For a painless hospital, surgical stint

You’ve probably heard horror stories from friends and kin about hospital and surgical (H&S) claims being denied or claim amounts not being entirely reimbursed by their insurers. Industry players stress that insurers do not attempt to minimise payments to claimants.

The main condition is that the claims must be genuine.

“Insurance companies want to be in the business for the long term, and establishing a good reputation is important for us,” says Tan Chue Chau, appointed actuary at Manulife Insurance.

Sharon Chong, managing director of Moneywise Wealth Planning & Consultancy, stresses that insurance companies do not deny claims that are supported by required documents such as medical reports and hospital bills.

Martin Yong, head of life division at State Insurance Brokers, an insurance brokerage firm, says, “It is very straightforward to make an H&S claim. If you’ve declare everything to the best of your knowledge, you will usually be reimbursed. If the insurance company thinks you’re a risky applicant based on your declaration, they would have imposed a loading or not accepted you [as an insured] in the first place.”

Here are the top five reasons why an H&S claim may be denied.

1) The claim is not covered

This problem arises because the claimants are not aware of the exclusion clauses in their policies. “Very often, they’d mistakenly think that a disease is covered, or that they are covered in particular situations,” Yong points out. Insurance agents, when highlighting the benefits of a particular policy to a consumer, should devote some time to explain the exclusions as well.

Congenital conditions, medical or physical abnormalities at the time of birth, are usually excluded, to the surprise of many claimants, says Yong. Most H&S policies do not cover congenital conditions but some insurers do provide them, with conditions on the age of the insured.

“For instance, some insurers state that they do not cover congenital diseases diagnosed before the age of 17. If the claimant is diagnosed after 17, the benefit is payable,” says Chong.

Diagnostic tests are usually not covered as well, though some insurers may pay for certain specified ones. “Insurance exists because most of us are likely to need help to pay for surgery, [and it usually does] not [cover] diagnostic tests,” says Chong.

Another common policy exclusion that is often overlooked is the overseas residence clause. This is pertinent to people who are studying or working abroad for an extended period of time.

“For instance, if you’ve stayed overseas for 90 consecutive days, you will not be compensated if you’re hospitalised anywhere in the world on the 91st day,” explains Chong.

The reasonable and customary charges provision comes into play when a claim is made for treatment received outside the country. In this provision, medical charges should not exceed the general level of charges made by providers of similar standing in Malaysia, Yong explains.

“For instance, say you did a heart surgery is the US, which cost you RM600,000. In Malaysia, the same procedure might only cost you RM100,000. The insurance company will pay you RM100,000, as it is the amount you would have incurred had the surgery been performed in Malaysia,” he says.

2) You have exceeded the coverage limit

Many policyholders are not aware of caps imposed on their medical plans. In addition to a lifetime limit, insurance companies tend to impose an annual limit or an inner limit on H&S policies. For instance, a policy can stipulate a lifetime limit of RM300,000 but limit the amount of claims to RM50,000 a year. (yearly limit)

If your actual hospitalisation bill is RM70,000, you would need to pay the difference and you cannot make any claims for the rest of the policy year.

H&S plans that were introduced more than a decade ago may even specify an inner limit.

“For each benefit of your H&S plan, there might be a limit imposed for claims. For example, if your inner limit for surgery is RM20,000, that’s the maximum that you will receive, even if the actual surgical cost is RM50,000,” says Chong.

Fierce competition among insurers has removed the inner limit clause today.

“Now, most medical plans go by the ‘as charged’ basis, which means that the insurer will reimburse the policyholder the amount charged by the hospital. Clearly, this is much better for the policyholder,” says Yong.

It is also common for policyholders to overlook their eligible benefits, such as staying in a more expensive room than the one specified in your plan.

Says Chong, most insurers have a clause stating that if you go beyond your entitlement, you must pay a 20% co-insurance fee (a fixed percentage, usually up to 20%, of the medical bills).

“Some insurers will require those who stay within their entitlement to pay a 10% co-insurance fee and there is a limit on how much they need to pay,” she adds. Others levy an administration fee, says Yong.

Also, check whether your H&S policy stipulates a “deductible”, which is an amount that you have to pay. “Say you’ve opted for a deductible of RM3,000, and your total hospital bill is RM4,000. The insurer will only pay you RM1,000 [RM4,000 – RM3,000],” Tan explains.

