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Oh Crap! The Value of Perspective!

The highlight of today's interaction with my tuitee was our digression when we talked about food wastage.

Me: So how can we reduce food wastage? 

Her: The school canteen stall can encourage students to buy one less dish, so that they do not waste food that they cannot eat. 

Me: What is the stallholder's incentive? Since it means less income for them? 

Her: The stall will have more dishes on display, so other students will be attracted to buy, since usually by afternoon, there is not much dishes left and we will buy from stalls with more dishes left. 

Me: Since the stall auntie has a fixed unit of dishes per day, wouldn't she be happier if she sells more units to each customer, finish selling earlier, than to leave more food on display, and assume the next customer will be attracted to the stall (whom may or may not buy from her)? 

Her: Oh... She will be selling to more customers.

We took rounds of diagrams and thinking aloud to figure out each others' perspective. 

And I concluded, I was talking from the point of revenue in a shorter time span, while she was taking the perspective of securing customer base. LOL

Some financial literacy during Chinese tuition. 

A gathering, finally!

A warm weekend  at Pauline's place catching up with some of the ex-4E1 students. It was heartening to see the students are doing well in their field of studies. The exchange of information was pretty enriching for me too, especially when discussions span from school to entertainment, dating life, who would get married first, what they really like or dislike when they were in SGS. And Pauline's cheerful baby girl was the highlight for me! There comes this age, one sees the joy (and toil!) of motherhood; and the pressure that body clock puts on women.

Oh well! Let nature take its course for nature knows best! :) Meanwhile, let's ride on the joy of day to day connections! 

Save $200 - $1600 on your income tax NOW. Only 2 weeks left!

For years, I had been really careless with money, negligent even. C'mon, with the hassle of work during term time, the calm respite during the holidays are sacred! Yet bills will shock us when we receive our income tax come June 2017.

We have to equip ourselves with financial literacy! Did some reading up these past week to start getting myself back to financial health. Mental and emotional health has been taking a toil for pretty much of 2016, so has financial health in the past... 6 years of working life! Time to bounce back, one step at a time. Really, while everyone's busy holiday-ing, take a long hard look at the impending taxes that will come your way in 2017.

#1 This is how we are going to be taxed for this year's earning: 

Via IRAS Website

Depending on the income bracket that you are in, you'll effectively be giving the the government $200 (If you are the starting out working), $550 (If you have slogged for some time), $3350 (If you you've worked almost a nearly a decade in civil service, or you are qualifying for any remuneration packages at specific years) and you get the drift. So really, check out your taxes for 2015 to get a reference point of how much you have been paying.

#2 Top-Up your Medisave or your loved ones' Medisave to get tax relief. 

CPF Medisave Account can be used for payment to many different medical and outpatient bills. Recently, I have paid for my wisdom teeth extraction through Medisave and it cost about 1k.

I also use my Medisave to pay for both my parents and my own hospitalization rider, which amounts to a yearly total premium of about 1k. (These premiums qualify for tax relief.)

On top of that, my mum uses Medisave for her diabetic outpatient bills, capped at $200 a year, sufficient to pay off her medications and consultations.

So you see, Medisave can be utilized more flexibly compared to CPF Ordinary account and Special Account (where your money is locked away until you are 55 years). The amazing thing is:

You get the same 4% interest for Medisave, same as what you get for Special Account, but it gives you flexibility of utilizing for healthcare!

If you top-up cash into you Medisave Account - capped at $7000, you will get $7000 tax relief for 2016.

And you can also top up for your parents' Medisave Account - capped at $7000, for another $7000 tax relief.

For me the equation is plain, if you top up for yourself and your loved ones, you could potentially be saving from tax amounting to:

$200, $350, $980, $1600 etc. (That is a lot the government draws from our hard earned money!)

On top of saving on your taxes, you earn 4% p.a interest for the cash-up for CPF. Well, topping up my mum's Medisave gives me a peace of mind should any health-related crisis happens. And even when she passes on (before me) it goes back to my CPF, and if she passes on after me, I can be assured she is taken care of with the annual CPF top-up. And of course, for sure these money will go to my family members instead of flowing back to the government. (别让羊毛出在羊身上！）

# Cash-Up soon!

In order to qualify for the tax relief, you have to settle the cash up before 31st December. And there is a daily withdrawal limits so you might have to do so over a span of few days. You would also be required to log into your CPF account to perform the Cash-up. This means you have to get your Singpass and 2fA ready. (If you have neither, it can take anyway from 2 days to 2 weeks to obtain both)

With so much to learn and discover. I am getting moving!

For further reading on reducing taxes, click here.  

Sayonara, Wisdom Teeth!

The fear of extraction is greater than the pain itself.

Went for the first round of wisdom teeth extraction today. If you are going for yours too, be ready to take about 2 hours in the hospital.

