Why keep your money in CPF?

When it comes to money (especially hard-earned-blood-sweat-and-tears-work-OT-go-home-to-sleep-and-bathe-only), it’s fully understandable why some Singaporeans wished that they could have full control of what they used their money for. Or at least, have a say in what they use their CPF money for, other than for housing or health purposes.

But, ultimately, if we ask ourselves – do we really know what the CPF was initially set-up for and what purpose it serves? The government first introduced CPF to enable working Singapore Citizens and PRs to set aside funds for retirement. It also addresses healthcare, home ownership, family protection and asset enhancement.

Sounds good, right? To be able to have assurance and peace of mind that you’ll have enough for yourself and your loved ones as you enter your golden years, fully knowing that your flat was fully paid for and that you have enough in your MediSave to pay your doctors’ appointments so that you’re in good enough shape to enjoy the fruits of your labour – music to my ears.

One way we can look at CPF, is that it’s a tool that we are lucky enough to have to safeguard our future. I believe that the same thought process is in play when we consider buying insurance. We are putting aside money every month, to be able to acknowledge the security that we are able to prepare ourselves for rainy days and stormy nights. Personally, I sure was glad that my partner and I were able to pay for the down payment of our first home when we decided to take the step. Not a single cent out of our pockets/banks, as we’ve spent some years building up the amount in our accounts. Shiok, right!

So why then, are we so against the very system that ensures us peace of mind in throughout our different life stages? If we truly, honestly, ask ourselves – when a lump of money falls onto our laps – is leisure not the first thing that comes across our minds because we feel like we deserved it? Will we even think about putting the amount aside for safekeeping – or will we always go back to the age-old mind-set that there’s still a looooooong time for us to save enough for when they day comes?

Think about it, won’t you? And be honest, when you answer.

HOSAY Traits of fellow Singaporeans

Hosay Lah Singaporeans

1) An unprecedented outpouring of EMOTIONS, GRATITUDE AND RESPECT from Singaporeans, young and old – in Singapore and overseas. Goes to show how much the old guard has done for us.

2) GENEROUS AND KIND towards fellow Singaporeans, shown by the many volunteers handing out food and drinks to Singaporeans queueing at Padang! Volunteers also worked through the night to manage crowds at the Community Tribute Sites.

3) HELPFUL towards others who needed a helping hand – such as holding an umbrella for the staff on duty at the funeral procession!

4) PATIENCE, a rare virtue, was seen in all Singaporeans who queued for many hours without any complaints to pay their last respects to our late Mr Lee.

5) PERSEVERANCE was notably the best trait observed about fellow Singaporeans who braved all elements to pay their last respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

With such Hosay behaviour by our fellow countrymen, Mr Lee will be proud of us ! smile emoticonhhhh

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Stop, when too much, is just too much

The political leader, the founding father, the prime minister, the minister mentor. A leader, some say non-populist, some even say, notorious. A lawyer, proficient in languages.

But fundamentally, a man. A man with blood, tears and sweat. A man, with his vulnerabilities; A boy, named Harry. A man with his strength and iron will. A man with a family, A man with three children, and A man with his dignity and pride.

So give the man and his family some space. And stop, when too much, is just too much.

Toe the line

Toe the line – he is not only a public figure. Toe the line, respect him and his family as a man. Toe the line between being concerned and intrusive. Intrusive are some sites who registers each and every of his family’s moves to the hospital and create a spectacle out of it. Toe the line between being concerned; and being an intruder, a predator stalker – one in need to be in control, in need of power. Don’t let this incessant need to show you are informed rule over your humanity. Knowledge does not necessarily triumph humanity. Respect the man’s privacy.

Selfishness

When perpetrators forget that many children of the state are worried about this man. Too much is when perpetrators capitalized on the concern of the citizens. Too much is when these faceless perpetrators doctor a statement from the PMO’s site, the same statement which brought grief to the man’s family when Mrs Lee passed on almost five years ago. Too much is when they hide behind these computer screens, to bring news to sensationalize, to shock. Too much, is when they hurt these children of the state who are worried about this man.

