My experiment is now concluded and I am sorry if you guys was hoping for some explicit or controversial post. I apologise if I have disappointed some of you. Why the experiment Tang?
Well, blogger has a reader statistic counter next to the post that was published and I was shocked that my last post about financial literacy and HR only got 17 hits! While the rest average 50 plus. My conspiracy theory post got 80 plus hits. The post other people shared got 90 plus hits.
So I was shocked that when Financial Literacy was in the title nobody read. I made sure all my post was published in the morning, shared on Google+, Linkedin and Facebook. Every post was similar. So I can conclude that as long as its about financial planning or financial literacy nobody is interested.
My last post with title telling people to use discretion because there may be offensive material got 4 hits in the first minute. By noon it has already hit 50 plus!
I think I can conclude that most of us cannot be bothered about financial literacy. Most of us probably don't even care. That's sad!
I read in awe last night about Angelina Jolie having a double mastectomy just to prevent cancer because she found out she has the BRCA gene that increases the chance of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer. So as a prevention she had both her breast removed.
Some doctors have argued that actually having the BRCA gene does not mean you WILL get cancer, though you will have a higher chance. But that can be sorted out through early detection and treatment of the cancer. The article also has some startling statistics for cancer.
Medical experts are worried about what they call The Angelina Effect, this effect is named after Angelina Jolie because when Angelina had her first kid she named her Vivienne and all of a sudden the name Vivienne became one of the most popular names for newborns. Experts are worried that because of Angelina's double mastectomy many women may opt to go for a medical check to find out whether they have the BRCA gene and eventually go for the double mastectomy just to prevent cancer, if they have the gene, which many experts feel is an over-reaction.
But one thing for sure we do not have to worry about The Angelina Effect in Singapore. We have to worry about the Man On The Street Effect. The man on the street cannot be bothered. They feel its not going to happen to them, even when their relatives have suffered from some illness. They rather read half truth post about preventing cancer on Facebook then to do something about it if it REALLY happens.
Many will do preventive things to prevent cancer or other illnesses. They exercise, they cut down on sugar, they diet, they take vitamins, they quit smoking. But the sad truth is: this does not take away the chance of you falling critically ill!! It just reduces the risk. I know perfectly healthy people contracting illnesses after doing all of the above and more. Perfectly fit and healthy people that just drop dead.
I have written extensively about planning for the future in all my post. I have also written extensively about predicting the unpredictable and expecting the unexpected. If you are reading this for the first time, please go back to my previous posts (yes all of them, great toilet reading material. You can read too instead of playing candy crush :P). But if in any case you are not, let me just quickly summarise, whether or not you are going to contract an illness or drop dead prematurely is unpredictable and unexpected for you and your loved ones.
But the only predictable thing during those unpredictable events is monies that are needed. Hospital bills, living expenses for self and loved ones (spouse, children, parents), unexpected cost. So if you just take the first step to first come to terms with the fact that 'yes I may fall ill or die prematurely' what are some of the expenses I cannot do without. What are the consequences if the monies needed to pay for these expenses are taken away from you and your family? Will you and your family need to change your lifestyle? Aussie education is now more expensive than US and UK, am I still able to send my kid overseas to study in future? Am I even able to pay for my kids tertiary education in Singapore since inflation is growing faster than my pay increase?
I know many of you have these questions but many also choose to compartmentalise these into small boxes at the back of your head. Out of sight out of mind. Many also fear speaking to a financial consultant one on one, therefore I will be running out some financial literacy workshops for individuals to learn how to do a basic financial plan for themselves. And since most companies ain't interested to empower their employees then you better empower yourself. These workshops will empower you with the knowledge to have a meaningful discussion the next time you sit down and talk to your financial consultant. I am in the midst of doing up financial planning tools on excel where anybody after attending the workshop can do a basic financial plan for themselves. Will update about the workshop in future post.
But one thing for sure we do not have to worry about The Angelina Effect in Singapore. We have to worry about the Man On The Street Effect. The man on the street cannot be bothered. They feel its not going to happen to them, even when their relatives have suffered from some illness. They rather read half truth post about preventing cancer on Facebook then to do something about it if it REALLY happens.
Many will do preventive things to prevent cancer or other illnesses. They exercise, they cut down on sugar, they diet, they take vitamins, they quit smoking. But the sad truth is: this does not take away the chance of you falling critically ill!! It just reduces the risk. I know perfectly healthy people contracting illnesses after doing all of the above and more. Perfectly fit and healthy people that just drop dead.
I have written extensively about planning for the future in all my post. I have also written extensively about predicting the unpredictable and expecting the unexpected. If you are reading this for the first time, please go back to my previous posts (yes all of them, great toilet reading material. You can read too instead of playing candy crush :P). But if in any case you are not, let me just quickly summarise, whether or not you are going to contract an illness or drop dead prematurely is unpredictable and unexpected for you and your loved ones.
But the only predictable thing during those unpredictable events is monies that are needed. Hospital bills, living expenses for self and loved ones (spouse, children, parents), unexpected cost. So if you just take the first step to first come to terms with the fact that 'yes I may fall ill or die prematurely' what are some of the expenses I cannot do without. What are the consequences if the monies needed to pay for these expenses are taken away from you and your family? Will you and your family need to change your lifestyle? Aussie education is now more expensive than US and UK, am I still able to send my kid overseas to study in future? Am I even able to pay for my kids tertiary education in Singapore since inflation is growing faster than my pay increase?
I know many of you have these questions but many also choose to compartmentalise these into small boxes at the back of your head. Out of sight out of mind. Many also fear speaking to a financial consultant one on one, therefore I will be running out some financial literacy workshops for individuals to learn how to do a basic financial plan for themselves. And since most companies ain't interested to empower their employees then you better empower yourself. These workshops will empower you with the knowledge to have a meaningful discussion the next time you sit down and talk to your financial consultant. I am in the midst of doing up financial planning tools on excel where anybody after attending the workshop can do a basic financial plan for themselves. Will update about the workshop in future post.
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