Tired of having to jump through hoops to earn bonus interest? Check out Dash PET, where you can easily get S$150 on your first S$10,000 within a year once you sign up and activate the FREE protection plan.

By now, the world has accepted that we are going to be in a low interest rate environment for at least the next few years. 

With the ever-changing rates, if you want to maximise how much you're getting on your savings or liquid cash funds, you might want to review the market offerings at least once a year to see what will give you the most bang for your buck.

While there are plenty of accounts out there that will reward you with bonus interest when you credit your monthly salary or spend a minimum amount on your card(s), the problem is that not everyone may be able to execute these actions.

• For instance, gig economy workers and self-employed business owners would likely have trouble meeting the first requirement, given that they don't always draw a monthly salary.
  
  
• For savvy consumers who ace their credit card game, they may not want to use the qualifying cards either because it may not give them the best rewards, cashback or miles for their spending.

If you're one of those struggling to fulfil these, there's still another great solution you can consider: Dash PET.

Why Dash PET?

In the current market, Dash PET offers the highest interest rate on your funds without requiring you to take extra actions every month. (As compared to current insurance savings plans available for subscription.)

For those who are new to Dash, it is a collaboration between Singtel Dash and Etiqa Insurance. Dash PET was launched to resounding success earlier this year, and functions as an insurance savings plan for people to park their funds in. 

Its rates have been extremely competitive, especially when you compare to other options available for consumers to choose from. If you didn’t catch the first round at 1.7% p.a., don’t worry, because Dash PET is now giving 1.5% p.a. with free insurance coverage, which is also a pretty good deal.

Simply sign up and activate your free (TPD) protection to get 1.3%* + 0.2%* p.a. on your funds.

That means you'll be getting S$150 on your first S$10,000 with no lock-in period, and the flexibility to withdraw your funds anytime. 

I've tested it out myself, and it is super easy to transfer funds between your Dash PET and Dash wallet or bank account.

What's more, I've reviewed Dash PET against other online insurance savings plans and no other competitor gives you this high for so little effort. Only one alternative comes close, and that requires you to spend at least S$500 monthly on your card to maintain the bonus interest paid. 

Which might not be feasible for many people, especially folks like me who believe only in using credit cards that give me 2-in-1 rewards i.e. cashback or miles on my actual spend, on top of bonus interest on my deposits with the financial institution. The card has to make it to my list of top cashback/miles cards in the first place in order for me to use it for the purpose of earning extra bonus interest on my savings, especially in this current market.

The good news is, you don't have to even think about this with Dash PET.

What coverage will I be getting?

The main benefit of parking your funds in insurance savings plans is that your capital is guaranteed and protected by SDIC. Some insurers also offer life protection and/or COVID-19 cover in today’s circumstances.

With Dash PET, without even forking out any extra cents, you'll be getting free coverage based on 5 times of your first S$10,000 in account value.

That means if you deposit S$5,000, you'll be covered for S$25,000 against Death & Total and Permanent Disability. If you deposit more than S$10k, you'll be protected for S$50k.

Do note that the payout will be provided for accidental death if total and permanent disability cannot be provisioned. This is free for your first Dash PET policy year, with charges applicable at prevailing rates thereafter (you’ll be notified) if you wish to maintain the cover.

Once you’ve filled in your details and submitted, it should take no more than a few days for your policy to be activated, and you’ll be able to see the updated status on your dashboard.

Can I get a higher rate?

Yes. If you want to earn even more interest up to 2.25%* p.a., you can also opt for additional coverage (provided that they're suitable for you) to boost your interest up to an additional 0.75% per year. You can get up to 0.25%^ p.a. returns for each of activated add-on protection.

There are 3 insurance plans that you can add on:

• Major Cancer
• Death & Total and Permanent Disability (TPD)
• Accidental Death

What's the catch?

These rates are pretty rare in today's environment, especially for an online product.

Your first S$10,000 will earn 1.5%* in total once you sign up and activate the free insurance. Above and beyond that, you'll be earning 0.3%* p.a.

Of course, given how attractive this is, each consumer is also limited to only S$30,000.

Note that you'll have to also maintain at least S$50 in your account value at all times.

If you have more than S$30,000 in emergency funds, I suggest that you may want to spread them out across different accounts to maximise what you get on them.

Screenshot from Singtel Dash app

Sponsored Message

Use promo code DASHBABE when you sign up for the app and get up to $20 cashback in 1 October to 30 November 2021. Here’s how it works:

Sign up for Dash PET (with a minimum of $5,000 and activation of the free protection) and get $10 cashback. 

For the remaining $10 cashback, make an eligible transaction within 30 days (e.g. minimum $3 eligible payment or minimum $100 remittance) and get $3. The second remittance transfer of minimum $100 will get you another $7.

Disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with Singtel Dash.

Disclaimers:

The information is meant purely for informational purposes and should not be relied upon as financial advice.

*For the first policy year, 1.30% p.a. up to S$10,000 and 0.30% p.a. for subsequent amount in Account Value. Crediting rate is non-guaranteed.

*Additional 0.2% p.a. to the existing 1.3% p.a. returns for your first S$10,000 Dash PET savings during the first policy year while the complimentary protection is active. Complimentary Accidental Death coverage will be offered for the same sum duration if you are not eligible for this add-on protection. Sum assured will be based on your age and occupation.

*Additional interests of up to 0.25% p.a. from each activated payable add-on protection applies to the first S$10,000 account value of your active Dash PET policy.

Dash PET is not a bank account or a fixed deposit. It is an insurance savings plan that earns a crediting interest rate. This policy is underwritten by Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd. (Company Reg. No. 201331905K).

This advertisement is for general information only. Full details of the policy terms and conditions can be found in the policy contract on dash.com.sg/dashpet. Terms apply.

Protected up to specified limits by SDIC. For more information on the types of benefits that are covered under the scheme as well as the limits of coverage, where applicable, please visit the Life Insurance Association (LIA) or SDIC websites (www.lia.org.sg or www.sdic.org.sg).

As buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment, an early termination of the policy usually involves high costs and the surrender value, if any, that is payable to you may be zero or less than the total premiums paid. You should seek advice from a financial adviser before deciding to purchase the policy. If you choose not to seek advice, you should consider if the policy is suitable for you.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Information is accurate as at 12 October 2021.

OCBC's Your Financial OneView has a nifty personalised insights feature that could help you identify your blind spots when it comes to your finances. What's more, it can also tell you how much you'll need to prepare for retirement and your children's university education. Powered by SGFinDex, this free AI-driven tool is definitely worth checking out.

These days, personal finance is becoming easier to manage, so there's really no excuse to get started and get all your finances in order.

There was simply no easy way to view and manage all of that in one place...unless you did it yourself. 

Not everyone is an Excel whiz, though. And beyond just keying in and organising the data, the important question is: are you deriving any meaningful conclusions out of all that effort?

Today, due to MAS launching the Singapore Financial Data Exchange (SGFinDex), Singaporeans can now view and plan our finances holistically. If you've yet to hear of SGFinDex, it's a pretty cool initiative i.e. the world's first public digital infrastructure to use a national digital identity (your SingPass) and a centrally managed online consent system to enable you to access your financial information held across different government agencies and financial institutions.

Thanks to SGFinDex, you can now skip the manual work and let technology do it for you.

However, you'll need an application in order to benefit from SGFinDex.

In this case, you'd want to check out OCBC Your Financial OneView.

Your Financial OneView by OCBC

Financial institutions like OCBC Bank have invested into building pretty savvy digital flows using artificial intelligence to actually help you make sense out of all that data that you'll be retrieving via SGFinDex.

It only takes a couple of minutes to retrieve your data. All you need is to tap on “Your Financial OneView” on the homepage, which will then redirect you to log in and sync your data using your SingPass.

After your data has been synced, the app will then be able to make sense of it for you. And this is how you can make use of OCBC's personalised insights feature to understand your blind spots. For instance, if the app detects that your emergency funds may not be enough, it will prompt you to create a savings goal for it, so that your most important financial safety net is well taken care of.

Or, if the app realises that you're on a HDB loan, you'll be prompted to view the savings you can potentially get if you were to switch to a bank loan instead, especially given the low interest rate environment we're currently. 

This is something unique, given that no two individuals have neither the same insights nor recommendations.

But aside from your current expenses, perhaps the best part of the app would be how you can use it to plan for your future goals. In our case, I used the app to project the figures so I could show my husband what he needs to do now to be prepared for retirement later, and also what we'll need for our kids.

According to the app, he'll end up with a shortfall of over $200,000 if he doesn't start investing now. That certainly prompted him to start, and he's now motivated to do a course with me so he can pick it up :P

Plan for your retirement with OCBC's Financial OneView

By now, I hope you've already started planning for your retirement.

If you haven't, I'm going to show you a super easy way to get started, so that you will no longer have an excuse to procrastinate.

And obviously, that's by using the OCBC Digital app's feature: Your Financial OneView.

Now, instead of using preset retirement expenses (which do not account for different lifestyles and spending tendencies), I appreciate how the app allows you to input how much you foresee yourself spending each month in retirement. I hope to cook more frequently at home once I'm retired (rather than always eating out), so I keyed in what I thought we would need for groceries and the occasional restaurant lunch.

Using your CPF data that was retrieved via SGFinDex, it then calculates how much CPF Payout you'll be getting at that stage. If you have other sources of income (such as from a rental property or allowance from your kids), you can also add it in here.

Downgrading one's property is a pretty common strategy used by many Singaporeans to unlock liquid cash for retirement, so the app also takes that into consideration.

Unfortunately, most of the brokerages and insurance providers are not yet on SGFinDex, so your data there cannot be retrieved via the bridge. However, you can still input them within seconds on your OCBC app.

Once that's done, OCBC Financial OneView can tell you what your likely shortfall will be. In my husband's case, I could now show him the impact for if he fails to invest more of his liquid cash savings.

To convince him to pass me more money to invest (:P), I ran the simulator.

As we generally prefer active investing, I selected the higher risk approach to show him what he could potentially end up with if he were to put his money to work.

He barely needed any convincing thereafter, and has since passed me half of his liquid savings to invest for him :P

Of course, aside from our own retirement, my husband has also been wondering how much we might need to prepare for our kids' university education fees, especially now that we're now parents to two precious sons.

So I turned to OCBC Financial OneView for help again.

And it showed that we'll need approximately S$80,000 for each of our kids.

Guess who has agreed to let me invest our kids' Baby Bonus now? :P

OCBC Financial OneView is free to use

If you're worried about having to purchase only OCBC's products for investments, don't be - because you're free to use the insights and figure out your own action plan.

Whether that's through investing with the bank, or building up your own investment portfolio elsewhere, pick the one that works best for you.

If you're one of those who have your accounts all over the place, I reckon OCBC's Your Financial OneView can really help you get a grasp on them. Or, if you're like me and need to convince your partner that it is time to start investing, the app is also a great tool to use.

The app is completely free to use, so we might as well make full use of what OCBC has invested into building for us consumers. 

Go ahead and give it a try. You might just be surprised with what it'll tell you about yourself.

Try it out now on OCBC Digital.

Disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with OCBC. All opinions and projections are that of my own. Your results from Your Financial OneView will likely look different from mine (as shown in this article) as we are two different individuals with different financial circumstances and goals. For greater accuracy and personalised insights, please use the app to retrieve your own financial plan and recommendations.

Despite the competition, DBS Multiplier remains as a must-have savings account. With its latest revamp, Multiplier might just be the best account in the market, especially for families. Here's why.

My entire family has accounts with DBS and/or POSB. And as a couple, I can tell you that DBS Multiplier has been an absolutely amazing account for us, especially after we started using the joint account hack to have a single salary credit qualify for both of us to get bonus interest on our respective accounts. Read on the strategy we used here.

Upon becoming parents, we've had to open a Child Development Account (CDA) for each of our kids; POSB was the best choice both in 2018 and 2021 (the years when they were born). I also appreciated the convenience of being able to manage our kids' accounts and deposits on their behalf, especially within a single login.

So when DBS announced their latest changes to the Multiplier account, I had to pay attention because it would affect all of us.

In a nutshell, here's what has changed:

Using SGFinDex (instead of crediting your income)

If you're in a situation where you're either

• unemployed, or
• you don't get a fixed, monthly salary for crediting, or
• in a situation where your HR refuses to process a change of bank accounts for you to DBS, or
• your dividends are credited elsewhere

Well, there's still a way out as DBS has opened up a third alternative - simply connect your finances via SGFinDex to qualify.

For those unfamiliar with SGFinDex, it stands for Singapore Financial Data Exchange, and is an initiative by MAS which now allows consumers to access their financial information held across different government services (IRAS, CPF, HDB) and financial institutions.

This means almost anyone - if not everyone - can now easily meet the Income category requirement. In fact, I’d argue that this is a better move than the addition of dividends (from previous rounds of Multiplier upgrades), because actively syncing with SGFinDex for a holistic view of one’s finances will likely prompt more DBS customers to get in control of their financial planning (rather than just depositing their salary/dividends and forgetting about it).

More insurance and investment options

With more consumers taking up insurance and investments with the bank, DBS has since expanded Multiplier to recognise more insurance and investment options. But these 2 are worth highlighting: single-premium insurance policies and digiPortfolio.

In the past, only insurance premiums that were paid via cash would qualify for bonus interest. Now, even payments via SRS will also qualify.

As for investments, we financial bloggers and several retail investors have been asking DBS to include digiPortfolio transactions, so I was pleased to see that DBS has taken our feedback seriously. Or, if you're using your CPF or SRS funds to invest in unit trusts, that will now also qualify.

Having more options within the bank's products is always a good thing. If you're impacted by the latest changes, check out DBS' newest calculator here to see how much more interest you can earn now.

Why Multiplier is the best for parents

As the Chief Financial Officer for my household, I value the convenience of being able to manage everyone's accounts within a single bank.

Of course, it helps that POSB pays the highest interest for our children's CDA as well. 

Interest rates accurate as of October 2021

Having welcomed our second child just a few months ago, I had to relook our household expenses (in the joint account I share with my husband) and also our kids' savings accounts, since that's where I'll be (i) depositing all of their angpao money each year and (i) I'll be using their funds to invest on their behalf.

As part of our financial planning, I had to:

• recalculate our household expenses (to cater for higher bills from now)
• increase insurance coverage for both my husband and I (since Finn = an additional dependant) 
• think about how I'd want to invest Finn's money from the Baby Bonus for him

Combine both your salaries for higher rates

Although this isn't a new feature, this is a nifty hack if you have existing joint accounts with DBS. If you're a couple, you have an additional advantage: double up to earn even more bonus interest!

Credit both your salaries into a joint account and transact from there, and it'll be recognised as transactions for each of you.

With DBS' latest change, if a couple credits both their salaries into a joint account and transact from there, it will now jointly be recognised as higher transactions for each of you.

