Up the ante for retirement fund via CPF-SA

Ever wonder how much difference can that additional 'paltry' 1.5% (2.5% for OA; 4% for SA) can make?

Try this calculator I created n please do let me know if any error has been spotted! 10u! ^_^

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mRa0SBSOi-u9co068tchICn4OR59hkmk7qq0dmaN8qU/edit?usp=sharing

RETIREMENT

Recently, there have been talks about raising the retirement age.

Many wonder why the need to raise the retirement age.
- is it due to the lack of manpower? lack of expertise?
- or are people simply not saving enough for their retirement, hence the need to "up" the retirement age...?

Just wondering...
What is the most important factor in considering the big WHEN to retire?
- money / health / because it is the official age to do so...


Will raising the retirement age = wait longer to start relying on CPF?  :C

Home prices ‘to fall 20%' by 2016

read:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/home-prices-to-fall-20-by/1354620.html

so many are complaining about expensive houses in Singapore.

BUT what if prices of homes fall by 20%?
will many start complaining about falling (negative?) values of their homes?

according to the report - loan curb, slower flow of foreign workers and rising interests rate may cause up to 20% fall in home prices. wow~!

should this happens, will this fall attracts investors to start speculating / entering the property market?

or will this fall mark the start of a new era where people will no longer see property as a form of lucrative investment?

when is enough, enough?

how much should one have in order to retire 'comfortably'?

and by the time the 'target (savings)' is reached, will one already be leading a more luxurious life than he/she did when setting the target?

hence, realizing the first target is actually invalid unless lifestyle change can be accepted.

if only we can remain 'humble' materially ...

SGX - reduced lot from 1000 to 100 from 19/01/15

As per announcement by SGX, lot size will be reduced from the current 1000 to 100.

Yippy or Nay?

Although one will have easier access to buying 'expensive' stock - UOB, DBS blah blah... it is good that even small fry like myself can buy counters I probably wldn't see myself even touching... lol

can diversify my portfolio already~ must get ready war-chest. ;P

but then unless commission will be lowered (like SCB), this will mean a trade needs higher margin to breakeven, especially when one buy only 1 lot...

so will we see more trading thru SCB, or reduced comm... ? this waits to be seen.

REITs VS Physical Properties (shop house, condo...)

Read an interesting article:
https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reasons-why-reits-better-physical-property-investments-073352202.html

I wonder which is your preference if you can only choose one?

Below will be my personal thoughts. :D

1.Lesser capital needed for REIT. (---)

• no need to have the required down-payment (min. 20% for 1st property in sg or no other housing loan) when purchasing properties.
• no headaches - interests, property tax, rental increases annual taxable income.
• however, there is no leverage for REIT - For a property (1 mil), after a 20% down-payment (200k), one might be able to start collecting rental of (4.5k/mth * 12 = 54k; 5.4%). Leveraging can be good or bad, depending on situation. Imagine after the down-payment, mortgage settled off by rental itself, the price of the property shot up and can be sold off at a hefty profit. Haven't even 'owned' the house but can profit from it alr... woohooo~! 

2.Can diversify. (REIT)

• can 'buy' hospitals (first / parkway / raffles medical groups), hotels (fragrance / frasers hospitality trust), residential (saizen), shopping malls (Capitaland), offices (keppel)... unless one is very rich, such a diversified portfolio will require substantial time and effort and a lot of S-11.

3.Easy buy, easy sell. (REIT)

• Purchasing a property can be easy as well, but one needs to pay for agent's fees and a lot of paperwork. Selling can be difficult... when there simply isn't enough 'qualified' buyers (TDSR)...
• Purchasing reits, however, is a few clicks away from buying and selling 

4.Dividends VS Rental (---)

• Dividends is just like rental but there is no 'fixed contract'... so albeit a possible steady stream of income, the amount is not fixed.
• However, with a terror tenant, we might need to spit blood and act like 'ah-long' (loansharks) just to collect rental (mthly basis).

5.Management team does the work. (---)

• With the mgmt team doing the hard work, especially the good ones, one can relax and just wait for dividends to keep rolling in. However, as a minor shareholders, one doesn't have any say in deciding how the team should go about doing their work... ...sometimes, we just want to be heard, right? ;P
• With a terror tenant, can only scream 'torlong (OMG) arh!'

7.Cannot hao lian... lol (PHYSICAL)

• I am not sure if this is a phenomenon in Singapore (or my group) or worldwide... when telling friends about investing in properties, everyone seems to think this is a smart move and start thinking more properties = bigger pockets... BUT isn't that = more LOANS? more DEBTS? unless one clear the mortgage -=scratch head=- 

        Everyone start echoing how properties price will only go up (ahem, what is happening now then?) especially when white paper is planning a 6.9mil in population and starts to kpo kpo and want to find out your buy price, where, how big, rental... almost everything about the property, like they are going to buy over...  imagine how many "like" you will have when you post pics of your properties on facebook ^_^

but when talking about REIT, a lot will say must exercise caution and not safe one... and the topic drops dead. nobody cares and want to know more... Geez...

It is a tough call, personally, I favor and prefer physical properties than REIT but if we can't break into the property market... are we really going to sit and do nothing at all... ...?  

CPF

Much has been going on about CPF, minimum sum yada yada...

But I place my faith in the system.

Ask anyone who has done some forms of investing, are they so sure they will get 4 - 5% P.A year on year?

How much faith does one really have on themselves that they will never splurge big time. no matter what happens? (Have you ever spent unnecessarily as a form of (retail) therapy? Or perhaps to please TT SPECiAL someone?)

We can scream and wail at the system, but do we have a (better) sound and plausible one in mind?

Wait, does yelling even change anything?

If not why not embrace the system and make ourselves a happier person? :D

OCBC 360 ... up to 3.05% (max: $50,000)

Source : http://ocbc.com.sg/personal-banking/accounts/360-account.html

mia hiam buai pai la... 3.05% better than .05% by xN leh! :D
gin gin! best deal in town alr... 

Note:

1. Credit salary - Trouble HR (1 TIME ONLY) (only valid for GIRO-SALARY) 
2. Pay 3 bills / mth - Tax + Hp + Insurance + + + more than 3 bills alr... :C
3. Apply for OCBC credit card and spend at least $400 / mth.

Based on the calculator provided, for 50k one gets additional $1500 / yr (if the offer stays for a year). Not a bad deal for a sound night. 

Will you bite?