Financial Freedom

Natural Language Processing Using Python - Trump speeches

Got a Python code from Github that uses Markov algo to churn out random sentences using Trump's speeches as a database.

Check out some of the random sentences I got below:

Immigration is a privilege, and we should have kept 20,00 troops or something, we give Iraq.

ADD LEAST HE'S NOW ADMITTING IT IS GOING TO BE AS BEAUTIFUL AS A WALL COULD BE.

We have 93 million people that are incompetent.

When Ford moves to Mexico, I’m going to stop drugs from coming into New Hampshire.

When Carrier Air Conditioners, as you know, Afghanistan for $43 million – can you imagine we are ranked number 28 which is way down at the negotiating table without pre-conditions for years.

In other words, the worst elements in Mexico are being pushed into the United States and Israel is absolutely, totally unbreakable.

He mentions it but I want them to invest in our country.

Why do they have to do that, you know, I said bomb the oil, right?

And again, we have a situation in Afghanistan; we're spending tremendous amounts of money were spent – millions and millions of votes more.

So I told these political pros, you know, I hate to say 40 but I won’t even say.

We will someday in the not too distant future.

Again, many Americans must wonder why we get the crowds, you wonder why you get yourself in trouble.

Don’t forget, I didn’t want the credit for that.

I mean, they have no documentation and we don’t win very much.

I’d get along with him.

And I believe we’re going to be incredible.

Rwanda - Becoming Africa's Singapore

Whenever anyone hears about Rwanda, images and thoughts of the horrible 1994 genocide surfaces to the mind. Back in 1994, the majority Hutu massacred an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Tutsi. More than 2 million people fled the country into neighboring countries until order was restored.

It is therefore hard for anyone to imagine that economic transformation is under way after more than 25 years since the horrible incident. But Rwanda has taken long strides since then. Under the leadership of ex-military strongman, Paul Kagame, the country seems to have picked itself up since 2000 is making steady progress towards becoming Africa's Singapore.

Under Paul Kagame, a Vision 2020 was set to develop Rwanda into a knowledge-based middle class country by 2020. Kagame sought extensive advice from various experts outside of his country. And it seems like good progress is being made.

Amongst the reforms that have been brought about, one of them includes keeping Rwanda clean. It is illegal to use plastic bags in Rwanda and bringing in plastic bags is an offence. Talk about dedication to sustainability efforts! Rwanda

Here is a good informative video on Rwanda. The Singapore of Africa perhaps?

Any Rwandans reading this post? Please leave a comment below. Will definitely want to hear more.

Car Ownership Cost in Singapore - Parking

Of the many car ownership costs in Singapore, the cost of parking probably varies the most.

How much does parking cost in Singapore? Well it really depends.

Firstly, it depends on where you are staying. If you are staying in landed property, there is zero parking costs involved. If you are stay in a condo/private apartment, probably no parking costs incurred too (if you keep within the limits of the number of cars).

How Much is CPF Retirement Sum

CPF Retirement Sum. Easy yet complicated.

Fact #1 - For your retirement needs

Firstly, to withdraw money from your CPF at age 55, you are required to meet the CPF retirement sum. At the age of 55, one's money in the Ordinary Account and Special Account are swept into the Retirement Account.

Civil Service Bonus for 2020

Straits Times reported lately that civil servants will not be getting a year end bonus this year due to Covid 19. There was also no mid-year bonus paid out.

Civil servants received a one off payment of 0.25 months which was capped at $750 as well as their 13th month bonus. This year, senior civil servants also had a pay cut of 0.5 to 1 month according to their seniority.

Not all gloom and doom though. Civil servants still enjoy a performance bonus that is outside of the mid-year and year-end bonus. An average performer should get around 3 months worth of performance bonus according to anonymous feedback in various forums. So taking that into account, civil servant's annual pay package for this year should be around 16 months of monthly salary. That is assuming one is an average performer.

Interested in civil service payscale? Check out this link here https://sgfinancialfreedom.blogspot.com/2015/10/singapore-civil-service-pay-scale.html

MHA Bonus?

Grab and Gojek merger rumours

There has been various reports that Grab and Gojek are making progress in talks to merge both companies.

Based on estimates, Grab is valued at US$15 billion and Gojek is valued at US$10 billion. The rival companies are both loss-making and are two of Southeast Asia's most valuable start-ups.

Over the years, Grab has expanded from ride hailing to food delivery and even to payments (GrabPay). They have expanded rapidly over the years but it remains to be seen whether the various business ventures are profitable.

Just shortly after Covid 19, when its ride hailing business took a hit, its food delivery business saw increased volumes. However, that seemed to increase the rate of their cash burn as food delivery was not too profitable a business to be in.