This graphic explains it best:

Even if one of you can't credit your salary or dividends, you can still use this joint account hack!

In this way, couples can still fulfil the requirements for higher, bonus interest even if one spouse is unable to credit their salary...and still be able to contribute to a decent monthly transaction amount. 

Couples who prefer having a joint account for your shared household expenses will appreciate DBS Multiplier for this, especially given the fact that there is no other bank in Singapore right now that will reward you for having a joint account!

The unregulated scene of crypto is also rife with scams and rugpulls. Having been in crypto since 2017, I've seen my fair share of scams, which is why my antenna was on high alert when my friend introduced me to Neko Inu - the currently trending (and incredibly cute) crypto game that promises you can play and earn USDT.

I recently entered the Play-to-Earn space in crypto, which I believe is going to be the next big thing. So when one of my best friends introduced me to Neko Inu as a crypto game where you can play and earn USDT, I was naturally curious and wanted to find out more.

Unfortunately, after digging around, I'm not convinced. While the game certainly looks cute and sounds promising, there's a major red flag in the way the game earnings have been designed i.e. you earn more as you recruit new players into the game. The game developers could have created a perfectly non-Ponzi game, but instead chose to design the referral scheme as a ponzi. Why, and could Neko Inu thus be a scam?

Investing in cryptocurrency has now become mainstream, with even institutions now coming onboard. However, you should know that the scene is also rife with ponzi schemes and scams designed to trick naive investors, especially those who are greedy for gains and/or new to cryptocurrencies. In 2019, crypto ponzi schemes and fraud lured at least $4.3 billion from investors; in 2017 - 2018 scammers made off with $3 billion.

In particular, these appeal to inexperienced investors who have heard stories of folks getting rich from Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, and think that they can get rich quickly too. Fraudsters then go on to use that naïveté against you, which is why ponzi schemes are infamous for how they successfully attract investors who are eager to cash in on a hot market, and can easily be led astray by promises of large returns. OneCoin, BitConnect and PlusToken are perhaps the most prolific ponzi schemes that have since collapsed, and investors would do well to remember them.

Based on what I found about Neko Inu, I'm wondering if it might just be another big ponzi in disguise? Could its developers or founding team pull an exit strategy and run away with all the money? Who knows?

What is the game about?

If you've never heard of Neko Inu, good for you!

"Neko-Inu is a gaming platform for everyone to have fun while earning USDT. Neko-Inu allows users to create and care for digital pets in the virtual world.There are set objective for the users, but they are expected to feed and care for their pets when they grow hungry or ill."

The above is taken from their PDF document which has been circulating on WhatsApp and Telegram.

If you thought that sounded like Neopets, you're not the only one.

How do you play the game to earn money?

"Complete up to 5 missions every 12 hours to increase your Pets value. The more actions you complete, the higher the value of your Pet. Value of Pet can only increase up to 5% every 12 hours."

The game itself is pretty simple and doesn't require much brainwork or strategy. All you need to do is to log in every 12 hours and press the 5 action buttons shown below (walk your pet, feed your pet, etc) to increase the value of your pet by 5%.

The more expensive your pet, the more daily value you'll be earning for each action. That's because 5% on a USDT 1500 pet will yield you USDT 75 daily, in contrast to just USDT 2.5 on a USDT 50 pet.

Sounds pretty enticing so far, doesn't it?

This is why some folks have put in more than USDT 3,000 to start playing the game. 

Red flag #1: where does the 5% USDT come from?

But the question you need to ask yourself is this, how does Neko Inu come up with the value to conjure up that 5% USDT growth every 12 hours? 

Where will they get the money to pay out to players?

The answer that I suspect? From new players, that's where.

You can earn via 2 ways:

1. Play to increase the value of your pet, which you can then sell your pet to new players (who just joined the game) in the marketplace
   
   
2. Earn a daily trading commission from your downlines

There's a huge referral mechanism going on, which resembles how MLMs and ponzi schemes work.

For those of you in Singapore who have a short memory, this sounds very much like what Pareto SG was doing - promising a projected monthly gain of 5 - 10% and having a referral incentive scheme when you recruit others to invest as well. I followed the case quite closely so this game definitely feels reminiscent of it. If you're wondering what happened in the end, the main people behind Pareto SG have since been arrested and charged in court. Investors / victims did NOT get back their money.

Red flag #2: you earn from your downlines

Essentially, you earn a daily trading commission from the profit that your downline earns on their pet. This is how Neko Inu describes it:

"Player A refers Player B and Player B owns a 100USDT pet. After Player B completed his 5 tasks, his pet’s value will increase to 105USDT, Played B profit 5USDT. Therefore Player A will be able to receive a 5% trading comission from the 5USDT."

If you were thinking of just playing with a small sum of money, hold up because there's more. 

Red flag #3: you may need to put in more money to upgrade your pet if you want to earn your downline commission

"Criteria for Daily Trading Commission: Player’s highest value pet MUST BE of the same tier or higher than his referred friend’s."

In the event that the friend you referred to the game is greedy for more returns and buys a higher tier pet than yours, then you'll need to spend more USDT to upgrade your pet to the same tier or forgo the daily trading commission altogether.

Imagine you start out with a USDT 100 pet, because all you're willing to risk losing is a USDT 250 capital (based on the deck of 2.5x).

You then refer a friend who is richer / greedier and goes for a USD 1,000 pet.

Assuming he buys and sells his pet daily, you can get USDT 2.50 daily from his profits, which works out to be USDT 75 a month for you in passive income.

Unfortunately, you don't qualify for this because your pet is of a lower tier than him. Due to this Breedometer, you're forced to put more investment of the same tier as your friend, and upgrade to a USDT 1,000 pet as well in order to make that money.

This thus not only brings in (i) new money from new players, but also (ii) new money from existing players.

What's more, the starting capital to play has increased in just the few months since Neko Inu debuted:

If you want more info on how the earnings work, here's some screenshots (taken from the Neko Inu Powerpoint deck):

What if I don't want to refer my friends?

If you're thinking of taking part in this ponzi-like game but not drag your friends into a potential mess, wait a minute, because there's more.

To unlock more pet slots, you will need to recruit more downlines in your community i.e. to unlock the next 2 pet slots, you will need to recruit 5 direct people to join under your referral link. To unlock the 4th and 5th dog slot, you will need to have at least 100 downlines (both direct and indirect).

I saw a MDRT financial advisor online who's encouraging people to join (and with an initial investment of SGD 5k too!) and he has 7 dogs...so you can just imagine how many people he has recruited under him till date. He's been posting photos like these to incentivize people to join under him:

(Who wouldn't be tempted by greed with this kind of money?)

More pets = each time you log in, you can be more productive and execute the 5 actions for multiple pets = grow the 5% daily value on multiple pets to scale.

Neko Inu has "disallowed" multiple accounts from the same IP address, so you can't just create multiple accounts of your own to get around that loophole. 

So therein lies the incentive to bring your friends into the ecosystem, where you're rewarded by earning their money, and your uplines (players who came before you) also get a cut + can sell their pets to these new players.

Red flag #4: funding your account is almost instant, but withdrawals take 2 days

If the earning scheme above didn't already ring your warning bells, here's another red flag:

• Deposit USDT: 10 - 15 minutes
• Withdraw USDT: 48 hours
• Open account: almost instant
• To close account: 90 days after account creation

Red flag #5: no one knows who's behind the game

"Neko & Inu Corporation is a global joint venture between a Hong Kong consortium and casino in Cambodia with the support of an international digital platform, Lemon Game."

In the crypto world, when one is able to land big names in real-world partnerships, you can bet that name will get shouted out in every press release and marketing announcement.

But the odd thing about Neko Inu is that it merely describes the joint venture founders, but never names them. And while the team page appears legitimate enough, try to Google them and see if any results come out for either their LinkedIn page, or their company website, etc.

I wasn't able to match any of these so-called founding team members to real-life people.

My search results came up empty.

(If you managed to find anything on them, let me know.)

Red flag #6: there's no official whitepaper or Github

Most legitimate crypto projects will have an official whitepaper and an open Github where you can go in to check the smart contracts for yourself as you do you due diligence.

Unfortunately, none exists for Neko Inu.

There's a roadmap, but no whitepaper. No mention of the technology they're using to develop and run the game, nor how the tokenomics work out, etc.

Aside from me, some folks have also expressed their concerns over these, and here's what the Neko Inu admin team replied on Telegram. I'll leave it to you to judge whether you find it plausible. Notes in red parenthesis are that of my own:

"We are backed by a group of investor (who? why don't dare to disclose?). So usually other token what they do is they come up with a white paper, ask people to buy the token. And the project goes failed. But Neko approach the other way around, we create a platform and create a community which gain confident in us. (but why use a ponzi referral scheme to recruit new members into your community, instead of other methods?) And we proceed to create an ecosystem and NFT and token later. Which will be coming soon if you attended our Rebirth talk. So it's a game platform to create a community, token and NFT And followed by multiple games. Like steam, we host multiple games for players. And all games are play to earn."

I don't know about you, but after spending some time digging into this game I decided I didn't want to be involved, and told my friend of my findings as well.

This was my advice to her:

• you can definitely earn now, but the rugpull can happen anytime
• I've calculated how it works if a player wants to earn maximum profits: buy a more expensive pet, earn 5% daily, and after several weeks you'll be in profit. Keep playing every day thereafter to make profits.
• So if the rugpull doesn't happen for another 2 months, you can make some pure profit and actually make money from the game. 
• But if a rugpull happens before you hit your breakeven point then you may end up with losses
• So do your own due diligence and decide for yourself if you want to play

But the thing is, I'm not convinced they're legitimate, at least for now.

So since there are better games in the Play-to-Earn crypto space instead, such as Axie Infinity that's changing people's lives at the same time (which I've verified this on the ground in Manila as well),

I'll pass on Neko Inu. 

Stay safe in the crypto world.

P.S. Ever since I posted about my skepticism regarding this game on Instagram, many players have since come forward claiming that they've done their due diligence too as they tried to convince me it isn't a scam or a ponzi scheme. As always, I remain open-minded to the possibility that I might be wrong - who knows, this might be completely legitimate and sustainable - but as of now, my opinion remains that this is likely a scam and may collapse anytime. So if you're one of those playing it, and recruiting your friends or loved ones into the game so you can earn more profits...I hope you're sleeping well at night with this way of earning money (because I can't, if it were me).

P.P.S. I'm not saying Neko Inu is a ponzi. I'm saying it resembles one, and asking if it is? Am open to being proven wrong. If you have evidence to prove otherwise, you can leave them in the comments below.

With love,
Budget Babe

Tiger Brokers has just introduced their newest service, Cash Plus, for investors in Singapore to invest their funds in. Could this be a viable avenue for storing your investment war chest monies while waiting to pounce on opportunities in the stock market? I examine it in this article to find out if it's worth our while.

Simply put, Cash Plus is a cash management service offered by Tiger Brokers, in collaboration with LionGlobal Investors Limited. Your funds will invested into the LionGlobal Managed Reserves Fund, with the aim of providing investors a yield that's higher than what they might get in their savings account, while still maintaining liquidity for you to use your funds at any time.

This liquidity is useful because if you're waiting to capitalise on a crash like last year's - or even a sector-specific correction (such as the ongoing China tech equities crash) - then you'd want to be able to quickly transfer your cash into your brokerage account to pick up beaten-down stocks that you've been eyeing. Especially if the crash is short-lived, in such cases, the liquidity will then prove invaluable.

Largest declines in US Stock Market History

In this case, Tiger Brokers users with funds in Cash Plus will be able to transfer almost immediately into your prime account for trading.

So if you're already an existing Tiger Brokers user and you have idle funds - such as funds you're reserving as your investment war chest - you might want to explore this as a way to earn a higher yield on your cash. 

What is the LionGlobal Managed Reserves Fund?

The fund is a special collaboration between both companies, and will be used to invest in highly liquid assets i.e. government bills, high grade treasuries, corporate bonds and established funds. If you want to read more about the individual underlying funds, you can check out the SGD-domiciled versions here, hereand here.

Since LionGlobal Managed Reserves Fund is new, there is little historical yield information to reference. Instead, you should note that the estimated yield provided by Tiger Brokers is currently at 0.8*%, which is, of course, subject to changes depending on the underlying fund performance.

*As of 8 October 2021

Is it safe? What happens to my funds?

Cash management services are not new, and robo-advisors similarly use LionGlobal too for their own cash management services.

Your funds will be deposited into segregated trust accounts with a local MAS-licensed bank, which are held separately from Tiger Broker's own funds.

How do I know how much I've earned from Cash Plus?

Instead of paying out earnings, you can check your gains on your Net Asset Value (NAV), and lock in any capital appreciation upon you transferring your money out of Cash Plus.

What are the fees?

While there are no fees charged by Tiger Brokers for this, do note that the fund itself has a 0.5% p.a. management fee.

There are also no fees when you transfer in or out, unless you need it urgently (in this case, you can opt for their rapid transfer-out service with a 0.05% fee).

The minimum transfer-in amount is just SGD1 / USD 1 / HKD 5, and there's no cap on how much you want to park in Cash Plus.

However, note that the limit for rapid transfer-out services is capped at SGD 100,000 / USD 100,000 / HKD 500,000 per day, and the service fee of 0.05% levied on your total rapid transfer-out amount will apply.

What are the risks?

Your funds in Cash Plus are neither principal-guaranteed nor protected by SDIC.

Should the fund underperforms, there is a small chance that you might lose some of your capital if you were to redeem your units then. (However, given that the underlying funds are low-risk products, the chances of losing your capital is minimal, compared to most other investment products.) The same logic applies that if the fund were to outperform, you will likely be earning higher yields on your capital than if you had left it in the bank.

Conclusion

So, is it worth exploring Tiger Brokers Cash Plus?

By now, most Singaporeans should be fairly comfortable with cash management products. Given their popularity in recent months, I won't be surprised if investors who are already using Tiger Brokers will go for this. 

After all, if you're already an existing Tiger Brokers customer and with investible funds that you have yet to put to work, you might want to consider this as an option for your idle funds.

Sponsored Message from Tiger Brokers

Cash Plus is Tiger Brokers' newest wealth management service offered to create more value for our users. With just one click, you can now enjoy the benefits of securities investment and cash management solution with Tiger Brokers. Read more about Cash Plus here.

From now until 7 November 2021, transfer and maintain your funds in Cash Plus to qualify for 1% annualized yield!

For instance, if you transfer USD 100,000 on 8 October and maintain your account balance until 25 October 2021, you will receive USD 46.57 (1% annualized over 17 days). But if you were to subsequently transfer another USD 200,000 into your Cash Plus account on 10 October, and maintain your total account balance of USD 300,000 until the end of the campaign, you will receive an additional USD 82.19 (1% annualized over 15 days), meaning you'll receive USD 128.76 in total.

