Selling agents

Contributed by Anthony Hobrow


I had an unsolicited telephone call on my mobile from an Indian outfit purporting to represent HSBC, offering me a loan and/or overdraft facility on great terms. Terms that got instantly much better when I said ”no”! I refused to give my details until I had checked these people out with the bank itself. So I emailed my bank and asked if they were genuine agents; I did this in my interests and in the interests of the bank.


The emailed response I got, 3 days later, was “All banks in general engaged 3rd parties to cross sell their credit products. HSBC does so as well. However I am not sure if Efusion Solutions is one of them, as these are arrangement set up by other departments. “


A wholly disgraceful response. (Nb It subsequently turns out that Efusion is a genuine agent).
Always check out unsolicited calls before revealing any personal details.


Anthony Hobrow
Direct Asia

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Manage your personal risks

Dear Mr.Tan,

I would like to seek your professional advice on getting the coverage. What happen is because my company's insurance has a maximum claim of only $3000.

As this is too little coverage, I thought of getting additional coverage myself.  Please advise what is adequate and which is the cheapest plan.

REPLY

How old are you?

How much are you earning now?

Are you in good health?

You should attend this workshop and learn how to manage your personal risk

http://easyapps.sg/assn/Org/Event.aspx?id=5 

Medical insurance is just one of the risk. There are more important risk for you to take care of.

Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, Colombo

I am staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel. The service is excellent. The staff are knowledgeable and helpful. It is the best service that I have experienced in a hotel. Here are some photos of the view from the balcony overlooking Cinnamon Lake and of the breadfast at the executive lounge of the hotel.

I tried Kiri Bath, which is rice baked with coconut. It was delicious.

I had to connect three devices to the wifi network of the hotel. The I.T. staff came to my room to allow the multi-access. He was knowledgeable and got all of them working soon. He also told me what the issue was and how he solved them.He logged into his server to allow access to the 3 devices.

Make better use of natural resources

During the past two decades, we have been over-consuming our natural resources. We extract the mineral resources at low prices and used the low wages in developing economies of Asia to manufacture products at low prices. The prices are so low that it is better to buy and throw away, rather than repair them, when they become faulty. We neglect to count the cost of disposal, and dispose products in a manner that damages the environment.

The days of low prices is probably over. We now see ballooning prices for mineral oil, gold, silver and other commodities. Food prices are escalating.  Wages are also escalating in many countries are also moving up. The flood in Thailand, tsunami in Japan and other natural disasters are reducing supply and jacking up costs.

The days of cheap manufactured products are over. We have to get used to more expensive products and have to use them more carefully. We have to change our wasteful habits. This education process has to start with our young people, as they are brought up in a wasteful environment.

Make your own flexible annuity

This article explains that you can get a higher annuity when you buy it at a time when interest rate is high. But, the problem is that you do not know whether interest rate will go higher or will fall. So, you may be waiting for a long time.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/17/pf/expert/annuity/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

A better way is to have a flexible annuity that you build on your own. This is explained in my Financial Planning workshop that is held on 26 November 2011.

http://easyapps.sg/assn/Org/Event.aspx?id=5

Colombo, Sri Lanka

I will be in Colombo, Sri Lanka for the next five days to attend a conference and also to take a holiday. I am staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel. The staff are polite and helpful. This is the best service that I have experience in my years of travelling.