Sunday, December 04, 2016

Financial competition

Lim, Tan and Lee sat around the marble table of the kopi-thiam. They are classmates that had not met each other for the past 30 years, so naturally they had plenty to share. The conversation flowed along, interrupted only by the periodic crunch of the kaya butter toasts and the sipping of kopi-o in the quaint porcelain cups, until it came to the topic about their children.

Tan started it first when he said that his son is very capable. He is earning $100k per year at age 25 as a banker. Lim said that was nothing to boast about. His daughter is already saving $100k per year at age 22 as a property agent.

Both of them turned their heads towards Lee, fully expecting him to top their stories. Lee looked back at them, and gently put down his cup of kopi-o back to its saucer. The porcelain tinkled like a bell, as if reminding the audience to keep quiet while the curtains are rolled back and the show is about to start.

Lee did not disappoint. He said that his son gave him a million dollars just after reaching 21 yrs old.

Wow, the two of them exclaimed, unable momentarily to process all the sound that they had just heard. Tan, who started all this, naturally asked how Lee's son manage to earn so much money at such a young age?




Lee's faced was sombre.

He said that his son bought an insurance and jumped off the building.
at

24 comments:

  1. Singapore Man of LeisureDecember 4, 2016 at 6:48 AM

    LP,

    You har...

    LOL!

    I guess the butterfly can't help but make a poke too ;)


    ReplyDelete
  2. Createwealth8888December 4, 2016 at 8:02 AM

    Walau. But true sometime a dead body worth much more! If spouse suddenly bought a $5m insurance for him or her; then better watch out! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SillyinvestorDecember 4, 2016 at 11:06 AM

    A... LP

    I know it's a story... but insurance don't cover sucide ok ... in case readers' imagination run wild

    ReplyDelete
  4. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 11:33 AM

    Hi SMOL,

    Haha, I gave great thoughts before writing this :) I guess we can see it many ways. One of the ways is that competition kills. The other is that sometimes, winning something is losing something. I better stop, don't want to remove the reflection part for the reader :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    Hi bro8888,

    Such is life :) In death, we include all the potential and possibilities that a living possess, that might not come to fruition, that's why dead person might be worth much more than a living one :)

    In the same breath, I think babies life is worth much more than a teenager, and a teenager worth more than an old man. All about the potential that exists but has yet to fulfill haha

    ReplyDelete
  6. yehDecember 4, 2016 at 11:40 AM

    Sometime You get this, sometime you lose this.

    Like I spend most of my money for my poor health and suffer from poor health.

    So I rather be a poor but healthy person.?!

    ReplyDelete
  7. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 11:41 AM

    Hi SI,

    I think can claim leh. As long as you cross z years after buying the plan, you should be able to claim the death, where z is usually 1 yr after buying the plan. Not saying we should all go and do it, but insurance death benefit do really cover suicide as long as it satisfies the z period.

    ReplyDelete
  8. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 11:43 AM

    Hi yeh,

    I think you should understand this the most, that sometimes winning might actually be losing and losing might be winning.

    I wish you great health in the coming year ahead :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. SillyinvestorDecember 4, 2016 at 12:23 PM

    LP,

    U must read the exclusivity clause.

    I remembered seeing that for
    Life and hospital plan ...

    But I could be wrong lol

    ReplyDelete
  10. yehDecember 4, 2016 at 12:39 PM

    yes LP

    i keep myself working , not because of money. but because i still want to live as per normal life.

    if i no working, i feel like i am a dead person. really. a useless person.

    so i hope i still able to work and live as per normal. Have normal social life.

    ReplyDelete
  11. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 12:45 PM

    Hi yeh,

    Yeah, be normal, even in the face of adversity :) You're a strong person, you can make it through :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rolf SueyDecember 4, 2016 at 3:49 PM

    Hi LP,

    hahaha... good one.

    but if suicidal jump off building, insurance cannot claim.

    in any case, I will have think the lives of human beings are priceless and worth so much.

    just look at how incredibly n sophisticatedly created we are.

    sadly, today people undermine their own value or value things that are not so IMPT in their lives!




