Happy Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year is the most important festival in the Chinese tradition. During this period, family members will gather together for a once-in-a-year reunion dinner. For the adults, this is an excellent time to catch up with other family members to share about the latest developments in their respective lives. As for the children, it’s a good time to meet and play with other children, especially with those who live overseas. More importantly, it’s the only time in the year for them to earn some “income”. During this time, we can see children waiting eagerly for the adults to hand over the red packets, or what’s better known as an “ang pao”. When I was a kid, waiting for these ang paos was always the highlight for the year. Nowadays, such moment remain

Today, we are going to share with you how to grow 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 various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares. The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4% for Ordinary Account. Check their latest interest rate here. Below is the latest CPF rate.   Share this Infographic On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />&l

Earnings season is here again. Next week, a host of companies will be providing updates on their final quarters of 2018. Among them are two of the largest financial institutions in Singapore: DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) and Great Eastern Holdings Limited (SGX: G07). Here’s what investors should keep an eye on when these companies release their earnings scorecards. Can DBS end 2018 as well as it started it? DBS Group, the largest bank in Singapore, will be the first among the three major banks to release results next week. Like the other two banks, DBS Group has had a fantastic first nine months of 2018. The bank achieved record high income, profit before allowances, and net profit during that time. Compared to the previous year, total income and net profit increased by 12% and 3

https://www.fool.sg/2019/01/23/singapores-top-10-dividend-shares-among-the-worlds-best/https://www.fool.sg/2019/01/21/3-singapore-blue-chips-that-have-more-than-doubled-their-profits-in-the-last-decade/https://www.fool.sg/2019/01/17/institutional-investors-have-been-buying-these-3-singapore-blue-chip-stocks/https://www.fool.sg/2019/01/15/love-dividends-then-check-out-these-3-singapore-listed-banks/https://www.fool.sg/2019/01/14/2-singapore-blue-chips-that-have-more-than-doubled-their-profits-in-the-last-decade/Investing is a game of probabilities – there are no sure things. But there are some things that I am pretty certain will happen in 2019. 1. Individual stocks will be volatile, regardless of how the overall market does. After the painful fourth quarter of 2018, it’s probably h

There are 26 Singapore-listed shares in the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index. This global dividend yield index contains 1,389 globally-listed shares that have a higher-than-average dividend yield. The index excludes real estate investment trusts (REITs) and stocks that are forecast to pay no dividend over the next 12 months. Here, let’s look at the next five Singapore-listed companies – part of the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index – that have the highest dividend yields (yield data as of 18 January 2019). For the first five, you can head here. Cream of the crop Coming in sixth is Frasers Property Ltd (SGX: TQ5) with a dividend yield of 4.9%. The property developer has maintained a dividend per share of 8.6 cents from FY2014 (financial year ended 30 September 2014) to

Long term investors seek companies that can sustain, or better still, grow their profitability for the foreseeable future. As a matter of fact, no one can accurately predict the future, thus, the ability of a company to consistently be profitable over the long term. Thus, average investors might want to limit their investments to those companies that have a more predictable business, or in other words, blue chips. Now, the conventional wisdom is that blue chip companies are boring investments since they don’t usually grow much given their size. This is true, to a certain extent. Yet, there are some blue chip companies that continued to grow their profitability over time, despite their size. Here, we will look at three blue chip companies that more than doubled their profits in the last d

If you are a dividend-hungry investor, you should pay attention to the following blue-chip banks. The banks have been great dividend masters. They also have the potential to increase their dividends in years to come given their stable businesses. Bank #1: DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) DBS is the largest bank in Singapore and is one of Asia’s leading banks with over nine million customers in 18 markets. From 2013 to 2017, DBS has increased its dividend by 25% per year from S$0.58 per share to S$1.43 per share (includes 2017’s special dividend of S$0.50 per share). On a longer time frame, its dividend had climbed 11.2% yearly from S$0.26 per share in 2001 up till 2017. From 2018 onwards, DBS has committed to an annual dividend payment of S$1.20 per share. The higher dividend policy w

Long term investors seek companies that can sustain, or better still, grow their profitability for the foreseeable future. As a matter of fact, no one can accurately predict the future, same for predicting a company to consistently be profitable over the long term. Therefore average investors might want to limit their investments to those companies that have a more predictable business, or in other words, blue chip stocks. Now, the conventional wisdom is that blue chip companies are boring investments since they don’t usually grow much given their size. This is true, to a certain extend. Yet, there are some blue chip companies which continued to grow their profitability over time, despite their size. In this article, we will look at two blue chip companies that more than doubled their pr

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past 10 years, the global economy has been through some really rough times, with the great financial crisis being the most jarring episode. It would thus mean that a company that can grow its dividends in the past decade has a business that has some stability and sustainability in the past – and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, we will look at three of these companies that have grown their dividends for dividend investors b

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past 10 years, the global economy has been through some really rough times, with the great financial crisis being the most jarring episode. It would thus mean that a company that can grow its dividends in the past decade has a business that has some stability and sustainability in the past – and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, we will like to share with you five blue chip stocks which have managed to grow their dividend pa

