Financial Alliance Is Expanding!

Financial Alliance is expanding! Whether you are mid career switch or fresh graduate, we welcome you to explore your career with us if you have a heart for people and a passion in financial planning. Existing Financial Consultant and Banker looking for greater growth are welcome too! Register your interest @ http://bit.ly/17NVtEp

Estate planning: Private bankers or lawyers? - BT Invest

Estate planning: Private bankers or lawyers? - BT Invest

I happen to come across the above article. I would answer why not engage Independent Financial Adviser that can provide the best of both world?

Changes to Work Injury Compensation Act

Today an important thing happen that all Employer and Employee need to know:

Highlights Details - Ministry of Manpower

Please forward to your employer if you are an Employee and please contact your insurance agent if you are an employer! :-)

Financial Planning - Consumers Are Eager For Life Insurance Coverage - Financial Planning

Read this article wondering is this true or not true? What's your take?

Financial Planning - Consumers Are Eager For Life Insurance Coverage - Financial Planning

Interview in Channel U - Moneyweek

For my reader and friends, I'll be appearing tonight 7pm in Channel U - Moneyweek again on the topic of investment. Do stay tune if you are happen to be at home watching TV! :-)

Advisers to assess clients under new MAS rules

Advisers will have to assess their clients ability to understand investment products before selling to them, under new rules established by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Read More @
International Adviser :: Advisers to assess clients under new MAS rules

What financial institutions teach their financial advisers to do could be illegal!

It always upset me when I come across such article as follows:

http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1377-a_EY9MLo0vtk-3TVAHOOB3A3SQFUL4UPNIJI3PT

While you thought joining a reputable bank or financial institution and making lot's of money is glamorous, think twice on your objectives and goals in life whether you have your principle or just for the money.

You could end up in jail without know why! Read: -

http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1377-a_EY9MLo0vtk-3TVAHOOB3A3SQFUL4UPNIJI3PT

Interview in Channel U - MoneyWeek

Tea Eng Peng will be appearing in Channel U (MoneyWeek 财经追击) this Saturday 23 Oct 2010 evening again on investment related topic.

Adam Khoo's Millionaire Mindset

Adam Khoo has been an inspiration for me since many years back. I am always following his news and blog closely because I think he is someone who can put things in perspective and in simple form to understand.

I was always wondering how a young chap who was a former school drop out transform himself into a millionaire at age 26 until I found out from one of his newsletter which I subscribe to that he actually start reading massively on Success and Mindset related books at the age of 15 when he decided his first goal to be a millionaire by age 26.

What can we learn from his story? Success is not overnight and it took him 11years of hard work too before he reach his goal. Another classic example is BreadTalk's Founder - George Quek. He too has been in the food industry for more than 20 years before he started BreadTalk and got listed within 2 years!

Morale of the story, do not just look at the success that someone has achieved now but also know the effort that they put in before their success. There is never nothing for something. We reap what we sow!

Have you ever wonder why everyone has only 24 hours in their life and yet some achieve more than the others? I have been pondering this question for many years and today I can confidently says that the main  difference is in the way we think!

There is this book call "Think and Grow Rich" and I use to mock at it because how can anyone just grow rich by thinking? Over the years, it has proven to be true by many other people who is inspired by this book including me.

Studies shows that average person use less than 10% of their brain thinking and spend most of their time taking instructions or asking others who are not any better than themselves for solution. If you can't think effectively, you should at least be able to read. The more you read, the more your brain will exercise and expand your thoughts. Successful people don't stop learning after school, in fact they continue learning as much as before they are successful because they have to handle bigger challenges.

I urged my reader to invest time in reading and if you are not sure where to start, start with Adam Khoo's range of books! I personally own most of them in hardcopy. Now you can get them in softcopy @ http://adamkhoomillionaire.blogspot.com/ which cost less from retail store and easier to keep in your computer, ipad or mobile devices for reading.

P.S. Stay tune to  http://www.adamkhoomillionaire.blogspot.com/ where interesting articles will be posted. Follow twitter @ www.twitter.com/adamkhoomillion

TEA ENG PENG (郑永平) Appearing in ChannelNewsAsia

I'll be appearing in the following Channel NewsAsia program brought to you by Saxo Capital Markets - What's Your Position?

Online trading platform has revolutionised the way retail investors trade. With plenty of research and information readily available these days, how does one use them to formulate a trading plan? Find out by catching the 2-part programme "What's Your Position" produced with the support of Saxo Capital Markets.

What's Your Position - Part 1
March 3, 2010 (Wed) 9:30pm
March 4, 2010 (Thurs) - Repeat Telecast 12:30pm
March 5, 2010 (Fri) - Repeat Telecast 4:30pm
March 8, 2010 (Mon) - Repeat Telecast 6:00pm

What's Your Position - Part 2
March 10, 2010 (Wed) 9:30pm
March 11, 2010 (Thurs) - Repeat Telecast 12:30pm
March 12, 2010 (Fri) - Repeat Telecast 4:30pm
March 15, 2010 (Mon) - Repeat Telecast 6:00pm

Komaba Global Bond Fund is going to be terminated on 5 October 2009!

