News, views & reviews

The big news today is that the DBS ATM all went kaput in the morning from 8.30am till 10.30am. My colleague wanted to withdraw from his DBS account in the afternoon for lunchtime but couldn’t. So it is likely some of the ATMs were down for a longer time.

Moral of the story? Get another bank account from another bank as a backup so you never have to worry about being unable to withdraw your money.

We’d look at some of the banks interest rates:

 

	Savings Account Interest rates	Special Savings Account	Remarks
DBS Bank	0.1% for first $50,000 0.25% for next $50,000 and above	0.1 for first $3000 0.125% for next $47,000 0.25% for next $50,000 0.325% for balance above $100,000
POSB	0.125% for first $50,000 0.25% for next $50,000 and above	0.125% for $50 to $290 0.4% for $300 and above (amount is monthly fixed savings)
UOB Bank	0.1% for first $15,000 0.175% for next $85,000 0.325% for next $200,000 and above		Special account for juniors is even worse than normal savings, go figure.
Maybank	0.1875% for first $3,000 0.25% for balance above $50,000	0.1875% for daily balance below $5,000 0.25% for daily balance of $5,000 to below $50,000 0.4% for daily balance of $50,000 and above 6% interest-on-interest every 6 months
OCBC Bank	0.125% for first $10,000 0.25% for balance from $50,000 to $250,000 0.275% above $250,000	I am  just confused from their site	Rates of MOI account are the same as basic savings
Standard Chartered	Not stated on website	0.2% for less than $50,000 (e$aver) 0.3% for $50,000 to $199,999 0.4% for $200,000 and above	SCB interest rates for savings account is not stated on the website, and its e$aver account has not atm card  or passbook.
ANZ	Not stated	0.05% for first $50,000 0.1% for $50,000 to less than $200,000 0.125% for $200,000 and above	ANZ rates have bonus rates which are tiered and you can refer to the source below if you are interested to know more

From about 40 minutes looking at it and gathering data and trying to figure it out, one thing is clear.

The banks need to get their act together. Seriously. Why are there so many different accounts with different names offering the same interest rates?

The bank needs to only offer three at most, savings, current and a special savings account with some sort of limitations like no ATM card or or not passbook.

Also, a clear winner from $1 to the first $50,000 is Maybank, after which the banks all just happen to offer the same rates of 0.25% till the first $100,000. UOB takes all winners from $100,000 onwards.

So there you have it, the best savings interest rates you can get.

If you have the time read this article on how $1 saved a day can yield you $67,815 in 30 years at 10% annual return. Quite an optimistic return, but the article is worth reading.

I save at OCBC and POSB, while my wife saves part of her money at Maybank. Maybe I should ask my wife to manage the money? :)

 

Sources:

1. UOB Interest Rates

2. DBS Interest Rates

3. Maybank Interest Rates

4. OCBC Interest Rates

5. Standard Chartered Bank

6. ANZ Interest Rates

7. Yahoo News

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This is a post from our guest writer Lemizeraq who runs the website Financial Freedom SG. The original post can be found here.If you want to be a guest writer as well, or if you have a story to share that will help our readers understand financial matters better, please contact us.

England defeated by Germany in World Cup. Yet again.

Hopes were high when England was preparing for this World Cup.

The coach said they can go all the way to the finals. So did some of their players. However, they struggled through the group stage and met a rampant Germany side which is reinvigorated with talented players.

It is another tragedy for the English supporters and the legions of BPL (Barclays Premier League) fans all over the world.

Were they being too optimistic?

What about your own projections of returns for investment to meet your retirement needs?

What happens if your projection of returns fail to match reality?

And your retirement kitty falls short of what you felt you need.

If you had planned for yearly investment projections for retirement and along they way, you found out that you fall way short of the target. What do you do next?

There are 5 options:

1. Save even more now

2. Look for investments with even higher returns along with higher risks

3. Look to do more with your retirement funds by investing a portion of your retirement funds even during the retirement

4. Prolong your working life and put off retirement

5. Pretend nothing is wrong and go on as usual

Of course, some people will grin and say shorten your retirement and die earlier. But that isn’t a viable option for most people.

It could be that huge drastic drops like what happened in 2008 and the early part of 2009 make option 5 attractive. I found that investment is often boring and you basically wait patiently or otherwise. I remember an article quoting Warren Buffett' on the market:

“The market is an efficient mechanism for transferring money from the active to the patient”

What would you do when your projections fall short?

 

Source:

1. 7 Lessons the World Cup Offers on the Stock Market

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This is a post from our guest writer Lemizeraq who runs the website Financial Freedom SG. The original post can be found here.If you want to be a guest writer as well, or if you have a story to share that will help our readers understand financial matters better, please contact us.