3) Failure to disclose pre-existing illnesses

Failure to mention an existing illness is another common reason for the rejection of a claim.

“For instance, you were diagnosed with a disease and went for an operation a few years ago. If you don’t declare it and subsequently make a claim, you will not be paid if the insurer finds out about it,” Yong explains.

4) Coverage has yet to commence

Most insurers impose a waiting period, during which claims for some specified illnesses will not be paid. “For instance, most insurance companies stipulate a 120-day waiting period for illnesses such as hypertension, tumours, cancers and cysts from the day the policy is issued,” says Tan, adding that this waiting period does not extend to accidents.

When upgrading your H&S policy, do not cancel your old plan until the waiting period for the new one has ended, advises Lim Teong Lay, author of Insurance Planning Guide for Malaysians.

5) Failing to pay your premiums on time

Needless to say, you won’t be covered if you’ve not been remitting your premiums on time. Tan says a policy lapse a month after the premium due date.

Medical plans that ride on a basic life insurance policy or investment-linked policy usually have a surrender value or an investment value that will pay for H&S coverage if the policyholder fails to pay the premiums. Once this underlying value is exhausted, all benefits will be void and claims will not be paid out, says Yong.

Source: By Lim Siew May of theedgemalaysia.com and personal Money magazine #121 September 2011

Cost of Delay - Senario 1

Assumption:
1. Both Prospect A and B are age 30, they want to save for their retirement by the age of 55.

2. Prospect A saves 10 years with payment amount of RM6,000 with 8% interest.

3. Prospect B delays his saving 5 years later. He pays continuously until the age of 55 with the same payment amount and interest as Prospect A.

Conclusion:
1. Prospect A gets RM297,780.80 by the age of 55.

2. Prospect B is Postponing 5 years and he would get RM296.537.53 by the age of 55.

3.To get around the same savings balance with a 5 years delay, Prospect B would need to save 20 years instead 10 years. The amount invested of prospect A is RM60,000 and the Prospect B is RM120,000. The amount Invested of Prospect B is DOUBLED in comparison to Prospect A.

Click to enlarge the picture
Click to enlarge the picture

Start your saving now, don't wait. ;)

Sincerely from
Tan Min Chin, CH3

勿陷買房出租6誤區

目前，傳統投資工具回報率不高，而住房價格正處於低位。那麼眼下是不是考慮買些住宅以供出租的好時機呢？

如果一切順利，現在投資房地產有可能獲取意外豐厚的利潤。許多地區的房租都在攀升，而且市場上可供出租的房屋可能還會增加。

邁克爾麥克里里（Michael McCreary）說，過去，投資者希望獲得的租金回報是房屋總價的1%，也就是說如果一棟住宅的價值是10萬美元，那麼投資者期望的月租金是1千美元，年回報率為12%。

麥克里里是房地產中介公司McCreary Realty的老闆，這家公司管理著亞特蘭大地區大約300處房產。麥克里里稱，如今他的投資者中一些人得到的房租回報高達房價的2%。

不過，一般而言，扣除費用後的平均回報率要大幅降低，大概在房價的5至6%，房地產市場預測公司Local Market Monitor的總裁因戈文策爾（Ingo Winzer）表示，即使如此，也比其他許多投資的收益率要高得多。

先別急著去找合適的房源，行動之前要記住：擁有可出租住宅是一項耗時、費錢而且麻煩不斷的投資，而且不少投資者都在這上面栽了跟斗。下面我們來對一些常見的誤區做一番瞭解。

誤區1：把廉價交易當作好交易

誠然，你能以極低的價格買到一些房子，不過這並不意味著你就能把這些房子租出去。偏僻地區的住宅不但對買房者毫無吸引力，租客同樣對這類房子不感興趣。這個道理也適用於那些不那麼受青睞的房產或是位於不太好的學區的房子。

房地產管理公司Home Pointe Property Management的羅伯特馬沙多（Robert A.Machado）說，來自舊金山的投資者常常會在薩克拉門托（Sacramento）高價買房，以為那裡的房子能給他們帶來像加州舊金山灣區（Bay Area）一樣高的房租回報，結果卻證明他們支付的價格過高了。馬沙多通過很多途徑來評估房租價格，其他業內人士則建議仔細考察週邊的公寓，不僅要看房 租，還要看他們是否提供特別優惠。