Dear Reader,


It has been awhile since I last blog as I was busy being interviewed and contributing articles which will be restricted from publishing them until the magazine or website publish them for at least 2 weeks. Will keep you guys posted!

However, I have a more urgent news to break that is I have been notified by APS Komaba Asset Management Pte Ltd, that A329 Komaba Global Bond Fund will cease subscriptions with effect from today, 4 September 09, as the fund is going to be terminated on 5 October 2009.

Kindly note that more details on the above cessation will be provided shortly.

Life Insurance Tax Relief

Have you been over declaring your Tax Relief unknowingly?

Majority of the people thinks that their have paid a lot for insurance premium and when it come to declaration of Tax where there is this column for Life Insurance Relief, they feel "relief" that at least it is tax deductible but they are only half right!

An extract from IRAS Website on the subject matter as follows:

"You are not eligible for life insurance relief if your total compulsory employee CPF contribution in the previous year is $5,000 or more.

If your CPF contribution is less than $5,000, you can claim the lower of

• The difference between $5,000 and your CPF contribution.
• Up to 7% of the insured value of your own/your wife's life or the amount of insurance premiums paid, whichever is lower."

Conclusion:

Majority of the population are not eligible for Life Insurance Tax Relief unless you are self-employed without CPF contribution or low income earner where total annual CPF contribution is less than $5000 a year.

Note:

The current tax-filing system cannot detect whether you are eligible to enjoy Life Insurance Tax Relief and will not disallow any input in the Life Insurance Tax Relief column subject to a maximum of $5,000 even if you are not eligible. It is up to you to file and is your own responsibility to know how much to file. If you have been over declaring, you can write to IRAS to do an adjustment.

You can click on the following link to know more about the subject matter:

http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=208

P.S. Tax matter changes from time to time and I am not a tax consultant, hence please consult your tax consultant or IRAS if in doubt.

Best Deal for Aircon

Recently my aircon gave way after good ten years and I decided to do some research before my aircon purchase and found the following two website particularly useful to share with my reader:

1. http://singapore-aircon-advice.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.coolserve.com.sg/

I do not get any referral fee from the above but I wouldn't mind if they were to give me some for my free advertisement. Anyway good luck in your aircon purchase!

Prosperity Personal - Online Personal Finance Planning Tools

Always thought managing your personal finance is a complicated and dreaded affair?


A glimpse of Wealth Manager - Simulating investment in property

Run no more because
Prosperity Personal offers you an easy-to-use online personal finance planning tool. A tool that is completely free, and it enables you to understand in the blink of an eye your long-term finances. Why plan? Because uncertainty translates into stress, Prosperity Personal allows you to understand and plan your future based on proven analytical models. It gives you not only an immediate overview of your long-term finances, it also enables you to improve your future by simulating different scenarios and compare their outcomes.


Think you're financially smart? Take the Finance Challenge and stand a chance to win an Asus Eee PC till 30 June 2009

Prosperity Personal is an open community where netizens gather to share their wisdom, thoughts and experiences and build confidence in personal finance in a dynamic environment.

TEA ENG PENG （郑永平）Inteviewed by 《财经追击》

Hi All,

Please keep a look out on the interview of me with 《财经追击》under the programme call "Financial Planning 101".

1^st Telecast 29th May 2009 (Fri) 9:30pm Ch U

2^nd Telecast 1^st June 2009 (Sun) 11:30pm Ch U

Will keep you posted on the follow up telecast if any. Cheers!

Follow up this week they will touch on fresh grads n CPF topic.

So please look out for my interview in their programme this week.

1^st Telecast 05^th Jun(Fri) 9:30pm Ch U

2^ndTelecast 7^th Jun(Sun) 11:30pm Ch U

Other Telecast Time:

12thJun(Fri) 9:30pm Ch U

14thJun(Sun) 11:30pm Ch U - Repeat

19thJun(Fri) 9:30pm Ch U

21thJun(Sun) 11:30pm Ch U - Repeat

What you need to know about your CPF Part 2

I have found a video from CPF Website - IM$avvy on the subject "Optimising CPF" which is very comprehensive and I personally benefit from it too as it is with visual aid.

There are so much one need to know about their CPF yet too little time was spent to understand it. Thus I strongly recommend my reader to view this video before engaging any Financial Adviser for advice. It will save both your time and money in your financial planning.

Click here to Watch it! (Best view with Internet Explorer or you might need to download a player)

The video is about 1 hour long but it is definitely worth your time! It is modular too, so you can view part by part.