We are often asked whether this plan is better than that plan. Should I be buying this insurance policy or that insurance policy?

As much as we would like to tell you which is better, the truth is, we don't know either. Not because we don't know our stuff. It's because we don't know you.

Something that is better for me might not necessarily be better for you. Your values are different from mine. A big swing in the market may not mean much to me, because I buy stocks to hold, but a trader might think opportunity, or worse, loss. A cut in terminal bonus makes me unhappy, but I already know that this is a possibility when I first took out the policy, so it won't make me want to complain. I just put less money into this kind of product. These are my values towards buying financial products.

Do you know your values?

Do you know what you value in terms of security or a peace of mind? Do you value security more than high returns? Do you value short term over long term? What is the definition of short term to you? Do you value 1 year over 5 years? Or do you value 20 years over 5 years? Is volatility valuable to you? Or do you value stability?

Know your values before buying. Just like how you buy clothes. If you always buy a $10 t-shirt, buying a $100 t-shirt which still serves the same function as a t-shirt will not be valuable to you.

Making good financial decisions can't be made better when you make FREE financial decisions! These are 2 free stuff readers sent to us recently.

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You can now get 1 month worth of free calls to anywhere in the world if the country is playing in the World Cup. Find out more here. This is provided by Skype.

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We would like to take this short opportunity to thank you for your support. Our efforts have started to get some really good response from you. Our membership is increasing, we have more donors now, and our Financial Talk is still popular!

A big thank you to all those who have contributed.

For those who are still thinking, you can find out more about how you can join, donate to us or sign up for the Financial Talk which is coming up very soon on 26 June 2010!.

Hope to see you there!

Many people are afraid to change, because the change may go wrong. They fear the consequence of a mistake - that they may lose a well paying job.

Here are my views. We have to make many changes, in the hope that some will succeed and that the benefit of success will outweigh the cost of the failures. Usually, it is not possible for us to know if a change will succeed or fail, unless we are willing to try it. We only need to make sure that the cost of the failure is small and is affordable.

Sometimes, we need to fail the first time, in order to succeed the second time. The lessons of the first failure can be a great way to learn what the real world situation is like. If we never try, we will never know.

I wish to share this interesting personal experience. In the early 1980s, I headed an insurance company that launched, for the first time, the life annuity product. We did a great deal of planning, preparation and training of the agents and employees. We also advertised the product on a modest budget. It failed. The consumers do not accept a product where they can lose their capital on early death.

Three years later, we launched a modified life annuity product that provided a guaranteed payment for 15 years but gave a smaller payout. It was a roaring success and established a domiant market share for the insurance company. The lessons from the first failure was the trigger for the changes that led to the success of the second attempt.

I wish to encourage people, especially the younger ones, to be willing to try and to change. It will be fun to experience the successes, the failures and to learn from the results.

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A willingness to change is important if you are serious about your financial well-being. We are always faced with changes to our own financial environment. No system or process is perfect to allow for these changes. Chances are, you will have to change yourself to adapt. Be willing. Be positive. Be brave.

This is a post by our own president Mr Tan Kin Lian. The original post can be found here.

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After posting about bringing a water bottle to save money, it reminds me of another thing I do, I cook my own meals. Eating in saves quite a bit of money compared to eating out in restaurants or even fast food chains. I personally do it for another reason, it is healthier. I control the ingredients that go into my food. I can only do simple food, but I love simple food. :) Plus, it is always nice walking the aisles of supermarket. I find that destressing.

Join in the discussion for more ways to save money in the discussion forum.

I have to say, I have been doing this all my life, not to save money, but to have water with me wherever I go, and whenever I need it. Saving money is a bonus. :) Invest in a water bottle today. It's more environmentally friendly as well. Read the full article here.

It's just 2 more weeks before the Financial Talk. If you haven't already join, where are you?!! :) Click here for more details of the talk.

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That's all for now. Hope to see you at the talk!

My wife recently told me that 2 in 1 shampoo is actually bad for her hair. I have no basis for this, and no research to back this statement, but it does remind me of why 2 in 1 insurance could be bad for you as well. It's all got to do with efficiency.

An endowment plan is a plan which is trying to protect you and trying to give you some investment returns. It is dealing with 2 things at a time. It is not very efficient. When something is trying to do 2 things well, it often does those 2 things poorly. A kitchen knife is a kitchen knife. You don't use a kitchen knife to chop down a tree.

All this is saying is to focus. To focus where you place your money and make that money work hard there. If you want protection, get protection. If you want investment returns, get investment returns. Mixing them up may not be in your best interest, just like using a 2 in 1 shampoo.