Eyes On Retirement

I group my friends into 3 categories. Family: Those who are dearest to your heart.  They will always come first. True friends:  Those who you can always count on, no matter the distance or the time spent apart.  They will always be there for you, to lend a listening ear, to share your feelings, to guide you through life.  They may have different interests and lifestyles, but you share an unbreakable bond. Lifestyle friends: People whom you hang out with for certain type of activities, and discussions and banter will be limited to those activities.  Conversations will probably center around your common activities.  Lifestyles change, hence this group of friends will also change. When you're dead, people won't remember you.  Celebrate people's presence when they're alive.  Appreciate them and spend time with them.  There's no point in throwing a bigass funeral to commemorate a life. It's over anyway.  You should had made your ...

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. Location:  In downtown Makati opposite Greenbelt 4 Shopping Area and Glorietta mall.  Great for food and shopping options. Easy access to Museum cafe! Room:   Renovated in 2014. Decently sized rooms, although the carpets are beginning to smell and my room had a musky smell.  Bed is soft yet supportive of my back, so I sleep decently well here. Gym: The treadmills and ellipticals overlook the Greenbelt shopping area  There are so many weight machines here, upper and lower and core.  Free weights as well.  Huge open space to do yoga, circuits, etc.  The perfect gym. Breakfast:  The spread is wide, but I don't fancy what they offer.  It's either too sweet or too salty.  So I only eat their omelette and bread, with fresh juice....

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...

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. Location: Although located in Kuningan, getting to the office is relatively quick by car. Door to door transport time is shorter. It's a better option than the shangrila. Offices surround the hotel so don't expect to go anywhere once you return. Room: Corner room. New and modern with a huge bathroom. The bed is heavenly. Westin never fails. Gym: The treadmills and ellipticals overlook the sky (pollution rather). What I really like about Westin gym's is that they have the TRX system and sufficient weight machines. Small space for free weights. Breakfast: The place is so big that I got lost trying to find various counters. The spread is wide, with lots of fried food options (not ideal for breakfast) and the usual omellete and bread station. If you pick carefully, there are healt...

I recently maxed out the SAF Aviva group term insurance on both term life plan for $1M and accident plans for $600k, which costs me $47.42 and $77.37 per month respectively. This is on top of my existing  whole life plans . I did this to ensure adequate insurance coverage in times of need. The only downside of this is that Aviva pays out a maximum of $20M per event, and it's prorated accordingly, so don't bet your house on this and have some other backup. Term covers up to age 65-70 (your income generating years), and whole life covers your whole life (including your retirement years). In general whole life plans are alot more expensive per $ of coverage, compared to term plans, so you have to utilize both to get adequate coverage at a reasonable cost. In Singapore where voluntary death isn't an option, it could really bankrupt a family. Some say to purchase a $1M term plan that covers you up to age 99. That means you can't live past 99, but such plans are...

Your CPF account consists of 3 accounts: Ordinary Account (OA), Special Account (SA), and your Medisave Account (MA). The OA is primarily used for providing housing, while SA is used for retirement. MA is used to pay for healthcare. The interest rate on your OA is 2.5%, while the interest rates on SA and MA are 4%. There is an extra 1% interest upon reaching the first $60,000, combined across all three (with at least $20,000 in your OA). In order to optimize your CPF account, the key is to move the lower interest OA money into your SA, to take advantage of the compounding effect of that extra 1% per year. Once you begin working, transfer your OA account into your SA account only a monthly basis, as CPF interest is calculated monthly.   This is an irreversible process, but it forms 1 part of your retirement portfolio.  There's no need to inject extra cash into CPF. Once you hit the SA maximum of $171k (based on 2018 figures) the funds will automatically be channel...

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. Location:  Right at the Asok BTS, across from Terminal 21 and the Westin.  I think traffic in this area is too jammed, and will likely avoid in the future. Room:   The bed is very comfortable, but the decor is quite old school.  The room feels like parts of it has been modernized, but parts of it are still the same as when the hotel was built.  The whole scheme doesn't gel. The bathroom is also dated and in need of upgrade.  Who uses small tiles like this in bathrooms nowadays?  This is so 1990s. Gym:  It has a couple ellipticals and a couple treadmills.  Not much selection of weight machines and the space is rather crammed.  The decor is seriously old school 1990s, but I think all Sheratons are like this. Breakfast:  The selectio...