JKM Fund

8 days Seoul trip (Nov 29 - Dec 6, 2025)

2025-12-15T10:15:00.015+08:00

The finance report is out. :)

We met the first snow in Seoul on December 4th, 2025 at 7.20 pm, how lucky!

The SGD exchange rate to Korean Won also hit all time high during our trip, hence YouTrip gave fantastic rate throughout the trip, average around S$1 = KRW 1,127. Not bad for a credit card rate.

More photos to be uploaded ... ....

Endowment, ILP & Whole Life plan updates

2025-09-29T08:19:00.009+08:00

It's time to update my endowment plan, investment-linked plan (ILP) and whole life plan.

1. Endowment Plan - HSBC Target Saver

That's a 21-years saving plan and I had completed my last payment in July 2025. The plan will be lapsed in July 2026, and I will receive one lump sum payout of S$67,134.

Total premium paid S$52,161.48.
Surrender Value: S$67,134.
IRR: 2.24% only.

2. Investment-Linked Plan (ILP) - 100% AIA Acorns of Asia

The performance of the ILP sorely depends on the fund that you have chosen. Since AIA Acorns of Asia had gone up significantly, reaching my desired level of S$4 level, I decided to surrender the plan. I sold the plan just last week (Sep 25th, 2025) and I shall receive a payout S$67,564.01.

Total premium paid S$52,425.6.
Surrender Value: S$67,564.01.
IRR: 2.20% only.

3. Whole Life Plan - Tokio Marine

I have completed my last payment in February 2025. So, this life insurance will cover me for LIFE.

If and ONLY IF I want to surrender this plan at age 66 (for an example), I will get back S$163,341.

Total premium paid S$64,860.
Surrender Value: S$163,341.
IRR: 3.02%.

Whole Life Insurance plan is not meant for surrendering while you are alive, that's not the intention of the Whole Life Insurance.

You shall leave the greatest legacy to your next generation.

3 more years to hit CPF S$1 million

2025-09-11T13:47:00.004+08:00

On target to hit CPF S$1 million at the age of 48. :)

This is achievable by doing Voluntary Housing Refund (VHR).

It is fine to perform VHR because the T-bill rate and FD interest rate had crashed to 1.40+%.

As of today, the VHR ceiling: S$75,251+S$40,625 = S$115,876.

Key Milestones shall be:

(1) Jan 1st, 2026: S$700,000. Estimate to VHR S$28,590.

(2) Jan 1st, 2027: S$800,000. Estimate to VHR S$24,590.

(3) Jan 1st, 2028: S$900,000. Estimate to VHR S$20,590.

(4) Jan 1st, 2029: S$1,000,000

Updated on October 9th, 2025

==========================

I decided to perform VHR now rather than later. :)

8 days Shanghai trip (June 2025)

2025-06-16T10:29:00.007+08:00

The finance report is out. :)

We do not have chance to use cash. All expenses in China were paid by Alipay or WeChat Pay.

China is truly a cashless country!

It is interesting to find out among S$2,324 spent in China:

- 45% for 2 times massage & haircut

- 25% for meals (15% dinner, 7% lunch & 3% breakfast)

- 12% for coffee & dessert

- 12% for shopping

- 6% for transportation (metro and cab).

It's nice to travel in China. We are going to Bejing next year!

More photos to be uploaded ... ....

HDB rental dropped 12.50% !

2025-05-12T07:53:00.010+08:00

My new HDB rental dropped 12.50%.

My last rental mentioned in this blog. HDB rental yield now 13.52% !

S$3,500 monthly, rental yield 11.83%.

The flat has 73 years lease left, so 73 years x 12 months x S$3,500 ~= S$3.06 million potential passive income. :) Still very good la. The HDB was fully paid in year 2014, no more housing loan and the HDB market valuation had gone up by 82%. Not bad. I shall sell it 20 years later.

This S$3,500 monthly rental is like CPF LIFE monthly payout at age 65 for LIFE.

However, to have such CPF LIFE monthly payout of S$3,500 at age 65, you need to have S$437,500 at CPF Retirement Account (RA) at the age of 55.

Some flyers sent to my HDB unit.

HDB | Check Market Rental Rates

Based on HDB rental caveat, for the past 12 months rental at Toh Guan estate, there were total 64 rental.

Median rental is more accurate than average rental, but it is fun to find out the average rental too.

Median rental: S$3,500.00

Average rental: S$ 3,424.44

My tenant had decided to end the lease 3 months earlier and based on the contract, they have to reimburse the Landlord S$545, being pro-rated commission paid to the lease period from May 1st to July 31st, 2025 (total 3 months) including forfeiture of security deposit (S$4,000).

My agent took almost 1 month to secure the new tenant. The current rental market is weakening.

It is better to secure the rental as early as possible!

We secured 2 years rental tenancy with S$3,500, that's S$84,000 for my 2 years living expenses. :)

My still beautiful 4-room flat at Jurong East. All three bedrooms size are decent, don't you think so?

Extremely large kitchen area.

I have replaced 2x toilet bowls after 16 years of usage.

The S$3,500 HDB rental is able to cover my compulsory first 9 items of living expenses, total: S$2,667. Still have a balance of S$833 to support other living expenses, not bad. :)

CPF S$620,000 achieved, S$1 million at age 50

2025-02-21T10:37:00.011+08:00

My CPF balance shot up to S$620,000 because all my CPF OA monies in 6-months T-bills were refunded back to the CPF OA account. Age 45 this year, born in year 1980!

My CPF OA monies had gone through the OCBC CPF Time Deposit of 3.88% for 8 months tenure, 6-months T-bill of 3.95%, 3.85%, 3.7%, 3.54% and the last one 3.34%.

It is easy to project the CPF balance by putting the expected annual CPF contribution (37% of wage for age 55 and below, with CPF monthly salary ceiling of S$7,400 this year and S$8,000 next year onwards) into the Excel table.

