Pay back for a part time degree

Hi Mr. Tan,

I am 25 years old. I graduated from a local polytechnic 5 years ago. I am now considering to take a part time business degree. For the time, effort and money that I will be putting in, is it worth it?

REPLY:

I am not familiar with this matter. I can only give you two conflicting views.

1. My friend, who did some research of many part time degrees, told me that many Singaporeans pursue these part time degrees (including business MBA) at great expense. On completion, they are not able to earn a higher salary that justify their investment.

2. There was a report that for each year of education, the salary increases by a significant percentage (maybe 10% or more). This suggests that the education effort has a payback.

I guess that the answer depends on the quality of the university education. If it is from a good university, you may have its payback. If not, you will probably not get the payback.

I suggest that you talk to a few friends or other people who have taken the same route before. They may be able to give you some useful views as well.

You can look at this website to check the quality of the degree that you intend to pursue.

All the best in your decision.

Low cost products for ordinary people

I met the chief executive of a Canadian insurance company who has over 20 years of experience in the life and non-life market.

He said that the financial planning needs of most people are quite straight forward. They can be met by simple savings and insurance (protection) product.

The advice of a financial planner is needed only for the high income earners who have to carry out estate or tax planning. This does not apply to many ordinary people.

There is no need for complicated and costly products that give a poor return to the consumers.

Kabuki Performance in Tokyo

I attended a kabuki performance in Tokyo. This is the first experience of kabuki, although I have visited Japan on more than ten occasions during the past 25 years.

Kabuki is written in 3 chinese characters which mean, "song, dance and skill".

Kabuki is a play with a story line. It is performed entirely in Japanese dialogue. We can rent a receiving device which translate the dialogue into English through a earphone.

All the actors are males. They play the parts of both males and females.

It is an enjoyable performance.

Cool Biz Wear for Summer

I am now in Tokyo to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of a Japanese cooperative society.

It is now summer in Japan. The temperature is above 30 degrees C. To save on energy, the offices are cooled down to 28 degrees.

The office wear during summer is "Cool Biz". For males, this is half sleeve shirts, without tie or jacket.

For the celebrations, they have decided to keep to the "Cool Biz" attire.

This effort is promoted by the Ministry of the Environment in Japan. It is aimed at reducing energy cost and protecting the environment.

The Japanese are serious in tackling important issues and approach them in a practical way.

Lesson: Singapore can save a lot on energy cost, if we keep the temperate at 28 degrees throughout the year. If this is too hot, perhaps we can reduce it to 26 degrees.

Investing in properties

Here are my views about investing in properties at the present time.

If you are eligible for a new HDB flat, it is an attractive investment. You may qualify for some Government grant as well.

I know of someone who bought a 5 room HDB flat next to Redhill MRT station for $380,000 (including renovation) recently. A private property in the same locality would cost $1 million.

The new HDB flats are built to a high standard. They are almost as good as a private property.

I hesitate to invest in private property at the current high price. It may not be sustainable over the next few years. It reminds me of the situation in 1996.

Top up special account of family members

I read that it will soon be possible to top up the CPF special account of family members and siblings. This can be done before or after they reach age 55.

This is an excellent idea. The money in their special accounts can earn an attractive interest rate, and also ensure that they have an adequate income for their future.

More details will be announced in Parliament soon.

STI Exchange Traded Fund

The minimum investment is 100 units of the STI Exchange Traded
Fund. The current price is about $34.00 per unit. The minimum amount is $3,400. The brokerage is 0.25% of the amount invested.

If you wish to invest in this counter, go through your stockbroker.