Just to share this article from Business Insider on where to go for online courses on:
All important skills for life and the workplace. Things to consider when complimenting a lady:
Regardless of our life goals and objectives, here are some skills we should develop:
(Inspiration source) So there's been a lot of complaints about the co-pay required with Integrated Plans (IP).
I get the rationale that there may be over-consumption of medical services which could lead to escalating costs. I also understand the complaints that it may well be the doctors that are driving the prices higher. I find the suggestion of "no claim discount" a good idea. So if you did not make a claim on your IP, you will get a discount on your premium payment. Personally, we may well move towards what is happening in the US. Health insurers in the US are buying up healthcare providers. It's the best way to reduce costs as the health provider now has an interest in preventing over consumption. Of course it comes with its own set of problems regarding under-treating (i.e. moving to the other end of the spectrum). Perhaps if we bought life insurance from them as well, then there may be an incentive to keep us alive longer. Haha. Not sure the intricacies of that. Right now there's an intermediate step being undertaken by some of our insurers. They have a panel of doctors where you get priority appointments and discounts if you use them. I suppose these doctors have an agreement with the insurers to charge accordingly and not jack up prices. I was thinking that perhaps that the co-payment requirement could only be for those IP that allows the use of private healthcare providers. If you get an IP that only allows for stay at restructured hospitals, then there is no co-payment requirement. I believe that restructured hospitals can be convinced by MOH to keep their costs manageable. If our healthcare costs continue to escalate I foresee our private healthcare providers being slowly gobbled up by the insurers. It may not be a bad thing I suppose. So I know a guy. He's 50ish.
He makes $180,000 per annum and his annual expenditure is $200,000. That sounds bad except for the fact that he's pretty good with his investments. So he collected a dividend of $60,000 in 2017. Now, he has a policy of putting half of the money which he earns from his dividends into his savings account, which he does not touch, except in emergencies. He has had a few dips in the past, but he's never really had to touch his savings. As such, he has accumulated, in his savings account, $800,000 over the years. Now he knows that he's getting older and medical costs are going up, also he still has to support his kids along with his aged parents. He figures that he should find some way to increase his income so as to meet his expected costs going ahead in 5 to 10 years time. So he's tightening his belt a little and trying to trim expenses wherever he can. His friends keep telling him that he doesn't have to be so frugal. He's got a lot of money in the bank, and his investments should more than cover any increase in spending. Instead of putting 50% in savings, why not put 40% or even 20%. That way he can meet rising expenses. He can even dip into his savings. Some friends are even suggesting he sell off some of his properties also. With all that money, maybe he can even live a little. Does this sound familiar? If Singapore were a person, it would be something like that. Of course as a person, trying to get a higher paying job is one way to increase income. For a country, the best way to raise income is to raise taxes. Borrowing money is another way, but it means that you have to pay it back sometime. The reliance on investment income is an illusion, because when markets take a hit, our investments also take a hit. Even if we are long term investors who stay calm and stick to our plan, there could be lean years where dividends are not high and no growth in our stocks. I am very suspicious of people who say we can spend more of our investment income, or to do that and sell off the land (like HK) Makes me think they are not very good with their own money. I wouldn't trust them to manage my funds, later go missing. I'm already not very comfortable with infrastructure funding being financed by borrowing as it may put our debt in foreign hands, needing to borrow more for other expenses does not sit well with me. It's like a guy who keeps borrowing money from the bank to finance all his purchases. It's just accumulating debt. And I'm even more against selling off land, because in HK most of the land is in the hands of the few. Prices are sky high, and the government has no effective way to pay for stuff except to sell off even more land (it's not that don't want have GST, they don't have the political balls to do it). So they merrily sell off their land, and I'm just waiting until they have none left to sell. Then essentially they will all be in the thrall of the tycoons, and, indirectly, Beijing. So much for their democracy. So if you think about our country's budget plans as if it were a personal budgeting plan, it is a very sound plan for the medium to long term. And I'm not the only one. I just read this article that expands Warren Buffett's 20-slots rule from the financial viewpoint to the time viewpoint. And it got me thinking about my own life and my kids' lives.
His 20-slot rule is: “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches — representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all.” My parents worked really hard to provide my sister and me with a very comfortable life. As such I was give the benefit of time and the resources to accumulate knowledge. This reminded me of what John Adams once wrote to his wife, Abigail: I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain. My parents worked hard in terms of providing the physical comforts of life so that I may learn and study practical matters (my sister obtained a PhD, and I entered a profession). We essentially gathered immense amount of knowledge, were able to go to university, and can count ourselves solidly middle class (without any further financial assistance from our parents). Still I find that I had many missed opportunities to focus on particular skills and interests. If, like in the article, you consider the 20-slots for things to invest your time in, I probably am running low on time. It's never too late to pick up a new skill, but the number of new things I can pick up is limited. There's still time for me yet, but I also have sons now, and for them their 20-slots in life are still open. Even at 4, they're schedules are packed. Besides kindergarten, they've got swimming class, golf class, catechism, English enrichment and Chinese enrichment. English and Chinese enrichment is not something they really want to do, but as twin boys, language acquisition is one of their weaknesses and they are behind the curve (although I suspect they are just messing with their teachers). Catechism is sort of for their souls, plus since it is Montessori style, they enjoy it immensely. Plus it teaches them the joy of silence. But for golf and swimming, those are their picks, and it seems they want music classes too. My only concern is where will they find the time to do all that and still have a childhood filled with free time and exploration. Every time I meet with my old classmates, they tell me how tough school is for their kids now than it was when we were kids. So I worry that school and school work will eat a chunk of my boys' time. If they are to do music, golf and swimming, they may not have enough time. Each activity, to become good at, will require time and practice. Playing the piano or violin will require daily practice for an hour or more. Same with swimming and also with golf. It may well be that as a parent, I have to share with them that they may need to choose a focus. They only have 20 slots. Concentrating on one or 2 slots at a time may be more helpful for them, instead of juggling all 20 at a time. One of them seems really keen on golf, so maybe he should focus on it and make swimming a hobby. The other seems more interested in music, and so for him that might be the area of focus. I suppose at some point just before entering Primary school, we probably should have a sit down to discuss what they think is best in terms of focus for them. I have always believed in paying for things upfront. I know that there is an argument for leveraging if I don't pay for stuff upfront (i.e. cars, properties). But I find that psychologically I feel better if I can pay for things upfront.
I recently read this article and agreed with it.
I'm not much of a trader. I don't have the patience to stare at share prices all day. I also don't have the inclination to look at graphs and charts all days to note the changes in share prices to notice the trends. What I do know is that there are certain prices you can buy a share (i.e. undervalued shares) and to look for shares with good fundamentals (i.e. growing revenue, not taking on more debt than revenue can service, etc). It was surprising to learn that households that trade made 10% annualised returns in the US, when the market earned annualised returns of 17.1% during that same period. My long term goal is to buy good companies for cheap, and hold for as long as I can. Sometimes selling a few shares when it hits the value I believe the share is at, or to sell if the company's fundamentals change. I suppose I am an income investor; looking for good dividends. So I take the long term view. During the recent correction, I bought a few of the shares I have been eyeing that I felt were undervalued. I doubt they will climb like crazy in the future, but they pay good dividends. So I'm happy. Unlike the author of the article, I'm not so confident that I will know where these companies will be in 2048, but I hope I make the right moves over the next 30 years. My first (amateurish) attempt at making a video.
The article that this summary is based on can be found here. |
AuthorLate 30s. Dad. Thinking about life, family, work, and retirement. Sharing those thoughts with others Categories
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