Forgetting your humanity

Too much, is when you curse this man, when you utter foul words to a man. When you rid yourself of your humanity, of your decency. When you forget that you do not wish for others to wish such harm on you, yourself, your father, your mother, or any living being. Too much, is when you forget words hurt.

Stop, when too much, is just too much. 

Remember to stop those fingers on your keyboard. 

Remember to think, and feel. smile emoticon

‪#‎SGlovesYew‬ ‪#‎WEKuanXinYew‬ ‪#‎wearewithYew‬ ‪#‎noyewnous‬‪#‎nothingwithoutYew‬ ‪#‎YewandMe‬

Simi Left, Right or Center?

Recently, we’ve been hearing about our government is leaning slightly to the left. What exactly does it mean by leaning left or right or staying in the centre? Here is Hosaybo’s attempt to explain and simplify it for you:-

A leftist government aims to
- Support you if you cannot support yourself.
- Provide certain things such as free education and healthcare.
- Everyone will have access to essentials such as gas, electricity and water as these industries are nationalised and provided on a not for profit basis
- Tax people more in order to maintain the above

A rightist government aims to
- Help people to look after themselves and not burden others (i.e. don’t need to pay for someone else’s education, healthcare or retirement.)
- have little involvement in people’s lives
- privatise companies so people can buy shares, have a wider choice in services, enabling everyone to progress and prosper.
- Help people by cutting taxes and encourage business growth

With the recent announcements at Budget where both people and businesses have something to take away, we think our Government’s position is somewhere in the middle and they are working towards striking a balance between the 2 wings.

To return or not to return our CPF, that is the question.

NMP Chia Yong Yong spoke about CPF at Parliament during the Budget 2015 debate. She is against the growing call for greater flexibility in the withdrawal of CPF funds. Her speech sparked an online debate on whether CPF should be returned to us upon retirement. Hosaybo extracted some of the views and suggestions by netizens on what they think will happen if CPF is returned to us. 

Disclaimer - ‪#‎notwesayone‬ and our Hosaybo writer pleads guilty to #4!

1) We live in a society where it is built by each and everyone’s dream and hard work. Splurging our CPF might implicate our children as they will end up having to support the society.

2) Sure! Take all your money. You just need to give up your citizenship so you don’t burden the rest who choose to stay behind if you squander your money. Who is going to pay for you when you cannot afford your daily meals?

3) HK is planning to follow Singapore’s system because they realised after the retirees get their funds back, they splurge and now the children have to bear the brunt.

4) The trouble is that if nobody force or help you save, most will never save.

5) I have withdrawn my CPF except the Medisave account. You won’t smell your money if you go before your retirement age, but your family will benefit from it.

6) People tend to forget that they can use the CPF money to purchase property and invest in equities that generate income for them which enhance their wealth. Upon reaching 55, if their CPF balance exceeds the minimum sum requirement, they can withdraw the excess balance. The group of people who do not have enough to withdraw tends to be vulnerable as they have no other income source, therefore, it is with good intention that the government provide them with an interest higher than what they can get by depositing in the bank.

7) We find security and comfort in Singapore, our homeland. And this emotion and security is built by community effort by our pioneer generation who worked hard and supported each other. That is why it’s not an easy decision for the government to just say you can have your CPF back when some might spend it unwisely leaving those whom are working hard to bear the bring brunt to support them. If this happens, we will lose our security and comfortable stable lives.

8) Like it or not, the silver tsunami is going to hit the world. And this is something that the world has not come to understand. It could be the next financial crisis. As it is now, Japan being the economy that has the most elderly, is facing this head on. And they are financing it through debt, which means the next generation is paying for it.

9) It remains a fact that we cannot depend on CPF money for retirement. We must continue to save for our retirement

10) So what happens when you use up all your CPF money and you are still alive but unable to work?

Suggestions by Netizens

1) Allow those who have been proven to be frugal and have managed their CPF investments well to withdraw more, but not those with less than 50k and retire at 55

2) Perhaps the retirees can be given financial counselling with the return of their CPF?