    ReplyDelete
  13. TheFinance.sgDecember 4, 2016 at 7:20 PM

    Hi All,

    Good post by LP and a good discussion on suicide insurance claims. It piqued my interest and I dug out my own polices to read.

    Out of the four policies that I had, three mention that Suicide is claimable. I have written a post about it. Feel free to share your thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 9:40 PM

    Hi SI,

    Very sure it's covered for term and whole life. You can read Derek's post here: http://thefinance.sg/2016/12/04/will-insurance-deny-a-claim-if-death-is-due-to-suicide/

    Haha, suddenly we're very serious about checking out this clause! I hope nobody really go and commit suicide!

    ReplyDelete
  15. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 9:43 PM

    Hi Rolf,

    Thanks :)

    I'm very sure it can be claimed. There's usually a 1 yr exclusion period from the day you bought the plan where you cannot claim from suicide, but thereafter it should be claimable. Hope nobody is thinking of doing that however!

    My 'joke' is a reflection of what I've heard and seen recently, where pple are focusing on the wrong things, as you've rightly mentioned :) Ultimately, if you want to compete with each other, you might win the battle but lose the war haha

    ReplyDelete
  16. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 9:44 PM

    Hi Derek,

    Thanks again for putting your post. This should clarify the doubts once and for all. Hopefully so insurance guy who is in the know come out and verify this professionally :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. simplefolkDecember 4, 2016 at 11:12 PM

    interesting twist to a religious joke i read elsewhere :)
    learn new hacks on insurance claim :D
    did you read about Sheng Siong accused asked to be given death penalty?
    sometimes death is a better choice!
    Now CEO Lim will get bad karma for causing one's death? :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. la papillionDecember 4, 2016 at 11:34 PM

    Hi simplefolk,

    Haha, suicide is not a hack! LOL, I hope all of our family members never get to make a claim on our deaths! Touch wood!

    I read about the kidnapper. It's actually a very sad case on the reason why he wanted to kidnap SS CEO's mum, and unfortunately, he sought to resolve it by kidnapping. Sigh...

    You know we all idolise Batman and how he swept Gotham city free of crime? If you think deeper, where did the criminals come from? While some are pycho and sociopaths, at least some are criminals because they no longer had the means to put bread on the table. Why? Couldn't make a decent income and owed a lot of money to the banks. And who owned the majority of the corporations? It's Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. Life comes full circle. Perhaps he can really sweep Gotham clean by paying a higher wage and not exploit the workers to earn a profit? Haha

    Okay, I think too much :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. simplefolkDecember 5, 2016 at 11:18 PM

    a hack is simply a shortcut or easier way to attain something
    so suicide insurance claim might be considered by hack, depends how to view it :P

    when there are temptations, there will be crimes. no way to cleanup

    ReplyDelete
  20. SillyinvestorDecember 6, 2016 at 7:56 AM

    Hi LP,

    I have checked with sister who is the insurance line, she concurred that she did make sucidal claims on behalf of clients.

    However, she cautioned it is a grey area.

    So I guess u are right.

    Lol. Better for the masses to know it is not claimable

    ReplyDelete
  21. la papillionDecember 6, 2016 at 6:24 PM

    Hi simplefolk,

    It's true. There'll always be pple exploiting some loophole. But they must be really really desperate to attempt this to cash out on their lives man...sad.

    ReplyDelete
  22. la papillionDecember 6, 2016 at 6:25 PM

    Hi SI,

    Ah, thanks for letting us know from a professional point of view :) There's some moral hazards of letting pple know about such things, so yes, maybe it's better not to let the cat out of the bag.

    ReplyDelete
  23. NickDecember 7, 2016 at 2:20 PM

    Hi LP
    Here's another version:
    Lee says, "My son scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and gets his people to donate millions for his x-over project!"

    ReplyDelete
  24. la papillionDecember 7, 2016 at 3:35 PM

    Hi Nick,

    WAH, cannot lah, that one too sensitive LOL

    Maybe only near chinese new year then I can put it, then add a Kong Hee Fatt Choy at the end of the story to defuse it all HAHA

    ReplyDelete

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