Word Power - test your vocabulary

Test for vocabulary by rearranging the letters on the left to form the correct word that fits the definition on the right.

Occupy Wall Street

There is a growing group of people in America who are demonstrating against the greed of Wall Street and politicians .... " yet its two weeks of noisy occupation has lured a sturdily faithful and fervent constituency willing to express discontentment with what they feel is an inequitable financial system until, well, whenever." 

To keep or terminate an existing life insurance policy?

I have been asked quite often on whether a specific life insurance policy taken previously should be terminated for its low yield. The right approach is to calculate the yield on the policy for the next (say) five years and to compare this yield with the yield from alternative investments, e.g. an ETF or a REIT.

This paper explains how to calculate the yield on a life insurance policy. Although a life insurance policy gives a poor yield for its entire duration, most of the expenses are deducted upfront. After the initial loss is written of, the running yield on the policy may be quite acceptable, e.g. close to 4% per annum. In most cases, it is better to continue the existing policy (although the consumers should have avoided it in the first place). 

Mobile apps to desktop

I am some apps developed on the mobile platform (iPhone and Windows Phone 7). I wish to develp the same apps to run on the laptop. Can it be done by adapting the mobile apps or does it have to be completely rewritten? Please send your answer to kinlian@gmail.com.

A wonderful person

Here is a video of a wonderful person, Warren Buffet. He is a multi-billionaire but he thinks for the common people. And he continues to support Barack Obama, in spite of the difficulties that the US President had to overcome. And he is optimistic that the US economy is coming out of a recession. I hope that he is right!

Political cartoons

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Singapore-Says-Political-Cartoon/139514912744152

Casino and money laundering

I heard that casinos are used for money laundering. Here is my guess on how it works.

The customer brings "dirty" money, e.g. obtained through corrupt or illegal means, to the casino and converts them to non-negotiable chips. When the customer uses the chips to bet. When the customer wins a bet, the customer is paid with negotiable chips. The customer can convert the negotiable chips back to cash and is given a receipt by the casino. The customer can report that his wealth comes from winning at the casino. He does not have to report the money that is brought in for the gambling.

Is this how it works?

Read this article on money laundering. There is a mention about betting in a casino.

Occupy Wall Street

There is a protest in New York called the "Occupy Wall Street". 


It is targeted at "bankers and traders who run the financial markets and their enablers in Washington have hijacked the system from ordinary Americans who just want a decent job and a home of their own."


More details here.