An interest rate of 10.68% per annum for a fixed deposit!

In January, I shared in my blog about POSB's Chinese New Year fixed deposit special.

The offer was:

Get 1.88% per annum for a 12 months fixed deposit from a minimum sum of $1,000 to a maximum sum of $1,000,000.

I tried taking part in it and because I am such a dinosaur with IT stuff, I wasn't sure if my application went through.

In fact, when a reader asked me about this during the second "Evening with AK and friends" last week, I was not able to give a clear answer.

Anyway, I checked earlier and I found that my account has been credited with $88. Apparently, I was one of the first 10,000 customers! My application was successful!

We need little happy surprises like this from time to time in life.

For POSB customers who deposited only $1,000 and received the $88 ang bao, they are actually getting an interest rate of 10.68% per annum!

In fact, it is more than that since the $88 ang bao is given now and not at the end of the 12 months period!

Thank you, POSB, for the generous ang bao.

I'm smiling. :)

Where to put your emergency funds? Fixed deposits aren't too bad. See related post number 1 below.

Related posts:
1. A special chest for emergency fund.
2. Should I put money in a foreign currency FD?

Why have I been silent on Mr. Lee's passing (till now)?

So many people have blogged about the passing of our country's founding Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Some asked me why I have not said anything in my blog?

Well, apart from the fact that other bloggers have done such a good job of it, I am really not very good at writing eulogies. I do feel very sad and, actually, it goes beyond sadness. It is a deep sense of loss.



After all, even after he retired as Prime Minister, he was still very active, dispensing good advice and, for a while, it felt as if he would always be there for us.

Anyway, why am I blogging about him now?


Mr. Lee Kuan Yew "wore the same exercise shorts for 17 years. And when it tore, he patched it up, or his wife patched it up for him." 

This was revealed by Law and Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. K Shanmugam.

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was a very frugal person.

I might not understand all of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's great wisdom even if I tried but I can certainly identify with his frugal habits.

When I see some of my relatives throwing away perfectly good clothing just because they were out of fashion or children not finishing their food just because they didn't like it, I would feel very sad. I would worry, probably needlessly.

I remember the hard times my family had to go through. I remember being told never to waste food and, till today, I will finish all the food on my plate. When I buy cooked food, I would tell the vendor to give me less rice because I don't want to throw away what I cannot finish.

Once, I actually told my brother in law's sister to finish her food when she left so much unfinished. She looked at me, irritated, and asked if I would like to finish it for her. If I wasn't going to do it, keep quiet. I was surprised. She was quite a few years younger than I was and I probably expected her to listen. Anyway, it wasn't a response I was expecting.

Life is too good now, perhaps.

Waste not, want not. This is something we should all try to remember. Not something to do with meritocracy or good governance, perhaps, but this is something Mr. Lee Kuan Yew would probably want us to remember too.

Farewell, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Thank you for all that you have done for Singapore. We owe you a great debt that can never be repaid. May you rest in peace.

Related posts:
1. Some of my stuff (Part 1).
2. Saving time and money but lost face?
3. An essential habit to becoming richer.

Should I forfeit $5,000?

Read this and see if you get upset like I did:

I have recently become interested in growing my wealth and financial planning because I have seen how my own parents failed. However, I am only just starting, plus I am terrible with numbers. I am probably only good at capturing the theory, but terrible at application, and may have made some mistakes, which I now need help with. I have no one else to turn to except insurance agents, who I am sure you know are mostly biased towards their own products.

Grapes.

One major mistake I made recently was buying from an XXX agent a pure investment product called PPPPPP. I have put 5k into it. I am not sure if the agent mentioned at the time that this product is a premium payment product, because I was shocked to learn only after everything was done that this is something I have to pay for monthly or yearly. She had put me down for 30yrs, I believe that is because she knows I am looking at long term investment. I was also informed by a third party that unless the funds make more than 6% returns, I would not be able to offset the charges and fees of the product. 

All in all, the impression I got from the agent who sold me the product was that this is similar to something I would get from the stock market, a one time payment, wait for gains, sell if you need to, otherwise hold and allow the gains to roll. I knew there would be fees and charges because this product is from an insurance company, but I did not know I would be unable to surrender any time before 30yrs is up.

My question is whether I ought to give up this product. I talked to the customer service at their headquarters, he told me if I surrendered the product I would simply be forfeiting the 5k, that even though the agent havent given me the policy document, I was past the 14days free look policy. The alternative would be to hold on because the funds are good. 

I had initially agreed to the product because i recognised a lot of the funds eg Blackrock, Schroder, Legg Mason, Pictet. Plus, I thought this product would be a safety net for me, just in case I screwed up my own private investments, because I had believed in the ability of these funds to do better than I could.

I am unable to decide now if surrendering the product would be a rash decision. However, if you are able to tell that this is a bad decision and surrendering the product now will cut future loss, please let me know. I promise I will not sue or come back to you for revenge because the funds turned out to be profitable. I have no one else around me with appropriate financial knowledge who is unbiased towards any companies, and as I think you can tell, I am a green horn greener than grass. 

Any advice or feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Banana...

Misunderstood? Misrepresented? Negligence?

I have passed this case to a friend who is a professional to follow up. However, feel free to share your opinions in the comments section. I am sure the victim reader will take all the comments (if any) into consideration in deciding what to do next.

Related posts:
1. Know what is good for us.
2. Will I retire happy?
3. "A safety net in case we screw up our investments?"
(It is the CPF.)