Tag: cash

Ezlink with new Mastercard wallet payment options (Quick & Easy S$10)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Deals, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

In my previous post about Ez-link Trival here Ez-link deal , they have upped one more level by allowing Mastercard in their Ez-link payment option.

The Deal

You can now earn an easy S$10 just by logging into their app, there will be an option to use Mastercard to pay for items via Google Pay.

EZ-Link and Mastercard have partnered to launch a new feature called Pay by Wallet.

This would add virtual Mastercard functionality to your EZ-Link Wallet (Google Pay). You can then spend these at more than 80 million Mastercard online and in-store merchants worldwide. Unfortunately, it is only available for Android users for now.

Free S$10

As like any new players in the market, the launch of Pay by Wallet, EZ-Link is offering an instant S$5 credit to users who activate Pay by Wallet on the EZ-Link App.

Do note that you will get an additional S$5 cashback will be credited to you when you make a minimum spend of S$10 within 30 days of signing up. The promotion is not unlimited, please take note.

Should you be interested to sign up for this, do download the Ez Link App and key in my Referral code: 3197B5C

Some Pointers to note

a. This campaign is limited to the first S$100,000 of cashback or the first 10,000 new EZ-Link Pay by Wallet user sign-ups, whichever comes first

b. Next, note that certain transactions are not valid here at T&Cs such as donations, education, government services, hospitals, utilities and AXS. (Standard Stuff)

c. Additional perks:

For every successful Pay by Wallet transaction of at least S$80 made by 31 July 2022, earns you one entry into a lucky draw with the following prizes. (All prize winners will be contacted latest by 30 September 2022):

  • 1N staycation at Equarius Hotel or Hotel Michael with breakfast for two (3x winners)
  • A pair of Universal Studios Singapore tickets (80x winners)

Conclusion

Again, nothing much to shout about. To make more value for your buck, something to play around with if you have some time.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check out my referral links.

Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations

The pictures were taken from EZ-link website for this article.

 

1 free APPLE and NIO Stock for Moomoo users (One up for new sign ups)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

I’m just going to bring this Moomoo brokerage app up again on my blog because the promotion is too good now to be true. I’m not sure how fast this will run out but giving a new user 1 free APPLE stock and 1 free NIO stock is unheard of. There is just too good to not get this up now.

Let’s do the Math: USD 146 + USD 46 = almost USD 200

That’s just free money so let’s not waste any time.

To be honest, I am a little cheesed off that I signed up earlier as it feels like I got penalised for being faster and earlier on this.

You can click on my previous post to read more about it: Previous Blog Post

Who is Moomoo?

Who is Moomoo? Moomoo are a nasdaq listed company known at FUTU Holdings Limited. FUTU SG is a subsidiary of their parent company. Moomoo/Futu is also backed by Tencent and for those who don’t know who they are, they are a China based global gaming, superapp, entertainment, internet giant, etc. If you did not know, they do not charge commissions for stock trading for US, SGD and HK markets. They also do not charge a custodian fee. I am guessing that volume plays a big part in this whole scheme of things.

Promotions

Let’s just sum up what you will be getting first:

a. 1 AAPL Share

b. 1 NIO Share

c. Up to 20 Free TWTR shares

d. Unlimited Commission-free Trading for US, HK and SG Market, however you continue to pay the other fees such as trading, platform fees, etc.

d. Free Level 2 Market Data for US stocks

e. Free SGX securities Level 1 real-time data

f. SGD 50 Cash Coupon for stock transfer in.

Conditions to get your promotions (No free lunch)

Now, nothing comes free so these are required but do check the T&Cs officially to avoid any disappointment. These days, there are so much information flow that most of us can’t keep up.

a. You need to be a NEW Customer and be in Singapore to get this offer (You have to be above 18 years of age and have a valid bank account in your own name) – [For KYC purpose obviously]

b. Commission free trades does not apple for stock options, futures and China A shares. The promotion commission-free promotion is only valid for 180 days.

c. You can only transfer in shares that are for US and HK positions and you will get that S$50 cash coupon for the first transfer in.

d. In order to obtain your referral rewards, you will need to do some work. Referral rewards will be capped at a maximum of 20 Twitter Shares and 600 days of commission-free trading. So, get those referral coming.

e. To get your 1 free APPL share, you need to deposit funds worth S$2700 or USD 2000 or HKD16,00 within 30 days from account opening + Open an account by 2 Aug 2021.

f. As for your  1 free NIO share, you will need to unlock Level 1 trading bade or complete 5 successful trades within 30 days of account opening + deposit funds worth S$2700 or USD 2000 or HKD16,00 within 30 days from account opening.

