Personal Finance is Really Personal (CPF / Insurance/ Housing /Saving /Investing etc)

<Image credit to expatfinancialplanning.com>

Personal finance is an interesting subject which is really “ Personal “ as there are many factors affecting a person or family’s finances – how much to keep as saving vs investing, to buy term or life insurance, to take up HDB loan or from private banks, to buy HBD or Condominium and of course the hottest topic of CPF ( to transfer our OA to SA or do a voluntary cash top-up into SA account)?

Recently, my friends & famous financial bloggers ( Chris from Growing your tree of prosperity, Uncle CW8888, SGBudgetBabe ) gathered together to give a talk about “ CPF Optimization for Retirement (here)”

You may find some of their thoughts and ideas ( here ): as you may see, there were different opinions and views about the issue even from the speakers and of course the attendants.

We are all the products of our own individual upbringing and experiences so it is completely natural that we will all have differences in opinions on a wide range of issues.

The world would be a very dull place if we were all the same and it’s the incredible diversity among people throughout the world that makes it such a fascinating place. The beauty of our society is accepting other peoples’ difference.

There is no “one size fits all”  system or rules of thumb in using CPF for our retirement, everyone will really have to base on his/ her own family or finance situation to map out our own strategies which suit to our financial goals in the short and long term, based on our own priority and lifestyle.

image credit to businesstimes.com.sg

You may also find my experience and thoughts about CPF and Housing ( here and here ), which of course in line with my living lifestyle and philosophy of money management.

STE and Mrs STE opted for smaller HDB flat in early days and chose to pay off the housing loan asap so that we would have more money in our CPF and let “ The effect of Compounding “ took place.  Besides, we also live in a simple lifestyle and commute around with public transport and of course, we enjoy the local foods at our hawker centres. ( The Five Best Hawker Centres in Singapore )




In 2016, we collected $26,446.71 in total as interest earned from our balance in CPF. 







Since we will have another 8 years to go till withdrawal age of 55, assuming that the interest rate remains unchanged ( well, this is the trickiest part as one may need to take note that CPF’s interest rate is non-guarantee), we may end up with around $1 mil in our combined CPF accounts.





## assuming average of approx. 3.35% of the interest from all OA/SA/MA accounts

Again, this is just my own experience and may not suit you !! Like DYODD in stocks investing, please do your own calculation and adjust it to your financial requirement in how to optimize the usage of CPF for your retirement requirement.

Lastly, allow me to quote on below from renowned financial blogger Ben Carlson of ” A Wealth of Common Sense “

//Quote

Just like there’s not a single problem that causes people’s financial troubles, there’s not a single solution that’s going to solve all of their troubles either. It’s easy to judge others, but also easy to see how things can get out of control for some people. Some experts think you need to be a minimalist who eschews the consumer lifestyle. Others think you should focus on making more money and spending it however you like. Some call for more personal responsibility while others want the government to step in to make saving mandatory or expand the safety net.

Unquote //


How do you think our CPF system could contribute towards your planning for retirement?


Cheers !!


 Quote Of The Day :


“Balancing your money is the key to having enough.” 
― Elizabeth Warren

“When the purse becomes empty, the mind becomes full of issues.” 
― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Comments

  1. Createwealth888823 March 2017 at 07:56

    For personal finance; it is up to every individual to read up and seriously think over whenever they came across any article or posting in the cyber world and ask how relevant and applicable to my own financial and family circumstance. How can they revise; fine-tune, adjust so that the ideas and concepts will tend to benefit and serve them better in respect to themselves. This is why is it known as PERSONAL finance. We are among the few bloggers stressing on PERSONAL. This is not La La call. I CAN. YOU CAN. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STE23 March 2017 at 13:25

      Hi Uncle CW,
      Yah ! Definitely not " my way is the only way !!" Hahaha..... many roads lead to Rome ,,,,and same for individual in searching for their own F.I.R.E
      Cheers ! :-)

      Delete
  2. Singapore Man of Leisure23 March 2017 at 09:42

    STE,

    Yes, the interest from CPF is nice especially when its more than the taxes we have paid in the past!

    CPF is good.

    But if you were to put all your investable cash after selling your property in Malaysia to CPF back then, and not invest them like you have done, I don't think you can take sabbatical from work at 44 ;)





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STE23 March 2017 at 13:19

      Hi SMOL,
      That's true,,, such investment in right market cycle really important and allow me to take sabbatical till now.. :-)
      Cheers !!

      Delete
  3. RayNg23 March 2017 at 14:58

    Though personal finance should be personal, but there are basic ground rule to adhere to make it work. It is a life long wealth accumulation journey and needs lot of patient and endurance.

    The personal finance may sound simple but not everyone (including professional) is able to implement it well. We heard of lately a professional earning $14K monthly fall into finance distress when he was retrench and could not find a job for a year.

    IMO, an individual personality and character has significant impact to his personal finance. Some choose to be YOLO, spend now and worry later. Some choose to accumulate wealth at young and enjoy the fruit during golden year.

    So, to each his own. Do something right today, your future you will thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STE23 March 2017 at 16:25

      Hi Raymond,
      Yah! There is some basic rules and one will definitely need patient and endurance....as you rightly pointed out " Do something Right , your future will thank you " ,,, many celebrities with millions of income failed and end up in financial distress...is not how much we earn...
      Cheers ! :-)

      Delete
  4. Ripples Advisory Private Limited28 March 2017 at 20:50

    Thank you for posting the blog which is "Personal Finance..",its very interesting for any body. Nifty Trading Tips

    ReplyDelete

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