It’s been almost 2 months since my last posts and i am deeply sorry about it. Many of my friends have asked me what happened and my reply was ‘No time’

But today i receieved an email which motivated me to want to blog more. I got an email from CPF board to invite me to write articles for their upcoming ‘Are you ready’ Campaign and i really feel very honoured to be on their invited list. They are going to launch this initiative in 9 Oct 2011 and the purpose aims to educate singaporeans on how to make key financial decisions in their lives.

So therefore the next few weeks, i am going to write a couple of articles so that they can use for the campaign and hopefully through this event, more people can be educated financially.

If you guys have any other topics or areas that you are interested to know more, you can email me or drop me a msg at the chatbox. i will listen to you and share with you my knowledge to my best ability =)

Stay tuned!

Allow me to share my personal health in general with you =):

In term of my wealth, i have started to live a more simple life. Meaning i buy what i need and have stopped buying branded goods that is for temporary show. I have taken quite some time in order to master this simple habits. Previously i have always wanted branded things and would go for high quality products and tell myself that it is for long term use. However after living in denial for 2 years plus, i came to realise the best things in life is FREE. Eg: being able to breath fresh air is the most amazing things to do! Having a chance to stay home to rest and reflect on your life is also free and it’s super important. I have saved money in both bank and insurance. I do unit trust and stock investment. I do invest in business too. Therefore with all these in place which i still need to improvise, i think i am being quite healthy.

Comes to body health, i think i am currently in the pink of health. From my latest body check from Sky Fitness Gym, everything inside my body is normal. Body fats are also in healthy range. In fact, i need to put on another 4 more kg on my lower body to be more proportionate. Have been doing cardio and weights training every wed morning and go for run at least once a week. Again in this aspect, i felt i am very healthy considering my job scope and years of working =) Some of my friends put on weights ranging from 5-15kg after their NS. Thank God for the wonderful body that He blessed me!

Perhaps last aspect on healthy will be on the mindset. Many people in my industry tend to fail to do well because of few reasons but the main reason that i gathered is this issue on mindset. Actually to be fair, mindset problem is one of the main reasons for people not doing well in whatever they are doing. Often than not, many of them have the ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude and ‘I-deserve-higher-pay’ mindset. Due to these two mindset, many of them find themeselves switching from one job to another and always complaining about their boss and job. I do feel for them some times but then again they could possibly deserve it. I mean do they ask themselves if they are adding value to their boss or companies? In today society, if you can’t add value to your boss, you are OUT OF THE GAME! Companies loyalty scheme are in place to keep people from staying and not be promoted. They don’t promote you based on loyalty but the amount of revenue or value you can bring in the company. It’s the ugly truth that all of us have to abide in. In this aspect of mindset, i felt that i am still on the right track of being very motivated and positive towards my job.

I believed strongly in adding value to your job and being always motivated by certain things. The one things that i find it hard to do is to find your motivational sources because it changes according to life stages. You need to constantly do reflection in order to find it. It’s a habit that you need to cultivate daily =)

Just my two cents worth of sharing. Hope to hear some from you too! =)

People often mistaken that saving and investments are the most important things in their life and they spend a lot of time and effort in looking at these areas. However what they never realised was that no matter how much they can accumulate their wealth but once something bad happened to them, all their money are gone! Therefore protecting the health and wealth are the most important things that should be putting more attention to it.

The above Pyramid shows the increasing level of insurance that everyone needs. Basically i applied according to what basic human needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ) in the insurance context. The most important insurance is to cover ourselves adequately on health, the basic one being the national hospitalization plan, the integrated Medishield plan offers by insurer that covers the hospital bill completely. Rather than worrying about financial burden,  it is crucial to concentrate on getting ourselves well covered and carry on with our normal life.

Next on the pyramid is protection against death, total permanent disability and critical illness. This is rarer than hospitalization, but if it happens, it will cause a lot of financial and emotional strain on the family. We would like our family members to continue their life as normally as possible. Hence, a comprehensive coverage with sufficient payout will help our family members to tide over the difficult period. In normal time, an average of 10 times your annual income will be a good gauge for your overall coverage. Remember, insurance is not for yourselves. It is for people that you loved most!

After we have adequately covered ourselves, we will then seek for opportunity to save and invest to ensure a continuity of good life for our family members. Depending on CPF alone will not be enough for retirement hence you need to invest your money for greater return. Family with children should consider education policy to ensure and lock down a fixed sum of money for the children’s tertiary education for a proper head-start in life. As parent, i believe you want the best for them and as such, an education policy is the best gift that you can give them.

And when we reach age 55, we should buy an annuity insurance policy (CPF Life) that will pay us income, with increasing amount every year, as long as we live. We should be enjoying our retirement years, without worrying of lacking of income to sustain our everyday expenses.

These days, it seems as if there’s an insurance product for everything — engagement rings, babies, even pets.

The tricky part for consumers is choosing which policies are truly worthwhile — and which ones will never pay off. One rule of thumb: The insurance that’s worth it typically covers your health, your earning power or the assets you’ve accumulated, including your car or your home.

Here are four types of insurance policies everyone should consider:

1) Health Insurance

Just because you eat veggies and hit the gym regularly doesn’t mean you’re immune to an illness, or won’t have an accident.