You can find Cash Plus in your Tiger app under "My" --> "Cash Plus Account" --> "Open" --> "Transfer-in". To transfer your funds out, simply follow the same steps but select "Transfer-Out".

Cash Plus is available in SGD, USD and HKD.

Disclaimer: This article is written in collaboration with Tiger Brokers.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The information herein is for recipient’s information only and not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy. All opinions expressed and facts referred to herein are subject to change without notice. Investment involves risk. The price of investment instruments can and do fluctuate, and any individual instrument may experience upward or downward movements, and under certain circumstances may even become valueless. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should speak to a financial adviser to consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. Tiger Brokers assumes no fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences financial or otherwise arising from trading in securities if opinions and information in this document may be relied upon.

By 2030, 1 in 2 healthy Singaporeans aged above 65 are expected to become severely disabled by the end of their lifetime.. We can no longer afford to ignore protection for long-term care and what it'll cost us, but will relying on CareShield Life be enough? If you're looking to insure yourself against this potential financial burden, check out Income's Care Secure.

When our government decided to implement CareShield Life as a mandatory national insurance scheme for all Singaporeans aged 30 onwards, I knew we could no longer afford to ignore the issue of long-term care and its costs.

There are generally 6 types of ADLs being assessed:  

Source: Care Secure brochure

Unfortunately, CareShield Life does not cover you in the event of moderate disability where you are unable to carry out 2 ADLs independently...

However, even though you don't qualify for CareShield Life payouts at this stage, you're likely to already start incurring costs for long-term care or caregiving fees. Recovering stroke patients are a good example of such folks.

I personally feel that getting additional coverage from private insurers makes sense, in order to cover this gap.

Disclaimer: please assess your own financial situation and needs in order to decide whether you too, wish to purchase supplementary insurance to protect yourself and your family against disability

But before you rush off to buy the plan with the highest coverage, remember that we have to  factor in our other insurance needs as well - such as hospitalization coverage, critical illness, home mortgage, etc. 

These will also require us to allocate sufficient budget and ensure we have enough cash flow to pay for all the different insurance needs in our life.

Which is why if you're most concerned about affordability, then you'd want to look at Income's Care Secure.

Review of Income's Care Secure

Benefits

Once you're diagnosed with the inability to perform 2 ADLs, your monthly payouts begin and your future premiums will be waived during your entire period of disability (whether temporarily or or life). You will also receive a lump-sum payout of 300% of your chosen monthly benefit. 

For those of you worried about the financial burden on your loved ones, Care Secure also provides an additional 25% of your monthly benefit, up to 36 months in a lifetime as Dependant Benefit. You will be glad to know that Income's definition of "Dependant" extends to your children, your parents (including step-parents or adoptive parents) and even your parents-in-law. Considering how Income believes in helping our era be the last sandwich generation (remember their emotional ad?), I can imagine many people benefiting from the broader definition.

Source: Care Secure brochure (please refer there for the footnotes)

Premiums

We can use up to $600 of our MediSave account each year to pay for insurance premiums on our CareShield Life supplements. Do note that if your insurer charges you more than $600 in annual premiums, you will need to pay the rest in cash, so you should factor that in over the payment period that you have selected. In other words, if your cash expenses are $200 a year and you’ve opted to pay until age 95, then please think about how you intend to fund this in your retirement years (e.g. your savings? Or are you expecting your kids to help to pay then?)

Here's what the annual premiums currently look like for a monthly benefit of $1,200 (premium term up to age 67):

Premiums from Care Secure* *the premium rate is based on the insured's entry age at last birthday and is non-guaranteed

Impact of getting covered at a later age

Now, if you were considering putting this off until a later age, think again.

Not only do you risk being uninsured for 2 ADLs during this period, you will also be incurring higher costs when you start your coverage at a later age.

Using the above table, it is clear that starting later will mean you end up paying not only higher annual premiums, but also higher total premiums over your lifetime. This is is another reason why you might want to start looking at getting your CareShield Life supplement sooner rather than later.

What happens once I hit 3 ADLs?

Once you're confirmed by a MOH-accredited severe disability assessor to have severe disability (inability to perform 3 ADLs or more without assistance), you will now qualify for CareShield Life payouts.

Source: Care Secure brochure (please refer there for the footnotes)

Hence, at this stage, the monthly benefit that you will be getting from Care Secure will be inclusive of your CareShield Life payout. For instance, if you've opted for a $1,200 monthly benefit plan, then you will now be getting $588 from Care Secure and the remaining $612/month from CareShield Life (as of 2021).

While some people are (rightfully) concerned about the possibility of Income’s payouts being zero eventually (since there will come a time where CareShield Life payouts cross the monthly benefit level), I encourage you to do the math and calculate when exactly this will materialize for you. 

For the $1,200 monthly benefit plan, if we were to use the current projected 2%^ growth rate by MOH (and assume the growth rate remains constant), this means that it will only be in 2056 onwards where Income’s $1,200 will now be less than what CareShield Life pays out each month (the payouts will hit $1,199.94 in 2055). 
^The 2% figure only applies till 2025, so if MOH changes that subsequently, you may want to adjust your calculations accordingly.

In this case, I would then ask myself - is it worth paying ~$28/month to protect myself against the possibility of long-term disability over the next 34 years? 

In terms of affordability, Care Secure truly stands out. 

And if you feel $1000+ may no longer be enough in the event of severe disability, then you may want to think about whether you need, and can pay for, a higher payout level. If you were to go for Care Secure with a higher monthly benefit e.g. up to $5,000, it will take 109 years upon CareShield Life’s inception before payouts hit $5,092.95 i.e. in the year 2128 (assuming CareShield Life payouts grow at 2% a year). 

With this insight, I hope you can now better understand why Care Secure may have been unfairly criticized on social media, and consider again whether this plan might in fact be a better option for you.

Closing Thoughts

Most of us have probably never thought of planning for the costs of long-term disability care until our government announced CareShield Life last year.

And contrary to what most people think, disability does not just affect those who are older (although the elderly are definitely more prone to it). There have been plenty of cases of young people who have been diagnosed with moderate to severe disability. All it takes is one unlucky accident, or a stroke, or a heart attack, or...just pure bad luck.

Which is the point of insurance, isn't it? To insure us against potentially large financial risks that could befall us if we suay.

If you have dependents like me (parents, in-laws and young children), it makes sense to start planning and getting insured for this as soon as you can, so that you do not risk passing the burden onto them.

Various MPs have also called for more support for caregivers. The 2019 figures already show that the majority of 9 in 10 caregivers who left the workforce were women, who then went on to struggle with uncertainty over their own careers, mental health and financial adequacy in their old age.

If you and your spouse are protected with a plan like Care Secure, at least you still have other options - such as hiring a domestic helper - instead of having to quit your job entirely. By outsourcing the stress of finances to an insurer, you also have more room to deal with the mental and emotional stress of having to care for a loved one who is unable to look after themselves anymore.

Combine the trend of rising costs with smaller family sizes, and you can see why we're going to be in trouble if we do not start preparing early. Gone are the days where multiple siblings used to come together to split the cost of caring for a family member. Rather than pass this financial burden to my spouse or our children in the future, I believe it is essential to get covered earlier while I can.

The only question left is how much to cover for - and that's a decision you'll need to make for yourself considering your own financial ability and preferences. If you're unsure, feel free to arrange for a consultation with any of Income's advisors, whom I'm certain will be more than happy to guide you.

Find out more about Care Secure and how it can supplement your CareShield Life plan here.

Disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with Income as part of their awareness campaign for Care Secure.

You may also read about the other CareShield Life supplements here, researched independently with my own opinions on the available plans in the market.

Important Notes 

This article is for general information and should not be relied as financial advice. All opinion and information in this article are solely those of SG Budget Babe. SG Budget Babe is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all information and intellectual property used in this article. NTUC Income is not responsible to any party for this article. You should seek advice from a qualified advisor if in doubt. Buying insurance that are not suitable for you may impact your ability to finance your future insurance needs. Precise terms, conditions and exclusions of this plan are found here.

Protected up to specified limits by SDIC.

Information is correct as at 4 November 2021.

For customised advice to suit your specific needs, consult an Income insurance advisor.

Having seen how even healthy folks can suddenly become fully dependent on others for life's simplest tasks - be it due to an accident or an unexpected illness - I've come to realise that disability doesn't just affect older folks. But in the event of an unfortunate disability, how will one afford to pay for the potentially high medical and caregiving expenses, which is likely to be required over the long term?

When I was younger (in my 20s), I used to think that disability only happened to the elderly. But apparently that couldn't be further than the truth, as there are 3 main causes of disability in Singapore - accidents, illness or old age - and the first two can happen to anyone regardless of age. 

And that was when I realised, just like how even the healthiest of people can suddenly get stricken with cancer, anyone can also suddenly become disabled if you're unfortunate. 

• 2 young men in their 20s ended up becoming 100% reliant on a caregiver, despite them being at an age where you least expect disability to happen. One got into a road accident while another fell, and both ended up permanently disabled for life. 
  
  
• This woman in her 30s, who is now in a nursing home for long-term care after she was left permanently disabled when a bus hit the bicycle she was riding on.

It will be hard enough to pick yourself up should disability happen, but if one also faces financial difficulties in doing so, I can imagine it'll be even more stressful - not just for the victim, but for their loved ones as well, as they may now have to be the primary caregiver, foot the additional expenses, and even possibly become the sole breadwinner from there on.

Which is why my husband and I had a detailed discussion about this recently. We did a review of our household expenses (now that we have welcomed our second child) and realised that if one of us were to stop contributing our income, then we would soon be in trouble as even our emergency funds can only last us up to one year of expenses. 

So now that we have our basics (health, life, critical illness) covered, we’ve been seriously discussing about taking up more coverage against disability.

Use insurance to protect against the risks that you cannot plan for

With 7 dependants to support, my husband and I cannot afford to let any unexpected event(s) leave a dent in our finances. In fact, our finances are so prudently planned out that any major, unexpected hit may just derail our entire plan for our kids, parents retirement and that of our own.

This is why we're huge believers of using insurance to protect against the risks that we cannot plan for.

And in this case, disability is definitely a very real risk not to be taken lightly.

Is disability insurance necessary?

These might help you to judge for yourself:

• This 19-year-old Singaporean certainly didn't expect to suffer a stroke at such a young age, and it took an entire year of recovery before he was able to walk on his own.
  
  
• In Singapore, there has been more than a 20% increase in the number of stroke patients aged 15 - 49 years old, with a significant increase in the 15 - 29 age group.
  
  
• The lifetime impact of a stroke also carries substantial costs to the victims and their families, with some still unable to function independently even after 10 years.

You should also probably ask yourself these questions:

• Do you have enough savings to pay for inflation-adjusted long-term care costs (such as medical and caregiving expenses)?
• What if you lose your income due to disability?
• Would your loved ones have to pick up the financial pieces? What if your children are still young and schooling?

Many people take their health and physical mobility for granted, but the truth is, accidents and illnesses are the most common causes of disabilities in Singapore for the younger folks. One could be knocked down while walking on the pavement thanks to an errant rider, or get into a car crash (not your fault, obviously), or even suffer a sudden stroke with no warning signs at all.

In fact, based on a local 2015 NCSS sample, the prevalence rate of folks aged 18 - 49 with disabilities is over 3 in 100.

That's why we're now looking into 2 plans: severe disability (loss of any ADL) and income replacement, and in that order too.

In this article, I outline our thought process for the first.

Won't CareShield Life be enough?

In my view, CareShield Life is and will not be enough.

Based on the current payout level of $612 a month, this amount is already insufficient for food and transport, what more for medications and rehab treatments. 

The cost of hiring a foreign domestic worker today is already minimally ~$700 a month, assuming you qualify for the levy concession ($60 instead of $300). Good helpers with experience will typically cost more.

If a stay in a nursing home is required, it can easily go up to several thousand dollars a month.

As with most national insurance schemes, I feel they serve as a good basic foundation, but it is also our own responsibility to supplement it with private insurance and/or proper financial planning.

The question to ask yourself here is, will $600+ in today's terms be enough for you? 

If your answer is no (just like us), then you should probably look seriously into adding on further protection.

How much do I need?

Start by estimating how much you need based on long-term care costs for disability. Paying for a caregiver, medical treatments (especially those that fall outside of your hospitalisation insurance) and rehab ought to be included in your calculations.

Alternatively, you can try out Great Eastern’s disability calculator here to estimate how much you might need:

Depending on your lifestyle and the extent of your disability, you may or may not need more than just that.

For us, aside from wanting to cover both a loss of income and long-term care costs, we also value a plan that can help from as early as the onset of inability to perform 1 ADL, so that we can gain early access to treatments and rehabilitation care that can potentially help with an earlier recovery.

And since we have so many dependants who rely on our income, it makes almost no sense for one spouse to become the primary caregiver rather than going out to work and earn more money to make up for the other half's income loss. That's why having additional benefits for both a caregiver and our dependants are preferred.

While some insurers offer payouts of up to $5,000 a month, we decided to go with $2,000 each for ourselves for now, which will hopefully be sufficient to pay for long-term care costs on a prudent lifestyle. In the event that costs rise faster than we predicted, we may consider adding on further coverage at a later stage.

Review of GREAT CareShield

We did our research and I arranged for a discussion with my Great Eastern Financial Representative to find out more.

Source: Great Eastern GREAT CareShield brochure

Here's what we like:

• Financial support starts from the inability to perform 1 ADL, with a lump-sum Initial Benefit* (up to $15,000) and 50% of Monthly Benefit** (up to $2,500) paid out. Your future premiums will also be waived^. The initial lump-sum benefit is also payable again upon future occurrence of disability from a different cause. This is currently unique to Great Eastern as none of the other insurers offer it.
  
  
• Caregiver Benefit^^ of 60% monthly benefit (upon 2 ADLs) for up to the first 12 months, to help with the adjustment period. This means you can get up to $3,000, depending on your monthly benefit level. 
  
  
• Dependant Care Benefit*^ of 30% monthly benefit if you have a child under 22 at the time of claim (upon 2 ADLs) for up to 48 months i.e. 4 years of support. This means you can get up to $1,500, making it highest in the market right now.

Figures are valid as of 2021 and after factoring in the 20% off premium discount + GST.

Conclusion

Disability can happen to anyone regardless of age and marital status, so it is definitely important to get yourself insured for it. I believe I'm not the only one who feels the payouts from CareShield Life won't be enough.

If budget is an issue, you can always adjust your coverage level to what you can afford for now, and look at adding on more later when your finances improve.

That way, if anything unfortunate were to happen, at least you won't become a liability to your loved ones, and have the finances to at least get through the ordeal.

Great Eastern's GREAT CareShield looks like a good option right now for us, but regardless of which plan you pick, the more important message in this article is to get yourself covered for what you may need.

