Today, we are going to share with you how to invest your CPF investment money in a no-brainer way. The best part? You need not be financial savvy to do this. A beginner can do it! And I’ll reveal the exact step-by-step process, which you can follow easily. What is CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)? It is to provide option to CPF members to invest their CPF savings in your Ordinary Account (OA) and Special Account (SA) in various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares in Singapore. The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4% for Ordinary Account. Check their latest CPF interest rate here. Below is the latest CPF rate (1st Oct to 31st Dec 2019).   Share this Infographic On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /><br /&

Aviation is undoubtedly a booming industry, with the emergence of low-cost airlines in recent years adding to the growth of the overall sector. The rise of the middle-class segment has also allowed many people to take holidays in far-flung places, while airlines have been scrambling to add more flights to a wider variety of destinations to cater to burgeoning demand. In Singapore, our Singapore Tourism Board has been promoting the country as a choice destination for travellers from China, Indonesia, and Japan. Visitor arrivals increased by 1.8% year on year for July 2019, taking the total tally of visitors for the first seven months of 2019 to 11.13 million. Japanese tourists have also seen a 7.3% year-on-year surge for the January to July period this year, compared to the same period las

Telegram is an open-source, privacy-focused instant messaging platform that is growing in popularity, especially among millennials. Like any instant message service, it allows people to message individuals or in larger groups, but unlike its more popular counterpart WhatsApp, you can find and add contacts based on their username, without their phone number. Telegram also has apps for both desktop and mobile use. There are also different kinds of communities available on Telegram, run by individuals or brands. There are group chats that allow two-way communication, and can have thousands of members. There are also broadcast groups where communication is one-way only – by following these channels, you receive posts from the broadcaster but you can’t reply in the channel directly. Mos

Blue-chip companies have a reputation for being safe and stable. This reputation has been built up over the years as such companies likely started out small, but grew much larger over the years as a result of rapid business expansion. Many investors flock to blue chip companies as they are considered safe investments that offer a consistent return. However, the reality is that blue chip companies have also faltered and failed over the years, and the graveyard of fallen companies is littered with once-famous blue chip companies that fell from grace and were unable to pick themselves back up. Investors should rid themselves of the illusion that blue chip companies are “sure bets,” as such companies are also subject to business, economic, and competitive forces. Here are three re

This is the final part of a checklist adapted from Michael Sheen’s book “The Investment Checklist,” which features a comprehensive checklist of questions to ask when evaluating a business and its stakeholders. This final section touches a little on growth opportunities for the business and also critically evaluates if mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have done well for the company. 1. Is the management team growing the business steadily? Many companies are focused on growth, but not many are able to ensure that this growth is steady and sustainable. Management that guns for fast and outsized growth usually ends up taking on significantly higher risks in order to achieve unrealistic targets. The business may also take on huge debt loads and flush large amounts of cash d

The credit card market in Singapore has a new entrant with the launch of a brand new travel card – the OCBC 90°N Card. The card comes with privileges and promotional offers for mile-chasers, but how does it stack up against other existing miles cards? We examine it today with two other popular air miles cards in the market – Citi PremierMiles Card and DBS Altitude Card. Read Also: Beginners Guide To Credit Card Air Miles In Singapore Annual Fees And Income Requirements 90°N PremierMiles Altitude Annual Fees $192.60 (waived for the first year) Get 10,000 miles with annual fees paid from the second year $192.60 (choose between earning 30,000 miles by spending $7,500 within 3 months and paying the annual fee, or earn 10,000 miles by spending $3,000 within 3 months with

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), or SIA, is the national carrier for the city-state of Singapore and is famous for its “Singapore Girl” branding. Other than the namesake carrier which the airline runs, it also has other subsidiaries such as SilkAir, Scoot, and Vistara which serve different groups of customers in the area of passenger transportation. Last week, I looked at whether CapitaLand Ltd (SGX: C31) should be in your portfolio. This time, I’ll take a look at three metrics to see if you should buy shares of SIA and whether it deserves a spot in your portfolio. Earnings per share Earnings per share (EPS) at SIA has compounded at an impressive 16.5% over the past five years. This is on the back of EPS growing from 31.4 Singapore cents in the financial year (FY) 2015

Most people think of savings in the traditional way where you keep the leftover of what you have in your bank accounts after spending.But what if I tell you that you could actually save even when you're spending.Back in the 1950s, Diners club founder Frank Mcnamara first introduced a novel method of paying for purchases to merchants and you only have to pay back a couple of weeks later. He called it "deferred payments", which literally in today's world known as credit cards.The idea of credit cards is no longer a stranger to us. At first, the attraction comes from the idea that consumers can get to enjoy something first but pay the actual costs later when the amount is due.Sooner or later, the market becomes more saturated with competitions once everyone is offerin

