When discussing the portfolio of Financial Planning, it is common to waive it off if you have no interest in it or talk about investments only. Like any broken recorder, the basis of Finance Literacy is fundamental however you dislike it.
Let me put it on a storyboard – As a child or if you have a child, you would want them to learn skills from a young age. (NO! I am not talking about enrichment). Here I am talking about pure survival skills like swimming, psychomotor skills, being literate, learning to drive when you are older, learning simple skills like dealing with disappointment, etc.
Similarly, financial planning is no exception to life skills. Imagining a pyramid, the top layer is not investments but insurance. Meaning risk transfer. Now, skip the boring part of insurance planning. There are a few alternatives to cheaper insurance coverage.
One of them is actually SNACK by Income. Yes, Income Insurance.
Don’t miss out now because there’s a good deal going on at the moment.
The Promotion
Here’s $50 for you to start your investment journey!
All you need to do is: 1. Download the SNACK by Income app (https://income.sg/dl-snack) 2. Enter my referral code “PAU4055” and tap on SIGN UP 3. Complete your SNACK account creation with MyInfo 4. Start SNACK Investment and ensure that you have boosted Investment! (Refer to steps 1-4 here: https://income.sg/si-start)
Get your complimentary $50 investment credits in your portfolio the following week!
Technically, it can be termed as an ILP (Investment Linked Plan) and honestly I am not a big fan of it. But you can exclude the investment option if you don’t wish to. However, for a start, you probably should do the investment portion until you get the signup rewards.
The Limit
I use the personal accident, critical illness and life insurance portion to supplement my current insurance. In any case, there is a maximum that one can be insured and it starts from $0
Life – $200,000 coverage
Accident – $ 100,000 coverage
Critical Illness – $200,000
How it Works
How this micro insurance work is that:
You need to set your lifestyle activities for different classes of insurance coverage and investment (if any). For each activity that is fulfilled, a new policy will be created and added to your total coverage. In this step, you can also set a daily cap so that you don’t spend more than $0.30 (for example) per day.
Food & Drinks
Transport
Retail
Groceries
Entertainment
Utilities
Petrol
Steps
Then you set your activity source. These are the ones that measure your activities such as step or visa credit card if you spend on certain categories.
Apple Health
Burpple
EZ-link
Fitbit
Garmin
Visa
Then set your weekly cap – This is for the investment cap. Up to one to decide
You will need to have your investment objective assessed such as CKA – Customer Knowledge Assessment
Risk Profile.
There you go and your SNACK account will be set up for you. That said, you can redeem the fund units anytime and can stop using the insurance app anytime you want.
I get that it takes a while to get used to it but you need some time to get used to it as it is pretty automated.
If there are some brands which interest you, you can also spend and get additional coverage from them as well. Once in a while, they will run some promotional campaigns and you can get additional investment credits. So far, luck has been on my side, I have collected more than a couple of hundred in investment funds terms. Like any insurance, this is pretty efficient for an ILP since I investment directly into a fund I am comfortable with.
Disclaimer
If you decide to sign up with SNACK, do remember to use my referral code: https://income.sg/dl-snack and my referral code PAU4055.
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 the Endowus website for reference.
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.
Here it is, my AutoWealth’s performance year in review for 2021. I always like to think of AW as ETF related portfolios which brings some form of diversity in my own investment portfolio. AutoWealth (AW) seems rather quiet and low profile as compared to the other two robo advisors but nonetheless what is important is they achieve my goals.
Why Autowealth?
I’m just to just reminding myself why was I a friend of AutoWealth every month. Trying out a Robo advisor that uses ETF instead of funds and diversifying my investment assets through different companies. The reason is to measure performance as well as the experience.
Instead of using investment Funds, AW uses ETFs to build a portfolio instead of funds. This is similar to StashAway. To me both ETFs and Funds work as long as fees stay low. Of course trusting the company is another factor.
I was kind of expecting a rough market in 2021 but it has proven otherwise with the exception of Sep and Oct. I have read countless reports that the China Evergrande and Fantasia debt issue will come into play in the US soon. To be honest, I am a little concerned but investing is all about avoiding the noise. So far the markets have been stable and more sustainable in the first half and picked up in the second half of 2021 and I say it is a topsy turvy last Quarter for 2021.
Every market goes through their cycle of peaks and troughs. Every time market drops off, you just have to be consistent (Taking away your emotions) and just pick some more investments. As for the rest, let the robots do the work on keeping allocations and balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow faster over time and over a longer period.