Read more about their T&Cs here: https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic128

Read about the Fees you need to pay: https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic76

I personally think that it is a no brainer to get the perks. Thank you in advance for using my referral code: https://j.moomoo.com/004Fsa

For reference, please refer to the official website or contact their representatives.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. 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.

Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures and information that I am using are taken from Futu’s/Moomoo’s website for the purpose of this blog post.

Singlife Reopens with new Marketing Strategy

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Interest Rates, New IdeasLeave a comment

I like how Singlife uses the community to spread information. It is definitely a cheap way to spend money. It gives me content to publish while it provides Singlife with multiple arms to disseminate information. However, there isn’t any referral scheme with this re-open. Instead, I guess that to stay sustainable, they have to reduce the interest rates for the first S$10k.

I received the email from their Marketing Communications team and it reads:

The Central Banks continue to keep interest rates low, Singlife has introduced a new way to be rewarded for spending and investing, earning up to 2.0% p.a. return on the first S$10,000 through the following campaigns:

  • The Save, Spend, Earn Campaign and,

  • The Grow 0.5% p.a. Bonus Return Campaign.

The catch here is up to 2.0% p.a. return. Beginning 1 July 2021, the Singlife Account will offer up to 2.0% p.a. return on the first S$10,000. The base crediting rates will be revised to 1.0% p.a. on the first S$10,000 and 0.5% p.a. return on the next S$90,000, customers will still have the opportunity to enjoy up to 1.0% p.a. bonus return.

So, sustainability of the business is a way forward. I’ll say that the interest rate has been semi-nerfed for valid reasons. On top of that, you can still gain 0.5% more by spending and another 0.5% if you invest with GROW. Personally, I wouldn’t put money with GROW but I will spend to make the interest up to 1.5% for the first S$10k.

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

In this article, the pictures were taken from websites for illustration only. Stay Safe!

S$280 from SCB Bonus$aver Account

On By RistrettzIn Deals, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

For cash solutions, there are plenty of those around on robo-advisors. Cash solutions actually mean as good as cash. They can also be termed as money market solutions. In terms of allocation, they can be considered riskier than holding cash and less risky compared to bonds. Generally, the risk is lower as compared to any investments.

Cash Solutions/Management

Most of the solutions are termed as cash management. It may sound complicated, it is just another term or a financial description.

i. It can be a series of money market funds combined to get a yield.

ii. Some of these cash solutions also be cash backed by loans/mortgage/cheap loans.

iii. When there are deals or directive from a company, there can be a combination of marketing dollars and promotions. These benefits the consumers usually.

There are multiple creative fiduciary ways to get a better yield however not all are covered under SDIC. This means that if there is a bank run – Your first S$75k in the bank covered by SDIC is secure.

The SCB Bonus Saver account

Standard Chartered Bank is running an interesting promotion for customers who currently do not have a Bonus Saver Account. The clause is that you need to transfer fresh funds (Not from Standard Chartered Bank) to the newly opened Bonus Saver account.

As a result from using SingPass to apply online, you will get an additional S$30. (Total: $208 via Bonus Saver + S$30 via SingPass) Hang on there. If you sign up via SingSaver, you get a little more!

a. The first condition is to fund SGD 50,000 into the Bonus$aver account until the end of the next month. This means that if you opened the account in May, you have to keep the cash in there until end of June)

b. The second condition is to take note of the promotion end date. That will be 31 May 2021. There is still 10 days to go from today 21 May 2021. The account opening is almost instantaneous.

If you apply the Bonus Saver account via SingSaver here at SingSaver Bonus Saver Promotion

Option wise, you can choose to get a set of Apple AirPods Pro (worth S$379) or S$250 cash when you make a min. fresh funds deposit of S$50,000 + S$30 cash upon account opening. Validity will be till 2 Jun 2021.

