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Showing posts with label Investment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Investment. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, August 8, 2008
Getting My Fingers Burnt
One of my three problems is solved! Alright, I have not divulged much, because I do not wish to trouble anyone. If I have said the full story, I believe people will help me out, but I do not want to burden others as everyone has their own problems already. Anyway, what happened was after I invested my CPF funds, they are generating quite a nice return. I have some other amounts tied up in insurance savings plans that are generating quite nice interest as well. So anyway, I thought why not do a real investment using whatever money I have and generate immediate returns?
People who know me know I am never one to take big risks. Which is why I never buy lottery or stocks and shares as well. But I grew impatient of waiting for my money to grow. I still have my intention of buying a place and hopefully a car as well, which is why I took the plunge and invested in the US market unit trust, hopefully to generate immediate returns. That was some time back when the market was doing well. There was a shortfall so I actually took a bank loan to finance my investment.
Alright, I admit, it was a stupid mistake on my part. Who was to know the market went down so fast? I started really panicking over the Freddie and Fannie situation and the bank run. I wanted to stop my investment, but by then it was too late. I have already suffered a loss. Not too big a sum, but big enough to wipe out most of my savings, or rather half of them. Luckily the other half of my money is tied up in insurance, otherwise I could have lost much more! Not to mention the moment the bank know I made a loss, it immediately started hounding me for the full payment, when it promised I could pay back in instalments!
I did not wish to disclose at first because I thought I could pool out whatever resources I still had left. But then this period of time, lots of expenditure started coming, like income tax (I always wonder why I pay so much tax when I do not seem to get any benefits), and my company cut half my salary in June and July for contribution to the Sichuan Relief Fund. The last straw was my course fees are also going to be due, paid in advance for next semester. In short, I am broke, and in debt.
The bank started calling me up everyday. I was so busy the past couple of weeks rushing out urgent issues and running everywhere. I was hardly in office. I could hardly pick up my phone, and when I did, the line got cut off. I was hardly at my desk so my office phone started ringing and no one picked up. I called the bank back but I was either put on hold or the line was engaged. So it started calling my home everyday and hounding my dad. My dad told me the bank had been calling me, I better do something.
In the end, at my wit’s end, I confessed to my mum the entire situation. I could tell my best friend of course, but she is preparing her wedding, so I do not want her to loan me any amount. I could tell my other close friends too, but they have their own obligations as well, like car loans. I will not feel good taking any loan from them. So I was on my own. I have no assets to my name which I can mortgage (a good thing at least). So I told my mum I needed to tell her something, but begged her not to chew me out. After she listened to what I had to say, she wrote out a cheque for me to pay off the bank loan. She said she kind of suspected it because the bank has been calling all the time.
It is a relief my mum agreed to help me out. But the problem is not yet over. After some calculations, I realized the amount she gave me was not enough, so I had to beg her for more tonight. This time round, I am pretty sure she will chew me out. In any case, I am paying her back in instalments, by giving her more household allowance from next month onwards. If I am lucky, I can pay her back in a year’s time, if not another two years or so. I know my mum is a great woman, which is why I look up to her the most! I only wish I can pay her back twofold or more in this lifetime for everything she has done!
Never will I do anything so stupid again! One lesson is more than enough! I have already gotten my fingers burnt badly!
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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Financial Planning ....
The apartment we were staying in before we shifted into our current home is going to be sold off. Actually, my parents once told me that will be part of my dowry when I get married, but now they are selling it away.
It does not matter to me actually. If I am to have my own place, I rather buy it on my own than to get it from my parents. My exs never know about this as I never told them, as I wanted them to be with me because they really wanted to be with me, not because they thought I would be inheriting any property if we got married.
Anyway, my parents thought it would be more worth it to sell off the apartment instead of just renting out the place, especially since we had tenants that defaulted and ran away, leaving my dad to pick up all the utilities debts. And it will be going at a rather hefty sum, twice the original amount than when my parents first bought the place. What a profit!