And the most epic suggestion.....
3) Go and look for a job that does not pay CPF. All the money is yours and yours alone.

Six reasons Why I Love Chinese New Year

Whenever Chinese New Year comes around, I always hear from my HSB bros the usual few comments – “Remember the good old days of celebrating Chinese New Year as a kid?”, “When the candies seemed endless and our dear Mothers are n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶e̶d̶ refrained from scolding us? “

So what happened? Why do so many adults now don’t feel that way any more?

If you’re one of them, here’re six reasons that for me, still makes Chinese New Year a fun and memorable festivity!

1. Reunions and Gatherings – Whether we like it or not, Singaporeans are workaholics. Period. So Chinese New Year is usually the best time to spend quality time with your relatives and your friends and take some time (and your mind) off work! It’s the perfect occasion to reunite the family, no matter how far we are, and reflect back on the years passed.

2. Endless amount of Chinese New Year goodies – where else can you find such a huge array of snacks that our creative Singaporean shop owners come up with? From the usual kachangs and kueh lapis to the Ba Kwas with pineapples and cheese flake pistachios. Shiok!

3. Watching the Stephen Chow / Jack Neo movie rerun for the 9876543th time – Sure, you might have memorised (willingly or not) the scripts by now and feel that it’s nothing new. But times like this always good to reminisce the growing up years as the whole family gathers together to watch them, because, some things never change do they? smile emoticon

4. Annoying (?) relatives – While they may seem annoying with their endless concerns about your well-being/ if you’re married / got children / why only one not two not three not four, but I like to think that’s because we all share bits of DNA with one another anyway, so it’s natural to care for one another. Plus, you never know if that Grand Uncle happens to know of a potential h̶o̶t̶ ̶d̶a̶t̶e̶ work opportunity? True story.

5. Kitchen never stops churning out food. NEVER. – Almost all households island wide will see our dear grandparents/parents prepare TONS of awesome food for the whole family. As someone who settles the three meals outside daily, nothing beats having home cooked comfort food together with your loved ones. It’s tough work, so I’m always appreciative of my aunts who put the family’s well-being before their own comforts.

6. Time, quality and genuine time, with our families – For most of us, I think we should count our blessings to be able to spend CNY with our families. Not everyone is as fortune to be able to spend it this way, perhaps due to work that never ceases (police, paramedics etc) or do not have anyone else to spend it with. I treasure every moment spent with the older generations, distant and otherwise, because you never know when you might not have the chance any more.

10 reasons why our 87sqm home is just perfect for us

While we sigh and complain about how much smaller homes are now, here are 10 reasons why our 87sqm home is just perfect for us:

1. Lesser floor/surface areas to clean – That should be reason enough. This also equates to us having more time to pursue the things in life that really matter, whatever that may be.

2. Lesser renovation and furnishing costs – Money saved.

3. Lesser temptation to accumulate unnecessary junk to fill up vacant spots – Even more money saved!

4. Lesser housing loan – All these money saved, I should use them to buy me the Balenciaga I’ve always wanted.

5. Lesser environmental impact – A smaller home requires less resources to build and maintain, minimizing our carbon footprint. Time to patch up the ozone layer.

6. Lesser attachment to our “baggage” – While this means that we won’t be lugging my 50” by 70” Audrey Hepburn and his 65” by 86” Stars Wars posters to our new place, we can see it as our attempt to build new memories and new hobbies together.

7. Wider market to sell – A smaller, more affordable house is definitely more sell-able to a LARGER percentage of the population.

8. Easier to locate missing items – That car key? The mobile phone that has been put to “Vibrate only”? Your 874th missing hair clip? Hey, at least you only have 87sqm to search around. Increases chances of locating these items.

9. Encourages bonding – A smaller unit will result in more social interaction among its occupants. And yes, while you many think that this could be the very reason that people are purchasing bigger homes, I think the opposite should be just as true.

10. It’s ours and ours alone – Even if we wanted to paint it that gaudy shade of hot pink and have fur-lined toilet seats, no one can stop us.

What do you think? Hosay hor