So far, my long term goals remains the same – A steady pace.
Performance – 2021
My investment horizon would be estimated to be 15-20 years for this portfolio. This is a portfolio which is set at 40% equities and 60% bonds. (No Change)
The allocation will be diversified globally. What i really like on the interface is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. The comparison has to stay consistent, otherwise it isn’t a fair comparison.
Overall, since funding to date (in SGD currency) performance is +14.69% in Simple Returns and I am okay with this. The impact of USD on SGD is about -1.87% and by referencing the portfolio in USD, simple returns would be at +16.32%. 2021 isn’t too great a year I guess for investments.
Comparing 2021 performance
Looking into the details if I were to look at the portfolio value at S$5327 (end Dec 2020) versus today at S$5801 (end Dec 2021). Some simple and manual YTD calculations below:
2021 Performance[(S$5801-S$5327)/S$5327] x 100% = +8.89% (2021 Performance)
Note that the December 2020 numbers is not what i used for calculation but I have been using this $5327 for Dec year 2020 end portfolio total so this is the consistency in calculating. Coming Dec 2021, it will be $5801 a reference.
I do have an issue now though. Originally, I wish to add and deploy more funds but I can’t seem to enter at this opportunity. I guess it is a good problem but I don’t wish to hold on too much cash due to the current low interest environment for short term cash.
Over here, I just put out a performance breakdown summary that was available in the website.
Performing assets include US Equities, Europe Equities, Asia Pacific Equities, EM Equities and Dividends collected.
Non-performing assets are on the minority side with US Government bonds and International Government bonds. The loss is not great but it is part of the reason why I left it to them to do the balancing act after determining the asset allocation.
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 Referral and Recommendations
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.
Portfolios are taking a hit over the last month and still going through the same in October. I am still trying to find time, balance to write about stuff, blog and find out more about personal finance interesting topics.
Though there isn’t anything exciting here this month, this helps me to keep track of my investments on a regular basis. AutoWealth’s concept and the unique selling point as compared to other robo advisors are different. I like to think of it as these are ETF related portfolios. AutoWealth (AW) is rather low profile. I also received a notification that their app version is ready. Perfect timing actually. Here to the portfolio performance.
Why Autowealth?
I’m just to just reminding myself why was I a friend of Autowealth every month. Trying out a Robo advisor that uses ETF instead of funds and diversifying my investment assets through different companies. The reason is to measure performance as well as the experience.
Instead of using investment Funds, AW uses ETFs to build a portfolio instead of funds. This is similar to StashAway. To me both ETFs and Funds work as long as fees stay low. Of course trusting the company is another factor.
I was kind of expecting a rough market in 2021 but it has proven otherwise with the exception of Sep and Oct. I have read countless reports that the China Evergrande and Fantasia debt issue will come into play in the US soon. To be honest, I am a little concerned but investing is all about avoiding the noise. So far the markets have been stable and more sustainable in the first half and picked up in the second half of 2021 and I say it is a topsy turvy last Quarter for 2021.
Every market goes through their cycle of peaks and troughs. Every time market drops off, you just have to be consistent (Taking away your emotions) and just pick some more investments. As for the rest, let the robots do the work on keeping allocations and balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow faster over time and over a longer period.
So far, my long term goals remains the same – A steady pace.
Performance – Sep 2021
My investment horizon would be estimated to be 15-20 years for this portfolio. This is a portfolio which is set at 40% equities and 60% bonds. (No Change)
The allocation will be diversified globally. What i really like on the interface is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. The comparison has to stay consistent, otherwise it isn’t a fair comparison.
Overall, since funding to date (in SGD currency) performance is +13.22% in Simple Returns and I am okay with this. (compared to Aug 2021, month-on-month it is down about -2.60%) The impact of USD on SGD is about -1.09% and by referencing the portfolio in USD, simple returns would be at +14.09%. This decreased by -4.1% compared with Aug 2021. Tough ride ahead i guess.
Comparing YTD 2021 performance
Looking into the details if I were to look at the portfolio value at S$5334 (end Dec 2020) versus today at S$5661. Some simple and manual YTD calculations below:
YTD Performance[(S$5661-S$5334)/S$5334] x 100% = +6.13% (YTD 1 Oct 2021 and -3.30% as compared to Aug 2021).