誤區2：忽略了關鍵成本

單單知道了可能獲得的租金回報還不夠。買房前，你還要考慮到大約佔交易總金額3至6%的交易結算費用、修葺和維護房子的開銷以及你持有房產的成本。然後算上你期望獲得的回報，只有這樣你才能算出你能買得起甚麼樣的房子。

誤區3：忘記了時間就是金錢

房地產經銷商Home Vestors Of America總裁戴維希克斯（David Hicks）稱，在房地產投資上，時間是你最大的敵人。

如果房子空置沒有人住，不管這時候你是在粉刷房子還是在等待招新租客，你就是在虧錢。若你在秋季買下一套房子卻等到春季才裝修完，那麼你也在虧錢。從經濟上來看，接受較低的租金比等一個願意付高價的租客或許更劃算。

誤區4：以為能坐等租金自己飛進口袋來

房地產公司Get There First Realty的馬克科萊蒂特（Mark Kreditor）說：“一旦你做了房東，你就成了一個房租催討者。”這家房地產公司在達拉斯－沃思堡地區管理著1千600家出租房屋。

就像買房子的人可能付不起貸款一樣，租房子的人也可能丟掉工作然後無法付房租。趕他們出去可能需要幾週時間，有些租客還會偷屋子裡的電器或是其他東西。科萊蒂特說，一個月總有那麼一兩次，租客在搬出去的時候將屋子裡的銅管偷出去賣廢品。

誤區5：低估維修成本

跟所有擁有住宅的人一樣，你將面臨大量維修工作。出租房屋的地毯通常每5年就必須更換一次，而且每次更換租客時，你都必須重新刷一遍房子。全國住宅管理者協會會長托尼德羅斯特（Tony A.Drost）建議留出6個月的費用以備需要重大維修時使用。

誤區6：將出租房屋等同於自己的住宅

人們住自己的房子時可能接受一些瑕疵，租房子住時卻不願湊合。另外，美國許多州和社區都針對房 東制定了嚴格（且繁復）的法律，哪怕是你只有這一套住宅也必須遵守。房屋中介能幫你解決大部份麻煩事，不過你需要支付他們一個月的房租作為尋找以及甄選租 客的傭金，而且還要支付管理費，最多為月租金的10%。

Source: 星洲日報／投資致富‧置產有道

The rising cost of education

One of the biggest worries for parents nowadays is how to fund their children’s education, which does not come cheap.

In addition, as with everything else, education expenses, be it in foreign and local colleges/universities, private primary and secondary schools, are expected to trend upwards in future.

According to CTLA Financial Planners Sdn Bhd managing director Mike Lee, the trend is upwards as far as education costs are concerned.

“In predicting the future, we can only use assumptions such as cost and inflation factors in child education planning.

“The general increase for local studies is about 3% per year and foreign about 5% and this applies to a general business degree of three years,” he tells StarBizweek. (see table)

The increasing cost is due to rising inflation as a result of hikes in food and accomodation expenses, travelling costs, books and exam fees as well as salaries, among other factors.

E.T. Education Services Sdn Bhd managing director Matthew Gan sees an average increase of between 5% to 7% annually in education costs for studies locally and in countries such as Britain, United States, Australia, Canada and Singapore (excluding foreign exchange rate fluctuations).

“Moreover, there are certain years where the increase can be in a lump sum instead of percentage depending on the circumstances,” he says.

Whitman Independent Advisors Sdn Bhd managing director Yap Ming Hui has tagged a 6% inflation rate per annum for the cost of a university education locally or overseas.

“Parents nowadays have higher expectations when it comes to their children’s education unlike before so there is a tendency to send them to private or international schools and foreign universities.

“So education becomes more expensive,” he says.

For example, business for private school Sri KDU has been flourishing since it opened its doors in 2003 with enrolment increasing to some 2,400 students currently from 500 when it first began.

Marketing manager Rina Thiagu-Kler says school fees for primary and secondary education range from RM15,000 to RM17,000 per annum with an average 10% increase in fees every two years.

Sri KDU is also expanding – its international school for secondary education is expected to be ready next year. In general, primary and secondary education in an international school is in the range of RM30,000 per annum.

