Archive for August, 2010
At which stage of Cancer does Critical Insurance pay?
Recently I have met a client, a female who is concerned about payout in event of being diagnosed with cancer, which is the benefit under critical illness portion of her insurance policy. Being a head nurse and her husband, a doctor, radiologist to be exact, they are quite familiar with the medical terms in the small print. After consultation with them, I decided on a post.
Invest Fair 2010 Experience
I went to the Invest Fair 2010 at Marina Bay Sands last Saturday. The event was jointly organised by ShareInvestor and The Business Times. My purpose there is feel the atmosphere, find out what people are after and just get a little exposure to this side of financial product sales.
As I walked in, was approached constantly by promoters speaking to me about what they are promoting. Not surprising, considering this is a free event and the exhibitors and participants paid the organizers to have a booth there. Main aim is to do promotion and sales.
Case for High-Yield Bonds (Advance)
What Are High-Yield Bonds?
High-yield bonds, otherwise known as “junk bonds”, are issued by organizations that do not qualify for “investment- grade” ratings by one of the leading credit rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor and Fitch Ratings.
Credit rating agencies evaluate issuers and assign ratings based on their opinions of the issuer’s ability to pay interest and principal as scheduled. From the table of credit rating definitions, bonds rated Baa or BBB and above are considered investment-grade securities. Bonds rated Ba or BB and below are high-yield bonds, and generally have default rates in a range of 2-8% per year.
These issuers are usually
1) Newer, emerging companies raising money for expansion
2) Older companies which have weak balance sheets and/or weak profits
3) Companies taking on large debts for acquisitions or leveraged buyouts
What Currency Movements Mean For Your Investments
The world now, more than before, is facing some structural changes with will propel currencies movement. Previously, currencies of the world have been affected by economy, interest rate and investor usage. Now the movements of currencies will be broader in a clearer direction. With Singapore Dollar going to be strong, whole reason why knowing what to do is important.
So what do these currency movements mean for investors’ investments? A lot of investors (sadly a lot of financial advisers, even bankers too) make mistakes when determining where the currency matters and where it does not. For example, you can hear an investor, or financial adviser, saying, “I’m not advising this fund because it is in USD. USD is going to depreciate.” This reasoning is WRONG.
Fresh Graduate And Staying At The Sail?
Will you wish there was a housing crash in Singapore if you can get a 3-bedroom luxury apartment at The Sail over looking Marina Bay Sands for just $3,000 a month? The equivalent was what happened in Miami.
Brandon Klein, a 26-year-old tax accountant, stays at 50 Biscayne Boulevard, one of the luxury holiday condos built during the 2004 to 2008 boom to attract second-home buyers. Housing market has plummeted in end 2008, and with 7,000 unsold condos, almost a third of the 22,079 units in 75 buildings in Miami’s core, it has transformed Miami. With US$2,700 shared among 3 friends, Brandon is living in an apartment with 24 hour concierge, a ‘sick’ view of Downtown and a life he can never imagined. Some areas, previously only middle aged wealthy appear have transformed into dorm like residences. Interestingly, this has infused life into the vacation beach environment.
