tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36086295090341560662026-10-25T17:03:59.003+08:00Minimalism. Simplicity. Financial Wellbeing.Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-5201088361417132772021-09-09T13:25:00.016+08:002021-09-09T13:41:07.996+08:00

It is often said that the first million is always the hardest. Assuming you are building your wealth from scratch and not raking in a six-figure monthly income like a professional footballer, you may have bills to pay, family to feed, and risks to worry about. So how can you do it in a reasonable amount of time?The answer is simple (but not easy) - Discipline and Compound Interest.Firstly,

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-9506503435351234992021-09-02T13:05:00.014+08:002023-11-07T18:34:54.949+08:00

Think of your financial life as a sailboat, bringing you from where you are now, to where you want to go in the future.Think of the sails as higher-risk investments, as they help your boat goes fast. These may include stocks, bonds, funds, or other alternative assets.The boat (or the hull) is akin to cash and other low-risk assets like fixed deposits. They keep you safe and stable on your

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-90208006600749277792021-08-20T12:35:00.003+08:002023-11-07T18:35:47.267+08:00

 As a homeowner, our nest is our pride and joy. It is also where we have sunk in a lot of money as well. Therefore we must ensure that our most valuable asset is protected. Here are three types of insurance covers that all home owners must consider.(1) Fire InsuranceFire insurance provides coverage for damage to the building, structures, fixtures, and fittings caused by fire. This is

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-76383633141164338892021-08-11T12:40:00.006+08:002023-11-07T18:36:41.251+08:00

If one day you find yourself terminally ill and needing life support to survive, would you want your doctors to turn off the machine? Some people may prefer to go naturally and in peace, while others may not want to burden their family with a mountain of medical bills to settle.If your answer is "yes", you may consider doing an Advance Medical Directive (AMD).An AMD is a legal document that you

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-62333541603736087492021-08-06T16:46:00.008+08:002021-08-06T16:49:16.864+08:00

"Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.” -Paul SamuelsonAnd indeed, the stock market has turned into a casino with all the hype around "meme stocks" like GameStop, AMC, and most recently, Robinhood.However, never confuse speculation with investing. They are two totally different approaches.Speculation

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-47147270815640977502021-07-23T12:21:00.011+08:002021-07-23T12:43:05.933+08:00

If you own a life insurance policy with death benefit, you may choose your nominees (or beneficiaries) to inherit the insurance proceeds using one of the two types of nominations.✏️ 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 (𝐒𝐄𝐂. 𝟒𝟗𝐌)A revocable nomination informs the insurer who to pay the insurance proceeds to, and in what proportion. You may appoint anyone as a nominee, including

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-23541562919544887812021-07-16T12:35:00.023+08:002021-07-16T14:33:26.561+08:00

Did you know that Critical Illness (CI) insurance was invented by a cardiologist? Dr. Marius Barnard saw his patients fall into financial hardship after the expensive treatments. After years of garnering support from insurers, the first CI policy was launched in 1983, covering 4 illnesses: heart attack, cancer, stroke, and coronary artery surgery.Today, the number has expanded to 37,

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-65124837439722901262021-07-16T08:17:00.006+08:002021-07-16T13:53:31.095+08:00

 We are seeing rises in inflation across many major economies. Inflation in the United States hit 5.4% in May, the highest in 13 years. (Source: WSJ) Back home in Singapore, CPI inflation rose 2.1% in April, higher than expected. (Source: ING)Inflation has usually been seen as a bad thing; something that steals money from under our noses, like an invisible thief.However, do you know that

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-44615436082368076492021-07-16T08:09:00.006+08:002021-07-16T13:53:38.643+08:00

 The Marshmallow ExperimentIn 1972, Stanford University conducted an experiment on children aged 3-4. Each kid was brought to an empty room with a marshmallow on the table in front of them. They were told that they can either have a marshmallow now or if they waited 15 minutes without giving in to the temptation, they can have 2 marshmallows.Some kids were unable to resist their temptation

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-44998128636779346332021-05-14T12:15:00.005+08:002021-07-16T13:53:46.490+08:00

Inflation is an invisible thief. You may not see it or hear it, but slowly and surely, it is stealing your future from you.Rising prices in everything around us, from a simple plate of chicken rice to your million-dollar condominium, reduces the purchasing power of our money over time.Do you know that at an inflation rate of 2.5%, $100k saved in the bank over 20 years would only be worth about $

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-35229963591069458502020-12-03T12:36:00.003+08:002020-12-03T19:25:53.513+08:00

 "It never rains but it pours"This idiom perfectly describes the COVID-19 situation which hit the world badly at the beginning of the year. Fast forward the months, and we are now in December, a year from the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In March 2020, the World Health Organisation announced COVID-19 as a pandemic, leading to many countries locking down their economies, barring

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-8568922290683042782020-11-27T15:25:00.004+08:002020-11-27T15:25:28.574+08:00

Today is Black Friday and there’s many irresistible discounts everywhere. It is probably the best time of the year to buy something you have been eyeing for a while or stock up on necessities and consumables (skincare anyone?).However, unbeknownst to many, this one-day frenzy also creates a psychological effect known as the scarcity mentality. We are afraid to lose out on the 