It is interesting to find out I will reach S$1 million balance at the age of 50.

At the age of 55, I will have S$1.40 million in the CPF account.

By then, my expected FRS (at my age of 55) is S$300,800 and BHS is S$110,000.

Both figures were derived from the expected yearly increment of 3.5% and 4%.

It's good to keep track. Both of us are on track!

4M63 on track!

The Excel table (shown below) extended from age 55 to 65.

I shall have S$2.06 million at age 63.

11 days Japan trip (December 2024)

2025-01-09T08:54:00.013+08:00

The finance report is out. :)

Shinjuku - Karuizawa - Kusatsu - Lake Kawaguchiko - Shinjuku.

This blog will be updated for more trip details. It was a beautiful trip.

Happy New Year 2025!

2025-01-01T14:01:00.003+08:00

Happy new year, everyone!

As of January 1st, 2025, our CPF stood at:

S$1,140,637.35.

1.14M44 :)

4M65 on track!

I did Voluntary Housing Refund (VHR) to make the figure looks good. :)

I top up MA, S$4,000, to reach the new ceiling of BHS (S$75,500) for tax relief.

I also top up my ah boy's CPF to make the figure flat at S$70,000 in Special Account.

Happy New Year 2025!

CPFB | Top up MediSave Account

CPFB | Top up to enjoy higher retirement payouts

CPFB | Make a voluntary housing refund

Another big homerun in year 2024

2024-12-29T22:36:00.022+08:00

Year 2024 reflection on equities, properties, etc.

Equities: Another big homerun in year 2024.

Very good year indeed, 65 sold transaction this year, more than enough to cover all my expenses in year 2024. Nice! I still have S$700,000+ vested in the stock market (US, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia), mostly in blue chips and Singapore's REITs for the good dividend payouts.

Refer to my year 2018 to 2023 results here: JKM Fund: Big homerun in year 2023

Properties: rental hit all time high.

We achieved all-time-high monthly HDB rental of S$4,000 (4-room flat in Jurong East).

HDB rental yield now: 13.52%. The resale HDB flat was fully paid 10 years ago in June 2014.

With the latest market valuation (Jan 2025) from SRX, my resale HDB and Clementi condo both values had gone up S$523,000 in total. Nice but I am not selling any. :)

As for oversea properties in Malaysia, I have SOLD my first Johor property, profit of RM190,000+.

I had increased my second Johor property (SUNWAY condo) rental by 40% for 3 years and I also put the unit for sale now, with my target sale price, the profit shall be around RM175,000+.

Careers: good bonus!

No promotion this year but I had received 9.71% pay increment and 3.41 months bonus. Works had been very smooth since day one I joined in January year 2017. I still work from home 4 days a week since March 2020, very work-life balanced indeed. I am staying here until age 65! :)

My wife had changed new job early this year to a director level, happy for her. She had achieved her dream! We both satisfied with our current careers.

Health: pick up new hobby!

I picked up a new hobby in September 2024. I bought an automatic abs roller, and it is pretty good! You can really see the nice abs curves formed especially. I had rolled 10,800 times this year. It is quite addictive! I also swim 1,550 laps (77.5KM) this year, compared to 2,250 laps last year. This year I also used up company healthcare annual allowances of S$1,800. I went to Ma Guang Tui Na once every month. I treat it like a body massage. :) This is claimable under TCM. Nice! Just utilize it!

Family: ah boy doing very well.

My son did well in PSLE this year, AL 5 M. He can choose any secondary school he wants. Amazing. Although his dad wanted RI but he chose ACS(I) IP. He is going to take IB (International Baccalaureate) in year 5 and 6, not A-level. That's his choice. I respect that. In addition, the government granted him ESIS (Edusave Scholarships for Independent Schools), S$2,400 a year for 6 years, total S$14,400! Nice!

Apparently, the government will give such scholarship to students with PSLE scores of AL 4 and 5 only. My dear boy, please continue to shine at ACS(I). The best is yet to be!

Refer to my blog here: PSLE AL 5 M + S$2,400 yearly scholarships

We had family vacation this year March at Taiwan (Taipei, Tai Chung) and December at Japan (Mount Fuji, Karuizawa, Kusatsu). I shall have a simple wrap up travel blog about this Japan trip, as usual. :)

He also followed his mummy's family to Norway and Vietnam right after his PSLE examination (he skipped many school days in October/November!). He went back to my hometown, Sibu in June. He was busy traveling this year!

Fun Facts: COP all-time-high

It is interesting to know this year 2024 PSLE Cut-Off-Point (COP) had reached all-time-high too.

For boys, the number 1 toughest to enter is actually Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) at COP of AL 6 Merit (with Higher Chinese scoring).

The number 2 toughest boys' school are Raffles Institution (RI) and Anglo-Chinese School Independant (ACSI). Both of them are having a COP of AL 6.

It's a very competitive. I like. :)

Year 2025 will be another good year!

4 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

2024-10-12T19:59:00.007+08:00

I managed to record down my past 4 years expenses on my new car, Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo in great details. In average, I spent about S$427 per month for the car expenses for the past 4 years.

3 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo) (jkfund.blogspot.com)

4th year expenses:

- Petrol: S$1,861

- All other car expenses: S$2,996

- Car loan (monthly): S$1,306

- Distance traveled: 10,238 KM

I sold my first Johor property !

2024-08-27T14:39:00.314+08:00

My first Johor property investment journey ended with profit of RM 190,000 + with an initial investment cost (down payment) of RM 7,840.

What is the ROI, IRR? :) I know can liao!

All sale proceeds will roll into my second Johor property i-flexi loan account, hence there is no foreign currency loss here. By doing so, it also helps to offset my second property loan interest. I received the final balance in my bank account on 27 August 2024. Sweet!

I am able to share the nuggets of information here.

To recap, I bought my first Johor property on 18 February 2012. It is a FREEHOLD 3 bedrooms unit at the second top floor. Key 🔑 was collected in June 2015.