Still, it was not as much as the profit my parents made when they sold off the first house before we bought our current home. They sold that off at ten times the amount they orignially purchased the place. That house initially belonged to my paternal grandparents.
When my dad got married, my parents bought it over from them. The property prices accelerate over the years. That house is a two-storey semi-detached house with an all-round garden. My grandparents bought it for a small four-figure sum.
My parents then bought it for another four-figure sum, but when the house was sold off, it was purchased at a five-figure sum. My parents really know how to make use of their fixed assets and convert them into big amounts of liquid assets! I really have to learn about investment and better financial planning and management from my parents.
Just as well I met up with my financial planner last night. After a review of my policies, it turns out that I am doing pretty well for myself. Hopefully in a couple of years I can at least get my own property!
It does not matter to me actually. If I am to have my own place, I rather buy it on my own than to get it from my parents. My exs never know about this as I never told them, as I wanted them to be with me because they really wanted to be with me, not because they thought I would be inheriting any property if we got married.
Anyway, my parents thought it would be more worth it to sell off the apartment instead of just renting out the place, especially since we had tenants that defaulted and ran away, leaving my dad to pick up all the utilities debts. And it will be going at a rather hefty sum, twice the original amount than when my parents first bought the place. What a profit!
Still, it was not as much as the profit my parents made when they sold off the first house before we bought our current home. They sold that off at ten times the amount they orignially purchased the place. That house initially belonged to my paternal grandparents.
When my dad got married, my parents bought it over from them. The property prices accelerate over the years. That house is a two-storey semi-detached house with an all-round garden. My grandparents bought it for a small four-figure sum.
My parents then bought it for another four-figure sum, but when the house was sold off, it was purchased at a five-figure sum. My parents really know how to make use of their fixed assets and convert them into big amounts of liquid assets! I really have to learn about investment and better financial planning and management from my parents.
Just as well I met up with my financial planner last night. After a review of my policies, it turns out that I am doing pretty well for myself. Hopefully in a couple of years I can at least get my own property!
Friday, March 24, 2006
Of Insurance Agents And Financial Planners
Most people I know shy away from insurance agents or financial advisors. The financial planning type of job is thankless as people normally do not give these agents a chance. They are pushy mainly because they need to meet their quotas and do well in their jobs.
I do not know about the experiences of the rest, but between financial advisors and multi-level marketers, I much rather spend time talking to a financial planner. You can just talk and share information but you are not obligated to buy anything. Furthermore I am very pleased with the services of my agents and they have never given me any cause for displeasure or complaints.
Whereas for a multi-level marketer, they give you some cock-and-bull story to get you to meet them, then in the end you realize you get conned. So financial advisors are in a way more truthful; as they state down in black and white what exactly they do. For that I give them more respect since they are more honest in their approach.
I have mostly good experiences with insurance agents. In fact, I have two agents of my own. My first agent has been with me ever since I was nineteen. She is the friend of a friend of a friend, so called me up.
At that point in time, I was quite interested in insurance as I did not have any policy of my own. So I met up with her, and seeing that she was starting out, I did her a favour and bought a life policy. I have been very happy with her services so far as she has gone some extra miles for me.
Years later, my friend introduced me to his own financial advisor from another company. She is a nice lady, not too pushy and makes sure you are comfortable. In the end, even when I did not get anything from her, she left with no hard feelings.
My second agent is actually a good friend. When I first met her last year, I found that we are able to click together as she is a very jolly and bubbly person. She is sincere to everyone and really cares for her friends. That was long before I even knew what she works as.
Even after I found out her profession, she has never pushed any sale towards me or any of our friends. For her, a friend is a friend, not a business prospect, and that got me respecting her even more.
Then when I heard from a couple of our common friends on how they approached her to draw up their policies and invest their CPF funds for them, I called her up and asked her how to go about investing my CPF funds.
My first agent did ever ask if I wanted to invest my CPF funds with her, but at that point in time, I was reluctant since I thought I was buying a flat soon, and needed the cash to pay the deposit. Incidentally, my friend also belongs to the same company as my first agent, but different agencies.
