Best High Interest Saving Account Singapore 2022

Best High Interest Saving Account Singapore 2022

by with 2 Comments General EconomyMoney ManagementMoney Mindset

I never thought there will be a day the banks will adjust their interest rates upwards again(DBS, UOB, OCBC). In 2018 period, the local banks came out with a great marketing program to give higher interest. It was heavily discussed. However, it was short lived as the banks slowly reduced the amount of interest.

Learning from the past lessons, I view that this interest increase as temporary in nature and you shouldn’t base your long term planning (insurance or investment) to increase your interest in your bank account.

In this article, I will take on several assumptions to decide which bank account is the best for you in 2022.

Best High Interest Saving Account Singapore 2022
Best High Interest Saving Account Singapore 2022

Assumptions Taken

Marketing Message From The Banks

This is the current marketing message from the banks.

Based on the marketing message, OCBC sounds the best. It is also good to know that OCBC changed their program 1 month after DBS and UOB have made changes.

First Elimination

With our assumptions, we feel that DBS multiplier is the worst out of the 3.

DBS Multiplier Account Working
DBS Multiplier Account Working
DBS Multiplier Account Interest Tiers
DBS Multiplier Account Interest Tiers

Based on our assumptions, we will only hit 1 category in DBS multiplier. I feel that we shouldn’t increase our transaction categories just for the sake of the higher interest.

Effectively, there will be a higher interest on the first $25,000. Your interest of 1% will give you $250 annually.

Best Fuss Free Bank Account: OCBC 360 Account

OCBC is rank the best fuss free bank account in my opinion as they follow a very simple interest tier model.

OCBC 360 Account Interest Tiers
OCBC 360 Account Interest Tiers

Following our assumptions for using only salary crediting and spending on credit card, the effective interest rates (EIR) 1.5% resulting in an annual interest of $1500.

However, I like this more as this is fuss free. If you don’t want to hit the credit card spending of $500 monthly, the salary option will have an EIR of 1.1% resulting in an annual interest of $1100. This is great for people who do not want to keep track of their spending for the sake of the extra interset

Best Higher Interest Bank Account: UOB One

UOB and OCBC comes up very close but UOB wins because of the ease of understanding of their UOB one card.

UOB One Account Interest Tiers
UOB One Account Interest Tiers

The emphasis of UOB is the credit card spend. If you do not hit the minimum of $500/month, then the interest be affected. Hence, this will only work if you are certain to be able to hit the monthly eligible credit card spend of $500.

The total annual interest (inclusive of cash rebates) from UOB One account and UOB One Card is $1,700 making this the best higher interest bank account for now.

 

Final Thoughts

There you have it. Personally, I’m went with the OCB 360 account because of the ease of use.

I believe that choosing your bank account is one of the first steps to plan for your finances. At the same time, I will avoid buying products just to get that extra bit of interest as the interest might change in future again.

That being said, you should always have a long term perspective when it comes to planning. I will recommend you to use the retirement calculator to have an idea how much you need for retirement.

I wish you all the best! Take care.

 

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.

What To Do With Your Children's Hong Bao Money

What To Do With Your Children’s Hong Bao Money?

by with 2 Comments ChildrenInvestment AccumulationMoney ManagementMoney Mindset

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing everyone here good health and may your wealth multiply in the years to come. Hopefully, the last 4 days have been one where you have been giving/receiving or your child has been receiving hongbao. One common question that I go from parents with regards to financial planning is what they should do with the money. Most of them are keeping it for their children as emergency funds. This is a good initiative. That being said, is this an opportunity to share money lessons with your children?

What To Do With Your Children's Hong Bao Money
What To Do With Your Children’s Hong Bao Money (Source)

 

Your intention sets the tone

What do you want your child to learn from receiving the hongbao? Is it gratitude? Is it charity? Is it spending? Is it emergency funds? Your intention sets your child’s tone. By default, people will stick to the easiest thing of all: Not doing anything. This is precisely why most parents are keeping their children’s money as emergency funds. (PS: I’m not saying that emergency funds is a bad thing. It is also important.)

However, as the child do not have much ownership of the funds, they do not really learn from that concept. To them, it is their parents are keeping their money for them.

So what can you do this year to inspire your children to take charge of their money. This may or may not be applicable and felt by you depending on your relationship with money. Here are some suggestions.

 

Happiness of Spending Money

Wait a minute. A finance blog asking me to spend money? Yes. It came to my attention that “saving money” or “spending money” has became such a pain for people. As our education on money commonly involves parents screaming at us to save money (or that they don’t have money), it has become very hard for some people to spend mentality. Each time you spend, you will feel a pinch when you see your bank balance drop. That’s commonly known as the poverty or scarcity mindset. Eventually, you might grow up with enough money in your bank but feeling miserable that you don’t have enough.

