I read an article in the newspapers by Sumiko Tan and felt the pain she must have felt. It is about her experience of buying an endowment policy and cancelling it, losing quite a bit of money in the process. Here are a few paragraphs taken from the article: "I bought the plan from a financial adviser from a bank I have accounts with. He had cold-called me to arrange a meeting. He was patient in explaining the scheme. The returns looked decent and I didn't ask many questions. "What really clinched it for me, though, was the shopping voucher... I would get a $1,800 Takashimaya shopping voucher. Shopping here I come, I thought gleefully." By now, regular readers of my blog would be shaking their heads. Here are three points in response: 1. Always ask questions. No one cares more about our money than we do. If we ......