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-56055019635150272322020-07-01T23:02:00.002+08:002020-07-01T23:04:52.331+08:00

In case you haven't heard of the F.I.R.E movement 🔥🔥🔥, it is spreading like wildfire worldwide right now. For the uninitiated, F.I.R.E stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Many have dreamt of retiring early and enjoying the rest of their lives sipping a cocktail on the Bahamas. But dreaming alone isn't going to make it happen - you need to TAKE ACTION! It's hard, but life will be

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-89363405865581518362020-05-18T22:04:00.000+08:002020-05-21T19:27:42.032+08:00

This is a follow-up from a post 3 years ago, where I compiled the credit ratings of the life insurers in Singapore, to have an idea of the differences in terms of their credit worthiness. Flawed Assumption People often think that life insurers and the policies they issue are homogeneous (the same), and often compare benefit illustrations as if two companies are going to make the exact same

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-80164109553331568062020-04-28T16:59:00.002+08:002020-04-28T17:05:37.343+08:00

Critical Illness (CI) insurance - most of us have it. And many think that they have sufficient coverage. Besides, who in the right mind would want to sit down with a financial planner and talk about diseases such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure befalling upon us and our family?  Why people don’t buy enough CI insurance  When I meet clients in their twenties,

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-6672524964966442632018-04-04T22:38:00.001+08:002018-04-04T22:40:57.986+08:00

Today a business friend asked me if there is any way to insure her parents, who are in their late 70s, against medical costs. I told her that unfortunately the policies at my disposal have a maximum entry age of 75, and therefore I’m not able to provide cover for them. However I advised her on a viable alternative, that is “self-insurance”. I asked if she has any other siblings and she

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-15910339245158860112017-08-31T23:57:00.001+08:002020-05-18T21:43:52.995+08:00

I got curious about the different credit ratings across Singapore's life insurer and started to compile the data. Here is the result of my curiosity. Standard and Poors (S&P) is one of the top three credit rating agencies in the world (alongside Fitch and Moody's) and their opinion is highly regarded in the financial and economic world. The ratings are a reflection of S&P's opinion on

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-47396408873583543582016-02-17T15:06:00.001+08:002016-05-10T08:11:18.322+08:00

As I approach my tenth year in the life insurance and financial advisory business, it has come to a point in my career where I am embarking on a new challenge, that is to groom and train young people into successful financial consultants. As such, I have been away from writing articles for a while, busy juggling both client consulting and mentoring responsibilities. All newly minted financial

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-86840626150111555142016-02-01T14:52:00.000+08:002016-02-01T14:52:19.605+08:00

Last week, a client asked me to help examine a very affordable type of term life insurance policy that all Singapore NS-men are entitled to purchase - Aviva SAF Group Term Life policy. He wanted to know if it is a better deal as compared to the other term insurance plans out in the market.First and foremost, it is a common misconception that all term life insurance policies are the same. It

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-17274011149765324292015-10-08T00:49:00.001+08:002015-10-08T00:54:52.782+08:00

Just came across a thought provoking video on TED about how humans often make illogical financial decisions. Little did we know that we aren't so different from monkeys after all... Check out the video below:

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-37383771226803987882015-08-05T11:21:00.000+08:002015-08-05T11:21:37.259+08:00

You may have heard that Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate developer, has decided to run for the President of the United States of America. Beside his undisputed success in the real estate world, Donald Trump also boasts an impressive track record as a businessman, investor, and reality television star. Admittedly, his skills in influencing people, negotiation and cutting deals are

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-50668254384688609582015-05-09T17:52:00.000+08:002015-05-09T17:59:23.835+08:00

You may have already heard  about the upcoming launch of MediShield Life. I have received many enquiries about how it would affect policyowners of private Shield plans. In this article, I’ll share with you what industry practitioners know about MediShield Life so far, and its impact on you. To understand the situation better, we have to first understand how MediShield Life, and its

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-88627624983796924382014-12-13T20:33:00.001+08:002014-12-13T20:38:36.625+08:00

Yes you read the title correct. In time to come, our children may have to fork out over a $100,000 just to get a piece of paper that grants them an interview for an entry level job. Well, that is not the problem. The real problem is you, the parent, is going to pay for it! So how can a university degree cost so much? Let's see the following breakdown. For illustrative purposes, we shall use a

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-34081293764707775742014-08-18T13:00:00.003+08:002014-08-18T14:10:40.712+08:00

During yesterday's National Day Rally,  PM Lee highlighted a few key changes to the existing CPF system. 1)  CPF members reaching 65 will be allowed to withdraw a lump sum from their Minimum Sum savings if they need. There will be a limit, perhaps 20%, to ensure that there is still sufficient savings left for their later years. 2)  The Government will be launching

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3608629509034156066.post-80835073479554207042014-03-09T16:36:00.001+08:002014-03-09T16:39:20.489+08:00

Last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high of 16,588, totally overshadowing the previous high of 14,000 in 2007 (pre-financial crisis). Does it mean that the US economy is out of the woods? US Markets Hardly so. As we all know, the Federal Reserves has been printing more the US$3.5 trillion of fresh money over the last 5 years to try to revive their

Cai Junhao, ChFC, CLUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17420616467625723474noreply@blogger.com0