Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020

Critical Illness Definition Change Aug 2020: Should You get CI Coverage now?

Have you been thinking of getting a Critical Illness (CI) Coverage for a while but haven’t done so? In Wealth Management, insurance is one key element of planning and we have talked about Life Insurers to change definition of Critical Illness in 2019. In 3 months time, there will be new definition for critical illness coverage. Will it affect you? Should you get a CI coverage now?

Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020
Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020

 

What’s happening?

Like it or not, it is happening. Life Insurers in Singapore will have to comply with the new set of critical illness coverage as set by the Life Insurance Association (LIA). Previously, the definition of the 37 critical illness was standardized so that the coverage is consistent across the industry.

This review on the common definitions is to bring the definition up to date and aligned with advances made in medical technology and medical practice as well as to address areas of ambiguity based on insights gained from the past five years of experience.

(Source: LIA 2019 Framework)

 

What are the changes?

In total, 21 of the critical illness definition will be changed while 16 remains the same.

Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020 Table
Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020 Table

 

Does this mean it is harder to claim in future?

After looking at the definitions, I believe there are pros and cons to the new definitions.

Pros

  1. Those suffering from Thalassaemia Major or Haemophilia can now get covered under the HIV CI condition.
  2. Viral Encephalitis: Previously, viral infection has to be the cause for it. Now, scope is expanded to include all causes, not just viral infection.

Cons

  1. Stricter, more exclusions for Benign Brain Tumor, Coma, Stroke, Aplastic Anaemia, Heart Attack, and Major Cancers among other things.
  2. The addition of ‘irreversible‘ to deafness, blindness, aplastic anaemia.

 

Personally, I believe the cons outweighs the pros because the more major cancer, heart attack and stroke have a higher occurrence rate in Singapore. (Source: Top 10 Conditions for Hospitalisation In Singapore). See point 2, 4, 6, 9.

Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020 Top Causes of Hospitalisation
Critical Illness Definition Changes Aug 2020 Top Causes of Hospitalisation

 

What should you do?

You have time. But, not long. After 26 August 2020, all critical illness policies in Singapore will have to follow the new definition as stated by the LIA.

Review your policies during these few months. Follow up with your financial consultant or you can contact me if you don’t have one.

Stay safe!

 

No one will care about your money as much as you do.

In Wealth Management, it is important to Pay yourself first. Beware of scams. Before you invest in any company or popular investment opportunity, be sure to do your own due diligence. If you wish to learn more about investment, I hope to nurture genuine relationships with all of my readers. Please feel free to contact me on my Instagram (@chengkokoh) or Facebook Page or my Telegram Channel! Or subscribe to our newsletter now!

Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now

Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) now?

Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now? $19 seems to be a popular price that people will talk about DBS Group Holding. In wealth management, investing in good companies are essential to build up the capital to achieve our financial freedom. This article will hold some of my thoughts I have regarding DBS Group and some of it will shock you. Is it a mistake or will we have regrets? (Read all the way down).

Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now
Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now? Introducing the cat indicator. Meow~

 

Is DBS Group a Good Company and Undervalued?

Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now numbers
Should you buy DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX D05) now?

These are the numbers that I look for in a banking stock. You can find this numbers from the annual report of DBS Group. We want to analyse whether the bank is first a profitable and efficient bank.

To look at profitability, we want to look at the Net Interest Margin (NIM) to be as high as possible. Banks earns a spread by borrowing money from people like me and you and giving them out as loan. We also want to see non-performing loans (NPL) to be as low as possible. There will be people who will default on their loans given various situation, we want to see it as low as possible.

Next we want to see the efficiency of the bank in terms of operations and per dollar invested. We have used the cost to income ratio which we want as low as possible. A lower cost to income ratio means their expense is low as compared to the revenue. Return on equity (ROE) we want it as high as possible.

Personally, I think it is quite a good company based on these set of numbers.

The valuation is also attractive at PB 0.99. This means you are buying it at 99 cents for every dollar it is worth. On dividends, it gives a 6.95% dividends based on previous dividends.

 

Verdict

It really looks not bad isn’t it.