What To Do With Your Children's Hong Bao Money Spend It
What To Do With Your Children’s Hong Bao Money Spend It

As parents, one of the best thing you can do for them is let them buy something that they have already wanted for a long time. Take 20%, $30 or whatever amount (be reasonable) in their hongbao money and bring them to the shopping center. Let them buy whatever they want. Let them feel the happiness of what money can buy. You will be surprised that some children will buy books, stationaries and of course toys. You can take this chance to introduce to them the 4 Quadrants Shopping Guide.

Let them take charge of their finances, the earlier they do, the more responsible they will become.

 

Delayed Gratification

To balance it up with spending, delayed gratification is next. A simple game you can play with your children is called The Marshmallow Test. I won’t explain too much here. Wait this hilarious video on how children wrestle with waiting to eat a marshmallow in hopes of a bigger prize (more marshmallows).

In finance, the timeline would be longer than this test. The intention is to get the children to save their hongbao money for a longer period of time so that they can get back more at a certain age. This could be done by a simple endowment plan or just Singapore Government Bonds that matures after a set period. When they receive the money after xx years, you can calculate with them (do it with them) how much they have put in and compare it to how much they have received. This can be done with your financial advisor.

 

Investing Lessons

This opens up many lessons for young children. You can share with them about volatility, about index (example if you invests in a Country ETF), about companies (example: when apple makes money, you “make” money too), about value or about growth.

One of the easiest way is to invest in companies that they already know. For illustration, my example will be SBS Transits.

Disclaimer: Not a buy/sell recommendation here.

For children, they probably will be familiar with certain products such as the IPhone, Bus services, Netflix etc. When you invest their money (they can only open a brokerage account when they are 18) for them, they get to see if their money grows in terms of capital appreciation or dividends. You can consider investing for them once a year as a dollar cost averaging approach for them to build up their portfolio.

For those of you would like to have something simpler, consider investing into country ETF like the STI Index, China ETF or S&P500. When the particular country does well, they are able to see the value of their investment grow as well. Similarly, do consider a dollar cost averaging approach for your children and invite them to ask questions. This is a great opportunity to for your children to learn about investing either with yourself or your trusted financial advisor.

What To Do With Your Children's Hong Bao Money Investing
What To Do With Your Children’s Hong Bao Money Investing (Source)

Final thoughts by Wealthdojo

I cannot imagine how much of a head start your children will have if they start learn these money lessons as some adults take decades to learn these. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.

We wish you a Happy Lunar New Year!

 

 

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.

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds

Should You Invest Your Emergency Funds?

by with 3 Comments Money ManagementMoney Mindset

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.

Trace Decay Theory

You can only start 2021 properly after doing these 3 things

by with 5 Comments Money Mindset

Oops, is it 2021 already? If you are like me, the last few days was like a blur. A combination of Christmas, New Year and wine probably pushed the thoughts of wealth management to the back of our minds. But that’s alright, that’s what Wealthdojo is here for. In 2021, Wealthdojo will focus more on emotional finance (something that isn’t really talked about among financial experts).

But wait!

Before you get busy into life (again), take a step back. Don’t be a hamster in a wheel and start grinding/hustling. Take a step back and ponder on what worked last year, what kind of fruit your hustle bore and also your achievement you had. It is easy to continue forward. I challenge you to take the next 15 minutes for this exercise. I guarantee you that the next 15 minutes will set the stage for your 2021.

 

#1: 13 Milestones of 2020

It is very human of us to forget after we finish something. According to Trace Decay Theory: The theory that if memories are not reviewed or recalled consistently, they will begin to decay and will ultimately be forgotten.

Trace Decay Theory
Trace Decay Theory: Did I watch this movie last year?

We quickly forget about projects we completed whether professionally or personally. One very popular response I get when I remind someone of their achievement is this.

Me: “Remember you achieve XXX in 2015?”.

Someone: “Got meh? Now you say it, seems very familiar”.

Today, I challenge you to write down 13 milestones that you have accomplished in 2020. This is very important because we tend to discredit ourselves for things that we have done. By writing down our wins (even small ones), we are training our brain to appreciate the success we are achieving. It is also a strong intrinsic motivator for ourselves. Whether it is big or small, write it down. It is your milestone for 2020 and no one will be there to judge you. For those of you who have more, go beyond 13.

If you wish to read more, I will share 3 of my milestone in 2020.

 

First Death Claim

One July evening, I was having dinner with my friends when I received a text from a client, David (fictional name to protect the identify of the client).

“Hi Chengkok. My wife passed away this morning.”

