How much is enough for retirement in Singapore?
-
There is no one size fits all financial pdt for retirement bec each financial situation is unique. Just go with the one you are comfortable with and diversity your pdts and sources.
-
slmkhoo\" post_id=\"1938136\" time=\"1569632322\" user_id=\"28674:
The \"fairness\" issue is tricky, and depends on how your family defines fairness, and the aspirations of the 4 kids. I only have 2, and they have very different personalities and aspirations. In a way, it's good that I have only 1 who was eager to go overseas. My other girl is not willing to venture far - not even willing to stay in hostel or go on an exchange programme, let alone go overseas for 3-4 years! Saves a lot of money for us now. We know that, given her needs, we will probably need to help her more and longer financially in the future, so I guess you can say that's \"fair\", but thankfully the sisters don't measure fairness to the exact dollar. I guess if both had wanted to go overseas and we couldn't fund both, then they would have to get scholarships or both stay local. As I told my younger girl when we were debating go/no go, there's always the possibility of exchange programmes or a Master's programme (on scholarship or personal savings) down the road. Anyway, the comparison is not just local vs overseas - the cost of a local Med degree is not necessarily less than the cost of a 3-yr degree overseas![/quote]This topic headache ah. Should parents treat each child fairly?
4 children kind how? Any advice???tyeogh\" post_id=\"1938114\" time=\"1569598210\" user_id=\"94399:
[quote=lee_yl post_id=1938082 time=1569590938 user_id=17023]
For those with 2 or more children, if I can cough out the money to send 1 child overseas, then I must be fair to the other child, so need to prepare to cough out the same amount to support the sibling(s).
Else, all stay put in local Uni !
When I had 2, the answer is Yes. When the 4th came, the answer is less clear.
Every child is different. It is hard to execute. Eg my eldest is bright. I gave her 2 tuition at PSLE. Chinese bec we dont speak it at home. Maths, to challenge her. She was happy.
When No.2's turn came, she had 4 tuition bec not so bright. Eldest complained not fair. Said she lost out doing well in Sci bec of the lack of tuition.
I changed tact to be fair. For no.3, I continued 4 tuition. Fair, right?
Then found him to be strong in English, Maths & Sci. He complained why must go tuition when he is scoring >80 for all. He hated it. Good point tho. I scratched my head.
How to be fair??? What is fair? -
All the savings related policy like to illustrate 3-75, 4 , 4.75% etc
I think since I worked till now, the policy insurance forecast din hit high of near 4 % , I may have seen abt 3-25% in the annual letter fr my PRU plans -
Dunno I forget le, coz not impactful delicious int rate at all.
Thus , must bear in mind, the monthly passive income is based on insurance company projected income at near 4 % - which in reality is always at least 30% lower (?) … -
Take projected values in Benefit Illustrations as a pinch of salt. I look only at Guaranteed Values. Even so, if the insurers kaput, the Guaranteed Values also worthless
-
tyeogh\" post_id=\"1938169\" time=\"1569639505\" user_id=\"94399:
This topic headache ah. Should parents treat each child fairly?
The \"fairness\" issue is tricky, and depends on how your family defines fairness, and the aspirations of the 4 kids. I only have 2, and they have very different personalities and aspirations. In a way, it's good that I have only 1 who was eager to go overseas. My other girl is not willing to venture far - not even willing to stay in hostel or go on an exchange programme, let alone go overseas for 3-4 years! Saves a lot of money for us now. We know that, given her needs, we will probably need to help her more and longer financially in the future, so I guess you can say that's \"fair\", but thankfully the sisters don't measure fairness to the exact dollar. I guess if both had wanted to go overseas and we couldn't fund both, then they would have to get scholarships or both stay local. As I told my younger girl when we were debating go/no go, there's always the possibility of exchange programmes or a Master's programme (on scholarship or personal savings) down the road. Anyway, the comparison is not just local vs overseas - the cost of a local Med degree is not necessarily less than the cost of a 3-yr degree overseas!slmkhoo\" post_id=\"1938136\" time=\"1569632322\" user_id=\"28674:
[quote=tyeogh post_id=1938114 time=1569598210 user_id=94399]
4 children kind how? Any advice???
When I had 2, the answer is Yes. When the 4th came, the answer is less clear.
