Excelsior Financial Blog

More than 220,000 people topped up their CPF or their family's accounts by over $4 billion in 2021! (Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/community/4b-in-top-ups-to-cpf-accounts-so-far-this-year-numbers-of-those-topping-up-for ) The CPF scheme is the Singapore government’s way of safeguarding the financial stability of Singaporeans. CPF monies can be used for retirement planning, to purchase homes, and also to pay for various insurances (term life, hospitalization, mortgage, long-term care, et al). However, some people still have an issue with CPF because the money that goes in, can’t come out until they are much older (55 years old specifically). Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/1fzyz-bmKBw   So why are more Singaporeans topping up their CPF? We explore a few reasons below:     1 - Better Low-risk Interest Rates One of the key reasons that Singaporeans may consider topping up their CPF is the rate of return that it gets - Ordinary Account 2.5%, S...

  4-3-2-1 Approach to Financial Freedom I speak to clients on a daily basis regarding management of their wealth. One common trend I observe is many people aspire to reach financial freedom at some point in their lives, but most are clueless how to get there. Financial freedom is the point in your life when your work becomes an option rather than a means of survival. In this article, I outline some broad strategies on how you can get started along this journey towards financial freedom. The 4-3-2-1 Approach Photo by  Jason Hogan  on  Unsplash One simple rule of thumb I tend to adopt is going by the 4-3-2-1 ratios to budgeting. This ratio allocates 40% of your income towards expenses, 30% towards housing, 20% towards savings and investments and 10% towards insurance. While this is by no means a hard fixed rule, it is a useful guide to ensure you are not over-allocating resources towards any one single area while neglecting the rest. For a young person who has yet to a...