who, among us laymen, would have thought that a globlal investment bank like lehman brothers could collapse just like that. if i had, i would not have suffered a financial loss. i had put some money in minibonds nearly two years ago. my relationship manager had assured me that the principal would be protected and that the risk was really minimal. "do you know how big lehman is?"
when i read that lehman brothers had filed for bankruptcy, i was prepared to say bye-bye to my ill-advised investment. but, there was still a glimmer of hope in getting something back. it was reported in the papers that we might be able to get back about 30% of the sum. however, the amount seems to be dwindling as my relationship manager called to inform me that i might be lucky to get back 15% of the principal sum.
a number of my retiree friends have been hit, some quite hard. one of them could not sleep the whole night thinking about the loss of her hard-earned saving. i did not lose any sleep; i was just resigned to my fate. when my elder daughter heard about my misfortune, she was quite worried for me, and kept asking if i still had enough money for my retirement years.
did not tell her i have been hit at a number of fronts, not just this one. on paper, i have also lost in the stock market and in dual currencies.
looks like i may just have to collect more aluminium cans each day. if i collect 120 cans a day, in about 25 years' time, i will be able to get back the amount i have lost.
7 comments:
I like your play of words in the first sentence - laymen and lehman. Hehe.
What do you expect? They are lehman too. Haha.
But seriously speaking, to spread out your risk, never put all your eggs in one basket and invest in a variety of instruments.
I too have been hit badly before when the tech bubble burst. My investment left only less than 20%. No choice cut loss and take back 20%. Still better than get back nothing.
Sometimes you need to pay to learn a lesson.
I might be old-fashioned but I trust my instincts.
When someone tells me how much they can double my money if I let them manage for me or why am I putting useless cash in the bank account or when banks hire engineer/sx-SAF regulars/engineering graduates fresh from uni to sell financial products or when insurance people talk as if they work in a bank before or when banks themselves set up nice booths in the banking hall to service the walk-in customer, TIME TO GET OUT or TIME TO AVOID THESE PEOPLE
I may make mistakes but better to make those mistakes yourselve than pay others to make mistakes on your behalf.
I heard about this slogan "More Good years" - what happened to SingTEL shares?
like victor said, pay to learn. a bit costly. wait long, long the good years will come, lah.
YG, you should go sign the petition which the former NTUC Income CEO Tan Kin Lian put up in his blog here.
He is also speaking at Speakers' Corner on 11 Oct from 5 pm to 7 pm. I think he is worth listening to. Details here.
victor, thks. i have just signed the petition. i know tan kin lian. he was my classmate and class monitor in sec 1.
YG, I found another good blog written by a qualified financial advisor called Mr Martin Lee. He tells you the steps you should take to file a complaint in addition to signing the so-called Mr Tan's "petition".
victor, i appreciate very much your concern and help. i came across a similar letter in tan kin lian's personal blog. will do the needful.
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