Sponsor's Message

Enjoy 20% off premiums throughout your GREAT CareShield coverage when you sign up before 31 December 2021. Click here for more information.

Terms and conditions apply.

OCBC's RoboInvest is the most extensive robo-advisor in Singapore, with a total of 36 thematic portfolios across 6 markets. While most robo-advisors use ETFs in their portfolios, OCBC differs by including stocks that they have screened and curated to match the selected investment theme(s). Does having more variety spell good news for investors? I review it here.

As an active investor who prefers to have control over my own portfolio, I prefer robo-advisors that add value by helping me to save money (in the form of fees that I would have otherwise paid to the brokerages) while riding on growing themes or trends that I foresee will shape our world.

Which was why when OCBC reached out to showcase their RoboInvest solution, it certainly got me intrigued - mostly because it offers over 36 core and thematic portfolios which invests into stocks or ETFs, or both.

One of its more intriguing ETF portfolios, for instance, is the Gen-Z Winners portfolio, which is designed to provide diversified exposure to sectors that are likely to benefit from the spending of the Gen-Z generation. Right now, the portfolio rides on trends like online retail, mobile payments, next-generation internet and video-gaming, to name a few. 

But while most robo-advisors already offer ETF portfolios, OCBC RoboInvest stands out as a game-changer for using stocks in theirs. One example would be that of the Asia Tech portfolio, which consists of stocks of Asian companies with significant business exposure to the IT sector in China, Japan, Taiwan and India. 

Another interesting portfolio that caught my eye was the Mainland Europe Healthcare portfolio, because I currently do not have any exposure to stocks listed in Europe. This portfolio consists of stocks with relatively lower volatility in the healthcare sector in France and Germany, which is likely to experience steady growth in demand for medical products and services, especially due to rising economic affluence and an ageing population. 

There are 11 ETF portfolios and 25 Equities portfolios in total, with Electric Vehicles and Cyber Security being the latest additions to OCBC RoboInvest.

How are the stocks or ETFs chosen?

What methodology does OCBC use to determine whether a stock or ETF qualifies to be in their curated portfolios?

I asked the OCBC team this question, and while the algorithms used remain a trade secret, OCBC shared that over 60 quantitative factors across Quality, Value, Momentum, Growth and Volatility are being considered. For stocks, they highlighted that various factors are taken into account before a stock qualifies for inclusion into one of their curated portfolios. This includes screening for 

• revenue growth
• return on invested capital (ROIC)
• profit margin
• earnings per share (EPS)

Choosing a portfolio based on your risk appetite

You can read about each of their 36 portfolios here, and if you prefer to not choose any theme(s), then you can also opt for one of their 6 core, risk-based portfolios instead - Defensive, Cautious, Balanced, All Weather, Growth or Aggressive.

The All Weather portfolio, for instance, is curated to be well diversified across fixed income, equities and gold. This should provide a balance between capital preservation and appreciation, while still growing your investments through various cycles of economic growth and inflation. 

Following the traditional investment advice in books (where you should avoid paying more than 1% in fees), OCBC has capped its charges to 0.88% per annum on the total value of your investments held with OCBC RoboInvest.

In return, you get to save on transaction fees paid to your brokerage if you were to try and replicate the underlying holdings yourself, as well as the monthly amounts when you employ the dollar-cost averaging strategy of diligently adding new capital each month. 

Rebalancing also does not incur any additional fees, compared to if you were to manually buy or sell the units yourself.

Whether you prefer to employ lump-sum investing or make regular monthly contributions for dollar-cost averaging, you get to choose and control how and when you want to invest. 

You can invest from as low as US$100 without needing to open a securities or custodian account. Do note that some of the portfolios have specified minimum sums before you can invest in them, such as US$100 for Future World Portfolio or US$3,500 for the Dogs of the Dow Portfolio.

You can also opt for a monthly investment plan option to automate your capital injections, if you like. And since there is no lock-in period, you can make withdrawals without any charges at anytime you choose.

If examining the historical performance gives you greater assurance, then you can also review the top performers in each month to decide whether you'll like to allocate more of your capital, or liquidate them and channel into a different portfolio. 

A worthy contender among today's robos

Even though I've been an OCBC customer for years and previously used their securities platform for buying and selling stocks in Singapore. I never knew they had a robo-investment option until now. It is exciting that the bank has added a robo advisor for their clients who want to grow their wealth, and is working with WeInvest as the platform operator to power its RoboInvest offering. 

With more retail investors choosing to invest through robos, OCBC's RoboInvest truly stands out for its wide variety of portfolios. This is definitely suitable for investors who may feel restricted in having to chooseg between the (often less than 10) limited portfolios offered by other platforms in today's market.

This is also a much more convenient solution for those of you who have an OCBC account, since you can invest directly using your funds with the bank, instead of having to make a transfer separately.

What's more, you can easily get exposure to overseas markets without worrying about custodian fees through their solution that are normally charged by the local banks otherwise.

Definitely worth checking out, whether you're looking for investment ideas or a solution to help you invest better and more easily.

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For more details, check us out at OCBC RoboInvest here.

Disclaimers:

Important Information 

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

1. Any opinions or views of third parties expressed in this document are those of the third parties identified, and do not represent views of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC Bank”, “us”, “we” or “our”). 

2. This information is intended for general circulation and / or discussion purposes only. It does not consider the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. 

3. Before you make an investment, please seek advice from your Relationship Manager regarding the suitability of any investment product taking into account your specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. 

4. If you choose not to do so, you should consider if the investment product is suitable for you, and conduct your own assessments and due diligence on the investment product. 

5. We are not making an offer, solicit to buy or sell or subscribe for any security or financial instrument, enter into any transaction or participate in any trading or investment strategy with you through this document. Nothing in this document shall be deemed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell or subscribe for any security or financial instrument or to enter into any transaction or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy. 

6. No representation or warranty whatsoever in respect of any information provided herein is given by OCBC Bank and it should not be relied upon as such. OCBC Bank does not undertake an obligation to update the information or to correct any inaccuracy that may become apparent at a later time. All information presented is subject to change without notice. 

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9. Any reference to a company, financial product or asset class is used for illustrative purposes and does not represent our recommendation in any way. 

10. The information in and contents of this document may not be reproduced or disseminated in whole or in part without the Bank’s written consent. 

11. OCBC Bank, its related companies, and their respective directors and/or employees (collectively “Related Persons”) may, or might have in the future, interests in the investment products or the issuers mentioned herein. Such interests include effecting transactions in such investment products, and providing broking, investment banking and other financial services to such issuers. OCBC Bank and its Related Persons may also be related to, and receive fees from, providers of such investment products. 

12. You must read the Offer Document/Indicative Term Sheet/Product Highlight Sheet before deciding whether or not to purchase the investment product, copies of which may be obtained from your relationship manager. 

13. Any hyperlink to any third party article, or other website or webpage (including any websites or webpages owned, operated and maintained by third parties) is for informational purposes only and for your convenience only and is not an endorsement or verification of any such article, website or webpage by OCBC Bank and should only be accessed at your own risk. OCBC Bank does not review the contents of any such articles, website or webpage, and shall not be liable to any person for the same.

14. There are links or hyperlinks which link you to websites of other third parties (the “Third Parties”). OCBC Bank hereby disclaims liability for any information, materials, products or services posted or offered on the website of the Third Parties. 

Collective Investment Schemes 

1. A copy of the prospectus of each fund is available and may be obtained from the fund manager or any of its approved distributors. Potential investors should read the prospectus for details on the relevant fund before deciding whether to subscribe for, or purchase units in the fund. 

2. The value of the units in the funds and the income accruing to the units, if any, may fall or rise. Please refer to the prospectus of the relevant fund for the name of the fund manager and the investment objectives of the fund. 

3. Investment involves risks. Past performance figures do not reflect future performance. 

4. Any reference to a company, financial product or asset class is used for illustrative purposes and does not represent our recommendation in any way. 

For funds that are listed on an approved exchange, investors cannot redeem their units of those funds with the manager, or may only redeem units with the manager under certain specified conditions. The listing of the units of those funds on any approved exchange does not guarantee a liquid market for the units.

Yet to utilize your digital SingapoRediscovers Vouchers? Book your experiences for eligible attractions, hotels and tours using your SingapoRediscovers Vouchers by 31 December 2021 and enjoy them by 31 March 2022. Take this opportunity to spend time with your family over activities, and rediscover Singapore!

With $100 of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV), my family and I have been using them to explore several fun activities and places on our island while building memories together during these times.

You can use them on eligible local tourism experiences such as attractions, hotels or even tours. To book, simply head over to any one of the 5 authorised booking platforms –Changi Recommends,GlobalTix,Klook,Traveloka orTrip.com.

Remember to adhere to the latest safe management measures when you’re out, so you stay safe while having fun too!

If you’ve yet to redeem your Vouchers, here are some tips on how you can maximise them.

Tip 1: Stack SRV with credit card promotions

Look out for credit card promotions that can give you additional discount off your SRV bookings.

Klook, for instance, has various tie-ups with Citibank, DBS/POSB, OCBC, UOB, Standard Chartered and even GrabPay to allow consumers to stack their discounts when using SRV to pay. If you book theKelong and Pulau Ubin Guided Boat Tour for 2 adults and 1 child, you can observe the lives of residents who live in kelongs or on a floating fish farm, mangrove swamps and seamen fishing – and claim $10 off your remaining payable amount for the tour with the promo code "DBS60SRV6" when you pay with a DBS or POSB credit card.

Image source credits: Klook

Tip 2: Book via the app for additional perks

 

Some of the platforms are dangling additional incentives for when you download their app and make your booking there. This includesTrip.com which offers 30% more Trip coins when you book through their app, orKlook’s 5% discount when you use the promo code “BetterOnApp”.

 

If you’re booking thisRiver Cruise Guided Tour with Singapore Sling Workshop to experience being your own bartender,  you canget 10% off (up to $50) on your first Xperience booking via the Traveloka app using the promo code “FIRSTXPSRV”.

Image source credits: Traveloka

Tip 3: Look for activities that are free for accompanying children.

 

Depending on the tour provider, some activities allow for you to bring your children along without having to pay extra. ThisGlampcation at Fairmont Singapore comes with a tent set-up in your room, and allows up to 2 children to stay for free with every 2 paying adults, with welcome amenities for children and even an extra bed if they’re below 12.

Tip 4: Use the $10 subsidy for child tickets

 

If your child is under 18 years old, then you can also make use of the $10 subsidy on child/youth tickets (up to a maximum of 6 tickets) with your SRV bookings. ThisGogreen Segway Eco Adventure, for instance, can be a really fun activity, as your family explores Sentosa together on this exciting self-balancing device!

 

What’s more, you can also combine this withSentosa’s current Scratch and Win! Campaign offer, where every $30 spent on attractions, tours or hotel stays on the island is redeemable for a sure-win scratch card (up to 5 scratch cards per receipt) at any of the 3 Sentosa Ticketing Counters, located at Resorts World Station, Beach Station, or Vivocity Level 3.

 

Tip 5: Download the ShopBack extension to search for coupons

 

It can be difficult to search for all the different coupons or promo codes online by yourself, so another hack I use is to download theShopBack Button browser extension to help me scan for promo codes and cashback.

Image source credits: ShopBack

Even if there are no valid promo codes found, you can still get cashback on ShopBack for your bookings! Right now,ShopBack is giving up to 6% cashback on Trip.com bookings and 3% on Klook.

Image source credits: Trip.com

Tip 6: Look out for bundles and/or flash deals

 

Bundle deals that combine more than 1 activity or attraction can also provide really good savings, such as thisSentosa Yacht Guide Tour with Cable Car which includes a stopover on Kusu Island, and brings you to see a turtle sanctuary, Pulau Hantu, Semakau Island, Sisters Island, St. Johns Island, Lazarus Island and even the Raffles Lighthouse. You even get snacks and a photo souvenir by the end of the trip!

 

From time to time, certain activities also get promoted via flash deals, which you’ll usually see on the homepage of the booking platform, so do keep a lookout for those discounts as well!

Here's an example of a bundle promo available on Klook:

Image source credits: Klook

Tip 7: Don’t forget to reserve your timeslot!

 

With the current safety measures, most tour operators and attractions have implemented timeslot bookings in order to prevent overcrowding so that everyone is kept safe. As a result, please remember to reserve your timeslot before you head down, so that you’ll avoid any potential disappointment.

Image source credits: Singapore Tourism Board

Suggestions for Families

If you’re looking for child-friendly activities to do with your kids, check out Science Centre Singapore, The Battlebox Tour, Dolphin Island, Nestopia or even the Changi Experience Studio! Since the latter was free for children under 5, we brought Nate to visit theChangi Experience Studio and Canopy Park where he had a wild time trying out a new experience.

We used our Vouchers on a trip to the Singapore Zoo with Nate’s favourite aunt and uncle, where he got to see the animals in his storybooks move and interact! Some of my friends used theirs on Universal Studios Singapore, River Wonders and Adventure Cove Waterpark™ instead. Since our government is helping to subsidize the costs, we thought it’ll be a good chance to bond and make memories together. If you’re up for the thrill of flying a commercial jet airliner (Boeing 737), check out thisFlight Experience Singapore which is certified by CASA for real pilot training! You can choose from a selection of airports around the world and four simulator experiences, and even try your hand at taking off and landing in adverse weather conditions for a challenge!

 

Suggestions for Friends

Prefer activities that you can do with your friends? ThisChinatown Murders Game Tour, which won the Outstanding Tour Experience in the Singapore Tourism Awards 2021, might just be the perfect fit. Played in teams of 2 – 5, you’ll have to find the serial killer by solving puzzles and interviewing eccentric characters including Raj the moneylender, Ah Kee the provision shop owner and Auntie Geok the Samsui woman.

 

Or, if you’re looking for something more nostalgic, thisYesterday Once More Tour will bring you to the last kampong in Lorong Buangkok, Lam Yeo Coffee Powder Factory, Sweetland Bread and Bakery where traditional breads are baked, as well as a heritage tour around Tiong Bahru. Alternatively, escape city life in thisFarm Tour where you’ll be brought to Hay Dairies Goat Farm to feed the goats, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Kok Fah Technology Farm for local (vegetable) produce.

Sponsor’s Message

 

Book your experience by 31 December 2021 and enjoy it by 31 March 2022. SingapoRediscovers Vouchers-eligible hotels and attractions are SG clean certified – marked with the logo you see below – to uphold good sanitation standards and hygiene practices, and have safe distancing measures in place so you can stay safe while having fun at the same time.

Help those who are less digitally savvy – including your parents – to make their bookings online, or if they have difficulty assessing their Singpass, they can use their NRIC for redemption at selected physical locations.

If you need more details, check out  SingapoRediscovers Vouchers website for more information on how to redeem your digital Vouchers.

