2013 is coming to an end

Its the end of the year again. A time for reflection and a time to give thanks. I will like to thank all my clients and friends that have supported me and believed in my service. Not only have you made my life and work more meaningful, you have also made you and your families lives more meaningful. This is the start of a mutually beneficial relationship which I want to maintain. Please feel free to call anytime. Will catch up again soon.

I will also like to apologise to those that I may have not been able to help getting insurance. I have tried my best. But there are other services I can help you with.

Reflecting upon my life till 2013, it has been an amazing journey. I can still remember the day I bought my first policy long long time ago...

The phone sounded and I picked up to see who called. It was a good friend and ex colleague whom we did many crazy things together. He called suggesting a coffee seaaion. Sure!

At the coffee session, he told me he has joined an insurance company. I felt betrayed thinking I have been lead into a coffee session to be sold an insurance policy. But as a friend I will also want to see him do well. I told him, Bro just prepare a savings policy of $250 a month. He said ok.

We met again to do the paperwork and before we signed he said he will have to present the product. No need, I said. I am doing this to support you, sign where?

But Tang I have to explain the policy first... sshh sign where?

Did the paperwork and we had coffee and talked about life. And till today, I feel thankful towards him. I never beleived in insurance because my dad told me bluff people one.. cheat money one. I had my pre concieved idea that its bull.

It all changed when in 2000 I did my Certificate in Life Insurance, the only paper you need then to be a financial representative of an insurance company. I started to realise and see the need for financial planning. But in 2009 I did not just see the need, I experienced it.

I woke up one morning with a tingling sensation in my shoulder: first thought.. stroke! Immediately booked my $300 plus medical checkup and waited 2 weeks for my results. Doc said that in an emergency we will call you within 2 weeks and please come down immediately, if not just come back in 2 weeks time.

The results were consoling yet damaging at the same time. I have no cholestrol (surprise!) but have minute traces of blood in my urine, fatty liver, slightly high reading of sugar in my blood and is obese (not surprising) Doctor advised exercise.

Whew! Not stroke, realised it was probably my new sleeping posture which prevents my snoring. I find out if I slept on my side I don't snore, so the tingling sensation was from me sleeping on my shoulder the whole night.

Better increase my coverage, I thought. I was a trainer then in an insurance company and I applied to upgradr my shield plan which was still at a public hospital A ward. Rejected!!! I have been denied coverage in a private hospital by their company I work with!!! I tried other companies and it was either a reject or premiums loaded. I resigned to my fate and got my coverage with loading and all.

If only I had gotten my coverage earlier. If only I had not felt so invincible then. I could have covered myself more. Sigh! If only I knew the numbers to this weeks 4D and ToTo.

Well, if you are at the moment healthy and fit, please do not be complacent about it. Nature has made us to last only for a limited time before we deteriorate. Even a car engine don't run forever. Just like when the car breaks down we want to push it into the best mechnic to get it repaired. And that cost money. Imagine when we start breaking down...

These cost can be eatimated and planned for and there is no better time then now. My sincere hope that your resolution for 2014 will include: start a financial plan or speak to a financial adviser.

Happy New Year! In advance.

Haunted... no more...

The time is 8pm. You are in the office working over time. You look up from your computer wanting to take a break and rest your eyes.

You suddenly realise you are all alone in the office. The silence is deafening! The ticking of the clock that is hanging on the wall is suddenly very loud. The photocopier machine suddenly starts up, then you realise its just fax coming in.

You look out the window but see your own reflection in it. You look away quickly, as you are worried you will see something else in the reflection other than yourself. You start recalling the horror stories you have heard from your friends about being in offices alone at night.

You think you hear the keyboard of somebody else clicking a few cubicles away. You tell yourself its all in your head. Suddenly your mobile phone rings, you practically jumped, the ringing of your mobile phone seems louder than usual.

You hesitate to pick up the phone, what if all your hear is static and unearthly clicking sounds like in The Ring?! The caller ID does not show a number, and the caller seems persistent. You slowly reach over to your phone and pick it up.

You pressed the answer button and said: Hello, hoping it ain't the static and clicking sound you hear.. while you were praying the caller said: Hello, may I speak to your name? Yes, you said, heaving a sigh of relieve it is a human voice. Hi, I am John calling from Insurance Company Name. 