I sold it on 11 December 2023.

(A) Receivable

I had received RM164,587, from year 2015 to 2024.

(1) Developer late delivery interest.

They were only late for a few days and the penalty was calculated as 10% of SPA purchase price in daily basis. I wish they delayed even further but they were not.

(2) FREE renovation, commission from renovation, and 1 month rental.

To cut the long story short, I found a Johor renovation contractor at social media. I invited him to come over to IMM mall to discuss my business plan. They renovated my unit beautifully for FREE. Then, they rented my unit as showroom for other new owners who just collected the keys to view and sign the renovation package on the spot at my unit. I also got to receive 10% commission from their sales. This was great. There was no time loss. They renovated right after I collected my keys, provided FREE wallpapers at the living hall and master bedroom, false ceilings at the entire unit, day and night curtains, etc. What you see is what you get, hence there were many new owners signed the renovation package right after they saw the quality of my unit renovation.

(3) 1.5 month rental - Airbnb

I met one resident property agent who stayed at my block but different level. He proposed to do Airbnb for my unit, the rental was pretty good RM 3,750 for 1.5 months, but I decided to go for normal tenancy as the location is not near tourist spot and the rental can swing wildly.

(4) COVID19

It hit my rental badly. I gave rental discount to the tenants as they were locked down in Singapore and no one was staying at my unit and yet they had to continue to pay my rental. Thereafter, the rental market is weak in Johor. The rest is history.

(B) Expenses

Few big expenses to highlight:

(1) I spent RM 12,411 in year 2017 for all my new furnishings. That includes 4x ceilings fans, 2x water heater, 1x 49" inch TV, 1x washer, 1x, fridge, 1x sofa set, 1x dining table set, 1x KING mattress, 1x QUEEN mattress, 1x SINGLE mattress and a FREE coffee table.

(2) We started to pay monthly maintenance fees only in year 2020 as the developer gave 3 years FREE maintenance fees! How nice?

(3) The unit above mine had common toilet leaking and I negotiated with the owner (through management) to get their toilet fixed, I paid RM5,680 for that matter in year 2021.

(4) For my sale unit, I negotiated the agent fees to be 2% and the legal fee was cheaper as the buyer was also using the same lawyer as me. The legal fee was RM3,408. Good price.

(5) There are also typical expenses like: (e.g. year 2024 rates)

- Agent fees, half month rental for one year tenancy.

- Service charge & sinking fund, RM315 monthly x 12

- Quit rent, RM209 a year.

- Fire insurance, RM94.60 a year.

- Cukai harta, RM357, bi-yearly x 2

- Indah water, RM72, bi-yearly x 2 (I always pay first then reimburse from the tenant at year end)

(6) Memorandum of Transfer (MOT) is part of the documentary package that a buyer of a new property (strata or individual title) must sign in order to transfer the ownership of the property from the developer to its new owner. Guess what?! I didn’t pay for MOT and I had made it clear to the new buyer that he has to pay for MOP if he wants the ownership transfer. That helped me to save a good RM8,000+ ! Nice.

(7) Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) is not applicable as my disposal was beyond 6th year. Nice.

It took me 8 months to receive the final balance in my bank account and my real estate agent was doing a fantastic job to update me constantly from the lawyer.

Great agent indeed.

You can PM me for her contact.

I will receive referral fee. : )

Below is the 8-months timeline 👇:

That's the end of my NusaHeight investment journey.

I still own a 2 bedrooms unit, 1,087 sq ft, second top floor at 35th level.

It is Sunway Citrine Residences at Sunway Iskandar.

It was currently rented out to a Sunway International School teacher.

Some interesting information to share.

I purchased the unit in September 2014 and the keys 🔑 collected on November 3, 2017.

I paid RM 0 down payment.

SUNWAY paid me RM5,000 to purchase the unit. : )

(A) Receivable

I will receive a total of RM 272,312 by the end of year 2026.

(1) My first tenant loved the place so much that she decided to buy a unit for herself after renting my unit for 13 months. As my unit is at 35th level, the developer gave me a very nice car park location. My first tenant rented my car park lot for RM 100 a month from April 2019 until now. My new tenant is using her car park instead without paying extra. It's about time to increase the car park rental.

(2) COVID 19 hit my Sunway rental as well and I got a Sunway International School teacher as tenant in January 2022. She was on 2 years contract. Thereafter, as the economic improved after COVID 19, I decided to increase the rental by 40%. She agreed and signed a 3 years contract with me until December 2026. I probably will increase the rental again to RM 3,400 once the contract is expired.

(3) I might be the top referral in Sunway Iskandar. I had received total 10x cheques from Sunway, totaling RM34,612 after sharing some portion to the buyer as well. It is a win-win situation.

(B) Expenses

The total expenses by December 2026 expected to be RM 89,329.

(1) I spent RM 10,745 on renovation, lights, ceiling fans and water heater. I spent RM7,802 for electrical appliances and furniture, e.g. 48" TV, washer, fridge, dining table set, KING size mattress with bedframe, TV cabinet and coffee table. TOP fees included RM1,200 TNB Electricity Deposit and RM 250 water meter deposit. Sunway gave 1-year FREE maintenance fee.

(2) After 7 years, this unit gave me 0 problem. That tells you about the QUALITY from SUNWAY!

There are also typical expenses like: (e.g. year 2024 rates)

- Agent fees, 1.5 months rental for three years tenancy.

- Service charge & sinking fund, RM451 monthly x 12

- Quit rent, RM134 a year.

- Fire insurance, RM176.75 a year.

- Cukai harta, RM522, bi-yearly x 2

- Indah water, RM72, bi-yearly x 2 (I always pay first then reimburse from the tenant at year end)

Below is the trend of Sunway maintenance fee charges.

The rate had been increased by 7.6% only after 7 years, that's decent increment rate.