 

Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by Singapore Tourism Board. Information for all bookings referenced in this article is valid as of 2 December 2021 and may be subject to changes.

 As a mother and an employer of a foreign domestic worker / helper, I find myself using Singtel Dash often for various reasons, and would recommend that you consider using it too. Here’s why Singtel Dash is a must-have app if you hire a helper:

Use Dash for salary payments

When I was growing up, my parents used to pay my helper her salary in cash. However, I’ve not adopted the same practice – mainly because I hardly ever use cash anymore. In fact, even MOM encourages employers to pay their domestic workers’ salaries electronically (see source here).

When you pay your helper’s salary in cash, there won’t be a receipt trail to prove that you’ve indeed done so, which could become a real problem in the event that they ever dispute it. We’ve all heard of the horror stories where helpers run away and claim that they were ill-treated by their employer(s), including being paid late – this becomes a non-issue when you use electronic payments such as internet banking.

Another alternative you can consider is to use Singtel Dash, especially if your helper already has the app installed! This way, you can literally transfer their salary within seconds.

Remit money overseas to their hometown

It used to be a common sight to see helpers queuing up at Western Union (or at other remittance companies) to send money back home. However, ever since the lockdowns last year, my helper no longer goes out as often as before, which is why she changed the way she remits money to her family members in the Philippines.

Imagine my surprise when she told me about walking to the nearest 7-11 and getting the counter guy to top up her Singtel Dash wallet so that she can send money to her family using the Dash app. This also allows her to track the status of the remittance (something she wasn’t previously able to do when she remitted over physical counters), so she can send a copy of the remittance receipt to her family member(s) to reference as well.

She reasoned that this helps her to avoid the long queues at the remittance shops in Lucky Plaza, so if you’re worried about your helper potentially catching COVID-19 from crowded places, this is a really good alternative!

You can do this on the Singtel Dash app in a few easy steps. Here’s how:

1. Select “Remit” on the homepage  (follow the on-screen steps to register if this is your first time remitting money)

2. Select “Remit Overseas” and choose the country/currency that you want. 

If you don’t already have the recipient in your records, you can simply “Add Another Recipient” and key in their name, birth date, phone number and address. (Your helper should be able to pass you these details. Note that the address doesn’t have to be very specific – in our case, it was just 3 words showing the municipality in Philippines.)

3. Select the preferred mode of pick-up. 

And you’re done!

An SMS will be sent once the remittance is completed, which can then be shared with your helper’s family to collect the cash at their preferred outlet. Note that the entire process happens within minutes - if the cash pick-up option is chosen, the money arrives in 15 minutes, so your helper can basically tell her family member to stand by at the remittance or phone shop (LBC, Palawan or M Lhuillier) and show the receipt to retrieve the money!

Select GCash and the process is even faster – just 5 minutes for the cash to arrive! If your recipient has GCash in the Philippines, they can use the remitted funds as a mobile wallet to pay for stuff, or even cash out directly (if they prefer to do so).

Note that you may have to wait if you select bank account transfer, as that takes anyway from 15 minutes to 2 banking days (in the Philippines).

Are the exchange rates competitive?

Most of you might be wondering this (as I did), and so I went to check out how the rates on Singtel Dash fares among the other commonly-used options:

Remittance via	Rate for SGD 1
Dash	36.669 PHP
Western Union	36.70 PHP
Brunphil	36.65 PHP
Metrobank	36.65 PHP
Pay2Home	36.62 PHP

Note: these rates are as of 2 December 2021

Pretty competitive indeed. I also like how transparent the fees are in being communicated upfront to users (like the FX rate and $3 - $4.50 remittance fee to the Philippines in my case) with no nasty hidden fees to surprise us.

What’s more, when your helper remits money home, she can also get a complimentary 30-day Dash Protect insurance if the remitted sum is S$100 or more (excluding fees). This is a free personal insurance coverage underwritten by Income, which covers the person who made the remittance for accidental death and permanent disability. You can refer to more details on the policy here.

Don’t forget that Dash reward points are also awarded for each remittance made! These can then be used to redeem for various vouchers, such as Shopee discount vouchers or hi! card top-ups.

This is why as an employer, you should definitely consider assisting your helper on how to download the Singtel Dash app and do the remittance by herself.

Got a helper who’s not from the Philippines? Don’t worry, because you can use Singtel Dash to remit money to other countries too i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and China.

If you’re an employer looking to assist your helper in remitting money home, you can reference this step-by-step guide as well.

Purchase discounted maid insurance on Dash

My first maid insurance agency was from a smaller insurer in Singapore, which was an arrangement set up by the agency where I hired my helper from. I tried asking if I could switch, but wasn’t given the chance to do so (which I suspect is because they earn a partnership or referral fee…) even though I pointed out that the plan was more expensive than other online options that I had found.

So once the 2 years of her contract was up, I immediately switched to a more competitive insurer ahead of renewing her contract. After doing my research and comparisons, I settled on Etiqa, because they were the most affordable plan in town.

Last week, I renewed my helper’s insurance policy with Etiqa via the Dash app because it gave me a 25% discount – the best I could find right now! Premiums start from $138.42 for Plan A (14-month coverage) – mine was $195.72 after GST as I opted for coverage between Dec 2021 to Feb 2024 as we renewed her contract for another 2 more years.

What’s more, by buying within the Dash app, you can get an extra 2,000 points (note: to be eligible, the mobile number that you indicate for the maid insurance policy MUST be the same as your Dash registered mobile number) which gives you access to even more freebies.

It was thus a no-brainer decision for me to get my maid insurance via Dash ;)

Other benefits of using Dash

Of course, your Dash app can be used here in Singapore for various payments as well, including paying via QR code (Fave, hawkers or PayNow) or Visa. For instance, I’ve used mine to pay for food at the hawker centre whenever I’m out of cash, as well as on various MRT/ bus / taxi rides.

And of course, if you’re a Singtel user, then you MUST use Dash to pay for your mobile bill because you can get an extra 1GB of data by doing so!

I hope this article helps all of you who have a foreign domestic helper (like me). Definitely go try out Singtel Dash – while this article is sponsored by them, views are entirely my own, and long-time readers would be familiar with how I’ve been using Singtel Dash long before this :)

Sponsored Message 

Yet to get started on Singtel Dash? Here’s some good news and sign-up bonuses:

Get up to $20 cashback when you download and sign up for Dash using promo code DASHBABE and make eligible transactions* by 31 December 2021 (such as a minimum of $3 payments, remittance of S$100 or more, signing up for Dash PET, etc). Full details here.

If you intend to refer your helper to Dash for her to remit directly by herself, you can send them your unique referral code (found on your Dash app) so you can get $3 cashback when your helper makes her first remittance (min. S$100 nett of fees).

Disclaimers: These policies are underwritten by Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd. (Company Reg. No. 201331905K). This content is for reference only and is not a contract of insurance. Full details of the policy terms and conditions can be found in the policy contract. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC. As buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment, an early termination of the policy usually involves high costs and the surrender value, if any, that is payable to you may be zero or less than the total premiums paid. You should seek advice from a financial adviser before deciding to purchase the policy. If you choose not to seek advice, you should consider if the policy is suitable for you. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Information is accurate as at 13 December 2021.

The Singapore government has announced its latest round of cooling measures for the property market. Here's a quick summary, and how you can (legally) get around them.

What are the latest changes?

1. Higher ABSD (Additional Buyers' Stamp Duty)

If you're a Singaporean/PR buying your first property, you don't have to panic because there's no change for you.

However, if you're purchasing your second property, you will now have to pay higher taxes i.e.an increase of 5% for Singaporeans and 10% for PRs.

For foreigners and corporations buying residential property, they will now also have to pay 10% more in ABSD.

With the ABSD raised to 35% for housing developers, this now adds pressure to developers to complete and sell all units within the 5-year deadline. In the mid to longer term, it is also expected to slow down the sharp increase in land acquisition prices and tame the en bloc market. 

2. Lower TDSR (Total Debt Servicing Ratio)

The TDSR has been reduced by 5%, which I do not see as a major change. In fact, this is even better as it will make buyers at the fringe think twice about leveraging too close to the limit, and exercise prudent buying in the immediate and long run.

But in fact, according to DBS, the current mortgage-to-income ratio is still relatively healthy and below the maximum threshold:

As a finance writer, I must also to tell you to be prudent with your debt anyway. If you were hovering near the 60% TDSR limit prior to these changes, then you should definitely relook your debt commitments and see what you can pare down or eliminate. Because the last thing you'd want is to find yourself in a situation where you're now struggling to repay your monthly debt obligations due to a higher-than-expected interest rate increase...

Also, remember that TDSR consists of more than just your mortgage - it also includes other debt obligations such as your car loan, credit cards, etc.

And for self-employed personnel or those operating a sole proprietorship, any debt commitments by your company - such as working capital loans or hire-purchases - will count towards your TDSR as well.

3. Reduced LTV (Loan-to-Value) limit for HDB loans 

If you intend to take a HDB loan, bear in mind that you will now need to pay a higher deposit (5%) since the LTV limit has been reduced.

To be honest, this shouldn't be too big of an issue, and I'll elaborate on why in the next section where I talk about solutions.

There is no change to LTV for those on a bank loan.

Who's affected?

As you can see, the latest curbs are mainly targeted at individuals who are buyers purchasing a second (or third) home for investment, as well as foreigners purchasing private property, rather than residents seeking to purchase a place to live in.

It also targets buyers who are at the fringe i.e. servicing debts that run too close to the TDSR limit. This group is the most vulnerable to interest rate hikes, which are likely to come next year (as guided for by the Fed) and will drive debt repayment obligations upward.

Companies and housing developers are also affected.

How to (legally) avoid paying ABSD

But before you fret, don't worry because the government has yet to close the biggest loophole in the current system.

1. Decouple and buy under individual names

Data from Senior Research Director Lee Sze Teck of Huttons

This is how it is usually executed:

• buy the first property under one spouse's name
• buy the second (private) property under the other spouse's name

Psst, if your first property is a HDB, you can do this by listing the other party as an occupier.

Many Singaporean couples who have managed to buy a cheap BTO from the government typically go on to sell it for a profit after completing their MOP (Minimum Occupation Period). After using the sales proceeds to pay off any outstanding mortgage and accrued interest, they are likely to still have spare cash leftover. Combined with their CPF, they can now use the money to pay for the downpayment of two properties.

The most common method for this would then be to live in one of the two properties, while renting out the other at a monthly rental amount higher than your mortgage obligation. For instance, you could buy a bigger apartment for your family's needs, while renting out the 1 or 2-bedder to an expat who's here for work.

That way, you're living in a property that has potential for capital appreciation (especially if you bought an undervalued private property) in the long run, while servicing the second mortgage easily (subject to rentability) thanks to your tenant's payments.

2. Buy under a 99-1 split

Another method would be to buy under a 99-1 ownership scheme, which will result in the stamp duties being payable only on the 1% that is transferred (or sold to the 99% owner) later on. The savings on stamp duty here can easily be 5-digits or above, compared to paying on a 50% split being transferred.

The 1% owner can now be "freed up" to buy another property without having to incur high stamp duties on a second property purchase.

This method is fairly common in the private property market.

3. Buy under trust

This method is not readily accessible to everyone, as it requires full cash payment without a loan or CPF usage, which is why it remains as a method used typically used by wealthier buyers - often with parents buying under trust for their children. 

Don't believe me? Here's one recent example:

If your child is below 21 years old, you can set up a property trust for them and buy a property with you as the Trustee.

Since you are not considered the legal owner of the property, this will not add to your property count, which means you do not have to pay any ABSD on this purchase. 

Another downside of this method is that if you were to sell the property later (also before the child turns 21), the monies will have to go back into the Trust account. Of course, if you're smart enough, there are perfectly legal ways to withdraw the money legally, but that will require another article to elaborate in detail.

I'm buying a HDB soon. Will the changes affect me?

If you're a first-time home buyer, the latest measures will probably not affect you much, especially since you can benefit from grants of up to S$160,000.

While you will need to pay a higher downpayment of 15% now (due to the reduced LTV), this is still not a big issue when you factor in the HDB grants that you can still get from the government.

For instance, if you're buying a 4-room resale HDB to live near your parents, you can qualify for a $50,000 Family Housing Grant and $30,000 Proximity Grant.

This is less than the $75,000 downpayment (15%) on a $500,000 HDB.

Your only problem will be if you buy overpriced HDBs, such as a million-dollar HDB, for instance, which will require you to cough up $150,000 as downpayment. But of course, one could easily argue that if you're even considering buying a million-dollar HDB in the first place, then money should be the least of your concerns.

I own a HDB and am planning to upgrade to private. Will the changes affect me?

If you've completed your MOP and intend to keep your HDB while buying a private property, you will now have to pay ABSD at the new level of 17%.

Assuming you're buying a $800k condo, that will mean paying $136,000 in stamp duty.

Why the heck would you want to do that?!

You'll be better off selling your HDB first.

Of course, this may not be so if your HDB is currently under the owner-occupier scheme. In this case, the spouse who's the occupier can now go on to buy a private property under their name without incurring ABSD ;)

I'm selling my HDB and am planning to upgrade to private. Will the changes affect me?

No, as long as you complete the sale of your HDB before you buy your private property.

I own a private and am planning to buy a second one for investment. Will the changes affect me?

Yes, obviously. You fall within the groups that the latest measures are targeting.

In this case, you can explore which of the methods above to avoid ABSD can work for you. Otherwise, you may want to rethink your plans and perhaps go for commercial, industry or even overseas properties instead if you really want to buy one for investment. Why limit yourself to just residential properties when they now incur so much tax?

I've waiting to buy a private property. Will prices come down?

To be honest, I doubt residential property prices will come down.

Property remains an extremely resilient asset class in Singapore, especially if you look at the transaction trends over the past decades.

And given that most of the transactions today are backed by wealth rather than just income, I feel it is also unrealistic if you expect property prices to come down significantly. You might end up waiting and waiting and waiting...until your hairs turn white.

Why are they implementing these cooling measures now?

Here's what the Ministry of National Development has officially said:

If left unchecked, prices could run ahead of economic fundamentals, and raise the risk of a destabilising correction later on. Borrowers would also be vulnerable to a possible rise in interest rates in the coming years.

The Government has therefore decided to implement a set of measures to cool the private and public housing markets, to promote continued housing affordability.

Now, given that locals make up the majority of buyers, I doubt these cooling measures are unlikely to have a long-term impact.

ABSD is a wealth tax, so it will affect the wealthier buyers rather than the mass-market home purchasers. If you fall into the latter group, you really don't have to be too worried.

More importantly, the data shows that household income is still rising faster than property prices. And as a buyer, you should always make sure that you're not over-stretching your finances when you purchase a property (or multiple properties) anyway.