My surgery was done at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. Prior to the visit, I have spoken to friends, read up online about the process. Many painted a gory picture. I suppose the level of pain when the anesthesia was administrated is akin to ant bite. Apt comparison by Weiying. Very manageable. I happened to be lucky to have Dr Sylvia Tay conduct the surgery. Woman of few words and we had so little face time, I think altogether I get to see her for merely 10 mins, other times, my eyes are covered with surgery cloth.

Everything was smooth and swift. I highlighted my fear of pain and needles. She applied numb cream and throughout the process of injection I left my eyes closed. It was almost painless. Both the wisdom teeth plugged out within about 15mins.

After collection of medications, I took the pain killer immediately. I could still feel numbness from the anesthetic, but up till now, 8 hours later, everything was painless.

The impacted wisdom tooth had a terrible decay, and I am more than glad it has been removed. Paving the way to healthier oral hygiene!

For those who are considering wisdom teeth extraction, doing it in private clinic will set you back by about $1200 for extraction of 2 wisdom teeth. It's completed in one session, fuss free.

For those who prefer a lower cost, here is a breakdown of the processes.

Visit any Singhealth dental clinic for consultation to get referral letter: ~$20
Referral letter has a validity period of 6 months.

Head to NDC or KTPH for consultation and x-ray: ~$20 + $35
Appointment has to be booked 1-3 months in advance.

Visit for surgery, extraction of 2 wisdom teeth: ~$500 - $600
Full sum can be paid through Medisave

Total cost of extracting 2 teeth: ~$600 - $700

That is effectively half the price of private dental clinic, but it takes about 3 months or more from consultation to extraction.

And the working time of Dr Sylvia Tay is every Monday and Thursday. Although one cannot choose the surgeon, but you may try your luck by aligning your appointment to her working time. She seems to have a solid reputation in the dental field, and definitely delivered a swift and painless extraction and recovery process!

On Funeral

On my way to meet a friend, a thought strike me. In the event that I die before my parents do, I don't want a funeral possession. It would set them back by at least $10k. Just bring whatever remains of my body to Mandai to burn. 

This also brought about the discussion of grief. After all, funeral possessions are for the living, an interim which helps them cope and transit from grief. Or rather, through it. And I think it would be utmost meaningful if my organs are donated for medical purposes, to save lives, or empower the medical field rather then simply reduced to ashes. 

Today, Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents above the age of 21 and above, and are not mentally disordered, are included under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA). Unless of course, one opts out. 

And so I pondered, how do we convince our parents about the decision for a complete donation when they are dealing with the grief of a loved one's death. How can they bring themselves to deal with the knowledge that their kid's body is going to be all cut up into pieces?

Guangfeng offered an emotional and spiritually empowering suggestion: Just tell them your child lives on, in someone else's body. 

The Money Decision

Every year, our money loses its value to inflation. And to ensure its value does not depreciate, it has to work against 3% p.a inflation. Think about this, for every $1000, we lose $343 in 10 years; for every 100k, one loses 34k to inflation!

Hence it is definitely useful to work around making our hard earned money work for us. Having talked to Eugene, it boils down to two options: work with risk, or work with time.

Lower risk = Longer Time

Shorter Time = Higher Risk 

These following options looks workable with low risk, yet bears restriction on flexibility of cash flow.

# Putting Savings into Savings Account 

With OCBC 360 Account, one earns up to 2.2 % interest by fulfilling criteria such as $500 expenditure/mth; crediting salary and paying 3 bills with the account. And 1% for me, since salary cannot be credited into the account, which means missing out on 1.2% interest rate. 

# Putting Money into Fixed Deposit 

While it gets more returns than some Savings Account, with 1.2%  to 1.8% interest p.a, it locks the money away for 5 years, which kills the possibility of property purchase or car purchase in the short term.  

#Getting an Endowment Plan

This usually involve shelving away savings for a decade, earning about 2.5% interest rate. Singles like me would be strapped. Neither can I get a car, nor a property with ease should I gets married within ten years. 

#Putting Money into CPF Ordinary Account 

One can top up to a cap of about 20k per year into Ordinary Account. These money earns an interest rate of 2.5%, more than many of the savings account. Drawback: it cannot be withdrawn. Winning factor: It can be used to buy property. 

#Putting Money into CPF Special Account (Retirement Fund) 

Money earns 4% interest rate currently, and can only be withdrawn after 55 years old. To qualify for a monthly payout of $1750 - $1900 after 55 years old,  one must have at least about 241k in the Special Account. Money that will sit and beat inflation, all the way until about 3 decades later. It means, I may be restricted with reducing mortgage, and have to lose more on housing loan interest. 

The Awkward Late 20s

Single. Possibility of getting a property at 35, or within the next 5 years. Possibly of getting a car within the next decade. Wants to beat inflation, yet adverse to risk taking. Needs liquid cash on ultra big ticket items within the decade. This portfolio is really a tough nut to crack. 

How to strike a balance, really?