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Sticky Planning for your future
hammy81
Posted 2010-04-11 2:51 PM
New User

Posts: 2



Currently my savings is about 15% of my monthly income. This 15% goes into an insurance-investment and a savings-investment. My friend suggested to have about 20% or more however I feel the need to have some extra cash on hand in case of emergency, which it did. Although the figure for retirement is still very far but I am planning to raise my savings to more by upgrading myself and getting better job future.
keepthisfaith
Posted 2010-04-11 2:55 PM
New User

Posts: 1



Hey, I am a 22 year old NSF this year, waiting to enter SMU in August. I have accumulated some savings and started to invest 1.5 years ago, when at the height of the economic crisis, I bought some stocks and sold them a few months later for a tidy profit.

Looking ahead, the fees for my education would take a large chunk of my savings, and I probably would need my parents to loan me money from their CPF, which I am expected to return them after graduation.

For young people like me, credit cards are a major lure with numerous shopping, food and entertainment privileges and offers. Thus, I would have to be prudent and not rack up high bills with easy credit.

That being said, in my first few years of working life, I would have to avoid any big ticket items too (for eg, car, housing) and invest in a moderately aggressive portfolio (60% stocks, 30% bonds, 10% cash) to earn a good risk-adjusted return. but I would focus on purely insurance policies for protection for my family and avoid investment-linked policies as they usually have hidden charges. I would also set aside 10% of my monthly income for rainy days - it's never too early to plan for retirement. Cheers.


Ginny
Posted 2010-04-11 4:44 PM
Member

Posts: 5



As one ages, there is a higher probability of incurring higher medical costs. To prevent higher medical cost eating into my retirement funds, I have ensured that I am covered with medical and health insurance plans. This will take care of any medical expenses etc along the way.

Besides using my CPF to invest in some blue chip shares, I have also transferred a substantial sum of my CPF savings from the ordinary account to the special account to earn higher yearly interest. I would have enough CPF savings to join CPF Life later on, so the monthly payouts thereafter should take care of some living expenses.

Being cautious with my investments and savings, I invest only in products that I understand. Always ensuring that I am aware of the risks inherent in the products I invest in, I work out the worst scenarios before I put my money in. I limit only 20% of my investment portfolio to high risks investments and monitor them closely, limiting losses whenever necessary.

Constantly reading up , I am always looking for correct opportunities to invest so as to build up a bigger retirement fund.













MGreyhound
Posted 2010-04-11 4:52 PM
New User

Posts: 1



Reaching 40 in couple of years...

Retirement planning starts with protection.
Got my as charged H/S plan some years ago with rider for 100% coverage.
Disability income protection covering at least half my current working income effective 2 years ago. updated 2 years ago.
Life insurance with Critical illness should be sufficient around 10X yearly income, both in form life and term policies. (low income earner...that's why can cover 10X)
I have an investment linked policy (India&China fund) bought to support friend around 10years ago, now should be without sales charges.

Investment for retirement:
My family and Kids!!! - Best investment without a doubt
Health: regular exercise, post ICT quite challenging especially with heavy schedule and workload... i love food, something that needs to improve.

Diversified portfolio in form of Vanguard ETF based in USA. 30% of cash in 40%USA, 30%developed market, 30% Emerging market.
I was able to get withholding tax back from Uncle SAM last year, sent for this year yet to receive reply.
30% cash holding in foreign country waiting to deploy, likely in soft commodity.
30% in Singapore blue chips and dividend stocks. (3.5% average yield) 10% petty cash fund.
CPF SA as bonds, OA to buy unit trusts mainly global funds.
Maxed SRS account past few years for bluest blue Singapore stocks.
Need to work a few years more to generate income to hit certain figure in order to be independent.

All above DIY after reading and paying "tution" fees.
I have the satisfaction of doing half year review of portfolio.

A will is in place in case required.
Peace.

cpch
Posted 2010-04-11 4:58 PM
New User

Posts: 3



My spouse & I are in our 30s. I think we've made some contributions for retirement by saving as much as we can, as well as invest in certain stocks & unit trusts. With investments, the value will increase & compound over time, in the hope of beating inflation. Having insurance coverage also protects us from unforeseen circumstances.
anthin
Posted 2010-04-11 5:01 PM
New User

Posts: 4



I am not really ready for retirement as I do not have much savings and investments. I hope to start investing and save more money for my spendings and future needs for my family. As such, I will try to read more investment related books in order to gain knowledge for about financial planning & retirement needs.
waynekoh
Posted 2010-04-11 9:32 PM
Member

Posts: 8



I just did my 2010 plan. Finally managed to get around to pen budget down, thanks to the Dave Ramsey podcast I have been tuning into for the past 6 months.

1) Short-term cashflow: Cleared credit card debts, set up S$1k emergency fund+3 months' expense (rainyday) fund. 

2) Insurance: Recently got a Term insurance (death/critical illness) for 10 years' expenses and also had As-charged shield plan + Rider 2-3 years ago.

3) Long-term investing: Will be putting 14% of **THP into SRS (for retirement), 7% of **THP into kid's college fund, 33% of **THP into long-term "drip-in-money" aka dollar-cost-averaging into funds (stocks, UT or ETF) for retirement.
**Take Home Pay

Administrator
Posted 2010-04-12 9:40 AM
Administrator

Posts: 30



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