Regardless of the situation, you are in. Always be calm and alert. It is with a clear and calm mind that one can have a clear and concise decision about whatever that you are doing. Easy to say but difficult to execute – Many may say. It takes time and eventually time will create this vacuum of space where you can resolve your issue and come to a consensus with your mind.
If staying away from social media helps, then do it. Be positive and talk to people who are positive. They will always shed a light or rub some positivity of some sort. Remember that only with challenges and struggles, will you grow and nurture to your potential. Struggling is part of life and it is also the wonder of life as it allows one to realise, slow things down and think about many things. The power of manifestation has been in the talks for many years. First of all, you have to believe in it, then you manifest with the thought and finally the mentality. These are the powers of being able to think clearly.
With distractions out of the way, then things can work out. No matter how many baby steps, how much is the disappointment or expectation. It is a roller-coaster of events. There are things we all should say no to more often than not.
Naturally, we are all emotional human beings. That makes us what we are so you did not do anything wrong. I am not a great fan of social media. I don’t see it as a way to catch up with what my friends are doing. If it is my family, I would happily call or meet them, not follow their social media accounts.
Time will heal and will find a solution. It is a process that is daunting. If you are feeling it, you are not alone. Baby steps at a time. Meanwhile, find things that interest or helps your own growth. It may fuel into something great one day.
Quick update on the recent spate of changes regarding bank interest rate changes. I decided to take on a review of all the interest rate reviews that I’ve picked up over time. The first of this series will be from Trust Bank. If you did not know, Trust Bank is a digital bank that is in collaboration with Fair Price Group X Standard Chartered Bank Singapore.
All right, if you have not signed up for this Trust Bank Freebie, I think it is still available now. Please do sign up using my referral code “MREC9F7G” at Sign Up here at Trust Bank
a. You will get a $10 fair price voucher that you can use when you visit any Fair Price Supermarket outlet.
b. You will get an additional $25 fair price voucher once you make your first spend on your card (no minimum spending amount) Pretty sweet, I would say.
c. On top of that, you get some perks of free coffee when you go to Kopitiam to name a few.
At a first glance, I didn’t really like the logo and branding. It does feel too corporate and dated but that is my own opinion
Next, I always believed that all new businesses should be revolutionary from traditional ones. I expect no less from digital banks. Instead of making things easy to understand, It seems like it isn’t too simple. I’m a simple person, if I don’t understand, I think most people don’t and will not bother to find out more. I don’t really know how is it like in terms of their sign up but I’m pretty sure it has stagnated.
In any case, Just see it as Bank Account and Link Point Reward for simplicity.
Bank Account
For Bank Accounts, you will get a base of 1.5% for amounts up to SGD 75,000.00 (In any case, they are also SDIC insured for up to the same amount of SGD 75,000.00)
If you spend 5 transactions on your Trust Credit Card Every month, you will get an additional 0.5% for amounts up to SGD 75,000.00 and hence your total interest is 2.0% p.a.
If you are a Union member, the 0.5% is upgraded to 1.0% and hence your total interest is 2.5% p.a.
a. You will save up to 21% (Credit Card) worth in rewards for a total spend of 350 monthly on that card other than at FairPrice Group, which is in summary
2.5% base rate (Earn unlimited savings of 0.5% on FPG groceries^ and 0.22% on all other eligible spend^^. Exclusive for FairPrice members only! Earn an additional 2% on FPG groceries^, capped at 12,000 Link points a year)
This spending on the above-mentioned has to be on FairPrice Group purchases only.
8.5% monthly bonus (Earn 8.5% on FPG spend^^^ when you meet a monthly minimum eligible spend of S$350 outside of FPG, capped at 5,500 Link points)
You need to spend $350 monthly outside of FairPrice Group spending.
8.0% quarterly bonus (Earn 8% on FPG spend^^^ when you meet your monthly minimum eligible spend for 3 consecutive months, capped at 7,500 Link points)
This quarterly requirement has to be fulfilled for 3 consecutive months, otherwise, that is a fit fat 0.
2.0% FairPrice annual member bonus (Earn 2% once a year on FPG groceries^, capped at 12,000 Link points)
Really not too sure if the 12,000 link points cap is inclusive of the link points earned a year or separate. This is why I really dislike complicated rewards programmes.
b. Up to 11% savings (With the debit card) I suppose this is for customers who are ineligible for the credit card. I shall not dwell on this. You can click on the link above to read more. My question is really that if the digital bank is to serve the underserved, then why penalise those who can afford a credit card. Also, if aunties and uncles are the targets, maybe online is not the best way to go for now.
All these may change at the end of 31 December 2022. Note that there is a cap of 12,000 Link points per annum. I don’t really like the cap on rewards. It is just too troublesome.
