Tuesday 15 October 2013

47% of Singaporeans claim that they’re unable to save because they need to set aside money to cover the cost of day-to-day living. However, by the end of January 2013, S$528 billion in cash will be earning next to nothing sitting in the banks. Are your savings part of this pool? This month, we'll not be discussing theory. Instead, we're going to introduce the latest low-risk savings plan.
____________________________________________________________________

EXPECT MORE FROM YOUR SAVINGS 

We work hard for our money. Which is why we should find a plan that makes a real difference by letting our savings go the extra mile for us.

Introducing AIA Smart Pro Saver
Grow your money with AIA Smart Pro Saver, a 10-year limited-pay participating endowment policy where you'll only need to pay for 5 years. You can enjoy potentially attractive returns and stay protected at the same time. Whether you're planning for your child's education, your retirement, or just a well-deserved vacation, AIA Smart Pro Saver will take your savings further.

Let your savings help you put your mind at ease.
Benefits of AIA Smart Pro Saver:

1. Pay Premiums for just 5 years
Pay off your premiums in just 5 years and enjoy 10 years of coverage. What's more, your premiums will not increase throughout the 5 years, regardless of your age or the condition of your health.

2. Potential earn attractive returns

Your plan has the potential to grow with yearly discretionary bonuses. A terminal bonus may also be paid when you make a claim or on policy maturity.

3. Maturity Benefit after 10 years
At the end of 10 years, you will receive your maturity proceeds, which include any bonuses in one lump sum

4. Protect the ones you love
Be covered against premature death and provide financial protection for your family. Your loved ones will receive 101% of total premiums paid plus any bonuses, so they aren't financially burdened.

5. Hassle free application
AIA Smart Pro Saver is simple and easy to apply for as there is no medical underwriting.

6. Choose the currency you prefer
AIA Smart Pro Saver is available in two currencies. You can enjoy the flexibility of saving your money in either SGD or USD

Example 1

Mr. Thomas See, a 55 year-old non-smoker, is looking for a savings plan to maximise his savings so as to supplement his retirement funds when he turns 65. He purchases AIA Smart Pro Saver (S$) and pays S$22,062 annually for the next 5 years for an insured amount of S$100,000.

When Thomas turns 65, he will enjoy a projected maturity amount of S$138,171.
Regular Premiums paid for 5 years: S$22,062 x 5 = S$110,310

Example 2

Mr. John Lim, a 40-year-old non smoker, wants a savings plan t help him finance his child's overseas education in 10 years time. He purchases an AIA Smart Pro Saver (US$) policy and pays US$9,937.50 annually for the next 5 years for an insured amount of US$50,000.

After 10 years, John will enjoy a projected amount of US$67,206 before the policy terminates.
Regular Premiums paid for 5 years: US$9,937.50 x 5 = US$49,687.50

*Figures quoted in the examples include non-guaranteed annual bonuses and terminal bonuses that are based on projected returns of 4.7% (SGD plan)/ 5.75% (USD plan). The actual benefits payable may vary.

Do note that this product is not suitable for everyone (especially not for those who are looking for even higher returns). Please consult your Financial Services Consultant before making any decision.

Contact your personal Financial Services Consultant for a review to find out more.

Thursday 22 August 2013

Critical Illness: Is there a Magic Number for Coverage?


   Recently, a few of my friends have had to go for checkups and surgery due to cysts or tumours. Cancer as a fact of life in Singapore is as real as it can get. It's no longer just an "aged" person's disease. Insurance companies, such as AIA, have also shifted to focus on preventive action. Programmes such as AIA Vitality aim to encourage healthy living. Living healthily is still no guarantee of continued good health. We must also be prepared for the unexpected. This month we look the factors to consider when planning for the "Magical Number" of dollars that we'll need in the event that cancer does strike.
__________________________________________________________________

How much insurance should I get if I have cancer?

Once diagnosed with cancer, a patient would have 2 questions in mind: 1) how long more will he survive and 2) how much money will be needed to support a reasonable standard of living for that duration.

