Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Cans and Plastic Bottles Everywhere
During the festive season, serving soft drinks to the guests is very common. The usual containers for soft drinks are the aluminium cans or plastic bottles. After drinking, what are we going to do with these cans and bottles? We simply dump them into the bins. Is this an environmental friendly way of disposing these containers? I recalled in the major supermarkets of Brussels and possibly other countries too, when we purchase a plastic bottle of soft drink, a small surcharge of say 20 cents will be added to the selling price of this bottle. During our next trip to the supermarket, we simply return the empty plastic bottle and the surcharge will be refunded. This will certainly reduces the number of plastic bottles dumped into the bins. I am wondering if this idea is feasible in Singapore.
The 4th R
You may have heard of the 3 R – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, but what is the 4th R? It is Replant. To make our environment remains safe for our future generations, we need to reduce our waste, reuse and recycle whatever things we can. We also need to replant trees that have been chopped off for commercial reasons. In this way, the wild animals can continue to live in their natural homes. Some animals are close to extinction. Extinction means gone forever. The reasons for their extinction include global warming and deforestation which makes the environment no longer suitable for these animals to live on. Do we want to destroy our environment and bring some animals to extinction indirectly? Do we want to our future generations to see these animals only from the books or pictures? Do we want to our future generations to live in an unfriendly or harsh environment due to global warming? We start doing our part to love our Earth now.
Friday, February 08, 2008
My Chinese New Year-part 1
On 6th Feb 2008, all my family members gathered for the reunion dinner. This was an extremely important dinner, because it was one of the few occasions where all the family members were present and be able to sit down together to have a dinner. The dishes included steamboat, sushi, udon, etc. Mum prepared her favourite raw fish salad (yusheng). Daniel whipped up his mouth-watering mussels in red wine, which he learnt when he was in Brussels in Jun 2007.
Singapore is just a small island, yet it is not often that all my family members are able to gather and sit down for a decent meal. Everybody is always busy with his/her own affairs. Is this due to the money-driven society, where everybody wants to work extra hard to earn that extra buck?
During this festive season, let us not forget that there are still many folks who need some help and/or warmth from kind-heared people.
Let us share our joy with as many people as we can.
Singapore is just a small island, yet it is not often that all my family members are able to gather and sit down for a decent meal. Everybody is always busy with his/her own affairs. Is this due to the money-driven society, where everybody wants to work extra hard to earn that extra buck?
During this festive season, let us not forget that there are still many folks who need some help and/or warmth from kind-heared people.
Let us share our joy with as many people as we can.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
What are the "risk-free" investments?
Issuer:Government of Singapore.
Typical issue size and maturity
S$2 - 3 billion for benchmark bond issues
S$900 - 1,000 million for Treasury bill (T-bill) issues
The maturity ranges from 3-month to 15 years with 3-month and 1-year benchmarks for T-bills and 2-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15- and 20-year benchmarks for bonds.
Typical denomination
S$1,000 for bonds and T-bills
SGS Bonds
SGS bonds carry a fixed semi-annual coupon paid on the 1st and 15th of the particular month. In case of holiday, coupon payment occurs on the next business day.
Coupon accrual: Interest accrues from the previous coupon date (inclusive) to the settlement date (exclusive).
Ex-coupon date rule: SGS trades ex-coupon three working days prior to the coupon date.
SGS bonds are non-callable/non-puttable bonds with bullet redemptions.
SGS T-Bills
SGS T-bills are zero-coupon, and issued and traded on a discount basis.
source: www.sgs.gov.sg
My comments:
SGS bonds and T-bills are risk-free unless the government defaults. The SGS bonds, in particular, provide a constant (fixed coupon rate) and regular (half-yearly) stream of income. However, given the ultra-low interest rate environment, do you want to put your money in these instruments? The yields are not even enough to beat the inflation. So are they still "risk-free"?
Typical issue size and maturity
S$2 - 3 billion for benchmark bond issues
S$900 - 1,000 million for Treasury bill (T-bill) issues
The maturity ranges from 3-month to 15 years with 3-month and 1-year benchmarks for T-bills and 2-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15- and 20-year benchmarks for bonds.
