TheFinance.sg » Patrick Lim

travel insurance to avoid

Patrick Lim — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

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 …

whole-of-life alternative to universal life

Patrick Lim — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:05:00 +0000

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 …

cashing in on the lunar new year?

Patrick Lim — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:27:00 +0000

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 …

the dragon year, in more ways than one

Patrick Lim — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:50:00 +0000

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 …

the world’s first trillionaire?

Patrick Lim — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:16:00 +0000

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 …

ntuc-income: repricing of growth plan

Patrick Lim — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

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 …

aia singapore pte ltd

Patrick Lim — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:08:00 +0000

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….

aia promotion

Patrick Lim — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:23:00 +0000

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 …

reflections on 2011

Patrick Lim — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:21:00 +0000

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 …

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

Patrick Lim — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:23:00 +0000

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 …

hospital bed crunch looms in next few years (2)

Patrick Lim — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:55:00 +0000

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 …

smrt suspends driver after woman’s fall

Patrick Lim — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:35:00 +0000

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 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 …

cpf members to enjoy 12% savings on HPS premiums

Patrick Lim — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:38:00 +0000

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 …

agents fear they can’t measure up

Patrick Lim — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:15:00 +0000

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 …

news release by the cpf board

Patrick Lim — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:20:00 +0000

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, …

murphy’s law*?

Patrick Lim — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:23:00 +0000

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 …

widening smoking ban?

Patrick Lim — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:35:00 +0000

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 …

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

Patrick Lim — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:56:00 +0000

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 …