Impossible To Retire in Singapore

How many times have we heard the phrase mentioned by Singaporeans? 'Singapore is getting too expensive.' 'How to retire here?' 'Government must do something'. It always irks me that many people expect the Government should do something for them, anything goes wrong its the Government. MRT breakdown, Government fault. Bus driver strike Government fault. Toilet breakdown, Government fault. Lorry knock down people, Government fault. I cannot retire, Government fault. 

The way I see it, many things are within the control of ourselves. Whether we can retire in future is very much dependent on the things we do today. For example, if you know you need to have 1 million in future at retirement, what do you do today? You save. But Tang, things getting more expensive in future! You save more. But Tang things so expensive now how to save? Why you never save earlier? But the truth is its all about managing your money. Too many of us (including me in the past) saves after spending. Our saving formula looks like that:

Salary - Expenses = Savings

But every month we have an excuse to spend on something or we want to go on a trip or there is a newly launched gadget or new season fashion or new handbag, new shoes, new everything... so Tang how to save?

Lets move the formula:

Salary - Savings = Expenses

Wa Tang like that no need to spend already. Well maybe, but  I dare bet that if your formula changes to the above you will definitely be able to retire. If you were to spend on one less gadget or one less holiday or even one less beer per week, you will have found some extra money to save for the future. 

If you believe that the above formula can work you will probably ask how much to set aside each month. Rule of thumb 10% to 20% of your current income will be a good start. As your salary increases (and I hope it does, if it doesn't please take a good hard look at yourself) you increase the saving amount to maintain the 10% to 20% ratio. 

Have a good mix of asset to ensure the monies you have set aside is moving your monies closer to the inflation rate. Yes property is a good hedge but please it should not be the only hedge. It is still an asset and the value will fluctuate. 

If you are currently planning for your retirement already, get a financial adviser to project and estimate the amount of retirement fund you will need and work backwards to ascertain the amount to save today towards your goal. This will give you a more specific amount to set aside on a regular basis. Once again, if this actually concerns you and you do not have somebody to speak to, please email me tngjinyau@gmail.com. Whatsapp or SMS me 9180 3448. My consultation is on a no-obligation basis and I do not charge a fee.... yet...

1 in 10 Borrowers Overstretched...

In today's Straits Times MAS warns that 1 in 10 borrowers are overstretched. These borrowers has debts that exceed 60% of their monthly income and majority of these debts are property...

An increase of home loan interest rates may just push these debts beyond 100% of monthly income, forcing this people to sell their property, causing more demand and bringing property price down and that was why Singapore's banking sector's credit was downgraded recently, cos there may be a repeat of 2003 where a condominium bought in 1997 at $980,000 cost $450,000 in 2003. Read my earlier post here. Well, peoples' memories going to be jolted again... maybe. We shall see..

Kovan Double Murders.. 14J

Damn! When was the last time something so major happened in Singapore? The last murder that was so dramatic was probably the body of a foreigner found behind the mural of Orchard MRT that was even before ION was built. Even then that murder wasn't so drama.. just some cleaner opening the bag and finding human parts.. this Kovan murder got victims getting dragged in full view of the public! 

Are you wondering now who the killer is? When will he be caught? What's the motive? Yes I am intrigued too. But I also wonder what will be the financial impact to the family? Was the elderly man the sole bread winner? He is a business man and did he have a business succession plan? What will happen to his family now? What will happen to the business? Is the business he has build with his blood, sweat and tears going down the drain because he is no longer around? 

I am sure these questions will eventually arise when they find the killer, they know the motive. After all the dust settles and the grieving done, some if not all of these questions will arise. It is usually now when these questions are asked then answers are sought.. I can only hope that most of the questions can be answered easily.

Life is so fragile and unpredictable... have you planned already... 

The Types of Managers You Love To Hate

The corporate world.. a world full of bureaucracy, red tapes, politics and fake people with agendas. I left all that after 8 years because I realise you have to be fake and nice to get where you want to be. You have to be a politician to get noticed and recognised unless your managers is real and is there because their bosses are real and see the true work you do. The rest of the managers, well somehow they were fake and nice to somebody who was fake and nice and eventually got to where they were. And in the corporate world, real nice managers and employees finish last.. sad but true.

And I suppose this bureaucracy is more apparent in an Asian culture where hierarchy is so important. In the asian culture we have always been brought up to respect our elders, respect their decisions and getting promoted to the next level feels like I am one up over the rest. The traditional managers always think what they say counts.

Through my observation, I think I can single out some of these managers and if you have others that I did not cover, please put down in the comments below.

