Investment Stab

[Credit Card] Earn Miles Cheap With CitiBank

2023-07-13T07:25:00.001+08:00

Citibank launched a Citi PayAll promotion in April 2023.

For every dollar spent via Citi PayAll from 20 April 2023 to 20 August 2023, customers who pay a fee will enable the amount spent to be eligible to earn miles/points + bonus miles/points.

What is Citi PayAll?

Citi PayAll is a service offered by Citibank in Singapore that allows Citibank credit cardholders to make payments to various recipients using their credit cards.

It enables customers to pay for expenses such as rent, education fees, taxes, and insurance premiums, which are typically not payable by credit card.

The service is free to use to pay for these items.

However, for a small fee, customers can earn rewards, cashback, or air miles on these credit card transactions that they wouldn't have been able to earn otherwise.

It essentially provides customers with the convenience of using their credit cards for a broader range of payments, thus maximizing their credit card benefits.

The fee is currently 2.2%, however, it may differ for each individual.

Is it Worthwhile to Pay a Fee for Miles?

It depends on your circumstances.

Let's say you need to pay $5,000 for your annual insurance.

If you don't want to earn any rewards via your credit card, you can pay it via any means you like (PayNow, Giro, etc).

However, if you pay using Citi PayAll + Citi PayAll fees of 2.2%, the fees work out to be $110.00.

So you will end up paying $5,110.00, and in return, you will earn 6000 Citi air miles (1.2mile/$1 spent), or 1.83¢/mile.

However, Citibank is currently having a promotion where every Citi PayAll transaction earns 2.2 miles instead of 1.2 miles.

So your $110.00 fees paid will earn you an extra 5000 Citi air miles, which works out to 1¢/mile.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Is 1.x ¢/mile Worthwhile?

We did some math, and you can judge it for yourself.

For a more detailed explanation, you can refer to our previous article HERE.

The lowest cost/mile is a two-way trip to Tokyo on Economy, and it costs 1.4¢/mile.

If you paid 1¢/mile, the two-way trip to Tokyo on Economy would cost $900.00, add in all the other taxes etc, it will cost about $1,000.00.

You could save almost 40% on that trip just by using miles instead of paying for the flight itself.

But the savings are most significant when you fly business class, where the savings could be almost 70%, as shown below.

Alternative Airlines/Transfer Partners?

We converted the Citi air miles into Kris Flyer air miles and checked how worthwhile it would be to be buying miles in order to use them to redeem for flights.

However, we found that Citi has 11 other airline partners you can transfer your miles, and some of them will offer better conversion rates than SIA - aka fewer miles to the same destination.

Recommended Read: Why is CPF Ordinary Account Interest Not Rising?

Conclusion

It is up to individuals to determine if it is worthwhile or not for them to pay to accumulate miles or not.

For myself, I'm currently in the process of accumulating miles for a return business ticket to Paris, and I calculated that it is worthwhile for me to do this -> $2.7k (to buy miles) vs $7.7k (cost of the tix).

But, if you are interested in paying for miles but have no huge expenses coming up for you to spend to earn the miles while the promo last, fret not!

At InvestmentStab, we are always here to help our readers maximise the tricks and tips that we are working on.

So to help our readers who want to buy miles but have no major expenses coming up, we have launched a new concierge service called CardPerks.

We connect you with business expenses to pay using your credit cards, then reimburse you the amount less our fees.

For more detail, refer to the link above or here.

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[Credit Card] How Much Are Air Miles Worth?

2023-06-29T07:00:00.003+08:00

Could not find an article online about how much air miles are worth, so I decided to write one myself.

First things first: Air Miles or Cashback?

This is the thing that has split the internet since the dawn of credit card rewards.

Both sides will have their fair share of arguments to support their team, and we are not going to get into it.

Instead, today, we will be going into the math of air miles to determine if it is valuable to us.

How Much Are Air Miles Worth?

If you ask different people, there will be different answers, particularly depending on which credit card you use and which airline you are transferring the miles to.

Using SIA flights as the basis of comparison, we compared how much each miles are worth based on their corresponding flight cost.

So for a 1-way ticket to New York, it will cost $2908.50 or 75k KrisFlyer miles + $120.10.

This makes the miles worth about 3.7¢ each ( [2908.50-120.1] / 75k).

Business Class Flights

If you take Business Class flights, then the air miles will be worth much more.

*Miles and flight cost calculation are done based on flight searches done on 22 June 2023 for flights flying on 17 October 2023 and returning on 27 October 2023. Different searches/flights may get differing results. These cost/rewards are also subjected to changes based on the credit cards and airlines' discretion.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Is It Worth It To Redeem Miles For Flight?

It depends on how much are you paying for your miles.

For example, if you use the Citi PremierMiles card, the card rewards you with 10,000 Citi Air Miles (equivalent to 10,000 KrisFlyer miles), if you pay the annual fee of $194.40.

This means each mile cost 1.94¢.

You probably don't want to be using them to redeem economy flights to Tokyo because mathematically, you are better off paying cash for the flights (it'll cost 1.9¢ instead of 1.94¢ per mile).

But it is definitely worthwhile if you redeem it for a economy flight to New York, which cost 3.7¢/mile -> you get almost a 50% discount redeeming the annual fee's miles for the flight.

But, if you are just going about your day and earning miles on your usual spending for free, then the cost/miles to you is $0.00.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

So...What Are The Cons of Redeeming Miles?

1. Not much flights available

For example, if you chose to pay cash for trips to Tokyo, you will see more than 5 flights available to choose from.

But if you choose to redeem miles, there's only 3 flight options available.

However, this could due to late booking (book earlier if you want to use miles) or could be just that miles aren't as "flexible" as cash.

2. Waitlist for Flights

Simple to understand booking mechanism: you see seats that are available and you can instantly book them.

Then, SIA decided to be special and gives you this option to be on a "waitlist" for a flight - which I cannot understand because not every flight has this waitlist thing.

For the waitlist, the explanation given is that you will be given the seat if and when it becomes available.

If the seat is available, why can't I just book it instead of having to wait?

If the seat is not available but I am allowed to be waiting for a seat to "become available", why can't I be allowed to "waitlist" myself on any and every other flights that are full?

I don't understand the logic for this, but it is what it is.

And apparently, quite a lot of flight seats are "waitlist" seats, especially business class seats.

Recommended Read: Why is CPF Ordinary Account Interest Not Rising?

Conclusion

Knowing how much you paid for your miles is crucial in knowing if it is worthwhile redeeming them for certain perks.

In general, miles are much more worthwhile redeeming for flights than they are for hotels, vouchers, or other rewards.

However, as you can see from our calculations above, not all flights are redeemed equal, and it is best to check which mile redemption gives you the best bang for your buck!

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[CPF] Why is CPF Ordinary Account Interest Not Rising?

2023-06-05T07:00:00.003+08:00

On 29th May 2023, CPF Board announced that they will increase the interest rate on Special Account (SA) and Medisave Account (MA) to 4.01% for July-September 2023.

The CPF Ordinary Account (OA) and Retirement Account (RA) interest rates will remain at 2.5% and 4% respectively.

With interest increasing on things like mortgages and loans, fixed deposits and government securities, why is it CPF interest has barely changed?

We will explain it today in this article.

Recommended Read: Trevor Noah Explaining CPF

How is Ordinary Account (OA) Interest Calculated?

Every three months, CPF will look at the average 3-month interest rates provided by the main local banks.

If the 3-month bank rate is > 2.5%, the bank rate will be used as the interest rate for the next 3 months.

If the 3-month bank rate is < 2.5%, 2.5% will be used as the interest rate for the next 3 months.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

What is the Average 3-Month Bank Rate?

The average 3-month bank rate for the period February-April 2023 is 0.66%.

Because it is lower than 2.5%, hence 2.5% is given to all CPF OA balances.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

I Thought Banks are Giving Up To 7.5% Interest?

CPF uses the various banks' 3-month fixed deposit rates to determine the CPF OA rates.

The 7.5% rate given by the banks are "promotional" rate given on the respective banks' savings accounts.

The CPF OA uses the fixed deposit rate instead of the savings account rate, so even if the interest rates on savings accounts are higher, it will not affect the CPF OA interest rates.

Conclusion

Although the CPF OA interest rate is not increasing in the latest round of interest rate review, 2.5% is still a pretty good interest rate for an account that provides the flexibility of funding a home purchase, education, or investment.

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[Profit] +17% Gain On The Icahn-Hindenburg Trade

2023-05-24T07:00:00.001+08:00

I made a trade 3 weeks back when Hindenburg Research published a paper accusing the legendary activist investor, Carl Icahn, of running a Ponzi scheme with his listed investment vehicle; Icahn Enterprise L.P. (IEP).

Background Story

On 2nd May 2023, Hindenburg Research published a paper online accusing the investor Carl Icahn, of running a Ponzi scheme and overvaluing its underlying investments to prop up the share price.

IEP stock crashed from $50 to $32 (-36%) within 2 days of the paper's release.

Recommended Read: Trevor Noah Explaining CPF

Analysis

I took notice of the massive dip and immediately thought if a short-term trade could happen in this scenario.

I went to look up the previous 2 companies that Hindenburg had released a short report on - Adani Enterprise and Block Inc; and noticed a trend.

Adani Enterprise -53% within 5 trading days of the short report released on 25 Jan 2023.

Block Inc -26% within 3 trading days of the short report released on 23 Mar 2023.

However, both stocks experienced a short-lived bounce back up within 5 days of their corresponding short-research release date.

Based on this, I was convinced that IEP would exhibit a similar trend pattern, bearing a closer resemblance to Block than Adani.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Trade & Results

03 May 2023: I entered a position on IEP at $32/share.

It had fallen more than Block over a shorter period of time.

Given that Icahn was famed for being aggressive, it felt like it was about time he would make an announcement strong enough for the stock to bounce.

04 May 2023: IEP fell to $30/share. Held on because the upside is coming!

05 May 2023: Stock bounced to $38, but I sold all my positions at $37.50 because the upward momentum was losing steam towards the back half of the trading day.

Return: +17% over 3 days, not too shabby I would say.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

Conclusion

I don't know how strong this trading strategy is, but so far it seems to be working fine on 3 examples.

I now look forward to the next Hindenburg short report, which I guess will be in July 2023, because they seem to be releasing one every two months.

If you like articles like this, you might like our other previous trade on Netflix, link below.