Note that the December 2020 numbers is not what i used for calculation but I have been using this $5334 for Dec year end portfolio total so this is the consistency in calculating.
I do have an issue now though. Originally, I wish to add and deploy more funds but I can’t seem to enter at this opportunity. I guess it is a good problem but I don’t wish to hold on too much cash due to the current low interest environment for short term cash.
Over here, I just put out a performance breakdown summary that was available in the website.
Performing assets include US Equities, Europe Equities, Asia Pacific Equities, EM Equities and Dividends collected.
Non-performing assets are on the minority side with US Government bonds and International Government bonds. The loss is not great but it is part of the reason why I left it to them to do the balancing act after determining the asset allocation.
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 Referral and Recommendations
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.
Portfolios are taking a hit over the last month and still going through the same in October. I am still trying to find time, balance to write about stuff, blog and find out more about personal finance interesting topics.
Though there isn’t anything exciting here this month, this helps me to keep track of my investments on a regular basis. AutoWealth’s concept and the unique selling point as compared to other robo advisors are different. I like to think of it as these are ETF related portfolios. AutoWealth (AW) is rather low profile. I also received a notification that their app version is ready. Perfect timing actually. Here to the portfolio performance.
Why Autowealth?
I’m just to just reminding myself why was I a friend of Autowealth every month. Trying out a Robo advisor that uses ETF instead of funds and diversifying my investment assets through different companies. The reason is to measure performance as well as the experience.
Instead of using investment Funds, AW uses ETFs to build a portfolio instead of funds. This is similar to StashAway. To me both ETFs and Funds work as long as fees stay low. Of course trusting the company is another factor.
I was kind of expecting a rough market in 2021 but it has proven otherwise with the exception of Sep and Oct. I have read countless reports that the China Evergrande and Fantasia debt issue will come into play in the US soon. To be honest, I am a little concerned but investing is all about avoiding the noise. So far the markets have been stable and more sustainable in the first half and picked up in the second half of 2021 and I say it is a topsy turvy last Quarter for 2021.
Every market goes through their cycle of peaks and troughs. Every time market drops off, you just have to be consistent (Taking away your emotions) and just pick some more investments. As for the rest, let the robots do the work on keeping allocations and balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow faster over time and over a longer period.
So far, my long term goals remains the same – A steady pace.
Performance – Sep 2021
My investment horizon would be estimated to be 15-20 years for this portfolio. This is a portfolio which is set at 40% equities and 60% bonds. (No Change)
The allocation will be diversified globally. What i really like on the interface is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. The comparison has to stay consistent, otherwise it isn’t a fair comparison.
Overall, since funding to date (in SGD currency) performance is +13.22% in Simple Returns and I am okay with this. (compared to Aug 2021, month-on-month it is down about -2.60%) The impact of USD on SGD is about -1.09% and by referencing the portfolio in USD, simple returns would be at +14.09%. This decreased by -4.1% compared with Aug 2021. Tough ride ahead i guess.
Comparing YTD 2021 performance
Looking into the details if I were to look at the portfolio value at S$5334 (end Dec 2020) versus today at S$5661. Some simple and manual YTD calculations below:
YTD Performance[(S$5661-S$5334)/S$5334] x 100% = +6.13% (YTD 1 Oct 2021 and -3.30% as compared to Aug 2021).
Note that the December 2020 numbers is not what i used for calculation but I have been using this $5334 for Dec year end portfolio total so this is the consistency in calculating.
I do have an issue now though. Originally, I wish to add and deploy more funds but I can’t seem to enter at this opportunity. I guess it is a good problem but I don’t wish to hold on too much cash due to the current low interest environment for short term cash.
Over here, I just put out a performance breakdown summary that was available in the website.
Performing assets include US Equities, Europe Equities, Asia Pacific Equities, EM Equities and Dividends collected.
Non-performing assets are on the minority side with US Government bonds and International Government bonds. The loss is not great but it is part of the reason why I left it to them to do the balancing act after determining the asset allocation.
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 Referral and Recommendations
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.
I am still trying to find time, balance to write about stuff, blog and find out more about personal finance interesting topics. Though there isn’t anything exciting here this month, this helps me to keep track of my investments on a regular basis. AutoWealth’s concept and the unique selling point as compared to other robo advisors are different. I like to think of it as these are ETF related portfolios. AutoWealth (AW) is rather low profile. Here to the portfolio performance.
Why Autowealth?