So how can parents have sufficient funds for their children’s education? Lee says three things have to be considered simultaneously to ensure that money is available when needed - investment for returns such as units trusts, equities and property; insurance for protection and will needs to be written to protect the child or family in case the breadwinner dies.

“The common advice is to save and invest your money as early as possible. Let your money grow with your child,” he advises.

He says one should save according to what one can afford for the time being which is a good start. As one’s income increases, then the savings goes up as well.

“This way, parents do not feel the pressure and find that starting early will allow a smooth continuation of the funding over the years,” Lee says.

AbacusForMoney.com founder and chief executive officer Carol Yip says the ideal approach is to start saving as much cash as possible and then multiply it by investing in investment vehicles to hedge against the increase in cost of living and education.

Yip says there are several approaches to savings and investment strategies. First, choose a strategy where the investment product has capital growth and if possible has income yield in the long term, for example, property investments.

Second, have a portfolio of several types of investment assets that will give you investment returns over a period of time to meet the education costs. Third, select an investment strategy that enables you to buy and sell your investments for capital growth such as company shares and venture capital investments.

“More importantly, the chosen investment strategy must suit the parents’ style and preferences in managing investments because it is a lifelong pursuit until the child is financially independent and able to make a living for himself or herself,” Yip says.

Whitman’s Yap says some of the common mistakes parents make when saving for their child’s education fund are starting too late, saving without investing and not considering foreign exchange fluctuations for those who aim to send their children overseas.

“It is important to determine what the education costs are in current value and identify a suitable savings and investment vehicle.

“Some parents don’t even have a clue how much education costs,” he says.

refer to next article: education plan

Source: The star news online

小故事学习: 创造未来

故事:-

一位记者采访三个建筑工人时, 问了他们同样的问题: “你在做什么” 第一个工人回答: “我正在砌一堵墙.” 第二个回答: “我正在盖一栋房子.” 第三个回答: “我正在为人们建造漂亮的家园.”

若干年后, 当记者再次找到他们时, 万分惊奇地发现: 当年第一个工人现在还是一个普通的建筑工人, 依然像以前一样砌墙; 而在施工现场拿着图纸的设计师竟然是当年的第二个工人; 至于第三个工人, 他现在成了一家房地产公司的老板, 前两个工人正为他工作.

激励心法:

你造就你的梦想, 你的梦想又造就你.

生命可以是一段奇妙的旅行, 也可以什么都不是.

当你能飞的时候就要趁势高飞,

当你能梦的时候就要勇敢逐梦.

向猶太人學致富術

“股神”接班人事件無聲落幕，不論波克夏形象是否受損，巴菲特的地位仍絲毫無損。猶太人是天生會賺錢的民族，除了“股神”，Google兩位創辦人及蘭桂坊之父盛智文，都是表表者。

20出頭就赴美與猶太人共事的專業談判師學會會長兼香港市務學會講師趙彼得總結，猶太人賺錢秘技在於重誠信、守時及有一套尋找商機的模式。“只要懂得與他們共處，等於能克服所有危機，馳騁商場無往而不利。”

美國人的財富，大部份落在猶太人手上，不論金融、學術以至科學界，猶太人均獨佔鰲頭。趙彼得坦言，其智慧是經過歷史磨練：“猶太人身份本來卑微，大屠殺時意識到行動要快才可避過子彈，為了求存，就要掌握時間，也需懂得尋找逃生機會。”

遲到等同不尊重神

猶太人敬重神，認為不尊重時間，等同不尊重神的賦予。開會、送貨時間一定要準，不然他們會認為你對神不敬，會給你懲罰。簡單說，即是你送貨不準時或貨物有瑕疵，他們會要求退貨或賠償，你的損失將會很慘重。

當年趙彼得以香港Top Sales身份被猶太老闆羅致，20多歲即坐正副總裁。捧到上天，不過頭兩年的工作壓力，令他處於無地自容：“他們要求很高，目標一定要達到。惟有提供賺錢方法，才令他們刮目相看。”