Typical denomination
S$1,000 for bonds and T-bills
SGS Bonds
SGS bonds carry a fixed semi-annual coupon paid on the 1st and 15th of the particular month. In case of holiday, coupon payment occurs on the next business day.
Coupon accrual: Interest accrues from the previous coupon date (inclusive) to the settlement date (exclusive).
Ex-coupon date rule: SGS trades ex-coupon three working days prior to the coupon date.
SGS bonds are non-callable/non-puttable bonds with bullet redemptions.
SGS T-Bills
SGS T-bills are zero-coupon, and issued and traded on a discount basis.
source: www.sgs.gov.sg
My comments:
SGS bonds and T-bills are risk-free unless the government defaults. The SGS bonds, in particular, provide a constant (fixed coupon rate) and regular (half-yearly) stream of income. However, given the ultra-low interest rate environment, do you want to put your money in these instruments? The yields are not even enough to beat the inflation. So are they still "risk-free"?
Bulk of CPF insurance sales could drop as much as 40%
Bulk of CPF insurance sales could drop as much as 40%
Single-premium products likely to be hit hard when new rules take effect By Gabriel Chen
THE insurance industry is bracing itself for a dramatic fall of up to 40 per cent in sales of all-important single-premium products - which require an initial lump sum payment.
This will cost insurers in Singapore many millions of dollars in sales of single-premium products which overwhelmingly dominate the industry.
The reason? New rules on investing Central Provident Fund (CPF) money which take effect on April 1 will cut the sum available for private investments under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS). The CPF has been a crucial market for these single-premium products - such as endowment policies and investment-linked policies (ILPs).
The CPF sector accounted for 62 per cent or $5.47 billion of single-premium sales last year, similar to that in 2006.
CPF single-premium sales rose from $1.2 billion in the third quarter to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Mr Mark O'Dell, president of the Life Insurance Association (LIA), said yesterday that come April 1, CPF funds available for investments are expected to plunge by about 50 per cent.
This would hit the industry hard, as overall single-premium business sales could fall by 30 to 40 per cent, he said at a press conference yesterday.
Insurers will have to find non-CPF buyers, such as consumers using their own savings, to drive sales in future. They might also have to introduce various products that give 'better returns' hopefully to attract more funding.
Under the new rules, which take effect on April 1, a CPF member will not be allowed to invest the first $20,000 of both his CPF Ordinary and Special Accounts savings under the CPFIS.
Mr O'Dell told The Straits Times that LIA has been asking the Government to allow money in Special Accounts to be invested in CPFIS products - but there has not been much progress yet.
Money already invested through the CPFIS will not be affected by the new rule, but there could be a rush to investment money in these instruments before the April 1 deadline.
'I won't be surprised at this stage that agents would be taking opportunity to talk to clients to invest before the funds are locked up,' said Mr Mohamed Salim, chief executive of First Principal Financial.
He said the new rules could affect the likes of AIA, Prudential, NTUC Income and Great Eastern Life more, as they tend to be 'much more dependent' on CPF single-premium sales.
Some financial advisers say that ILPs for instance provide opportunities for higher returns versus rates offered under the CPF investment scheme.
'Of course there are good and bad advisers,' said Mr Edmund Wee, a full-time financial consultant with Income. 'At the end of the day, I don't think just because there's this rule, I would tell my client to invest sooner. The money belongs to the client and we should give proper advice.'
Mr O'Dell said that he is not ruling out a surge in sales this month and next, ahead of the rule change, though he noted that nobody he is talking to now is 'seeing a big surge' yet.
gabrielc@sph.com.sg
Source: ST 6th Feb 2008
My comments:
Yes, at the end of the day, it is our hard-earned money and thus we have to think carefully before we use it in insurance and/or investment.
Single-premium products likely to be hit hard when new rules take effect By Gabriel Chen
THE insurance industry is bracing itself for a dramatic fall of up to 40 per cent in sales of all-important single-premium products - which require an initial lump sum payment.
This will cost insurers in Singapore many millions of dollars in sales of single-premium products which overwhelmingly dominate the industry.
The reason? New rules on investing Central Provident Fund (CPF) money which take effect on April 1 will cut the sum available for private investments under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS). The CPF has been a crucial market for these single-premium products - such as endowment policies and investment-linked policies (ILPs).
The CPF sector accounted for 62 per cent or $5.47 billion of single-premium sales last year, similar to that in 2006.