Credits: Data provided by Senior Research Director of Huttons, Lee Sze Teck

All in all, these measures aren't surprising considering how our government has been hinting at it for some time now. And given that the world is expecting multiple interest rate hikes next year, the TDSR changes are definitely prudent.

As for foreigners, even with the increased taxes, Singapore still remains an attractive place for them to invest (and safe, compared to other regional peers).

If anything, our government's decision to act at this time reaffirms that our property market is going up, up and up. These cooling measures will only serve as a temporary stop-gap measure to slow the rate of increase, rather than depressing prices for the long run.

So will property prices come down as a result of these measures?

I doubt so.

Huge thanks to my husband and property expert Nicholas Huang for assisting me with the data that I needed for this article. 

P.S. For those of you who are still unsure about your next property move after this round of measures, my husband has agreed to help any of my readers who don't have a trusted advisor to guide them along. 

He's willing to spare no more than 30 minutes of his time to review any plans that you have for the next 1 - 3 years. You can DM me on Instagram if you need help, so I can link you guys up.

With love,

Budget Babe

In my last article, I wrote about how a couple can own a HDB and a private property without incurring hefty ABSD on their second property, under the HDB owner-occupier model.

Many of you have DM-ed me for more details about this, thus prompting this article. Without further ado, here's (i) how the scheme works, (ii) the pros and cons you should take note of, as well as (iii) how to incorporate this into your property plans moving forward.

Important disclosure: This information is for reference only, and not a recommendation nor individual advice to your situation as I have zero clue on your context while reading this article. I am not authorized by any government agency or stat board to write this, especially not HDB (who's in charge of HDB matters) and IRAS (tax matters). All effort has been made to provide accurate information at time of publishing, and if you spot any inaccuracies, please leave me a comment below. You should always seek out professional advice before executing any legally-binding moves in your property.

What is the HDB owner-occupier scheme?

The manner of your property ownership will determine many outcomes down the road, including financial implications such as whether you're legally liable to pay ABSD on a second property.

Most couples choose Joint Tenancy or Tenancy-in-Common, but little is known that you can also go for a third option: owner-occupier. This will become particularly useful if your household intends to purchase a second property in the near future.

At the point of purchasing your HDB, you will need to indicate your ownership structure. If you are buying a BTO, this will be shown to you during the application phase:

Screenshot source credits to my friend, Heartland Boy, who wrote about this a few years back

If you are buying a resale flat, you can do this with the conveyancing lawyer helping you with the legal ownership documents. In this case, you will need to purchase as a sole owner and indicate that you (or your spouse) is the Sole Lessee.

The other spouse can thus be put as an essential occupier, which helps you towards meeting the eligibility criteria by HDB to purchase a flat. If you're unsure, you can read more about HDB's eligibility conditions for new flats here and resale flats here respectively.

There are certain rules you need to follow:

• All applicants and occupiers listed in the flat application do not own other property locally or even overseas,
  
  
• and have not disposed of any within the last 30 months.
  
  
• Occupiers can only be your immediate family members.

Source: Screenshot from HDB website

Source: Screenshot from HDB website

What are the pros and cons?

In real estate, ownership interest in a property refers to the rights that one (or multiple owners) hold on the property. When a couple co-owns their property, both of them have legal rights to it. In the case of joint tenancy, the surviving spouse will then own 100% of the property in the event that the other were to suddenly pass away. You can read more about this here on HDB's website.

Source: Screenshot from HDB's website

Source: Screenshot from HDB's website

Disadvantages

But the biggest drawback of being an occupier means you do not own any rights to the property, even though you are recognised as family members in the HDB flat.

This means that in the event of any legal dispute, things could get messy if you are trying to lay claims to the property. It doesn't matter even if you have contributed to repaying the mortgage, since the legal ownership structure shows that you are merely an occupier rather than a co-owner. To contest this, you will need to fight your case in court (which will also incur hefty legal fees) with no guarantee that you will win.

Aside from (a lack of) legal rights, there are other cons of this method as well:

• you cannot use an occupier's income assessment for your loanapplication on the house
• the occupier's CPF cannot be used 
• the occupier will also need to fulfil the MOP (Minimum Occupation Period)

You must also note that since you're buying a HDB, the MSR (Mortgage Servicing Ratio) of 30% will also apply on the sole owner's income.

So this method only works if you have complete trust in the other party, and the one who's the sole (legal) purchaser has sufficient income and CPF to meet the criteria for the downpayment and loan.

Advantages

Of course, the silver lining in this arrangement is that upon completion of MOP, the occupier can then go on to purchase a private property without incurring ABSD.

Why? This is because since the occupier does not have any legal interest in the HDB, it will not be factored into his/her property count. 

The private property is thus considered the first property that he/she owns, so no ABSD is payable. This will easily save you at least 6 digits in stamp duty, or even more if you're buying a higher-priced property.

Is this legal? Of course it is...until our government closes this loophole.

How come I didn't read about this on HDB's website?!

Have lah. The information is just not structured in the way you wish it was, but that doesn't mean it isn't legal. If you look carefully wording, you will see it:

Source: Screenshot from HDB website

Source: Screenshot from HDB website

Pay attention to the grammar! Now you know why your teachers said to master English, eh?

How can I incorporate this into my property plans?

I'm married now and own a HDB with my spouse. Can I use this method?

If you currently own a HDB with your spouse and you're thinking of buying a private property, unfortunately there is no way you can benefit from this owner-occupier method. HDB no longer allows married couples to "decouple" in this way when they changed the policy a few years back, so this loophole no longer works. Instead, read my previous article here for other solutions on how you can structure it such that you will not incur ABSD.

Source: The Straits Times news report where HDB removed the loophole in 2016.

If you are thinking of selling your HDB, then you may want to think carefully about how you want to structure your next purchase in order to ensure you're not subject to the prevailing ABSD policies.

I've written about this in more detail previously, and you may read more here.

How much can this method save me?

Not having to pay ABSD can have significant savings e.g. $170,000 on a $1 million condo apartment, or even $6.8 million on this $40 million Good Class Bungalow. Thus, if this method works for you and your partner, you may want to sit down and properly discuss it (together with the pros and cons).

May I also remind you to always be prudent in your property purchases, and not overstretch your finances. While the TDSR has recently been lowered from 60% to 55%, I also do not personally believe in maxing out your limits unless you have ample spare cash and/or other liquid investments.

Property remains an attractive and resilient asset in Singapore due to many reasons, including our political stability, lack of natural disasters, our attractiveness to foreigners (for work and/or investment), and more. As our government is still building up and transforming our landscape (you can always study the URA masterplan for clues), there are many opportunities for potential capital appreciation in property, especially if you're savvy enough to snag an undervalued one. 

However, because property is possibly the largest purchase you'll ever make in your life, you cannot afford to make a wrong move.

So please tread with caution and I suggest that you speak to a licensed realtor (I'm biased but I highly recommend my husband if you need professional help. He was the one who opened up my eyes to many of these things), or even a lawyer for advice before you proceed, otherwise it may be too late in the future to undo any damage already done (even if it was done unknowingly).

My husband has agreed to help advise my readers in his professional capacity, so if you need some guidance and lack a trusted advisor, you can always DM me on Instagram here and I'll link you up.

Important Disclaimer: The information presented here is for reference and educational purposes only. I do not represent nor speak on behalf of any government agencies or statutory board, and definitely not for HDB, IRAS, CEA, URA, MND, etc, which is why you cannot and must not take my words as a confirmation in any way. It is best that you engage a professional or get any confirmation that you want in legal black-and-white before you execute a move in order to protect yourself. I do NOT advocate breaking of any laws in Singapore when you're buying property, but I'm a firm believer that you should be educated on the prevailing policies and how best to structure your purchase and/or investment(s) in order to reduce your relevant taxes liable. 

If you’ve been following my blog for the past few years, you would have seen me set clear financial goals for the new year each time, and then do a review at the end of the year to check if I’ve achieved them. 

The good news is, I often do. But unfortunately for many others, this isn’t always the case.

Unsurprisingly, this shows up in Syfe’s latest survey findings as well:

Syfe just released their latest survey findings, and the results were unsurprising:

• 94% of people have personal finance-related resolutions for the new year
• 70% of  people want to invest to grow their money in the new year 
• 40% of people want to invest their annual bonus
• but yet, 56% of people spend more (or a lot more than usual) when it comes to the festive season consisting of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year

BB's Tips to Manage Festive Spending

1. Remember your long-term goal(s)

Dr Chow suggests identifying your long-term values as the first step. If you've been following me, you should already have your own goals by now, so I will ask you to remember them instead, and keep your eye on the main prize.

Most of you have shared with me that your financial goals are to achieve financial freedom / retire early / invest for your kids' financial security - or a combination of these goals. With the year end approaching, you should review what you've done in 2021 to move you one step closer to your goals.

For myself, I've definitely improved my investment skills and grown my portfolio size this year. And as for my kids, I've also since started Finn's investment portfolio, and am managing it together with Nate's.

2. Set a budget (or track your expenses)

I used to track every single expense in my 20s, but ever since I had kids, I've had difficulties keeping up, so I set an overall budget instead now and just aim to be conscious about all my spending in general.

You might think that tracking your expenses is a chore, but the truth is that it often shows you insights that you would otherwise not have known about. For instance, tracking my expenses in my younger days revealed that I tend to spend more when I'm busy(on taxis / food delivery) and whenever I skip meals (because I end up spending much more on snacks instead e.g. multiple items at Old Chang Kee vs. a proper lunch at the hawker centre).

With that knowledge, I've been able to cut down on such expenses thereafter. I haven't ordered food delivery in ages, and consciously either cook a meal or walk out to order economic rice from the food court even on my busiest days.

3. Resist impulsive purchases

In this age of online advertising and e-commerce, it has become easier for us to just spend within seconds. While I love apps like Shopee as much as you guys do, it takes a great deal of discipline and self-restraint for me to not go overboard shopping on it!

Dr Chow advocates a S-T-O-P exercise to avoid buyer's remorse:

• S - Stop whatever you are doing
• T - Take a breath and anchor yourself
• O - Observe and notice what's happening inside and around you, notice the urge to purchase the item and acknowledge it
• P - Proceed effectively by reminding yourself of your priorities and whether this decision aligns with your values

The breathing techniques should help slow down your adrenaline rush that comes from seeing a good deal or a tempting offer. For myself, my approach to resisting impulsive purchases is this:

• Calculate the item's utility cost
• Think about the lack of storage space in my house (this is a super effective method ok! It reminds me that I already have wayyyyyy too much)
• Walk away from the cashier and mull over the item for a bit. Often, this helps me to realize that I don't really need it anyway, and the deal isn't as good as it initially appeared to be. If I feel the price tag is expensive (anything more than a high 2 digits), I may even go off and come back to buy it later.

When I shop online, the same approach applies - I add them to my cart and just keep them there forever, until the day I decide I REALLY need it...which is when I then click on "check out".

Psst, for every 100 items I add to my online shopping cart on Shopee or Lazada, I often end up removing 80% of them!

Once you’ve successfully made it to February without busting your budget, you can give yourself a pat on the back. But don’t stop there, as you also now need to work on achieving the rest of your financial goals!

How to make sure you achieve your 2022 financial resolutions

At the end of the day, keeping to your resolutions is really all about discipline, regular check-ins, and turning desirable behaviours into a habit.

Regular readers of the blog will be familiar with how I do a yearly review of my financial health (and 2021's reflections will be out in the coming weeks, so keep a lookout for that!) and how it has helped me to ensure I stay on track towards my bigger goals.

Too often, another mistake that many people make is in making all sorts of plans and goals...but never end up taking action. Let's be honest - how many of you are guilty of this?

When it comes to investing, this is exactly what happens. You tell yourself that you will start investing this year (or more this year), but then become so busy with work and life that you...forget. Or, you try to time the markets instead and always end up on the wrong end of the stick, or worse still, never buying at all.

If you want to spend less, try downloading an expense tracker and/or a budget app.

If you want to save more, try finding the best credit card to get discounts and rewards on your spending, and walk away from every impulsive purchase(you can always come back to buy it at a later time when your emotions are no longer running wild).

If you want to invest (or invest more), try adopting a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy and start by putting in a bit every month towards your investments. If you're new and not sure where to start, a robo-advisor like Syfe can help. You can start investing with any amount you want and there’s no lock-in period. To make it easier for you, you can even DCA your investments via recurring bank transfers with Syfe for a fuss-free start.

--- A word on Syfe’s portfolios ---

If you prefer to invest in fully-managed, ready-made portfolios, Syfe currently has the widest variety of portfolios for you to choose from. Their Core portfolios employ the time-tested core-satellite investing strategy, and allows you to match the one best suited to your risk appetite (Defensive, Balanced, or Growth, or Equity100).

Image credit: Syfe. An illustration of a sample core-satellite strategy

Consisting of 18 ETFs across stocks, bonds and gold, this will likely appeal to those of you who prefer to have your funds diversified across different asset classes and managed by the world’s top names like Vanguard or Blackrock.

For those of you who are new, you can read about my breakdown of Syfe's portfolios here to decide which is best for you:

• Syfe Core
• Syfe REIT+
• Syfe Select / Syfe Custom

-----------------------------

And if you want to up your investment knowledge instead, try reading more such as books (such as the ones I've recommended here) or subscribing to your favourite finance writers. Free webinars, such as those organised by Syfe, are also available to the public to attend and learn.

And finally, be sure to create a calendar appointment with yourself in 6 months time to review your progress, or sooner if you need it (e.g. a quarterly check-in could also work).

If you do these things, I'm pretty sure you'll be well on track to achieve your goals.

Sponsored Message

Want a headstart on your 2022 financial goals? If you’re already a Syfe client, use either the code NYTOPUP or 5KTOPUP to enjoy free investing in the new year when you add funds to your Syfe portfolio. See the full T&Cs here.

New to Syfe? Save on 6 months worth of fees on investments up to $30,000 when you use the code BUDGETBABE.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Syfe, a leading robo-advisor in Singapore which I am a paying customer of. Any reference to an investment’s past or potential performance is not an indication of any specific outcome or profit. Always do your own research before investing. This is not financial advice. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

As the year comes to an end, I typically do an annual review of my finances to check how my progress has been, and where we currently stand. I examine my income growth, expenses, savings, insurance coverage, and investment performance - which helps me to better strategize for the new year.

2021 feels like it passed very quickly, as I spent the first half being pregnant and the second half breastfeeding my newborn. With two kids in tow, I've been running low on sleep, but I know that this is merely a season of my life and will come to pass as my children grow up.

Before I go into this year's review, here's a quick recap of previous years: 

• 2014: Saved $20,000
• 2015: Saved $30,000 and grew income
• 2016: Saved $40,000 and grew income, hit $100k in net worth at age 26 including CPF
• 2017: Saved $45,000 and doubled my net worth in a year
• 2018: Saved $50,000 
• 2019: Saved $35,000 (didn't realise I completely missed out on a round-up post, but here's our child-related expenses instead)
• 2020: Saved $30,000 and achieved crazy (abnormal) investment returns

In December, Singaporeans lost over S$8.5 million to scammers. Of this sum, about S$2.7 million was lost to phishing scams masquerading as OCBC over the Christmas weekend alone.

