In today’s article, MoneyOwl’s Master Trainer, Felicia Yeo, and founding director of SimplyWills Pte Ltd, Patrick Chang, came together to address some of the frequently asked questions about estate planning.  As a company that specialises in will-writing solutions, SimplyWills brings expertise in the legal aspects of drafting a will, while MoneyOwl provides advice from the financial planning aspects. With a better understanding of estate planning and equipped with easy-to-access solutions, we hope to help you make wiser decisions for yourself and your loved ones.  1. What happens to ..read more

As a financial advisory firm with a social mandate, we have many clients coming to us with suggestions from their personal financial adviser or overheard from their family and friends to get our unbiased view on whether those proposals are fit-for-purpose.   Recently, I met with a client in his late 30s, married with two children. He has a stable job and income in the healthcare industry and came to us with an idea to purchase term insurance until age 99 to bequeath a sizeable sum to his children upon his passing. He said that he had a close friend who was a young parent who passed o ..read more

Losing a loved one is an emotionally challenging experience, and navigating the complexities of handling their assets and liabilities can add further strain, especially if they did not leave behind a will. Estate planning, often overlooked by many, is a critical component of comprehensive financial planning. In Singapore, the absence of a will means that your assets will be distributed according to the rules of intestate succession. But what exactly is intestate succession, and how does it function in Singapore?  Intestate succession refers to the legal framework that governs the distribu ..read more

Will the increase in the Basic Retirement Scheme affect your retirement plans? Read on to find out more.  During Budget 2022 on 18 February, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced that the CPF Basic Retirement Sum or BRS for short will be increased by 3.5% every year from 2023 to 2027 to keep pace with the rising standards of living. The BRS is $96,000 this year and the table shows how the new numbers will look like for the coming years for each successive cohort turning 55 years old in that year. Year turning 55 Basic Retirement Sum 2022 $96,000 2023 $99,400 2024 $102,900 ..read more

Looking to plan ahead for your retirement, finding a suitable retirement income plan may be a difficult process and could have left you overwhelmed with the multitude of options. So how do you know which retirement income plan is suitable for you? Retirement income insurance plans have been gaining popularity among Singaporeans when it comes to retirement planning. They help us diversify our retirement portfolio, encourage a disciplined savings habit, and provide monthly guaranteed payouts during our golden years. As these plans are underwritten by insurance companies, they also provide some i ..read more

What is Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)? SRS is a voluntary scheme to encourage individuals to save for retirement, over and above their CPF savings. Contributions to SRS are eligible for tax relief and only 50% of the withdrawals from SRS are taxable at retirement. By spreading your SRS withdrawals over a period of 10 years, you can minimise or might not even need to pay any tax on your withdrawals. The amount of tax you can save depends on your annual taxable income: Annual Taxable Income Tax payable WITHOUT SRS contribution Tax payable AFTER $15,300 SRS contribu ..read more

What is SRS? The SRS – or Supplementary Retirement Scheme –  complements the CPF so that we can save more for our retirement. The SRS is voluntary but offers tax benefits. There is a yearly contribution cap of $15,300 for Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents, while the maximum foreigners can contribute annually is $35,700. These contributions are eligible for tax relief. After you set up your SRS account with one of the three local banks, you can invest your SRS savings to get potentially higher returns. The investment returns are accumulated tax-free, and only 50% of withdrawals fr ..read more

In this sixth and final article in the Planning for Your Retirement series, we will be exploring estate planning – one of the most important aspects of financial planning that is often overlooked by seniors and younger people alike. Indeed, everyone needs to plan and take action while you still have mental capacity, as you never know when something may happen. Estate planning concerns your loved ones upon your eventual passing and how you can provide them with your hard-earned assets – leaving a legacy for them, a final act of love. So, what happens to our assets when we pass on? How would the ..read more

Introducing a new blog series where you write in with your personal finance questions and our team of client advisers will be on-hand to assist you.  Question: I am 45 years old and single, supporting both my parents. I’m starting to think about my retirement years – should I get a retirement income plan or should I invest in stocks? What are the considerations for both? “Supporting your parents and thinking about having sufficient funds for your retirement years may require a delicate balancing act. Before jumping right into the “products” to try to solve this retirement puzzle, it would ..read more