Every child is different. It is hard to execute. Eg my eldest is bright. I gave her 2 tuition at PSLE. Chinese bec we dont speak it at home. Maths, to challenge her. She was happy.
When No.2's turn came, she had 4 tuition bec not so bright. Eldest complained not fair. Said she lost out doing well in Sci bec of the lack of tuition.
I changed tact to be fair. For no.3, I continued 4 tuition. Fair, right?
Then found him to be strong in English, Maths & Sci. He complained why must go tuition when he is scoring >80 for all. He hated it. Good point tho. I scratched my head.
How to be fair??? What is fair?[/quote]maybe tell them go by 'needs'?
your kids are so ON, like to go for tuition..mine nego not to go for tuition..We (esp dh) quite fair to them when come to buying 'toys' for them.. in fact dh is the who always remind me need buy for the other kid when buy for this kid.. else I will go by buy what they need/desire.. clothes/shoes, if ask them, everything no need to buy.. fair/not fair to them if they were to speak out is usually about the adults' attention and affection on them..still young quite simple minded now.. But I do hear from friends who have more grown up kids, mentioned that eg if let the younger one go for higher education worry the elder one not happy etc.. but to me still go by what they desire ba.. -
Iluvmygals\" post_id=\"1938156\" time=\"1569637285\" user_id=\"26453:
When buying any insurance product, think the consensus must be that it is not meant to give one high returns (high returns have to go to equities to try). Most products are for long term with majority of them will see more meaningful returns of 3+% after 20 years.
499,800 with a 4.75% return gives u 23,740/annum which is 1,978/mth. With the policy, it only gives 1,470/mth. The missing bits is probably the management fee paid.
A direct investment into DBS, UOB also gives a dividend yield of 4.8%, with no management fee needed and shares are deposited into CDP account and can be inherited by children. Would that not be a better choice?
No doubt there will be argument about share price fluctuations. If focus is on monthly income, then price fluctuation shouldn't matter...not to forget there could be price upside too....
Just sharing an alternative view....
I have several (maybe 8 incl my hubby's and kids’) policies, excl my annuities, that are more than 20 years. All currently can give above 3% p.a. return (averaged across the 20+ years), with two giving above 6% p.a. (very happy with these two). I am still holding on to all these gems coz like every $1 premium I pay into each of these will give me a return of $2+ annually (and the amount will just grow and grow with free insurance cover in a way).
I see in the market many younger people (usually late 20s or early 30s), anyhow after some ‘research’ then go and surrender their policies, thinking that they can get better returns by doing investments on own. In my estimate, maybe 10% of them can make it (beat the 3+% long term return) and the rest just lose themselves half way and end up poorer than what they would be if they have stuck on to see their policies grow in strength over the years (lacking patience and ‘faith’). Strict discipline is just more difficult to exercise during their ‘formative’ years.
A word of caution: not every insurer is equal and so important to do this due diligence.
Higher dividend paying stocks like DBS and REITs can be an alternative flow of passive income. At my age, I buy more into bank/coporate bonds with lower yield than bank stock dividends but ‘more stable’ (I also holding some REITs and bank stock but I trade more on them with my allocated spare cash, meaning I don’t rely on them really for my passive income). Want even more stable will be Bond ETFs – more stable means have to take in lower yield than direct bond purchase.
High yield always comes with a price and vice versa. Market is very interesting to fill with different products to meet different risk appetite. Assess your risk appetite and then be contented with the returns (now I am contented if my passive income can give me about 4% returns. Anything higher actually can scare me.)
PS:
One mummy said about hedging kids’ overseas education by going to poly. This is a smart move esp now poly courses are more interesting.
Another way of hedging maybe to store currencies in the country of interest (US? UK? Auz?). I am waiting for Auz to drop below 92 cents or the pounds to drop to 1.60 then I will stock some up in batches to prepare for my nephew’s overseas education (he is O level this year and shows signs of interest in going to the poly for aerospace engineering. Yet to be confirmed as he still changes his mind now and then.).
My personal idea is to change a sum into the desired foreign currency then buy some blue chips stock of that country, to wait for another 5 years hopefully the stock price will rise then can sell yearly (part of part) to fund his education (if really want to, then I have to continue researching for the picks).
