Beware of Bank Financial Planners! Esp. for your older folks @ home!

Did you see today's headlines on the Straits Times papers?

It showed a picture of an elderly lady drying her tears with her hanky. She has just lost her retirement savings because of the economic downturn. But MORE so because she mis-trusted a Bank Financial Planner @ DBS. She had wanted a Fixed Deposite account but ended up with an investment deal instead. How does that happen?

Elderly folks are the easiest targets for these Financial Planners. Elderly folks will have SOME savings, they are usually not english-literate, they listen to some big numbers and get excited by it. They do not know how to ask questions about service fees, admin charges etc because they assume that everything would be told to them. They will trust the lady behind the counter because DBS feels like its government related, sure can trust. They cant really tell the difference between FD & investment products because the FP will usually emphasized that they are BASICALLY the same because you put $ in there, they take care of it for you.... at this explanation, anyone would also think that FD & investment are the same!

That's how many elderly folks get "conned" into joining these investment funds instead of sticking to their fixed deposits.

Why I am so aware? Because, this was exactly what happened to my mum!

I was with her at the bank, i walked away to look at some brochures before sitting down next to her at the counter, 5mins I think was all that FP took to convince my mum that her FD has a lousy rate, she's better off investing that away. Upon hearing the better (non-guaranteed - this they dun say, they just tell you the forecasted interest rates at 8% or 10%) returns, my mum's mouth was drooling already.

I was shocked that it was so easy to convince my mum, (she did claim that she's a very alert person.... but I think cannot take pressure still lah). I asked a few questions like service charges? Admin charges? Is the principal sum guaranteed etc and the lady fumbled.

Thankfully, my mum saw the true picture and did not get persuaded into. All because there was someone else who helped to be the bystander to read the information which are all printed in english in fine prints and ask more questions.

I am not saying that I'm very hero save my mum some heartache today, rather, I would like to warn everyone out there, please be on the alert when your old folks go to the bank, let them know that they can bring home the investment plans to share with you, let the family help to decide if it was a good deal to take part in or not. If they are afraid to let their own children know how much life long savings they have .... they should really go find a good friend who is educated in english, a neutral person and accompany them to the bank.

Let your old folks at home know the tactics that the bank FP uses to get people to invest their hard earned money with them. So that they can be more alert, if need be, remind them like mad, even if you are called long-winded, its worth it, just look at the old couple on the front page of today's ST.

We are Truly Blessed!

Below are extracts taken from Yahoo News through a concern friend.

=========================================================
REYKJAVIK, Iceland - This volcanic island near the Arctic Circle is on the brink of becoming the first "national bankruptcy" of the global financial meltdown.

Home to just 320,000 people on a territory the size of Kentucky, Iceland has formidable international reach because of an outsized banking sector that set out with Viking confidence to conquer swaths of the British economy — from fashion retailers to top soccer teams.

The strategy gave Icelanders one of the world's highest per capita incomes. But now they are watching helplessly as their economy implodes — their currency losing almost half its value, and their heavily exposed banks collapsing under the weight of debts incurred by lending in the boom times.

"Everything is closed. We couldn't sell our stock or take money from the bank," said Johann Sigurdsson as he left a branch of Landsbanki in downtown Reykjavik.

Famous for its cod fishing industry, geysers, moonscape and the Blue Lagoon, Iceland was the site of the Cold War showdown in which Bobby Fischer of the United States defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in 1972 for the world chess championship. Last year, Iceland won the U.N.'s "best country to live in" poll, with its residents deemed the most contented in the world.

Back home, the average family's wealth soared 45 percent in half a decade and gross domestic product rose at around 5 percent a year.

But the whole system was built on a shaky foundation of foreign debt.

The country's top four banks now hold foreign liabilities in excess of $100 billion, debts that dwarf Iceland's gross domestic product of $14 billion.

Those external liabilities mean the private sector has had great difficulty financing its debts, such as the more than $5.25 billion racked up by Kaupthing in five years to help fund British deals.

===========================================================

more reads at the original Yahoo News site.

Can you imagine a whole entire country going into financial crisis? Everyone's assets becomes 45% of its original worth. Overnight your country is in severe debt.

Here in Singapore, each individual is heavily padded from such downturn of events by our government who thinks very far ahead. Which government keeps stuffing cash into their citizens's bank accounts?

Arent we truly blessed?

So stop complaining about being a Singaporean and start being grateful for the peace that we enjoy!