US employment report - a source of concern

The US employment report for November showed only 39,000 new jobs created, when economists were hoping for 140,000 jobs. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent.

This is a matter of serious concern. In spite of stimulus and quantitative easing, the US economy is not able to create the jobs needed to keep their people employed. The problem faced by the US will cascade around the world. We can expect tough times ahead, possibly a double dip recession, maybe even a global depression.

The problem faced by the US can only be solved through protectionism in some form. I expect the US to adopt some protectionist measures, although it does not have to be large scale. This will be a watershed, as the US had been promoting globalization for two decades. The boomerang had swung back to hit them.

I believe that some form of protectionism will be good for most countries. It allows each country to have its domestic economy and develop its own identity and culture. It will allow the income gap to narrow in the country and hopefully, keep the cost of living down.

Globalization has benefited only a small proportion of people, at the expense of the well being and financial security of large numbers of people. It has caused damage to the environment and other negative social impacts, including a declining birth rate. In my view, the benefits of globalization is outweighed by the harmful effects.

Singapore has benefited from globalization, including luring the super rich to avoid taxation by moving their profits here. We will lose this source of revenue, but we can cope. After all, Singaporeans are an educated and hard working people. Let me make a honest living, and not enrich ourselves at the expense of other countries. Maybe, we will see the property prices come down to more affordable levels!

Tan Kin Lian

Living on accumulated savings - DIY

This article explains how a retiree on live on the accumulated savings on a DIY basis, without buying a life annuity.

Wikileaks and Singapore

LKY's private conversation and candid views with US officials have been leaked out in WikiLeaks and is causing some red faces. Read SGEP.

Social insurance and quality of life

The lives of Singaporeans would have been much better if the Government had introduced some social insurance schemes, e.g. old age pension and unemployment relief, instead of relying on "self reliance". The weaker and less educated cannot cope with their current needs, let alone save for the future.  Read this article on Social Insurance.

FAQs in TKL website

Some of my readers find it a hassle to go to the "Ask Mr. Tan" page of my website and search for the article using the keyword. They ask me to give them the direct link.

My purpose is to educate the readers on how to search for the relevant articles and FAQs in my website. It may take a little trouble, but will give them the reward. When they learn how to search the FAQs, they can look for other topics. They may also find some of the recently posted topics (under the Latest tab) to be useful and relevant to them.

Try these links and bookmark them:

Latest: http://www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx
Ask Mr. Tan: http://www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx

Tan Kin Lian

Health care and Medishield

 Many consumers continue to send questions to me about whether they should choose Medishield or private Shield. I am not able to answer their questions individually. I refer them to my website, www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx and ask them to search for the articles with the keyworld "Medishield:" or "health care".

They should also buy my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning, and attend the educational talks organised by FISCA. They must spend some time and a little money to be educated and save many thousand dollars by avoiding the wrong decisions. They should not ask advice from the wrong person or give incomplete information that lead to the wrong advice, as explained in this FAQ.

Tan Kin Lian

Doing stupid things

Do you know why government and corporate bureaucracy continue to do stupid things that inconvenient the public and their customers, and achieve no useful purpose? Read this story. The trouble is that these bureaucrats are not paid peanuts (unlike monkeys), but draw fat salaries!