Currently, only Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) are individual licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Advisers or representatives with banks, insurers and other exempt financial institutions are not. Under the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2008 and Financial Advisers (Amendment) Bill 2008, a new Representative Notification Framework will be introduced. Under [...]

I have received the 1st piece of retrenchment news of someone I know outside of the financial sector today. There was news of retrenchment in the finance and banking sector over the last 2 months. Headcount and traveling freeze was quite common in other sectors. But for retrenchment outside banking sector, this is the 1st [...]

My client ask me about a mid term savings plan that gives a impressive return (considering the current low interest bear market). She was introduced to the plan by a bank Relationship Manager (RM) when she wanted a fixed deposit. This is how the RM illustrated the plans to her:

Interest in saving account [...]

When deciding what brand of buying cookies to buy, do you find yourself going for the one with nicer and more expensive-looking packaging if you have no preferred brand? This is normal. The nice picture, the nice texture of the packaging and the exotic name gives us a impression of a delicious cookie. [...]

The last few days in the financial market have been much more turbulent than the typhoon and hurricane weather around the world. Lehman Brother’s filling for chapter 11, sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America and the big one, the threat of AIG, parent of AIA, going bust. Following the appearance of crowds at [...]

“A whopping $539 million was assessed in the 12 months to March 31, more than five times the $105 million assessed in the 2007 tax year…, but the payment may not be immediate, as wills and so forth can take many months to settle.” wrote the September 10 issue of the Straits Times [...]

Amendment: My apologies. SMRA floor rate of 4% is applied for 2 years from 01 Jan 08 to 31 Dec 2009 instead of 2010. Thanks B yee for highlighting

The interest rate for Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts (SMRA) from 1st October 2008 to 31 December 2008 will be 4% as announced by CPF Board on [...]

The great Tang dynasty Chinese Medicine Practitioner Sun Simiao (孙思邈) once wrote:

上医医未病之病
中医医欲病之病
下医医已病之病

 Translated, it means:

The best doctors treat the disease that is yet to occur

The average doctors treat the disease that is about to occur

The mediocre doctors treat the disease that has already occurred

What does this mean [...]

The Estate Duty has been officially removed after the Estate Duty (Abolition) Bill was passed in parliament yesterday (25 Aug 2008). This comes after the Bill was first mooted on 15 February this year. In the words of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance, the decision to abolish the [...]

When it comes to building wealth, the concept of compounding cannot be emphasized enough. Even Einstein said that the power of compounding is the most powerful force in the universe!

Simply said, compounding is the effect of interest growing upon interest that is added back into the principle. Think of how loan sharks [...]