Singapore Watch

It’s mainly shopping and medical for now, but I foresee, in future, middle and low-wage Singaporeans earners who have fallen behind may also find it necessary to retire in Johor too. For the price of a 2-room HDB flat in Singapore,
one can get a 2-3 bedroom terrace house in Johor, just 15 minutes north of Tuas.

It does make some sort of sense really, since now we are suppose to consider our HDB flats as part of our retirement funding, should the time come for those have all their money tied up in their flat, with no money to retire, they can just sell it off, get a house in Johor and retire.

IT’S MORE THAN JUST SHOPPING IN JOHOR
Insight Down South by SEAH CHIANG NEE

LIVING in one of the most densely-populated and expensive cities in the world has led to greater Singaporean dependency on Johor for cheaper necessities.

Traditionally, Johor has always meant cheaper shopping and chilly crabs for Singaporeans. But these days as Singapore becomes more affluent (it ranks 6th globally on per capita GDP) and embraces the cost structure of a global city, this attitude is changing.

The Malaysian state no longer just represents a few bargains for a small number of people. For a segment of the population, mostly middle and low-wage earners who have fallen behind, the frequent trips to Johor have become a necessary feature to combat high costs.

This trend has become more prevalent in recent years as a result of relentless price spirals and higher unemployment.

Last year, the average household income fell by 2% just as Mercer Consultancy was ranking Singapore as the 10th most expensive of 143 global cities.

Increasingly, Singapore “heartlanders” are making frequent trips to Johor to buy cheaper household goods, groceries, baby products and other family essentials that could cost 50% higher back home.

“We buy only what is necessary for the home and provided if there is savings,” said a taxi-driver, a frequent shopper with his wife. It is a big help to his family budget.

(more…)

I was reading an article in a female magazine, written by Kenneth Goh of IPP Financial Advisors. He suggests this 4 tips:

(1) Cancel all but one checking account

He suggests consolidating all your checking accounts and just pick one and close the rest. Most accounts charge you a fee if you fall below the minimum deposit. Sure, it may only be $2-$5 a month, but why pay the bank money to keep your money?

Personally I don’t believe in paying bank fees. That’s why I currently use FairpricePlus and Standchart’s Xtrasavers. They both have no minimum deposit required, and decent interest rates.

(2) Get credit cards with cash rebates

Most credit cards have their own points system. But the thing is, if you have 2000 points, u might only be able to redeem 1500 points (eg. $10 voucher), and you more often than not will spend more than the voucher amount. Also, time is spent choosing your vouchers, and then they’ll have to snail mail it to you.

The bigger problem however, is most people forget about their points and when they do remember, the points have expired.

I only use cards with cash rebates. Citibank Dividend Platinium is the most straightforward one. They send you a cheque every quarter when the minimum $50 is hit.

For those who prefer debit cards, and getting cash rebates on both signed transactions (2%) and NETs (0.5%), Standchart’s Xtrasavers account comes with a debit Mastercard. However, you’ll need to maintain a minimum of $6k in your account (which will earn interest), and your cashback is deposited on the 1st of each month.

(3) Pay for hospitalisation and surgical insurance (H&S) with medisave

Most people I know already pay for this through their CPF Medisave. There are some who pays in cash, and if you’re one of those, you can consider switching.

(4) Pay insurance premium yearly and not monthly.

Did you know that you pay up to 5% more when you choose monthly payments for your insurance over annual payments? This is because it costs more for the company to collect 12 payments instead of 1. Switching to annual payments saves you up to 5%.

Divide up your annual premium by 12, and force yourself to save each month!