Source: Business Times

Some scammers are even worse than scum, and continue to prey on the same victims by running a "recovery room" scam. This basically exploits our feelings of loss and shame, and how the scammers do it is that they pretend to be someone who can help you get back your money, such as a "bank officer", the "police", or the "CIA", or even the "FBI"(don't laugh - that's exactly what happened to my mom).

It is sad but this will continue to happen if we're not careful. And while this time the scammers pretended to be OCBC, it could very well be DBS or UOB tomorrow, or even SingPost, the police, the Ministry of Health, or any other institution.

When you click on suspicious links or input your login details into fraudulent websites, it is extremely difficult for the bank / PayPal / financial institution to be able to verify whether that particular transaction is authentic or not.

And while it is easy for us to point fingers and say - SingTel should have been more careful! OCBC / DBS should have warned us! - the truth is, the scammers are always changing their tactics.

Once a number has been flagged as a potential scam number, they can easily just buy a new SIM card and use a new contact to continue cheating more victims.

Once a scam tactic has been exposed, they can easily change their story.

So if you don't learn how to be careful and protect yourself, you may very well become the very next victim.

And the worst thing is, you're not likely to get any of the money back. By the time you realised you've been scammed, the scammers would have likely already made multiple transactions and transfer to hide their digital footprints, making it extremely difficult to trace it back to them.

Based on what we've seen so far, there are more than one type of scams:

• Parcel / Delivery scam
• E-commerce scam (cash on delivery)
• Tech support scam
• Pretending to be government e.g. "police" scams, "MOH" covid-19 scams
• Job scams
• Love scams
• Investment scams
• Phishing scams

I can only imagine that more versions and scams will evolve and we'll be adding to that list as the years go on.

I've written extensively about scams in the past, but here's a quick summary of (updated) tips on how you can try to keep safe:

1. Do not pick up any calls that start with a +65.

Do not pick up any calls from a number that starts with a +65. That's just an overseas scammer masking their identity as a local line to cheat you.

2. Do not respond to unsolicited text messages or emails.

If you are using an iPhone, download the ScamShield app here which should help to protect you against known scam numbers that have been reported to the police.

And my mantra is, if someone needs to reach you urgently, they can always find other ways to contact you.

3. Never click on dubious URL links.

No decent institution or organisation will ever send you a bit.ly link! (and any that does is being very unprofessional so you can ignore them).

4. Even if a link looks legitimate, look out for potential red flags.

It will only take a few seconds for you to run a Google search to verify if a link is legitimate.

Earlier this year, even my husband nearly fell prey to a Singpost SMS scam where the URL was singpost.sg. While it looks legit, a quick search online will show you that the URL is fake.

I also almost got fooled by a Singpost scam SMS a few months ago which contained a perfectly legitimate-looking URL (of which I can no longer recall, because I've deleted the SMS). The SMS was supposedly for tracking the status of a delivery, and coincidentally, I was indeed expecting a registered parcel from Singpost at that point in time as well. 

The website also looked exactly like Singpost's, but when I scrolled down and tried clicking around to confirm, I realized that the "Investor Relations" link did not work. Which makes no sense, because any listed company will definitely make sure their IR page is working.

That little error by the scammers saved me from putting in my personal details into that dodgy-but-perfectly-legitimate-looking website.

But now that I've shared this, I won't be surprised if future scammers make sure their IR links is working. They adapt fast, you see.

5. Double-check with friends or family members first.

Before you fill in and submit any personal details, make any payments or even right before you click any links, it never hurts to check with someone you trust.

A second eye might very well spot something that you've overlooked.

6. Verify the authenticity of the information with the official website or sources.

If you're lazy and don't even want to double-check, then the fault is entirely on you.

If you tried checking but the official source(s) aren't responding / are slow to respond, you can always just ignore the link / payment request / verification request. 

7. NEVER ever disclose your personal details, Internet banking details or One-Time Password to anyone! 

If you give scammers your login details, that's on you.

If you give scammers your OTP, then that's on you too.

So...just don't.

8. If you receive an OTP for a transaction you didn't make, check or report it.

An OTP could be a sign that someone has logged in with your online banking credentials (or credit card / account details) and is trying to make a payment, which triggered the OTP SMS. So if you're not doing any transactions then, this would be one red flag to check.

Sometimes, it could be a genuine error - this happened in my case where someone transacted on a platform and accidentally keyed in my phone number while setting up their 2FA. I immediately called DBS to check when I received the OTP SMS.

It never hurts to double check.

9. Only access payment portals via its official website or mobile banking app.

For the elderly, you can even bookmark the official websites for them so that they won't click on fake links that are being advertised on Google.

10. Have a habit of checking your online statements at least once a month.

This not only helps you to spot unauthorized transactions, but also helps you get a better sense of what you've spent on, and can even save you money when you see subscriptions that you may no longer be using but are still being billed for.

Conclusion:

Scams are becoming more commonplace these days. Even educated folks can fall victim to these scammers, which is why your best defense is to always remain skeptical and extra careful. Having a good command of English helps as well (for now, at least until the scammers catch up), and when in doubt, always double-check with either your loved ones or the party itself / himself / herself.

With love,

Budget Babe

Some of you might recall my controversial post several years ago when I mentioned I didn't have any intention of using my CPF to pay for housing, and prefer to use cash instead for repaying a bank loan at 1+% interest rate per annum. Our reasoning was to let our CPF grow instead, since 2.5% p.a. is still a decent rate.

I thought I'd do an update because as it turned out, we didn't end up utilizing that strategy in the end. That's because when we moved into our house in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, it was also the time when global stock markets crashed. Being opportunistic, my husband and I decided to inject our cash into the markets (instead of financing our mortgage) and use my CPF to pay for the monthly mortgage in the meantime.

While some of my peers chose to utilize their emergency savings, or even make use of balance transfers during this time, we saw our method as a way to "borrow" from our (future) selves to capitalize on the current market opportunities. This way, instead of having a bank earn our interest, it would be ourselves earning it. 

The idea was then to do a Voluntary Housing Refund to "repay" ourselves thereafter when there are less investment opportunities (or when the outlook isn't as obvious / easy to invest).

Well, this turned out to be the right move, as our investments that year did well as the markets recovered. 

Based on CPF's latest statistics, we aren't the only ones who are using our CPF for housing:

Of course, if you lack liquid cash to put back into your CPF or aren't keen on a Voluntary Housing Refund (for whatever reason), you can also refund your CPF accrued interest upon sale of your property.

This was what happened to my parents after they sold their flat, although financing the mortgage with their CPF over the years had led to a substantial sum of accrued interest, leaving them with less cash proceeds than if they had used cash (or partial cash, or did a voluntary refund).

But if your sales proceeds from your property aren't enough to repay the accrued interest, there is no need to top up with cash. Until today, I'm still seeing this myth going around, so please take note.

And if your elderly parents have a HDB flat, you can also talk to them about whether the Lease Buyback Scheme and Silver Housing Bonus as an option for their retirement. You can read about them here:

• Sell part of your flat's lease to HDB to monetize and receive a stream of income for retirement
• Check your eligibility for the Silver Housing Bonus when you downgrade your property

More seniors are taking this up, and if you asked me, the best part about this method is that they cannot be scammed of this lump sum of money so that they continue to receive monthly payouts to finance their retirement years.

Should you use cash or your CPF to pay for your mortgage? That is completely up to you, and I hope that by doing this update, you can see from both perspectives.

Should you do a Voluntary Housing Refund? If you want to stop the accrued interest payable from growing, and let the government pay you the interest on your savings instead, then that could be a good option to consider. Of course, this option may not be available to those who lack sufficient liquid cash on hand.

And as for your parents, if you're worried about their retirement and don't need them to leave you their HDB as an inheritance, then the Lease Buyback Scheme and Silver Housing Bonus could just work in your favour (note: Singaporeans cannot own two HDBs. If you currently own one and inherit your parents' flat later on, you will need to sell one).

With love,
Budget Babe

Investing in fractional shares can be useful for both new and experienced investors. For those who are just starting out and do not have a huge sum of capital to invest, fractional shares allow you to own the shares of a company when you cannot afford to pay full price for a stock. For experienced investors, fractional shares are useful in portfolio allocation, as it allows us to control the exact portfolio exposure that we want to have for certain stocks or even industries. With Syfe Trade, which calls itself Singapore's first neobroker, you can now invest in fractional shares in the US from as little as US$1.

I often get asked by readers who are new to investing and wish to purchase shares of companies like Facebook, Amazon or even Google for a start, but do not have enough to purchase even the minimum (1 share for US equities).

In Singapore, the minimum investment sum has been reduced from 1000 shares to 100 shares since 2015, whereas the minimum in HK depends on which stock you're buying (S$8000+ for Tencent at time of writing vs. S$2000 for Alibaba).

Most investors in the US do not face this issue as Robinhood - which is widely used there - offers fractional shares trading, but Singapore did not have this option until fairly recently.

What is a fractional share?

A fractional share is anything that is less than 1 share of a company.

They are not a new concept, albeit known as "odd lots" for those of you who have invested or received scrip dividends before. However, you cannot directly purchase fractional shares in any stock listed in the SGX, which means that if you wanted to buy DBS, you will need to pay a minimum of S$32 x 100 = $3,200 to own it.

If you're using Tiger, Moomoo, FSMOne, POEMS, DBS Vickers or OCBC Securities, you will find that when you want to buy 1 share of any US stock e.g. Alphabet, you will need to pay at least US$2,800 (at time of writing).

But what if you're starting with $10,000, and want to spread that out across 5 or different stocks rather than just having one position be more than 25% of your portfolio?

Try to recreate the portfolio I've shown as an example above, and you will quickly find that you have

• uneven allocations
• >70% exposure on just 3 positions alone (AMZN, GOOGL and TSLA)
• uninvested dollars left over

But if you use a brokerage that allows you to buy fractional shares - like Syfe Trade - you'll easily be able to control and craft your desired portfolio without the above issues.

What are the benefits of buying fractional shares?

Invest with as little as US$1.

Fractional shares are incredibly useful to younger or newer investors who may not have (or wish to commit) a lot of money to a stock.

This means that unlike investors of my era, you no longer have to wait until you've built up a capital base of at least several thousand dollars before you start investing. I started only after I had built up S$20,000, as fractional shares weren't available during then.

Get exposure to a stock that would otherwise have been too expensive for you to own.

You get the same percentage (%) returns regardless of your capital. Amazon is often used as an example, as its share price of more than US$3,000 is quite difficult for many young investors to buy. But with fractional shares, you no longer have to pay full price - instead, you get to pay what you can and get the corresponding fraction of the share.

If Amazon goes up by 10%, you'll also see your position go up by 10%.

Gone are the days where you've to restrict yourself to only companies with a lower share price (relatively speaking) because you had limited capital.

You can do dollar-cost averaging more efficiently.

Whether you wish to allocate US$10 or US$100 per month to all your favourite stocks, you can now do so accurately. This would have been impossible in the past when you had to factor in minimum lot size (which is still the case in Singapore and Hong Kong today - it is extremely difficult to do DCA into stocks like Tencent or BYD).

You can control your portfolio exposure and asset allocation.

Imagine that you wanted to set specific allocations to different industries or stock types in your portfolio, such as limit SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies in your portfolio to no more than 20% because you're concerned about the volatility in their share price especially as we move into 2022.

You still can't do that on any of the existing local brokerages, but with Syfe Trade, you now can.

What are the downsides to buying fractional shares?

The biggest drawback to fractional shares is that they are not always available in most brokerages. At the moment, only Interactive Brokers and Syfe Trade offer this to investors. Interactive Brokers targets the more savvy and advanced investors / traders, with more complex features such as options, margin trading, derivatives, etc.

You might also end up paying a lot more in transaction fees due to the temptation to invest in many different companies.

This is a common problem among new investors, who may end up being more reckless with their money since they can invest in almost any stock regardless of capital now.

To avoid these, you will need to be disciplined as an investor and calculate the cost of your moves either way.

Buying fractional shares with Syfe Trade

If you want to buy fractional shares, one of the easiest ways to do so would be through Syfe Trade when they launch on 18 January 2022.

For now, you can join their waitlist in order to get early access to the trading platform. What’s more, you may find yourself one of 10 lucky winners to walk away with an iPhone 13 when you join the waitlist! The draw closes on 17 January 2022 and you can view the waitlist contest details here.

Most of us are already familiar with Syfe, thanks to their innovative robo-advisory platform which has launched multiple solutions over the years, and recently gave DIY investors the flexibility to customize our own ETF portfolio.

But what's even more exciting is that Syfe has recently been approved to start offering brokerage services, and will soon be launching Syfe Trade. Syfe touts this as Singapore's first neo-broker, with the aim of making investing more accessible (and easier) for more people.

If you're unfamiliar with the term, neo-brokers essentially refer to a new class of brokerages that are democratising stock investing through lower fees and easy-to-use digital platforms. Robinhood is perhaps the best example, as they empowered retail investors to invest even with just $1 thanks to fractional shares. Otherwise, not every US investor would have been able to afford Tesla shares.

Designed as a simpler and more affordable way for retail investors to trade US stocks, Syfe Trade also comes with the following benefits:

You will be able to buy AND sell fractional shares on Syfe Trade, and your orders will be filled in real-time i.e. unlike some brokerages which group the fractional shares across different investors and purchase at the end of the trading day.

Note that only market orders are supported for fractional shares, which means your order will be filled at market price in real time based on your allocated amount.

If you are buying full units of shares, you can also set Limit or Stop order function to control the prices that you are willing to pay for.

How much are fees on Syfe Trade?

As part of its introductory offer, you can get 5 commission-free trades per month, and just US$0.99 per trade after that.

From Q2 2022 onwards, you will still get 2 commission-free trades each month, with subsequent trades at US$1.49.

Aside from being the lowest among all the other brokerages in Singapore right now, what I like that Syfe has chosen to price its fees as a simple all-in fee, instead of charging separately for commission fee + a platform fee.

There are no custodian fees and also no dividend handling fees. If the stock you're invested in pays out dividends, your corresponding share of that dividend will be credited directly into your account.

Is Syfe Trade safe?

If you're concerned about security, you'll be glad to know that Syfe is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Your US securities are custodised in individual accounts maintained with Syfe’s US broker-dealer, who is a member of the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) in the United States. SIPC protects the securities customers of its members up to US$500,000 (including US$250,000 for claims for cash) in the event of brokerage failure.

When you transfer money into Syfe Trade to invest, your funds are held in a trust account with HSBC and are kept separate from Syfe's own accounts.

