I encourage all young people to buy a personal accident insurance to cover $100,000 for an annual premium of less than $100 (for most occupations).
Here are the reasons:
1. It is easy to buy this insurance. You do not have to provide any information about your health status or to take a medical examination.
2. Most young people face an accident risk. They are unlikely to face a health risk, until they are much older.
3. You can invest your savings in a diversified, low cost equity fund to get a better return. Most of the return goes back to you, instead of being spent on agent commission, expenses and profit for the insurance company.
4. Do not buy your life insurance too early, especially the costly plans, such as endowment, whole life or critical illness. You can think about life insurance later, when you have started a family. At that time, you can make a better choice. You will learn that it is better to buy Term insurance.
5. If you wish to buy Term insurance earlier, it is also appropriate. Term insurance covers death from accident and sickness, and is slightly more expensive than accident insurance. It does not cover permanent and temporary disablement (unlike personal accident insurance).
6. The cost of personal accident insurance is so low, that you do not have to think twice about it.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Audio driver for my notebook computer
My notebook computer was running slowly. I decided to remove the unused programs and deframent the hard disk
After re-starting the computer, I learned that the sound card did not work. I had removed the audio driver by mistake, thinking that it was an unused software.
I wish to share this interesting experience.
I searched Google for "Sony Vaio audio driver" and was given a listing of several websites. A few websites were discussion among other owners who also lost their audio driver.
I visited the Sony Online website. It asked for the model number of my notebook. I entered the model number (taken from the back of the notebook) and was told that it was an "unrecognised model".
The discussion forum showed another owner with the same model number. It seemed that this is just a marketing reference and that the actual model number could be found on the front monitor.
I was able to get the correct model number and to locate the audio driver in the internet. I download and installed it in my notebook. It worked - to my considerable surprise!
Previously, I had to depend on a techie to solve the problem for me. I learned today, how it can be done.
Lesson: There is a wealth of information that can be obtained through the internet. Each day, I am discovering its usefulness.
After re-starting the computer, I learned that the sound card did not work. I had removed the audio driver by mistake, thinking that it was an unused software.
I wish to share this interesting experience.
I searched Google for "Sony Vaio audio driver" and was given a listing of several websites. A few websites were discussion among other owners who also lost their audio driver.
I visited the Sony Online website. It asked for the model number of my notebook. I entered the model number (taken from the back of the notebook) and was told that it was an "unrecognised model".
The discussion forum showed another owner with the same model number. It seemed that this is just a marketing reference and that the actual model number could be found on the front monitor.
I was able to get the correct model number and to locate the audio driver in the internet. I download and installed it in my notebook. It worked - to my considerable surprise!
Previously, I had to depend on a techie to solve the problem for me. I learned today, how it can be done.
Lesson: There is a wealth of information that can be obtained through the internet. Each day, I am discovering its usefulness.
Personal accident insurance
Here is an example of a standalone personal accident insurance from the market. Several insurance companies offer similar terms
1. Compensation as % of sum insured
Death: 100%
Double Indemnity on weekends, public holidays and school holidays: 100%
Permanent Disablement: up to 100% depending on extent of disablement (defined in schedule)
Temporary Disablement: up to 0.1% per day, up to 104 weeks
Medical Expenses: up to $10,000 any one accident
Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation
2. General Exclusions (i.e. not covered by the policy):
pre-existing physical or mental defects
pregnancy
suicide
war risks
motorcycling
climbing or mountaineering necessitating ropes or guides
judo, karate and some hazardous sports
Note: you can pay a higher premium rate to cover some of these risks.
3. Example of a typical plan
Death: $100,000
Double Indemnity: $200,000
Permament Disablement: Up to $100,000
Temporary Disablement: $100 a day up to to 104 weeks
Medical Expenses: Up to $2,000
4. Premiums (inclusive of 7% GST) for the typical plan, depends on occupation:
Class 1: $72 (most office bound jobs)
Class 2: $92 (production and outdoor jobs)
Class 3: $127
Class 4: $209
5. You pay a lower premium for the basic cover, i.e. death and permanent disability cover, excluding temporary disablement and medical expenses.
6. You can apply for higher or lower coverage and pay a proportionately adjusted premium. If you change your occupation, the premium rate will be adjusted on each year's renewal.
7. The premium rate for a standalone personal accident policy is much lower than a rider to a life policy (providing similar coverage). It offers higher protection at a lower cost, compared to a life insurance policy.
Class 1: Profession of administrative, supervisory or clerical nature such as accountant, lawyer, banker, doctor, teacher, nurse, secretary, clerk.
Class 2: Professions of outdoor nature, work involving overseas travel or whose duties involves the occasional use of tools or machinery such as foremen, grocers, hairdressers, salesmen, tailors, surveyors, tourist guides.
