You have less than 24 days to lock in 62yo as your withdrawal age for SRS account

If you want to be able to withdraw your money from your SRS account at 62 years old, you must make your first contribution to your SRS account latest by 31 Dec 2021.

What is SRS account?

The Supplementary Retirement Scheme (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. Investment returns are tax-free before withdrawal and only 50% of the withdrawals from SRS are taxable at retirement.

What happen if I open SRS account AFTER 1 Jan 2022 onward?

SRS account follow the statutory age of retirement at the point of your first contribution to your SRS account.

The statutory age of retirement in 2021 is 62 years old

The statutory age of retirement in 2022 is 63 years old

The statutory age of retirement by 2030 is 65 years old

This was announced in National Rally 2019 (Link)

How much is needed?

$1

How much time is needed to open SRS account?

Less than 2 mins for me via POSB ibanking.

You can open your SRS account with DBS/POSB, UOB or OCBC

Step 1: Login to your POSB ibanking

Step 2: Click on "Apply" -> "Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)"

Step 3: Click "Instant Apply"

Step 4: Select from the dropdown list for "Reference Account for Signature" and "Debiting Account"

             Ensure your "Contribution Amount" is minimally S$1 in order to lock your retirement age.

            Click "I Acknowledge................" in My Details

            Click Next button

Step 5: Click Submit once you verified your information in "2. Verify Details"

Step 6: Congratulation. Your SRS Account has been opened

Related post:

1) CPF MRSS: dollar for dollar matching up till $3,000

2) Done for 2020 CPF Retirement Sum Topping-up (RSTU). How about you?

Regretted not paying $29 for Secretlab chair assembly service

During product checkout, you have the options to opt for Assembly service at $29 per chair or Same day / Sunday delivery at $19 per chair.

After looking at the official Assembly Guide and Assembly Video Guide provided by Secretlab, my first thought to myself was there are only 15 steps needed, shouldn't be hard. 

Thus I selected to self assemble so that I can experience the wonderful unboxing experience too.   

The whole packaging weighted 34.5kg (Salute to Secretlab delivery man who need to deliver the chair single-handedly).

The packaging hit 1 of my toe when I trying to move this heavy box (Ouch from my toe).

Everything was nicely packed inside.

The quality of the plastic and cardboard used are super thick.

I definitely appreciate this but if Secretlab can achieve the same objective with more environment friendly material used, that will be prefect.

There are 2 steps which require extra pair of hands to help out unless you are very strong.

Well, Secretlab did pre-empt you too in their Assembly Guide.

I would like to add 2 more pointers:

1) You need a big clear space when doing the self assembly

2) Prepare your own scissor

In the end, I think I took almost 30mins to finish assembling my first Secretlab chair and was sweating too in the end.

Conclusion

$29 is worth paying for the assembly service by Secretlab.

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3) Review: HYDRA S7 Robot Vacuum (The Best Robot in 2020??)

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6) Tips on buying mattress from Takashimaya, Robinson, Metro, Tempur

7) HDB BTO Key Collection

8) Money saving tips during renovation and buying home appliances

9) How I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus

Hottest topic : Open Electricity Market (OEM) Oct2021 Update

 

Source: https://www.ema.gov.sg/Residential_Electricity_Tariffs.aspx

As of 20 Oct 2021, only 9 electricity retailers companies left which you can switch out from SP Group for your house electricity. (Update 19 Oct: Best Electricity exit wef 21 Oct)

Ohm energy & iSwitch had just announced they will exit and all customers signed under the company will be transfer back to SP Group wef 20 Oct & 12 Nov respectively (Link).

Due to the recent spike in electricity rates, expecting more electricity retailer to exit soon (High potential are Best Electricity as they seem to stop new signup and Diamond Electric as the only plan they have is 0% discount).

The Business Times 18 Oct 2021

To sign up for FIXED or DISCOUNT plan?

My recommendation is to sign up for FIXED plan.

If you need statistics data, please refer to my old post here.