Recommended Read: My 30% Gain from Netflix

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供房贷：使用 CPF 还是用现金？

2023-05-06T07:15:00.001+08:00

“我应该用 CPF 还是现金支付我每月的房贷？”

这可能是要买房的人们经常考虑的问题。

您应该选择哪个？

让我们来看看吧！

Recommended Read: ChatGPT Says No to NCMP Land Sales

情境一：用现金支付房贷，把 CPF 里的钱留在 CPF 赚利息

这是最不常见新加坡人用来支房贷的方式。

当您将您的资金保留在 CPF OA 里，您可以赚取 CPF OA 的利息（2.5% + 1%）。
使用现金支付房贷款也不会产生 accrued interest。
但用此方式付房贷，您的流动现金会减少。因此不建议大多数人这样做，除非您有相当大的一笔现金或收入来维持您的每月房贷。

我所认识的那些人会这样做的人，

有足够的现金/工资支付他们每月的房贷，
故意保留他们的钱在 CPF 里以获得高利率。

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

情境二：使用 CPF 支付房贷

这是绝大部分新加坡人最常用来支付房贷的方式。

大多数人的想法是：我的钱被锁在 CPF 里。我得等到 65 岁才能取出，大不如好好把用它来支付我每个月的房贷。

您将无法赚取 CPF 利息，因为这笔钱已被用于支付您的物业。
您所动用的 CPF 资金将会累计 accrued interest。将来当您卖房子时，您需要将所动用的资金 + accrued interest 一起归还到您的 CPF 账户中。
您可以留有现金在手！手里有现金，若祥投资或用于其他用途都行。

总结

最后一切都得根据您自身的情况，决定哪个是最适合您的方式。

没有正确或错误的选择；只有是否适合您的选择。

Recommended Read: Get Free $8+ By Signing Up For Google Pay

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ChatGPT says 'No' to NCMP Land Sales Proposal

2023-03-05T06:49:00.001+08:00

In the recent budget debate, NCMP Hazel Poa proposed an alternative source of revenue to be added to Singapore's yearly budget.

Current Framework (CF):

Keep proceeds from land sales in reserves and invest them.
Allow up to 50% of investment returns generated from the proceeds to be spent in the budget under the NIRC.

Alternative Proposal (AP):

Land sale proceeds are dividend equally over its lease period, with each portion added into the corresponding year's budget as revenue.
Invest the unused portion of the proceeds in reserves, with up to 50% of the investment returns allowed to be spent under the NRIC.

Needless to say, DPM Lawrence Wong rejected the proposal, citing that over the long term, the AP does not generate returns very different from the CF.

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

Introducing, ChatGPT

We figured, rather than rely on our brains, let's rely on an AI.

Hence we pit the CF against the AP in ChatGPT.

We screenshot the questions and answers we got below.

So, it doesn't seem ChatGPT is very pro the AP.

But, to make sure it is not biased, we also asked it what are the benefits of the AP.

Obviously, at this stage, ChatGPT started to contradict itself a little.

It first stated that drawing on land sales is volatile while NIRC provided stable funds.

Then it contradicts itself by saying that land sales are stable while NIRC is volatile due to investment risk.

Our conclusion is: to take the ChatGPT response with a pinch of salt.

Rationale of the Alternative Proposal

In personal finance, there are several schools of thought on how to manage money for retirement.

One of them is the "living off the interest" approach, which emphasises on:

Accumulate a large pool of capital (principal)
Spending only the returns generated by the principal
Never draw down on the principal.

This is the approach utilised by the CF.

Another school of thought is the "4% rule movement", which emphasises:

Accumulate a large pool of capital (principal)
Principal and the returns generated go back into the pool to form the portfolio
Draw 4% of the portfolio every year to spend

This is the approach utilised by the AP, but with a much more conservative twist: drawing only 1% instead of 4%.

Recommended Read: Trevor Noah Explaining CPF

Excel Spreadsheet

So we ran an Excel Spreadsheet just to see how much of a difference each framework would generate in terms of returns.

Below are some of our basic findings

By the end of the 99-year period, CF would have 75% more funds than the AP.
By the end of the 99-year period, CF would provide 57% more in annual NIRC contribution than the AP.
Over the full 99-year period, CF would have contributed 23% more than the AP, in terms of total dollar contribution.
In the beginning, AP would contribute more to the NIRC as compared to the CF. The switch will happen at the 35th-year mark, where onwards CF will start contributing more to the NIRC than the AP.
At the 64th-year mark, CF would surpass the AP in total accumulated dollars contributed to the NIRC.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong answer on this matter.

It is a matter of perspectives and personal preference.

Because at the end of the day, mathematically, both approaches still grow the reserves and contribute to the budget.

It is just whether we prefer the "living off the interest" approach (our current way) or the "4% rule movement" approach (NCMP's suggestion).

Personally, we're on the "living off the interest" camp, but that's our preference.

What about you?

Let us know in the comment section which approaches you prefer.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

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Reasons Why the 99-Year Term Limit on Properties are a Must

2023-03-02T07:05:00.015+08:00

There are 3 (R)easons why Singapore set a 99-year term limit on public housing and most private housing.

2 of which have been mentioned by the Singapore Government multiple times on multiple occasions.

The last reason was one we thought of as a potential reason that was not explained/explored by people.

Recommended Read: Trevor Noah Explaining CPF

Reason One: Revitalise old Building(s)

Buildings deteriorate over time.

Eventually, there will come a time to demolish and rebuild.

However, if no absolute deadline is set, the probability of the building being demolished is ZERO as people living inside the building will not allow it to happen.

Hence a rule (or law in this case) has to be set in place to mandatorily allow the buildings to be vacated for demolishing and rebuilding.

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

Reason Two: Re-purpose the Land

The second reason for the 99-year lease limit on public housing in Singapore is to ensure a sustainable supply of land for future generations.

By having a set lease period, the government can plan for the redevelopment and renewal of housing estates and allocate land for new developments, such as parks, schools, and hospitals, in a systematic and sustainable manner.

This helps to prevent a situation where land becomes scarce and unaffordable, which could lead to social unrest and economic inequality.

Therefore, the 99-year lease limit serves as a long-term planning tool to ensure that land remains available and affordable for the benefit of all Singaporeans.

Reason Three: Reduce Land Concentration

The 99-year limit is required to prevent the land from being concentrated in the hands of a tiny group of the population.

The Pareto Principle (80-20 rule) has been shown to be evident in most social and economic situations, be it investments, properties, wealth, productivity, or even crime.

Should everyone be allowed to freely own their home indefinitely without a "redistribution" from an external force, it is only a matter of time before 80% of the land goes to 20% of the population, and the rest of the people have to scramble for the remaining 20% of the land.

There was a research that dove into land ownership in Singapore before we had the Land Acquisition Act (LAA).

Research had estimated that the Hadrami Arab community had at one point owned close to 50% of all the land in Singapore, although they made up less than 1% of the population.

They were one of the major property owners in Singapore before the implementation of the LAA.

Had it not been for the LAA, it would be safe to assume that there would most likely be a lot less land today for public use.

Hence to prevent properties from concentrating into the hands of a few, term limits were set on properties so that the majority of the land would return back to the government for redistribution for the next generation.

Of course, this might be counterfactual as it has not happened.

But we definitely would not want to plan our policies in a way that would put this theory to the test.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

These are the 3 reasons why we think there's a 99-year limit on Singapore's lands.

Do you know of any other reasons?

Let us know in the comments below.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

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Trevor Noah Explaining CPF

2023-02-12T08:00:00.001+08:00

Trevor Noah explaining CPF - generated response by ChatGPT.

Who is Trevor Noah?

He is a South African comedian and television host; best known as the host of "The Daily Show," a satirical news program that offers a humorous take on current events.

And sure we would like for the real Noah to explain it to us, but the ChatGPT version would do just fine.

In fact, after reading what ChatGPT generated, we must say, we are quite impressed because we can completely visualise Noah describing CPF in almost the same way ChatGPT responded.

It was so convincing that we asked for 2 different versions of how Noah would describe it.

Below are the responses generated by ChatGPT:

Version 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, I have to say, the Central Provident Fund in Singapore, it's a unique beast.

It's a savings plan for the future, and it's mandatory.

And you know me, I love anything that's mandatory, because it means I have no choice but to participate.

But the CPF, it's not just your average savings account.

No, no, no.

It's a multi-faceted, government-administered plan that combines aspects of retirement savings, healthcare funding, and even housing.

It's a one-stop shop for all your financial planning needs.

Now, some might see this as a good thing, having the government handle your savings and retirement planning.

But on the other hand, some folks might feel like they're losing control of their own money.

And you can understand why right?

I mean, it's hard enough to trust banks with our hard-earned cash, let alone the government.

But here's the thing, despite its complexities and limitations, the CPF has been around for over 60 years, and it's helped millions of Singaporeans save for the future.

And you know what they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

So, the CPF, it's a unique, mandatory, government-administered savings plan, and whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit, it's a pretty fascinating system.

And who knows, maybe one day it will become the norm all around the world.

But until then, we'll just have to keep a close eye on it and make sure it's working for the people.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Version 2

Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you about something that's a little bit like a piggy bank on steroids.

It's called the CPF, and it's a mandatory savings plan that every working person in Singapore has to participate in.

So, imagine you've got a job and every month, a portion of your salary goes into this fund, and you can use it for things like housing, healthcare, and education.

It's like a personal retirement account, but the catch is, you can't just access it anytime you want.

Now, I know what you're thinking - why would anyone agree to that?

But, it turns out that the CPF system has been successful in ensuring that people in Singapore have a comfortable standard of living after they retire.

But, of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

The restrictions on accessing the funds have faced criticism, and there have been debates about the government's management of the funds.

But overall, the CPF is a unique system that's had a significant impact on the lives of Singaporeans.

It's kind of like the firefighting robot from the movie Wall-E that saves the day, except instead of saving the world, it saves your financial future.

So, there you have it, the CPF in a nutshell.

It's a little complicated, but it's worth understanding if you want to be a part of the financial future of this island nation.

Recommended Read: Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

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Simplifying UOB's 7.8% Interest Rate

2022-12-07T07:15:00.004+08:00

UOB recently made the hoo-ha with their new (up to) 7.8% interest rate on savings in their UOB One Account.

Of course, a lot of people saw straight through the marketing gimmick of their high-interest rates and started flaming it online.

We are not going to comment on the mechanics used to gather eyeballs and attention.

We are going to show below what the real effective interest rates we savers are going to get from UOB One Account, removing all the marketing gimmicks and fluff.

Source: UOB One Account

1. Conditions for Higher Interest

Conditions:

A) Spend min. $500 (calendar month) on eligible UOB card

B) Make 3 GIRO debit transactions (calendar month)

C) Credit your salary (min. $1600) to your UOB account

We did the math and plot the interest rates you are actually going to be getting on a graph for your easy reference.

