Roy Walker IFA - Financial Adviser In Dubai

Do take 2 minutes and watch this short video. In ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’ , James Surowiecki explains how groups can be remarkably intelligent – often more so than the smartest people in them.  This is particularly relevant to the price of individual stocks, or indeed other financial assets that are efficiently traded in a broad open market.  Dimensional Fund Advisors call this ‘The Power of Markets’, and in the above video they elegantly explain why you can’t beat the market – because the price is already ‘right’ on the basis of known information and crowd wisdom.

If you have an accident and become disabled so cannot work, or are diagnosed with a serious critical illness, … how will you survive financially? How will you live? Who will take care of you? Now, it’s self-evident that if your family relies on our income, then you need life insurance. What’s not so obvious is the other types of financial protection that are available, and why you might need them. Have no dependents and think you don’t need insurance? Think again… What’s The Point of Critical Illness Cover? People are living longer. The average lifespan of men and women is steadily increasing as a result of numerous factors - healthier lifestyles, nuturitional factors, and even simple genetics. Also, of course, the incredible advances in medical fields such as diagnostices, pharmaceticals, and surgical techniques amongst many others. Diseases and conditions that two decades were a death sentence are now quite survivable. But staying alive does not necessarily mean recovery or return to...

Professionals working abroad, and their families, have particular needs for health insurance. When you are away from your home country, access to quality healthcare is essential - both for emergencies and also general medical treatments that may be required from time to time. It is important to plan for the uncertainty of illness or injury, to make sure you can afford private medical care at the times you need it. If you took out health insurance back home, and haven’t checked if you’re covered when living abroad - check now ! National health insurance schemes have restrictions on cover when travelling abroad - they are not designed for those planning to permanently move abroad and cover often lapses after 90 days. That’s why you’ll need to look at options available from the specialist firms that provide international cover for expatriates. There are a wide range of policies available and numerous international medical insurance institutions. Using a broker will save you time and also ...

There are several different types of insurance, and if you download the LIA Guide To Life Insurance you will see Singapore-licenced products described such as Whole of Life, Universal Life and Term Life. A key feature for international professionals is portability - meaning that once the policy is in place, your coverage will stay in place pretty much wherever you live in the future. For expatriates and local professionals in Singapore, a common and popular form of life insurance (for insurance not investment purposes) is Term Insurance. Term Insurance Term insurance pays out a fixed sum on the death of the life assured. A term insurance policy provides life cover for a certain period of time, e.g. 20 years, so long as the premiums are paid regularly (usually monthly or annually). A term insurance policy for life cover only usually has a fixed premium due, which is guaranteed not to rise in the future as you get older. A term insurance policy does not accrue any cash-in value. At the...

If you have a spouse or family that is dependent on your income , then you need life insurance. Many professionals have some form of life insurance provided by their employer - called ‘death in service’ benefit. This might have a payout value of typically between 3 to 4 times salary. The problem is, because that sounds initially like a lot of money, many of us don’t bother to work out the actual amount of life cover we need. Moreover, we might not properly understand the terms of our employers insurance - does it apply at weekends? Holiday? What happens if I leave my job? When I sit down with clients to find out what is the true level of life insurance needed, it’s not uncommon to discover that perhaps 10 to 12 times salary should be the basic minimum. If you are an expat with life cover issued back in your home country - check your policy! Many onshore life insurance policies will not provide cover once you move abroad ; in which case, your monthly premium payments are wasted. Working...

Often we may start by buying a home to live in; it makes more sense to pay our own mortgage rather than rent a place and pay the landlord’s mortgage . ‘Getting on the rungs of the property ladder’ is common priority for many young couples. However with rising job mobility and larger sums needed for initial deposits, many people are rightly delaying a property purchase for a few years, rather than taking on financial obligations that would affect flexibility in the growth stages of a career. Property is an important asset class that should form part of our long term savings & investment strategy . However, matters such as home ownership are a personal and sometimes emotive subject. I make a point never to underestimate the sentimental factors that come to bear when I work with clients in this area. People often make financial decisions with an emotional bias , and this is seen nowhere more profoundly than with property. Your home in retirement In the long run, most of us should plan...