All these currency conversion and buying stocks to hold etc entail risks. 5 years actually is too short for a punt in equities but I may just punt since I can afford to lose part of this sum (see, when have some spare cash in hands, one may be willing to take on higher risks). -
Hercules, can share which insur brand u trust more on legacy n annuity beside Manulife u shared earlier , then we can do drill into do research according to our retirement needs? Thanks
I see that u are taking the needs of a big family … wow …internal fin planner & retirement consultant le -
tyeogh\" post_id=\"1938169\" time=\"1569639505\" user_id=\"94399:
Every family has to decide how to define it for themselves. The simplest way is to determine it by dollar terms - $x per child. But as MKS points out, every child has different needs, and they will also have different desires, so $ terms may not be a good way of measuring fairness. The child who wants to be a sailor may need lots more money to achieve Olympic gold than a child who aspires to be a Olympic gold sprinter. My family prefers to go by needs as well, but it's isn't always the one with the most needs who gets the most in $ terms either. The main thing is that the whole family, including the kids, has to agree on a definition, and be willing to consider others' needs alongside their own, or there will be unhappiness and envy.
This topic headache ah. Should parents treat each child fairly? ...slmkhoo\" post_id=\"1938136\" time=\"1569632322\" user_id=\"28674:
The \"fairness\" issue is tricky, and depends on how your family defines fairness, and the aspirations of the 4 kids. ...
How to be fair??? What is fair?
Currently, my more able child is spending lots of $ overseas, while my less child is spending less $ in Singapore, but having a lot more of my attention and non-monetary support. Is that a fair deal? In future, the more able one will probably earn a lot more than her sister, who will probably need more monetary as well other support from us. Is it useful to measure the $ amounts and time and effort we give each one, and try to give each one the same? We have been frank with them about this (not when they were very young, but when they reached their late teens). Luckily, we all, kids included, think that unequal distribution in $ terms is not necessarily \"unfair\".
As parents, I guess the best we can do to be \"fair\" is to tell the children that we will do our best to help each one to go as far as he can to achieve his dreams, as long as another child doesn't lose out on the same level of opportunity, even if one child's dreams may cost a lot more than another's. It might mean that everyone has to cut back some, or find other sources of funding/support, but no-one should feel that the others have been favoured above him. -
tyeogh\" post_id=\"1938114\" time=\"1569598210\" user_id=\"94399:
I always feel that my mum favors my brother the most but she never admits. She said she treated all her children equally. Thus, I think we must be very very careful when dealing with fairness. Just like you think your DD1 is the brightest thus only requires 2 tuition but in her perspective, she feels that you are being unfair. So fairness is perceived differently.
4 children kind how? Any advice???lee_yl\" post_id=\"1938082\" time=\"1569590938\" user_id=\"17023:
For those with 2 or more children, if I can cough out the money to send 1 child overseas, then I must be fair to the other child, so need to prepare to cough out the same amount to support the sibling(s).
Else, all stay put in local Uni !
There’s a saying, “When you have 3 children, always buy 3 lollipops and the 3 lollipops must be of the same favors.”
Recently, a friend with 3 kids took up a loan to send her eldest to Edinburgh. She told the eldest she must return to SG and take over the responsibilities to send her younger siblings to Uni cos my friend has no more money. Her 2nd child is already making noises and dead worried that the jie jie won’t return. I feel that this is not the best arrangement...
My own suggestion, not sure if it’s good idea though, if you intend to allocate up to $200K to DC1 then be prepared to allocate $200K each for DC2, DC3, DC4 and so forth. If 2 out of 4 doesn’t require the money, then the two can use that $200K to offset their housing loans when they get married etc. Something like, want to give, give all, else all don’t give. -
The difference in ability between my kids is quite distinct. They are aware of it as well. Have been instilling in them that they must take care of and help each other. We will try to be as fair as possible but it is not necessarily possible every time. Even when I buy 2 units with the same layout in the same project, they will be on different floor. And if they are on the same floor, will be of different stack.
It is the same for their school organised overseas trips and internship programs. Different countries, different costs and different allowances.
Believe that so long as they grow up sensibly, they will not squabble over the difference between what each is/is not given. As I have told kids, everybody is different and will walk their own path. They should chart their own path, not focus on what we give them.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login