If you are interested in the math/data/calculation we used or wish to double-check against our calculations (which we really welcome since it allows us to make this story more accurate), we have attached the Google Sheet doc here.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

2. Conclusion

As you can see from the graph, the maximum interest rate one can get from UOB One Account is 5%, when a minimum of $1600.00 salary is credited into the account, spent $500.00 on any eligible UOB cards, and have a bank balance of $100,000.

So if you hit any of the criteria at the top that makes you eligible for higher interest on your savings than your current bank, you might want to consider opening the UOB One Account, credit the salary in, and focus all the spending with the UOB cards.

PS*: this is not financial advise

PPS*: only consider making the switch if your current bank is not paying you better interest rates than UOB. If your bank is paying you better than UOB, stay with your existing bank.

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Inflation Impact on the F&B Industry

2022-07-07T06:53:00.018+08:00

1. Inflation is Real

Based on the Singapore Government statistics, food-only inflation is 4.5% in May 2022 compared to May 2021.

Straits Times published an article on 21 June 2022 stating that inflation may double to 8.2% in the second half of 2022.

While these numbers may be staggering, the actual numbers might actually be far worse.

Because the reported numbers are what end-consumers are experiencing.

But what is not reported as much is how much is being absorbed by the various importers, wholesalers, and F&B outlets.

Take it from someone who has been in the wholesale food product business for the past year, and I can tell you, that prices have been increasing insanely!

2. Price Increases

Over the past year, these are the price increases we as wholesalers experienced.

MSG: +47%

Dried Seaweed: up 47%

Dried chilli: +32%

Soya bean: +31%

Ee-mee: +31%

Plain flour: +28%

Cooking oil: +24%*

Instant noodle: +23%

Refined Sugar: +17%

Salt: +14%

Various canned food: +5% ~ +10%

These are the more commonly used items by F&B stalls, although other more "niche" items also went up 5% or more.

I only included dried goods because that is the industry I am in.

But the numbers from poultry and vegetables are not any better.

*On a side note, cooking oil prices have fallen a bit recently, but it is funny how my petrol prices have not dropped.

3. Cut F&B Outlets Some Slack

Cut the hawkers and coffeeshop stalls some slack.

If they raise your prices, understand it is not their choice.

A lot of my F&B customers who I have spoken to are all afraid to raise their prices because:

1) They get scolded by their customers for raising prices.

2) If they are the first to raise prices, customers will flock to their competitors. There is always more than one chicken rice stall in a given hawker centre, and it is a perfect competition scenario.

Prices had increased dramatically over the past year, and there are no signs of slowing down.

Because of war and covid lockdowns,

1) Supplies like corn, wheat, and other raw materials are not being farmed, processed, or packaged, and that's causing a low-supply issue.

2) Supply-chain is affected with docks closed or overwhelmed, leading to a lot of goods going out of stock due to delay or any available stock going to only the highest bidder.

3) Supply-chain issues also extend to containers, where there are goods to ship but no containers to load the goods onto for shipment. This is also another cause for "out of stock" or "higher shipping cost".

As an industry; importers, wholesalers, and F&B stalls have absorbed as much of the price increases as we can.

On a whole, the industry is surviving on breakeven levels or marginal profitability.

If a whole lot of items have increased by more than 5%, but inflation is only 4.5%, that means someone has been absorbing the price increase.

Hence, please do not scream at us if we raise prices, it just means we have reached a stage where we can no longer absorb the price increase.

We have families to feed as well.

4. The Consequences

Recently, several headlines of F&B stalls closing down have been trending on various social media platforms.

Source: Seedly

The few reasons for closing down that kept surfacing during interviews with them are intense price pressure for raw materials, labour, and rents.

As much as I am all for fierce competition for business, survival of the fittest, growing to achieve economies of scale, etc; please understand that if the industry consolidates to only a few major players instead of the current set of diverse players, prices will still go up because one, demand still outstrips supply; and two, buyers have fewer options to purchase from.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

5. What Can We Do?

1) For starters, we can be more understanding if prices have increased at the stalls that you eat or buy produce at.

Not scolding us, or even understanding that the price increase is our last resort is a great motivation for us to continue what we are doing.

2) Continue to patronise the stalls you like, even if they have increased the price.

You may complain online that the bubble tea you drink has increased in price, but you will still buy it and not scold the person serving you at the counter.

Please do the same when you are buying from the other F&B stalls - especially if the stall owners are old uncles and aunties.

3) Consider tipping if you can afford it, even at hawker centres or coffee shops.

Every cent counts and goes a long way in helping the industry stay afloat until the crisis is over.

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What I Learnt During My 1-Year SGUnited Traineeship - Part 1

2022-07-01T07:42:00.005+08:00

About a year ago, I posted an article on what I've learnt during my 6 months as an SGUnited trainee.

It has been exactly 1 year since I left my 1-year SGUnited traineeship with a local bank to embark on a new career path.

And I finally have the time to sort out and list down Part 2 of everything I've learnt and experienced during the second half of my time at said bank.

Because it is so long, I am breaking it down into multiple smaller parts for it to be an easier read, and adding a more detailed story to every lesson.

Today's lesson is from a mistake I made a few months into the job.

1. The Story

I was a product officer in the local bank.

Let's call my team "Team A".

Several months into the job, I was tasked to run some spreadsheet analysis on a new initiative we were thinking of launching.

The spreadsheet contains the customers and their transaction data.

I was supposed to analyse the data based on a financial model/framework that was developed by another department in the bank.

Let's call that department "Team B".

I was told that I could ask a senior guy in Team B for help on the framework if I had any issues.

I soon ran into problems with the framework and started asking (more like spamming) the senior guy for help cause I had a lot of questions using the framework.

Eventually, the senior guy asked me what was I doing and why I needed to know all this information about the framework.

I told the senior guy what my team was planning on doing and he asked if I could send him my spreadsheet for him to take a look at and help with my issues.

Without hesitation, I was like "Great!", and proceeded to send him the whole file.

The next day at work, my mentor called me and asked if I sent the whole file to the senior guy.

Below is a rough recap of the whole conversation.

Mentor: Did you send 'senior guy' the Excel document you were working on?

Me: Yup.

Mentor: Aiyo! Why did you send him the whole file instead of just a few customers' data?

Me: Why?

Mentor: This morning he called to scold our director cause of what we were thinking of doing.

Me: Huh? What we were planning to do will affect him?

Mentor: Ya, the program we were thinking of launching is something that will benefit our customers and our team's P&L. But the side-effect is it will negatively affect his team's P&L. Of course he will call to scold us.

Me: But net-net the bank still makes the same (or more) money and the customers will benefit more. Isn't it better? And this is just money moving from the right pocket to the left pocket.

Mentor: From the big picture, yes. But the reality is no, cause our P&L will affect our bonus.

The next thing I know, I was off the program without any formal notice.

I was just tasked to do other stuff and never heard of the program again.

Either because Team A proceeded without me, or I had successfully single-handedly ended the program with my mistake (pretty sure it was the latter 😅).

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

2. Lessons Learnt

With every mistake made, there were lessons to be learnt.

Here are some of them.

1) Don't disclose too much information

I didn't ask around to find out that the Team B I was speaking to, was the "competitor" team, and that I shouldn't have divulged too much information,

Heck, I shouldn't even divulge too much information to another team, even if it is not the competitor team.

Sometimes, having a bit of secrecy helps, and this applies to work and personal life - you want to be careful who you are being transparent with.

2) There is no such thing as a 'One Big Family' organisation.

Even though we are in the same organisation, it is almost every department for themselves.

There is no right or wrong to be "every department/team for themselves", it is just the way the culture is structured, and every organisation is different.

It is just that in order to survive in this particular culture, one has to position themselves nicely to avoid getting into the cross-fire.

3. Final Words

I'll end off this story with one of my favourite scenes and the second favourite quote from a movie that I like - Cold War, 寒战.

It literally explains what I did wrong.

Translation:

"Every organisation, every department, every role, has their own set of rules, written and unwritten.

The first step is to always learn all of them. But most people are dead before they finished this step.

The second step is the find rules' boundaries are, and lines where when stepped on will trigger the rules' repercussions. Then try your best not to step on those lines. Learn how to play within those boundaries and you will be able to stay alive."

Needless to say, I was "dead" before I finished Step 1.

I didn't learn about the written and unwritten rules of the game I was in.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

4. Bonus

Let us know in the comments below if you find these short stories interesting.

Let us know also if you would like to get a podcast or video of these stories and future content that we have.

Don't forget to subscribe to our stories! 😊

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Get an Interest-Free Loan from Apple - with Extra Steps

2022-06-20T06:38:00.001+08:00

Yes, this is a click-bait title.

But, it might also be an idea/solution.

This idea is from a random thought that flashed through my mind while I was stuck on the Apple website, thinking about which MacBook should I buy (which I'm happy to know if you have a suggestion for me -> M1 or M2 MacBook Air?).

Source: Apple

The Idea in 4 Steps

1. Pre-Sell an Apple product on a second-hand market.

2. Buy said Apple Product at a physical Apple store.

3. Choose the interest-free 24-month payment option.

4. Complete the second-hand market transaction.

Voilà, you just got a 24-month interest-free loan from Apple.

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

Case Study: iPhone 13 Pro Max Alpine Green 256GB

Source: Apple

It cost $1969.00 to buy it, or $82.04/month for 24 months (which works out to $1968.96, a 4-cents discount 😉).

Re-selling it on a second-hand market, one can earn back $1758.00.

It is a $211, or 12% discount.

If you think about it, it can sort of be interpreted as a 12% interest loan, but technically it is interest-free if you can sell it without offering a discount on the product.

Nonetheless, it is still cheaper than the 24% interest on your credit card, excluding the late fees or cash-withdrawal fees slapped on top of it, or a cashline loan.

Things to Note/Caveat:

1) Get something popular, it needs to be sell-able

You are buying a product. If you can buy it but can't sell it, you are stuck with an Apple product and a 24-month loan.

Typically, the more sellable/higher demand for the product, the lower the discount.

2) It needs to be high value

Because re-selling the product on the second-hand market requires some discount, if you bought something low value (a few hundred dollars) and need to sell at a steep discount (like a $100 discount), the difference will be vast and costly.

3) You need to have one of these credit cards

Source: Apple

The instalment plan is partnered with these banks. So it only works if you have one of these credit cards.

And, as you can see, there are also terms and conditions that need to be abided by, such as minimum spend.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

Take this idea with a pinch of salt.

This is not financial advice, might not even be a good idea for you.