I believe those on Discount plan will tell you how much higher they are paying since the tariff rate have been revised upward (Everything up except salary never up :p)

Which retailers?

If you prefer 1 combine bill with SP Group (Water + Gas), then your only option now is Tuas Power.

If you dont mind to have a separate bill for your electricity, then any retailer which marked with green have one of the lowest rate for your consideration.

Geneco rate is higher than SP Group rate of 25.80cents. There is no reason to jump to Geneco.

If you still prefer Discount plan (not recommended), then Senoko Energy / Keppel Electric look good now.

One thing for sure is you are paying more if you continue to stay put with SP Group.

 

The Straits Times 20 Oct 2021

What is my recommendation? 

Go with Tuas Power Fixed 18 months plan.

Reason being:

1) Given the recent spike in electricity rate, all the retailers had increase their rate. Therefore, not worth to sign 24months or more at this moment. Experts interviewed in above articles estimate it will remain high till end of 2022. Thus, 18 months plan is the best sweet spot to go for.

2) Only retailer which able to deduct Electricity + Gas + Water bill using U-Save voucher directly due to 1 single SP Group billing.

3) Only retailer which provide hardcopy bill free of charge (Other retailer charge $1-$2 for each hardcopy bill)

4) Do not need to pay for security deposit

5) 3 tiers of Referral program "Refer A Friend+".

Only retailer which referral credit able to offset directly to your monthly SP bill.

Tier 1: When you refer your friend Alice (Tier 1), you will get $20.

Tier 2: When Alice refers her friend Bernice (Tier 2), you will get $10.

Tier 3: When Bernice refers another friend Calvin (Tier 3), you will get $5.

6) Bonus Treats & Deals in your member portal "T+ Members".

Please enjoy your extra $20 bill rebate if you use my referral code RCF2364 for online signup in TuasPower website

You will get $0 bill rebate if you did not key in any referral code.

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2) Home renovation regrets that costs you thousands of dollars
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4) HDB BTO Key Collection
5) Money saving tips during renovation and buying home appliances
6) Review: HYDRA S7 Robot Vacuum (The Best Robot in 2020??)

7) Review: iLife Shinebot W450 Mop Robot (The Best Value for Money Mop Robot in 2021??)

8) How I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus

Summary of my portfolio - Jul 2021

 Mr CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	Ascendas REIT	3,100
2	HongKongLand USD	21,200
3
4

• Sold Frasers Centrepoint Trust on 7 Jul. Total profit of $4,658.67 (6.6%) in 9 months (Link)
• Bought 173 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.14 (Cost: $198.36) on 15 Jul.
• Sold 2,124 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver on 28 Jul. Total profit: $84.44 (3.54%) in 1 year (Link)
• USD1,272 of HongKongLand dividend declared on 29 Jul, payout on 13 Oct.
• US Stock market trading update: Profit USD4,537.88 for Jul (Link)

Sold: NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver

 

Sold 2124 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.139 on 28 Jul.

Total profit: $84.44 (3.54%) in 1 year.

Reason for selling:

POSB Cashback Bonus account only recognize first 12 months of investment transaction

Bought NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver is due to fulfilling the requirement needed by POSB Cashback Bonus / DBS Multiplier in order to earn more interest.

Read here for "Switched from DBS Multiplier to POSB Cashback Bonus account" & "Earned 14x more cashback in POSB Cashback Bonus than in DBS Multiplier".

Well, given that POSB Cashback bonus rebate you back 3% of your monthly investment amount, this requirement is still very juicy (Note: My total profit of $62.01 stated above exclude all the 3% rebate I earned via POSB Cashback bonus).

Since I am able to fulfil 3 categories (Salary + CC Spend + Home Loan) at this moment, I am not in hurry to switch to a new investment at this moment.

