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You are here: Home / Financial advisers / Similarities between botched plastic surgery and botched financial plan (or lack of it)

Similarities between botched plastic surgery and botched financial plan (or lack of it)

20, May 2014 by Wilfred Ling Leave a Comment

plastic faceI read with interest in a recent article from Sunday Times on 11 May 2014 - “Beauty quests that end in tears”[1]  and “The dark side to the pursuit of perfection”[2]. The articles were on the obsession with plastic surgery in South Korea and how a number of Singaporeans who traveled to the country only to come back with a botched face.

As I read those articles, I thought I was reading about the sad state of affairs in Singapore relating to the financial advisory! Here are some similarities between botched plastic surgery and botched financial plan:

On Botched plastic surgery (quotations based on the above ST articles)
On Singapore'’s botched financial industry
"Double eyelid surgery here, for instance, usually costs $6,000. In Korea, it can be done for $3,000.”"
On the surface, the consultation fee for financial advice $0. But in reality it actually cost your entire HDB flat.
"But those who fly over should keep some things in mind - such as the hard-sell tactics.”"According to Monetary Authority of Singapore’s mystery shopper’s survey, financial advisers are famous for hard selling products that are not
suitable
.
"Sometimes I ask patients about the consultation they had, and they tell me things like: 'There was no discussion because he couldn't speak English, so I just left it to him'."
There is also a ‘language barrier’ between a typical financial adviser and the prospect. The prospect only wants to get free gifts while the financial adviser is thinking about how much commission he can earn.
"“The Korean doctor removed fat from her abdomen and transferred it to her forehead, without her permission.”"
The financial adviser transfers the client’s wealth to himself without permission by getting clients into a loan unknowingly.
"Fixing a botched [plastic surgery] procedure can be more costly than the original operation.” "

"And not everything can be fixed. They come to us and we have to tell them the damage is permanent”"
Majority of the botched financial plan (or lack of it) cannot be fixed (more of this later).

[1] http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/beauty-quests-end-tears

[2] http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/dark-side-pursuit-perfection

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Filed Under: Financial advisers, Unethical sales process

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