It is not foolproof, it comes with its own set of risks, and maybe you might just be better off not doing it.

This might just be another case of good to know, but not to do 😉.

Most importantly, I hope this article made you chuckle a little.

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Investment Stab 2022 Stock Market Predictions

2022-02-20T11:21:00.003+08:00

Last year we made a list of 4 stock market predictions.

Investment Stab 2021 Stock Market Predictions

So we will first review our predictions, then go over our 2022 predictions.

Review of 2021 Stock Market Predictions

1. US Stock Market Will End 2021 Higher (Correct)

The US stock market, represented most accurately by the S&P500, posted a total return of 28.7% for the year 2021.

The majority of that gain was from the increase in the index price, rising from $3764 to $4766.

2. STI to Stay Flat for the Year (Wrong)

The Straits Times Index (STI) returned 9.7% in price appreciation, meaning a more than 10% total return if we were to include dividends.

That's anything but flat.

So we are wrong on this one.

3. Air Travel Will Recover (Wrong)

Well, we did not expect Omicron at the start of 2021, so I guess we got this wrong.

But, air travel did recover - slightly, given that there's more travelling now than a year before.

Just that it is far from what we had expected - a near-full recovery.

Because we expected a recovery, we predicted that SATS will reach $5 by end of 2021.

That did not happen, SATS is still hovering at where it was a year ago, ± $4.00, though it closed 31st December 2021 at $3.89.

4. SIA Will Not Pass $5 By End Of 2021 (Technically Correct)

Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) closed on 31st December 2021 at $4.99.

If we're thick-skin enough, we would say we got it right.

But it did break above $5/share in 2021, only to drop back due to Omicron.

Conclusion: 1.5/4 correct

I would say our prediction for the year 2021 kind of sucked, just like our personal stock picks for the year 2021.

2021 is probably just not our year 😥.

We get this wrong often, but our goal is to post our thoughts, views, predictions, and review them 1 year later to see which part in our analysis and thought process went wrong.

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

So here comes our 2022 stock market predictions!

1. US Stock Market Will End Higher in 2022

Based on historical data, the probability of a US stock market ending higher in a given year is 70%.

So by saying the market will end higher, we are 70% likely to be correct 😉.

However, the market can be up a lot (like last year), or up a little.

We predict that this year, it will be up a little (think less than 10%) because it's the second term of a US president, which tends to have muted returns for the stock market.

2. Amazon & Microsoft Reach New Highs

Disclaimer: I own shares in both of these companies.

My bet on these 2 companies reaching new highs is mainly because of my cloud bet.

Amazon owns AWS and Microsoft owns Azure, the 2 biggest cloud providers in the world.

As we continue to go digital and move the workload to the cloud because of Covid and work-from-home (WFH) arrangements, cloud usage will continue to grow at high growth rates (30%+ per annum).

What better way to capture that growth than to invest in the top cloud providers, especially since scale is extremely important in the cloud business.

PS: my personal bias is Amazon simplify because, with its stock price at USD3,000, there is potential for a stock split which would just make the share price more valuable than what it is currently worth (aka Google).

Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

3. STI to Rise Sharply for the Year

Last year we predicted the STI to stay flat for the year because 40% of the STI weightage is in banks (DBS, UOB, & OCBC).

And because the US Fed Chairman had stated at the start of the year they will keep rates low until 2023.

A low-interest-rate environment is bad for banks' profitability, hence we did not think banks will do well, and hence STI will also not do well.

However, this year, the US Fed Chairman has announced it will do several rounds of rate hikes to curb rising inflation.

We expect this to boost the banks' profitability, leading to higher bank share prices, and thus higher STI prices.

We expect STI to rise more than 10% in total returns for the year.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

These are our predictions of what we think will happen in 2022.

We are not 100% sure we will be correct.

But we do think we probably will not be too wrong.

As always, do your own research, due diligence, own analysis, and invest according to your risk appetite.

We are not giving you recommendations, just our predictions.

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Transfer CPF Money from Ordinary to Medisave Account

2021-05-30T09:42:00.127+08:00

Correction: we made a mistake in our earlier article, and we have thus made the edits. We like to thank our readers for pointing out to us when we make mistake in our research.

Today's topic was suggested by one of our readers.

If you got any questions/topics you would like us to talk about, let us know via the comments below or via this form.

You asked us what are some of the pros and cons of transferring money from your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) to your CPF Medisave Account (MA).

Here is the result of our research.

Background

If would like to know what is your Medisave Account for, click HERE.

But, long story short:

Source: CPF

You can use it to pay for your medical bills, family members' medical bills, as well as pay for medical insurance schemes like MediShield Life.

Can it be done?

Long story short: NO

You cannot transfer funds from your CPF OA to your CPF MA.

But, you can top up your CPF MA in 2 other ways.

Voluntary contribution to all 3 CPF accounts (non-tax deductible)
Medisave Account only (tax deductible)

Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

The Pros of topping up CPF MA

Why would anyone want to top up to their CPF MA?

~~So why would anyone want to transfer money from your CPF OA to CPF MA, here are some of the reasons.~~

1. Extra interest

~~CPF OA pays 2.5%+ interest per year~~

If you are saving money for your medical bills, you are probably stashing it away in some low-risk portfolio that gives less than 1% interest per year.

If that's that case, why not allocate a portion of it into CPF MA, which pays 4%+ interest per year.

Of course, you would still need to keep a portion of it in cash because there's a portion of your medical bills that still requires cash payment.

~~Just moving money from your OA to your MA gives you an extra 1.5% interest per year.~~

2. Has a cap

Your MA savings is subjected to a cap, known as the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS).

As of 2021, the BHS is set at $63,000 for those 65 years old and below.

Any amount that is in excess of your BHS will flow over to your

CPF Special Account (SA) - if you are below 55 years old
CPF Retirement Account (RA) - if you are 55 years old and above

Source: CPF

So, technically, your CPF MA money is not a bottomless pit where money keeps going in without any way to take out unless you are hospitalised

Your CPF MA will reach a cap, after which money will flow into your CPF SA or CPF RA, where it can be withdrawn (if other conditions are met of course 😉)

For more information on the BHS, click HERE.

The Cons of topping up CPF MA

Here are the cons of topping up your CPF MA.

~~While you will get higher interest by making the transfer, there are also cons associated with it.~~

~~Here are the cons of transferring money from your CPF OA to CPF MA.~~

1. One-way street

You cannot un-do the top-up.

Once the money is in your CPF, it's going to be very hard for you to withdraw it out (except if you meet the various T&Cs).

~~Once you transfer from your CPF OA to your CPF MA, you cannot transfer it back from your CPF MA to your CPF OA.~~

2. Potentially no tax benefits

If you do a top-up via the Voluntary Contribution (VC), then there is no tax benefit.

However, if you do a voluntary CPF MA-only top-up using cash, the amount that you top up is tax-deductible. But, it will be subject to your maximum personal income tax relief cap.

~~However, if you transferred it from your CPF OA to CPF MA, there is no tax benefit.~~

3. Less cash

If you kept cash in your pocket, you can use it any way you like.

Pay for a mortgage, pay for a holiday trip, pay for medical bills, anything!

But once you put it into CPF, the things you can use it for will be subjected to limits and restrictions.

Topping up cash into your CPF MA, while will earn you higher interest, will restrict you to using it only for medical purposes and nothing else.

Some day down the road if you realised you need extra cash to pay for a home downpayment, you cannot withdraw it from your CPF MA to pay for the downpayment.

~~3. Less ways to use your funds in CPF~~

~~If you kept the money in your CPF OA, you can use it for housing, education, insurance premiums, and other purposes.~~

~~But if you transfer the money to your CPF MA, you can only use it for medical purposes or to pay for medical insurance premiums.~~

If you are currently paying your home loan using CPF, if you make a transfer to your CPF MA and cause your CPF OA to have insufficient funds to pay your monthly mortgage, then you might have to pay your mortgage in cash.

~~In which case, it might be better if you just top up cash into your CPF MA (since this is tax-deductible) while paying your mortgage is not.~~

Recommended Read: Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

Conclusion

There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

For example, if you got sufficient funds in your CPF OA to pay your mortgage, and would like to grow your CPF MA faster and maximise the interest you are earning from CPF, then you can consider making the top-up.

But, there is no hard-and-fast rule.

Whether or not to top-up cash into your CPF MA depends heavily on your circumstances.

~~Whether or not to transfer the money from your CPF OA to your CPF MA, depends heavily on your circumstances.~~

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

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We help you find, match, subscribe and collect payment so that you don’t have to.

Convenience for you:

You don't have to find people to share with you. We do it for you.
You don't have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
You don't have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription to that 1 person. We do it for you.
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We like to know what you think about this service.
Let us know in the survey below what you think, and to be notified once we officially launch the product. 😉

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Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

2021-05-17T07:35:00.004+08:00

This is probably another one of our controversial articles, where instead of being our usual self and bash insurance agents, we are going to write about why we genuinely think they are important and should still exist.

It is a common perception that insurance agents have a bad reputation - mostly because of their pushy, aggressive, and questionable sales practice.

Most of us would probably rather go to a dentist than meet an insurance agent.

And as much as we want to think they are not what we want or need, they definitely play an important role in our financial roadmap!

Today, we are going to be unconventional and write about the people we often mock about: Insurance Agents.

We will be explaining why we think we need insurance agents in our lives.

PS: we will be using 'insurance agent' and 'financial consultant' interchangeably in this article. In this article, both will mean the same, although there might be some difference in the real world.

Importance of Insurance

Insurance is one of the things that are important in ensuring that you can reach your financial goal and security.

It acts as the "protection" layer, protecting you and your family against expensive events like death, sickness, hospitalisation etc.

You will need it to cover these basic things like death, TPD, and hospitalisation, everything else can be "optional".

Optional include things like endowment, ILPs, etc, which are generally the higher income-generating products for the insurance agents.

There's nothing wrong with trying to sell higher-margin insurance to customers IF the customers need it.

Also, insurance agents have families to feed as well.

It is only wrong if they are not suitable for the customers, or if the customers are conned into buying them.

Kind of like buying the 256gb iPhone instead of 128gb.

It's a higher margin for Apple to sell the 256gb model but it really depends at the end of the day if the customer really needs it.

The problem with insurance is, we do not buy them automatically, because they are not life-threatening or required on a frequent basis.

If you starve, you will die; hence your stomach gives you the signal to go buy food and eat.

The problem with insurance is there is no such mechanism at play, and by the time you realise you need insurance, it's already too late.

If you realised you haven't left any money for your family to take care of themselves in the event of your early death, you cannot reverse and buy insurance to get the payout.

Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

Importance of Insurance Agent

That's where the importance of an insurance agent comes in.

Because they exist, and because they contact ("force", in a good way) you to go through your financial roadmap, they are able to help you identify the gaps and give you the appropriate advice on how to get your financials on track (or at least ensure sufficient protection for you and your family).

I studied finance and investment to know the importance of getting insured.

But for people who are teachers, engineers, doctors, or other professions that are not in the "money business", this is not an intuitive thing for them.

And so the most realistic way for them to get their financial roadmap on track is to get advice from an insurance agent.

I don't think people would wake up one day, suddenly realise they need to get $X amount of life insurance and proceed to buy one themselves. This just does not happen in real life.

Hence the importance of an agent is they literally force you to sit down, walk you through the whole roadmap, and plan your finances.

Dilemma of an Insurance Agent

Of course, insurance agents only make money if you buy policies from them.

And the money they earn from your premiums tends to drop after the first few years.

So for example, after you buy insurance from your agent, maybe they get

First-year 10% of the premium as their commission
Second-year 5% of the premium as their commission
Third-year 1% of the premium as their commission
Fourth-year 0% of the premium as their commission

And since they have to do an annual review of your financial health, it makes sense for them to take that opportunity to either sell you a bigger plan (up-size) or sell you some other plans.

If they don't do that, how do they feed their families?

Furthermore, it's been proven that it's easier to up-sell and cross-sell to existing customers than to new customers.

So if not you, then who? 🤷‍♂️

But, there's only so much insurance one person need. Eventually, as a customer, you will no longer need any additional insurance.

However, to make ends meet, sometimes, some agents, would have to sell more despite already having enough, just like what Christopher said in his video below.

Christopher went from being an insurance agent to starting a fee-based wealth advisor after a client told him "surely there must come a time whereby I have enough insurance."

Not saying that all insurance agents are like that, but you as a customer will eventually reach a point where you just have enough insurance. Then what?

Do you continue to buy more insurance to support your agent? Or do you stop buying what your agent suggests?

Recommended Read: Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

Conclusion

We think we still need insurance agents going forward (says the guy who was thinking of becoming one).

But there's only so much insurance one needs to get.

Eventually, we all just need to be able to say 'No' when asked to get more insurance.

What do you think?

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

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Corporate Strategy 1: Rundle, Recurring Revenue Bundle

2021-05-04T07:30:00.001+08:00

We are starting a new segment in our articles.

We are now going to talk about corporate strategies and business models, something we picked up when learning about investing.

Today, more than ever, business models and strategies are playing an increasing weight in how we invest our money, and we think it's only appropriate that we also dive into it when talking about investing.

And in our first-ever dive into this topic, we are going to be talking about "Rundle".

What's a "Rundle"?

The Rundle, or recurring revenue bundle, was the term coined by NYU professor Scott Galloway, to explain how companies can mix 2 business models (recurring-revenue subscription and bundling) together as one to grow faster.

"Recurring-revenue subscription" was the in-thing a few years ago. Any startups that had "subscription" as part of its business model found no shortage of venture capital fund outbidding each other to invest in the startups.

"Bundling" on the other hand, is an old retail strategy of combining several products together to sell as a package. Think selling masks with hand sanitiser in 1 pack instead of as 2 separate items. Customers buy more because of the perceived discount, while businesses get a higher transaction size.

The "Rundle" is the combination of the 2, where businesses package several products together and sell them as a subscription, offering a better value proposition, better value, and make higher revenue.

Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

How It Is Being Used?

While companies in the subscription business are working hard to find products to bundle into their subscription, companies in the bundle business are working hard to get into a subscription relationship with their customers.

Case in point: Apple and Walmart.

Apple & Apple One

Source: Apple

Even on their service website, the first sentence states that it's a subscription that bundles several of Apple's services.

Originally, you can subscribe to the different services (Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud) on their own.

Maybe you're already subscribed to Apple Music and iCloud, but now at just a couple dollars more, you can get TV+ and Arcade, instead of paying for the full price.

That "lower entry price" would entice customers who are on the edge to give the service a shot, and give Apple the slight revenue boost in its services segment.

This is the classic subscription model pushing for bundling to achieve the "Rundle".

Walmart & Walmart+

Source: Walmart

The sleeping giant has awakened and it's starting to face its toughest competitor (*cough cough Amazon) head on!

Walmart is a supermarket giant in the US, and while it has been growing over the years, the growth has not been spectacular and it has been gradually losing market share to Amazon.com.

Being a traditional supermarket, it is in the "bundle" business, that is, you get a slight discount if you bought 2 bottles of Pepsi instead of 1.

Businesses of such nature are one-off: customers buy where it is cheap and convenient, and have a low cost of switching to another provider.

Customers don't build an entrenched relationship with Walmart because if today another shop is selling cheaper than Walmart, customers are going to go to that other shop.

What Walmart has decided to do, is to start offering its customers a subscription service to entrench their customers into a relationship with Walmart (copying the strategy of Amazon Prime).

For a subscription fee, customers can get free shipping and many other perks, which attracts customers to do more of their shopping with Walmart because they have already paid a subscription fee (a sunk cost) and wants to utilise that fee to the max.

This is the classic bundling model pushing for subscription to achieve the "Rundle".

How It Shouldn't Be Used

Source: Inc.com

While most companies are innovating ways around how they can offer a "Rundle" service to their customers, not every company will be able to get it right.

To put it simply, a "Rundle" is only a value proposition.

It is a good way to accelerate growth IF there is a good Product-Market Fit (we'll explain product-market fit next time).

If there is no product-market fit, pushing out a "rundle" service is not going to grow your business.

Example 1: Bundling business pushing for subscription

You have a retail shop that uses the bundling business model currently, and you're pushing towards a "rundle".

However, the prices you charge before and after the subscription fees, are higher than your competitors.

In this case, what's the value proposition you bring to your customers to entice them to enter into a subscription relationship with you?

Why would a customer pay a $10 subscription per month to buy from a grocery store that charges higher prices than the supermarket across the street?

Is it fast delivery? Is it monthly promotions? Is it any other value proposition that can make customers find the whole "rundle" valuable?

If there is no strong value proposition, you might not have a product-market fit, in which case you should work on improving the product instead of pushing out a "rundle" hastily.

Example 2: Subscription business pushing for bundling

You have a software subscription business that has 3 software products. 1 of them sells really well while the other 2 barely sells.

You hope to bundle your 3 software products together as a "rundle" so that your customers will be enticed to get all of them instead of just the best selling one.

Of the 3 software you offer, only 1 is of value to your customers while the other 2 are crap.

You can offer a "rundle", but no one is going to continue that subscription because no customers will want to pay extra money for things that they don't use or are lousy.

After testing out your "rundle", customers will eventually drop back to just subscribing for just your best product if the other products suck.

A "Rundle" doesn't solve the problem of having a lousy product.

Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

Conclusion

A "Rundle" is a great way to accelerate the growth of your business. and build loyalty.

However, it is only one part of the whole strategy, and it only works IF your business has a product-market fit.

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

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Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

2021-03-24T07:25:00.002+08:00

Today, we are going to show you how to cancel your Standard Chartered JumpStart Account.

Personally, I had to cancel the account because I was past 27 years old and no longer eligible for the higher interest rate.

I found it hard to find a function/button on its website that allows me to delete my account.

So after I found it, I decided to make a guide so that it's easier for you to cancel your own account in the future.

Refer to the steps below. 😉

Steps to Close Your Account

1. Go to Standard Chartered "Contact Us" page

Which for convenient sake, here's the link:

https://www.sc.com/sg/help/contact-us/

2. Select the talk to a chat option.

3. Proceed with some verification

4. Then tell the person that you would like to close the account.

Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

The Process

The process is generally simple and fast.

Basically what I did above was all that was required.

I probably spent more time searching how to close my account than the actual act of closing my account 😅

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

New Product Launch (Beta)

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You don’t have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
You don’t have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription fee to that 1 person. We do it for you.
You don’t have to find it difficult to drop out of a family subscription plan because you shared it with your family/friends. We cover your share for you.

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What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

2021-03-17T07:02:00.004+08:00

It has been 6 months since I started my SGUnited Traineeship with a local bank back in August 2020.

It's a halfway mark and I thought it'll be nice to pen down what I have learnt or experienced so far.

Kind of like a good midpoint check on my progress and plan.

If you are currently working as a trainee and would like to share your experience, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us to share your experience.

1. Slide presentations the school never taught

I thought I was a good presenter until after my first couple of presentations to my boss, I realised I sucked at it.

Note: Everything the school ever taught you about presentation slides, throw it out the window.

I'm saying this as a guy who went to both a business school and an IT school.

I was considered a good presenter back in school, praised by most of my lecturers and scoring high on almost all my presentations.

Entering the workforce and having to make my first presentation to my boss, I was like "how hard can it be?".

Turns out it was really tough, simply because it was very different from how schools made us think about how a presentation should work.

Standard School Slides Format

The school slides generally fall under this format, in that sequence.

1. Start with a narrative or what you want to find (2 to 3 slides)

2. Explain the numbers you did/found (2 to 3 slides)

3. Give the conclusion/steps/actions to take (1 slide)

I did just that, and literally, I got the "so what? what's the purpose of this?" from my boss at the first 3 slides.

I literally went to the last slide, showed the conclusion, then got sent back to work on the numbers again 🤷‍♂️.

That didn't end up the way I expected.

Long story short, after a few rounds of such "so what?", I went to learn how professional people (like Mckinsey) did presentation slides.

It was completely different from anything the school taught.

I learnt from YouTube how to create consultancy-kind of slides and actually paid for a course on it (which BTW is not SkillsFuture claimable cause apparently it's not a "skill" the authorities find "technical" 🤷‍♂️).

Below is the video that I learnt from to create consultancy-kind of slides. Thought it would be useful if I put it down here for you to watch and learn.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

2. Slow decision-making

As with any organisations, once it starts to get big, bureaucracy and controls start to set in to rein in the chaos, which at times also meant that decision-making becomes very slow.

Although I had previously written that I think companies should follow Mark Zuckerberg's motto of "move fast and break things", I no longer think that this motto fits ALL companies.

Can you imagine that your bank account or payment stopped functioning because a bank was progressing so fast that some of its features/products were breaking down?

So companies that are dealing with serious mission-critical products/services should not adopt that whole "move fast and break things" mindset.

However, that's not to say "don't move and keep things."

We still need to make decisions, make bets, and bet on macro trends.

And instead of waiting for 100% of information clarity before making a decision, sometimes it's best to make a move even with just 70% information clarity.