If you have no time to invest in yourself, the price you need to pay later might be higher for not viewing it!

P.S. Please drop me a note if the link is no longer valid and I shall remove this post. So please view it before it is gone!

CNBC Interview with Sani Hamid of Financial Alliance Pte Ltd

Sani Hamid is a Director, Wealth Management (Economy and Market Strategy) of Financial Alliance Pte Ltd and is also a good friend of mine. I am proud to present some of his interviews with CNBC that I managed to find from the internet to my readers. You can also google his name to find out more about him.

Get Into These Hot Funds - Sani Hamid (28 Apr 2009)


Worst May Be Over - Sani Hamid (13 Apr 2009)


Investment Strategy - Sani Hamid (30 Mar 2009)




Buy Financials - Sani Hamid (05 Mar 2009)




Stocks to Pick Up by Year-End - Sani Hamid (02 Jan 2009)

Comment from Reader

Recently I receive the following email from one of my reader and it motivate me to squeeze out some time to continue blogging despite of my busy schedule:

"Hi Tea,

Thank you! Your email had been great help to me.

I got to know your blog while I google for “term insurance”.

Please continue to update more on your type of insurance… your website is easier to understand than most of the others."

FREE Financial Calculation Tools Online

Recently I have found a website that provide FREE Financial Calculation Tools Online which I feel compelling to post in my blog. I am very impress because it is graphic intensive with drag and drop feature, yet very fast processing time. You got to try it to believe.

I strongly encourage all my reader to try it out before it is no longer FREE!

The website is as follows:

http://www.prosperitypersonal.sg


The links to the tools are as follows:

1. Wealth Manager
2. Prosperity Planner
3. Risk Planner

This website offer the above types of Financial Calculation Tools for your simulation and the best part is you do not even need to register as a user in order to use! Absolutely FREE with no gimmicks that I know of at this moment...perhaps they might start charging once they have enough user, so don't wait. Try now while is still FREE!

Book Review - MANIAC! "You've to be a little crazy to succeed in this crazy world!" by Andy Ong

I was reading this book written by Andy Ong who is the bestselling author of "Personal Financial Planning in Singapore" who also founded the Financial Planning Association of Singapore (FPAS) when he was 26 years of age and served as its Founding President for two terms. He subsequently became CEO of ERC Holdings Pte Ltd which is now a multi-million dollar company that comprises 11 companies withing the group with interests in education, publishing, marketing services and consulting operations.

This book bring you the mindset of Asia's 50 highly successful individuals and how you can replicate this mindset to achieve success!

In financial planning, it is not all about saving and investing but also on how to increase your personal income so that you have surplus to save and invest. I strongly recommend reading this book if you want to know the mindset of the highly successful individuals and how they make money.

I'm summarize one part which I find it most useful to share on the 4 Phase of how to move from Struggler to Maniac:


Phase 1: Step out of your comfort zone!

Maniac pointed out that many of us are so comfortable with our everyday lives that we are not contemplating our next moves. In fact, it is their personal belief that the vast majority are so comfortable that they do not plan to maximise their career potential. Even if they do, they may be short-changing themselves by setting targets that they know they can comfortably attain. The first step is thus to GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE!

I personally feel that without this Phase 1, nothing change!

During this recession, it could be a good time to reflect what we really want in life and plan for rainy day. Many of us are too busy with our daily life running a rat race. Sometimes it take some courage to step out of our comfort zone and make some short term sacrifice in order to have long term gain. We must be crazy if we expect something different will happen by doing the same thing over again and again without changing anything.


Phase 2: Find a Mentor

Every single one of the Manics credited his or her success to someone who has guided them to succeed in their respective fields. They all have mentors who showed them directions in life and how to fully take advantage of the opportunities that they are given. You will be surprised how willing successful individuals are in sharing their experiences if you ask properly and do not intrude into their lives too much.


Phase 3: Commit to change

Knowledge is very much wasted if it is not put to use. Most of us learn what is necessary and try to implement the knowledge. However, when the first problem arises, we soon forget about the whole idea and go back to our comfort zone and safety net which often means that we are giving a half-hearted attempt. Manics commit themselves 100% and are constantly on the prowl for opportunities. They live, breathe and eat what they believe in.


Phase 4: Put together strategy to achieve personal success

Maniacs plan to succeed in their chosen field. They plan to the best of their ability, leaving as little to chance as possible They know that luck plays an important part in the path to success, perhaps even to the extent of 80 to 90%. They also want to maximise their chances on the factors they can control. These include:

- Which industry to be in?
- How to gain a competitive advantage in that industry?
- How to assemble the right team to implement the business mode?
- Putting in the extra effort to deliver a superior value proposition.

P.S. To find out more, you can either buy the book or borrow from the library and search by Call Number 650.1 ONG - [BIZ]