I like Sunway initiative last year 2023 to give owner 2 months FREE maintenance if we pay the maintenance fees on time. That's good for people like me who always pay the bill on the first day! :)

I am not in a hurry to sell this unit as I had obtained a decent rental all the way until December 2027.

Nevertheless, if there is a good offer, I will consider too.

By far, this is one of the best units you can find at Sunway Citrine Residences!

CPF Annual Report 2023 (1.34M44 Regrossed Balance)

2024-07-01T15:56:00.000+08:00

CPF Annual Report 2023 had just been released!

CPFB | Annual reports

Below are the highlights from CPF Annual Report 2023.

CPFB | CPF members by regrossed balance and age group

With CPF regrossed balance definition, we have a combined S$1.34 million dollars in CPF as of June 30th, 2024.

CPF balance refers to the blog below.

JK Holdings: Received 6 months T-bill interest for CPF OA funds (Revision 02)

Aged 75 and he has not withdrawn a cent from "CPF" !

2024-06-16T08:05:00.000+08:00

My dad is aged 75 this year and he has not withdrawn a cent from EPF but my mum did, she is aged 74. Both are still healthy and able to walk and drive car by themselves. That's very good!

EPF is like Singapore's CPF. He simply does not need to touch the EPF as he has other means of retirement income and EPF gives good interest rate. It was 5.5% last year.

As of today, his EPF balance stands at RM 523,190. Not bad la for a retiree at age 75.

He was a school principal and was asked to retire at age 55.

He has great pension plan. The government gives him RM3,000 a month from age 56 to LIFE.

As he is now aged 75, he had received the monthly pension for 20 years.

RM3,000 x 12 months x 20 years = RM720,000!

I always ask my parents to continue to stay healthy and expect to receive another 20 years of pension!

EPF is one great retirement monthly income indeed, just like CPF LIFE. :)

EPF invested in stocks and the return is pretty good and it's quite transparent too.

Unlike CPF, they do not disclose what they have invested because they afraid you guys manipulate their stocks. LOL.

HDB rental yield now 13.52% !

2024-06-13T10:43:00.005+08:00

On May 28th, 2024, my tenants confirmed (through my property agent) that they were not going to renew the rental contract which will end on July 31st, 2024.

On June 10th, 2024, my property agent had found new tenants for me. They will start the tenancy on August 1st, 2024. Perfect. The new monthly rental is S$4,000, an increase of 8.11%. It's a 4-room HDB flat.

On June 13th, 2024, I had received one month faith deposit (security deposit)!

My property agent is simply amazing.

She always does a good job. I am very happy to pay full commission to her too. :)

From year 2022 to 2024, my rental had increased 86.05%.

Rental yield now is 13.52%.

The new tenants agreed to rent by viewing the video of my unit.

A quick check on the 4-room HDB rental transaction for the past 12 months at Toh Guan HDB estate (Jurong East), filtering the rental from S$3,701 to S$5,000 as my current rental was S$3,700.

There are 15 units rented out above S$3,700. The highest rental was S$4,600, rented out in July 2023.

The second highest rental was S$4,000 and there are 3x units.

I will be the 4th unit clocking S$4,000 rental at Toh Guan. Second highest!

Received 6 months T-bill interest for CPF OA funds (Revision 02)

2024-05-03T09:16:00.000+08:00

Revision 02: May 12, 2024

The CPF OA deduction (for T-bill application, Auction Date: May 9, 2024) happened on May 10, 2024.

That brings our total 6-month T-Bill investment to a total of S$547,000 (with cash and CPF OA).

Revision 01: May 2, 2024

We finally received the 6 months T-bill on the maturity date (April 30th, 2024).

We did CPF refund through internet banking on April 30th and the funds were reflected in our CPF OA account on May 2nd.

How many months of CPF OA interest loss incurred?

For me, the most is 1 month for each investment, either in fix deposit or T-bill. See below illustration on my true case.

Firstly, I placed CPF OA in OCBC Fix Deposit for 8 months, 3.88% p.a., effective date on Feb 15, 2023, and maturity date on Oct 16, 2023. Hence, there was 1-month extra CPF OA interest loss (9 months instead of 8 months, counting from February to October).

Thereafter, I placed the CPF OA funds into 6 months T-bill, 3.95% p.a., which started on Oct 31, 2023, until April 30, 2024. I don't count October CPF OA interest loss here as I have counted October interest loss in my previous Fix Deposit placement. Hence, there was 1-month extra CPF OA interest loss (7 months instead of 6 months, counting from November 2023 to May 2024). I counted May 2024 as one month interest loss because the maturity date was on April 30, 2024, and the funds only back to our CPF OA account on May 2, 2024.

I will apply a fresh new 6-months T-bill in May (expected to be at least 3.70% p.a.), which is on May 14, 2024, to maturity date of Nov 12, 2024. Guess what, there will not be any CPF OA interest loss in this 6-months T-bill (6 months counting from June to November, May interest loss had been counted in the previous 6 months T-bill) so long I return the fund back to CPF OA account before November 30th. I have more than enough time to do that, but I will probably pour the funds back to 6-months T-bill again on November 26, 2024. :)

In my above cases, there are maximum 1-month extra CPF OA interest loss or no CPF OA interest loss at all at each investment (be it fix deposit or 6 months T-bill).

So long 6-months T-bill yield stays above 3.00% p.a., just use CPF OA funds to whack it in full to beat the poor 2.50% p.a. CPF OA interest!

I decided to make my figure looks perfectly nice at half a million dollars, S$500,000 by doing VHR (Voluntary Housing Refund).

Nevertheless, I have two more 6 months T-bills maturing on July 23 and Sep 3, 2024.

Not to mention I also have some funds in the SGX stock market using CPF OA (which is not counted in the table below as the value depends on market performance).

In short, we both had reached S$1.057 million mark on May 2nd, 2024.

Once you break S$500K, your CPF balance will shoot up very fast.

