Spending education dollars wisely

In America, many college graduates chalk up a study loan of US$30,000 and could not find a job. The amount of bad student loans is becoming another problem for the banks.

In Singapore, the local students are able to get subsidised education in the polytechnics and universities, so a large part of the cost is borne by tax payers. However, the students are also worried about their ability to find a suitable jobs.

We face a different type of problem in Singapore. There is high job hopping, during good times. It is wasteful for employers to hire local workers, train them and lose their services in a year or less. Another source of wastefulness is that many young workers do not work in the area of study. For example, many engineers work as insurance or property agents!

We need a better system of  managing our education dollars and fitting students into the right jobs, so that their education and skills are put to good use. This is how a competent and productive workforce is developed. Our current approach is quite wasteful.

CPF scheme - proposed changes

We used to have a scheme that Singaporeans were proud of in the earlier years. Over the years, the CPF scheme had became convoluted, confusing and produced bad outcome for the citizens. It is time to review our CPF system.

Here are my suggestions to make the CPF scheme more attractive, simple and flexible to serve the needs of Signaporeans. 

Taking care of the elderly

This article shows how different countries take care of their elderly. We need to review the approach adopted in Singapore, which is complicated, convoluted and not effective.

Low mortage rates are a ruse

This article explains that the low mortgage rates that are being advertised in America are deceiving the public. Only the higher income people are able to enjoy them. Most borrowers, especially at the lower income groups, end up paying higher rates or are not able to access these low mortgages. This is another example of the failure of the free market system and a case for stronger government regulation.

Excessive risk taking by hedge funds

Hi Kin Lian,

I've read your articles on hedge funds. I agree with them. Many of them take excessive risks to register profits for their funds. When these fund managers make a huge profit, they do get rewarded handsomely with a big bonus.

However during years when they make huge losses(they usually do), their clients bear the brunt of these loses. Fund managers never have to give back their bonuses. They may or may not be fired. If they are fired, they can go to another fund and advertise themselves as making millions years ago.

These fund managers probably do not have to declare to their new employers  their huge loss. This is due to the secrecy of many hedge funds.

Book review - Get Value from Your Life Insurance

Here is a book review by an ex-Investment Banker.


The book is available from www.tankinlian.com/ishop.

40 CREATIVE FACEBOOK TIMELINE DESIGNS

Recently at the F8 conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced a massive redesign to our favorite* social media website. Honestly The new updates are understandable and from their point of view provide a better experience for the end user. From personal point of view, each time they implement a change I get more confused while being forced to learn the new layout. When will they leave it alone? I have no idea. Twitter had a major redesign a couple of months ago, and that was easy to learn. Enough ranting, let’s talk about the new Timeline feature.

Wanna Create your own?

With the new update we think it give us, the users, a great opportunity to be creative! If you are indeed one of the few who have access to this beta feature, we have listed some useful dimensions. Now you can create your very own awesome Timeline design, and get a head start on your friends!

• Cover Photo – 850px* x 315px
• Profile Photo – Scaled 125px x 125px (180px x 180px is the minimum image upload size.
• Profile Photo Offsets – left 22px*, top 92px

To get your creativity juices flowing we have collected some great examples of Facebook Timeline designs. Please note that to respect the users privacy, we will not be linking to their Facebook Profiles.

1. Ekkapong Techawongthaworn

2. Mathew Barker

3. Maggie Lin

4. Andrew Grojean

5. Lawson Hembree V

6. Mohammad L. Azzam

7. Rodney Hess

8. Vinh Nguyen

9. Victor Zapanta

10. Ekkapong Techawongthaworn

11. Brian Sanders

12. Manuel Campos

13. Sven De Bruyne

14. Delphin Hauchard

15. Manoj Varghese Mathew

16. Eyal Shahar

17. Lauren Myers

18. Jennifer Taylor

19. Tom Lambie

20. Jeremy Bronson

21. Umair Latif

22. Travis Keith

23. Andy Hirsch

24. Mark Spangler

25. Herb Cloutier

26. Jasmine Star

27. Sune Adler Miltersen

28. Sune Adler Miltersen

29. Amy Mae Elliott

30. Tanner Ringerud

31. Arch John Philip Uy

32. Jeffrey Diana

33. Rob Harris

34. Yale Zhao

35. Paul Lau

Prototype Timeline Facebook Fan Page Designs

The following designs are from a New York agency called Skinny. They have created some gorgeous examples of what the newly revamped Facebook Fan Page designs might look like if having the Timeline feature enabled. From the looks of it I think the implementation will allow companies to express their own creativity. Also for small businesses, Facebook could serve as a dedicated online location for their operations.

Setting up a website might be overseen, and companies might focus their efforts on Facebook only. This statement is solely based on my opinion, and makes complete sense if you think about it. Currently on a fan-page you can view images/videos, purchase items, read the latest happenings on their wall, contact them, and much more. If you are a small local business, there is no need for a website. Monetizing Facebook fully, can save you time and help you reach your local fanbase.

36. Coca Cola

37. Burberry

38. Mercedes-Benz

39. Target

40. Redbull

Surprise Bonus

Wanna create your very own Facebook Timeline based website? If your answer was yes, then here is the WordPress theme that will help you achieve your goal. Timeline was designer by JuliusDesign and inspired by Timeline Facebook based on Twenty Eleven 1.2 proudly powered by WordPress. This theme is 100% free and available for download (link listed below).

[via+via]

Meaningful jobs for a developed economy

Here are the meaningful jobs for a developed economy - to teach the young and to take care of people of all ages, including the elderly. They add value to the lives of people and do not make earnings at the expense of other people (i.e. by making them poorer). We need to have fewer people working the the financial and property sector - creating asset bubbles, and more people doing real, meaningful work. Here is a message to our political leaders!
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/best-jobs/2011/fast-growing-jobs/1.html?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

The goals of the Occupy Wall Street Protests

The goals of the Occupy Wall Street Protests can be summarized in this statement: Some protesters are upset about taxation; for others, the big issue is the high unemployment rate. Or corporate greed. Or the distribution of wealth.


These goals apply to Singapore as well. Read this report for more details.

What to look for in an endowment policy

At the CNA program on financial planning, a panel speaker said that consumers should look at the guaranteed and the non-guaranteed portion of the benefits under an endowment policy.

This is only partly true. The consumer should also look at the following figures (available from the benefit illustration):

a) The distribution cost
b) The effect of deduction.

The consumer will be shocked that the distribution cost is usually more than one year's premium. What is this figure? It is the amount taken from your savings to pay the insurance agent. Imagine that you work hard to save $6,000 a year. Do you want more than $6,000 of your savings to be taken away to pay the agent?

What does the agent do for the consumer to earn such a large sum of money? Frankly, the agent does not help the consumer to get a higher yield. The consumer can get a higher yield on his or her own by investing in other more appropriate investment products - as explained in my book on financial planning.

To understand what happens when you buy a life insurance policy or an investment linked policy, you can read my book on life insurance.

These books are available from www.tankinlian.com/ishop. You enjoy a discount when you buy from i-shop. More importantly, you can save a lot of money by avoiding the wrong financial products.