I’m just to just reminding myself why was I a friend of Autowealth every month. Trying out a Robo advisor that uses ETF instead of funds and diversifying my investment assets through different companies. The reason is to measure performance as well as the experience.
Instead of using investment Funds, AW uses ETFs to build a portfolio instead of funds. This is similar to StashAway. To me both ETFs and Funds work as long as fees stay low. Of course trusting the company is another factor.
I was kind of expecting a rough market in 2021 but it has proven otherwise once more this month. So far it has been stable and more sustainable in the first half and picked up in the second half of 2021
Every market goes through their cycle of peaks and troughs. Every time market drops off, you just have to be consistent (Taking away your emotions) and just pick some more investments. As for the rest, let the robots do the work on keeping allocations and balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow faster over time and over a longer period.
So far, my long term goals remains the same – A steady pace.
Performance – Aug 2021
My investment horizon would be estimated to be 15-20 years for this portfolio. This is a portfolio which is set at 40% equities and 60% bonds. (No Change)
The allocation will be diversified globally. What i really like on the interface is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. The comparison has to stay consistent, otherwise it isn’t a fair comparison.
Overall, since funding to date (in SGD currency) performance is +15.94% and I like this. (compared to July 2021, month-on-month it is up about +0.30%) The impact of USD on SGD is about -2.41% and by referencing the portfolio in USD, absolute return would be at +18.35%. This increase by +1.20% compared with July 2021. August seems to be a pretty decent month as well.
Comparing YTD 2021 performance
Looking into the details if I were to look at the portfolio value at S$5334 (end Dec 2020) versus today at S$5819. Some simple and manual YTD calculations below:
YTD Performance[(S$5819-S$5334)/S$5334] x 100% = +9.09% (YTD 2 Sep 2021 and +0.70% as compared to 31 July 2021).
Note that the December 2020 numbers is not what i used for calculation but I have been using this $5334 for Dec year end portfolio total so this is the consistency in calculating.
I do have an issue now though. Originally, I wish to add and deploy more funds but I can’t seem to enter at this opportunity. I guess it is a good problem but I don’t wish to hold on too much cash due to the current low interest environment for short term cash.
Over here, I just put out a performance breakdown summary that was available in the website.
Performing assets include US Equities, Europe Equities, Asia Pacific Equities, EM Equities and Dividends collected.
Non-performing assets are on the minority side with US Government bonds and International Government bonds dipping. The loss is not great but it is part of the reason why I left it to them to do the balancing act after determining the asset allocation.
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 Referral and Recommendations
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.
I am still trying to find time, balance to write about stuff, blog and find out more about personal finance interesting topics. Though there isn’t anything exciting here this month, this helps me to keep track of my investments on a regular basis. AutoWealth’s concept and the unique selling point as compared to other robo advisors are different. I like to think of it as these are ETF related portfolios. AutoWealth (AW) is rather low profile. Here to the portfolio performance.
Why Autowealth?
I’m just to just reminding myself why was I a friend of Autowealth every month. Trying out a Robo advisor that uses ETF instead of funds and diversifying my investment assets through different companies. The reason is to measure performance as well as the experience.
Instead of using investment Funds, AW uses ETFs to build a portfolio instead of funds. This is similar to StashAway. To me both ETFs and Funds work as long as fees stay low. Of course trusting the company is another factor.
I was kind of expecting a rough market in 2021 but it has proven otherwise. So far it has been stable and more sustainable in the first half.
Every market goes through their cycle of peaks and troughs. Every time market drops off, you just have to be consistent (Taking away your emptions) and just pick some more investments. As for the rest, let the robots do the work on keeping allocations and balancing. As long as fees remains low, the portfolio will grow faster over time and over a longer period.
So far, my long term goals remains the same – A steady pace.
Performance – July 2021
My investment horizon would be estimated to be 15-20 years for this portfolio. This is a portfolio which is set at 40% equities and 60% bonds. (No Change)
The allocation will be diversified globally. What i really like on the interface is that i can switch between the SGD and USD currency performance portfolio as well as the impact on USD SGD forex on performance. The comparison has to stay consistent, otherwise it isn’t a fair comparison.
Overall, since funding to date (in SGD currency) performance is +15.60% and I like this. (compared to June 2021, month-on-month it is up about +1.20%) The impact of USD on SGD is about -1.87% and by referencing the portfolio in USD, absolute return would be at +17.24%. This increase by almost the same for SGD reference at +1.20% compared with June 2021. July seems to be a pretty decent month.