Immediate changes to lifestyle have to be made. Theses may include changes to diet and living habits (try to exercise more etc). While such changes may not cost much more, there are other areas where cost must be factored in:

          1)  Surgeon’s fee and consultation by oncologist
          2)  Hospital bill & room-board charges for inpatient treatment
          3)  Chemotherapy and post hospital follow up including TCM

The above costs will vary according factors such as severity of condition, choice of hospital and treatment, duration of treatment and the organ affected. For example, there has been a claim of $580,000 by a blood cancer patient after just 18 months of treatment.

          4)  Loss of income during treatment & recuperation

If we are also supporting our parents, spouse or children, the impact of this loss will also affect them. Fixed expenses still have to be paid. Our loved ones may even have to reduce their spending. We may have to give up future plans because the above costs eat into our savings. Moreover, income loss will also bring emotional stress to our family. A client of ours was replaced by her company during her treatment, although she had worked for 9 years. As a result, she suffered income loss of about S$167,000; all in the short time span of 2 years.

          5) Decrease in Quality of Life

Someone else in the family may need to work harder or start work to provide for what has been lost. Future plans may have to be abandoned due to lack of funds. The repercussion from inadequate planning is unlimited. We've come across delays in wedding plans, stopping of children’s tuition, business expansion put on hold and retirement abandoned, amongst others.

The above 5 considerations are but the most common to take note. There may be more factors to plan for based on individual needs. The seriousness of the matter cannot be overstated. We have only discussed the example of cancer. There are also the rest of the Critical Illnesses to plan for; not to mention other protection against accidents, disability, death etc.

It is essential to ensure that we have adequate protection,won't you agree? Approach your trusted Financial Services Consultant for a review of your Risk Management foundation today.

Monday 22 July 2013

Property Loans and the New Debt Servicing Ratio

   In recent years, the Singapore property market has been outperforming most other investment instruments. Real Estate has entered the ranks of the 5Cs in the Singapore dream. A number of my friends have their eye on the next downturn; waiting on the sides to enter the market. It has become so popular that the government has to step in to prevent a property price bubble from forming. We have seen several measures taken to cool the market. Property prices have stabilized somewhat but there is still no sign of it dropping. Thus the latest measure, which is the topic of our discussion in this issue.
____________________________________________________________________
   
   On 29th June 2013, MAS announced the standardization of the debt service ratio which banks have to use when granting property loans. Debt service ratio is the percentage of a borrower’s gross income that is used to make mortgage repayments.
   The Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) is capped at a maximum of 60%, taking into consideration all debt, which include:
  • Property Loans
  • Bank Loans
  • Credit Card Outstanding Balances
  • Car Loans
Other factors include:
  • Medium term interest rate (3.5%) is used for calculation instead of prevailing interest rate.
  • Guarantors named on a property loan will also be considered as mortgagers of the residential property for which the loan was taken.
What this means to you

   Using a simple example, John and Mary, both 35, married with 2 kids, with a combined income of S$120,000 per annum, have the following assets and loan.

   They have a total loan amount of S$2,222 per month combined (S$1,201+S$1021). Should they wish to buy another property, the maximum monthly loan instalment amount they can take now is S$3,778 (S$120,000/12 x 60% - S$2222).
   Based on the new ruling of medium term interest rate of 3.5%, with a loan term of 30 years (till age 65 only), the maximum loan they can take up is estimated to be S$830,000 for any new property they intend to buy.

In a Nutshell…
   The government is trying to prevent people, from overleveraging and getting complacent in assuming that prices will keep going up. We need to understand that there is no guaranteed in life
No guarantee that:
  • Property price will keep going up
  • Interest Rate will stay low
  • Able to receive rental continuously
  • We are able to enjoy our income, and we won’t lose our job.
   Although wealth accumulation has slowly become an obsession with Singaporeans, it’s important for us to always maintain financial prudence and ensure that we cover all risks to protect our income.

   Seek advice from your trusted Financial Consultant when making major financial decisions so that when unfortunate events in life hit us, we know that we are well shielded and not burden anyone with huge debts.