Oh no a cold call from an insurance company! This is worst than static and clicking noises! Give me the static!!!

Is this how you feel when you get a call from an financial consultant? Have no fear! DNC is here! If you haven't read the news or have been living in a cave, DNC is 'Do Not Call' and as of yesterday you can start registering yourself on this list so that you can lodge a complain officially if you still get unsolicited calls.

To register yourself, please click here. Wait! You sure? You may be missing out on the best things in life... like financial planning and insurance or investment or property deals or... never mind you don't care about those anyway.. click away!

Just remember that if your financial consultant calls you don't go complaining that he flouted the DNC laws, you are a customer. If you don't have a financial consultant, please call me 9180 3448, Tang, I cannot call you.

Debts

Was in Australia over the past 5 days and I am amazed at the advertisements on TV. There were numerous advertisements on TV about insurance and I wonder how many Australians actually pick up the phone and respond to the ad on TV. For the companies to be placing ads on TV, I am sure the call backs must be quite a number. We already know that in many mature economies like US, UK and even Australia many already have embraced the fact that they need to do a financial plan, and they NEED insurance. Well, in Singapore we still haven't got there yet where people actively search for a financial planner and tell them 'I need a financial plan.' Many still fear talking to an adviser probably because of the bad perceptions of them. 

But one ad on TV actually caught my attention. It is the ads on TV that tells people that 'You are not alone if you are in debt, call this number and our friendly consultants can help you with it.' Wow! There was easily 2 companies that is offering that service. Once again, my believe is that if the TV ads was not effective there will be nobody advertising on TV. I wonder if we place ads like that in Singapore how many will respond.

I think it is a very Asian mentality that we do not talk to strangers about our monies or debt issues. Like that Chinese saying about not hanging your dirty laundry in the open. So we will never admit we have a problem in front of a stranger, neither will we admit we need help with our finances. And being Singaporeans we are worse because we expect the government to handle everything for us. We think the government should stop the inflation so things are cheaper. We expect CPF to help us with our housing, retirement, and kid's education. 

And worse of all is that many think that in death all debts are erased. Many do not know that these debts are actually passed on to their dependants when premature death occurs. Many I have spoken to is surprise to find out that debts are not cancelled at death. Some individuals I have spoken to came from rich family backgrounds with one of the parents in highly successful businesses. Highly successful businesses are usually highly geared with business loans generating good profits for the business. But all these works well with the business owner still alive. When the business owner dies prematurely, these business loans are passed on to the business and if the business is a sole proprietor or partnership these loans are automatically transferred to the estate and recovered from families. Some of the people I have spoken to have been victims to such instances. They have to pay off their parents debt because they never believe that death will happen early.

So if you know you or someone close to you are in debt, there are solutions to consider. Do not be afraid to raise it up to your financial consultant. That is one thing we do too. We can help you ascertain critical expenses and ensure that monies are channelled to reduce your debt. We have solutions to help cancel debts during certain events to ensure that your dependants are not burdened or even you are not burdened by your loved ones debt. Call me 9180 3448 or email me tngjinyau@gmail.com if you do not have anybody else to speak to. This is not some ah long service, if you need me to lend you money to pay off your debts, click the X button on the top right hand corner now... 

Crowdfunding... the new way forward?

Just read of 2 ladies helping to raise money for their mother's bills in the newspaper the other day. Their mother contracted ovarian cancer and the  bills and the care for her came up to about $9,000. They raised  $25,000 through crowd funding. Crowd funding is about getting strangers with big hearts to donate to a cause. Read more about crowd funding here. 

Wow! So can I assume the need to do a financial plan is now obsolete? No need to plan for critical illness because I can raise funds through crowd funding? No need to plan for retirement cos funds can be sourced through crowd funding? No need to plan to replace income if premature death occurs for your dependants? If you intend not to do any financial plan, then do your family and yourself a favour and teach them and yourself what crowd funding is. How crowd funding works and where to find the sources to get crowd funding to fund the emergencies. But if asking people for money in an emergency is too much for your pride and dignity then maybe it is time to sit down to do a financial plan. Let insurance be your crowd funding.