The reason I chose my friend was because she seemed more knowledgeable on the different types of policies and investments of the company. When I asked my first agent, she could not give me a satisfactory enough answer on how certain policies would be good for me. But my friend was able to convince me on which policy would be the best for me.
I know it may just be a sales gimmick, but if a customer indicates interest in a product, the person making the sale should at least make it sound convincing enough so the customer would buy it happily. No customer would want to buy from someone who could not even bring across the message clearly.
Anyway when I met up with my friend, she only explained to me how everything works. She still left the choice to me whether to take up the policy. But after seeing how beneficial CPF investment can be, I took up the investment account, plus another savings plan which can generate high interest cash back every year, together with all the critical illnesses and ladies’ illnesses coverage.
So now I have a total of four plans – one life insurance, one savings plan that can generate cash back and high interest every year after a year, one CPF Ordinary Account investment (yearly deductions) and one CPF Special Account investment (one-time deduction of a lump sum). These are more than enough already.
My friend just told me that I have become a Prestige member of the company, and gave me the Prestige card, since my total savings, investment and insurance have reached a certain amount. I should expect so, considering the amount of premium I pay every month, plus the fact that I have blown almost all my CPF funds into investment.
Besides my two agents, I have been called up by other agents before, incidentally all from the same company. I have met up with two so far. They are nice and friendly, and accept it when I turn down their plans.
And whenever I come across a road show put up by the company, they will greet me if they are around. Impressive, able to remember me even after one meeting, and after I wasted their time!
However there is one agent (also from the same company) that I am really angry with. She was doing a survey at a train station and asked if I would like to meet up with her. I just graduated then and not posted out yet, but I agreed to meet her just to see what she had.
The first time I was supposed to meet her, I had to attend an orientation for new teachers, so I cancelled the appointment. She sounded angry, and told me that she has a schedule to follow, so if I cancel, it would be disrupting her entire schedule.
I was irritated, but still agreed to postpone and meet up with her. My friends were bewildered as they said if it were them, they would have been so turned off by the unprofessional attitude and never meet up with her again.
That second time I was supposed to meet her, I was held up in school so I changed the venue to near my school instead of town area. I needed to bring a student home, so would be around that area.
When she arrived, she just started sharing her policies with me and I was not even able to get a word in, When she was done, I told her that I just started working, so I would like to have some job stability first before I think of getting more policies. I only had my life insurance policy then, and was looking around for a financial savings plan that could give me cash returns.
Then she asked if I wanted to buy any of her policies in the first place. I told her not at that point in time, perhaps another year later. With that, her face crumbled, she muttered that she had another appointment and just rushed off.
My colleague who was with me then was so shocked at the attitude of that agent. She kept remarking that the agent was so unprofessional and I could actually lodge a complain. What was the point? I did waste her time in making her come meet me and then in the end did not get anything. But that did not mean I liked her attitude either. Agent or not, one does not throw tantrums at others even as a friend.
I wonder how long that particular agent lasted though. If she wants to be in that line, she must face rejections and last-minute cancellations without complaints. Which is why not everyone can be in that line. One must be really thick-skinned and able to take rejections and doors slamming in your faces in order to even survive.
I do not know about the experiences of the rest, but between financial advisors and multi-level marketers, I much rather spend time talking to a financial planner. You can just talk and share information but you are not obligated to buy anything. Furthermore I am very pleased with the services of my agents and they have never given me any cause for displeasure or complaints.
Whereas for a multi-level marketer, they give you some cock-and-bull story to get you to meet them, then in the end you realize you get conned. So financial advisors are in a way more truthful; as they state down in black and white what exactly they do. For that I give them more respect since they are more honest in their approach.
I have mostly good experiences with insurance agents. In fact, I have two agents of my own. My first agent has been with me ever since I was nineteen. She is the friend of a friend of a friend, so called me up.
At that point in time, I was quite interested in insurance as I did not have any policy of my own. So I met up with her, and seeing that she was starting out, I did her a favour and bought a life policy. I have been very happy with her services so far as she has gone some extra miles for me.