(Total: $250 via Bonus Saver + S$30 via SingPass) Sweet.

Take note of the charges

  • After you receive your payout take note of the – Fall below fee (fee incurred if you fail to meet the minimum average daily balance of S$3,000): S$5 per month [This is the item you need to take note of]
  • Early account closure fee: S$30 (within 6 months of opening) [Close it after 6 months if you do not require this account]
  • Cheque book fee (optional): S$10 [Not required in my opinion]
  • Debit card annual fee: S$20 [I don’t think we will get there]
  • Credit card annual fee: S$214 [I don’t think we will get there]

How to apply?

If you are looking to apply for the Bonus$aver account and Bonus$aver credit card, you will have to be between 21 to 65 years old.

Click on this link: SingSaver Bonus$aver to apply.

Terms & Conditions

Check out the T&Cs here before you apply: SCB Terms and Conditions

Just a disclaimer, I don’t get anything from this. It’s just a good deal how I see it.

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

In this article, the pictures were taken from websites for illustration only. Stay Safe!

Endowus – Performance Update & YTD (February 2021)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

So I have been busy recently so I missed January 2021 performance update. There are just so many things to keep up with and with the pandemic still ongoing. There are just simply too many changes. At the same time working from home seems rather mundane these days. Humans as social creatures and so eventually, we cannot stay and work individually over a prolonged period of time. Plus, there are just that many telecommunications that you can make.

December through January 2021 has been interesting filled with US elections and more printing of money. In the market news, no matter the situation, a systematic approach about investing is quite important. Month on month, diversification has been really important. Slowly but surely, I’m actually feeling that Endowus and my investment goals do align pretty nicely on the investment portion.

The newly launched Cash Smart looks pretty decent. I might take a crack at that to put in some money consistently. Plus wow, if you use my referral code, you will get an addition $100 that will be added to your portion when you invest S$10k worth. So, it means referral bonus $20 for you and me (Check out my referral link at Endowus Referral Link + additional $100 for you. Only applicable for new customers of Endowus. The $100 is also available for you in the promotional LionGlobal All Seasons Fund (Growth) units after a 90 days holding period. Great news though for new investors.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is up 15.25% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD is already up 3-4% versus the SGD since start of the year in 2021. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity. Overall from May 2020 to 9 Mar 2021, it is a 15% increase in absolute terms – Fantastic. From Jan 2021 to 9 Mar 2021, the fund was stable with just roughly 2%+ increase in portfolio. Not too bad, knowing markets were rather choppy and moving more negative on most days so far.

In Terms of YTD returns in 2021, I’m looking at 2.34%. I’m really like what I am seeing here. Definitely topping up if there are any corrections (By definition a correction is more than 10% drop in a single day)

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is also doing pretty well though not as well as my Dimension Fund portfolio. I’m still looking at 10.59% returns from May 2020 through to 9 Mar 2021.

In Terms of YTD returns in 2021, I’m looking at 0.29%. This is quite expected so not much of a surprise. I have no requirement to login daily to view my portfolio performance. Just a monthly review will be sufficient.

On a side note, the cash management accounts have started to report a decline. This is also expected since interest rate environment is here to stay for the long term.

Also, I would be looking at the new Smart Fund DIY portfolio which looks really interesting. I would definitely be looking this up as interest rates are still pretty low and I got some cash lying around.

Like every month, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Again, I will shamelessly thank all of you in advance for using my referral code.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.

Autoweath – Performance Nov 2020

On By RistrettzIn Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

Investing especially in spot market is a tough business. Most people cannot accept fluctuations in their portfolio. Autowealth is yet another solution for me. Just that this time around, this is for my kid to start out her investment journey when she can. Teaching financial literacy is something I would recommend to anyone.

Summary on my review on Autowealth:

(a) try out different more robo advisors to understand more about them and how they invest and

(b) segregate this fund for any other purpose other than the kid’s investment journey.

