Money Matters

Why Is It Important For You To Nominate If You Have Assets

by FinancialDex
March 4, 2012
Money Matters

If you have assets (e.g. whole life insurance, term insurance, savings deposits, etc) that you have intention to leave for certain someones (in mind) instead of having to go through the proper estate proceedings, it’s always good to do up (as soon as possible) your own Nomination either through a proper Nomination Form provided by Insurance Companies or engage a Lawyer to do up a Proper Will!

There could be certain consequences if you have accidentally left this planning out…

What Happened When You Never Do A Nomination For Your Assets

I know of two brothers whose parents are divorced since the elder brother was very young and his younger brother did not even know how his father looked like. So the mother had been the one raising them up.

Long story short… the mother fell sick and passed away… followed by the Elder Brother… and the younger brother has been the one paying off the medical debts (that’s why you need to have medical insurance to cover yourself) and other expenses over their last few years.

The mother and the elder brother had never done up any nominations and wills. And when it comes to the distribution of assets, the proper estate regulations have to be followed. But because the mother’s assets is less than $2000, it was written off as funeral expenses and the younger brother is able to claim back. But there was an issue with the elder brother’s assets because it’s more than $2000 and it cannot be written off as funeral expenses (even though the amount is very near to it).

This assets have been to be claimed by the official next-of-kin – the Father whom nobody knows about his whereabouts and his personal details (Date of Birth, Identification Numbers, his Point Of Contact, etc). In the end, the Authority is not willing to release the money to the Younger Brother (even though he has indirectly became the Next Of Kin over the last few years) and that amount of money has to be kept with the Authority indefinitely until the Father has made a claim for it.

Do note… there’s no expiry date to this waiting… which means that the money will never ever be released… So would you ever want this to ever happen to you (or to someone that you know), especially if the amount that we are talking about is of a significant amount?!

What Are The Alternatives For That Younger Brother

Check Out This Resource Site For Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards

by FinancialDex
February 18, 2012
Money Matters

Just came across this resource site – CashMoneyLife.com and if you are looking for some information on the best balance transfer credit cards, you may wish to check out this article to explore further.

What Happened When You Have A Balance On Your Credit Card

Having a Credit Card can be a good and a bad Financial Instrument Tool. Those who have it can make good use of it to enjoy discounts on certain purchases or other shopping benefits that you may not be able to enjoy when you make purchases with cash. But those who have it but do not know how to control their spending may end up having a balance coupled with high interest rate that will affect their finances and even their future lifestyles and families…

And if you are having such issues with clearing these balances… it’s good to have some alternatives like what I have just checked out – balance transfer credit cards. And if you like to know how this works you can click on the link above to understand better.

Here’s Another Two Books To Help You With Stock Trading In 2012

by FinancialDex
January 16, 2012July 25, 2016
Money Matters

If one of your goals for the new year is to educate yourself in the area of Stock Trading, here are two books written by local group of writers which you can get as part of your learning guides.

These two books are:

1. Mark Lin’s Secrets Of Dividend Investors

2. Victor Chng & Rusmin’s Value Investing In Growth Companies (under the guidance of Ken Chee and Clive Tan’s Millionaire Investor Program)

And if you think you can go for more knowledge, here is an old blog post that I have written back in 2010 recommending with two other books that will teach you more on the basics of stock trading…

So if you think you need to know more, you can click over at the above link to explore further!

What Can You Learn From These Two Books

1. Mark Lin’s Secrets Of Dividend Investors

If you are keen to build up a portfolio of good stocks in Singapore that will pay you dividends consistently, preferably every month and would like to learn the basic strategies and concepts of doing so, this book will give you a set of guidelines that you can follow.

And if you are one of those advanced traders who is keen to pick up another method of determining the Intrinsic Value of a stock that has been paying dividends consistently, you can pick up a good concept from this book as well.

2. Victor Chng & Rusmin’s Value Investing In Growth Companies

Which Options are Worth the Extra Cash When Buying a New Car?

by FinancialDex
December 24, 2011January 13, 2012
Money Matters

Buying a new car always involves more than simply choosing a make and model, signing on the dotted line and driving away. Every salesperson is going to try to press options and upgrade packages onto the sale. With technology constantly advancing, there are literally dozens of possibilities to add to a car, from the frivolous to the safety-imperative. These are some of the better choices based on resale value and safety.

Resale Value

A brand new car begins losing value the moment you drive it off the lot. A car is not considered a good investment due to steady depreciation, unless it has the rare luck of lasting long enough to become a collectible. However, there are some features that can help raise the value if you trade in or sell your car before it’s an antique. Some of the top options include:

Cruise Control. Most people who buy late model cars will expect cruise control, and a car without it will immediately seem dated and lose some of its value.
Air Conditioning. Depending on where you live, air conditioning may not truly be an option. Driving in extremely hot climates during the summertime, for example, makes it a necessity. AC is also one of the options in a car that is slowest to depreciate in value.
Automatic Transmission. Since automatic transmission has become all but standard equipment, stick shifts have a depreciating effect on resale value.

It’s The Time Of The Year – Month For Holiday, Spending & Bonus

by FinancialDex
December 19, 2011March 7, 2012
Money Matters

Yeah! It’s the time of the year where people have already planned (and went) their holidays, made out a long list of items to buy (to pamper themselves or just anybody in mind) and collecting their well deserved bonus!

And in the usual Financial Planning sense – if you are one of those who are fond of spending away your bonuses (without even thinking and planning), here are a few tips that you may wish to consider to do so first before happily spending (or wasting) it away…

Note: the tips here are meant for your own good and really to help you with your future. Tips mentioned here are not in order of priority as well.

Five Good Tips To Help You With Your Year-End Bonuses

#1 Think Of Your Previous Purchases (Pampering)

Throughout the year, there have been many various types of sales events and the ease of buying things online has even became easier. If you have made your purchases during those times – it’s time to hold your expenses and think twice before spending your bonuses away. You may wish to consider saving a major bulk of it. If you find it hard to do so, just tell yourself you may get to spend a bit more from this saved amount in next year’s sales events.

Why You Can Save Some Money With Daily Deal Site Like Yipit

by FinancialDex
October 24, 2011
Money Matters

How many Daily Deal Sites are you currently signed up with? And if you are in the US, have you check out Yipit yet?

The Concept Behind Daily Deal Sites

For some of the Coupon Sites that I have came across and mentioned in this blog, Daily Deal sites like Yipit have quite a similar concept – offering deals/coupons that you cannot miss. A coupon site may list out all available discount coupons for online shopping sites whereas a Daily Deal site will list a Special Deal of the Day, enticing you with offers that may have up to 90% off the usual price.

All in all, these sites want your money and want you to engage in some shopping, forms of pampering and de-stressing in whatever ways you want to call it!

Daily Deal Site May Help You To Save Money

Personally I do feel that Daily Deal Sites can help one to save money while still allowing one to enjoy life. I have seen many of my female clients who enjoy a weekly session of spas, massage, manicure or pedicure and they are so willing to pay so much for each session or even to pay one lump sum for a certain package.

But with the existence of Daily Deal Sites, I do see some of my female clients having a change in their spending habits – they are always in the lookout for special deals like a huge discount in a manicure or massage session and they are also less likely to sign up for packages because they know they will have some good deals coming up from one of these sites that can still allow them to enjoy their life!