Eyes On Retirement

I recently re-balanced the family's insurance schemes. I remember just when i was just starting out, my cousin once told me to buy only Term + Critical illness insurance. I didn't listen and bought an investment linked plan from one of my friends (he played the friend card, which is annoying). They guarantee you 3% returns or something similar, along with coverage. I bought the Manulink Flexi plan on Nov 1 2008, and had it for 89 months (7years, 5months). Monthly premium was $206.59. Total Premium paid was $18386.51. I remember getting back only around 11k when i surrendered this policy. Basically I paid $7386.51 in total for term + critical insurance coverage for the 7+ years, about 1k per year. Looking back, i did not require such coverage as i didn't have any dependents. Lets see the figures comparing what i would've otherwise gotten, had i invested in a stable dividend stock/reit, since the premise is that this policy is not necessary. I'm looking at a t

Over the past few days, we've seen Creative shares (SGX: C76) rocket from $1 to $9+, and drop back down to $7+.  To those employees of Creative, better sell now while you can. To those who managed to catch this crazy 8x increase, congratulations! Being in my 30's, my investment strategy is to accumulate excellent companies and below average prices.  The reason why Creative's shares have appreciated so much is due to the introduction of their "Super X-Fi" technology, details can be found  at their website here.  In short, they claim users who attach their dongle to any pair of existing headphones can   experience a full surround sound. MSRP at USD150.  On their operating profit,  Creative in the 2Q ended December posted a net loss of US$4.2 million, narrowing from its US$6.5 million loss a year ago.  Seems to me they are betting the house on the success of this SXFi technology and the share punters seem to follow suit.  I'd adopt a wait and