Class 3: Profession involving manual work or use of tools or machinery, such as carpenter, builder, painter, driver, technician, hawker, unarmed security guard.
Class 4: Full time national serviceman, fireman, policeman, armed security guard, woodworking machinist.
1. Compensation as % of sum insured
Death: 100%
Double Indemnity on weekends, public holidays and school holidays: 100%
Permanent Disablement: up to 100% depending on extent of disablement (defined in schedule)
Temporary Disablement: up to 0.1% per day, up to 104 weeks
Medical Expenses: up to $10,000 any one accident
Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation
2. General Exclusions (i.e. not covered by the policy):
pre-existing physical or mental defects
pregnancy
suicide
war risks
motorcycling
climbing or mountaineering necessitating ropes or guides
judo, karate and some hazardous sports
Note: you can pay a higher premium rate to cover some of these risks.
3. Example of a typical plan
Death: $100,000
Double Indemnity: $200,000
Permament Disablement: Up to $100,000
Temporary Disablement: $100 a day up to to 104 weeks
Medical Expenses: Up to $2,000
4. Premiums (inclusive of 7% GST) for the typical plan, depends on occupation:
Class 1: $72 (most office bound jobs)
Class 2: $92 (production and outdoor jobs)
Class 3: $127
Class 4: $209
5. You pay a lower premium for the basic cover, i.e. death and permanent disability cover, excluding temporary disablement and medical expenses.
6. You can apply for higher or lower coverage and pay a proportionately adjusted premium. If you change your occupation, the premium rate will be adjusted on each year's renewal.
7. The premium rate for a standalone personal accident policy is much lower than a rider to a life policy (providing similar coverage). It offers higher protection at a lower cost, compared to a life insurance policy.
Class 1: Profession of administrative, supervisory or clerical nature such as accountant, lawyer, banker, doctor, teacher, nurse, secretary, clerk.
Class 2: Professions of outdoor nature, work involving overseas travel or whose duties involves the occasional use of tools or machinery such as foremen, grocers, hairdressers, salesmen, tailors, surveyors, tourist guides.
Class 3: Profession involving manual work or use of tools or machinery, such as carpenter, builder, painter, driver, technician, hawker, unarmed security guard.
Class 4: Full time national serviceman, fireman, policeman, armed security guard, woodworking machinist.
Accident and hospital benefit riders
Have you taken an accident or hospital benefit rider with your life insurance policy? They are sold to provide enhanced protection under your policy.
They look attractive, but has a big drawback. The premium rates are quite expensive, compared to standalone policies.
If you buy a standalone personal accident policy to cover $100,000, you need to pay about $80 a year. To buy the same cover as a rider, you will have to pay two times the premium. The hospital benefit rider also charges much higher than a standalone policy.
The standalone policy has to offer more competitive rates, as you are able to shop around and get the best deal from the insurance companies, including the general insurance companies.
If you buy a rider with a life policy, you are a captive customer and has to pay the premium rates that is being sold to you by the agent.
What can you do now?
Look at the premium and the coverage on your riders. Get a quote for a standalone policy that provides similar coverage. If the saving is significant, you can cancel your riders and buy the standalone policy. As the rider does not have any saving component, you do not lose out by cancelling the rider.
You can invest the savings in your premium to accumulate more funds for your retirement.
They look attractive, but has a big drawback. The premium rates are quite expensive, compared to standalone policies.
If you buy a standalone personal accident policy to cover $100,000, you need to pay about $80 a year. To buy the same cover as a rider, you will have to pay two times the premium. The hospital benefit rider also charges much higher than a standalone policy.
The standalone policy has to offer more competitive rates, as you are able to shop around and get the best deal from the insurance companies, including the general insurance companies.
If you buy a rider with a life policy, you are a captive customer and has to pay the premium rates that is being sold to you by the agent.
What can you do now?
Look at the premium and the coverage on your riders. Get a quote for a standalone policy that provides similar coverage. If the saving is significant, you can cancel your riders and buy the standalone policy. As the rider does not have any saving component, you do not lose out by cancelling the rider.
You can invest the savings in your premium to accumulate more funds for your retirement.
National Palace Museum, Taipei
I visited the National Palace Museum. Here are some facts from Wikipedia.
Taipei's National Palace Museum, located in the Shihlin District, is the pride of Taiwan. It ranks as one of the four best museums in the world, in a class with the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The museum holds the world's largest collection of Chinese artifacts, around 700,000 items in all. Since the museum only has space to display around 15,000 pieces at any given time, the majority of the treasures are kept well protected in air-conditioned vaults buried deep in the mountainside. The displays are rotated once every three months, which means 60,000 pieces can be viewed in a year and it would take nearly 12 years to see them all. Furthermore, the collection continues to grow through donations and purchases.
