Insurance - SO's regular savings ILP

I totally have no idea how much premium SO had being paying over the years.
He was a saleman's best friend, as long as one make the effort to contact him, in order to stop one from calling him, he will sign along ALL dotted lines. So to him its a WIN-WIN situation, one get to meet sales target AND he manage to get another agent off his back!!! Please do not approach SO to attempt selling, he was taught to say NO to everybody now.

Premium payments is another issue. Most of his policy, he only managed to make a few payment before policy is lapsed. But, the amount loss from all these policies are unknown.

To know about IPL, please refer to the following blogpost

SO did not have any insurance coverage when our #1 is born, then an agent friend of his took the chance to entrice him to buy a protection plan that comes with investment. Friend claimed that since SO do not have any insurance coverage and besides our son is still young then, it would be better that he sign for a low cost plan. $100 premium seem really low cost indeed (but this is bullsh*t when one compare it to term insurance.) Of course, we had no idea it was a toxic product then, but as I still think that plan that has money back was good back then.

Policy that we sign is a 65 years contract, which means we had to make a $100 prenium monthly for 65 years! Policy comes with a Critical Illness link benefit an amount of $50000 that expire together with the policy, as well as a disability benefit of $50000 that will expire when SO turn 62.

Policy comes with the following charge, a $5 monthly policy fees.
The unit allocation for the first year  is 0%!!!!
2nd year unit allocation is 52%
3rd year unit allocation 52%
4th to 9th year unit allocation 103%
10th year onwards 105%
If he decided to fully surrender in the first 24months, he has to pay a fee of $150.

The insurance component , there are 2 different table and I do not know how to read it!!!

SO bought this policy in December 2005.

I do not keep a record until 2008.
For 2008 charges are as followed  the adminstrative charges is $60, Insurance charges for basic and rider is $153.39. Our net cash surrender value was a shocking $344.52!
For 2009 charges are as followed the adminstrative charges is $60, Insurance charges for basic and rider is $171.11. Our net cash surrender value was $1664.28!
For 2010 charges are as followed the adminstrative charges is $60, Insurance charges for basic and rider is $195.18. Our net cash surrender value was $2465.54!

We had totally no idea what to expect at the end of the policy. But we will continue sticking to it, just taking a pinch of salt that is a form of forced savings. The last time I heard, this agent was driving a Nissan Fair lady! Wow he must be earning a lot from selling toxic product!

Happily Ever After? - Part 5

Renovation
After the flat, now what? To many it is the long process of decorating the love nest. Few couples will try to DIY to buy off the shelves, some are lucky to have relatives who are contractors who decide to earn just a little just charging below the market rate, but many are not so fortunate, they had to go to those interior designer firms.

How to look for those so-called interior designer firms which majority in this market are renovation contractors who just hired 1-2 interior designer then they package themselves as design firm? First is by those furniture events, if you went to those furniture events held at Singapore expo, most of the company there deal with renovation. These firms come with free consulting, you gave them your flor plan, they will sketched out a rough plan of what to be placed at where. To achieve the showroom effect which are often no so practical, comes with a hefty price tag, not forgetting hefty electrical bills as well.

If one like what was presented, they will ask for a detailed drawing, tat is when all the cost comes in. Detailed drawing do not come cheap, each drawing can be around $100 - $500 per piece. Per piece refers to PER ROOM. So the interior designer normally ask you to sign for a renovation package. For $xxxxx amount, it includes the drawings, the customised fittings, flooring, some will throw in lightings, air con and stuff as well. But so far, lightings, windows grilles are some additional charges that is to be added to the $xxxxx amount.

How can one afford this $xxxxx amount, some will empty what left of their bank account, others may take renovation loan from the bank. The interior designer firms are also very keen to assist by doing all the supporting paperworks hoping that the good service provided may result in upgrading the package to $yyyyy since you are already taking a loan.

Maximum loan I saw from OCBC website is $30000 or 6 times the monthly salary. Interest rate is a minimum 5.38% and interest is charge monthly, with maximum repayment period of 5 years.

So in all after the wedding, the renovation process will drain the bank accounts or make one in debt.

