Surrender a Living policy

I have decided to surrender my Living policy which was taken 17 years ago.  I paid an annual premium of $2,102. The cash value after 17 years is $44,893 giving a yield of about 2.5%.

If I keep the policy for another five years, the estimated cash value increases to $62,417, giving a yield of 3.9% for the next 5 years, based on the projected bonus for the next 5 years.  I have decided not to take the risk of a further reduction in bonus, which will reduce the yield below 3.9%. 

By surrendering the policy, I can invest the money in other investments. As the share prices are quite low, there is a good chance of earning a better high rate of return from other investments.

The calculation is based on this FAQ.

Pinnacle Action Group: Class Action in U.S. Courts being considered

Dear all

A top US law firm is interested to actively pursue on behalf of all Pinnacle investors a class action in US courts. It will be on a contingency fee basis - "no win, no pay" and all investors will be automatically included, unless they opt-out, after the class action is filed with US Courts. It will be an action similar to the one being done for Hong Kong Minibonds investors.

However, under US law such a class-action can only be initiated if there are at least one or more lead plaintiffs who fit the following criteria:
(a) US citizens who bought one or more of series of the Pinnacle Notes;
(b) Spore citizens with bank accounts kept in a US Bank who bought one or more series of the Pinnacle Notes;
(c) Spore citizens who own homes in the US who bought one or more of the Notes.

If you fit into any of the 3 criteria mentioned in the above paragraph, please contact us with your name; tel. no.; email and other details such as Pinnacle series no . that you bought, etc. We will forward the information to the US law firm, which for confidentiality reasons cannot be revealed at this early stage. When the US law firm in turn contacts you in the matter of the proposed class action to be pursued in US courts, you will know who they are.

This 'US style' class action, by the way, is separate from the proposed class action we are planning for all Pinnacle investors under Spore law and pursued in Spore courts. In the Spore case, we will be making an official announcement when we have finalized the details. It could take another 2-3 months more to do that since there are many details to iron out. But don't be discouraged, we are not going to allow this matter to simply evaporate and will work vigorously to pursue justice and compensation.

Best regards
Pinnacle Action Group

Email:- pinnacle.action.group@gmail.com 

Meet the man whose big idea felled Wall Street

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Motor insurance premiums

Many motorists will have to pay higher insurance premiums this year. What can be done about it?

Read my articles:
Puncturing motor insurance claims.
New Motor Insurance measures - will it work?

If you are not happy with the increase in premiums, you should lodge a protest with your member of parliament or with the consumer association of Singapore.

The best places to be laid off

Read this article about countries with generous unemployment benefits and its impact (if any) on the work ethic.

Buddhist monks say Twitter can lead to happiness

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Creating service jobs in Singapore

Global demand has dropped significantly. Singapore will have to suffer a drop in production and  exports for many months while global demand remains weak. Many more jobs will be lost. The Government's strategy of helping businesses to reduce cost may not help to save jobs in this environment.

I hope that the Government will look into other ways to create jobs and keep people occupied at a modest wage level. They only need to keep people usefully engaged until the recovery of the global economy. 

In France, the Government pays a large part of the cost of nannies to look after babies. The parent pays only a small portion. The nannies will look after the babies in the nannies' homes. The parents can afford to send the baby to the nanny, as their share of the cost is low. This helps to keep many nannies to be usefully employed.

I suggest the following ways to create temporary jobs in Singapore:

1)  The Government can pay a large part of the cost of engaging nannies to look after babies. The parents can pay only a small part (say 20%) of the cost. The nannies can be asked to meet certain standards of care.

2)  There is a need for tuition to help the students from poor families. The tuitors can be trained quickly to meet the educational standards.  A large part of the cost of these tutors can be paid by the Government, so that the cost to the students is kept low.

These two ideas can keep many people to be usefully employed until the recovery of the global economy. The wages can be kept low. When the economy recovers, they can find higher paying jobs in the private sector.

Tan Kin Lian