I stared at my phone for a few minutes before my friend poked me in the ribs. I was slightly dazed and felt as if my mind was floating. I excused myself to go to the toilet still thinking of what to say, how to reply and whether to call David. With what felt like hours, I could only muster a simple “My condolences to your family. How are you?”.

“I’m fine. Could you help me with my wife’s death claim?”

I doubt David was fine that day. During the day when I met him, I could see the dark rings under his eyes. His eyes were puffy and seemed unfocused. It was a hard conversation even for me. I repeated to him what his wife shared with me when she first bought the policy. It was a policy that will mature in a few years time, the time when their children will be all grown up and she was hoping to use the money for their retirement holiday. It wasn’t much. The maturity was in the range of few thousands but she was very enthusiastic about it. I heard a big sniff and a very soft “Thank you”.

In the next couple of weeks, I settled the claim for his family. In the financial services industry, I am no stranger to death, critical illness or hospitalisation. I have done numerous big claims and small claims amounting up to 7 figures and in the course of it impacted and changed many lives. However, my first death claim stirred many emotions in me and reminded me how fragile life was. It was really my pleasure servicing you.

 

First Roadtrip in Australia

It is strange that having a first road trip in Australia is a milestone. For the many drivers out there, you might think this is a joke. Except for someone, who had a driving accident before.

Breakthrough
Breakthrough

In Nov 2016, I was young and wanted to “save time in my itinerary”. The result was a very tired driver (me) and a crashed car. I was alone in New Zealand when I crashed. I was very tired and fell asleep on my wheels. One second. One second was all it took. I nodded off and the next thing I knew, I was skidding down into a rocky path. I honestly thought I would die. When I crawled out of the vehicle, I was trembling. As I sit down on the rough rocky road, I couldn’t help but notice that the surrounding was so beautiful. Thank goodness it wasn’t my turn to go.

Ever since then, I had a fear of driving. My senses will be heighten whenever I had to drive. Driving a mere 10 minutes felt like running a marathon. I knew I was holding on to a high amount of mental tension.

In 2020, it was decided that I would go on a road trip in Australia. The first day experience was extremely tense. I was horned at, the cars around me was going very quickly and I felt paranoid from the constant pressure from the car behind me gave. However, after 2 days, I felt more comfortable and more confident driving. Though I still feel the tension, I learnt to be aware of the tension but not let it overrun me. It was certainly a breakthrough.

 

First MDRT

I got a surprise when my Director called me up to share with me that I was very close to MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table). During the time, we were in the midst of the circuit breaker. COVID-19 literally paused the entire economy in Singapore and World Wide. I thought this would be year of survival. Never would I thought this is the year I would achieve my first MDRT.

For those who are new to this term, it represents a milestone for financial consultants as it means that we are among the top 5% of consultants world wide! I never dreamt of achieving such accolades in my career. My intention was to help the Educated Poor elevate themselves to achieve the financial success they would given the right tools (6 Levels Wealth Karate) and right mindset.

This success is build on trust and referral from my clients and friend. A big thank you for helping me achieve this milestone in 2020.

MDRT Chengkok
MDRT

Hope you enjoyed the read. Now it is your turn, what are your milestones for 2020?

 

#2: 20 Things to be Gratitude for

Our brains have been trained to look out for threats and worries. That’s how the human race has survived for the many years. It is not difficult to think about something that we are worried about. However, remembering what we are grateful for can help to tip our brains to thrive instead of survive.

I challenge you to make a list of 20 things you are grateful for in 2020.

These are a few of mine.

  1. Healthy (no major sickness)
  2. Can work from home
  3. Self invented tofu sleeping technique (to sleep within 5 mins)
  4. Trust and referrals
  5. Having a listening ear
  6. Parents fast technology adoption rate

What’s yours?

 

#3: Who do you want to be?

In the last 10 years, I have been taught to write out your goals, what you want to achieve in the upcoming year and our New Year Resolution. However, these New Year Resolution rarely make it pass February. The reason why it is so difficult to “lose that weight”, or “save that amount of money” is because these are tasks that we have to complete.

As human beings, I believe we are lazy in nature and these tasks (especially if they are difficult) tend to be put off until the last minute or the next year. Instead of having goals/tasks, I challenge you to write out who do you want to be list. Create an identity that you can be proud of.

Instead of “Lose 5kg”, consider “I want to be fit”.

Instead of “Save $10,000”, consider “I am accountable to my money”.

Instead of “Read 10 books”, consider “I want to upgrade my brain”.

The actions will follow. Personally, I want to be a thought leader in personal finance. I want to be an inspiring leader and I want to be physically active and strong.

What’s yours? Share it in the comments below.

 

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.