Almost S$100K more every 2 years on each account due to massive compound interest effect.

The message below is from Patrick at "CPF Wealth Tree" Telegram group.

Do take note, for any kind of investment (be it fix deposit or T-bill):

the breakeven yield for OA funds is 2.71% for 1 month loss of interest for 1 year Fix Deposit or 1 year T-bill.

The breakeven yield for OA funds is 2.92% for 2 months loss of interest for 1 year Fix Deposit or 1 year T-bill.

Additional Wage (AW) Ceiling - CPF contributions for the whole year

2024-04-26T09:51:00.000+08:00

It took me a while to recall how to calculate the maximum amount of Additional Wage (AW) subject to CPF contribution for the year. As there are many changes in CPF for the next 3 years, I would like to pen down the information before I forget again.

The CPF Ordinary Wage ceiling had been increased in September 2023 and January 2024.

Hence, the total CPF contribution (37%) had been increased from S$2,220 to S$2,331 and S$2,516. It will continue to increase to S$2,738 in year 2025 and S$2,960 in year 2026.

CPF Ordinary Wage ceiling is Singapore happy index. So, the new Singapore happy index will be S$8,000 a month. :)

The CPF annual salary ceiling remains unchanged at S$102,000. This is my bet, the CPF annual salary ceiling shall be increased in year 2026, let's see.

For year 2024, if your monthly salary is S$6,800 and above, the CPF system will automatically calculate in the following:

S$6,800 x 12 months = S$81,600

As CPF annual salary ceiling is S$102,000, you left the balance of:

S$102,000 - S$81,600 = S$20,400

The magic number S$20,400 is applicable to every CPF members if you earn monthly S$6,800 and beyond.

As my company always gives bonus in April, the maximum amount of Additional Wage (AW) that will attract CPF contribution will only be S$20,400. That says, even if your bonus is S$30,000 or S$50,000, it will still cap at the maximum CPF contribution at S$20,400.

S$20,400 x 0.37 = S$7,548 (maximum allowed additional wage CPF contribution)

+ S$6,800 x 0.37 = S$2,516 (maximum allowed monthly CPF contribution)

= S$10,064 (that's the maximum CPF contribution you see in the bonus month).

Thereafter, your 13th month bonus given in December will not attract any CPF contribution too!

In addition, you have reached the maximum tax relief of S$20,400 under personal reliefs category of Providend Fund/Life Insurance.

Some really useful information for references.

What is the impact to me for the CPF closure of Special Account (SA) at age 55 ?

2024-02-19T09:36:00.000+08:00

My numbers are out.

With CPF Special Account (SA) force closed at the age of 55 and with "no CPF SA shielding", the impact for me would be:

(1) At my age of 65, liquidity dropped S$130K
(from S$1.28 million to S$1.15 million).

(2) At my age of 65, CPF balance dropped S$100K
(from S$1.9 million to S$1.8 million).

Well, we can always use CPF OA to buy DBS, SATS, SIA, Mapletree Industrial Trust or 6-months Singapore T-bill (if the yield is above 3.00%).

I can also draw out the CPF OA monies to help my son to buy private property with no ABSD!

Be water!

Break S$1 million milestone in CPF balance (Happy New Year 2024!)

2024-01-02T09:35:00.000+08:00

Woo Hoo!! Our CPF balance shot through S$1 million milestone for the first time on January 1st, 2024.

S$1,012,790.70

It does not reflect the true amount at CPF dashboard because we have CPF OA monies in T-bills, enjoying 3.95% P.A., total amount invested in T-bills are S$142,161.40 + S$156,850.70 = S$299,012.10. This amount is not shown in the CPF balance.

One T-bill will be matured on January 24, 2024 and two T-bills will be matured on April 30, 2024.

By then, we will receive total amount of S$305,000.

Total interest to be received S$5,987.90.

We have used CPF OA monies of S$100,349.25 + S$172,246.25 = S$272,595.50 for housing loans.

We top up our MA accounts every single year on January 1st to reach the new BHS figure, for the tax relief purpose.

BHS for year 2024 is S$71,500.

We continue to advocate CPF top up to child's CPF SA account and self 's MA account.

JK Holdings: Age 1 baby has a CPF account too! Top up kid CPF SA account! (Revision 10)

It's great to see the compound interest effect at almost risk-free CPF account.

The national benchmarking:

The latest data (as of 31 December 2023) will only be published by CPF in July 2024.

11 days Japan trip (December 2024)

2023-12-19T23:14:00.000+08:00

We just booked 3x SIA tickets to Tokyo in December 2024!

This is going to be our 4th trip to Tokyo. :) We should tour towards Mount Fuji this time.

We had booked all the hotel rooms, and the average daily room rate is S$252.

SIA had just canceled our flights and asked us to choose a different timing. That's great!

I am now able to choose the best timing at no cost!

My chosen flights now cost S$5,467! That's insane price for a family of 3.

2023-10-31T13:52:00.005+08:00

Recent Holiday trips:

12 days Japan trip (December 2024)

(Tokyo - Karuizawa - Fujikawaguchiko - Tokyo)

9 days Taiwan trip (March 2024)

(Taipei & Taichung)

12 days Japan trip (December 2023)

(Osaka - Kobe - Kyoto - Nara - Osaka)

8 days Sydney trip (March 2023)

12 days Japan trip (December 2022)

(Tokyo - Hakone - Takayama - Kanazawa - Nagano - Tokyo)

Singapore hot financial topics:

CPF Annual Report 2023 (1.34M44 Regrossed Balance)

Aged 75 and he has not withdrawn a cent from "CPF" !

Received 6 months T-bill interest for CPF OA funds

Additional Wage (AW) Ceiling - CPF contributions for the whole year

What is the impact to me for the CPF closure of Special Account (SA) at age 55?

Break S$1 million milestone in CPF balance (Happy New Year 2024!)