Comparing YTD 2021 performance
Looking into the details if I were to look at the portfolio value at S$5334 (end Dec 2020) versus today at S$5697. Some simple and manual YTD calculations below:
YTD Performance[(S$5780-S$5334)/S$5334] x 100% = +8.36% (YTD 5 Aug 2021 and +1.50% as compared to 30 June 2021).
Note that the December 2020 numbers is not what i used for calculation but I have been using this $5334 for Dec year end portfolio total so this is the consistency in calculating.
I do have an issue now though. Originally, I wish to add and deploy more funds but I can’t seem to enter at this opportunity. I guess it is a good problem but I don’t wish to hold on too much cash due to the current low interest environment for short term cash.
Over here, I just put out a performance breakdown summary that was available in the website.
Performing assets include US Equities, Europe Equities, Asia Pacific Equities, EM Equities and Dividends collected.
Non-performing assets are on the minority side with US Government bonds and International Government bonds dipping. The loss is not great but it is part of the reason why I left it to them to do the balancing act after determining the asset allocation.
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 Referral and Recommendations
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.
As I have said, I am a firm believer of insurance but not a firm believer of agents. I am of the mind that there are invested interest. Even the most honest guy needs to earn a living but I have yet to find anyone who is able to pass my test. More often than not, I tend to DIY on my own so most of my plans are generally bought online. The exception is that during the early years, agents used to manage those that I bought.
Why Insurance?
Let’s face it. Everyone needs to transfer their risk and that is a fact. Whether it is term or whole life plans, it is up for a debate but no best answer. You need health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, travel insurance, car insurance and the list goes on. My only grip is that DIY stuff comes cheap but you have to figure out how to to that on your own. Nothing wrong with that but it comes in as a pain when you don’t have time to manage those stuff.
Try Microinsurance
Personally, I feel that it is fine to try out a cheaper alternative of insurance just to get yourself covered at the lowest cost possible. SNACK is by Income and recently introduced this concept of microinsurance. I find it appealing personally coming from someone who understand how these things work. It kind of like supplement what i have existingly.
I think that the Income branding is starting to change and this helps with the brand image. At least they try to speak the millenia language. Next, I find that with such low cost products – There will be less barrier to entry. The difficulty in this solution is to educate people. It is much easier to say that it is complicated than trying to find out what this is all about.
Once you sign up online and register the amount you can commit daily, every document will be sent to you via email or digitally. Quite simply, I would say.
They are 3 ways your can choose to buy insurance from (Choose 1 or whatever you need):
a. Critical Illness
b. Personal Accident
c. Life Insurance.
You can also trigger these daily costs from a few parts:
a. Redeeming a deal from Burpple or pay for meals using a VISA card.
b. Commuting bus, train or cab and pay for it using a VISA card.
c. Through retailing and purchases using a linked VISA card.
d. Shopping for groceries using a linked VISA card.
e. Through entertainment and paying using a linked VISA card.
f. Topping up petrol and paying using a linked VISA card.
g. Pay your utilities and paying using a linked VISA card.
h. Activate your fitbit app and fulfilling your daily steps.
You may be thinking what happens if you hit every objective. There is a limit to the premiums charged to your credit or debit card depending on the weekly cap you’ve set up. Once you’ve hit this weekly cap, SNACK will no longer charge you premiums when you complete lifestyle triggers and you will not be issued any more policies for that week.
The minimum amount daily you can set is $0.30 and you can add on as many triggers as you wish.
There is also a cap on each insurance segment:
a. For Personal Accident, the cap is at $100,000
b. For Life Insurance, the cap is at $200,000
c. For Critical Illness, the cap is at $200,000
These insurance are known as non-participating policies so the moment you stop paying for these, the coverage will stop. To me it is a stop-gap kind of coverage and at an extremely low cost. If you are looking at the full suite, take time to understand and learn. You will definitely benefit from the knowledge and to suss out your new insurance agent. Whether they are in it for the long term or to hit and run. We will never know unless we experience and have the basic knowledge.
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.
The pictures were taken from SNACK website for this article. If you need a referral code, please use my referral code “PAU4055” and both of us will be rewarded with additional $500 coverage for personal accident. Visit here https://www.snackbyincome.sg/ to find out more.