SATS is a food and logistics company that is best known for managing most of the ground-handling services and in-flight catering at Singapore’s Changi Airport. Due to the recurring nature of the business, SATS’ financial performance has been remarkably stable. In fact, SATS’ operating profit actually grew during the last financial crisis, from S$153 million in 2007 to S$170 million in 2009. Despite this, SATS seems to be facing some challenges on the growth front in recent years — revenues have grown just 8% over the past three years. While earnings have grown over the same period due to increased efficiency, revenues will ultimately need to grow if the company is to earn more over time. Hence, I attended SATS’ 2019 AGM to find out more about the company’s growth plans

When it comes to asset allocation, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Asset allocation should depend on factors such as age, income, risk tolerance, financial needs and goals. However, there are some general rules that you can follow when deciding how to divide your stock portfolio.  Rule #1: Money that you need in the next six months should be held in cash Although all the rules I will list here are going to be important, this is perhaps the most important of all. The last thing you want is to be forced to liquidate your stocks during a market downturn and incur a loss on your investment. As such, any money that you will need to spend over the next six months should be held in cash. In fact, I think it may be prudent to be a bit more conservative than that and have at leas

Singaporeans love travel. In 2018, Expedia found that frequent short getaways were popular among Singaporeans, with Singaporeans making an average of 4.6 overseas trips in the year, with each trip lasting an average of 2.3 nights. Why do Singaporeans travel? Skyscanner found that 71% of Singaporeans cited rest and relaxation as a key motivator for travel. Interestingly, Skyscanner also found that almost four in five Singaporeans are opting for a type of holiday they call ‘Splurget travel’. This type of travelling involves travelling on a budget, with an element of splurging on something luxurious. Here are 9 travel apps that can help you achieve the budgeting aspect of your travels, from the planning stage to your time in the overseas country. Read Also: 7 Useful Apps And Services Ev

SATS Ltd (SGX: S58) is a Singapore-listed company with a sizeable market capitalisation of S$5.41 billion. As a quick background, SATS is the leading provider of gateway services and food solutions in the region. It caters to the needs of the aviation sector and a host of other businesses in hospitality, food, healthcare, freight, and logistics industries besides governments. Here are three quick numbers to understand how SATS has performed over the past five years. 1. Earnings per share Earnings per share (EPS) at SATS has seen a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% over the past five years. In the past five years, EPS has grown from 17.5 Singapore cents in fiscal year (FY) 2014/15 to 22.3 Singapore cents in FY 2018/19. The steady growth over the past five years has been due to a r

Uncertainty surrounding the global economy has sent the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) down some 6% thus far in August. That has caused some index shares to sell at their respective 52-week low share prices. Here, let’s explore three blue chips that are selling at the bottom, which could provide some opportunities for contrarian investors to investigate further. The bottom chips The three blue chip shares that are selling near their respective 52-week lows are Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96), and Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (SGX: NS8U). Company Share Price 52-Week Low Price Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio Price-to-Book (PB) Ratio Dividend Yield Singapore Airlines S$8.94 S$8.90 16 0.8 3.3% Sembcorp Industries S$2.23 S$2.21 12 0.6 1.

In the aviation industry, which is the better investment, Singapore Airline Limited (SGX: C6L) or SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)?

On 17 July 2019, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) will celebrate the 2nd anniversary of launching Daily Leverage Certificates (DLCs) in the market. DLCs are short-term trading products that allow investors to amplify their exposure to the market and offer both long and short positions. Offered by Societe Generale in Singapore, the number of securities listed in the market has increased from just 10 initially to more than 76 today, covering both the Singapore and Hong Kong markets. This includes 56 single stock DLCs, such as Venture Corp, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Keppel in Singapore and Tencent, Geely Automobile, AIA and China Construction Band in Hong Kong, and the rest comprises indices such as the MSCI Singapore Index and Hang Seng Index (HSI). Allowing traders to leverage their positio

It was an eventful week for SGX-listed companies. On a policy level, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that it is looking into the possibility of raising the amount of leverage Singapore REITs are allowed to have from the current 45%. For individual companies, there have been plenty of news and interest as well. For this instalment of 4 Stocks This Week, we highlight 4 companies with developments this week that may have long-standing repercussions in the weeks and months to come. Read Also: [2019 Edition] Complete Guide To Start Your REITs Investing Journey In Singapore Ascott Residence Trust (SGX: A68U) On 3 July 2019, Ascott Residence Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust jointly announced that they will be merging, creating the largest hospitality trust in Asia-Pacific

We started this dividend list in 2009 and in a blink of an eye, ten years flashed past. The list had since gone global as there are just that many (or few) dividend stocks in Singapore. Some of them had been bought out, some just weren't strong businesses to begin with and faltered and some others go in and out of the lists and a handful of names remained in it to this day. Last year, we dissected global dividend companies and discussed a few interesting names: Coach, Cisco, advertising companies. We see some of the same names this year and sadly, there isn't really good names or stories to share. The list tend to capture past business models with no growth such as brick-and-mortar shops without the new crowd drawing experiential retail innovation like Escape Room, Kidzania etc.