Insurance - Whole life policy

Disclaimer: I am not an agent. These are just my views. This is not a call to buy.
The first policy I bought for myself after I had start my contract part-time customer service job. I was 24 then, earning a super low pay at $6 per hour, spending quite a bit as this obsencely small amount to me was very big then. The NTUC agent that I got was through the enquiry page, after getting to know several agents, he was nice...really. He did not attempt to push any product, he just ask me what I want. I told him I want something to cover my life in case anything happened to me. I remember he suggest term policy to me after knowing I just start work, but i refuse to pay and get NOTHING back in the end. So he ask me for my budget, what is my other requirement and he work around my budget. He send me a couple of quotations before coming to my house one evening for the signing of contract. He came just to deliver what I had requested, he did not attempt to sell my mother, father or other family members any products, after which he just left.

The only thing he tried to talk me into is to save a bit of money by paying annually instead of monthly. As I am still new, I refuse as the saving is so little only. (FYI, I switch to a annual payment 2 yrs ago.)

My whole life policy covers
70k for my life. Monthly premium of $85.80, a payment term of 61 years.
30k living benefits which is a critical illness coverage. Monthly premium of $13.70. Payment term of 41years. Coverage is till my 64th birthday.

This is the first coverage that I bought for myself. For all those who think buy term and invest the rest, this sum of money if I die at an older age where my dependents are all grown up, this money can be put to use to pay for my funeral. Maybe what left will be split between my kids.

Happily Ever After - Part 4

The biggest LIABILITY of all time- the FLAT
There are some who think of their flat is their biggest asset, think again. Anything that makes you pay , interests included and yet do not earn anything is a LIABILITY!

Flats today cost about 300k ( 4 room flat) for a BTO project, and much more for a 2nd hand flat.
So lets talk about BTO for now.
From what I had known as rules are like forever changing. What applies to me may not applies to anyone. For the full step by step of applying please go to  HDB website

As you can see, from the start of application to be in a queue is already a $10. Some couples like my sister actually paid a few $10 before they manage to secure a decent number in a queue. Some of the queue number they obtain are simply OBSENCE that they did not even bother checking if there are any units left.

After you had manage to choose a flat, an option fee is pay to secure the booking. Even though this amount is subsequently refund if there is enough money in the CPF account. But still cash is needed.

Then comes the downpayment which is normally paid via the CPF. As I do not know how the banks work. I will share my experience with HDB. I was not working when the downpayment was made. this 10% was paid using SO's CPF and om top of that an additional $5000 was made as we are not married. (Under the Fiance/Fiancee scheme which amount will be used to offset the flat once we submit our marriage certificate.) After hearing that the HBD will empty the CPF account before any loan is offered, SO quickly emptied his CPF account by investing his money in the OA.

When we finally collected our keys like 4 years later, as my pay was relatively low and I started working for only 2 yeat plus, the amount was insufficient. SO was made to sell a part of his investment, transfer the money back to his OA to make payment for the remaining 10%. So we finally collect our keys to the flat. As SO was working as a cab driver since 2 years ago, his CPF contribution to the OA is stagnant. The loan amount taken was around 150k. So for the 30 years loan that we are able to secure, monthly payment is made via my CPF account with another $50 to be made in cash.

For couples who are both working and contributing to the CPF OA, please make sure you paid the maximum amount affordable per month so as to cut the loan period. A 2.6% interest per year is not sexy. And to my horror, after a yearly statement recieve, majority of the amount I had made, most of it had went to paying interest instead of principal sum. Luckily I change to a higher even though still lower pay job, I manage to pay for the loan solely via CPF.

4 months ago, due to 2 years of extra money in the CPF due to the good bonus recieve in 2010 and 2011, and the small excess amount accumulate over the years, I manage to make an additional payment of 9k which result in reduction of loan repayment by 1yr and 8months!

After this I had actually make a lot of noise at SO whose investment amount was like a 60k, which will cut the repayment period by years. But after I did a slow calculation, his investment returns are aound 4% which is more than 2.6% interest, so I decide to leave the money as it is. Hopefully after 8 years, this 60K will grow to pay off the flat in 1 shot. Thats when I will be more or less DEBT-FREE.

Having a huge saving is nice, but being debt-free is sexy!

Insurance - Medishield

I had blogged about getting a separate plan for both my kids. Read here
But I am too late.
My plan will renewed on 1 Oct 2011. Its too late to pull both of them out.
I can only start them on a new plan next year. My agent "promised" she will contact me in August next year.
So now I can only keep my fingers, toes crossed.