CPF single-premium sales rose from $1.2 billion in the third quarter to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Mr Mark O'Dell, president of the Life Insurance Association (LIA), said yesterday that come April 1, CPF funds available for investments are expected to plunge by about 50 per cent.
This would hit the industry hard, as overall single-premium business sales could fall by 30 to 40 per cent, he said at a press conference yesterday.
Insurers will have to find non-CPF buyers, such as consumers using their own savings, to drive sales in future. They might also have to introduce various products that give 'better returns' hopefully to attract more funding.
Under the new rules, which take effect on April 1, a CPF member will not be allowed to invest the first $20,000 of both his CPF Ordinary and Special Accounts savings under the CPFIS.
Mr O'Dell told The Straits Times that LIA has been asking the Government to allow money in Special Accounts to be invested in CPFIS products - but there has not been much progress yet.
Money already invested through the CPFIS will not be affected by the new rule, but there could be a rush to investment money in these instruments before the April 1 deadline.
'I won't be surprised at this stage that agents would be taking opportunity to talk to clients to invest before the funds are locked up,' said Mr Mohamed Salim, chief executive of First Principal Financial.
He said the new rules could affect the likes of AIA, Prudential, NTUC Income and Great Eastern Life more, as they tend to be 'much more dependent' on CPF single-premium sales.
Some financial advisers say that ILPs for instance provide opportunities for higher returns versus rates offered under the CPF investment scheme.
'Of course there are good and bad advisers,' said Mr Edmund Wee, a full-time financial consultant with Income. 'At the end of the day, I don't think just because there's this rule, I would tell my client to invest sooner. The money belongs to the client and we should give proper advice.'
Mr O'Dell said that he is not ruling out a surge in sales this month and next, ahead of the rule change, though he noted that nobody he is talking to now is 'seeing a big surge' yet.
gabrielc@sph.com.sg
Source: ST 6th Feb 2008
My comments:
Yes, at the end of the day, it is our hard-earned money and thus we have to think carefully before we use it in insurance and/or investment.
Wishing You a Happy Lunar New Year
Today is the last day in the year of Pig. We will welcome the year of Rat on 7th Feb 2008. Looking back this year of Pig, I wish I have a chance to re-live and thus be able to change some of the major decisions I have made earlier.
Well, it is pointless to look back. I should focus ahead and make good use of the presence.
Today is really a short working day for many people. In fact, some of my colleagues have already flocked overseas for a short break. For the kiddies, they will have about 2 hours in the school for celebration. Working adults usually work half a day. By 2pm, most would have left the office and be at home to get ready for the reunion dinner.
Let us not forget that there are still many people working over this festive season. This includes workers in the public transport, immigration, security, hospital etc, just to name a few.
For the reunion dinner on 6th Feb, I am very glad that all my family members would be able to gather together to have a simple steam-boat dinner and raw fish salad. This has been our family's tradition. All members have to be present for this special dinner. I look forward to the delicious feast prepared by my mother and sisters.
I wish everybody good health and a prosperous year head.
Monday, February 04, 2008
AIA Heart of Gold
Lunar New Year is just round the corner. As working children, have you wonder what gifts are more suitable for your parents? You may wish to consider one of my suggestions. One of the BEST gifts we can give to our parents (exclusively for ages 40 to 75 years) includes AIA Heart of Gold.
This plan essentially covers reimbursement for acupuncture therapies to hospitalization cash benefits in the event of accidents.
- It offers round the clock and worldwide protection up to age 85,
- Premium does NOT increase with age or any claims made.
- There is NO medical examination required.
- Daily Hospital Cash Benefit in the event of hospitalization due to an accident
- The monthly premium starts as low as $13.71 (inclusive of GST).
In this way, we can be assured of our parents are free to enjoy their golden years.
This plan essentially covers reimbursement for acupuncture therapies to hospitalization cash benefits in the event of accidents.
- It offers round the clock and worldwide protection up to age 85,
- Premium does NOT increase with age or any claims made.
- There is NO medical examination required.
- Daily Hospital Cash Benefit in the event of hospitalization due to an accident
- The monthly premium starts as low as $13.71 (inclusive of GST).
In this way, we can be assured of our parents are free to enjoy their golden years.
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