Some of the oldest artifacts in the collection of the museum are pieces of prehistoric pottery over 5,000 years old. The vast majority of these art objects are from the private collection of China's emperors.
Included in the collection are artifacts made from jade, bronze, porcelain, lacquerware and enamel. There is also tapestry and embroidery, and many priceless documents and books containing excellent examples of ancient Chinese calligraphy.
Taipei's National Palace Museum, located in the Shihlin District, is the pride of Taiwan. It ranks as one of the four best museums in the world, in a class with the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The museum holds the world's largest collection of Chinese artifacts, around 700,000 items in all. Since the museum only has space to display around 15,000 pieces at any given time, the majority of the treasures are kept well protected in air-conditioned vaults buried deep in the mountainside. The displays are rotated once every three months, which means 60,000 pieces can be viewed in a year and it would take nearly 12 years to see them all. Furthermore, the collection continues to grow through donations and purchases.
Some of the oldest artifacts in the collection of the museum are pieces of prehistoric pottery over 5,000 years old. The vast majority of these art objects are from the private collection of China's emperors.
Included in the collection are artifacts made from jade, bronze, porcelain, lacquerware and enamel. There is also tapestry and embroidery, and many priceless documents and books containing excellent examples of ancient Chinese calligraphy.
Allow for inflation
Hi Mr Tan,
I was reading your article on "Sufficient funds for retirement". You mentioned that to retire comfortably, we need savings of 200K to 400K when we retire. Does that exclude CPF ?
However, for a person retiring in say 5 yr's time, 200K to 400K could be sufficient, but say for a person retiring in 30 yrs' time, due to inflation, this sum of money could be much more.
REPLY
The sum includes CPF. You should allow for inflation at say 2% per annum. In 30 years time, you will need about twice of the amount to keep the real value of money.
Read this FAQ:
http://www.tankinlian.com/articles/financial.html
I was reading your article on "Sufficient funds for retirement". You mentioned that to retire comfortably, we need savings of 200K to 400K when we retire. Does that exclude CPF ?
However, for a person retiring in say 5 yr's time, 200K to 400K could be sufficient, but say for a person retiring in 30 yrs' time, due to inflation, this sum of money could be much more.
REPLY
The sum includes CPF. You should allow for inflation at say 2% per annum. In 30 years time, you will need about twice of the amount to keep the real value of money.
Read this FAQ:
http://www.tankinlian.com/articles/financial.html
Night market in Shilin, Taipei
I visited the busy night market in Shilin, Taipei. I encountered an interesting experience.
The street was very busy. Suddently, a stall holder started to pack up his goods. We asked him for the reason. He said that the police is making a raid on the illegal stalls.
Within two mintures, a convoy of about 20 illegal stalls were moved in an orderly fashion down an alley to be kept away from the scene. When the police arrived, there were no illegal stalls. After the police left, the stalls were back in business, within half an hour.
How were the stalls alerted? They posted someone to lookout for the police. When the police came, a message was passed by mobile phone.
Wow! This is a new way to use technology!
The street was very busy. Suddently, a stall holder started to pack up his goods. We asked him for the reason. He said that the police is making a raid on the illegal stalls.
Within two mintures, a convoy of about 20 illegal stalls were moved in an orderly fashion down an alley to be kept away from the scene. When the police arrived, there were no illegal stalls. After the police left, the stalls were back in business, within half an hour.
How were the stalls alerted? They posted someone to lookout for the police. When the police came, a message was passed by mobile phone.
Wow! This is a new way to use technology!
Slow economy in Taiwan
My friend told me that the economy has been weak in Taiwan during the past ten years. This is caused by two factors:
1. Relocation of manufacturing to China
2. The unstable political situation.
The people are still cheerful.
1. Relocation of manufacturing to China
2. The unstable political situation.
The people are still cheerful.
Earnings of taxi driver in Taipei
I spoke to two taxi drivers in Taipei.
They work hard and drive a taxi for 12 hours a day, 365 days a year. They earn an average of NT 50,000 a month (SGD 2,500) after deducting their expenses.
They used to earn more a few years ago. Business has reduced due to the slow economy and the opening of the MRT lines.
In spite of their difficult life, they are polite and helpful.
They work hard and drive a taxi for 12 hours a day, 365 days a year. They earn an average of NT 50,000 a month (SGD 2,500) after deducting their expenses.
They used to earn more a few years ago. Business has reduced due to the slow economy and the opening of the MRT lines.
In spite of their difficult life, they are polite and helpful.
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