Both Grab and Gojek refused to comment on the speculation though it was also reported that Grab's CEO Mr Anthony Tan had said in an internal note that they were in a good position to acquire.

Grab's last big acquisition was when it bought over Uber's Southeast Asia business with Uber taking a 27.5% stake in Grab. SoftBank was an investor in both Grab and Uber.

With any merger, Comfortdelgro might end up the loser as it has been facing intense competition ever since Grab began its operations.

Apple Maps Car Spotted Today in Singapore

Was walking along the road today when I saw a Apple Maps car (white in colour) driving about.

Interesting.

Didn't know that Apple had a car like this similar to Google.

In any case, read up a bit and realised that Apple has also come up with a 3D streetview concept like Google Maps called Look Around.

Though I haven't noticed such a feature on my iPhone yet. So perhaps it is still being rolled out in phases.

Singapore Civil Service - Declaration of Indebtedness and Financial Embarrassment

Civil servants or public officers in Singapore are expected to declare their financial standing when they first join and every year thereafter or whenever their unsecured financial liabilities exceed 3 months salary.

This declaration of indebtedness is meant to ensure that civil servants remain of good financial standing and helps the Public Service know whether an officer becomes vulnerable due to financial embarrassment. The intention is meant to protect the officer (and by extension the Public Service) and is not meant to penalise the officer.

An officer is considered to be financially embarrassed if he or she has defaulted in repayment of loans, credit facilities and liabilities for 3 consecutive months.

Other situations where one is financially embarrassed also include being an undischarged bankrupt or where one takes a loan outside certain categories.

So this means that if one has not been making payments for credit card bills for 3 months consecutively, one will be considered financially embarrassed. Or if one has borrowed from a money lender, one will also be considered financially embarrassed.

So a civil servant must be careful to take only secured loans like housing or car loans. Other loans such as education loan, renovation loan is also allowed. Unsecured loans like balance transfer or credit cards must be capped at 3 months salary.

A civil servant who is financially embarrassed must declare.

Check out other posts related to the civil service:

1. Civil Service Bonus for 2020

2. Civil Service Payscale

3. Credit Checks and Credit Bureau in Singapore (Bet you did not know that your credit report is actually available and compiled by certain agencies)

Civil servants in Singapore, like anyone else, can experience financial difficulties due to a variety of reasons, such as job loss, medical expenses, or overspending. While the job security and steady income that comes with being a civil servant may provide some financial stability, it is still important to practice good financial management and plan for unexpected events.

To avoid financial embarrassment, civil servants in Singapore can take the following steps:

Budgeting: Create a budget and stick to it, to ensure that expenses do not exceed income. This can help to avoid overspending and build up savings for unexpected events.

Debt Management: If necessary, seek help to manage debt and prioritize repayments.

Savings: Build up emergency savings to cover unexpected expenses, such as job loss or medical expenses.

Investment: Consider investing in diversified portfolios to grow wealth over the long term.

Financial Planning: Seek professional advice to develop a comprehensive financial plan that takes into account one's current financial situation, goals, and risk tolerance.

In conclusion, financial embarrassment can have a negative impact on personal and professional lives. Civil servants in Singapore, like anyone else, should be concerned about financial embarrassment and take steps to avoid it, such as budgeting, debt management, savings, investment, and financial planning.

Rental Income or Dividend Income

Which is better? Rental income or dividend income?

Having both rental income and dividend income, I can say that I actually prefer to collect dividend income.

In Singapore, I don't have to pay taxes on dividends. But I have to pay taxes on my rental income.

Also, rental income is taxed at one's income bracket and that results in a lower yield from whatever rent I collect.

If using a housing/ real estate agent, one also has to pay the agent commission ranging from 1 to 1.5 months rental. This alone can be quite significant.

In terms of passiveness, there is work involved too in terms of finding tenants paperwork, etc.

On the other hand, dividend income is fairly straightforward. No taxes, no hefty commissions to be paid, and relative ease in terms of monitoring (assuming one is buying a good quality income).

This is not investment advice. Purely stating my preference as a very lazy investor.

Still Alive & Kicking

Haven't written in a long while. The last time I logged in to blog was probably 1-2 years back.

Everything is fine. Just saying hi to all my readers.

Still alive and kicking!

Starting Pay for Fresh University Graduate

So what is the starting pay for university graduates that are fresh out of university?

In 2017, the median salary for fresh graduates was $3,400. This is as compared to $3,300 in year 2016.

The top gross salary went (not surprisingly) to law degree holders from NUS and SMU, medicine from NUS, and those who did a double degree in business and computing from NTU. These earned $5,000 per month.

