as one lump sum.

parents can decide the quantum of the monthly payouts but this has to be at least $250. however, if their cpf savings at death are insufficient to provide the payout for 12 months, the entire balance will be paid in a lump sum.

who is eligible?

open to parents of disabled children who are attending or have attended a special education school, or who need help in at least one activity of daily living, such as getting dressed, eating or moving around.

the SNSS will be implemented early next year.

my comments:

the new SNSS will be a boon for all parents because there is no minimum amount and comes with no adminstrative charge. besides, setting up a trust for their children with the special needs trust company will require a minimum of $5,000 in cash.

but as ms denise phua has opined in parliament, the SNSS is too restrictive and needs to be expanded as many special needs children do not attend special education schools. there are also others who require help with money management and long-term planning.

besides the SNSS, parents may need to review whether this will be sufficient to meets the needs of their child/ren and should consider other supplementary options in which a competent financial advisor should be able to assist.

generali international

2011-11-21T00:36:00.001-08:00

today is our scheduled monthly compulsory meeting for all of promiseland independent's financial advisors which is usually held at the function room of kampong glam community centre which is centrally located near our office at keypoint.

our managing director, mr david choo announced that we have recently signed a contract with one of the latest insurers in town, generali international limited singapore branch.

my comments:

we are proud to have generali international being added to our stable and we now have a grand total of 12 life and composite insurers offering an awesome arsenal of solutions to our clientele and they are (in alphabetical order):

1. aia
2. axa life
3. aviva
4. friends provident international
5. generali international
6. hsbc insurance
7. manulife financial
8. ntuc-income
9. royal skandia life assurance
10. tokio marine life insurance
11. transamerica life
12. zurich international life

there are a total of 16 life and composite insurers who are members of the life insurance association of singapore (http://www.lia.org.sg).

the missing insurers in our stable are:

1. great eastern life assurance
2. overseas assurance corporation
3. prudential assurance
4. swiss life

for the information of my readers, we used to have contracts with great eastern life assurance, overseas assurance corporation and prudential assurance and a referral agreement with swiss life.

testing

2011-11-20T00:54:00.001-08:00

money no enough? (2)

2011-11-19T07:51:00.001-08:00

in my last blog entry a couple of days ago, i expounded on the chief reason (after speaking to many tied agents and advisors) being money no enough as to why consumers in our tiny red dot nation are generally under-insured.

and lo and behold, in today's edition of the straits times, there is a special report focusing on those that are really living from hand-to-mouth in our society titled, "running on empty".

the 74 page report by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation at the Singapore Management University acknowledges that basic social needs such as food, clothing and shelter are met through direct government action and non-governmental social service organisations but there will always be unmet needs of which i count being insured to be one of these needs.

my comments:

the straits times report mentioned mr ang seng hwee, 65 and his wife, madam lee siew moi, 53 who lived on $297 in cpf payouts every month, for 5 months. in september, the local community development council approved mr ang's appeal by granting him $200 a month for 3 months together with $80 vouchers for power and water bills.

another individual, mrs tan, 59, is a preschool teacher assistant and her 60 year old husband are finding it hard to support her sister, 77 and his mother, 91. her sister, who is single, suffers from diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis and schizophrenia.
the tans have a combined monthly income of about $2,300 and about $800 goes towards supporting their 2 relatives. they have 2 children in their 20s, who have just started working and mrs tan said:

"it will be unfair to ask them to support their aunt and grandmother as well as us."

another couple, madam gan hee, a 57 year old housewife and her retired construction worker husband, mr tan ah choi, 75, lives in a 4-room jalan bahagia flat which they shared with their 3 grown up children, a son-in-law and granddaughter, as well as madam gan's unmarried younger sister, gan ten, 50 who is jobless and gets her meals from a free-food distribution centre run by the charity, willing hearts. and to save electricity, they switched off their fan.
they say money is tight but they cannot downgrade (to a smaller flat) as their 2 older children, both in low-paying contract jobs, cannot afford their own flats. their youngest son is a student at the institute of technical education.

why have i singled out these families?

to be honest, i have highlighted the plight of these families and they represent living examples of people who need insurance but to them, money no enough.

but for the many individuals and families where i have met (and for the other tied agents and advisors as well), and cited money no enough to take up insurance, is simply too hard to swallow, going against the backdrop of the marginalised numbers in our society.

25% of americans expect to wait until age 80 to retire

2011-11-18T03:55:00.001-08:00

according to Wells Fargo's latest retirement survey that polled 1,500 middle-class Americans drew what i term as shocking revelations.

some of the findings from the survey found that:

a. on average, americans have only saved a mere 7% of retirement nest egg they were
hoping to build
b. respondents whose age ranges from 20 to 80 had median savings of only $25,000 when
their median retirement savings goal was $350,000
c. 30 % of people in their 60a have saved less than $25,000 for retirement
d. three fourths of middle class americans expect to work throughout retirement

joe ready, director of wells fargo institutional retirement and trust said:

"The fact that the vast majority of middle-class Americans expect to work well past the traditional retirement age has significant societal and economic implications. Will people be physically and mentally able to work later in life? What will it mean for young people entering the workforce? And, how does our system of retirement savings need to be reformed to help reduce the savings gap?"

my comments:

with the american unemployment rate staying at 1% below double digits, stock market swings and volatility and plunging home prices has clearly taken a toll on many americans' savings. and changes in pension plans and proposed cuts to social security and medicare benefits has also served to blunt optimism on retirement.

what mr joe ready said regarding older people being physically and mentally able to work in their golden years injects a sense of reality for americans planning to work past their retirement age till age 80.

i hope the findings of this survey will serve as a grim reminder to everyone here in our tiny red dot nation that nobody owes us a living and retirement planning is more imperative than ever before given that most of us will have many more golden years in our hands due to longer life expectancy which is definitely not static but is constantly inching upwards.

money no enough?

