But for the Grace of God

The current financial crisis seems worse than the 1997 crisis and I can't help feeling somewhat uneasy even though I know that being in the civil service, my rice bowl is not in imminent danger. In fact I have been feeling immensely thankful that my financial planner made me take out my funds from a unit trust that I had been talked into investing in and putting the funds into an insurance policy that would mature next year. I was especially moved by the picture in The Straits Times that showed an old woman with tears streaming down her face because her life savings had been wiped out overnight. And I thought to myself, that but for the grace of God that would have been me.

If you have never been pressured by the bank salespeople you would not really appreciate the position these people are in. I remember how the bank salesperson took me aside from the queue I was in and talked me into buying the unit trust. I think the biggest sign of how I had been blindsided was when all I could tell my financial planner about the unit trust I had bought was that I got a free handphone from the deal :) He kept watch on the unit trust and told me when to pull out. I lost about 2k but looking back now it was a small price to pay to learn that lesson. I think many of these sales people were really unethical and I'm really glad that MAS has called on banks to "do the right thing". It is a great maxim - that perhaps more people and policy makers should take to heart.