Monday 1 July 2013

The Biggest Ponzi Scheme in the History of the World

   Following is an article by Michael Synder found at http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-biggest-ponzi-scheme-in-the-history-of-the-world. I felt it is important enough to repost here. It is a simple analogy to understanding the state of world finance today; a must-read for those who are keen to be in the know.
Did you know that you are involved in the most massive Ponzi scheme that has ever existed?  To illustrate my point, allow me to tell you a little story.  Once upon a time, there was a man named Sam.  When he was younger, he had been a very principled young man that had worked incredibly hard and that had built a large number of tremendously successful businesses.  He became fabulously wealthy and he accumulated far more gold than anyone else on the planet.  But when he started to get a little older he forgot the values of his youth.  He started making really bad decisions and some of his relatives started to take advantage of him.  One particularly devious relative was a nephew named Fred.  One day Fred approached his uncle Sam with a scheme that his friends the bankers had come up with.  What happened next would change the course of Sam's life forever.
Even though Sam was the wealthiest man in the world by far, Fred convinced Sam that he could have an even higher standard of living by going into a little bit of debt.  In exchange for IOUs issued by his uncle Sam, Fred would give him paper notes that he printed off on his printing press.  Since the paper notes would be backed by the gold that Sam was holding, everyone would consider them to be valuable.  Sam could take those paper notes and spend them on whatever his heart desired.  Uncle Sam started to do this, and he started to become addicted to all of the nice things that those paper notes would buy him.
Fred took the IOUs that he received from his uncle and he auctioned them off to the bankers.  But there was a problem.  The IOUs issued by Uncle Sam had to be paid back with interest.  When the time came to pay back the IOUs, Uncle Sam could not afford to pay back the debts, pay the interest on those debts, and buy all of the nice things that he wanted.  So Uncle Sam issued even more IOUs than before so that he could get enough notes to pay off his debts.  As time rolled on, this pattern just kept on repeating.  Uncle Sam repeatedly paid off his old debts by taking out even larger new debts.
Meanwhile, since the notes that Uncle Sam was using were backed by gold, everyone else in the world decided to start using them to trade with one another.  This was greatly beneficial to Uncle Sam, because the rest of the world was glad to send him oil, home electronics, plastic trinkets and anything else that Uncle Sam wanted in exchange for his gold-backed notes.
Eventually, however, the rest of the world started to suspect that the number of gold-backed notes that Uncle Sam was issuing far exceeded the amount of gold that Uncle Sam actually had.  So the rest of the world started to trade in their notes for gold.
And by that time Uncle Sam definitely did not have enough gold to back up his notes.  Realizing that the scheme was starting to collapse, one day Uncle Sam announced that his notes would no longer be backed by gold.  But he insisted that the rest of the world should continue using his notes because he was the wealthiest man on the planet and everyone should just trust him.
And the rest of the world did continue to trust him, although it wasn't the same as before.
As Uncle Sam got greedier and greedier, he started to issue IOUs and spend notes at a rate that nobody ever dreamed possible.  The great businesses that Uncle Sam had built when he was younger were starting to decline, and Uncle Sam started buying far more stuff from the rest of the world than they bought from him.  The rest of the world was still glad to take Uncle Sam's notes because they used them to trade with one another, but they started accumulating far more notes than they actually needed.
Not sure exactly what to do with mountains of these notes, the rest of the world started to loan them back to Uncle Sam.  It eventually got to the point where Uncle Sam owed the rest of the world trillions of these notes.  Even though the notes were losing value at a rate of close to 10 percent a year, Uncle Sam somehow convinced the rest of the world to loan him notes at an average rate of interest of less than 3 percent a year.
One day Uncle Sam woke up and realized that the amount of debt that he owed was now more than 5000 times larger than it was when Fred had first approached him with this ill-fated scheme.  Uncle Sam now owed more than 16 trillion notes to his creditors, and Uncle Sam had already made future financial commitments of 202 trillion notes that he would never be able to pay.  Meanwhile, the notes that Fred had been printing up for Uncle Sam were now worth less than 5 percent of their original value.  Uncle Sam was becoming concerned because some of his other relatives were warning that this whole scheme was about to collapse.
Sadly, Uncle Sam did not listen to them.  Uncle Sam knew that if he admitted how fraudulent the financial scheme was, the rest of the world would quit sending him all of the things that he needed in exchange for his notes and they would quit lending his notes back to him at super low interest rates.
And if the rest of the world lost confidence in his notes and quit using them, Uncle Sam knew that his standard of living would go way, way down.  That was something that Uncle Sam could not bear to have happen.
When a financial crisis almost caused the scheme to crash in 2008, a desperate Uncle Sam went to Fred and asked for help.  In response, Fred started printing up far more notes than ever before and started directly buying up large amounts of IOUs from Uncle Sam with the notes that he was creating out of thin air.  Fred hoped that the rest of the world would not notice what he was doing.
It seemed to work for a little while, but then an even worse financial crisis came along.  Once again, Uncle Sam started issuing massive amounts of new IOUs and Fred started printing up giant mountains of new notes to try to fix things, but their desperate attempts to keep the system going were to no avail.  The rest of the world started to realize that they had been sucked into a massive Ponzi scheme, and they lost confidence in the notes that Uncle Sam was using.  Suddenly nobody wanted to lend notes to Uncle Sam at super low interest rates anymore, and people started asking for far more notes in exchange for the things that Uncle Sam wanted.
Uncle Sam's standard of living dropped dramatically.  Since he could no longer flood the world with his notes, Uncle Sam could not continue to consume far, far more wealth than he produced.  Uncle Sam sunk into a deep depression as he watched the scheme fall apart all around him.
Uncle Sam had once been the wealthiest man on the entire planet, but now he was a broke, tired old man that was absolutely drowning in debt.  Unfortunately, once he was down on his luck the rest of the world did not have any compassion for him.  In fact, much of the rest of the world celebrated the downfall of Uncle Sam.
All of this could have been avoided if Uncle Sam had never agreed to Fred's crazy scheme.  And once Uncle Sam made the decision to stop backing his notes with gold, it was only a matter of time before the scheme was going to collapse.
Does this little story sound crazy to you?  It shouldn't.  The truth is that you are involved in such a scheme right now.  In case you haven't figured it out, "Uncle Sam" is the United States, the "notes" are U.S. dollars, and "Fred" is the Federal Reserve.
Please share this story with as many people as you can.  Our country is headed for complete and total financial disaster, and we need to get people educated about this while there is still time.

