Financial Reviews

Be careful and read the fine print when using financial tools such as credit cards. Below is a warning about the new product that Standard Chartered has pushed out lately, Platinum Access card. ---------------- Original ------------------------- Beware of the high interest rates and extra costs when you live on credit Recently, Stanchart launched its new Platinum Access card aimed at young working professionals in Singapore. This allows the cardholders to spread the cost of their purchases above $100 over two years or more. This is worrisome from two perspectives. Firstly, it is clearly encouraging the young professionals to live beyond their means. This is contrary to sound financial planning that the government advocates for all Singaporeans. Secondly, the true cost of using the service is not fully revealed. This will mislead many who will end up with heavy debts. Firstly, the 5% per annum rate that is charged on the amount of purchases is not clearly highlighted as a flat rate basi

Identity theft is a growing problem and that problem gets more acute when much more of our transactions today are done cashlessly using credit cards. AIA has this product named AIA CARDWIZE that is marketed as "keeping your identity safe and secured". The strength of CARDWIZE is that it softens, notice not eliminate, the blow of dealing with identity theft and related losses, covering against additional costs related to the loss, theft or damage of the residence and car keys, and items purchased using credit card. At first look, this appears to be a good product. I had lost my belongings to theft before and while I did not lose much valuables, I ended up spending a bigger sum replacing my identification documents, locks and much time to conduct these administrative procedures. Such a product would have greatly cushioned the impact of that incident. What exactly does the product offer? Identity Theft ($10, 000) Expenses incurred from resolving identity theft up to 12 months a

I started this blog ( http://financialreviews.blogspot.com ) after many friends had seeked my advice on financial matters/products. Somehow, they liked my views because I am not a financial planner/advisor but had gained whatever knowledge I shared with them by taking a keen interest in managing my money. Personally, I subscribe to the view that regardless of whether you have a personal financial adviser or not, it is important to play an active role in managing your money. We cannot shirk responsibility for our own financial health and expect others to take care of us, take care of our money. Since I never really got anything except goodwill in return for all the feedback that I had given to my friends, I hope that putting up my views online and adding in some advertising will bring me a little additional income eventually. Do drop me a comment if there is some product that you will like me to take a look at and I will try to blog my views on it for you.