Hi Ming Ho! It's great that you are thinking of better utilising your time during this period. Here are some suggestions I have that you can explore: 1. Upgrading yourself - Free Courses Here are some you can consider: Khan Academy, edX, Udemy 2. Upgrading yourself - Paid courses (Use your Skillsfuture!) 3. Increasing your knowledge - pick out books! Did you know our National Library Board allows us to borrow eBooks and Audiobooks for free as long as you're a library member? Check out the selection here! Tip: Download the Libby app! It's really feature-packed and user-friendly

Hi Anon! Brokers for Cash investments If you’re investing less than $100,000, look at Saxo (Fees) If you’re investing more than $100,000, look at IBKR (Fees) Regarding commissions and custodian holding fees, yes, they still apply. Hope this helps!

Hi Anon! It does not matter if you are a student or not as there are no specific exclusions for this. What is more important is if you have declared yourself as a Self Employed Person. This DollarsandSense article sums the eligibility requirements up pretty nicely. Hope this helps!

Hi Anonymous! If the question is whether one can survive being a freelancer, then most definitely, yes. Of course, it highly depends on whether you are freelancing full-time or just on the side; and how much you are able to earn as a freelancer. Being able to thrive is what is challenging for most people, regardless of what they do. Some interesting freelancing jobs you can consider: - Being a tutor - Private-Hire driver / Food delivery - Babysitting - Designing work (think Fiverr) - Dropshipping / eCommerce Hope this helps!

Hi Anon! The draw for Singapore Sweep is held once a month. To 'play' Singapore sweep, you must first purchase a ticket. You can buy a Singapore Sweep ticket at Singapore Pool outlets and from Singapore Sweep vendors. 1. Singapore Pools outlet 2. List of Singapore Sweep vendor. Do note that Singapore Sweep is not available for online or phone betting. At the outlet, you can choose to place a Singapore Sweep bet with the 4D bet slip approach the counter staff: 1. Quick Pick - for 7 random digits 2. First Digit - Pick your own first digit:1, 2, 3 or 4 3. Last 4 Digits - Pick your own last four digits 4. 100 Numbers – for 100 sets of numbers in running sequence with last two digits from 00 – 99 designated by “RR” Do note that you can't pick your own 7-digit numbers, but you can pick either the first 4 or the last 4 digits. Source Hope this helps!

Hi Gabriel! There's actually an informative article written by Seedly on this. TLDR; If you don't cross out your cheque, any person holding the cheque is able to encash the cheque by presenting the cheque to the counter.

Hi Anon! Congratulations on embarking on the first step in taking charge of your retirement. In assessing whether you should do a top-up (Voluntary Contribution) into your CPF, here are some notes and factors I would consider: 1. Liquidity The first point I would like to flag here is that any contributions to your CPF are one-way . There is no way to withdraw the monies thereafter; even though you may use them for very specific applications (e.g. OA monies for Housing, MA for Medical treatments, etc). So please consider your current liquidity scenario before even thinking of topping up. 2. Current Cash & Cashflow The next important point to note would be your current cash situation. a. Have you paid off all outstanding loans/non-good debt? The interest charges from your loans (e.g. Credit Card debt / Student Loan) will erode any tax relief / interest yield from CPF. b. Do you need the cash in the immediate future? You need to plan what the immediate milestones are for yourself. You may need the cash to get married (wedding banquets are expensive!), or place a downpayment for a home and also for renovation. Consider how much these costs, factor in your cash inflows, and consider whether you still have enough set aside for topping up into CPF. Having said that, compound interest works wonders for you the earlier you start. So yes, if you have the factors above pinned down, I would definitely recommend topping up into your CPF-SA. (Do kindly note that you are eligible for tax relief only if you top up into your SA ) You may consider topping up less than $7,000 in the first year of your working considering that $7,000 is more than 20% of your total income earned in the first year. Hope this helps!

Hi Anon! I would say that SCB Jumpstart is a gift to all aged between 18 - 26 years old. So yes, definitely you should open the account now for this low-hurdle savings account. Additionally, if you have idle cash above the capped amount for DBS Multiplier, then yes, it makes sense to transfer them to the SCB Jumpstart account. However, it is worth inspecting deeper into your overall portfolio, and also understanding what your objectives (and timelines) are to better guide your decisions with your cash. After all, savings accounts are not the only way to get returns on your money; and in fact, there are instruments out there that can provide better returns (with risk).

Hi Johnny! There are a number of options for you if you decide to pursue further studies. However, you should first ask yourself: what is it that you would like to do in future? This should serve as the guiding principle for what you would do next. A common choice in your scenario would be to take the 'N' and 'O' levels as a private candidate, which would then open up more options in terms of further studies (e.g. Polytechnic Diploma, Pre-university, or even a Private degree).

Time in the market is better than timing the market. If you are sure of your investment objective and timeframe, and have also checked off all other major personal finance essentials (e.g. clearing bad debt, setting aside emergency fund), then there is no better time than now. On investments, returns are never guaranteed, but your costs are. Always seek to minimise costs. Hope this helps :)