Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds?

Interest rate in the bank is at the all time low. The time where you are able to get 2% per annum in high interest account is over. With the market at all time high, one question I get is if you should invest your emergency funds?

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds
Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds

“The interest in the bank is so low. I should use the power of compounding and invest in the stock market”.

This is the current narration in Singapore right now and I don’t blame them. Most of us are literally looking at our money stagnant. If you are like me, you might feel frustrations keeping the money in the banks which is “not doing anything”. Here is a quick introduction of compound interest.

 

Compound Interest

Let’s assume that we have $50,000 that we are keeping as emergency funds. We will be using the following numbers for our illustration.

The S&P500 10 years historical returns: 13.6%

The STI 10 years historical returns: 1.97%

Current OCBC Account EIR (Salary Only): 0.7%

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds Comparison
Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds Comparison

As you can see on the above future value formulation, the difference is simply ridiculous on a 30 years time horizon. If you have invested the $50,000 in the S&P500, you would have gotten $2.29 million (think about that for a moment). If you invested in the STI, you would have got $89K and if you just leave it in your multiplier account, you would have gotten $61K.

How is it not tempting to invest your emergency funds?

 

So why not invest and keep it as cash?

In life there are many what ifs, that’s the reason why you buy insurance in the first place. By having an emergency fund, you are preventing your life from being a roller-coaster. There are certain things that are unpredictable and could affect your family drastically.

If you desperately need cash then and if the market is NOT in your favor. That would mean that you will need to take a loss without giving it time to bounce back. Ask yourself, do you want to sell at an unfavorable time?

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds and Sell Here
Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds and Sell Here

Some reasons to have emergency funds are job loss, medical emergencies (especially with the changes in the hospital plans: Co-payments), your family member’s medical emergencies, car repairs or home repairs.

“You will never know when you need the money”

 

Your emergency fund is not designed to be a wealth builder

Not everything is designed to be a wealth builder. Sometimes you need the liquidity as a “personal insurance policy” for yourself and your family. I know some that uses credit cards (which might be suitable credit card for emergency) to design their emergency funds, but that’s another topic all together.

 

Final Thoughts By Wealthdojo

Your emergency fund is not designed to be a wealth builder. For those that wish to read about how I spend my money, you can read one of my best article: The Ultimate 4 Quadrants Shopping Guide Especially If You Are 28 and Older.

Till next time!

 

Chengkok is a licensed Financial Services Consultant since 2012. He is an Investment and Critical Illness Specialist. Wealthdojo was created in 2019 to educate and debunk “free financial advice” that was given without context.  

Feel Free To Reach Out To Share Your Thoughts.

Contact: 94316449 (Whatsapp) chengkokoh@gmail.com (Email)
Telegram: Wealthdojo [Continuous Learning Channel]
Reviews: About Me

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.

Expensive Looking Bed

How To Save On Big Ticket Purchases

It is ironic for a finance blog to write about spending money when it is supposed to preach about saving and growing money. Recently, I had a friend who just purchased a bed for SGD$7000. This IS a lot of money for a bed. Personally, I think it is a good purchase because we will spend a good 30% of our lives on a bed. I believe it is a great investment.

Expensive Looking Bed
Expensive Looking Bed: Obviously not this bed.

For those who wishes to read about how I spend my money, you can read one of my best article: The Ultimate 4 Quadrants Shopping Guide Especially If You Are 28 and Older.

In my research, I present to you one way to save money on big ticket purchases.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All information accurate on 7 Jan 2021. If you feel the information has been helpful, I have referral bonus for Citibank.

 

Big Ticket Purchases

To clarify what big ticket purchases in this context, these are items that are often necessary but expensive. We are looking at a couple of categories such as the following.

Furniture: Bed, sofa, chairs, tables etc

Home appliances: Oven, fridge, standing lights, TV, fans, air-con etc

Work/Electronic appliances: Laptop, headset, smartphone etc

Travel: Air ticket

These items typically ranges from hundreds of dollars to thousand of dollars. They are usually pre-planned (why would you buy a sofa suddenly?). The most common would be laptop and smartphone. After doing a survey, I realised there is a trend to change them every (approx) 3 years. Because of the predictability and the large amount, we can make use of one tool in the market to help us.

Cashback on credit cards. 

Those who have been following me for a while know that (1) I’m a cashback person and not a miles person, (2) I don’t really like the concept of credit cards in my journey of wealth management. However, if the credit cards can be used for one off purchases such as the above. I think it is well worth it. I hope these 3 credit cards can help you. Once again, this is not a sponsored post.

 

#1: Citi Cash Back+

I will be straightforward. The one thing that attracted me to this card is the generous cashback.

  1. 1.6% Cashback for on all your spend
  2. No minimum spend required & no cap on cash back earned
  3. Get 4.5% cash back on up to S$5,000 spend (up to S$225 cash back) in the first 3 months.

This means that if I have a predictable spending of at least $5000 coming up. I get a 4.5% cashback on this card.

