Endowment plans are a common sight in many people’s insurance portfolio. A common way to mis-sell is to preach the benefit of having returns if nothing happens at the end of a term. So many people end up getting endowment plans when Term plans might have been the much better choice. Endowment plans are basically saving [...]

The recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent troubles facing its brilliantly named Minibonds shock many investors who though that they had bought real bonds and not some complicated structured products. Some of these structured products have even been sold as fixed deposits. Financial institutions, greedy for the investors’ dollar, mis-sold them to thousands [...]

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 [...]

In the course of doing insurance summary and review, I have come across many Investment-Linked-Policies (ILP) in client’s insurance portfolio. How they came into getting ILP is another story altogether. What troubles and baffles me is how the investment portfolio is constructed.

The vast majority of ILPs are heavily or totally invested [...]

When someone is accepted for an insurance policy as a non-standard life, mostly due to health status, insurers may either exclude the condition or load them with extra premium. The loading is to compensate for the extra risks the insurer has to bear. Some insurers pay commission to the adviser for the extra loading premium. I cannot understand the [...]

The Ethic of Reciprocity or The Golden Rule states:

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you”

which means ”treat others as you would like to be treated.“

In the same vein, Confucius said:

“己所不欲，勿施于人”

Such wisdom forms a moral and ethical code for all. However, most people being mere mortals, does [...]

Watching a National Geographic program on illegal organ trading reminded me of the recent legal case of kidney buying in Singapore. It made me ask myself, will I become a buyer one day? Would I be able to afford it?

Not many countries allow organ trading. Coupled with the lack of organ supply globally [...]

It is very common to find people getting insurance policies without knowing what they have actually bought. 1 of the most frequently quoted reason is that the policy was bought from a relative or a friend, often as a form of support. I call such policies as ‘Gam-Cheng’ policies. ‘Gam-Cheng’ is the hokkien term for relationship.

 ”All products in the market are similar.” That’s what an insurance agent might tell you. As a savvy consumer who wishes to make informed decisions, is this what you should believe in? The fact, not surprisingly, is often not the case. Download the article here.

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 [...]