The fact is: insurance IS crowd funding. Anyone that pays a premium is technically pooling their monies into a fund so that they can withdraw it when an emergency happens. These emergencies are hospitalisation and surgery, premature death, critical illness or disability. And the amount of money that you fund is technically, one CENT for every dollar per year. Means that you give the insurance company $0.01 per year and when an emergency happens they give you $1 plus bonus. And to fully pay up the $1 the company will give you in an emergency you need 100 years. 

Some of you may think I have already leh... yes of course you have. But is it effective? Is it sufficient? I have met people who have claim to have already leh but only got 1 policy with $10,000 coverage. 

So let us take for example, you think you have no need for insurance because you are single and no dependants. Have you ever wondered how much money your parents have spent to bring you up? Lets not make it too complicated. Lets just take a meal of $4 a day. Your parents fed you 3 times a day, $12. In a year, $4,380 for the past 30 years $131,400. I have not even taken into consideration education, pampers, utilities and the other miscellaneous items. So if you left prematurely, all that money they spent is wasted and if you have only a $10,000 coverage what does it stand for. What can $10,000 do in this time and age? Think about it. 

You know who to call or email if you want to speak to someone.

And I have to share this video below.. I just love commercials that are tongue in cheek...enjoy!

Wait a minute! Did I just heard that?

If you have been listening to the radio while you are driving, taking the MRT or taking the bus, you will have heard the advertisement on radio by Singapore Cancer Foundation. I heard the advertisement on radio and thought to myself, 'these organisations should start realising ads that striking fear in people do not work anymore in a skeptical Singapore.

Saw a similar range of ads by the NKF in the MRT stations and thought the same thing. I usually give these ads a second thought and wonder how effective it has been for Singaporeans to take action. I mean, if we had seen the haze situation most people are reactive rather than proactive. You only do something when something happens. You only buy mask when haze happens. You only think about your spare tire in your car when you get a puncture. You will only study when there is an exam. So I really wonder if these ads were working.

While I was driving yesterday, the Cancer Foundation ad came on again and this time, I actually paid attention. I heard a startling statistic: in Singapore, 1 in 3 adults is diagnose with cancer everyday.. wait wait, just 5 years ago when I was still actively training financial people that statistic is 1 in 5! Its 1 in 3 already!! Damn those odds are better than 4D! I remembered then that the statistic will become 1 in 2 by 2020 or 2030 I cannot remember. So what does 1 in 3 means? Look to the person to your left and look to your right, one of you will be diagnosed with cancer. But you know what, most will still think its going to be the other 2 and not me.

For those who do not think its going to happen to them, I have a proposal for you. Buy me 2 meals with a drink a day everyday (you are very lucky I don't take breakfast, if not its 3 meals a day). If just so happens you are diagnosed with cancer, I will buy you 3 meals everyday thereafter, terms and conditions apply. 

If you want to take up this offer, please email me tngjinyau@gmail.com or call, sms or whatsapp me 9180 3448.

Anti Competition? You want to pay more?

I read in forums of our newspaper with interest after our National Day Rally. During our rally, there was an announcement that there will be a launch of Medishield Life and all will be included including people with pre existing conditions. Much has been written on forums with some calling for government to standardise the price for a private integrated shield plan.. but I am dead against that.

Where will be the competition if that happens? How will we know companies are pricing their plan at the most affordable price for us? Wouldn't that be anti competitive? So if all companies is suppose to come up with a plan that is priced the same then if they were to collude and price it high so all makes a tidy margin, will that not be detrimental to you as a consumer? Banks have been brought to task for fixing Libor rates in London, and some banks here too.

Once again, the choice is yours to go find out who has the cheapest plan in the market. Why should the governent do it? If they are suppose to fix prices then why not fix prices for hawker food.. televisions.. property prices.. utilities (oops they are already doing that).. everything that concerns us more on a daily basis.

Price fixing only benefits the companies and not you as a consumer. There are anti competition laws for a reason.

This post dedicated to Chris Chan, great question!

Sad Day For The Diving Industry

It is tragic to learn about the loss  of 2 fellow divers in Tioman over the weekend. Its always sad to know that people have loss their lives especially if they loss their lives doing something you love. 

My heartfelt condolences to their family and loved ones.