My list of managers you love to hate, though I may write as he it can jolly well apply to a 'she' as well:

1. The Dictator

Well whatever this managers say counts... even if it is wrong or unethical. This managers have been brought up and entrenched so deeply in the asian culture that he feels superior to the rest of the people who are not his peers. He is afraid of losing control thus he needs to know everything thus he becomes a micro-manager. Whatever you do is not good enough, because it cannot be because he feels that he is the best so how can your work be better than his? He is asking you about your progress of a certain project almost daily. He wants to know who you are working with, how you getting it done. And nothing you do seems to satisfy him. He gets his ego boost from knowing his ideas are better and that is why he is there.. not you.

2. The Michael Jackson Boss

In the Michael Jackson song Black or White, the lyrics go: It don't matter if its black or white. For this manager, his lyrics probably will sound more like: It don't matter, it has to be black and white. These managers love emails. Whatever you need help with you need to email. Boss I need an approval for the project, email me. Boss I going on leave, email me. Boss, client wants better price, email me. Boss, stomachache need to go toilet, email me....

Sure in some management training they say these managers are Visual people in the VAK model. Probably so... some of them are just covering their backside. They want everything in black and white so that their asses are covered, they send you an email they print it out so that if you ever go back and say I never see, they whip out a file with all their emails, put on one white glove and say 'thereeee...' all the date, time and content capture in black and white.. eeeeyooooww. Backside covered. The extreme ones will even set settings so that a return email will pop up when you supposedly read them or delete the email without reading. It is then also printed out and filed.

3. The Parent

This manager though very similar to being a dictator but can be very nice sometimes but the problem is they always treat you like kids. They always feel that being new and fresh out of school we ain't thinking adults yet. We cannot be left alone to do things on our own. Constant monitoring and mentoring is needed. Yes, some but not all. They treat staff like kids and feel staff should be scolded when they do things wrong.

Had a run in with a boss like that, asked me why I never scold my staff, is it because I like being popular. Told him it is not being popular but it is a respect that I know what they are doing and treating them like adults. He said, adults? You think those people outside are adults? They are acting like kids. Told him that if he continues to think them as kids they will always be kids. its just like if you give peanuts, you don't expect tigers to appear. You are gonna get monkeys. So if you feel your staff is like children, they will be like children to reciprocate how they are being treated.

4. The Mama-san

These managers are like social butterflies. They are where their bosses at, whether they are really capable it does not matter. They are just damn good at PR. Their bosses probably got promoted the same way and he is telling you, you need to be seen in front of your boss. He will step over their peers or worse step over their own boss to go direct to the boss's boss.

You may be asked to do the same thing so that your boss can look good like his whole team worships the ground the boss's boss walks on. You indirectly have been implicated to become a slave to your boss and boss's boss. They get promoted not because of the work they do but because this person will look good in front of people.

If you are a female staff and look ok sometimes you get pushed to get recognised in front of the boss's boss. This happens in social gatherings and when alcohol is involved.... thus your boss like mama-san and you maybe blinded by the promise of promotion and all.

5. The Not-For-Profit

Ever entered a department and did not know what to do? You do not know where the department is heading? You have no mission because the boss has none or a very loose one.Your mission, vision and core value is on the wall but it does not seem the department is moving that way? Your boss is soft and weak. He does not have a mind of his own. Some people can be contented with bosses like that. Just chill relax, other departments know that your boss is like charitable organisation, they know you will do whatever that is thrown to him. They take it on. Typical yes man.

You get thrown the extra work to do without the extra pay. You start thinking what the hell you are doing things that are totally unrelated to you. You start wondering what the mission and vision on the wall really means. You start feeling that whatever you do has no more meaning.

So if you have other experiences with lousy bosses please comment below :)

HD Wallpapers

Hello Kitty

Ha $25k for a Hello Kitty? Fights breaking out because of a cat? And its not even a cat fight...

Come on people, seriously? What the hell is the draw for a plush cat? Besides hoping that you can make $25k from it, and if you were smart enough you will know it was probably made in China and a search on the internet will tell you, you can buy it off the net for just RMB35. Which works out to be S$7 and damn the chinese manufacturers will still be making a damn decent profit at $7...

So is it all about making money or a real passion for the cat? I wonder, because if making money is the reason there are other ways to make money. Like by investing, yes it does not give you 25K over night but at least you can accumulate wealth instead of spending your whole night queueing at McDonalds. You also can have 66% chance that your investment will return you 10%.

I search on the net that you have a probability of hitting 4D is 1 in 10,000. So isn't 66% chance of getting 10% a damn good odd.

So instead of looking at how Hello Kitty can make you alot of money, think about how spending a little more time to think about accumulating money may work better.

N95 Mask and Air Purifier in Singapore

This is unbelievable! Went everywhere looking for air purifiers.. all sold out! Asked Gain City take my money first. They said cannot, our list very long already they said... Sigh! My daughter is sick from the haze and I need the air purifier.. at least we will be getting some reprieve from the haze this couple of days.