曾兩度跳槽失敗，第一次因為“比預約時間早了20分鐘”，第二次是“未能在限時3分鐘內提供賺 錢方法”，他從教訓中學精：“直接致電負責人說，我有個製造汽水的新配方，產品一定大賣，可極速打敗現時的飲品龍頭。”強勢說話方式，最能引起興趣；想加 強效果，更可說：“不用3分鐘，我20秒就能告訴你如何賺大錢！”

能擔任猶太企業集團高層，趙彼得的方法是學懂談判、融入其宗教和文化，把自己當成猶太人。

金科玉律

● 從不妥協：即使有外來因素影響，也必須達到目的。

● 重視時間：不容許早到或遲到，例如見工早到也不會獲聘，凡事必須準時有計劃。

● 尋找商機：只接受能獲利的營商提議，而提議者必須做得到，否則會討回雙倍損失。

● 擅於交際：應酬從不吝嗇，懂得拋磚引玉，好客又豪爽。

● 幽默時尚：經常笑面迎人如沐春風，談吐風趣充滿魅力；注重儀表，整潔高雅，員工不剪指甲會被視為不尊重工作及合作夥伴，必遭解僱。

● 見識廣博：喜歡閱讀且教育程度高，勤力，視知識為做人哲學；沒學識的人多數無法融入。

● 不易記仇：今天是敵人，他日也可視為合作夥伴，只要有才幹和賺錢能力，必會招攬。

● 分析力強：精於算術，心思細密，熟知天下事故能察覺端倪，在其面前說謊會被識破。

● 一諾千金：簽定合約就無退縮餘地，誠信破損後再無合作機會。

猶太富豪教育經

1. 從小理財
金錢概念清晰

猶太小孩滿周歲，父母就會送股票作禮；3歲能辨認紙幣、硬幣；5歲知道何謂買賣和如何賺錢；7歲懂得看標籤價格；8歲去打工賺錢學儲蓄；11歲要懂得辨識廣告伎倆和銀行術語。

例子：巴菲特11歲在父親證券行打工並學習投資；14歲利用送報紙賺來的1千200美元買下40英畝土地，並轉租給佃農，累聚龐大財富。盛智文也在10歲開始賺錢，20歲已擁100萬加元財富。

2. 自小愛閱讀
見聞廣博

父母從小培養子女閱讀習慣，灌輸“智慧”是別人無法搶走的唯一東西，任何話題都能談上，商場作風豪爽健談。

例子：海洋公園主席盛智文19歲在時裝公司打工，20歲出頭來港工作，31歲看到香港欠缺特色西餐廳，於是在蘭桂坊開了一家，看準市場商機發展飲食事業，成為“蘭桂坊之父”。2004年獲委任為海洋公園主席，近年擴展夢幻水都吸引遊客，從容面對迪士尼挑戰。

3. 具創業野心
洞察先機

猶太人重視宗教，更有集民族千年智慧的營商聖經《塔木德》，世代傳誦，書中提到致富可靠後天培養，能力不是天生。惟有洞察商機，比人快一步，才可成龍。

例子：Larry Page、Sergey Brin意識網絡發展空間龐大，創辦Google。

Reference: 星洲日报:

Education Plan

Education plans should have the following features:-

• Education fund at child's college age -- which allows you to withdraw funds when your child reaches certain ages such as 18 or 21 years old.
• Payor benefit (should either one or both parents die or become incapacitated, the plan runs by itself)

There are 2 ways to fund your child's education plan:

• Insurance Education Plan
• Unit trust

Insurance Education Plan

Insurance education plan's features normally have payor benefits. One significant advantage of such plan is that should the contributor die or be totally and permanently disabled, the future payments due until the plan matures are immediately waived. The beneficiary will receive the benefits as defined in the plan, i.e., the child's education fund is secured no matter what happens.

Another advantage of using insurance education plan is the tax deduction.

Education Planning through Unit Trust

However, if you choose to fund your child education by investing in unit trust, remember to complement it with an equivalent term life plan, so that should the payor die or become incapacitated, the there will still be a fund for your child to continue pursue his or her education dream.

The investment portfolio must also be monitored closely and rebalanced every year, so that as the child's age grows closer to his or her tertiary education age, the fund should be rebalanced to more conservative portfolios.

Reference: YKconsultancy

6 Important Reasons Why You Should Set Goals

“You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.” – Zig Ziglar

Do you set goals for yourself? What are your goals for the next 12 months? How about 3 years from now? 5 years? 10 years? What are your aspirations that you look towards coming true?