My take about the investing journey has been the same since day one. Don’t sweat the small things, the costs of robo are so low. We are talking about a 15-20 year horizon here so heck those low costs. You need to pay them to keep their lights running. For companies like Endowus and StashAway, these guys have the experience and passion and these translate into actions. I am satisfied on how they are prudent and still maintain the low fees.

In my previous performance to compare the performance, I discussed about the historical S&P 500 chart for the last 50 and 100 years. Markets will go up and each time it drops, just pick some up and let the robots do the work on balancing and re-balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow over time and over a longer period. It should remain in the black based on some backtesting.

Performance

Looking at the portfolio again in November, it still looks pretty nice ahead of the 15-20 years horizon. This is a portfolio which is set at roughly 40% equities and 60% bonds. The investment vehicles will be through ETFs. It does look like it can withstand long term peaks and troughs. What i really like is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. I wouldn’t say this does as well as the portfolios but to be fair, markets were already slightly upwards and I would like to deploy funds out into the market in tranches over time.

As compared to October 2020, +5.66% absolute is decent in my view (that is +2.66% comparing to October) and this is as at 11 Dec 2020. If markets drop, the rule is to fund the account more. Do note that all of these will have USD exposure. Time versus DIY – it is really about what is important. I usually will want to see the ultimate end goal whenever I start anything.

 

For this month, I also tried to look at the impact of FX and without the weakening USD, performance in USD is actually 8.56% year to date. That is on course to double digits returns once more.

The impact of the USD FX exchange is actually affecting the performance by -3.1%. These FX risks are part and parcel of investing unless I just intend to invest into the Singapore Markets. However, it is just too boring to do so.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. 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 https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

The pictures were taken from Auto Wealth website for this article. If you need a referral code, drop me a message and you can indicate my full name during registration. From there, both of us will  get $20 each to supplement the fees.

Save more when you shop more (Shopback)

On By RistrettzIn New Ideas, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

Shopping for groceries, ordering food from the food apps and online shopping has taken over the world. Covid-19 has made the world to go online and digital in over a short span of time. I find the transformation amazing to the point where businesses are starting to show that they value the digital aspect of promoting their products and services. In Singapore, I do see that many businesses are transforming and redesigning their businesses to a different model as before. However, there are still those black sheep who are out there to just cheat or jack prices up to profit from scarcity.

Shopping

Speaking of shopping online. This is a really cool site to download the app into your mobile phone. This is a local company named Shopback. It gives you cashback into your account for any online spending. These days, you can link your credit card and once you spend on your credit card, the cashback automatically gets credited to your Shopback account. Talk about convenience. There is a new function that Shopback has and that is to purchase vouchers directly from Shopback. You can even use the credits from the cashback you received from previous purchases. That’s stacking more deals and more discounts.

Cashback

Each time you use your card on eligible brands and products (F&B, hotel staycation, vouchers and etc…) there will be a cash back amount allocated to you. The cash will be credited to your account ranging from 3 days to 3 months depending on when the merchant pays them for referring or recommending their products. To a certain extent, it is similar to affiliate marketing. Instead of paying out in marketing costs, the merchants pay affiliate marketers to promote their brands and Shopback gives back a portion of that commission back to the consumers as a form of incentive.

Enough said about getting more bang for your buck. Try it out and see it for yourself. We both earn a $5 bonus once you use my code and spend $20. Easy Peasy.

Save more by using ShopBack to earn Cashback. Download the app and sign up with my referral link to get $5. You can thank me later! https://app.shopback.com/OXuizVNBy9

Even More Cashback?

With the recent 9.9 sale, using a Citibank credit card seem to net you more cashback than usual. Something like additional 3% more cashback but not too sure when that would last till. Promotions don’t last forever so while stocks last. You can actually buy online vouchers from Qoo10, comfortdelgro, grab mart, grabfood, grabtaxi, pupsik, fairprice, GV and more

During random periods or campaigns, they may have upsized cashback deals which doubles the % of deals to your account once you make a transaction. From local brands to big global brands, grocery shopping and ticketing. I’ll say it is a no-brainer.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post and purely my own opinion that I am writing about in my thoughts. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence.  Don’t be too fixated with what is the best.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services and products here at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

Images seen in this article were take off the relevant websites for illustration purposes only.