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Revolutionary Coverage for Mums-to-Be


Mothers have always been respected. Mums-to-be are treated as if they own the world. They get to eat the best food and get the most attention. This is not surprising of course, as we want both mother and child to be in the best of health. However most of the time,Mums-to-be and their children are unable to get the best insurance protection.

Insuring a Mum-to-be and the unborn child has always been tough, as there is always the chance of pregnancy complications and congenital abnormalities. These are conditions which even doctors cannot be absolutely sure of. 

In 2010, about 9,000 babies were hospitalised for congenital and neonatal conditions in public hospitals. Eventhough these were subsidized wards, some 700 had bills that amounted to more than $5,000.

In this issue, we examine a new plan that addresses the above concerns of pregnancy complications and congenital problems. Intoducing The AIA FAMILY FIRST BABY!
_______________________________________________________________
AIA FAMILY FIRST BABY

   AIA Family First Baby (FFB) is an all-in-one prenatal protection and savings plan. It protects expectant mothers from as early as 18 weeks into pregnancy and extends to the baby after he is born. This means peace of mind should the unexpected happen during pregnancy or even after childbirth.
   The FFB comprises a regular premium investment (ILP) plan and the Family First Baby rider. Together, they provide comprehensive protection for both mother and child. Moreover, the savings from the ILP ensures the child has a headstart in planning towards a financially secure future immediately when he is born.

COVERAGE FOR MOTHER
1. Pregnancy Complications Benefit - $5000
2. Hospital Care Beenfit for pregnancy Coomplications - $100/ day for 30 days
3. Death Benefit - $5000
In addition, when the policy cover is transferred from mother to child, the mother may purchase a new policy with similar cover without any medical underwriting, allowing her to be protected continually.