Goal setting is the first step towards successful goal achievement. It marks your first point towards success. It is what put your life into real action mode. Without this step, the other steps of goal achievement cannot take place.

Have you ever encountered people who have a passive approach towards life? They don’t set any goals and they just live life on a meandering, day-to-day basis. You see them 1 year, 3 years, 5 years from now, and their lives are largely the same, save for a few changes that are really more the result of others’ actions and desires rather than their own.

Below are 6 key reasons why setting goals is so important:

1. Gives Clarity On Your End Vision

As the opening quote by Bill Copeland put it across very adeptly, if you don’t have a goal in life, you are spending your life running around and not achieving anything for yourself. You get the illusion that you are doing a lot of things, but they aren’t what you want. You are just busy fulfilling everyone’s goals. It can be the fast food industry enjoying your patronage because you’re lovin’ it, multi-billion dollar consumer goods companies securing your purchase because they convinced you that their haircare products with 76% frizz reduction is something you need, fashion houses getting you to buy their clothes because it makes you look cool, or you working in a job you don’t love because it is safe, secure and rakes in the dough.

How are you supposed to manifest what you want if you don’t even set concrete goals? How do you supposed to achieve your dreams and visions if you don’t clearly spell out the end output you desire?

Setting your goals gives you clarity on what you ultimately want. It makes you crystallize and articulate the desires floating in your mind. It ensures that you are channeling your time, energy and efforts into things that really matter to you. It makes you live more consciously.

Everything in this world is created twice: First – creation in your mind, followed by the manifestation in reality. Without the mental creation, there will be no physical creation. When you set a goal, you already accomplish the first creation. You have set into motion a decree for yourself and the forces of your universe to materialize the goal in the physical reality.

2. Drives You Forward

Your goals are a representation of your inner desires; desires which motivate you in life. The point when you set goals marks one the points when you are most connected with your source of motivation. It is when your motivation is at its peak. Having goals at your side serve as constant reminders of your motivational sources. They are the fuel which drive you forward and keep you going when the going gets tough.

If I ever experience moments where I lose motivation, I get into meditation mode and focus on some of my most important goals in life, including the goal to turn my personal development business into a full-time career. I will visualize the scenario with full mental clarity, as if it is happening in the now. When I do that, it’s like a clear connection is formed with my inner desires. The motivational energy suddenly surges through very readily and I channel this energy into my daily life and actions.

3. Gives You Laser Focus

Goals give you a single focal point to place your attention in. Whereas your purpose gives you a broad, directional focus to move your life in, goals gives you laser focus on what exactly to spend your time and energy on. Think of your time, energy and efforts as input, and results as the output. A goal acts as your funnel which guides and channels those inputs effectively into your desired output.

When you don’t have goals, you are floating around every day. Your energy is randomly dispersed in ad-hoc activities which you engage on whimsical basis. These are activities that play no role in your larger scope of life, but you are not aware of because you are just living life as it is. You end up mislabeling a lot of ‘nice-to-do’ activities as important. You might also be engaging in these ‘nice-to-do’ activities because you can’t think of a better way to spend your time. Do you find yourself surfing and chatting excessively? Busy running errands? Play a lot of games? Spend the bulk of your time being a workaholic? Spend the remaining time lazing and/or partying away? What’s your objective for doing them? What end output does it lead to? Is that the top priority in your life?

You may have a broad idea of what you want to do. But until you clearly articulate it out as specific goals, you are not channeling your efforts properly. You will often find yourself getting sidetracked because you don’t have goals to rein you in. It’s really quite easy to get swept away by the currents of everyday life, simply because there are so many stimulus out there in our environment. You may get the general overall impression that you are moving in the direction, but it is just an illusion that you are having. With no goals, you have no focus. Without this focus, your input is strewn around randomly to give you garbage output. That is, if you even get any semblance of an output at all.

4. Makes You Accountable

Having goals makes you accountable. Rather than just talking about what you want all the time and not do anything concrete about them, you are now obligated to take action. Setting a specific goal gives you clarity on whether you are living up against what you committed yourself to do when you first set your goal.

