Family

Hi Heng, you should definitely get an insurance plan for your baby while they are still healthy. The mistake that many make is that they wait for something to happen before acting on it. It is going to be too late by that time as there may be exclusions or the worst case total rejection of the proposal. Its always wise to insure and protect your family member first before a crisis hits. =)

In theory, this is fine and okay. But in reality, a move that will raise lots of questions. If you let another person use your credit card, even though you know fully that he/she is using it, when shit happens, banks and maybe the police will suspect fraud and the whole process of explaining is not worth the effort. The best is just sign up a supplementary card for him/her. Save the trouble.

It would be good to obtain the cost price & number of units they have, coupled with the dividend earned over the years to identify how the investments have performed over the years. Depending if you'd still be keen on investing, you can choose to manage the stocks i.e. look back historically on how the company has progressed over the years, management, business profile etc. and decide how the company is poised to do in the future, or if you really aren't keen on investing anymore, then you could just sell it off.

In order earn consistent interest for this tier, you will need to purchase a new eligible product every 12 months! Furthermore, each product comes with its own set of timeframe and opportunity cost. With this in mind, I will not suggest for you to do it unless you are very certain that the product suits your needs and you do not mind locking your money for a number of years. That being said, is the opporunity cost to lock up your money worth the little extra interest? Here is everything about me and what I do best.

Hi anon, If you are fairly certain of your ability to generate returns for your parents, then by all means, go ahead. If not, it might be better to leave the investments to others. If money is lost, they most likely won't blame you as you are their child, but it will sour things, and you will also feel guilt ridden, which is the last thing you want. If you were to invest their monies, make sure it is not a big amount first. Defiintely don't invest their entire live savings. At their age, they should not be taking undue risk. Perhaps up to 20% of their savings can be placed in defensive equities that generate good dividends. I have actually done that myself, helping my mom to get some dividend stocks, which I myself hold. Mom is very happy when she gets the dividend twice a year. It was a bit hard at the start since she's never invested, so she was very very skeptical about the whole idea. However, as her son, I personally guaranteed her capital (she wasn't going to put too much anyway) so that extra level of guarantee from me was sufficient to convince her to start.

Looks like you can FIRE before 55 yo, as long you dont get married!

Hi Anon, Great question! Some of the posters have suggested useful options, like investing in ETF, unit trusts or even endowment plans. It all depends on your risk appetite, and if you would like immediate access to your funds. You may drop me an email at [email protected] if you would like more information :)

Hi Jared, The CPF savings will be distributed by the Public Trustee’s Office (PTO) to the legally entitled beneficiaries according to existing intestacy or Muslim inheritance laws. A fee is charged for the distribution of unnominated CPF savings. Do note that CPF savings cannot be distributed via a will as they do not form part of the estate. The 9 rules are as follows: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/ISA1967 Please ensure a nomination is made if this is of concern for you (or whoever you are asking for). It only takes a few moments to do so.

Hi anon, I'd recommend all parties sit down and discuss the details. That's what I did. Assuming you haven't booked the banquet, here are some non-exhaustive points to be thrown up for discussion: - Venue - Number of tables - Guo Da Li expectations, e.g. Si Dian Jing, etc - An idea of the expected guest list I had to buy tables for the ladies side, and I understand that this is generally expected. You may discuss the number of tables as well, and how the ang bao monies may be accounted for under this arrangement. As a wedding is between two families, you can consider letting the parents lead the discussion first, and chip in where needed. It is good to prepare by having a certain idea of what you and your parents expect, and then negotiate from there.

Everyone has different priorities in different stage in life, and that's totally understandable. For me, as simple as it might sound, we always have a choice in what we want to do. It's all about "allocating" the priorities. To answer your question, I choose to read updates from my investing community rather than general market news (for eg). It's about choosing which "makes more sense" to you. It's never easy, and sacrifices have to be made sometimes, but at the end of the day, we all made the best choice we see fit at any point in time :)