2011-11-17T01:13:00.001-08:00

in the common singaporean identity and aspiration to acquire the 5Cs (or more), namely condo, car, cash, credit cards and country club membership (in random order), i've noticed there is an unchanging statistic in all the years that i've been in the financial industry and it is the fact that by and large, our population remains grossly under-insured.

despite boasting of many accolades being bestowed upon our tiny red dot nation and people, i've always been intrigued as to why a human being's life is not similarly valued in dollar terms, with regard to insuring ourselves.

take for example the latest statistic from the lia (http://www.lia.org.sg/node/2923) where we see the total claims of $3.69 billion being paid out up to the latest quarter till sep 30, 2011. of these, only a mere $342 million or 7.3% were paid for death, disability and critical illness claims. in other words, the majority of claims or $3.34 billion were paid for policies that matured.

my comments:

from speaking to many other advisors and tied agents, what i've unearthed is that there have been many reasons given by consumers for not taking up insurance.

perhaps the chief of these reasons is the most common refrain of 'money no enough' to buy insurance.

i interpret this line of reasoning to be the plain and simple 'objection' which is one of many red herrings given to the financial advisor.

but what is actually the real issue behind this 'objection'?

my thinking is that the consumer has not really assigned a priority to his/her protection needs and have simply been driven by this universal denominator which i term as instant gratification.

first on the list is the grouping of consumers going after the big ticket items like condos and cars, often borrowing to the hilt to finance these die-die must-have purchases, often to keep up with the in-crowd, or in local parlance, "kala tidak apa, tapi style mesti ada".

next will be those who indulge in the rather expensive cravings for both alcohol and tobacco, these will not only take away many dollars from the so-called budget to fulfil other needs but is also damaging to one's health (have u tried preaching it to this group of people?). i personally have met many prospects who are not casual but chain smokers, needing 2 packets of cigarettes daily to satisfy their nicotine urge which could easily translate to a high three-figure monthly expenditure. ditto for those who guzzle down alcohol in the same way as we drink water to exist.

and consumers chasing social activities like clubbing, movies, reading, etc, can easily create a hole in their wallets/bags. i know of a prospect who chases every 3D movie and pays the highest ticket price to enjoy them at the only cinema hall in town to be totally immersed in the imax experience.

how about those with an appreciation for fine dining or in my book, foodies, without nary a second thought on splashing out 3 or 4 digit sums to satisfy their palate on a regular basis.

and i also know of yet another prospect who must spend her vacation abroad several times a year just to de-stress and get away from the so-called rat race.

and the above listing is by no means exhaustive but serve to illustrate that 'money no enough' is not the real reason for not taking up insurance, not unless the person or family is surviving on our government's many assistance schemes.

and therein is the challange for every financial advisor to help consumers to re-align their priority to firstly, wealth protection planning and then, to satisfying other needs/wants.

uberrima fides

2011-11-16T00:12:00.001-08:00

today is my usual scheduled monthly life insurance training open to all of my company's advisors.

and for today, i have chosen to focus on the only 2 products that provides guaranteed protection* even while the child is in the mother's womb. yes, i'm referring to:

a. prudential prufirst gift and
b. axa mum's advantage/mum's advantage plus.

notes:
in june 2010, prudential was the very first insurer to launch singapore's first and only plan, prufirst gift to offer guaranteed protection* even before the child is born.

and in november 2011, axa life followed up with their launch of an almost similar proposition, axa mum's advantage/mum's advantage plus.

*terms and conditons apply

my monthly life insurance training has the dual objectives of equipping our company's advisors with the insights of the latest happenings in the insurance industry and comprehensive product knowledge as well.

my comments:

during the course of my training, i digressed and shared with them on my experience with individuals and families (referred to me by my existing clientele) choosing not to take my advice on full disclosure of their past medical history.

what was their response?

surprisingly or not surprisingly, some of my company's advisors recounted of their similar experiences.

i have no problems with the so-called business that i have 'lost' with the people that i have sat through meetings because they do not seem to see (or agree on) the importance of full disclosure.

but how do i reconcile the fact that these people have taken up insurance for 'peace of mind' and yet, whatever policies they have incepted (without full disclosure) can give them 'peace of mind' when it comes to the crunch should the day come when a claim is filed?

on the principle of uberrima fides or utmost good faith (meaning full disclosure), am i talking about pockets of isolated cases in terms of the people i have sat with (and my company's advisors as well) or is this a full blown problem lurking beneath the surface of the insurance contracts already incepted?