*Official* Shiny Things club

[VictorvonDoom]

i'll keep CPF out of my bond allocation. there's too much conditions to use it and the interest isnt that bad

 

[snaem85]

Hi all,

I am currently 30 with a 18 months old boy, non-smoker.

Would like to seek your opinions if i should take up this two plans?

1) PRULINK PROTECTION PLUS ACCOUNT, 250+/month
2) PRUADVANCE SAVER, 550+/month

Currently, I already have PRULIFE / PRUSHIELD / PRUSHIELD EXTRA.

Thanks!

 

[Bedokian]

Whats the opinion on CPF forming part of bond portion instead?

For me, I would treat CPF as a separate portfolio, due to its regulatory and not-so-liquid nature. I have an existing portfolio that is bought with our income and cash on hand.

 

[deathman91]

Hi all,

I am currently 30 with a 18 months old boy, non-smoker.

Would like to seek your opinions if i should take up this two plans?

1) PRULINK PROTECTION PLUS ACCOUNT, 250+/month
2) PRUADVANCE SAVER, 550+/month

Currently, I already have PRULIFE / PRUSHIELD / PRUSHIELD EXTRA.

Thanks!

In before someone says BTIR(Buy Term Invest Rest).

I think that should be the way. Insurance should not be part of your savings/growth/passive income, etc.. plan.

I also don't like the "Non-Guaranteed" payout part. I don't know how the insurer calculate that, anyone care to shed some light?

 

[Shiny Things]

Whats the opinion on CPF forming part of bond portion instead?

I tend to say "yes you should count it", but sensible people have different opinions on this.

Hi new Jersey, do you mean higher trading volume will cause the nav to move upwards?
I don't think that is correct.

Yeah that's not how it works. Higher trading volume means it's more liquid, but the market-maker's price will still move up and down in line with the NAV even if zero shares actually trade.

Generally I would think larger AUM will have higher trading volume which will give you a tighter spread. So I prefer IHYU. I am using this assumption because I can't find the data for HYLD.

Yep.

hi The Accountant,

I would think a higher trading volume would ensure an easier entry / exit.

Yep, that's more like it. More volume is good, because it means it's easier to get in and out, but more liquidity doesn't affect the actual price of the ETF. The main thing that affects the price of the ETF is the NAV of the underlying assets.

 

[hyperbole]

Whats the opinion on CPF forming part of bond portion instead?

Thought about this too. Since I'm gunning for early retirement, this is a no go for me. I will keep it as a war chest for recession.

No idea how our more pattern than badminton government will adjust the CPF rules and minimum sum when I hit 55. Minimum sum might be half a million or a million by then. Then I will never see my money again.

 

[limster]

In before someone says BTIR(Buy Term Invest Rest).

I think that should be the way. Insurance should not be part of your savings/growth/passive income, etc.. plan.

I also don't like the "Non-Guaranteed" payout part. I don't know how the insurer calculate that, anyone care to shed some light?

I think we need a separate Shiny Things' insurance thread to separate the insurance advice from investment advice (yes you should separate the two)

 

[highsulphur]

Thought about this too. Since I'm gunning for early retirement, this is a no go for me. I will keep it as a war chest for recession.

No idea how our more pattern than badminton government will adjust the CPF rules and minimum sum when I hit 55. Minimum sum might be half a million or a million by then. Then I will never see my money again.

By not including cpf, wouldn't you be underweight for equities?

 

[newjersey]

I think ST's policy for insurance is v simple.

buy a term life insurance, buy a comprehensive hospitalisation plan. that's all.

don't waste your money in whole life plans, limited whole life plans ( meaning you pay for 5-8 years and get covered for life ), ILP ( investment linked products, a hybrid which combines insurance with investment ), unit trusts ( why are u buying it from an insurance co ??? ), endowment ( again, shouldn't be mixing investment & protection ).

I would add it's necessary to buy an accident plan, if you wish to get around the TPD condition. TPD : total permanent disability, where it pays only when u lose at least 2 limbs, functions, eg. 1 leg + 1 ear, 1 eye + 1 arm, etc.

* an accident plan has a payout where you just need to lose 1 limb... or part of a limb, eg. a thumb, an index finger... either way, it can be quite messed-up, as money doesn't equate to everything.

