The John Oliver video is full of lame jokes, but that's Umerika for you. The jokes made it painful to watch. At least Stephen Colbert can make some funny jokes (sometimes), along with Craig Ferguson.
Analysis of the video:
1. Save - good idea (doh!), but this requires discipline. The main problem is that most people do NOT have the discipline. Plans peddled (Grammar Nazi: not paddled) by insurance agents, on paper sounds good in forcing people to put money aside. The drawback is that such plans may a) involve hefty fees (matter has be flogged to hell and back and then back to hell), b) not guarantee returns and/or capital.
tl;dr: there has to be better ways to force people to save, other than using such plans.
Business idea: sell a service that is insanely cheap but forces funds deduction from the person to be channeled towards a retirement account. I believe such automated services are available in the US (but not in SG?).
2. Buy ETF. Yes and no. Investing in index involves risks, and IMO, no better or worse than the risks involved in annuities and endowments. The only difference is that fees are reduced (still present in ETF).
Before anyone claims otherwise,
a) Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
b) You CANNOT ASSUME that the ETF will give you a positive gain (or even maintain value of the fund) for a given time period.
For example, see the Japanese Nikkei and imagine what's it like if someone DCAed it since the early 1990s.
ETFs are not fool proof, and it requires people to have a basic working knowledge of the stock market. That's a tall order for people who can't even force themselves to save some money per month for retirement.
Come on, you SSI people should know that.
3. Fiduciaries are usually lawyers or accountants. Their services do not come cheap. If you are a HNWI and/or with a high salary, sure, you ought to get such services, especially for those who work in a country with an Byzantine tax code (eg. USA). For less mortals...
4. Bonds. Again, requires a working knowledge of the bond market. Same problem with investing in ETFs, will people bother to learn? (Hint: NO)
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The video misses the point among many mortals: people either a) have a mental block on financial matters, or b) don't care enough to gain financial literacy and take control of their financial matters.
Fees suck, but people are suckers for them, even if some are actually aware of them.
Finally, remember human psychology:
1. People in general don't like responsibilities, they would abdicate them as much as possible.
2. People in general like the easy way out, especially if it means pushing the responsibility away.
3. Out of sight, out of mind.
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Most people who do not care about investing should do the following:
1) Put money in CPF (I hate the option, but that's because I invest)
2) Put money in fixed deposits.