Computer Science and dental surgery ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively at $4,285 and $4,050.

The survey results are quite surprising I must admit. But it shows that computing is probably in great demand for a variety of sectors in Singapore's economy. With the rise of fields such as data analytics, machine intelligence and cybersecurity, these graduates are probably well - placed to take advantage of the digital economy.

The usual suspects of law, medicine and dentistry naturally command a high pay.

New Property Launch: Is Artra worth the buy?

The showroom at ARTRA was packed on Saturday. I will not be surprised if the units are almost 80 of 90% sold.

Besides boasting a really good location just beside Redhill MRT, it also has quite a hefty price.

All units are selling for around $1,5xx psf.

Indicative price:-

Type A, 2 bedroom + Study, from S$1,19X,XXX
Type B, 3 bedroom, from S$1,59X,XXX
Type C, 3 bedroom + Study, from S$1,79X,XXX
Type D, 3 bedroom + Study + Private Lift Lobby, from S$2,09X,XXX

Income Tax

"Off to pay my taxes"

Gold Prices - Are They Headed Higher?

Since the Trump election, gold prices have been slowly gaining ground. Just recently, Citigroup head of metals and research, David Wilson, gave his views that gold prices could be headed towards $1,300.

Let's take a look at this wonderful graphic below, originally from this source on gold IRAs, to see how gold prices have moved with various significant events since 2008.

Will gold prices head higher with all the uncertainty? Or is there going to be a renewed phase of economic growth that might stop gold prices from rising further? With low interest rates coming to an end, will gold prices stabilise?

Let me know your thoughts.

How Much Savings Should I Have at 35

How much savings should one have at age 35? I think that is an interesting question that demands a good answer.

I was recently browsing an article when I came across something that caught my attention.

The article was giving a rule of thumb on how much one should have saved at age 35, 45, 55 and 65.

I am not too sure whether I recall the figures correctly but it stated that these were the sums required:
- @ age 35 = 1 times your annual income
- @ age 45 = 3 times your annual income
- @ age 55 = 5 times your annual income
- @ age 65 = 8 times your annual income

Saving in gold bullion perhaps?

What this means is that if you have an annual income of say, $100,000, you should have saved the same amount by age 35. At age 45, you should have saved $300,000 (3 times annual income). And at age 55 and 65, $500,000 and $800,000 respectively. This assumes no income growth.

I am wondering whether this is a realistic sum. I personally think it sounds realistic because assuming the person retires with am annual income of $200,000 , it means that he should have saved $1.6 million. Not very high but definitely a stretched and achievable target.

What do you think?

Chay Yan Street @ Tiong Bahru

A little late to the scene but I recently discovered the beauty and charm of Tiong Bahru. Lots of hipster cafes have sprouted up over the years in this enclave where old shophouses sit quietly with towering and swanky new condominiums as the backdrop.

I managed to visit Plain Vanilla bakery at Yong Siak Street (which comes right after Chay Yan Street). They are supposed to be famous for their cupcakes and one cost $3.90. Lots of tourist and locals but still managed to find a seat inside a room called "the Workshop". I guess the locals have sort of vacated this area in search of the latest "in-thing" so it was much quieter than I expected even though it was a Sunday afternoon.

When I was walking back to the car, I managed to catch this lovely shot.

Back view of old house with spiral staircase along Chay Yan Street.

Apparently, Chay Yan Street is named after a rubber plantation owner.

Queries from readers

Just sharing some email queries from readers that I have answered over the years. These queries were sent via email. Have removed names.

==

Hi

I chanced upon your site and would like to ask if the stock dividends is going to be paid out in Dec for example, when should we buy in?

Thanks
XXX
===

Hi XXX,

You have to buy the stock before it is ex-dividend to be entitled to the dividends. Stocks which are ex-dividend will have XD beside the stock name in SGX website.

If you are talking about dividend capture strategy, then it is more difficult. I personally find it hard to determine a correct entry point to buy-in to get the dividend/sell at a profit larger than what the dividend would have been. If you are buying a stock for the dividends, I guess it does not really matter when you buy in. Of course, some basic Technical Analysis might help in the long run.

Regards,

FF

===

Hi FF

Thanks for your email.

So if I spot that there is a ex-dividend stock, and if I buy in, will I be entitled to the dividends? Or would it already be too late?

Thanks
XXX

==
Hi XXX,

It will be too late by the time it is shown as XD

Budget 2017 - Housing Grants for HDB

A good snapshot of the housing grant changes announced in Budget 2017 by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.

(Source: HDB)