Read here for "How I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus"

Related post:

1) Switched from DBS Multiplier to POSB Cashback Bonus account

2) Earned 14x more cashback in POSB Cashback Bonus than in DBS Multiplier

3) How I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus

Summary of my portfolio - Jun 2021

       Mr CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	MasterCard	219
2	HongKongLand USD	21,200
3	Frasers Centrepoint Trust	30,000
4	Ascendas REIT	3,100

5	NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver	1,951

• Sold 0.13 Bitcoin on 1 Jun. Total profit of S$449.06 (7.5%) in 3 days (Link)
• Bought S$16,439 of dogecoin on 4 June (Link)
• Sold ComfortDelGro on 11 Jun. Total profit of $10,170.52 (14.9%) in 1 year (Link)
• Bought 112 shares of Alibaba at USD212 on 11 Jun (Link) 
• Bought 1453 shares of Tiger Brokers at USD23.91 on 16 Jun (Link)
• Sold 196 shares of Alibaba at USD215.50 on 23 Jun. Total profit of USD738.83 (1.8%) in 1 month (Link)
• Sold 1453 shares of Tiger Brokers at USD25.25 on 23 Jun. Total profit of USD1917.96 (5.52%) in 1 week (Link)
• Bought 1163 shares of UiPath at USD68 on 23 Jun (Link) 
• Sold 1163 shares of UiPath at USD69.45 on 24 Jun. Total profit of USD1663.09 (2.1%) in 1 day (Link)
• Bought 219 shares of MasterCard at USD368.40 on 28 Jun (Link)
• Bought 173 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.15 (Cost: $198.36)

How I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus

 

I refinanced my HDB loan from CPF 2.6% pa to POSB Fixed 5 years 1.4% pa home loan early this year.

Majority of the people heard of DBS Multiplier account instead of POSB Cashback Bonus account.

I had switched over from DBS Multiplier account to POSB Cashback Bonus account in Aug 2020 and had been received alot higher "interest/cashback" monthly amount now. 

Only regret is why I did not make the switch earlier.

If you would like to know more about POSB Cashback Bonus account and what the difference between Multiplier vs Cashback account, you can click here to refer to my Aug 2020 post.

The focus in this post is receiving 3% cashback on your monthly housing loan repayment in Cash/CPF, as long as you can meet 3 or more of the below activities.

My monthly interest rate for my $100k++ outstanding loan is roughly $153.36.

To maximum this 3% cashback benefit. your repayment amount should be $1,000 per month as there is a cap of $30 cashback.

As long as your names are in the loan contract, you will be eligible for this.

In my case, myself and wife receive $30 each (Total $60) per month in our POSB cashback bonus.

This amount is equivalent to 39% ($60 out of $153.36). 

This is how I reduce my POSB fixed 1.4% home loan to 0.85% via POSB cashback bonus.

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Summary of my portfolio - May 2021

      Mr CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	Alibaba	84
2	HongKongLand USD	21,200
3	Frasers Centrepoint Trust	30,000
4	ComfortDelGro	45,600
5	Ascendas REIT	3,100

6	NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver	1,778
7

• $174.53 of Ascendas REIT dividend declared on 4 May, payout on 9 Jun.
• $16.51 of NikkoAM REIT dividend payout on 07 May (1.16 cents / share) for 1423 shares
• Sold 9,000 shares of AIMS APAC REIT on 6 May. Total profit of $2,264.26 (17.7%) in 6 months.
• Bought 55 shares of Crowdstrike at USD184.50 on 14 May (Link)
• USD3392 / S$4458.82 of HongKongLand dividend payout on 15 May (USD 16 cents / share)
• Bought 180 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.10 (Cost: $198.36)
• Sold 17,000 shares of Fortune Reit on 17 May. Total profit of HKD19,356.83 / SGD3,319 in 4 months (Link)
• Bought 84 shares of Alibaba at USD211.30 on 21 May (Link)
• Sold 55 share of Crowdstrike at USD224.50 on 26 May. Total profit USD2196.02 in 12days.
• $1759.20 of Frasers Centrepoint Trust dividend payout on 28 May (5.864 cents/share)
• Bought S$6,000 bitcoin (~USD34,600) on 29 May (Link)

