Financial Review

During he first week of 2010, I took some time to review my financial situations.

The global stocks plunged to a low in the early 2009 but recovered strongly thereafter. As a result, some of the unit trusts I have bought have returned to black but the paper gain was not as great as before the "depression".

I stayed invested and did no withdrawal.

The bank preferential shares finally returned to their cost price and I felt great relief. Although I have already prepared to hold them for long-term, seeing that in deep red was certainly unpleasant.

During the IPO for Capital Malls Asia, I tried my luck and bought a few lots. I have applied for my IPOs but received nothing until this stock. So whether this would give me a good return is still a question mark.

There is an upcoming IPO for Tiger Airways. I have yet to make a decision whether to try my luck again due to various reasons.

Due to the ultra-low interest environment, the single premium plans gave very low yields (eg 1.6%pa from INCOME) that I gave up hope on them.

The procedure for bidding of Singapore Government Securities has changed in the second half of year 2009. It became quite user-unfriendly and not cost-effective anymore. I think nothing much can be done in this area.

As for insurance, I did not buy any extra coverage.