Eyes On Retirement

"When I'm old and my memory fails me, this post serves as a reminder on what to do." Every child born as a Singapore citizen is given a Child Development Account (CDA), with the government having the intent of cushioning expenses related to raising a child.  The CDA funds can be used for certain items like paying for childcare and kindergartens, child related medical expenses, medisave approved integrated shield plans.  I use this account for a different purpose, to build my daughters wealth. The only thing that interested me was the Government's Dollar for Dollar match, up to $6k for the 1st and 2nd child. Baby bonus gave us $3k, I topped up $3k , government matched $3k, and the account began with $9k opening balance.  Since I can't withdraw these funds for cash, I'll treat this as a CPF account and optimize every dollar. The CPF website has a nice illustration on what happens with the account through time: https://www.areyouready.sg/YourInfoHub/Pag...

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. Unfortunately there was no SPG/Marriott hotel in Halong Bay area, so i ended up with Novotel. Location: Along the western side of Halong, right across some ongoing construction. Room: Decor is dark wooden, taking a spin on modern Chinese. Wood flooring and a huge king size bed that's abit hard and uncomfortable. I like the decor though. Gym: This has got to be the saddest hotel gym i've ever seen. I decided to run outside instead. Breakfast: The selection is so limited, and it's not even that good. Nice decor though. Would I return? Definitely not to this 4 star hotel. Thankfully I was only here for 1 night. Although the place is filled with Korean tourists, you can eat some basic Korean breakfast here, but that's not my preference.