Sometimes what causes lost opportunity is the time to wait for that 30% of the information to come in.

Like Jeff Bezos said, there are 2 types of decisions, and most decisions belong to Type 2.

But large companies have the tendency to use the Type 1 framework on Type 2 matters, which slows down progress and leads to frustration.

So it's important for companies to understand if their decisions are Type 1 or 2, and applying the corresponding decision-making matrix.

3. Too many meetings

Meetings can be packed end-to-end from the start of the day to the end of the day.

Real work can only be done after 6pm when no more meetings are schedule (if you are lucky)

How would it be possible to not work overtime (OT)?

I used to think that it was the lack of manpower that result in overworked staff.

Now I realised, we are not overworked, we are just over-meeting.

If we reduced the number of meetings we have, we might just have enough time to do some real work.

4. It's not about learning

I think a lot of people get into a job thinking "alright, I think I am going to take this job because I can learn a lot from this role/position/job/etc", and I personally don't believe in this kind of thinking.

I personally (it's just my opinion) think that it's better to pick a job that I can excel in, and then see what I can learn on my own during my time with the company.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean that you shouldn't learn anything on the job. You should still learn how to do your job right (the nuances and whatnot).

But join a few companies, and you'll soon realise the hard skills (systems, software, tools, applications, etc), are things that you can learn, and probably are not able to bring them over to another company because they probably have other systems, etc.

Instead, it's the things that are not in the SOP, like slides creation, or positioning of offerings, etc, that is portable across most companies, and are things that you pick up along the job, usually without someone guiding you.

1. It's a company, not a training institute.

I always think in terms of "what can I offer you?" instead of "what can you offer me?"

I think a better offer would be to go in with a mindset of "this is my skills, this is what I can do to help you grow your business. Let me try", than one that is "I know I am not skilled for the job currently but I'll work hard and learn and do my best.".

I'm not saying the latter is bad.

But I'm just saying, if I'm an employer, I would think that the former is a much better offer than the latter.

You do your best to push the company forward, and try and learn something on the side.

Not the other way round, try and learn something while pushing the company forward on the side.

Is this a hard and fast rule? Of course not!

It depends on situations, just like what Sir Richard Branson says.

2. Learning is personal

It's interesting how Singapore is now pushing people towards lifelong learning.

It's like once people graduated from school and entered the workforce, they immediately stopped learning - which I do think is true, due to circumstances (commitments) and the whole "That's it I'm done with school".

When actually if you look at really successful people, they are always learning.

We like to think learning has to be proper, it has to have a school, have a curriculum, and it better gives me a certificate at the end of my course.

But when you look at successful people of our times (Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs, etc), I don't think they take courses on the side.

But they are constantly learning.

It doesn't have to be from a school, and it doesn't have to be formalised at work.

If you are keen to learn, you will learn.

If you are not keen to learn, anyone who has been through school will know that nothing will ever get learnt.

Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

Conclusion

I like my current role.

It's a mixture of marketing, ops, analytics, programming (although added on subsequently without additional pay 🤷‍♂️).

It's a wide variety of things to do daily, which doesn't bore me, a key reason why I chose this role over other offers.

And I do think there are still quite a lot of things to learn (which is great).

But, as I always say, there are always rooms for improvement. 😉

And PS: to anyone from my company reading this, please don't not convert me after my traineeship ends 🙏🤣

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Which Chinese Zodiac Has the Best Financial Outlook for 2021?

2021-02-07T10:30:00.001+08:00

As legend has it, the Jade Emperor (Emperor in Heaven in Chinese folklore) wanted 12 animals to serve as his guards. To determine their ranking, he sent an immortal being to earth to spread the message about a race, where each animal’s rank would be determined by the order in which they passed through the Heavenly Gate.

On the day of the race, Rat woke up early but encountered a river with a swift current. To overcome this obstacle, Rat jumped onto Ox’s back. Ox did not mind and helped Rat cross the river. After crossing the river, Rat jumped off Ox and dashed towards the feet of the Emperor. Rat finished first place in the race, Ox came in second, and the rest of the animals followed— that’s how the Chinese zodiac began.

On 12 February 2021, we will be welcoming the Year of the Ox. Apart from hosting reunion dinners, enjoying pineapple tarts, and receiving red packets, what’s Chinese New Year without reading your Chinese horoscope predictions? While shopping malls and Feng Shui masters focus on how lucky you’ll be in your career, health, and relationships, we’re shedding light on your financial luck for 2021. If you’re unsure of your Chinese zodiac sign, find it in the table below.

Key Highlights

The Monkey, Rooster, and Dog zodiac signs are predicted to have the greatest financial luck in 2021, according to Feng Shui Grand Master Tan Khoon Yong.
The Tiger and Rabbit zodiac signs will obtain financial independence by discovering a new income source.
The Dragon zodiac sign will enjoy large profits, as long as they take advantage of the investment opportunities.

How to Find your Chinese Zodiac Sign

Chinese Zodiac Sign	Birth Year
Rat	1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
Ox	1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Tiger	1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
Rabbit	1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
Dragon	1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
Snake	1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
Horse	1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
Goat	1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
Monkey	1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
Rooster	1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Dog	1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
Pig	1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

The Chinese zodiac sign is based on your birth year.

Your Chinese Zodiac Financial Outlook for 2021

Here is a breakdown of your Chinese zodiac’s financial prediction for 2021, and the investments you should consider making.

Rat

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rat

Your financial prospects will greatly improve, compared to the previous year. Your work at hand will reap huge profits, especially during the 5th and 10th month. With Rat being your zodiac animal, you’re naturally smart when it comes to money matters. If you have spare money, consider making an investment in your field of expertise.

Ox

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Ox

The financial horoscope of the Ox can be improved. You should avoid high-risk investments and maintain caution towards spending beyond your means. Wealth is predicted to dip during the 3rd, 6th, and 8th months. As family expenditure will be particularly large during 2021, remember to create a budget and plan to increase your monthly savings. Consider opening a savings account, as a low-risk way to earn more with your money.

Tiger

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Tiger

When it comes to your finances, wealth projection is flat, and money can be easily lost, especially during the 7th month. On the bright side, the 4th and 8th month will bring you the highest financial luck. As you gain more financial independence, remember to save throughout the year to avoid financial hardships.

Rabbit

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rabbit

Your financial luck in 2021 is relatively flat, with extra financial success during the 9th month. Although you’re a natural saver, this year's income is set to be far less than expected. Every time you’re able to save a sum of money, it is destined to be spent on various necessities. This may cause you to feel challenged when managing money from home. With the finance industry becoming increasingly digitised, there are many new financial management tools that can help you manage your money in an easier, smarter way.

Dragon

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Dragon

You will be presented with investment opportunities where waves of profit will come crashing in. Be content with your financial abundance and avoid the temptation of going overboard, which may put you at risk of losing more than you gained. Your financial outlook for 2021 is stable and you will not need to worry about covering household expenses. You will be especially financially lucky during the 10th month.

Snake

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Snake

Your performance in the workplace will yield double the financial return. You will also earn money from unexpected areas. However, your financial consumption will also increase. Remain open to an opportunity that will let you strike rich during the 4th month. If you’re used to being cautious with spending, seek guidance from a friend or mentor born in the Year of the Ox.

As the Snake is a fire sign, it clashes with metal – an element that represents money. According to Chinese Ba Zi readings, the Ox is nicknamed, “The Storeroom of the Metal”, which means they can safeguard the wealth of animal signs who have trouble achieving monetary abundance. To increase your financial luck in 2021, look through your contact list and contact an Ox benefactor.

Horse

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Horse

You’ll experience smooth progress in your career, which will be tied to good income. Expect to receive the highest financial luck during the 11th month. If you find yourself faced with unexpected events, learn to plan monthly expenditure as opposed to spending money on meaningless things. Consider applying the 50-30-20 rule when to divide your income into three categories:

50% should be spent on your essential needs;
30% should be used for discretionary spending;
20% should go towards your savings, investments, and emergency expenses.

Suppose you earn S$6,000 a month, after all taxes and deductions. According to the rule, S$3,000 should be spent on your needs, S$1,800 should be used for your wants, and the remaining S$1,200 must be used for your savings and investments.

Goat

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Goat

Your financial income may be greatly reduced, especially during the 3rd month. However, with hard work, you can expect financial success during the 6th month. Approach financial matters with increased caution. If you’re intrigued by the idea of making money through investing, you should first understand what investing is all about. Start by understanding the basics of investment, including the risks and portfolio diversification.

Monkey

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Monkey

Your financial luck looks quite bright. You’ll enjoy increased wealth and bonuses during the first half of the year. Also, you’ll earn rewards from your side investments. While you will be most financially lucky during the 4th month, you’re expected to face great loss during the 12th month. To avoid financial hardship towards the end of the year, consider planning ahead with a Robo advisor, a low-cost alternative to traditional wealth management advisors.

Rooster

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rooster

Your wealth projection is quite positive and you will encounter many good opportunities in 2021 to obtain high returns. However, as you tend to be more materialistic by nature, your expenses will also be relatively high. Remember to minimise spending, even if you have a comfortable monthly income. Be especially careful during the 2nd and 6th months and welcome good fortune during the 5th and 11th months.

Dog

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Dog

Your financial outlook is relatively flat. As you tend to be more conservative in nature and risk-averse, it is recommended that you focus on diligence this year, and wait for the right investment opportunities to come to you. You may not receive a windfall or a big promotion – but you won’t be burdened with significant income complications either. 2021 will be a year of financial smooth-sailing, without any major ups or financial loss.

Pig

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Pig

For your wealth prediction, expect to receive a good income from your investments. You will not need to worry about financial shortfalls, with the exception of the 3rd, 6th, and 10th months. You will also enjoy a pleasant financial surprise during the 5th month.

Chinese Zodiac Wealth Predictions in 2021

After the financial rollercoaster during the year of the Rat, we can’t wait to see a better financial outlook during the year of the Ox. While it’s exciting to read you Chinese horoscope and see all the good fortunes the new year brings, remember that luck will only go so far – it’s up to you to make the most of the new year, work hard, and make smart financial decisions. The same applies for those whose financial predictions weren't the most auspicious – take it with a pinch of salt. Happy Chinese New Year!

Credits:

ValueChampion.sg is a finance consumer research company. Our experts have been featured in several major publications including CNN, CNBC, New York Times, Straits Times, Business Times, US News & World Report, USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, Motley Fool, BizJournals, MarketWatch, the Street, Baltimore Sun and more. The articles and case studies that we produce help people in Singapore make smarter financial decisions.