Whenever we touch on the topic of CPF, also known as Central Provident Fund (Pension Fund – The Europeans and Americans call it), people get kind of edgy and upset. What I do observe is that mostly a certain group of people is really anti CPF. The first group is those who are anti-government, not fueling anything here but just a general consensus. The second group is the retirees or about to retire folks who didn’t have a decent education (At that point in time, it wasn’t necessary to have the paper qualifications) and the last group is the self-proclaimed Warren Buffet who claims to beat the market.
The Central Provident Fund
The CPF in my opinion, is something of a great system. There are certainly flaws to it but in my view it is the perfect, AAA grade, higher yield returns that can supplement all our retirement fund. There are certain risks but There are no investment tool has no risk in reality. I finally conclude that as a result of these 3 group of people, these are the reason why so many people dislike the CPF system.
The AAA rating
a. Unfortunately, it is a complex system – You need to read up and understand how it works to appreciate the system
b. Inflation rate is here to stay hence the increase in the minimum sum yearly
c. No one is taking your money away.
d. No. There is no crystal ball. Statistically, it is proven that you can never win 100% of the time. Anyone who have tried or attempted to invest their monies will know that there is no clear strategy out there but a lot of hard work so you will not be able to beat the benchmark all the time.
e. Good quality investments and yields are hard to find these days. Perhaps it is a reality check and time to reflect about strategies as well as accepting facts and the markets
Understanding what CPF is about
When I first explored CPF, it was when I was out of school into my first job. At that time, CPF seems like a Goliath – You think you know but eventually, you slowly find out stuff which you never know before and for a long period of time I put off reading up more about them. It was many years back that I started reading financial blogs and it became like a ritual. I’ll do that almost any other day.
Back in those days, there were less bloggers so you will still need to dig deep to find out how stuff works. Then came Technology advancements, social media and super apps/content apps. I also discovered a few more bloggers who actively shared about CPF. One one those whom I follow really closely is 1M65. His is a well-known blogger for CPF and he developed his own strategies around what the CPF has been doing for many years.
Life Cycle
1M65 is really about having a million in your CPF by 65 years old. Depending on how you look at it, he is preaching a 4M65 these days and base on his concept – I do think that is possible if you start really young. Anyway, his idea about have these sum of money is really to get you thinking about your own retirement early, not just when you are in your mid stage or even late stage of your life cycle.
Everyone is different
Most importantly, everyone is different. There is no need to look at it in the form of a showboat or saying that it is impossible. Being open and understanding how these people are doing do help yourself to be ready for retirement – You are doing your next generation a favour so that they will not fall into the sandwich class or fall in the same cycle again and again. Of course, teaching the value of money to the next generation is something that needs to be worked on as well. It’s not like they were given a sum of money to deal with in life.
Some people actually worked two jobs or even saved excessively so that they can put all their money into retirement. Again, lifejourney preaches about having your own quality of life. If you need to feel like you have to give up everything just to be thrifty (It is a really thin line to term it as miserly), then you would most likely have to re-think your strategy.
The Practical Approach
There are a lot of concepts that you can read about but most of them come from a theory. Personally, I don’t really like to dissect those as they are so technical and heavy. Most importantly, it is extremely boring to put them down in words and executing them is really the best way to practice
Stock market digital graph chart on LED display concept. A large display of daily stock market price and quotation. Indicator financial forex trade education background.
As 1M65 says, you can hate who or whatever but don’t hate free money. Initially, it sounded like a money grubber statement but eventually I came to realise that, it is really free money. If you have no plans to be an entrepreneur, there is a few things you have to take note of in CPF. Yes, I am sorry but everything has to start from the basics.
My View on CPF
a. My biggest take on CPF is to compound the interest. The more you have, the greater the growth. The younger you fill up your CPF account to accumulate interest, the faster and bigger your pension fund will grow.
bi. If you are below 55 years of age – Your first $60k in CPF will gain an extra 1% p.a. (This is capped at S$20k in your OA) The current base Ordinary Account (OA) is 2.5% (3-month average of major local banks’interest rates, whichever is higher)
bii. For most people, the next S$40k will most likely be in your Special Account (SA). For others who are still building your SA, that will be whatever that is in your MediSave Account (MA). The base rate for your SA and MA is at the current floor of 4% p.a. (which is also the 12 month average yield of 10-year Singapore Gov Securities – 10YSGS)
My Tips:
Your CPF interest is computed monthly based on the lowest balance for the month. This means that for interests paid out on your CPF accounts in Year 2020, the interest amount is based on what was captured monthly, compounded and only paid out to you in full before 1st Jan of 2021.(This is subjected to changes if you have transactions every month)
c. As much as possible, you have to try your best to hit the minimum sum as early as you can. (Combined OA and SA) Once you manage to do that, you do not need to worry about the annual increase in minimum sum that is subjected to inflation.