 

The Forgotten Track Record

As investors, we like to talk about track record. I realised that this only applies to numbers, valuations and also share prices. There are numerous things we forget and we are more forgiving and tolerant to these companies who have better numbers. Let’s talk about the forgotten track record that DBS Group has.

2020: Hin Leong Trading

DBS has the highest loan exposure to HLT at US$290 million, while OCBC and UOB are owed US$220 million and US$100 million, respectively. The sharp plunge in oil prices, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, had brought one of Asia’s largest oil traders to its knees. (Source: The Business Times: DBS, OCBC, UOB faced with over US$600m total exposure to Hin Leong)

The exposure is considered immaterial to DBS Group’s Profits.

2017: Energy Saga

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. reported a surprise drop in third-quarter profit as Southeast Asia’s largest bank boosted bad-loan allowances more than sixfold in an effort to deal with its problem lending to the regional oil and gas services sector. (Source: Yahoo Finance: DBS Profit Sinks as Bank Tries to Put Bad Energy Loans Behind It)

Allowances for bad assets of S$1.66 billion compared with S$261 million in the year-earlier period.

This would easily be blamed on the cyclical energy market when oil and gas services first got the worse hit.

2007: Lehman Brother Mini Bonds

Following the collapse of the Lehman Brothers, about 10,000 retail investors in Singapore lost all or a large part of their investments total-ling over S$500 million in structured investment products linked to the American investment bank. They were mis-sold these relatively high-risk products to investors, many of whom were the elderly and less educated. (Source: NLB: Lehman Brothers Minibond saga)

There are perhaps many more examples but forgotten with time.

 

The Way Forward

This section is my own personal opinion. While it may or may not contribute to the bottom line of DBS Group, I strongly believe it will contribute to a great brand which is largely intangible.

$500 minimum deposit of a fine of $2 will apply

I struggle to accept that DBS bank, our people’s bank have such a rule. The people who are most needy will be those with less than $500 as their minimum deposit. These people are from the lower income group and would need as much liquidity as they can get. I also struggle to accept that additional dormant accounts would cost the bank money. In my limited knowledge, I can only guess it will take extremely huge number of dormant accounts to really make a dent in the bottom line of the company.

Legacy Issues

DBS remains the bank to have the longest queue for its’ ATM or for bank tellers. I can only guess vast amount of paperwork that still continues to be done today. I’m also unsure of any technological advance in the company as we are only exposed to the mobile app and internet banking features which largely remains the same since 3 years ago.

Fintech

Fintech has disrupted lives around the world. I haven’t seen much in this space for DBS Group. The one that is most impressive on their website is was dated July 2018 for projects in 2017. (Source: Case study: DBS – the edge)

Negative Interest Rates

With the world moving towards negative interest rates, will we follow suit? Will our NIM will be affected in the future.

 

No one will care about your money as much as you do.

Before you invest in any company or popular investment opportunity, be sure to do your own due diligence. If you wish to learn more about investing, I hope to nurture genuine relationships with all of my readers. Please feel free to contact me on my Instagram (@chengkokoh) or Facebook Page or my Telegram Channel! Or subscribe to our newsletter now!

Are SIM Only plans really better than Phone Contract Plans M1 Broadband Outrage

Are SIM Only plans really better than Phone Contract Plans in 2020?

During the M1 broadband outrage on 13 May 2020, I resorted to use my mobile data to attend a zoom meeting. In 2 hours, I used 1.86 GB worth of data. The little deer my heart started to leap around. I remember vaguely my mobile data limit is 3GB and this would have used up half of my data for the month. *panics*

(Read this if you need help during COVID19: A special message during COVID19)

During my wealth management journey last year, I have already converted to a SIM-Only plan which has 30 GB limit a month. Thank god.

Are SIM Only plans really better than Phone Contract Plans M1 Broadband Outrage
Are SIM Only plans really better than Phone Contract Plans M1 Broadband Outrage

As much as I wish that chart looks like my investment portfolio, it is not. Hahaha. Instead, I began to think about my current mobile plans to see whether I have “optimized” my decisions.

 

Are SIM Only plans really better than Phone Contract Plans in 2020?