Click the icon on the right to download this article as a PDF. Dollar Cost Averaging II - How Any Investor Can Reduce Risk, Remove Stress, and Access Market Returns, Even In Times Of Market Volatility One of the first principles of financial planning is to ensure that the worst case scenario doesn’t happen. Ultimately, this is a fundamental reason for diversification. Notwithstanding all the mathematics and academic research behind portfolio construction and investment strategy, one thing nobody wants to suffer is a disastrous life-impacting financial loss. So what is ‘risk’ exactly? Well, it means different things to different people. In the world of financial academics, a common tool is variance measured as the standard deviation of thirty-six annualised monthly observations. This is the statistic used on many fund fact-sheets, and for example a fund with a standard deviation of 20% is deemed twice as volatile (twice as ‘risky’) as a fund with a standard deviation of 10%. However...

Source: Warren Buffett, the most successful investor in the world in the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman’s Letter 1997 I’m saving for the long term - should I be worried if share prices fall? “A short quiz: If you plan to eat hamburgers throughout your life and are not a cattle producer, should you wish for higher or lower prices for beef? Likewise, if you are going to buy a car from time to time but are not an auto manufacturer, should you prefer higher or lower car prices? These questions, of course, answer themselves. “But now for the final exam: If you expect to be a net saver during the next five years, should you hope for a higher or lower stock market during that period? “Many investors get this one wrong. Even though they are going to be net buyers of stocks for many years to come, they are elated when stock prices rise and depressed when they fall. In effect, they rejoice because prices have risen for the ‘hamburgers’ they will soon be buying. “This reaction makes no sense. Only ...

I have $100 to give you. Do you want it now, or in four year’s time? If you’re like most people, you’d rather have $100 now than wait to receive it in the future. You want the utility of that $100 now, for whatever purpose you choose - whether it’s to spend in the department store, save at the bank, or pay off your credit card. (Of course, if there was no such thing as inflation and no such thing as interest, and you didn’t actually need $100 right now, then maybe $100 in a four years time is equally fine. But let’s get back to the real world…) Financial modelling techniques such as Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) reflect the truth that $100 has more value now than in a year’s time, because we can put it to work for us. Inflation Erodes Real Value Let’s suppose that retail inflation (Consumer Price Index, CPI) is 5%. So a box of groceries that costs $100 today, will cost $105 in one year. Inflation will have eroded the purchasing power of your cash. An...

Has your adviser given you a factsheet on a recommended fund, and you need to understand what the terms mean? If so, read on … The fund factsheet is an essential document for the private investor. Unfortunately, the information contained in a factsheet - and the way it is presented - is not controlled in the same way as it is in a fund prospectus (a prospectus is a legal document). In essence a factsheet is marketing literature. Only a tiny fraction of investors ever read the formal prospectus for a fund, that’s why it’s especially important to be able to read a fund factsheet correctly, and if necessary to read between the lines. Key Contents Of A Factsheet Most fund factsheets will contain some or all of the following: Fund Name Many funds are commonly referred to by a short or abbreviated version of the full fund name. Hence it’s important to make use of the identifying codes (see below). Fund Management Company & Domicile The fund management company is structured and reg...

Tax planning for international investment is an extremely complex subject and you should always get expert advice to suit your circumstances. The following article is designed to give only a brief overview of the topic, and is not tax advice. Essential information about AEOI (Automatic Exchange of Information) and the CRS (Common Reporting Standard) Background Professional expatriates - engineers and scientists, business managers, consultants, and entrepreneurs, have for decades travelled the world following their careers. Taking international opportunities as they come along. Sometimes staying put where they land, but more often moving on again in a few years. When one project or career phase is complete, it’s time to seek out the next. Sooner or later, ending up back home; in line with the demands of children’s education, career or retirement objectives, or perhaps the need to care for parents. In planning for the future, it is perfectly normal that as expats we seek to put our ...