My Tips:
Don’t lose faith if you have not or still very far from this. Everyone starts from $0. Let the small actions and do up your checklist one by one in order to build the financial confidence. Everyone is different – it is the end goal that matters.
d. Depending on your circumstances, you can choose to invest your CPF OA money after the S$20k accumulation. Similar to cash, have a long term goal and build your portfolio. Good companies and investment ideas doesn’t come easy. You have to make sure what you invest is more calculated risk. There is a risk to everything.
My Tips:
Don’t be affected by market noise. My tip is to buy when there is a price drop if the investment moat for the company still makes sense. (but always do your own diligence) You can also have different pockets of funds so that when there are opportunities or if there is a correction, you can be ready to enter the market. The rule is to always stay invested.
Summary
In Summary, CPF is not the perfect solution but a supplement of your retirement goals. In this aspect, we are responsible for our own money and retirement. No one else will take care of your money as much as you will do. Only you will know your own financial situation. The question is to ask to meet these financial goals is that if you can cut back on your lavish lifestyle or even saving more to add to your pool of funds. No one can coerce you to do what you do not wish to.
Disclaimer
This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion about CPF and retirement. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check them out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy as usual
Singapore Reits is something that many Singaporeans understand and take heart to. Some folks actually build their income/passive income via this source and I can see why.
My take on Reits on SGX
a. First it is based in Singapore – There is this local bias that it can do well given most people like to see for themselves if the malls are working out well in terms of retail quality, crowd, spending and how many shops are still in business.
b. SGD payouts avoids the currency risks. For a retiree or someone drawing on income from dividends, this payouts serve as a source of bill payment.
c. An alternative and cheaper way to enter the real estate market in Singapore is really through the reits/stock exchange. I know that people will argue that it is different but technically in my view, it is the same (And you do not need to pay stamp duties, get a mortgage and pay sales charges)
d. It is more liquid than real estate.
For a long time now, Reits have been growing big and popular within the investing community. Again, all investments comes with risks – Most people have more comfort in dealing with things they can see or get a sense of. For a long time, there have been plenty of wins for reits but as you can also see, the Circuit Breaker period in April through May have affected them in a way or another.
Diversification?
So again diversification is key to investing once more. If you put all your eggs into the Reits for passive income, then with such dividend cuts your bottom line is definitely affected. Currently, it doesn’t seem like this Covid situation is going back down or slow down whatsoever so dividend cuts is going to be prolonged in order to save businesses and jobs. Then again, there are certain sectors who might see a booming business such as Data Centres or even certain suburban reits. Sub-urban malls are definitely crowded but the former shopping aisles in orchard and high end malls are definitely missing the tourist crowd which rakes in the cash and spending. It is no wonder why people are worried about their livelihoods.
It is not all doom and gloom. Sectors will emerge while some will recover. It is definitely time to pick up some if you did not have any. The idea is to really have a long-term goals when you pick a stock and stay disciplined. Once you sell it off, you may never be able to pick back the company at their valuations again.
The Passive or Lazy Choice
If you are lazy, let Robo-advisors do the trick for you. For e.g. Syfe. https://www.syfe.com/ Initially i only took on the Reit+ portfolio some time in April 2020 to test it out so that I do not need to manage the portfolio and incur those trading fees. They have expanded other products such as a Global ARI portfolio (Long term investment into equity,bonds and commodities) and Equity100 portfolio which is 100% into global Equity ETF (US and UK listed ETFs)
Auto-rebalancing
Syfe has invented their ARI (Automated Risk Investing) methodology, which is a risk-based rebalancing strategy, which changes the allocations of your portfolio according to changes in risks in the market in order to limit your losses. In short, once it triggers a certain level, the system will trigger an alert and things start to sell off to re-allocate. It also means that over the longer term, you will naturally see a better performance of the portfolio.
Every rebalancing of course depends on what portfolio you choose from so everyone is different. I personally like the idea of investing into a portfolio of reits instead of picking it on my own. In terms of fees, it depends on your investment amount with them.
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.