Projecting Your CPF figures

Me & My Money

Everyone must know how to calculate this

The CPF warriors

CPF projection (end December 2022)

(2) CPF (Central Provident Fund) & Delaying Monthly CPF Life Payout?

Two credible investors you can follow

New CPF Full Retirement Sum (to be raised by 3.5% instead of 3.0%)

CPF SA shielding (right before age 55)

What is your net worth?

CPF Time Deposit by OCBC bank, 8-months Fix Deposit, 3.88% per annum!

Happy New Year 2022

CPF year 2022

1.214M42 Regrossed Balances

CPF Annual Report 2022 (1.25M43 Regrossed Balance)

CPF Annual Report 2021 (1.134M42 Regrossed Balances)

CPF Annual Report 2020 (1M41 Regrossed Balances)

OCBC bank, 8-months Fix Deposit, 4.08% per annum!

DBS bank, 5-months Fix Deposit , 3.80% per annum !

CPF Regrossed Balances benchmark & CPF Balance Projection (Achieved 1M41 & Target 4M65)

Voluntary Contribution (VC) to CPF MediSave Account

Moment of Truth: CPF - Having a Good Retirement Life in Singapore

Delaying Monthly CPF LIFE Payouts?

(3) How To Plan For Your Baby's Future (My Complete List Versus CPF Article)

http://jkfund.blogspot.com/2017/04/how-to-plan-for-your-babys-future-my.html

(4) SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/09/retirement-planning-in-singapore-srs.html

(5) HDB De-Coupling:

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/06/hdb-decouple-topic-spr-sc-household.html

(6) Investment Linked Plan Insurance (For Baby)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/investment-linked-fund-for-infant.html

(7) Whole Life Insurance Plan (For Baby)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/buy-life-insurance-as-early-as-possible.html

(8) CPF (Central Provident Fund) For Baby

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/05/cpf-versus-whole-life-insurance-for-kids.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/03/age-1-baby-has-cpf-account-do-you-know.html

(9) Singapore Insurance Summary

Whole Life Insurance, love it !

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/06/summary-investment-linked-plan.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/classical-example-of-life-insurance.html

(10) Whole Life Insurance

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/06/whole-life-insurance.html

(11) Endowment Plan Insurance

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/06/endowment-plan.html

(12) Investment Linked Plan Insurance

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/06/my-investment-linked-plan-ilp-journey.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/03/lets-talk-about-investment-linked.html

(13) H&S (Hospitalization & Surgical) Insurance

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/03/h-hospitalization-surgical-insurance.html

(14) Travel Insurance

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/07/travel-insurance-tokio-marine-tm-xplora.html

(15) HDB Rental & Singapore Housing Loan Interest

HDB rental yield now 13.52% !

One year rental increased by 53.5% & rental yield now 11.12%

4-room HDB Rental (Toh Guan @ Jurong East): Year 2022 update

Found new HDB tenant in 9 hours with 30.2% rental increment & 9.5% rental yield

Rosewood condo sold at all time high price !

Toh Guan Grove (Aug 2021 Build-To-Order)

https://jkfund.blogspot.com/2017/11/hdb-rental-toh-guan-jurong-east.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2011/10/how-much-interest-you-pay-to-your.html

(16) Singaporean Benefits

Typical ways to enjoy tax relief / tax savings in Singapore & GROW your CPF balance exponentially !

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/07/singapoerean-benefits-private.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/singaporean-benefits.html

(17) Singapore Credit Cards

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/08/i-love-using-credit-cards.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/05/who-say-credit-card-is-not-good.html

(18) Singtel TV Plan

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/09/why-i-love-singtel-my-mio-tv-is.html

(19) Singapore Cars

3 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/12/good-used-car-honda-civic-brand-new-car.html

(20) Singapore Krisflyer & SQ Business Class

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/03/exclusively-for-sia-krisflyer-member.html

(21) Singapore Stocks

Big homerun in year 2023

Big homerun in year 2022

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/03/stock-watch-list-cheat-sheet.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/buy-religare-health-trust.html

(22) Singapore Real Estate Guru Notes

Jurong East Breeze (Aug 2022 Build-To-Order)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/11/my-notes-and-views-after-watching.html

(23) Singapore Education

Singapore MOE School Fees (Primary 1 to 3) S$78 per year

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/02/year-2016-tuition-fees-at-local.html

(24) Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (Malaysia)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/exclusively-for-malaysian-amanah-saham.html

(24) Citrine Residences & Sunway Iskandar Malaysia

https://jkfund.blogspot.com/2018/06/citrine-residences-2-bedrooms-rental.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/why-i-bought-first-residential-project.html

(25) NusaHeights Service Apartment, Iskandar Malaysia

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/08/nusa-heights-service-apartment-my-first.html

(26) Malaysia i-Flexi Housing Loan

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/cimb-homeflexi-malaysia-housing-loan.html

(27) Horizon Hills, Iskandar Malaysia

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/11/horizon-hills-reap-low-sell-high.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/05/why-i-give-horizon-hill-miss.html

(28) Pay Yourself First

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/09/pay-yourself-first.html

(29) My Exit Strategy On Singapore Real Estates: 99 Years Leasehold & 99 Years Lease

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/10/my-strategy-to-exit-on-singapore-real.html

(30) Engineering Change Order (ECO)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/11/engineering-change-order.html

(31) True Living Cost In Singapore

Our living cost in Singapore (Year 2022)

Pay increment and bonus payout

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/11/true-living-cost-in-singapore.html

(32) New Chapter Of Life: My Work Life

http://jkfund.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-chapter-of-life-my-work-life.html

(33) My Little Career Stories

http://jkfund.blogspot.com/2016/12/my-little-career-stories.html

(34) I Was Retrenched

http://jkfund.blogspot.com/2016/12/i-was-retrenched.html

3 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

2023-10-06T22:04:00.009+08:00

I managed to record down my past 3 years expenses on my new car, Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo in great details. In average, I spent about S$435 per month for the car expenses.