Mrs CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1

Summary of my portfolio - Apr 2021

     Mr CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	Fortune REIT (HK778)	17,000
2	HongKongLand USD	21,200
3	Frasers Centrepoint Trust	30,000
4	ComfortDelGro	45,600
5	AIMS APAC REIT	9,000

6	NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver	1,598
7	Ascendas REIT	3,100

• 
  
• Bought 175 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.13 (Cost: $198.36)
• $1759.20 of Frasers Centrepoint Trust dividend declared on 23 Apr (5.864 cents/share), payout on 28 May

Mrs CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	STI ETF via POSB invest Saver	2141

Apr 2020: 185 shares at $2.69                Cost: $498.37

May 2020: 190 shares at $2.63               Cost: $498.87 

Jun 2020: 182 shares at $2.75                Cost: $499.96 

Jul 2020: 183 shares at $2.72                 Cost: $497.37 
Aug 2020: 188 shares at $2.65               Cost: $498.17 

Sep 2020: 193 shares at $2.58               Cost: $497.48

Oct 2020: 191 shares at $2.62                Cost: $499.57

Nov 2020: 175 shares at $2.83                Cost: $499.54

Dec 2020: 168 shares at $2.95                Cost: $499.21

Jan 2021: 163 shares at $3.04                Cost: $495.90

Feb 2021: 166 shares at $3.00                Cost: $497.18

Mar 2021: 157 shares at $3.14                Cost: $495.90

                                                         ----------------------------

                                                         Total Cost: $5977.52

Sold 2141 shares of STI ETF on 14 Apr at $3.23. Total profit $1065.97 (17.8%) in 12 months

• $36.87 of STI ETF dividend payout on 17 Jul (6.62 cents /share) for 557 shares
• $91.19 of STI ETF dividend payout on 19 Jan (5.51 cents /share) for 1655 shares

Summary of my portfolio - Mar 2021

    Mr CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	Fortune REIT (HK778)	17,000
2	HongKongLand USD	21,200
3	Frasers Centrepoint Trust	30,000
4	ComfortDelGro	45,600
5	AIMS APAC REIT	9,000

6	NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver	1,423
7	Ascendas REIT	3,100

• Bought 3,100 shares of Ascendas REIT on 8 Mar at $2.91 (Link)
• USD3392 of HongKongLand dividend declared on 11 Mar, payout on 12 May
• HKD 4,175.20 of Fortune REIT dividend payout on 18 Mar (HKD24.56cents/share)
• $184.50 of AIMS APAC REIT dividend payout on 19 Mar (2.05 cents /share)
• Bought 178 shares of NikkoAM-StraitsTrading Asia Ex Japan Reit via POSB Invest Saver at $1.11 (Cost: $198.36)

Mrs CDxD portfolio

No.	Counters	No. of Shares
1	STI ETF via POSB invest Saver	2141

Apr 2020: 185 shares at $2.69                Cost: $498.37

May 2020: 190 shares at $2.63               Cost: $498.87 

Jun 2020: 182 shares at $2.75                Cost: $499.96 

Jul 2020: 183 shares at $2.72                 Cost: $497.37 
Aug 2020: 188 shares at $2.65               Cost: $498.17 

Sep 2020: 193 shares at $2.58               Cost: $497.48

Oct 2020: 191 shares at $2.62                Cost: $499.57

Nov 2020: 175 shares at $2.83                Cost: $499.54

Dec 2020: 168 shares at $2.95                Cost: $499.21

Jan 2021: 163 shares at $3.04                Cost: $495.90

Feb 2021: 166 shares at $3.00                Cost: $497.18

Mar 2021: 157 shares at $3.14                Cost: $495.90

• $36.87 of STI ETF dividend payout on 17 Jul (6.62 cents /share) for 557 shares
• $91.19 of STI ETF dividend payout on 19 Jan (5.51 cents /share) for 1655 shares