The difference between a SIM only plan and a Phone Contract plan is simple.

In the SIM only plan, you do not have a contract. You pay as you go. You can cancel if you want. You are free to switch from telco to telco if you are unhappy with the service. The monthly bills tend to be cheaper. You do not get a subsidies on the phone you want to buy.

In the Phone Contract plan you have a contract for a duration. It is common to have a contract for 2 years. During this 2 years, you will not be terminate your contract unless you want to incur high fees. The monthly bills tend to be slightly more expensive than SIM-only. However, you get a subsidies on the phone prices.

 

The Assumptions

Like all comparisons, we need to have a few assumptions. In this case, we will be taking the iPhone SE 128GB (SGD$719) as a comparison and a M1 mobile plan with around 30GB data.

iPhone SE SIM only VS Phone Contract
iPhone SE SIM only VS Phone Contract

 

SIM only VS Phone Contract

In the SIM only plan, the total cost is $25/month. This works out to be $600 for 2 years. If we add the cost of the iPhone into the picture, the total cost will be $1319. It includes 30GB/month which is a decent data coverage.

iPhone SE SIM only
iPhone SE SIM only

 

In the phone contract plan, the total cost is $78/month. This works out to be $1872 for 2 years. Special note to the 42 GB of mobile data in the contract plan.

iPhone SE Phone Contract
iPhone SE Phone Contract

This means the contract plan is $553 more expensive than the sim only plan. Putting things into perspective, you can almost buy another iPhone SE 128 GB by not signing the contract plan. In my humble opinion, not a lot of thought has been given in the pricing for the contract plan. What a scam. (Actually, it is not a scam lah. It is Wealth Management)

 

Here’s another bonus for some of you who asked what will happen if you remove the add-on. In this phone contract plan, the total cost is $40/month. This works out to be $1250 for 2 years inclusive of the additional $290 for buying a “lower” plan.

iPhone SE Phone Contract Version 2
iPhone SE Phone Contract Version 2

This means this contract plan is $69 cheaper than the sim only plan BUT you get less than half the data and the 2 years lock in period.

 

The Verdict

We have used the iPhone SE 128 GB as a comparison because it is the latest phone in town and I believe there will be interest in this phone soon. The conclusion is that the SIM-Only plan is the clear victor in this scenario.

Personally, we feel that getting half our data and having a 2 years lock in period is not worth $69. This works out to be a saving of $2.88 a month over 2 years. However, if you only need the 12 GB of data and a new phone and don’t mind having a 2 years contract, contract plans might be more worth it for you.

We have not compared between Starhub and Singtel as we believe it would not be of further value add to the readers.

The price subsidies for phone set are nothing but an illusion in today’s context.

PS: This might not hold true for other phone models.

 

No one will care about your money as much as you do.

Before you invest in any company or popular investment opportunity, be sure to do your own due diligence. If you wish to learn more about investing, I hope to nurture genuine relationships with all of my readers. Please feel free to contact me on my Instagram (@chengkokoh) or Facebook Page or my Telegram Channel! Or subscribe to our newsletter now!

WD Webinar Series

A special message during COVID-19

Hey guys, hope that everyone is well during this period of time. *Watch the video if you have received something from me.

If you are wondering what I’m busy with, I’m working on the first ever webinar series to help each and everyone of you in categories that I’m not an expert in, I took me weeks to convince different experts ranging from Chiropractor, TCM practitioner and also a career coach to help with relieving pain, boosting your immunity and increase your employability.

 

Wealthdojo COVID19 Webinar Series

WD Webinar Series
WD Webinar Series

 

It wasn’t easy for me to invite them to share their trade secrets to all of you. After speaking to them, they have agreed that the webinar series will be made free of charge to all of you.

Register for them so we know that we can wait for you to start.

Undoing Common Pains During WFH: http://tiny.cc/chiropractorWD

Boost Your Immunity: http://tiny.cc/TCMxWD

Increase Your Employability: http://tiny.cc/TravenXWD

Best Saving Account in SG. 7 Guaranteed Investment in an uncertain world: http://tiny.cc/7Guaranteed

Join the #1 Wealth Management telegram channel to provide you one financial news a day for you to up your wealth management game. You can join by clicking here. https://t.me/wealthdojo or simply subscribe my blog at the right.