This accountability is accountability to yourself, not anyone else. This accountability is what you hold up to when you choose the healthy salad over that piece of fried chicken. It is what you answer to when you spent that hour working on your report rather than random web surfing. When you stay accountable towards your goals, you are in fact staying true to your desires (see point 1 above).

For my blog, one of the goals I set is the number of articles which I want to post every month. When I set such targets in place, I become accountable towards delivering against it. If I find myself falling short, I will take the necessary actions to turn the situation around. I examine how I have been spending my time and start prioritizing across my daily tasks. I cut out the Quadrant 4 tasks (time wasters) or activities that bear little to no relation to my goals. From this, I have reduced considerable time on my biggest time wasters, including chatting, random web surfing, constantly checking my mail/web stats, certain outings which are not as important compared to my writing goal.

5. Be The Best You Can Be

Goals help you achieve your highest potential. Without goals, you subject yourself to the natural, default set of actions that keep you feel safe and comfortable every day. But this familiarity is the nemesis of growth. It prevents you from growing. It does not enable you to become the best person you can be. It denies you from tapping into all that potential inside of you.

By setting goals, you set targets to strive against. These targets make you venture into new places, new contexts, new situations which puts you into growth mode. They make you stretch beyond your normal self and reach new heights. For example, setting a time limit for your run lets you know if you should be running faster. Setting a weight loss target makes you aware if your actions have been effective in losing weight. Setting a career goal ensures you are not settling for anything less than what you desire.

In my goal achievement processes, I have found myself constantly bursting through new grounds and uncovering potential which I did not know existed before. Without those goals, I would be taking the path of least resistance, just doing things within their natural constraints. Goals have made me face and overcome countless barriers to get to what’s on the other side. It has made me much more self aware and learn a lot more things about both myself and life, compared to if I did not have those goals.

6. Live Your Best Life

Goals ensure you get the best out of life, for two reasons.

Firstly, by becoming a better person, your new found knowledge and abilities let you experience more out of the same life events compared to the previous you. Think about how your worldview is different now vs the you 10 years ago. Do you see life with much more clarity, depth and perspective today than you were in the past? What may be a simple daily occurrence in the past holds a lot more meaning to the more highly evolved you today.

Secondly, time passes in our life, whether we want to or not. Goals with specific measures and deadlines ensure we are maximizing our output and experiences during our time here. If you have already discovered your life purpose, your goals will ensure you get the best out of your purpose.

Imagine you are driving a car. When you identify your purpose, you get clarity on the direction to travel in. However, without specifying an exact destination and time frame, there is no yardstick to benchmark your progress against. It wouldn’t make a difference whether you are whizzing at an amazing 140km/hour or a paltry 10km/hour since you never set a target. Goals ensure you are maximizing your life for all that it can offer you.

Start Setting Goals

Ask yourself this – What are my goals for the upcoming 1 year, 3 years, 5, 10 years?

If you are to take some time out to set your goals now, I can guarantee you that you will definitely experience more growth as a person. By just spending a few minutes to articulate some aspirations that have been in your mind, you will experience more progress in your life a year from now than compared to if you don’t.

Reference: Celestine Chua, Zig Ziglar

保险十大黄金价值 Part 2

价值六：亲有所奉------饮水思源父母恩，人寿保险养双亲

难题：交通意外作为造成青年人死亡的第一杀手，已经成了名副其实的“世界第一害”，而来自疾病、不安全食品、危险工作，甚至娱乐场所等方方面面的安全大敌，更是每时每刻都在窥探着年轻的生命。

