Hello Mr. Tan,
I read your blog re: the subject matter above. And you mention cooperative society can be of assistance. What/who are the cooperative society? I don't understand that term, and would really appreciate it if you could clarify?
REPLY
I suggest that you contact Credit Counselling Singapore. They may be able to help you. http://www.ccs.org.sg/
To my knowledge, the coperative societies are not able to help someone who is already in debt. You should join a cooperative society and start saving with it. When you need a loan, they can provide it to you at lower cost, compared to a credit card.
Monday, April 21, 2008
New way of marketing
A blog reader asked how a new life insurance company can market its products in Singapore, without paying high commission to agents.
It can adopt an innovative "educational" approach:
a) Educate the customers through the website
b) Give educational talks at workplaces and public venues
c) Distribute educational materials on the street
d) Print articles in the print media
This educational materials will inform the consumers about the value of insurance and the difference in cost between the "low cost" and "high cost" products. I expect that many consumers will prefer to buy the "low cost" products directly.
It can adopt an innovative "educational" approach:
a) Educate the customers through the website
b) Give educational talks at workplaces and public venues
c) Distribute educational materials on the street
d) Print articles in the print media
This educational materials will inform the consumers about the value of insurance and the difference in cost between the "low cost" and "high cost" products. I expect that many consumers will prefer to buy the "low cost" products directly.
High prices of commodities
The prices of oil, gold, rice and other commodities have shot through the roof. The large increases are due to:
a) Shortage
b) Financial speculation
The actual shortage may be small and temporary. But the financial speculators, e.g. hedge funds, have taken advantage of the situation to push up prices beyond the fundamentals. Even ordinary people have jumped into the bandwagon.
These extreme price movements are a function of the free market. It is bad for the global economy and is hurting many poor people. It a weakness of the market mechanism.
I hope that there will be some measures to prevent the excessive speculation.
a) Shortage
b) Financial speculation
The actual shortage may be small and temporary. But the financial speculators, e.g. hedge funds, have taken advantage of the situation to push up prices beyond the fundamentals. Even ordinary people have jumped into the bandwagon.
These extreme price movements are a function of the free market. It is bad for the global economy and is hurting many poor people. It a weakness of the market mechanism.
I hope that there will be some measures to prevent the excessive speculation.
Avoid high cost ILP
Hi Mr. Tan,
I've been following your blog and it has been really great just reading your entries. You have come across as a very sincere and helpful person.
I would like to get some advise from you regarding insurance. I have bought an investment linked policy with an insurance company but would like to know if its wiser to just buy a pure insurance rather than an investment linked one?
REPLY
It is better to buy Term insurance for the insurance protection and invest in a low cost investment fund. This is explained in these FAQs:
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/savings.html
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/low.html
Most investment linked products have high charges that take away two years of your savings:
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/ilp.html
I've been following your blog and it has been really great just reading your entries. You have come across as a very sincere and helpful person.
I would like to get some advise from you regarding insurance. I have bought an investment linked policy with an insurance company but would like to know if its wiser to just buy a pure insurance rather than an investment linked one?
REPLY
It is better to buy Term insurance for the insurance protection and invest in a low cost investment fund. This is explained in these FAQs:
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/savings.html
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/low.html
Most investment linked products have high charges that take away two years of your savings:
http://www.tankinlian.com/faq/ilp.html
Share your experience
If you like me to share your experience in the main section of my blog (and not as a comment), you have to send an e-mail to me. This is for me to contact you and verify the facts that you have posted. I will not put your actual name, if you wish to remain anonymous.
Buy Low cost insurance now
Dear Mr. Tan,
You advised your blog readers to wait for the new life insurance company to offer low cost products. What happens if there is a delay in the availability of these products? What if death or disabiilty occurs and the people are not insured?
REPLY
I advised them to buy low cost insurance (i.e. Term and Decreasing Term) now. They should avoid high cost life insurance policy that takes away two years of their savings.
In the meantime, they should keep their savings in the bank. Although the interest rate is low, at least the savings are intact and not taken away to pay commission.
If they have accumulated more than $3,000, they can buy 1,000 units of ST ETF. Or any other low cost investment funds with a small front end load (not more than 1%).
You advised your blog readers to wait for the new life insurance company to offer low cost products. What happens if there is a delay in the availability of these products? What if death or disabiilty occurs and the people are not insured?
REPLY
I advised them to buy low cost insurance (i.e. Term and Decreasing Term) now. They should avoid high cost life insurance policy that takes away two years of their savings.
In the meantime, they should keep their savings in the bank. Although the interest rate is low, at least the savings are intact and not taken away to pay commission.
If they have accumulated more than $3,000, they can buy 1,000 units of ST ETF. Or any other low cost investment funds with a small front end load (not more than 1%).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)