As someone who mostly curates individual stocks and ETFs for my own investment portfolio, I've always advocated that robo-advisors are a super-easy way for beginners to get started, while teaching readers who seek higher returns on how they can learn to select their own individual stocks.

Which is why I'm pleased that Syfe is doing this, and see it as a move in the right direction.

Sponsored Message by Syfe

Investors in Singapore looking to trade US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will soon have another option with Syfe Trade. What's more, you'll be able to trade fractional shares on Syfe Trade, which means you will no longer have to pay high commissions, fees, or big sums of money to invest in the world’s biggest companies.

You can earn more than S$200 in cash credits when you sign up, fund and execute your first trade, and refer your friends to Syfe Trade. This will be credited into your account as an increase in your buying power, which you can then use to buy any US stock or ETF of your choice.Full T&Cs here.

Click here to register on the waitlist for Syfe Trade, and stand a chance to win an iPhone!

P.S. If you’ve previously registered for the waitlist and have been given early access, you can follow the steps here to create your Syfe Trade account. For existing Syfe users, the toggle function to get to Syfe Trade is within “Settings”. 

Early access clients are also eligible for the Syfe Trade welcome promotion, so you don’t have to wait for the official launch to start trading. 

Disclosure: I'm an existing user of Syfe, and was given early access to test out Syfe Trade in order to review it. This article was written in collaboration with Syfe. All opinions are that of my own.

Disclaimer: Not financial advice. Any form of investment carries risks, and none of the stocks mentioned in this article serves as a recommendation to buy (or sell). Your individual returns may vary depending on your own skill as an investor. Always do your own research before investing. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

In a previous article about Econ Healthcare, I wrote about how I wasn't interested to invest in the company for various reasons. Today, I add another key reason to that list and question their management's investment decisions.

On January 9, it was reported that Econ Healthcare spent S$4 million buying shares of a Hong Kong listed firm Crosstec. The reason provided was that [they] "observed that 'shares are on a rising trend'", and that “the company is of the view that the potential gain on investment on quoted security will improve the yield of idle cash and therefore the return of the company’s shareholders".

So, it was reported that Econ Healthcare had bought the shares at 29.26 cents and 40.04 cents (SGD). The next trading day , 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗰 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝟴𝟯% to close at 0.38 HKD (6.6 cents SGD).

When we zoom further out on the charts, we can see that the so-called uptrend only started in November. 

And plunged the day immediately after news of Econ Healthcare's investment was made public.

I shared on my Instagram on Friday that I suspected Econ Healthcare did NOT manage to exit its shares on time i.e. sell within the first 30 minutes of that fateful trading day, before the price crashed.

On my Facebook, I asked if they had lost S$3.2 million.

Now, how this company got onto Econ Healthcare's radar or why they even chose to invest their entire position into a single stock is anyone's guess.

In my view, the DBS analyst who downgraded Econ Healthcare to a "hold" in the aftermath of this saga was being too kind. Econ Healthcare was never a "buy" in Budget Babe's books, and after this incident, I'm even more convinced that I'll stay far away from their stock as an investment.

When management has a history of doing actions that destroy shareholder value, that is a clear no for me. 

Aside from that, I'm gonna tell you why I think these are terrible reasons to invest:

• buying shares because price is rising
• investing your entire capital into a single stock
• NOT diversifying 

As long-term investors, we should seek to invest in companies that are fundamentally strong or undervalued, or has strong growth prospects. Not just because you observe that prices are rising.

Only traders chase rising prices, and then the question of whether you're able to get out in time before the trend reverses is one that remains to be answered. In reality, not everyone ends up being able to exit in time.

The other thing NOT to do is to invest your entire capital into a single stock. 

Whether you have S$4 million to invest or less, the key is to spread out your risks, because there will always be a chance that your investment could go south. And when that happens, your losses will also be significantly large. In the worst case, your entire portfolio could be wiped out.

So to end off this article, here's the 3 key takeaways:

1. Do not invest in stocks simply because its share price is rising.

2. Do not invest your entire capital position into a single stock unless you're willing to risk a 100% capital loss.

The 3rd takeaway is buried somewhere in this article, and I'll leave you to conclude that for yourself. 

For savers with at least S$10,000 looking for an option that will give you at least 1.2% p.a. guaranteed returns for the next few years, which will serve you better - your bank account, fixed deposits, SSB, or short-term endowment plans?

With inflation creeping up on us, the current situation isn't looking very pretty for savers. What's worse is that savers who continue to leave their savings aside to earn paltry interest will soon find the value of their dollars eroding faster than before.

While some have opted to invest their money instead for higher returns, the volatile investment climate right makes it harder to have the certainty that your money will definitely multiply - unlike the narrative in 2020 and H12021. 

But in the first place, you shouldn't be investing with money that you need in the short-term anyway. Otherwise, you'll be exposed to the volatility of the markets, which may or may not be up by the time you need to withdraw your money, such as for a wedding, delivering your baby, or making the downpayment for a house.

There's also no guarantee that at the time of withdrawal, your capital won't be lesser than what you started out with, or that the stocks or crypto you've bought into have recovered to their previous highs.

So for those of you with savings that you need to use in the next few years, you'll need to start looking elsewhere:

• Most of you are probably getting less than 1% on your bank accounts right now i.e. UOB One / OCBC 360 / DBS Multiplier. 
  
  
• The majority of fixed deposits are currently being offered at 0.4% - 0.6% p.a. for up to 36 months lock-in, whereas the highest rate of 0.85% p.a. offered by Hong Leong Finance comes with a 24-month tie-up. 
  
  
• Holding the same in the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) for 2 years will give you an average of 0.88% per year. If you hold for the full 10 years, you'll get 1.64% based on the current tranche.

Some of you may already have been switching between different bank accounts, fixed deposits or even endowment plans to try and mitigate this, or spread out your capital across different options in order to get maximum returns without taking on risk.

Not a lot of options, but don't fret, because many savers like yourself have been turning to short-term endowment plans that usually have 1, 2 or 3 years of commitment.

The problem is, there are not a lot of these available, and the good ones sell out pretty quickly. Sometimes TOO quickly, because before you've even heard of it, it has already been fully snapped up.

So when a short-term endowment plan like those in the GREAT SP Series launch, you'd want to be paying attention.

The latest news is that GE has just launched their GREAT SP Series 5A, which is a single-premium endowment plan lasting 2 years that provides 1.2% p.a. guaranteed returns upon maturity. The key things to like are:

• 1.2% p.a. guaranteed returns upon maturity
• Minimum premium starting from S$10,000 
• Guaranteed returns is applied to entire premium amount(unlike a tiered payout model) i.e. you could sign up with $100,000 and still get 1.2% p.a. on the full sum upon maturity
• Comes with insurance coverage against death and total and permanent disability (TPD)
• Complimentary Accidental Cover booster of 5X your premium paid
• No medical examination or underwriting required

1 Guaranteed survival benefit equivalent to 1.20% of the single premium will be payable annually on survival of the life assured at the end of each of the two policy years. 3 This Complimentary Accidental Cover Booster is underwritten by Great Eastern General Insurance Limited. Benefit payable is subject to a maximum cap of S$1 million per life assured. To enjoy the Complimentary Accidental Cover Booster, the life assured must be between 17 and 70 years old (age next birthday) when the GREAT SP Series 5A policy is issued. Terms and conditions apply. Refer to this page for further details.

Considering how fast the previous SP Series sold out, I won't be surprised if this becomes fully subscribed either and closes within a few weeks time.

At such competitive rates, I'm not sure how long this tranche will remain open, but we do know from their previous tranches which were all fully subscribed and sold out within weeks, so you may want to check out more information here and decide if this will be suitable for you.

If not, where else can you find a guaranteed 1.2% p.a. for more than $10,000 in this climate?

Disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with Great Eastern, who fact-checked the provided product information about GREAT SP Series 5A. All opinions in this post are mine.

T&Cs apply. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC. 

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

The information presented is for general information only and does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. You may wish to seek advice from a financial adviser before making a commitment to purchase this product. If you choose not to seek advice from a financial adviser, you should consider whether this product is suitable for you.

If your child is willing, you can make the switch to fresh or UHT milk after they turn one. But here's why I chose to stick with formula milk anyway - it is cheaper, more convenient, and helps to greatly ease the mental load of modern parenting.

How do you choose which milk to give?

For the longest time, many parents have switched over to fresh or UHT milk for their children after they turn one. The primary reasons cited are often:

• It is cheaper
• After a certain age, a child's nutrition needs should be met by food rather than milk
• Many formula milk brands are high in sugars

I definitely agree with this, but it is not easy to consume enough calcium with food alone, hence milk can be a good supplement. Toddlers need 700mg a day, which would require them to eat:

• 37 servings of spinach
• 40 servings of salmon
• 200g of tofu (4 packets)
• 6.5 servings of kids cheese sticks

As any parent will know, this is nearly impossible to achieve, which is why we continue to provide for our children's calcium needs through milk as much as possible.

Photo Credits

There are a few other considerations as well which could lead to your child having their other nutritional needs not being met:

What if I prefer to wean my child off formula milk?

Parenting is already hard enough, so let me emphasize that whatever your choice, you know what is best for your child and/or your family.

Some parents believe that fresh milk is better, while others (like me) prefer to continue keeping our children on formula milk until they prefer to stop. 

And if you want "real" milk i.e. fresh cow milk, rather than one that is made from milk substances, then this graphic by FoodSavvy.sg might help you decide which one to get.

Is fresh milk or UHT milk better?

UHT milk refers to milk that has been heated to ultra-high temperatures of 135-145°C and kept for 2-4 seconds for sterilization.

As compared to fresh milk, UHT milk has slightly less nutrients as some of the vitamins are degraded during the heating process. But if you are giving your child milk mainly for calcium, then there is hardly any difference between UHT and fresh milk.

Of course, if one day Nate tells me that he doesn't want his formula milk anymore, then I will wean him off it.

For me, I weaned off milk entirely when I was in kindergarten and suddenly decided that I no longer liked the taste. My parents respected my decision and from then on, I was no longer made to drink milk. On the other hand, my husband didn't stop until he was in late primary school.

We've already exposed him to all 3 types - fresh milk, UHT milk and formula milk - but he still asks for his Nature One Dairy milk before bed every single morning and night. The only times he'll take fresh or UHT milk would be when he's having it with his breakfast cereal, or as an afternoon snack (which is not frequent).

So that's why we'll be sticking with formula milk for now.

It not only saves us money, plenty of time and mental load, but more importantly, my child likes it.

And as a mom, whatever makes my son happy will be my ultimate choice.

Disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with Nature One Dairy, after they found out that we're still sticking with formula milk for our toddler. 

Important Message from Nature One Dairy:

Toddler milk is not required, but is recommended as a supplement because it has a complete profile of vitamins and minerals. Formula is a fortified milk, which is why it can be more expensive than some brands of fresh milk, but not always so. As it helps to consolidate other nutrients in one formula, formula can be a good choice for parents who prefer to have the reassurance that their child's daily nutritional needs are always being met, regardless of your child's dietary preference for solids.

OCBC has just announced that it has made "full goodwill payments" to all victims of the recent SMS phishing scam that impersonated the bank.

This fateful OCBC scam will definitely go down in Singapore's history books as for several reasons:

• a record number of customers were cheated, in record time
• the victims included financially literate and IT-savvy professionals
• it helped us learn about SMS spoofing technology
• it is the first time a bank has fully compensated scam victims

For many years, POEMS has been one of Singapore’s most popular trading platforms with access to multi-assets, multiple markets as well as your own dedicated Equity Specialist – all for incredibly low fees, much lower than many of our local alternatives. And now with POEMS Mobile 3 being rebuilt from scratch, its newest integration of TradingView charting capabilities now enables you to conduct technical analysis on-the-go! 

Read this cautionary tale if you're travelling on Royal Caribbean Singapore anytime soon, or if you intend to.

Cruises to nowhere have been a big hit since the pandemic started, but should you choose to sail with Royal Caribbean (RCI) anytime soon, you may want to be prepared for the following scenarios to avoid disappointment.

1. Be prepared to be denied boarding, even if you're certified fit for travel.

In the past year, there have been multiple incidents of passengers in Singapore who were denied boarding at the port for the following reasons:

• being a frontline healthcare worker
• muscle ache (on arm, after taking a booster shot)
• pregnancy (less than 23 weeks)
• prior recovery from bronchitis
• recovered from a sore throat over a week ago (from eating overly heaty foods)

The one thing that all of the above denied cases had in common was that they had answered a "yes" to one of the questions on the health questionnaire. 

24 hours before you board, you'll be asked to filled up a health questionnaire on the Royal Caribbean app which will look something like this:

Note how the language used is in past tense, meaning that even if you are currently well but have experienced any of the listed symptoms in the past 10 days, you're supposed to declare it in full honesty - whether or not your symptoms were due to COVID-19 or something else.

Except that once you do, you'll likely be denied boarding. While RCI avoided this question when we asked, the Singapore Tourism Board has since confirmed it as RCI's policy:

So ultimately, it is up to you as to whose words you wish to believe.

Does that mean Jade Rasif will only be allowed to board if she quits her job as a healthcare worker?

How much does it cost to give birth in Singapore today amidst the pandemic? If you intend to deliver in a private hospital, these 6 bills from different mothers should give you a good idea of how much to prepare.

Should you go public or private?

Many have asked - why not go the public route? Wouldn't it cheaper?

The short answer is yes, especially since you don't have to pay for doctor fees when you deliver in a public hospital.

But we decided against it because after seeing our friends' experiences (NUH, KKH and SGH), we felt that the longer waiting time and the fact that you won't get a dedicated gynae to see you through your pregnancy was not what we wanted.

Childbirth is already one of the hardest and most painful experiences for a woman. If money can help to make the journey more comfortable and ease that pain or stress, then we felt that it is worth paying for.

Click here to read how much it cost my friend to deliver as a private patient in KKH. TLDR: the bill doesn't differ by much, but the experience does.

Even though we're more experienced this time round - it being our second child - my husband and I still opted to go the private route for the following reasons:

• shorter waiting time during each OBGYN consult
• ability to choose our doctors 
• greater comfort

I managed to gather the actual hospital bills across TMC vs. Mount. A vs. Mount. E as I had fellow mama friends who delivered close to my date (2 - 3 weeks before/after), so here's how they compare.

Do take note of the following:

• The bills are for normal delivery (not C-section)
• The cheapest total bill is for a (super brave) mama who delivered without epidural
• My bill is slightly skewed (medications), as I requested for more painkillers and domperidone
• Doctor fees vary significantly, as you will notice especially in the last 3 columns

If you're still reading this on the old URL, please change your browser bookmarks to https://sgbudgetbabe.com from now on as I've migrated to a different hosting server (hopefully for the better)!