Years later, my friend introduced me to his own financial advisor from another company. She is a nice lady, not too pushy and makes sure you are comfortable. In the end, even when I did not get anything from her, she left with no hard feelings.
My second agent is actually a good friend. When I first met her last year, I found that we are able to click together as she is a very jolly and bubbly person. She is sincere to everyone and really cares for her friends. That was long before I even knew what she works as.
Even after I found out her profession, she has never pushed any sale towards me or any of our friends. For her, a friend is a friend, not a business prospect, and that got me respecting her even more.
Then when I heard from a couple of our common friends on how they approached her to draw up their policies and invest their CPF funds for them, I called her up and asked her how to go about investing my CPF funds.
My first agent did ever ask if I wanted to invest my CPF funds with her, but at that point in time, I was reluctant since I thought I was buying a flat soon, and needed the cash to pay the deposit. Incidentally, my friend also belongs to the same company as my first agent, but different agencies.
The reason I chose my friend was because she seemed more knowledgeable on the different types of policies and investments of the company. When I asked my first agent, she could not give me a satisfactory enough answer on how certain policies would be good for me. But my friend was able to convince me on which policy would be the best for me.
I know it may just be a sales gimmick, but if a customer indicates interest in a product, the person making the sale should at least make it sound convincing enough so the customer would buy it happily. No customer would want to buy from someone who could not even bring across the message clearly.
Anyway when I met up with my friend, she only explained to me how everything works. She still left the choice to me whether to take up the policy. But after seeing how beneficial CPF investment can be, I took up the investment account, plus another savings plan which can generate high interest cash back every year, together with all the critical illnesses and ladies’ illnesses coverage.
So now I have a total of four plans – one life insurance, one savings plan that can generate cash back and high interest every year after a year, one CPF Ordinary Account investment (yearly deductions) and one CPF Special Account investment (one-time deduction of a lump sum). These are more than enough already.
My friend just told me that I have become a Prestige member of the company, and gave me the Prestige card, since my total savings, investment and insurance have reached a certain amount. I should expect so, considering the amount of premium I pay every month, plus the fact that I have blown almost all my CPF funds into investment.
Besides my two agents, I have been called up by other agents before, incidentally all from the same company. I have met up with two so far. They are nice and friendly, and accept it when I turn down their plans.
And whenever I come across a road show put up by the company, they will greet me if they are around. Impressive, able to remember me even after one meeting, and after I wasted their time!
However there is one agent (also from the same company) that I am really angry with. She was doing a survey at a train station and asked if I would like to meet up with her. I just graduated then and not posted out yet, but I agreed to meet her just to see what she had.
The first time I was supposed to meet her, I had to attend an orientation for new teachers, so I cancelled the appointment. She sounded angry, and told me that she has a schedule to follow, so if I cancel, it would be disrupting her entire schedule.
I was irritated, but still agreed to postpone and meet up with her. My friends were bewildered as they said if it were them, they would have been so turned off by the unprofessional attitude and never meet up with her again.
That second time I was supposed to meet her, I was held up in school so I changed the venue to near my school instead of town area. I needed to bring a student home, so would be around that area.
When she arrived, she just started sharing her policies with me and I was not even able to get a word in, When she was done, I told her that I just started working, so I would like to have some job stability first before I think of getting more policies. I only had my life insurance policy then, and was looking around for a financial savings plan that could give me cash returns.
Then she asked if I wanted to buy any of her policies in the first place. I told her not at that point in time, perhaps another year later. With that, her face crumbled, she muttered that she had another appointment and just rushed off.
My colleague who was with me then was so shocked at the attitude of that agent. She kept remarking that the agent was so unprofessional and I could actually lodge a complain. What was the point? I did waste her time in making her come meet me and then in the end did not get anything. But that did not mean I liked her attitude either. Agent or not, one does not throw tantrums at others even as a friend.
I wonder how long that particular agent lasted though. If she wants to be in that line, she must face rejections and last-minute cancellations without complaints. Which is why not everyone can be in that line. One must be really thick-skinned and able to take rejections and doors slamming in your faces in order to even survive.
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