 

You can also download the WealthdojoCarePack.pdf.

 

To help you guys out, I have compiled a few tips for you guys. It includes how to work from home with children, grocery shopping, buka puasa, cakes (birthdays) and bubble tea (lol).

Work From Home With Children
Work From Home With Children

Tips on how to Work From Home with children

This is certainly not an easy task. I have compiled some suggestions which worked for my clients and they have agreed to share it with you.

  • Communicate a family plan. Create a daily plan for the entire family that includes work and school schedules, and make it easily visible to everyone. Agree on the daily plan that might involve having breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time daily, exercise breaks, playing time, etc. Set the expectation of what the day will look like. Note: it is okay to re-create the daily plan as you go along.
  • Swap in and out with your spouse. Too much multi-tasking will reduce a person’s ability to focus. If both parents are working, divide up the day into blocks that give one parent space away from the children at a time. (Eg, husband will be tend to the child in the morning while the wife will tend to the child in the afternoon)
  • Be kind to yourself. Don’t measure yourself for the amount of things you can do per day with work tasks. Clearly, this has changed. Be kind to yourself.

Here are other solutions which I think is good. Check out these links.

7 practical solutions to work from home around your kids

Survival Guides to WFH with children

 

Grocery Shopping

Grocery Shopping Special Message COVID19
Grocery Shopping Special Message COVID19

For parents who needs help, here are some help for grocery shopping.

Amazon.sg (Free delivery if order above $40)

NTUC (Free delivery if order above $59)

Cold Storage (Free delivery if order above $59)

Mynikmart (Halal Groceries)

 

Buka Puasa

Happy Ramadan Special Message COVID19
Happy Ramadan Special Message COVID19

For my Malay friends, here are some ideas for buka puasa. I have verified they have halal certifications.

Nasi Ambeng Nenek Leng (Halal Muslim Owned)

JW Korean Food Story (Halal Muslim Owned)

Happy Ramadan!!

 

Cake Delivery Kura COVID19
Cake Delivery Kura COVID19

Cakes (For Birthdays in April/May)

Kura.sg  (Orders above $60 will be Delivered free island wide)

Call me bias. I just like their cakes and service. Strongly recommending Kura to everyone.

Cat & the Fiddle. (Halal cake choice) (Free For Orders Above $90)

 

Bubble Tea

Bubble Tea Special Message COVID19
Bubble Tea Special Message COVID19

For bubble tea lovers, here are some that offers island wide delivery.

Chicha San Chen (Recommend if you are ordering $20 and above to be “worth it”)

Liho Tea (Recommended if you are ordering $30 and above)

Xin Fu Tang (Must include a mains)

 

Online Games

COVID19 Online Games
COVID19 Online Games

Online Board Games (Download this PDF for more games)

 

Home Exercise

Heather Robertson (HIIT)

HASfit (Various)

Official News

Ministry of Health COVID19 

GOV.SG COVID19

COVID19 Infobot (By Gov.sg)

Trace together

Singapore Budget 2020

 

 

Wishing you the best during this period. Stay strong. Stay healthy.

KFC Whatsapp Scam

How to identify a scam?

Scams have been around for years and will continue to be around. Coronavirus or COVID-19 has forced many of us to work from home and we have become increasing reliant on technology. While we preventing our life from being a roller coaster by staying home, let’s also protect our loved ones from scams as they might not be able to identify scams as well as we do. (Is this a scam: Nanning investment)

How to identify a scam
How to identify a scam

 

Their Preferred Target

Guess what? Scammers preferred target will not be people who are technologically savvy. They will be targeting namely the older folks who might not be reading this article (It is your job to make sure they read this). Scammers target the older folks as they are not used to ignoring an email, whatsapp message or call.

This is because, they thought that it is meant for them.

The reason behind this is if they could be singled out, it must come from a certain authority. In the distant past, there was no such thing as whatsapp broadcast or mass email. If you want to reach out to them, you have to know their contact number.