解难：如果你是一个有爱心的孝子，不管收入多少，请先为自己购买一份费用不高的纯意外险，受益人写上父母的名字，当你遇到不测，保险可以代你尽到儿女的奉养义务。

价值七：残有所仗------意外、疾病致身残，保险保障我尊严

难题：企业安全隐患大，社会工伤保障低，一旦发生人身伤残事故，不仅自己失去有尊严的饿生活，家庭和孩子的正常生活也难以保障。

解难：如果没有保障，那些因工意外致残，或因疾病等导致伤残者，会因为生活保障的缺少而丧失尊严，而保险可以为人生增加一层坚实的“安全保护网”。

价值八：钱有所积------小钱变大钱，增值保障又安全

难题：“月光族”，反映出年轻一代的储蓄与消费观，其实，不只是年轻人，对于持有及时行乐观念的人来说，他们手里的钱即使放在银行，也很难真正实现财富积累。

解难：许多保险产品，每年只需投入千八百的小钱，10年、20年后，就会变成一笔不小的财富。

价值九：产有所保------最安全的保值方法就是购买保险

难题：随着社会经济活动内容的日益丰富，投资渠道和投资品种之多，已经让普通民众无所适从，而更让人担忧的是，许多人仍然没有足够的保险观念和意识。

解难：无论是养老型还是投资型保险产品，大都具有既保值又有可能增值的功能，更为重要的是，这种产品还可以兼具意外、医疗、住院补贴等多重保障功能。金融动荡市道中，可以说没有什么东西比购买保险产品更保险的。至于家财险，品种亦十分丰富，既有保障型的也有投资型的，既有短期的也有长效的，既有基本险也有综合险。

价值十：财有所承------积累一生财富，无憾惠泽亲人

难题：即使是身家资产千万的有钱人，也少不了因投资实业、购房置地、买车等等背负银行贷款，一旦自身遭遇不测，留给亲人的将不是财富而是负债的烦恼。

解难：总有人觉得名下的财富不仅可以让自己安享晚年，还能令子孙享用不尽，殊不知，一场意外足以让所有财富灰飞烟灭，而只有人寿保险可破解此难题。

Reference: 保销国际文化

保险十大黄金价值 Part 1

价值一：老有所养------保险确保晚年人生安享无忧

难题：活得太久，大大增加了退休后的生活、医疗保健费用，通货膨胀让未来充满不确定性，老龄化高峰期将至，社会统筹养老金缺口越发扩大，养儿防老靠不住。

解难：生老病死是所以生物必经的生命过程。每个人都无法控制自己的“生死”，但是却完全可以将“老”掌控在自己手中。虽然养老面临诸多难题，但人寿保险可以确保每个人都能老有所养，安享有尊严的老年生活。

价值二：病有所医------保险让百姓生病看得起，生活不打折

难题：好多人都没有真正了解医保“只保不包”的性质，即医疗费并不能全额报销，它有严格的个人给付比例，有医保承担的封顶线和重大疾病支付比例，还有用药范围、检查支付范围等明确规定，而且一个家庭的破产往往是从一个人得了重大疾病开始，是让人病不“起”的高昂医疗费用。

解难：“健康是1，其他是0”，其重要性无人不知！然而无论圣贤抑或百姓，谁都无法保证不被疾病侵扰，而重大疾病险等健康保险却可为人们提供充足的“弹药”以对抗、甚至击退疾病大敌。

价值三：爱有所继------保险是让亲情、大爱得以延续的保证

难题：2008年中国经历了太多的不幸：汶川地震、南方暴风雪、三鹿事件、接二连三的矿难.....生活到处充满危机，生命之轻无以承受。

解难：没有人能预知生命中的不幸，我们能做的就是，在我们还安好的时候，为自己购买足够的人寿保险，因为一旦发生不测，只有保险会将我们的爱延续到父母、妻儿、兄弟姐妹的生命中。

价值四：幼有所护------保险为孩子的教育规划及成长保驾护航

难题：养大一个孩子需要花多少钱？可能许多做父母的对此都是一笔糊涂帐，这是因为真爱无价。入学赞助费、择校费、辅导费和兴趣班等费用，可哪一位父母甘心让孩子输在起跑线上呢？“起跑线”已将金钱推得高高在上，留学国外，好梦难圆。

解难：在西方发达国家，之所以寿险保单普及率高，就是因为许多父母早就考虑大，一旦自己遭遇意外，孩子的成长及教育无法保障，重视教育是中华民族的优良传统，独生子女政策让父母更加重视孩子的成长和教育，因此，中国的父母更应该购买人寿保险，确保孩子的教育、成长一路畅通无阻。

价值五：壮有所倚------保险免除后顾之忧，全力打拼成就事业

难题：无论有无专业技能，在市场经济中每个人都会面临失业的社会风险，此时若再遭逢意外、疾病等，正可谓：福无双至，祸不单行。

解难：随着计划经济体制的改变，人们在面临发展机会的同时，也面临丢掉“饭碗”的险境，而人寿保险足以消除因失业、意外、疾病等可能带来的生活隐忧。

Reference: 保销国际文化