COVERAGE FOR CHILD (extends free for the next 3 years)
1. Congenital Illness Benefit (18 conditions) - $5000
2. Hospital Care Benefit - $100/ day for 30 days for any one of the following:
i) Incubation of newborn for more than 3 consecutive days
ii) Premature Birth requiring neonatal ICU/ HDU
iii) Hospitalization due to Hand Foot Mouth Disease
iv) Admission to ICU/ HDU
Best of all, the child will enjoy Guaranteed coverage when the policy is transferred to him, within 60 days of birth. No medical underwriting needed. He can receive whole life coverage (till age 100) as well as savings for his future education.
In a Nutshell…
The AIA FFB provides protection for mother and child before birth, for child after birth and even provides savings to secure the child's financial future.

Monday 15 April 2013

3 in 1 Plan to Prepare the Unexpected


Recently I have been receiving quite a number of queries from friends regarding medical conditions and whether their policies cover. It is a fact that in Singapore, healthcare inflation generally rises faster than normal inflation. And there is a S$124 million shortfall between the medical treatments that people need and those they are prepared to pay for. In this month’s article, we introduce AIA’s latest attempt to bridge that gap – SCC.
____________________________________________________________________

The Issue at Hand…
More people are diagnosed with critical illnesses every day. More than 1 in 4 Singaporeans die of critical illnesses such as cancer. These illnesses are unpredictable. They can potentially wipe out all our savings and cause unnecessary stress to our family, both emotionally and financially.

Only with adequate coverage, can we not be a financial burden to our family when it comes to treatment. And we can focus on the one thing that is truly important — making sure that we can still carry on with our daily activities including spending quality time with our family.
Introducing the AIA’s Secure Critical Cover

Protection against the unforseen
The insured amount will be paid out upon diagnosis of any of the 30 critical illnesses (listed in the table of critical illnesses) or upon death or total and permanent disability (TPD), whichever is earlier. This helps to ensure your family is not financially burdened, and their quality of living is not affected should the unimaginable occur.

Conversion privilege for more flexibility
Should your needs change at any point, you may convert AIA Secure Critical Cover to any of AIA’s whole life or endowment plans with no underwriting required.

Affordable premiums for peace of mind
For a male non-smoker aged 25, paying premium annually, it only costs S$1.60 a day to receive S$100,000 amount of coverage.
In a Nutshell…

The Secure Critical Cover is an excellent addition to our Risk Management Portfolio as it boosts all three of the major personal risks (Death, TPD and Critical Illness) at very affordable and competitive premiums.

Contact your personal Financial Services Consultant for a review to determine if this is suitable for you.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Important Changes to Your "Shield" Plan

I trust that you had a good Chinese New Year. For those who don’t celebrate, I trust that it has been a good rest. But now it’s time for me to get back to business. About a month ago, I started passing out blood. The concerned spouse forced me to see the doctor. It turned out to be just a simple case of piles which medicine cured. However, it got me thinking about whether my hospitalization coverage is as ideal as I want it to be. Come 1 March, the government will increase the coverage and premium of the national CPF Medishield plan. Private insurers have followed suit. In this issue we look at how AIA’s Healthshield plan stacks against the rest.
_____________________________________________________________________

By now some of you might have received notice that the premiums of your AIA Healthshield plan will be increased. In a nutshell here’s why:
1. Rising Medical Cost and Complexity of Conditions – the plan needs to increase the breadth and scope of coverage to keep up with the times.
2. CPF increased premiums – AIA pays a portion of Healthshield premiums to CPF to maintain clients’ CPF Medishield (hence the “integration”).
3. It is a nation-wide exercise by CPF and most insurers to increase coverage to be in line with Singaporean’s medical needs.
4. Give clients more value for money – After the change, AIA Healthshield is one of the most competitive plans in terms of coverage for premium.