If the scam is a positive one (one they will receive money), they must have thought it was a good deal.

Most of our parents or those > 50 years old will generally fall into this category and we have to do our part to educate them about scams.  I will talk about the typical scam structure and how we can identify them.

 

Scam Style #1: A call from the Authorities but…

Scam Alert Police
Scam Alert Police

This is an old one. It was more popular in 2014. Individuals will get a call from the “authorities”. Most of the time, it will be a call telling the individual that they owe money to the certain authorities. The interesting thing to note is that the callers use Chinese as a main means of communication and they will not understand you if you use English.

Identify Scam Fact #1: If you indeed owe money to the authorities, you will be getting a snail mail. I believe this system will be here for a while.

Identify Scam Fact #2: The main means of communication in Singapore is English. If the authority don’t understand English, it is a tell tale sign.

 

Scam Style #2: The whatsapp good deal

KFC Whatsapp Scam
KFC Whatsapp Scam

This usually flourish in the group chat of our target audience. They work because of 4 reasons.

  1. It looks harmless
  2. It is an good offer that they might use
  3. You just need to “click”
  4. You can share with your friends easily

If it is free and it can be given away, there is no lost for our audience to forward it out. They might even feel good doing so (until it is too late). Here’s another one.

NTUC Fairprice Scam Whatsapp Message
NTUC Fairprice Scam Whatsapp Message

Identify Scam Fact #1: KFC/NTUC gives physical vouchers

Identify Scam Fact #2: If there is an online voucher, there will be dedicated app for it.

 

Scam Style #3: Recency effect

NTUC SIRS Scam
NTUC SIRS Scam

Scammer are also up to date. This above email is for SIRS Eligibility. The government is giving a grant for self-employed people to tie over the COVID-19 period. This is the real website for more information (https://www.ntuc.com.sg/sirs/). Registration opens on Monday 27 April 2020 (expected).

This is actually a very believable email. It works because of the recency effect and again the authority effect.

Identify Scam Fact #1: If the money is given by the Singapore government, it will not be in USD.

Identify Scam Fact #2: NTUC will not request for your personal and confidential information through such emails. (Source: NTUC U Portal)

 

Scam Style #4: Not enough money

Ecommerce Scam
Ecommerce Scam

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most popular scam in Singapore. E-commerce scams were also identified as the top scam in Singapore with more than 2,000 cases reported in 2018 (Source: Yahoo News E commerce Scams).

According to the police, the common scams on Carousell involved transactions of electronic products, and tickets to events and attractions. E-commerce scams, which typically happen when buyers fail to receive items that have been purchased online, increased by 11.4 per cent to 2,125 cases last year from 1,907 cases in 2017. The total amount cheated rose to $1.9 million from $1.4 million over the period.

Buying online is tricky as we will only be able to get our good or services at a later date. Both the target audience and ourselves might fail into this trap especially when something is sold “too cheaply”.

Identify Scam Fact #1: Buy from verified sources.

 

Conclusion

There are many types of scams in the world. You can go to ScamAlert to record or look at what are the latest scams in Singapore. ScamAlert is an initiative by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). They are a non-profit organisation committed to promoting public awareness and concern about crime.

Nobody will be concern about your money as much as you do. ~ Quote CK

Please do get the word out as much as possible especially to the potential target audience. We often fall into such scam because of the money mindset that we originally have. (Don’t be a low baller on Carousell =p). Use the Scam Fact as a way of identifying potential scams. I wish you all the best in your wealth management journey.

Before you invest in any company or popular investment opportunity, be sure to do your own due diligence. If you wish to learn more about investing, I hope to nurture genuine relationships with all of my readers. Please feel free to contact me on my Instagram (@chengkokoh) or Facebook Page or my Telegram Channel! Or subscribe to our newsletter now!

Wishing you the best in this period of time. We hope that everyone can remain calm and healthy during this season. It is a season of crisis but it is also a season of opportunity. Invest with what you have and don’t borrow money to invest in this period of time. If you are new to investing and need help, do talk to me using the contact form.