I do not rebate commission due to three reasons: (1) the financial industry equate rebating of commissions with the act of inducement (2) prospects who ask for rebates are usually not genuine clients (3) my core competency is financial planning, not selling products. Rebating commission is an act of inducement Although rebating commissions was made legal in 2002, many agents have since … [Read more...]

Modular planning means one or at most two of the following: Insurance Planning Credit Management Children's Education Retirement Planning Investment Planning Personal Income Tax Planning Estate Planning Comprehensive Financial Planning means most of the above. … [Read more...]

We cannot waive the financial planning fee in most cases because Almost every clients we met claim that their case is a “simple” case although it is often far from simple. All clients pay according to the level of complexity of their case. A simple case will be cheaper than a complex case. This is fair to the client. We insist in being honest with the client – we need to earn a living. … [Read more...]

I am neither an employee of a financial institution nor a tied-agent of an insurer. Hence, I do not have sales quota. I do partner with a large number of financial institutions but I do not partner with any institutions that require a minimum production sales. … [Read more...]

Firstly, the question assumes that it is “normal” for financial advisers to meet clients at any venue, day and time. This assumption is based on observations that most financial advisers meet at any time, venue and day to meet their clients. However, the underlying reason is because most financial advisers treat their occupation as a sales job, while clients treat the financial advisers just as … [Read more...]

For investment products such as unit trusts and life insurance, advice is regulated under the Financial Advisers Act. For comprehensive financial planning, I am required to adhere to the Code of Ethics consisting of The Professional Pledge & The Eight Canons. Legally, clients’ interests are protected under Contract Law and Law of Tort. … [Read more...]

From my experience, I found most of my clients are paying higher fee than they should. As I charged based on the time spent, I found myself spending a large proportion of work on organising the client’s data. Clients engaged me to analyse and provide advice to them on how to achieve their financial goals. Clients do not engage me to help them do filing and organising their financial data which is … [Read more...]

I do not impose any minimum investment amount. However, I do expect the clients to invest the appropriate amount in view of their investment goals. For instance, if the retirement goal is to accumulate $2 million by age 60 and the client is currently 40 years old. A lump sum investment of $10,000 (with no future contribution) is too small of an investment. I will reject such a case. On the … [Read more...]

You need to be financially literate before engaging us for financial planning but you do not need to be an expert. For maximum benefit, it is recommended that you are familiar with the following subjects: Time value for money. Advanced time value for money is used throughout the financial plan. Differences between the different asset classes namely: cash, cash-equivalent, property, fixed … [Read more...]