Question: Wilfred, when I bought a BTO (Build-To-Order) unit with my husband in June 2010, our purchase price was $10,000 more than the ‘normal’ price. It seems it is because I am not a Singapore citizen. I became a Singapore citizen in June 2011 but HDB/CPF refuse to refund this extra $10,000 to us! What is this? HELP!! Answer: You are referring to the policy introduced in 5 March 2010. Under … [Read more...]
You are viewing real life case studies done by Wilfred Ling. Personal information and other sensitive information has been removed to protect the identity of the clients.
Question on why must pay extra $152K for BTO?
Question: Wilfred, we decided to buy a new HDB either through BTO or Balance of Sales. I was shocked when I was told I must pay $152,000 in additional money over and above the purchase price. We were looking at a $350K BTO but I was told it will cost us $500K instead! To make it worse, we were told we can only borrow at most $200K. I don’t know what to do as we don’t have the money! … [Read more...]
A case of changing style and impressive unit trust factsheet performance
My client told me that he like a particular fund because it has impressive returns. A check with the fund's factsheet showed an impressive performance. But I found something different as compared to other factsheets. Usually a factsheet only show a few years of performance in its graph. But for this one, it showed the performance since 1994. I decided to investigate. From 1994 to 2013, the … [Read more...]
Another ILP fund performs worst than if the fund is bought direct
Here is another ILP fund. Fund A can be purchased direct. Fund B is the same fund but bought through an ILP. Fund C is an ETF tracking the benchmark which both are measured against. So it can be seen that Fund B is worst compared to its identical counterpart. What should you do if you already have an ILP? Like I said previously, buying an ILP is like getting married. Learn to accept your … [Read more...]
Is PruSelect Vantage plan a good or bad product?
Question: “Hi Wilfred, our Prudential insurance agent has recommended PruSelect Vantage to us with the key benefits indicated below. May we have your views on this please? The PruSelect Vantage plan key benefits: 100% unit allocation from day one First year bonus (applicable for annual premium of $18,000) Loyalty Bonus to reward you who invest diligently withdrawal of units in the … [Read more...]
Case study on financial planning for single
This is a case study for a young lady who was 27 years old. She was single and a salaried staff. Like many at her age, she stayed with her parents but had the intention to get married. She and her boyfriend applied for Build-To-Order (BTO) flat. She engaged me for comprehensive financial planning service. For her case, the relevant items to look at are: credit management, marriage budgeting, … [Read more...]
Question of being guilt stricken after writing will
Question: “Wilfred, my widowed mother wrote a Will giving her entire estate in equal shares to her children. She has an ‘adopted’ son whom she raised since he was born until he got married. He was not formally adopted though. For us as a family, we always treat him as part of the family. My mother thinks that she should only give her estate to her ‘real’ children. However, she has been feeling … [Read more...]