AIA Healthshield’s Competitive Edge

Besides being one of the lowest in premiums for most age groups, AIA Healthshield Gold Max A Basic Plan also has the following advantages:
1. The only insurer that covers pre and post-hospitalization in a short stay ward
2. The only insurer that covers Congenital Abnormalities of Female Insured’s newborn for up to 2 years.
3. The only insurer that waives premium for one year on total permanent disablement.
4. The only insurer that covers hazardous sports (no need for supervision under licensed organization).
5. No waiting period for Congenital Abnormalities of Insured coverage unlike most other insurers.
6. Unlimited number of days coverage for stay in Community Hospitals, on “as-charged” basis.
7. Longest post-hospitalization coverage (200 days) if due to 30 Critical Illnesses
8. Longest post-hospitalization psychiatric treatment. Most others don’t even cover.
9. Breast reconstructive surgery after mastectomy (for medical reasons) is covered unlike most other insurers.
10. Highest per policy year limit for plans A and B
11. Highest Pro-ration Factor (for applicable plans). This means AIA pays out more.
12. Lowest maximum Deductible. This means AIA pays out more.

Competive Edge of AIA Essential Rider:
1. Only insurer that doesn’t put a limit on age or number of days for Immediate Family Member Accomodation. For all others, insured must be below 18 years old and limited to only 10 days.
2. Only insurer to cover post-hospital home nursing.
For all other coverage, AIA’s Healthshield Gold Max A and Essential rider are just as competitive or even better than the rest.

The question we should be asking ourselves is whether our current hospitalization arrangement is ideal for us. Do we even know what is ideal? It would be prudent for us to seek assistance from our Personal Financial Services Consultant, who would be equipped to suggest the most appropriate plan.

Monday 21 January 2013

Grow Your Money Tree for Your Silver Years

It's a new year again! How time flies. The holidays are behind us and it's back to work. This is going to be an exciting year with many changes in the financial planning industry. Just to give my readers a headsup, the Ministry of Health is set to announce changes in the Medisave and Medishield sectors. This can happen as early as in a couple of days time. Many new an innovative financial solutions will also be launched. An example is the AIA Retirement Saver plan which we will discuss shortly. Since we're on the topic of retirement, it would be appropriate in this first issue to discuss the age old (pun intended) question of where and how we can get money for this purpose.
_______________________________________________________

Is $1,000 Enough?

Many Singaporeans take for granted that their CPF would be enough for retirement. One way that CPF helps in retirement is through the CPF Life annuity scheme. A Singaporean Male born in 1962 with an Retirement Account Balance of S$139,000 will get an approximate monthly payout of S$1,000 starting at age 65 if he chooses the Life Standard Plan (higher payout, lower bequest option). This payout will continue as long as he lives.

Is $1,000 per month enough? Considering that most of our CPF money would be used for housing, would we even be able to accumulate the above amount in time to join the CPF Life scheme? The situation looks even bleaker when we factor inrising inflation.

Thus it is a no-brainer that we have to have other sources of income if we are to be ready for retirement. AIA recently launched one such powerful solution.

Introducing AIA Retirement Saver

Assurance in Payouts and Application – You’ll enjoy More Rewards with Better Peace of Mind
1) There is no underwriting. Everyone can apply regardless of health
2) Capital guaranteed by age 65. Get back more money than you have saved
3) Lump sum guaranteed reward of 24 times the selected guaranteed monthly retirement income to kick-start your next chapter of life with confidence.

Better to meet Your Retirement Needs – You’ll get what You want when You want it
1) Guaranteed monthly retirement income for more certainty
2) Potential annual dividends enhance your income stream and help cushion rising inflation
3) Potential terminal dividend paid in the event of death, surrender or maturity

Choice to suit Your Needs – You’ll have Greater Flexibility  
1) Choice of premium payment terms (single payment, 5 or 10 years) to suit your financial commitments.
Feel free to approach your Personal Financial Consultant for more details.

2) Choice of income payout period (15 or 20 years) depending on how long you want your retirement income to last
3) Choice of monthly retirement income amount to maintain your desired lifestyle
4) Choice to accumulate your retirement reward and income with AIA for greater returns.