Topping up your CPF Special Account (SA) to Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) is optional. No one is forcing you to do that. The government is forcing you to have at least an amount equivalent to the Full Retirement Sum or Basic Retirement Sum so that you have enough passive income during your retirement years. But I get this thinking that many are lost in the cross-currents of CPF strategy discussion that they failed to see the benefit that you enjoy from topping up to the ERS. Topping up your CPF SA (before 55) or CPF RS (after 55) does not provide income tax relief. But it does change the natur ..read more

A reader of mine left a job to take a break. I met up with my reader not too long ago, and we went through a few topics. Mostly about my investing thoughts. Enough about CPF tactics. Less about personal finance. As I speak with more people, I find that more of us think that the solution to a lot of our financial dilemmas is a sound investment strategy, a product or a solution that produces a good return. My strong view is that people can get more peace of mind, reduce their anxiety, and not worry about hitting an adequate return if they are more in touch with their lifestyle and how much that ..read more

Yesterday, I presented some of the data research I carried out on the small-cap value premium for the US market. Today, here is the data behind the premium over in Europe. We compute the rolling cumulative returns of the Dimensional Small Value index over the MSCI Europe index to determine the premium of small plus value over a large blend in Europe. The data in Europe only starts around 1981, which means we have 42 years of data. There is fewer data over the US but nevertheless, we can see if there exist a premium consistently. I like to look at Europe for two reasons. One, it is not the US ..read more

I have a comment who tried to rub it in for the recent poor performance of my US small-cap value-weighted fund and request for some weird research that I can never do and would never be helpful. But I would take this opportunity to record some notes regarding the premium of small-cap value over the large-blend index. I didn’t overly sell the small-cap value concept as others in the past, but this article shows how much premium US small-cap value had over the S&P 500. We will use Dimensional’s US Small Cap Value Research index as a proxy. I have also did the data work with the Fama-French S ..read more

When my dad first became sick, my auntie broached the subject of hiring someone to help watch over my dad. I had to go to work, and it would be better to have someone to take care of him. My dad at 76, was still relatively fit but not young anymore. Her point was valid. My brother asked my dad if it would be easier to hire someone to look after him, and he declined. We never had a maid all our lives, and having a stranger in the house will definitely be awkward. My dad went through three cycles of chemotherapy with me taking care of him. He could still go home from SGH after each cycle. But wh ..read more

A Singapore Treasury Bill issue (BS23106N) will be auctioned on Thursday, 30th March 2023. If you wish to subscribe successfully, get your order via internet banking (Cash and SRS) or in person (CPF) by 29th March. You can also apply with your CPF-OA and CPF-SA funds, but you would have to go down to a bank (OCBC, UOB) and do it in person. You can also apply the same issue with your cash and SRS. For DBS clients, you can apply for CPF via internet banking! You can view the details at MAS here. In the past, I have shared with you the virtues of the Singapore T-bills, their ideal uses, and how ..read more

“Kyith, you should give yourself a budget for food if you are planning your finances. This will give you more leeway on food choices because if you eat Cai Png every day it can be very stale and boring very soon!” We are currently on a company retreat and this was one of the little discussions that came about as we are interacting with each other. Recently, my colleague Chee Kian, Isaac, and I accidentally got into a weird lunch discussion about financial planning around food. These conversations become weird because traditionally, planning for your financial independence is more than just foo ..read more

After my post exploring if I managed to successfully secure a $1,110 monthly, inflation-adjusted income stream today when I reached CPF FRS, I was informed that there is a new CPF Retirement Income calculator for younger CPF members. This calculator allows you to assess your current CPF SA monies and your future income contributions, how much income you can have at 65 years old, and what is the shortfall you need to top-up to reach your desired income. How helpful is this calculator? It greatly help what I was trying to do in the last article. It can also help if you are a financial planner tr ..read more

Reggie, over at The Financial Coconut, invited me for a chill conversation about working in an advisory firm. You can watch the whole interview here: I was always intrigued by where Reggie’s set was, and after the interview, I realized that there was an interesting story behind their office and experienced how the production was done. I got to give props to the person editing the video. He made me sound like I actually made some sense. I went into: After joining Providend, did some past perceptions about the financial advisory industry change? When looking for an adviser, what should you be ..read more

In light of what is happening with the US Banks, if you are a client of Interactive Brokers LLC (IBKR) or Interactive Brokers Singapore (IBSG), you might wonder about your brokers when compared to the situations of these US Banks. I hold my securities and cash mainly in both IBKR and IBSG. Interactive Brokers Group has over $11.6 billion in equity (12/31/22 equity), comprised of highly liquid assets, primarily cash in banks and reverse-repos collateralized by US Treasury securities. Here is the other information regarding their financial health and incentives. Interactive Brokers’ Exposure to ..read more