10 Funny Reddit Comments on GameStop

2021-01-31T09:00:00.038+08:00

If you do any form of investing in the stock market, you most likely heard of the recent GameStop saga.

If you didn't, may I recommend that you read the story HERE.

Needless to say, the sub-reddit thread that started this whole saga was filled with funny comments.

We fished out a few out of the hundreds of thousands of comments that we thought were pretty good for you to read and have a laugh.

1. Looking forward to a new Wall Street/Main Street movie post-lockdown 😁.

2. This is financial prudence 101.

3. Aint' this a pretty extreme analogy 🤣.

Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

4. Just need 1 whale instead of many small fishes 🐳.

5. One of the best stories on a part of the Saga explained on Reddit.

6. Awesome logic there 👍. (No, just kidding. This is flawed logic).

Recommended Read: Investment Stab 2021 Stock Market Predictions

7. The mentality of everyone who's in for the movement 🙌.

8. It's about sending a message 🔥. (PS: what message was it exactly?)

9. I'm no genius, but I'm quite sure owning the stock doesn't prevent the company from going bankrupt? 🤷‍♂️

10. Interesting reasons to "save" a cinema 🍿

Bonus 11. So rude, but quite true 🤣.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

I didn't participate in either side of the trades.

These stocks don't fit into my portfolio.

But, I sure am interested to see how this will unfold next week!

Ending this post with a meme image of our own:

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Investment Stab 2021 Stock Market Predictions

2021-01-18T08:00:00.002+08:00

We're going to throw some predictions we have for the year.

And we are going to keep track of our predictions going forward.

We recognise that some of our predictions might be wrong, but we aim to be right more often than not.

So take our predictions with a pinch of salt 🤞

1. US Stock Market Will End 2021 Higher

Specifically, America's stock market (aka S&P500) will end 2021 higher.

Why?

1. They elected a Democrat President, Joe Biden.

Historically, the US stock market is up in the first year of a Democrat President.

Even more, interestingly, Democrat Presidents tend to have higher total 4-year return than Republican Presidents.

Forbes did an analysis on the Presidents and their returns to show that difference in performance.

2. Stock markets are up after a bear market.

We entered bear market territory on 11 March 2020.

We exited the bear market territory, and into the bull market territory, on 23 March 2020 or 18 August 2020 (depending on what "bull market" definition you use).

The stock market tends to trend higher in the next 18 months after it bottomed.

I'm betting that the markets are going to be higher even after 18 months.

Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

2. STI to Stay Flat for the Year

On the previous point, we talked about the America (US) stock market.

Here, we're going to talk about the Singapore stock market.

Financials (namely the top 3 SG banks) are 40% of the STI.

Financial companies tend to do well in high interest (spread) environment.

With the US Fed set to keep rates low until 2023, expect the banks to not perform exceptionally well in 2021.

Furthermore, given that the banks had been fairly aggressive in lending money out to businesses in 2020, and Govt support for businesses is set to stop in 2021, we expect a rise in default rates, and hence a hit to the banks' earnings.

And what happens when 40% of the index doesn't do well?

The index doesn't do well (might be a little far-fetch but considering we don't have an SG-Financials ETF, this is as close as one we can get).

The STI started the year at 2842.64.

Analysts are expecting it to end at 3000 to 3200, a 6%~13% increase.

We think it'll probably be closer to 3000.

Unless, of course, the other 60% meteorically rise to some historical highs.

3. Air Travel Will Recover

As the vaccines roll out, as countries need tourism to boost its economic recovery, as people start to feel so dry that they need to travel and drink overseas water, tourism will pick up.

Most likely, people are still going to be travelling by air.

We'll see more visitors visiting various airports around the world this year.

PS: Ya, we know, this is kind of a no-brainer kind of prediction 🤷‍♂️

If we could invest in airports (like an airport REIT or something), I might actually invest in that just to capture the potential that's coming up in 2021.

But because there isn't, I invested in the next closest thing equivalent to that: SATS.

I do think it's kind of like a monopoly where airlines don't really have other choices besides using SATS in Singapore for its food services.

But that's my view, and I bought when prices were low.

My prediction?

SATS will reach $5 by end of the year 2021.

Disclaimer:

I bought SATS during the midst of the COVID crisis.

I think SATS will do well this year as air travel recovers, and as more tourists visit Singapore.

Do your own research, your own analysis and groundwork.

I'm not recommending you SATS.

Recommended Read: Save in CPF or Invest in SATS?

4. SIA Will Not Pass $5 By End Of 2021.

Although I think air travel will recovery, airlines not so much.

I have a negative bias towards airlines - I find them to be lousy businesses to invest in.

Why? Because Warren Buffett said so.

Or more specifically, it is expensive for airlines to scale and grow fast, whereas all it takes for Facebook to add another customer is to add just 1 more server to its server racks.

Are airlines important business: Yes

Are airlines great investment: No

Of course, if you bought at a low enough price; like $3 during the whole COVID19 pandemic, that would make it look like a genius investment.

But generally, I prefer investments that have a competitive advantage and scales fast.

Airlines just don't make the cut.

That said, airlines face serious issues.

1. You can fly, but not at maximum capacity.

Airlines are in a competitive business and getting almost maximum capacity sold is the key to profitability.

Even as travel restrictions ease, maximum capacity is not going to happen this year.

So, it's going to be a long way from getting back to profitability.

2. Less business/first class travellers

Business and first-class travellers make up the majority of airlines' revenue.

These are usually business travellers, executives travelling overseas for some business deals etc.

With COVID, we have now learnt that the same can be done over MS Teams, Skype, Zoom, or whatever other tools you like - it's a lot cheaper than air travel and it still gets the job done.

So why would businesses still want to let executives fly around when there's a cheaper alternative?

Don't take it from me only, even Bill Gates agree with this.

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

Conclusion

These are our predictions of what we think will happen in 2021.

We are not 100% sure we will be correct.

But we do think we probably will not be too wrong.

As always, do your own research, due diligence, own analysis, and invest according to your risk appetite.

We are not giving you recommendations, just our predictions.

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Books I Read In 2020

2020-12-31T13:31:00.003+08:00

These are the list of books that I have read this year.

They span from economics & politics to business & investment.

This is probably not a lot to some people, but it's quite a number for me (particularly cause I'm a slow reader).

How did I find the time to read these books?

Well, between my full-time work and blogging, I sacrifice sleep.

Yup, there's no secret "time hack" or "productivity hack", I just sacrificed sleep and forced myself to read about 1 chapter a day, and more if I can on the weekends.

So, let's start looking at what I've read and my reviews.

Investment

1. The Deals of Warren Buffett

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

I self-proclaim myself as a Buffettologist (a follower of Warren Buffett's investing style).

This book goes through the deals the Warren Buffett made in his early days and how he analysed the various businesses before he invests in them.

Definitely a good refresh for someone like me who had read a lot of books on Buffett, and definitely a good start for someone who wants to learn how to invest like Warren Buffett himself.

2. Value.able

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

This book was written by an Australian fund manager who specialises in value investing.

If you frequently attend ShareInvestor's annual INVEST fair, you would probably have seen him around a couple of times.

It covers both the mathematical (how to calculate fair value, which uses a table that I've never seen before) and non-mathematical (what characteristics to look out for) parts of value investing.

If you want to add another methodology/calculation formula to your value investing arsenal, this is one book you can read.

3. Beat The Crowd

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

I'm a huge fan of everything Ken Fisher writes.

What he writes is quite different from what is usually written in investment, economics, or finance books.

In this book, he focuses a lot less on the tactics (read his book 'Debunkery', which has a lot of great investment tips), and more on the mindset of how an investor should have and how to think.

I'll probably rate this in the top 3 among all the books he has written.

My personal favourite/top is still his 'Debunkery'.

4. Why Moats Matter

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

A pretty good book, one that had me taking down a lot of notes because it was all about the tips and things to look out for when finding moats in businesses.

The first half of the book was spent explaining moats while the second half delved into the moat-characteristics to look out for in each specific industry.

Pretty useful if you are looking at certain companies to invest in and want to have a checklist to verify if it is a good company to invest in.

5. The Greatest Trades Of All Time

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

A book that walks you through the history of the stock market, specifically on the top traders that made a lot of money in the financial markets.

The book introduces you to the top 10 famous traders who made a huge return in the financial markets, and how they did it.

Kind of like reading a summary of the various books that explained how each trader (people like George Soros) made their killing in the financial markets during the various different moments in time.

6. Charlie Munger The Complete Investor

Type: Non-Fiction, Investing

I have to admit, this book is quite dry, it became quite a struggle to finish it towards the middle of the book.

Basically, this is a no-math guide to value investing.

It talks about all the soft aspect of a good company and a lot about the mentality an investor should have.

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Business

7. The Amazon Management System

Type: Non-Fiction, Business

This is one of the books that I'll probably re-read some time again in the future because everything inside is GOLD!

It's probably the best book I've read this year.

It talks a lot about what makes Amazon a successfully company, and how other companies can model themselves against one of the largest companies in the world.

Whether you're an employee, a small business owner, or a large company executive, this book is definitely a recommended read!

8. The Upstarts

Type: Non-Fiction, Entrepreneurship, Business

A book on Uber and Airbnb, how they got started, and how they became the giant they are today.

It's a really interesting read; it brings you into the companies and into the respective founders' heads.

It really explains the whole "do first, ask for forgiveness later" mentality, and maybe, just maybe, that should really be the way to go in the future?

9. Why I Left Goldman

Type: Non-Fiction, Banking, Business

Based on a true story (or at least that's what the author says), this book will show you the cultural change that took place in Goldman Sachs before the Great Recession of 2008.

Of course, this is based on 1 man's narrative of the whole situation, and culture is something that impacts everyone differently.

But it is still an interesting read nonetheless (I have a friend that read this several times already 🤷‍♂️).

10. Hit Makers

Type: Non-Fiction, Marketing, Business

This is probably a recommended-read for those in business and in marketing.

It explains a lot about how something can go viral, become iconic, or become a legend; while others languish, crash, or go unnoticed.

Master marketing and business will flourish, or at least that's what I got out of this book.

This is another book that successfully made it into my "will read again in the future" list 👍.

11. Hit Refresh

Type: Non-Fiction, Business

The book by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, on how he took over the role of CEO and successfully changed the culture of Microsoft to become what it is today.

Inside, he wrote about his early years, his time at Microsoft, and what problems he faced when he took over as CEO.

It's quite a light read, nothing technical; mostly about the man's life and the road he sees ahead for the company and the tech industry.

12. Reed Hastings Building Netflix

Type: Non-Fiction, Business

The story of Netflix, how it started, who started it, how it grew, and where is it going.

