Anything under the sun

All these year being a financial planner, I have done financial planning for many couples and see them go through different life stages; from dating, to proposal (or BTO), to wedding and eventually moving in to their new home. As much as I don't agree with the idea of not picking up any plans that is essential (in my opinion of course) in the midst of wedding preparation, I always respect all my clients and friends decision and follow-up after that. Sometimes it may take as long as 3-4yrs if you count from the stage you start to throw the many $10 for the balloting of BTOs to the point they got married and moved in. Reason why I don't agree is simple, even if you are getting a term insurance ~$100/month for 4yrs. It will at most set one back by $5k. We all know getting married is expensive but if $5,000 cannot be spared for something essential, I really suggest looking at the budget set aside for the wedding. Sometimes, people can be (over) conservative. They wish to set...

Source: Sunday Times 10th April 2017  There's been lots chatter about Prudential's new pricing approach of our rider for Shield plan that covers from the first dollar. Here's some of key take-aways and my take. 1) Private healthcare cost is now almost 3x of public hospitals. 2) Internal Shield claims has been rising 27%p.a. for past 3years ( DOUBLED within 3years ). 3) Bulk of customers (>80%), who haven't been making any claims, are also experiencing Premium increase for the past few years regularly as the premium collected is unable to keep pace with Private medical inflation (not just with Prudential alone). 4) The claims at public hospital is still pretty much well-managed - no premium increase for the past few years from Prudential's side. Price increase is pretty much targetted at Private hospital coverage. 5) There's a need to develop a pricing approach that's fair for everyone .  a) Customers who are healthy and don't mak...

I am finally gonna set things in motion now that I have got my FB page set-up. Next up, a blog that I always wanted. All these to share information that I know to wider audience, not just to my clients only. It's kinda ironic that Math and science have always been my interest in school. It's never writing (language). Clients who know me understand why I am doing what I'm doing. 1) I believe in financial planning. Coming from a humble background of blue collar worker parents who put 4 of us through decent education, my parents didn't have much to their name, let alone plan for us when we were young. It started from ground zero for me which make me more prudent (and make mistakes) about finances since I was younger. 2) Being mathematical, I like to see things to be proportionate. I like the fact that how much I bring in is proportionate to how much effort I put in. My internship at Exxon makes me understand that I need to be in control, not a boss, especially one who...