What 2020 has taught me

What 2020 has taught me?

by with One Comment Guest WriterMoney ManagementMoney Mindset

As we reach the end of 2020, we should all give a pat on the back to ourselves for getting through it. It’s been a year of change to the way we work, hang out and even the way we live. Even though 2020 is coming to an end, we know that things are not going to be changing much at the strike of 12am on 1 Jan 2021. 2021 will be the year we are all still adjusting to the new normal. 2020 has taught me many things as we all slow down and start to realize what really matters in our life.

Today, I invited a young Singaporean blogger with a 9 to 5 job, Shan to share more on her thoughts about 2020 with regards to wealth management, family, work and everything else. Thank you Shan for your contributions. Happy reading!

What 2020 has taught me
What 2020 has taught me

Family

My family definitely has spend a lot more time together in 2020. With my brother coming back from UK in March 2020 due to the pandemic, we have been spending more time together. Without travelling this year, we have managed to save a little more but have been spending it after circuit breaker as we are out for nicer meals once in awhile.

On the other hand, my mum has been cooking more often with on weekdays. She has also started new hobbies like gardening to help her pass time at home. I realised that just the simple evening talks and walks make me so happy on a daily basis. As my brother will be going back to study overseas in 2021, I definitely will miss the time we spent together since March 2020 when he came back.

 

Work

Work has been a huge learning journey due to the restructure in our roles and also expansion of duties. I am happy to be able to learn more after the restructure but the main thing is that people in the team has been leaving and the workload is getting heavier. This makes the remaining team members having to shoulder the work and it is not easy.

On the other hand, I am glad that my contract got extended, even though I was not offered a permanent, full-time role but a small increment was given so I am grateful for that. 2020 has been a really tough year for fresh graduates, from job searching to entering a role with a lower starting pay, no one wants to have it this way when they graduate. Wealthdojo has an article outlining the 3 Money Beliefs That Will Destroy Your Life with one of it being “If you work harder, you’ll be able to earn more”

💡
“If you work harder, you’ll be able to earn more” is really something to ponder upon, there are many people who are willing to work hard and long but does it guarantee them the equal rewards as the effort they have put in? Not necessary and this is why it is important to look out for trends and to know your strengths to put them to good use at the right areas. Working smart is also very important.

The future of work looks to be very different as digitalization, data and technology looks poised to be the future. Even work in my department seems to be going towards digitalization for technology to do it and once done, no human touch will be needed as it can be done by a robot and data easily tracked. It is as though the future jobs will be taken over by technology as I can see the shift towards that and jobs that will be still be in demand will definitely be those maintaining the technology.

With a shift of jobs being automated, it sets me thinking on whether will I be replaced eventually, judging by the large administrative stuff that I do currently, I can see my job being automated in the near future considering that the pandemic has increased the pace of it. I wasn’t imagining this outlook when I started work as everyone was still thinking about automation but the pandemic has really gotten everyone to hasten the speed of digitalization.

 

Finances and Portfolio

2020 taught me that investing is really volatile but rewarding if you stay invested and invest in companies that you have done sufficient research. No one can predict the markets and this was so evidently shown this year. Many expected 2020 to be a bad year for the markets but if you were investing consistently in 2020, almost all assets are in the green. Particularly US stocks and also cryptocurrencies where Bitcoin recently crossed the US$23,000 mark as more institutions put money into it. 2020 has pushed my portfolio into the the green for the first time as I enter the US market, buying VT, VOO, Tesla and LMND which are all currently in the green. I have managed to save much more and has really made me a few steps closer to my financial goals.

Read more: Ending 2020 with a $30,000 portfolio and dividends collected revealed! | Tesla stock price crashed like soufflé?

Conclusion

2020 has taught me about resilience and that being financially prepared is important to ensure that in times of crisis, you are not going to be struggling and worrying about your expenses. At the same time, it has revealed to me the vulnerabilities of working for others where you can be made redundant due to the economic conditions or because the company is cutting costs. There really is no iron rice bowl and the only way to secure your future is to keep up-skilling and re-skilling. Your skills will determine your employability. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we move into Phase 3 and 2021!

More about SingaporeanTalksMoney

She is in her 20s working in a salaried 9 to 5 job like many other Singaporeans. To her, money is a form of freedom as it will allow her to spend more time with her family and also to do things that she likes. As she embarks on her journey towards financial independence, she hopes to document it down and share her journey with everyone particularly for herself as well to reflect on it.

Find out more about her: SingaporeanTalksMoney

 

Final Thoughts By Wealthdojo

I’m a big fan of reflections. One of my favourite quote comes from John C Maxwell.

It is said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from other’s mistake. But the wisest person of all learns from other’s success.

I’m on a mission to collect mistakes and success from various gurus and financial bloggers in Singapore. Let’s all learn from each other’s mistakes and successes and be the wisest one of them all.

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.