Everyone requires medical help at some point and if you don’t have insurance, the resulting bill is going to be painful. Deliver a baby — without complications –and expect to fork over an average of $10,000, Get diagnosed with cancer and the expenses can go sky high. Medical inflation is increasing year after year and it only means that it has become a MUST for you to be insured with ‘As-charged’ shield plan.

If your employer doesn’t offer coverage in a group plan, look into an individual policy. Just be aware that private health insurance typically requires holders to pay higher premiums than they would with a group plan. And coverage may be more limited. To find the right individual plan, drop me an email for free consultation or review of your policies.

2) Disability Insurance

Few people like to imagine the worst-case scenario, but Scott Simmonds, a Saco, Maine-based insurance consultant, makes a practice of it. He knows that one major accident could keep a person out of work for months or even years. Even worse: those without disability insurance could face bankruptcy. (Even though Simmonds doesn’t sell disability insurance, he still recommends it.)

Disability insurance replaces a portion of up to 60% or 70% of lost income if the policyholder can’t work due to an illness or injury. Often times, companies pay for employees’ disability insurance, or offer it as a voluntary benefit that employees pay for. Individuals can also buy their own policy, although the premiums will cost around 15% more, says Simmonds.

Shop around carefully. These policies are very complicated, can include many caveats, such as what qualifies as a disability, and can be hard to land on your own. Also, costs will vary based on an individual’s income and type of coverage. If your employer doesn’t offer adequate coverage, contact independent insurance agents who can provide you with a range of policies, says Simmonds.

3) Life Insurance

No matter how little gray is in a person’s hair, anyone who has dependents, be it a spouse, children or aging parents, should buy life insurance.  If they move on, then their beneficiaries will likely receive the policy’s benefits tax-free, he says.

Easy enough, but here’s where it gets tough: Deciding between term and whole life insurance policies. A term policy provides coverage for a designated period of time such as 5 or 10 years or until a specific date, such as the insured reaching age 65. Policy benefits are only payable if loss occurs within the term, with nothing payable upon its expiration.

 A whole life Policy has a savings component (cash accrual) that builds cash value and allows funds to be borrowed from the cash value. For people who wanted limited liability, a limited paying option for whole life policy is also available for them.

For some, the better choice is a term policy. Premiums are usually less expensive than that of a whole life policy in general. Term insurance can be as little as 10% to 30% of the cost of whole life insurance, although this can vary on a case by case basis. It’s particularly useful when one decides to increase his coverage during his prime time and would like to stop at certain age.

4) Accidental Insurance

If you think that by working in office will means less chance to get into accident. Think twice!  Accident can happen anywhere anytime. In Singapore, almost every single day there will be at least one accident on the road so such coverage is very important. With cheaper ways to own a car, the number of cars on the road is increasing tremendously every year and as a result, accident rate are bound to increase. At most times, the fault does not lies with the person driving but the other party.

Such policy can be a standalone or a rider to be included into the main plan. It only cost less than $0.80 per day to insure for $100,000.

Communication between any 2 persons is the crux to the health of their relationship. Therefore, it is important to observe good communication if you want to have and maintain a good relationship. The same applies to your spouse, whom you will spend the rest of your life with everyday. Without mastering the effectiveness of how to communicate well with your partner may put your relationship on the rock.

Have you ever wondered why courtship is always the most fun moments of your relationship? How come the once-perfect girl/boy doesn’t seem to be able to communicate that well as compared to the courtship period?

Below are some tips for those who would like to rekindle the flame between them and to improve on their communication with their spouse:

 1) Give your spouse attention. Since he or she is the most important person to you anyway, give full attention and listen. Express that thought that your partner’s importance is never forgotten. Opening up to each other is the only way to keep a relationship strong.

2) Don’t jump to conclusions or suspect intentions. No one likes that, it’s an unfair judgment, especially if you are completely wrong about the case. Listen attentively, and do not speak until you heard the whole story. Being impatient and frustrated surely does not help things.

3) Have frequent discussions on anything under the sun. Whether it’s an event, an important person, a good idea, anything, as moments shared will help build the bond.

 4) Know when not to speak. For example, if you are not happy with the way he throws his clothes after a day’s work, do not just shoot off. Let him rest, then trust that he will pick them up later. It’s not wise to quarrel over trivia matter. Trust is the key ingredient of a perfect relationship.

5) Go out with each other regularly and spend some quality time. Date her! Write her a letter to ask her out as if it is your first time. Talk to each other and enjoy the company. Reminisce about old times; this will further increase your level in her heart.

 6) Don’t be negative about anything or life, for that matter. Be less critical of things. Most people fall into this habit, most probably due to other people in their lives; such is the state of society today. We have become complainers, and it is a complainers’ society.

7) Show respect for your spouse, like you would respect everyone. Respect is something everyone needs, and it must be given in all situations, regardless of mood. If you like to be treated nicely, first learn how to treat people nicely.

Communicating with your spouse can sometimes seem overwhelming. There are a thousand ways to do things and even more ways not to do them! How can you sort everything out so it all makes sense? Take your first step by following the above tips step by step and it will slowly bring the two of you closer to one another.