Happily Ever After? - Part 3

The Marriage- Wedding ceremony
For some couples who had options to stay with either parents may choose to go ahead with the traditional wedding.
For those, who do not have a choice, or simply do not like the choice, may wait for the new flat, renovate the flat then they hold the wedding ceremony.
For some lucky men, this whole money draining process is SKIPPED! Maybe just a holiday and thats all!
Read: my SO is one lucky man, as I am a simple woman. I do not like to act that I am on good terms with my mother-in-law, forced to greet all the elders who came and I knew that the only day I will ever meet them, forced to smile 100 times when the photographer goes, the bride please smile brightly even after a long day, and worse wake up at 5am in the morning to start all the preparation work!

Note: As I did not have first hand experience, all these are some grumbling I had heard from friends.

What is needed for a wedding of a lifetime...

• Bride money. The groom had to give a token sum to the bride mother, where NORMALLY the bride mother will return a portion back to groom. Those money-eaters may demand a large sum. So far, I heard this amount varies from a token sum of a small 4 digits where the mother actually give back the groom to prepare for the banquet to a five figure amount.
• Wedding gown. Most couple actually rent from bridal shop. This expenses is expensive, mostly bundled with phototaking session inside the studio, for a limited number of photos that is nicely printed to be shown to guests who bother to flip when they attend the wedding dinner. After the actual day, they are kept in the dark and out of mind. The cheapest I heard is like $3000 which include the gown, and a cocktail dress for the bride.
• Videographer/ photographer. A grand day need memories. So to hire a photographer to be with you to record the whole process also need money. I have no idea how much they cost anyway, but they are not cheap. Depends on who you had hired, some come with their own transport and do not mind ferrying the "sisters".
• Make-up artist/ hairstylist. They are bundles as package with the wedding gown normally.
• Banquet. A small dinner normally comes with 28-30 tables MINIMUM. A decent dinner may cosy around $800 for restaurants to $XXXX for hotels.

For the money back

• Tea Ceremony. It is where the elders pay a hefty price for pretend drinking. Depends on the depth of pockets, a cup may worth around $100- $200 for relatives, Parents will normally pay a higher price.
• Jewellery from mother-in-law to bride. Depends on how generous your mother/monster-in-law is. But be ensure to demand for gold jewellery. Bling bling do not have 2nd hand value.
• Banquet. Some couples may think that the banquet is a place for all the money spend to be returned. But sadly, if the bride's mother ask for a number of table, eg 10. These 10 tables ang pow, she has the right to take and not give back if they are given to her directly. The same for the groom. If the parents request for a number of tables, and the ang pow is given to them directly, they may act blur as well. And for the ang pows deposit into the box, only friends, collegues will try to let you break even. Relatives are another story. Lets say you invite your relatives who are a family of 6, do you think they will be giving you a $600 ang pow? You can smile and laugh if they decide to give you $500 so you do not lose too much. So couples with huge family size, please be prepared to make a loss.

Wow..By now most couples would be feeling heartpain for the amount of money spend. But guys please do not grumble too much, if not you will be known as STINGY among ALL her friends.

Happily Ever After? - Part 2

The registration of marriage

For those who are interested to know how to start the whole ROM process, please refer to ROM website

ROM by itself is a low cost affair. It cost just $26 if either party is a pink or blue IC holder.
This small amount is only valid for couples who want a fuss-free wedding. Exchange of rings is NOT compulsory.
But people seldom wants a fuss-free wedding you see. The cost will have to include

• Wedding bands for both bride and groom. I had know people who had a huge fight over this issue, because the groom insist that they bought each other rings for the ring exchange and the bride thinks thet this should be the groom expenses for both rings.
• Clothes. Most couple either buy or rent gowns, suit for the wedding. A simple wedding, the groom does wear a new shirt doesn't he?
• Food. If they decide to give everyone who attend the ceremony a small treat as thanks for their witnessing and taking valuable time off to grace the ocassion. But if they decide to hold the ceremony out of the Registry of marriage, it may be a hotel , restaurant or even at home (refreshment for guests), food cost is to be factored in. This is according to couple budget. But restaurant package of a simple 2 hr solemnisation ceremony for 2 tables cost a few hundred bucks.
• Small ang-pow to the solemnizer if they decide to hold the ceremony outside of registry of marriage. This amount is a token sum to cover transportation, some solemnizer are known to write personal vows for the couple to exchange, and the token sum is also an appreciation of thanks.

So now a simple solemnisation, still require some money!!! Not forgeting the huge amount of time for preparation, especially those who hold their ceremony outside. They will need to meet up with the solemnizer, to check his availabilty and stuff.

Insurance - Medishield, all rosy and sweet?