Pros
What is good is that there isn’t any lock-in period, it works just like a saving account
There aren’t any monthly fees
There isn’t any minimum balance
There isn’t any minimum period to close the account and hence an account closure fee
There’s also no card replacement fee (That’s one good thing)
Cons
Online only, not too sure about the customer service and customer care
Not sure about the service recovery
Not sure about how well they are protected in terms of security and how they manage fraud/compliance-related issues
Not sure what’s the target market.
Conclusion
Overall, it has decent rewards in terms of account-related perks and interest rates. However, I still feel like they can do more to offer a unique selling proposition. I just can’t see their deviation from their own Fair Price Group which is very local in this sense. I’m not too sure what they really want to achieve from this digital bank license.
However if it fits your bill and Fair Price is your go-to supermarket, why not? Also, If you are comfortable with online-only service as well as getting another account to remember that you have. I still think it is a 3 out of 5 stars at this point in time.
Please sign up using my referral code “MREC9F7G” at Sign Up here at Trust Bank. Thank you in advance for keeping the lights running for this blog.
CPF – Central Provident Fund is an extremely complicated tool. Similar to many pension funds in many other countries, indeed it is complicated. But it should not stop everyone of us from understanding the tool and benefit it brings when understood correctly. It can even supplement most of our retirement fund. If you are in the sandwich class, all the more by understanding how it can help your parents as well as build for your kids/next generation will elevate the pressure for retirement.
CPF and Retirement
I’m happy to say that retirement doesn’t mean thinking about it when you are about to retire. This fact, many people actually know today. 10 years ago, no one bothered to know what retirement is exactly. The young shun it and the old procrastinate. Just having a CPF account doesn’t mean that you are ready to retire. There is science and literacy and knowledge required to understand what brings about retirement. It can be lifestyle or a state of mind. No one will bother about your money and only you can be bothered about your own money.
Explaining CPF? Nah
I’m not going to explain what CPF is. To understand something, it takes some passion and desire. By paraphrasing what I can see on the CPF website doesn’t help regardless how many times I post this out. But if I managed to intrigue you into understanding what CPF can supplement for your retirement as well as help those around you.
I personally believe that one has achieved the first step and that is taking the effort to know. The next step is to understand what you can do with CPF, this is sufficient to ensure that the interest to manage personal finance is there. The last and third step, is that one will find ways and new ways to build a community around CPF that gives you the best benefit. This is none of my effort – Because one has learned how to fish and feed yourself.
2.5%, 4% and 5% – It does interests some people and some doesn’t like it. Different people have different investment threshold. I don’t quite believe in a strategy for all or a top pick strategy. But yet to some, 20% p.a. is the approach they wish to achieve while others look at just 2% p.a.
When is retirement?
This is a very subjective question. Your targeted age of retirement also matters. The runway to retirement also depends on how old one is. I always have a concept to use the CPF for the very young. Let me set a scenario into your mind. If your new born child has a CPF/MA account and you strictly contribute $5000 a year into the account. Let me just fast-forward to compound this for you.
Compounding interests
a. Compound $5,000 *1.025 (at 2.5% – assume the OA account) or imagine compounding at the SA account at age 1 until age 21 (or 20 years)
b. Compound $5,000*1.04 at age 1 until age 21 (or 20 years)
Initial investment
$ 5,000.00
Annual interest rate
2.5
Number of compounding period in a year
12
Number of years
20
At the end of 20 years
$ 8,239.32
Initial investment
$ 5,000.00
Annual interest rate
4
Number of compounding period in a year
12
Number of years
20
At the end of 20 years
$ 11,112.91
Now, comparing the monthly contribution:
c. Compound $5,000 *1.025 (at 2.5% – assume the OA account) or imagine compounding at the SA account at age 1 until age 21 (or 20 years) + additional monthly contribution.
d. Compound $5,000*1.04 at age 1 until age 21 (or 20 years) + additional monthly contribution.
Initial investment
$ 5,000.00
Annual interest rate
2.5
Number of compounding period in a year
12
Number of years
20
Monthly contribution
416.6666667
At the end of 20 years
$ 137,810.04
Initial investment
$ 5,000.00
Annual interest rate
4
Number of compounding period in a year
12
Number of years
20
Monthly contribution
416.6666667
At the end of 20 years
$ 163,933.23
Even before your kid goes into adulting, that’s a pretty decent 6 figure savings. This is great for them to kick start their own retirement and FIRE (If that is still a trend in 20 years time)
My objective here is to see how much a longer runway can give the young a headstart. Again, there isn’t a secret formula but a simple long term view.
Disclaimer
This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.
If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
The pictures were taken from relevant website for this article. Stay Safe!