All answered in this short ≤200 book.

A pretty nice read, kind of like a biography of both the founder and of the company.

Recommended Read: Dumb Sh!t My Property Agent Said - Part 2

Economics

13. Confession of an Economic Hitman

Type: Non-Fiction, Economics

This will probably be a pretty interesting read if I had not read Dan Brown's Origin before starting on this book.

After reading a fiction novel, it makes this book feels like a fiction novel too.

Not to mention it felt like a book that consists of many conspiracy theories all wrapped up into one.

Could be true, could be false, but you pretty much can't tell because it is almost like a one-man narrative of what's happening around the world.

If you want to read a non-fiction fiction story, I guess this is the book to go? 🤷‍♂️🤣

14. The Undercover Economist Strikes Back

Type: Non-Fiction, Economics

Do you believe that the free market is the best way to rescue an economy or believe that Government intervention is the best way to rescue an economy?

This book will tell you why both are a viable way of rescuing an economy, along with many other lessons about economics, like sticking prices etc.

And, I'm actually quite interested to read the previous book the author wrote before this book.

15. Big Debt Crises

Type: Non-Fiction, Economics

A book by Ray Dalio that can be finished in 1 afternoon.

Recommend that you read the appendix first before the book. The appendix is more useful than the bulk of the book.

The appendix explains the principles while the whole book is just examples of economic crises faced by countries over the years - it gets quite repetitive after a few examples actually.

16. Saving Capitalism

Type: Non-Fiction, Economics

This is a book by Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labour under Ex-US President Bill Clinton.

If the above title doesn't ring a bell, maybe this might: he was recently called a "modern day moron" on Twitter by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk 😉.

I spent quite some time reading this book, and it's not because it's a tough read.

Rather, it is because I disagree with the book so much, I had to spend time making notes of what this book was trying to say, and time to joint down points I disagree with and why.

In fact, I might publish the list of points that I disagree with in this book, maybe in another post in the future.

This is probably one of the books that I had the most number of disagreement with 🤣.

Source: TECH TIMES

Recommended Read: Recommended Read: Dumb Sh!t My Property Agent Said - Part 2

Politics

17. Third World To First

Type: Non-Fiction, Politics

This is the X number of books I have read on or by The Man himself.

It is an interesting book on Lee Kuan Yew's view on Singapore and the world during the time 1965 to 2000.

A lot of him recounting the things that happened, how he assessed the situations and did what he did.

It's a man's view on history, and if you like history, then probably this book would interest you.

Fiction

18. Origin

Type: Fiction

The latest book by Dan Brown (although it is still several years old already).

Bookmarked for the longest time, so it was probably time to finish this up.

Doesn't disappoint!

Conclusion

As 2020 come to a close, did you learn or grow as a person?

Recommended Read: Get Free $8+ By Signing Up For Google Pay

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Monthly Housing Installment: Use CPF or Use Cash?

2020-12-21T08:29:00.005+08:00

"Should I pay my monthly property installment using CPF or cash?"

This is probably a very common question people who just bought their house think of.

Which should you choose?

Let's find out!

Scenario 1: Use cash to pay for mortgage, CPF money remains in CPF

This is the least common way Singaporeans tend to pay for their property.

1. You are earning interest (2.5% + 1%), by keeping your money in CPF OA.

2. No accrued interest incurred from using cash to pay for housing loan.

3. You will have less cash on hand, thus it is not recommended to do this UNLESS you have quite a sum of cash or income to sustain your monthly mortgage.

Usually, those people that I know do this tend to

a) have sufficient cash/salary to pay for their mortgage, and

b) are keeping their money in CPF to earn the high interest because there is no where else that pays 2.5% (or 4% if you transfer to SA).

Recommended Read: Complicated Steps To Pay $10 DBS Stock Brokerage Commission

Scenario 2: Use CPF to pay for mortgage.

This is the most commonly used method to pay for most property purchase in Singapore.

Because the idea is: my money is locked away in CPF. I cannot touch it until age 65, might as well use it to pay for my property.

1. You won't be able to earn CPF interest because the money has been used to pay for your property.

2. You will incur accrued interest, which you would need to return back to your CPF account when you sell your house in the future.*

3. You get to keep cash in your hands! There's a lot of things you can do with cash that's in your hands, like investing! 😉

Conclusion

Depending on your own circumstance, decide which is the right path for you to take.

There is no right or wrong option; just whether it suits you or not.

Recommended Read: Get Free $8+ By Signing Up For Google Pay

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Free $8+ With Google Pay

2020-12-19T08:32:00.010+08:00

Here is a guide to finding your promo code to share with your friends.

The first part of the guide is to get you signed up and get your first $8.

The second part of the guide is to get you familiar with how to share your promo code with your friends so that you can get your subsequent $8.

Get them to download Google Pay so that both of you can get $8 from Google!

You don't have to use the app, we just want you to get that free $8 first 😉.

Recommended Read: Complicated Steps To Pay $10 DBS Stock Brokerage Commission

Part 1: Getting My First $8

Step 1: Click on the link here: https://g.co/payinvite/h12c70z

*Use your mobile phone to access the link.

**Just a disclosure, if you successfully earned your first $8 via the link above, we'll also earn an $8 reward 😉. Thank you for supporting our operations with this small gesture.

Step 2: Sign up for Google Pay and download the app

Step 3: Sign in with your Google Account, and link it to any of your bank accounts.

Step 4: Click on 'New Payment' and make a payment.

There are a few ways to do this.

Step 4A: You can send $10 to any of your friends via their PayNow, and get $8 in cashback from Google. Then ask your friends to send you back the $10 👍.

Step 4B: You can pay for something that cost $10 (or more) via Google Pay, and get the free $8 in cashback from Google.

Step 5: View your rewards

Scroll down and click on 'Rewards'.

That will show you all the cashback you have earned.

So far, all the cashbacks have been credited back to my PayNow account.

Ta-da! So Simple! 😉

Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

Part 2: Getting My Subsequent $8

Now that you've got your account set up, time to get the next $8.

Step 1: Find your Promo Code

Scroll to the bottom and click on the 'Invite' button.

Step 2: Share your Promo Code with your friends

Yup, share the code with your friends and get them to sign up for Google Pay (let them follow Part 1, send them this website 😊).

Step 3: Ask them to transfer you $10

Yes! Ask them to transfer you $10 via Google Pay; that will earn them their first $8 cashback from Google.

And that will also earn you that $8 referral fee.

Then, of course, you should transfer the $10 back to them if you still want to keep that friendship 🤣.

You can repeat this with up to 80 friends!

Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

*Bonus Part 3: Getting Random Cashbacks

While you use Google Pay to make these transfers to your friends or to pay for goods and services, Google is currently also paying you a little cash back.

After every purchase/transfer, go to your 'Rewards' section.

There will be a scratch card reward that you can scratch to get a random amount of cash back from your transaction.

Conclusion

Our motto is 'Free Money Just Take'!

Good things must share, so we are telling you this offer now!

And you better act fast, because the offer ends 31st December 2020!

Recommended Read: The 4% Shortfall In Your CPF Retirement Fund

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History Predicts Who Will Win The US Presidency

2020-11-04T07:00:00.065+08:00

"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme".

This is a quote that aids in quite a fair bit of my decision making.

History rarely repeats in an exact way, but often in similar ways.

In my view, there are 2 ways how history "repeats" itself

Same-Same-But-Different
Think of it as stock market cycles: there's bull, there's bear, and there are corrections in between. Same pattern, just different themes: technology bubble, oil crisis, etc, and duration.
Different Audience
Those who lived through the WWI/II, the oil embargo, housing crisis, etc, would have a different mindset than those who didn't live through it. And often those who had not lived through such events are the ones who repeat history.

Who Will Win The Presidency?

This is generally under the 'Same-Same-But-Different' category.

We might think people are choosing based on ideology, based on their beliefs, based on their religion, their liking, or whatever you can name.

But more often than not (and not completely explainable), Presidents are elected based on certain historical patterns.

Presidency History Trend 1

US Presidents tend to be re-elected for the position

Since 1933, almost every US President won their re-election.

Unless you're Jimmy Carter or George H. W. Bush.

Since 1933, 9/11 (nine-out-of-eleven. Pun intended) sitting Presidents won their re-elections.

That's a very high percentage of re-election.

If you asked me to bet what's the likely outcome of a US election and there's a sitting President standing for the election, I am going to side with history on this one.

Recommended Read: Dumb Sh!t My Property Agent Said - Part 2

Presidency History Trend 2

Democrat candidates win during recessions

Very specifically since 1933, if the month of voting (which is always November) happens to be in the period of a US recession, 100% of the time the Democratic candidate wins the Presidency.

Recession Period	Election Date	President
Aug 1929 - Mar 1933	November 1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)
Apr 1960 - Feb 1961	November 1960	John F. Kennedy (Democrat)
Dec 2007 - Jun 2009	November 2008	Barack Obama (Democrat)
Feb 2020 - Now	November 2020	??? 😉

There were no instances of a Republican candidate winning when the election date falls between a US recession.

That's not to say that a Democrat candidate can only win during a recession.

There are instances where Democrat candidates who have won the Presidency when the election date is not between a recession.

But, in cases where the election date does fall within a recession, Democrat candidates seem to always win.

My guess on why Democrats win during recessions:

This is purely hypothetical, but my guess is Democrat candidates are more welfare-based: free/cheap education, healthcare, subsidies, financial aids etc.

These are policies that tend to matter more to people when times are bad (aka recession), hence it aids in Democrat winning the election.

Presidency History Trend 2A

Recession in the election year flips the Presidency

As a follow-up to Trend 2, this trend evaluates when a recession happens in the year of the election.

Recession Period	Election Date	Sitting President	Next President
Aug 1929 - Mar 1933	November 1932	Herbert Hoover (Republican)	Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)
Apr 1960 - Feb 1961	November 1960	Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)	John F. Kennedy (Democrat)
Jan 1980 - Jul 1980	November 1980	Jimmy Carter (Democrat)	Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Dec 2007 - Jun 2009	November 2008	George W. Bush (Republican)	Barack Obama (Democrat)
Feb 2020 - Now	November 2020	Donald J. Trump (Republican)	??? (Democrat?)

As we can see, if a recession occurs in the election year, tables can turn to the other team even if it ends before the election date.

Conclusion

This time around, we are seeing 2 contrasting historical trends batting out.

Honestly, even I'm excited to know what's the result even though it does not really affect me.

Do you think Trend 1 or Trend 2 will win?

Who do you think will win the US Presidency?

Recommended Read: Complicated Steps To Pay $10 DBS Stock Brokerage Commission

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