I work from home 4 days a week since March 2020 (the start of COVID) and that is why the mileage is low. One day trip to office costs me S$8.30. Hence, it will cost me S$1,595 more a year in car petrol expenses if I go to office 5 days a week, which is not happening anytime soon.

My CAT B COE was only S$41,510.

I will scrap the car when it reaches 9 years 11 months and I will stand to receive a refund of S$14,833, which includes COE rebate S$346 + PARF rebate S$14,487.

I love Black Nano coating that I went for second coating after 3 years.

I also tried Michelin Tyres Primacy 4 (215/50/R17) for the first time. I love it too! :)

I had the first Black Nano coating right after the new car collection.

The factory tyres were Yokohama Advan dB. Not bad too!

Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo is a fun car to drive. I don't mind driving this car for 10 years and probably I am going to get another new Honda Civic Turbo model in year 2030!

All my car journey in Singapore documented here:

JK Holdings: HONDA & TOYOTA (Revision 05) (jkfund.blogspot.com)

CPF Annual Report 2022 (1.25M43 Regrossed Balance)

2023-07-01T11:27:00.003+08:00

CPF Annual Report 2022 had just been released!

CPFB | Annual reports

They had removed the most exciting annex table that they had tabulated for many years, simply because they do not want people to keep comparing with others within the same age group. It's like remove the class standing in the primary school examination. Not fun at all.

Nevertheless, below are the highlights from CPF Annual Report 2022.

With CPF regrossed balance definition, we have a combined S$1.25million dollars in CPF as of June 30th, 2023. :) That sounds better.

Net CPF balance in CPF account is S$951,677.

We will surely break the S$1 million mark in net CPF balance by January 1st, 2024!

The key is to stay employed.

The CPF regrossed balance includes the monies you have spent on investment / housing loan / education, etc. .

I personally think that is the right way of calculating as that shows your ability to draw cash into the CPF account (be it yourself or from the employer contribution).

Nevertheless, it excludes how well your stocks/ Endowus performance in the CPF OA account as they only count the amount you throw in.

That says, if your stocks/ Endowus perform well above 2.5% given by the CPF OA, you will expect much larger sum the moment you sell and return back to CPF OA!

Vice versa. Nevertheless, I only have a small exposure of S$34,101.

We have achieved 1.25M43 and on track to 4M65!

Based on the 3 years growth data, it is quite easy to predict that we will have at least S$100,000+ annual growth in CPF balance. That's about 10% annual increment.

Last but not least, everyone must know how to project their own CPF balances.

9 days Taiwan trip (March 2024)

2023-04-27T09:45:00.002+08:00

I managed to book SIA ticket to Taipei during the March 2024 school holidays at pretty good price. S$508 per person. Family of 3, total S$1,524.

The lowest fare is S$464 if you choose to travel during the non-school holiday period. S$44 saving per person.

We probably stay at Taipei for 4 nights and Tai Chung for another 4 nights. Will see.

8 days Sydney trip (March 2023)

2023-03-26T15:11:00.038+08:00

We had a good time at Sydney.

The trip was delayed almost 3 years due to COVID19. It was supposed to be a holiday trip in June 2020. Scoot canceled the flight. We chose no cash refund but extra 20% flight credits that we later used to purchase more luggage allowance, flight meals and seat booking for this March 2023 trip.

The hotel room (The Sydney Boulevard Hotel) was upgraded to a bigger size, and we were given a FREE bottle of red wine because I am Expedia GOLD member. 😊

Our Sydney expenses (S$2,374.05) distributions are as follow:

57% food (6% breakfast, 25% lunch, 8% tea break and 18% dinner).
33% shopping
10% transportation.

Our hotel:

(1) The Sydney Boulevard Hotel

Our meals:

(1) The Grounds of the City

(2) The Grounds of the Alexandria

(3) Macchiato @ Pitt Street (Italian)

(4) Mr. Wang (Chinese)

(5) XOPP (Chinese)

(6) #eatfuh (Vietnamese)

(7) Seoul Ria (Korean)

(8) chatthai (Thai)

(9) cinyen (Indonesian)

(10) Hakatamon Ramen (Japanese)

(11) Sydney Fish Market

(12) The Naked Duck

(13) Jamie's Kitchen

(14) Messina Gelato (MUST TRY!)

(15) Tenacious

(16) Black Star Pastry

(17) Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills

(18) Meet Fresh @ Chatsworth

(19) Beautea

(20) Bill & Toni's

(21) The Wyatt @ Gordon

(22) Aunty Ed's Restaurant

(23) Tea Break ~

==============================================

(1) The Sydney Boulevard Hotel

We stayed at this hotel for 7 nights. Average daily rate A$200.95. It is located at the city center, William Street.

The room size is great indeed and there is a Woolworths metro right next to the hotel.

Expedia Gold member will receive a FREE bottle of red wine. :)

(1) The Grounds of the City

The food is fantastic. Love the filet mignon (AS$50) and king grab linguini (A$32). The mango tango (A$9.50) is lovely too. :) Good ambience.

Total bill: A$91.50.

(2) The Grounds of the Alexandria

I came here with huge expectation, but the food is just normal. Wild omelette and eggs benedict were good but not the brekkie burger. My sister joined us for the breakfast. Total bill: A$118.50.

There is one lululemon outlet store nearby. We bought our first lululemon cloths at 50% discount, pretty good deal. :)

(3) Macchiato @ Pitt Street

Highly recommended! The thin crusted pizzas were great! Eye fillet (A$49) was fantastic too. Must come!

My sister family joined us. Hence, the bill for 7 was A$319.

(4) Mr. Wang

The food is nice, but it is way over-priced.

I don't think that's half duck portion, A$59 for half duck.

Mapo tofu was extremely silky and nice.

(5) XOPP

We enjoyed the food. It's a nice location too, near the Chinatown.

