Citibank SMRT VISA: Good deal for Chinese New Year!

I just shared a good deal on FB. What is it?

Do you have this credit card?

If you do, make your way to Kallang Wave Mall's NTUC Fairprice.

Use your Citibank SMRT card to buy $200 worth of NTUC Fairprice vouchers and you will get a $10 Kallang Wave Mall voucher free.

On top of this, you will get a 7% rebate from Citibank for the $200 purchase.

The NTUC Fairprice vouchers can be used at all NTUC Fairprice outlets, not just the one in Kallang Wave Mall.

Pay $186 and get $210! That is a 12.9% return!

Good deal! Don't say AK bo jio hor.

Related post:
AK's 7 money habits.
"Habit no. 5: I always try to get discounts off my bills."

Tea with Matthew Seah: Wealth Triangle.

Wondering how we can be wealthier? Here is another guest blog from Matthew Seah to nudge us along in the right direction.

For me, there are 3 ways to generate wealth and they are the essential tenets of my wealth building triangle:

 

1. Increase Income;

2. Reduce Expense, thereby saving what remains;

3. Invest a portion of that savings.

Due to our different circumstances, some may find it harder to strengthen one or more of these 3 legs of the triangle. However, do note that you will certainly get wealthier if you sufficiently strengthen one or more of these 3 tenets in your own wealth triangle.

In order to get wealthier at a faster rate, you must increase your income, spend less money and make your money work harder.

 

To increase your income, you can:

1. earn more at your current job;

2. get a higher paying job;

3. get additional job(s);

4. create multiple sources of income.

There are several ways to spend less money and they involve cutting back spending on excesses and wants. AK has been blogging about frugal living. So, you can learn from him.

And, finally, investing a portion of what you have saved. This not only increases your income by investing in income-generating assets, it could also increase your net worth through capital gains. You can also use leverage to increase your money’s ability to grow but do note that leverage is a double edged sword and you could lose more than your capital if used wrongly.

The ways to increase wealth are many and possibly infinite. So be creative and think of how you could make yourself rich. Of course don’t make the wrong type of money to be rich.

Some money, we cannot touch.

Some money, we should not make.

 

Related posts:
1. Do you want to be richer?
2. Have a huge amount of savings and cannot retire?
2. Free "e-book": Don't depend on wage increases for higher income.

Where to buy gold? Not from Suisse International.

The main reason for me to buy gold is to guard against the inherent problems of fiat currencies which are very flawed. So, having some physical gold, to me, is an insurance. 

All of us need some insurance and having up to 5% of our wealth in the form of gold isn't excessive.

Why not buy gold and receive income from it? 

Yes, that was what some entities out there told some "investors". Unless you do not read the news at all, you would have heard of such cases. 

If you know of other entities which are still saying this, trying to make you part with your money, be afraid. Be very afraid. 

Oh, while you are trembling with fear, do everyone a favour and report these entities to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Please don't be like Mr. Louis Tan who put in $40,000 and persuaded his friends to do the same because he would get a better rate for himself if he were to bring in more business for the company.




Mr. Louis Tan is ignorant, greedy, selfish and soon to lose a few friends.

Report these entities to the MAS and you could be saving people like housewife Y.H. Yang who is 53 years old and seem set to lose $2.2 million, her life savings which included money she received after selling her ancestral home in Shanghai.

We had Genneva Gold in 2012 and Gold Guarantee in 2013. Now, we have Suisse International.

Read report: here.

"After we joined, we also brought our friends in because (Suisse) promised to give us better returns and sell us gold at a cheaper rate if we recommended others," said operations manager Louis Tan, 36, who put in $40,000 last June. 

It was easy to convince their friends to join because the company promised them about $1,000 a month, which worked out to a 20 per cent return, for every kilogram of gold they bought.

Remember, scams come in many shapes and sizes. They could be as small and simple as some magic stones but they could also be quite sophisticated and much bigger like oily pods, plots of land which should be profitable or houses which are ecological.  

Ecological? Green is the color of money, isn't it? 

Related post:

1. Taking money is like taking candy from a baby.

2. Advice from a fraudster.

3. Thought process of scam victims.

Should I terminate an expensive ILP bought from a friend?

I received an email from a reader on an ILP she bought and I am going to share an edited version here.

Please remember that life insurance is essential but the cost of insurance should be kept low.

Hi AK,

I have recently started to read your blog and I really appreciate how you post unbiased financial advice for your readers. As such, I am really hoping you can help me with this dilemma that I have.

I have graduated last year and bought an ILP from my friend. I am investing $xxx every month into this plan for about x months now. This is a 30 year plan, and recently I'm having second thoughts about whether to continue this plan or not. 

...

I was wondering if I should discontinue the plan (because the costs are exorbitant) and invest the money myself in the OCBC BCIP, or should I just lower my contribution to $xxx a month since that is the minimum amount. Because if I cancel the plan now, I would have lost the (money) that I put in already. Please advise! Thank you in advance!

Warmest regards,

AK's reply:

Hi,

......

I wouldn't touch ILPs with a 5 feet pole myself.

Since you have come to the realisation on your own that the cost of having an ILP is exhorbitant, you might want to cut your losses instead of throwing more money into the plan. Just a thought. Not advice.

Do a comparison to see how much money you would save if you were to buy term life instead to enjoy the equivalent amount of coverage. You could invest the savings using a program like OCBC BCIP which you have identified.

I am not giving any advice. Just sharing my thoughts. :)

Best wishes,
AK


I think that this is quite a fortunate case as the reader realised quite early on how expensive the ILP actually is and is thinking of taking steps to remedy the situation quickly now. Others could be less fortunate.

Before signing on the dotted line of any proposal, it is important to read every word, sentence and paragraph carefully. Do the necessary due diligence. Then, make a well informed decision. 

If we don't understand something, make sure to clarify. If we are still confused, do not accept the proposal. Walk away.

Cultivate this habit and it will guard us against unnecessary expenses and angst in all aspects of life, not just with life insurance proposals or shopping in Sim Lim Square for the latest iPhone.

Related posts:
1. Term Life Insurance: Why buy term?
2. How much term life insurance should fresh grads have?
3. Free ILPs or Term Life Policies?
(Warning: This is highly controversial!)