Please refer to my previous post on Medishield

As I had posted earlier, for SO and me to be under myshield Plan 1, both my kids had FOC coverage for Plan 2 till they are 20. For SO and me to add on Option A under myshield plus (Plan 1), they are both covered under Plan 2 Option A FOC again till they are 20. And we had add in a further Option B for them both to cover the deductibles. It all seem rosy and sweet isn't it?

FYI, I had email my agent to get INDIVIDUAL Plan 1 for both of them.
Why do I do this when Plan 2 seems good enough and it was FOC!!!

I do not know what will happen after they turn 20, will they be migrate to an individual plan since they are under myshield currently bringing along coverage for all exisitng conditions, or they will be treated as new clients that all exisitng conditions will not be viewed as PRE-exisitng conditions and therefore are excluded from coverage?

I really have no idea what will happen in another 14 years from now. So to make the best bet, I going to have them BOTH under individual coverage instead of tagging to my coverage FOC.

Insurance - Medishield

Before I start further writing, I must DECLARE I am not an agent. This posting is based on what I have, my own opinons. The last age of entry if I am not wrong is 75.

To understand how the medishield works, please refer to the CPF website
To understand the hospital bill size, please refer to MOH

I believed in having a good shield plan. The medisave account can only assist in paying for a portion of medical fees with cap for each category, and the rest are to be paid in cash.

I do not compare shield policy, because I know if i start going around to compare while waiting for agents to submit their quotations, high chance I will not sign any even after months. If I am not wrong, read: I may be wrong, medishield plan do not pay good comissions which resulting in sales agents not too keen to push this essential product.

I am having AVIVA myshield. For some of those I know, they keep hopping from companies to companies to get what they call the best value shield plans. They are lucky as they do not have any pre-exisiting conditions YET, which will not be covered if they hop to another company.

I first sign on myshield, because SO also has it. If both parents are covered under myshield, up to 4 dependents (children) can be covered under a lower plan for free till they are 20. So it resulting in some savings. For me and SO, we are both under Plan 1, Class A fro private hospital, that makes my 2 children covered FOC under Plan 2, Class A Government Restructured hospital. Thats sound great right? FYI, KK hospital is under government restructured hospital.

2 months ago, after thinking long and hard , had pulled SO to meet my appointed agent (the agent I sign with initially had left the company). We decided to add on to make it myshield PLUS, myshield is paid via CPF medisave, myshield PLUS is cold hard cash. Under Option A, which is the co-insurance part, if both parents took up the co-insurance, the kids are covered in the lower category for free. WOO... another free coverage. For additional benefits of Option A, please refer below.

As well as fees incurred under Option A. Do note this amount is paid by cash.

Before I continue, what is co-insurance?
For a basic myshield plan, it is a straight forward as charge plan, which exclude the co-insurance and deductibles.
Co-insurance is 10% of the amount that is NOT covered under the basic plan. This amount is to be paid in cash.

I add in Option B as well. Option B just covers the deductible benefits.
Additional fees by cash to add on Option B

So whats make an all inclusive shield plan so important?

Lets say a hospitalisation fees of $10000. ( for Class A, plan 1)

So 10% co-insurance $1000.

Deductibles amount of $3000.

Claimable amount: $6000.

Amount paid in cash: $4000.

How about a $100 000 fees?

10% co-insurance $10000

Deductibles $3000

Amount paid: $$13000.

If we are covered for Option A and B, we literally do not need to pay any cash as ALL are covered!!!

It all seem so rosy and sweet. Me and SO are fully covered, my kids are as well because we bought Option B for them both.

Happily ever after? - Part 1

The proprosal.
To some woman, the only way of proposing is with a diamond ring hopefully from some atas jewellery chain preperably come with a small blue box. The ring do not need to have special design, but a nice one carat bling bling will allow your friends to understand that "HE HAD PROPOSED!!!" and let you be the center of attention for that one day out.

I had heard comments of men who are grumbling after knowing their girlfriend expectation.

"Diamond rings! And she expect it to be 1 carat because her friends' hubby proposed with a 1 carat ring!"

" Diamond ring. If I buy 1 carat but from those diamond outlet, the cost is much lower and yet the size is the same, it does not matter right"

" I do not understand why she insist on a diamond ring. She will only wear it during weekends or when we are out. Other times the ring will hinder her actions, and she is scare to be cut by the ring!"

For what I know diamond rings do not come cheap. So men, before you even pull her to apply for some BTO projects as minimum waiting time is 3 years, make sure you have enough money to afford a decent 1 carat diamond ring.

A frog in the well

Hi
Just start this blog to share some of my thoughts.