(6) #eatfuh

It's a typical Vietnamese fuh (noodles). We had it at Surrey Street branch. Not bad!

(7) Seoul Ria

Dinner with my ex-high school classmate with her husband too. A decent Korean BBQ place at Chinatown!

We had this matcha dessert elsewhere at Chinatown too after the dinner.

(8) chatthai

Good Thai food indeed. It is a chain store at Gateway Shopping Centre, Circular Quay.

(9)cinyen

Delicious Indonesian Medan food near UNSW, Anzac Parade, Kingsford.

(10) Hakatamon Ramen

My son craved for Japanese ramen. Hence, we were here at Hakatamon Ramen at Darling Square. Not bad.

(11) Sydney Fish Market

A must visit place. You can get all the fresh seafood here! We had 2 rounds of lunch. :)

(12) The Naked Duck

We had a quick brunch here. The food is just all right. Nothing special.

(13) Jamie's Kitchen

We had breakfast here before heading back to Singapore! Decent breakfast.

(14) Messina Gelato

This is the best gelato that you must try at Sydney! We had it 3 times all together at different branches.

(15) Tenacious

Pretty interesting place to have coffee break at Oxford Village, Tenacious.

(16) Black Star Pastry

That's one pretty and expensive cake. Overrated.

(17) Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills

Ginger brulee tart, good place to have coffee break at Surry Hills.

(18) Meet Fresh @ Chatsworth

Meet Fresh Taiwanese dessert at Chatsworth. The portion is big!

(19) Beautea

Taiwanese bubble tea shop, Beautea.

(20) Bill & Toni's

That's our first meal at Sydney. Linguine gameri and scallops was pretty good. The cafe is a walking distance away from our hotel, Stanley Street, Darlinghurst.

(21) The Wyatt

We had breakfast at The Wyatt at Gordon with my sister. It's a pretty cozy cafe.

(22) Aunty Ed's Restaurant

We had lunch at this place at Katoomba Street, Blue Mountains. The food was just normal, probably too much fried food.

(23) Tea Break ~

Gelato and drinks at Bondi Beach.

Gelato at Barangaroo.

Coffee break at Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Quick lunch at Sydney airport.

THE END

CPF Time Deposit by OCBC bank, 8-months Fix Deposit, 3.88% per annum!

2023-02-13T15:29:00.010+08:00

CPF refused to raise the CPF interest? No problem!

We just placed two CPF Time Deposit with OCBC today, 8 months tenure, 3.88% p.a., total S$251,000 from CPF OA account. Hence must take a nice screenshot for remembrance before the monies are sucked out from CPF OA account to OCBC bank. You must leave at least S$20,000 balance in CPF OA account + some buffers, just in case you have any OA deduction for “any matters”.

Take 3.88% p.a. fix deposit rate from OCBC bank to beat CPF OA interest of 2.50% p.a.!

The queue is damn long. I took the queue number at 11.13 a.m. and only completed at 3.16 p.m. (4 hours duration). The experienced OCBC staff was kind enough to inform you that it will be more than 2 hours wait. Of course, we were not waiting there. We left the place after taking the queue number and went back at 2.30 p.m. again. Do not wait there blindly and get frustrated for nothing. It took such a long time to clear the queue numbers because many do not have CPF investment account, and they have to complete the questionnaires and set up the CPF investment account on the spot with OCBC bank. When it’s our turn, as I have the CPF investment account with DBS, the whole transaction was fast 💨, like 3 minutes?

Now, we just wait for few more days (hopefully less than 10 business days) to see the monies to be deducted from CPF OA account and a time deposit certificate shall be mailed to our doorstep.

Updated on February 20th, 2023:

Let's look at the timeline below.

(1) February 11th (Saturday), 3.00 P.M., both FDs application submitted.

(2) OCBC CPFIS account is slightly faster than DBS CPFIS account as this FD is offered by OCBC!

The CPF deduction happened on February 13th (Monday), and FD maturity date is October 14th.

(3) DBS CPFIS account is reasonably fast too.

The CPF deduction happened on February 14th (Tuesday), and FD maturity date is October 16th.

In conclusion, OCBC CPFIS is faster than DBS CPFIS account by 2 business days.

There is a very timely article from The Straits Times on February 13th, 2023!

By following the computation of OA interest rate formula, you will see NO CHANCE for the OA interest rate to increase.

“OA rate = 80% of the average of the local banks’ 1-year FD rate + 20% of the average of their saving rate.“ ✅

At today circumstances, it’s only 0.6633%, which is far below 2.50% rate.

Hence, the government could have given us 0.67% instead of 2.50% rate! 😂😅

Want higher rate?
Go for T-bills or FD now!
No further discussion needed.

The Straits Times, April 3rd, 2023.

JKM Fund

8 days Seoul trip (Nov 29 - Dec 6, 2025)

Endowment, ILP & Whole Life plan updates

3 more years to hit CPF S$1 million

8 days Shanghai trip (June 2025)

HDB rental dropped 12.50% !

CPF S$620,000 achieved, S$1 million at age 50

11 days Japan trip (December 2024)

Happy New Year 2025!

Another big homerun in year 2024

4 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

I sold my first Johor property !

CPF Annual Report 2023 (1.34M44 Regrossed Balance)

Aged 75 and he has not withdrawn a cent from "CPF" !

HDB rental yield now 13.52% !

Received 6 months T-bill interest for CPF OA funds (Revision 02)

Additional Wage (AW) Ceiling - CPF contributions for the whole year

What is the impact to me for the CPF closure of Special Account (SA) at age 55 ?

Break S$1 million milestone in CPF balance (Happy New Year 2024!)

11 days Japan trip (December 2024)

Contents

3 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

CPF Annual Report 2022 (1.25M43 Regrossed Balance)

9 days Taiwan trip (March 2024)

8 days Sydney trip (March 2023)

CPF Time Deposit by OCBC bank, 8-months Fix Deposit, 3.88% per annum!