For abit more, CI coverage should be a good buy, CI : critical illness, defined uniformly by all the insurance companies as a common set of 30? or so illness, excluding AIDS.

Most girls get into complications, as compared to guys, so CI is more important to them, while guys tend to die earlier than girls, probably due to their incessant nagging, etc, and thus, term life should be weighted more heavily.

voila... that's all there is to insurance concepts on protection.

as time evolved, and less people put money to insurance for yields, insurance companies think up concepts such as keyperson insurance, to boost sales of the same old, i.e. life insurance, be it in the form of term life or whole life insurance, but the basic concept is the same.

 

[Perisher]

Hi all,

I am currently 30 with a 18 months old boy, non-smoker.

Would like to seek your opinions if i should take up this two plans?

1) PRULINK PROTECTION PLUS ACCOUNT, 250+/month
2) PRUADVANCE SAVER, 550+/month

Currently, I already have PRULIFE / PRUSHIELD / PRUSHIELD EXTRA.

Thanks!

May I know why you bought

1. Prulife
2. Prushield
3. Prushield Extra

and your purpose in buying

1. Prulink
2. Pruadvance

 

[Shiny Things]

Hi all,

I am currently 30 with a 18 months old boy, non-smoker.

Would like to seek your opinions if i should take up this two plans?

No, you should not. You're welcome.

The point of insurance is to insure your family against the possibility that you won't be able to work. You don't need insurance if you're not working any more. You don't need insurance if you don't have kids.

The only life insurance policy anyone needs is term life insurance to age 65, and you don't need to buy it until you have people depending on you (like kids). You don't need critical-illness coverage - that's what your hospital cover is for.

Whole-life policies are a rort - you'll get a lot better money out of sticking your money in a stock-bond mix for 20 years, and you won't have to pay thousands of dollars in commissions.

Investment-linked policies are a rort - they're the same unit trusts you can get elsewhere, but with five times the fees. Investment is not insurance; never mix the two.

Term life insurance is the cheapest - it's like 85% cheaper than the equivalent whole-life policy, because you don't pay for cover you don't need. And it's the best, because that money you're not pissing away on unnecessary insurance can go into investments that'll help you retire rich.

The smart people aren't buying gigantic whole-life insurance policies pushed to them by some pimply 22-year-old kid in a cheap suit. They're buying term and investing the rest. And if you do that, you won't need life insurance once you hit 65: you'll have forty years' worth of great investments that you can pass on to your grandkids (or just spend the lot on hookers and blow).

 

[nicholasmong]

Hi all,

I am currently 30 with a 18 months old boy, non-smoker.

Would like to seek your opinions if i should take up this two plans?

1) PRULINK PROTECTION PLUS ACCOUNT, 250+/month
2) PRUADVANCE SAVER, 550+/month

Currently, I already have PRULIFE / PRUSHIELD / PRUSHIELD EXTRA.

Thanks!

Not sure what PRULINK is but it looks like some expensive rider you are paying; $250/mth?

I got a comprehensive hospital plan: any hospital, any standard ward (non VIP), 0% co-insurance, it pays everything, I just get well. I'm thinking your PRUSHIELD / PRUSHIELD EXTRA does that yes?
1. AIA HSG MAX A
2. AIA HSG MAX ESSENTIAL A

Personal accident plan is really to cover my own ass in case I can't work.
3. AIA SOLITAIRE PERSONAL ACC

I think the rest of guys here made it very clear, DO NOT BUY Investment Linked Policies (ILP). I have ONE, hasn't made a dime, I will be cancelling that for a term life instead. See: My AIG ILP since Aug 2011 is the worst investment decision ever

 

[snaem85]

Thanks all for your kind replies!

My intention to get insurance is for insurance protection, full hospital coverage plus savings purposes.

In fact, I am a noob when it comes to insurance. However after reading the few posts above, I understand that the best formula for us would be Term + Investment. *Thanks ST, ur advice makes alot of sense! *

I am still in the 14 days cooling off period for that 2 plans I signed up. Confirmed plus chop definitely will cancel them. Will it better to call my agent to cancel, or call the company myself to cancel?

On another note, how do I go around investing the money? and which Term plan is recommended? Do I get it through agent or directly?




