Max out your Medisave account in Jan Skip to main content

Max out your Medisave account in Jan

Effective Jan 1, 2019 the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) has increased from S$54,500 to S$57,200. Funds in the Medisave Account (MA) and Special Account (SA) earns 4% p.a, while funds in the Ordinary Account (OA) earns 2.5% p.a.

Assuming you have hit the $54,500 limit in 2018, we can take the opportunity to top up $2700 to our Medisave Account by this month using cash to leverage on the following benefits:
  1. Tax deductions if you use cash to top up your MA. Note the $7000 annual cap on CPF deductions, so the SA top up in FY2019 will be $4300.
  2. When your MA has been maxed out, your monthly CPF contribution from your salary and employer will flow over to your SA. This account also earns you an interest of 5% p.a. Once your SA has met the met the Full Retirement Sum (FRS), the funds will flow over to your Ordinary Account, which earns you a 3.5% interest rate p.a.

In summary, whenever the government increases the Basic Healthcare Sum, quickly max out your MA in Jan, then the SA before the end of the year.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trade wars, Hong Kong riots

Be greedy in times of fear. That's the investment mantra I live by. Recently there's been a huge spat on trade wars and the Hong Kong riots, which took a toll on the stock markets.  This was a great opportunity to load up on my existing positions as their prices have come down to more favorable levels. There no reason to explore other stocks unless a super attractive opportunity arises, like hongkongland. That counter was hit extremely hard by the riots, since they derive 50% of their revenues from HK.  Other than such events where opportunities present itself, I prefer to average up or down into my existing positions... No need to perform the due diligence again, unless fundamentals have changed. I'm enjoying the opportunities that the markets are presenting in the past few months.  Simply keep calm and aim to collect more dividends by increasing your stake when frivolous sentiment changes. Market entry is a psychological battle against yourself. Another post on this ...
Post a Comment
Read more

I increased term + critical illness coverage further with Manulife

I recently increased my term and critical illness coverage by another $1M and $300k respectively. I checked around with many providers and ended up with Manulife as it's what I need, without all the bells and whistles. AIA offered total coverage for recurrent illnesses, but I figure if I get the same cancer twice, I'd probably be dead by then. So there's no need to pay a premium for that type of policy. Sometimes plain vanilla is the best. I also considered disability insurance where they pay you an amount on a monthly basis. While this sounds like a great idea, the insurers will make it difficult for you to claim this, with strange delay clauses and exclusions. It's much cleaner to receive a large lump sum payment and manage it from there. Why these figures for critical illness? I based it on annual family expenses. Most insurance agents will tell you like 5-10x of your salary, just to get you to buy a bigger policy. An agent that looks out for you will tel...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why i will be investing in the Astrea IV private equity Class A-1 bond

Astrea IV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Azalea Asset Management Pte. Ltd, which is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings. They are issuing bonds for their private equity funds, so this is the first time the retail market has access to the private equity space.  BOND DETAILS Name: Class A-1 Bonds 10NC5 Interest: 4.35% pa, semi annual payment. If not redeemed after 5 yrs on Jun 2023, will step up to 5.35% pa Maturity: 10 yrs, on 14th Jun 2028 with scheduled call date on 14th Jun 2023. "Scheduled" is not "optional". If there is sufficient cash set aside for the class A bond to be redeemed, it must be redeemed. It's not an option. Application for IPO: Min $2k, with integral multiples of $1k thereafter Period of application for IPO: 6th Jun 2018 9am to 12 Jun 2018 12 pm Rating:  A by Fitch, and A by S&P Extra features: There is a bonus redemption premium of an amount not exceeding 0.5% of the principal amount. This means that if the par value if $1.000, the ...
Post a Comment
Read more