Just last week, gold hit close to a seven-month peak on macroeconomic fears. What a turn of fortune it has been. Since the hitting a one-year low of US$1,176.20/ounce in August 2018, gold has gone on rise some 10% to a high of US$1,291.80/ounce on 3 January 2018. Disappointingly, Singapore’s stock market, as represented by the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), fell 6.1% during the same time frame. With the poor performance of shares, should you switch out of them and buy gold instead? Safe haven Before we answer the question above, let’s look at why gold is popular during economic uncertainties. Gold is often seen as a safe-haven asset in times of financial uncertainty as it is perceived as not being at risk of becoming worthless, unlike other assets having credit risk. Historically, g

In 2018, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) posted a 6.5% decline in total return (which consists of capital gains and dividends), as revealed in a recent report by the Singapore Exchange. However, the three banks that belong to the index did better for the year. Let’s look at out how each of the banks performed in 2018. DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) DBS, the biggest bank in Singapore, posted a total return of 1.2% last year. The bank’s high dividend yield of around 5% allowed the total return to stay in the positive territory despite the fall in share price. For the nine months ended 30 September 2018, DBS’ total income went up by 12% to a record of S$9.94 billion mainly due to higher net interest income, which rose 16% to S$6.63 billion. Net interest margin increased from 1.7

In Singapore, the three major listed banks are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April 2018, these banks have seen their stocks price declining for the next few months, down by more than 20% from their respective peaks. The decline in the banks’ stocks price might draw some interest from investors. One of this group of investors is the Singapore dividend investors. In particular, Singaporean dividend investors might want to know which bank might be a better Singapore dividend stock. Clearly, there is no easy answer to the above question. After all, we do not know what will happen in the future. Still, we would like put the trio side by side for a direct comparison. In our pre

In Singapore, the three major listed banks are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking between end-April and early-May 2018, these banks have seen their stocks price declining for the next few months, down by more than 20% from their respective peaks. The decline in the Singapore banks’ share prices might draw some interest from investors. One of the groups of investors would the dividend investors. In particular, income investors might want to know: Which bank is the best dividend stock to own? There is no easy answer to the above question. After all, we do not know what will happen in the future. Still, I would like put the trio side-by-side for a direct comparison to find out the b

According to a recent report released by the Singapore Exchange, 32 companies bought back 97 million shares or units for a total amount of S$78 million in December 2018. For the full year, the total share buybacks amounted to S$1.5 billion. The top ten companies with the most significant share buyback amounts in December were United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), Keppel REIT (SGX: K71U), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), Stamford Land Corporation Ltd (SGX: H07), Venture Corporation Ltd (SGX: V03), SingHaiyi Group Ltd (SGX: 5H0), SATS Ltd (SGX: S58), Singapore Post Limited (SGX: S08), Tuan Sing Holdings Limited (SGX: T24), and Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96). Keppel REIT’s manager has been regularly buying back the REIT’s units since July 2018. As I noted

The Straits Times Index (STI) is made up of the 30 strongest and most liquid stocks listed in Singapore. Comprising close to 80% of the entire market value in Singapore, the returns that the stocks on the STI provides is essentially the market returns or benchmark returns. For investors who are new or prefer taking a hands-off approach, being able to invest in the STI can be the most practical way to invest. This is primarily because it offers several advantages such as diversifying our investment portfolio with just one investment as well as receiving the market returns without requiring much knowledge or spending time monitoring and adjusting our portfolios. Currently, there are two listed STI exchange traded funds (ETFs) – the SPDR STI ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF – that w

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past five years, the global economy has been through some challenging events like the oil price crisis, Brexit, and the recent one being the US-China trade war. It would thus suggest that a company that can grow its dividends during this period has a strong business, and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, I would like to share with you five blue-chips that have managed to grow their dividends by 20% or more despite all the head

Income investors would ideally like to invest in companies that have sustainable dividends. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict the future, which makes estimating the future dividends of a company potentially tricky. One way to help clear up some of the fog would be to look at a company’s history of paying dividends. Over the past five years, the global economy has been through some challenging events like the oil price crisis, Brexit, and the recent one being the US-China trade war. It would thus suggest that a company that can grow its dividends during this period has a strong business, and that could be a great starting point for further research. Here, I would like to share with you three blue-chips that have managed to grow their dividends by 20% or more despite all the hea

2018 will perhaps be remembered as one with big swings in the stock market. It was not uncommon to see stock price swings of more than 10% in a single day — even Singapore’s largest company DBS Group Holdings Ltd  (SGX: D05) faced huge price swings this year. As 2018 comes to a close, certain factors could cause the market volatility to continue. Here are three key risks that investors should take note of. Trade war The China-US trade wars have been one of the key reasons for market volatility this year. It all started when President Trump issued tariffs on US$50 billion of China imports. China was quick to retaliate, issuing its own set of tariffs on US-imported goods. Before long, the trade war spiralled to include a whole range of goods, of around US$200 billion worth of Chines

In support of Singapore’s efforts to become a cashless society, many solutions have emerged, including mobile wallets, a standardised QR code format, and even a common platform for conveniently making and receiving cashless payments across banks. The latter is known as PayNow, and if you haven’t yet set-up PayNow functionality for your bank account, here are some good reasons why you should get yourself registered today. Watch: Is It Possible To Live Cashlessly In Singapore? What Is PayNow? PayNow is a peer-to-peer fund transfer service launched by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on 10 July 2017. It allows users to transfer funds from one bank account to another in Singapore through FAST simply by entering a mobile number or Singapore NRIC/FIN. The servic