If you think this is good for you, I would appreciate if you can use my referral link: My Referral Link.

Please check out the T&C on the website for more details.

Citibank Cashback Plus
Citibank Cashback Plus

 

#2: Amex True Cashback

Amex is one company whose customer service seems to be on the highest level. Although I have never used their services, I do hear raving reviews from them.

  1. 1.5% Cashback on all purchases
  2. No minimum spend required & no cap on cash back earned
  3. 3% Cashback on up to S$5,000 spend in the first 6 months.

I rank this number #2 because of the lower cashback amount and also AMEX may not be accepted in some places in Singapore.

Please check out the T&C on the website for more details.

American Express True Cashback Card
American Express True Cashback Card

 

#3: HSBC Advance

HSBC comes in number 3 due to the conditions needed for the cashback.

  1. Up to 3.5% cashback
  2. Limited privileges with Entertainer.
HSBC Cashback
HSBC Cashback
HSBC Advance Credit Card
HSBC Advance Credit Card

Please check out the T&C on the website for more details.

 

Final Thoughts By Wealthdojo

A credit card is like a double edged sword. Use it well, it will serve you well. Use it badly, it will come one round and hurt you. We wish you the best of luck in 2021. I appreciate your support and thank you if you were to sign up the Citibank card because of this website (there are no obligations). This is my referral link again: My Referral Link.

If you are thinking whether credit cards will be disrupted, you can read my article on bitcoin and whether it is too late to invest in it. .

Till next time.

 

Chengkok is a licensed Financial Services Consultant since 2012. He is an Investment and Critical Illness Specialist. Wealthdojo was created in 2019 to educate and debunk “free financial advice” that was given without context.  

Feel Free To Reach Out To Share Your Thoughts.

Contact: 94316449 (Whatsapp) chengkokoh@gmail.com (Email)
Telegram: Wealthdojo [Continuous Learning Channel]
Reviews: About Me

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.

OCBC Great Eastern Cashflo Credit Card

OCBC Cashflo Credit Card to affect Great Eastern Insurance Premiums Payment

From 1st October 2020, OCBC Cashflo Credit Card will now impose a 1% processing fee for Great Eastern premiums charged under a 12-month installment plan. If you are using your Cashflo Credit Card to pay for your Great Eastern premiums, this is something that you will want to take note of.

OCBC Great Eastern Cashflo Credit Card
OCBC Great Eastern Cashflo Credit Card

OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Pre-October 2020

To be honest, the OCBC Cashflo credit card has great advantage for Great Eastern policy holders. To summarize, these are the 3 greatest advantage they offer.

  1. Allow the policy owners to be charged annually to get cheaper premiums. (to be explained below)
  2. Allow policy holder to better manage their cashflow / wealth management. (as they will be paying monthly)
  3. Get cash rebates (0.3% cash rebate on your premiums for selected Great Eastern Life and Great Eastern General insurance plans)

To set the context, paying annual premiums for (non-ILP) insurance policy typically gives around 3% discount. Imagine this, the annual premiums for the policy is $12,000. The same insurance policy will cost $1030/month ($12,360/annually) if you decide to pay by monthly mode.

The client saves $360/year by being charged annually using the Cashflo Card. He is able to pay monthly $1000 to manage his cashflow better and get $3/month cash rebate (assuming that the card is only used for this policy.)

Net Benefit: $396 per year ($360 + $36)

OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Pre-October 2020
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Pre-October 2020
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Pre-October 2020 Cash Rebates
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Pre-October 2020 Cash Rebates

OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Post-October 2020

From 1st October 2020, there will now be a 1% processing fee if the policy holder decides to take the option to be charged annually AND cash rebates will no longer be awarded for Great Eastern premiums.

OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Post October 2020 Processing Fee
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Post October 2020 Processing Fee
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Post October 2020 Cash Rebates
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card Post October 2020 Cash Rebates

 

What should you do?

Let’s take the above situation again where the policy holder is paying $12,000 annually.

The client saves $360/year by being charged annually using the Cashflo Card. Customer wants to have it via installment and have to pay $120/year for the processing fee. There is no longer any cash rebates.

Net Benefit: $240 per year ($360 – $120)

There is still net saving if you use this method of paying for the premiums.

 

Final Thoughts

It is no fun having your net benefits being slashed especially if you have been reaping the benefits from this for years. However, this is not the first time that credit card’s benefit is being updated to reflect the current market situation.

I believe that this will happen in future as well. Do keep yourself updated on these changes.

Speak to your financial advisors for future clarification.

 

No one will care about your money as much as you do.

In Wealth Management, it is important to Pay yourself first. Beware of scams. Before you invest in any company or popular investment opportunity, be sure to do your own due diligence. If you wish to learn more about Wealth Management, I hope to nurture genuine relationships with all of my readers.

Check out my most popular blog post in 2020 so far: 5 mistakes people make using their CPF.

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