CC: Perisher, all plans recommended by agent based on trust as I'm a noob. Guess I kena makan liao

 

[hyperbole]

By not including cpf, wouldn't you be underweight for equities?

If you include CPF wouldn't you be overweight on bonds?

 

[highsulphur]

If you include CPF wouldn't you be overweight on bonds?

Say I have 70k cash and 30k cpf to start with and I want to achieve 70:30 equities/bond allocation.

If I were to consider CPF as my bond portfolio, I would just use the entire 70k cash on equities.

If I were to ignore cpf, I have to use 30% of the 70k for bonds with the balance in equities. Wouldn't that cause an effective underweight in equities allocation?

Anyway it's just how I see my portfolio. Different people different strokes.

 

[highsulphur]

Even for those into index investing, times are definitely challenging now. Es3 is down 13% from the high and my average cost is around 6% higher than current price. Still have one more tranche to buy in accordance to my plan set out before I take a breather.

I guess even with index investing, one cannot escape the frequent anxiety of mark to market losses from time to time.

 

[lala81]

Even for those into index investing, times are definitely challenging now. Es3 is down 13% from the high and my average cost is around 6% higher than current price. Still have one more tranche to buy in accordance to my plan set out before I take a breather.

I guess even with index investing, one cannot escape the frequent anxiety of mark to market losses from time to time.

Chill. This is just a speed bump. It may drop even more, if don't have the fortitude then just stick to automatic DCA.

I would average down but need to send my money to IWDA. overweight in SG due to my prior investments and the switching to ES3.

 

[reinphd]

Chill. This is just a speed bump. It may drop even more, if don't have the fortitude then just stick to automatic DCA.

I would average down but need to send my money to IWDA. overweight in SG due to my prior investments and the switching to ES3.

me too. too much in SG now due to averaging down the past month. now it's another new low at 3.06?

 

[StragenKreuss]

Now I feel lucky to have rebalanced when sti at high of 3.5+. Nibbling down again.

 

[Shiny Things]

Even for those into index investing, times are definitely challenging now. Es3 is down 13% from the high and my average cost is around 6% higher than current price. Still have one more tranche to buy in accordance to my plan set out before I take a breather.

I guess even with index investing, one cannot escape the frequent anxiety of mark to market losses from time to time.

Yep. Index investing and dollar-cost-averaging don't guarantee you'll make money - especially not in the short term. But index investing smooths out the wild swings of individual stocks, and dollar-cost-averaging (methodically buying every month) means you can take advantage of stocks when they're cheap.

Heck, I had a pretty bad day myself today. Every single stock ETF in my portfolio is down by about 2% - the bond ETFs are up a bit, which has helped, but it's still been a rough day. But things happen - it means I'll be able to buy the same stocks cheaper when I buy my next clip of stock.

Say I have 70k cash and 30k cpf to start with and I want to achieve 70:30 equities/bond allocation.

If I were to consider CPF as my bond portfolio, I would just use the entire 70k cash on equities.

If I were to ignore cpf, I have to use 30% of the 70k for bonds with the balance in equities. Wouldn't that cause an effective underweight in equities allocation?

Yep - I agree 100% with this.

In fact, I am a noob when it comes to insurance. However after reading the few posts above, I understand that the best formula for us would be Term + Investment. *Thanks ST, ur advice makes alot of sense! *

Hey, no worries! Glad I could help.

I am still in the 14 days cooling off period for that 2 plans I signed up. Confirmed plus chop definitely will cancel them. Will it better to call my agent to cancel, or call the company myself to cancel?

I don't actually know the answer to this. Check the threads - there might be a "how to cancel my terrible insurance policy" thread somewhere - but since this is time-sensitive, you might be best to post a new thread asking how to cancel, that'll probably get you the quickest response.

Also, call your agent and demand to cancel the policies. Don't let them sweet-talk you out of it - they'll do anything to stop you cancelling, because if you cancel they lose thousands of dollars of commission. Get them to give you the instructions, and then head down to the company's head office and follow up with them.

On another note, how do I go around investing the money? and which Term plan is recommended? Do I get it through agent or directly?

Buy it directly - if you go to an agent, they'll try to upsell you on more expensive plans that earn more commission.