My wife casually mentioned that this is so funny that everybody seems to want to buy air purifiers and mask when the NEED arises. Us included. She also mentioned that if we had just went out on the first day to get it (which we really did contemplate but eventually did not because my daughter fell sick) we probably have gotten ours already. Well isn't that just human nature. We don't see the need for many things till it is too late..

The Chinese must have understood all this when they said '临时抱佛脚‘ loosely translated, it means to hug a Buddha's feet at the last minute. It means that you only will do the things necessary at the last minute. Like for a student if you do not study on a regular basis, at the last minute you will have to hug the Buddha's feet and hope for the best. Or like this haze situation, at the last minute, may of us want to 'chiong' out and buy an air purifier or mask. 

6 months ago if we said we wanted to buy mask or air purifiers. Many will probably think you were crazy. So this brings me to the topic and purpose of this post. Many see a financial adviser now thinking we are out to take money from you for the good of our commissions.  Many think it is bad luck or too long to think about retirement or investment now. Many think that things will not happen to them to warrant a financial plan. So when will financial planning be warranted? By the looks of things, it will be warranted when critical illness strike, when retirement arrives or when the kids are going to school. And that is just a short list of financial objectives of an individual, family or organisation. And the big difference between the haze and financial planning is you can do something about the haze when it happens but not financial planning when one of the events happen. 

When a critical illness strikes can we 'chiong' out to buy a hospitalisation plan or critical illness plan? When retirement is tomorrow can we say we start accumulating wealth today? When inflation hit all time high can we find a suitable solution to give us a high return to counter that? 

Instead of expecting the government to do something now for us, I think we should start thinking about what have we done for ourselves. Have we done the necessary to protect and safeguard our own interest instead of expecting the government to do things for us?  I read in amazement the number of people calling out to the government asking them to do something about the haze, asking for more mask or getting more air purifier stock. Come on, the government is human too.. they are also reactive.  So take charge of your own life, predict the unpredictable, expect the unexpected, control what is controllable and live life! Read my post about predicting the unpredictable and expecting the unexpected here.

Taken while walking along the MBS to MBFC 

Your Job May Help You Live Longer

I read in amazement today in the papers today that the work we do may actually prolong our lives. We have been so concerned about diet and exercise to keep a healthy life that we forgot the one big important thing in our lives... our job.

Studies have shown that stress is one of the major contributing factor of cancer. And where do we get the most amount of stress from? Our jobs.. we spent a good part of our lives at work and therefore exposed to stress very often unless of course you enjoy the work that you do.

I also reckon that Singaporeans are exposed to more stress as we stay in high rise buildings. Research have shown that all of us have a personal space and we are in stress when this personal spaces are invaded. Personal spaces are imaginary boundaries that our sub-conscious mind have drawn out, and we are in stress when that space is invaded. Imagine an old lift, have you ever noticed which button in the lift is usually the most worn out? Its the close button. Nowadays our lifts have buttons that are embossed and this effect is rarely seen. But at those old HDB or commercial building's lifts the close button is usually most worn out.

Why? Well, the lift ain't exactly the biggest space and if a second person gets into the lift with you, your personal space gets smaller when more and more people gets into the lift the space gets even smaller, eventually it gets invaded. To prevent that from happening, most will want to shut the lift doors first before anybody else gets into the lift.

Studies have also shown that for drivers this personal space extends outwards when you are in the car. That is why when someone cuts you too close or tailgates you, you cannot take it, your personal space have been invaded. So if the next time the driver in the car you are in gets really flustered, just understand its an invasion of a personal space.

If being in a car extends your personal space then I can also assume that being at home you also have a personal space extending beyond the walls of your flat, right? That is why when your neighbours upstairs accidentally drop marbles you go insane. We are at stress when we are at home too and that is why the newspaper had once reported that 2 out of 5 Singaporeans will contract cancer in a couple of years time.

So how do we extend our personal space at home then? Many opt to keep their doors close when they are at home just so they know they are kept private in their own personal space. But if you knew your neighbours then your personal space can be reduced as they are friends not strangers. Being with friends personal spaces can diminish altogether. We can sit at a table with friends almost having shoulders touching each other but when we are in a cinema with a stranger next to us we feel uncomfortable. So if your neighbours are your friends will that not create less stress? I usually leave my door open at home. I say hi to my neighbours when they come home. We celebrate a birthday at home, we cut up some cake and pass it to them. They do likewise. We go overseas we buy something small for each other. They make sure my letters and newspapers are kept when I am away. I feel safe having neighbours like that. They are friends.

So things can be done at home, but what to do in the office? Do something you love.. cliche but true. Manage the stress or your job may eventually kill you..