This article was first published on 14 October 2020 and updated on 19 January 2021 to provide for more information By now, most of us would be familiar with CareShield Life, which is the national disability income insurance scheme that came into force on 1 October 2020. Essentially, CareShield Life provides lifelong monthly payouts for claimants who cannot perform 3 of 6 Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Source: MOH  In 2020, the monthly payout amount is $600 per month, and is set to rise by 2% each year so long as no claims are made. As of 2021, claim payout has increased to $612 per month. Like its hospitalisation insurance cousin, MediShield Life, supplements to CareShield Life can be bought from private insurers to provide enhanced benefits. Here’s what you need to know about buyi

Today, an average retiree is expected to spend $1,154 a month in retirement expenses and this is going to increase over the years. Thus, ensuring that we have a steady stream of income in our retirement becomes even more important. This is where CPF Life comes into play. CPF Life is a national life annuity scheme that guarantees lifelong monthly payouts after the age of 65 years old for Singaporeans.  With more people being aware about how to use CPF for retirement planning and even accumulating 1 million or more in their CPF accounts, CPF Life is gaining public awareness with its importance as a retirement tool. However, CPF Life is not the only source of retirement income. Private annuity plans have existed even before the introduction of CPF Life. Despite the wealth of available privat

Life insurance coverage against death, TPD and critical illness is necessary and most people I know do not have adequate coverage. They think it is expensive to get themselves adequately covered. However, that is not the case. Adequate life insurance can be affordable, yet leave you with good cash flow to live life. First and foremost, the reason we sign up for life insurance is for protection not investments or savings. When we purchase insurance, we sought to address a particular health risk that would create monetary challenges for ourselves or our loved ones. Some of the most common challenges are: The risk that if you passed away, your loved ones will have a difficult time getting on with their lives, servicing still outstanding debts and mortgages. We buy life insu

Sign up & unlock articles! Those who stay invested during crises will be duly rewarded while those who didn’t would look back and rue missing the opportunities. In this context, will OCBC share price explode to $10.00 in the coming weeks? With Joe Biden being confirmed as the new President of United States, many investors expect a bull run in the stock market. In my view, it does not matter whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden becomes the next President because the result will only remove uncertainties for institutional players to return to the stock market. Post-election, investors should be looking at earning growth among companies. In this regard, OCBC share price could be poised for an upturn. OCBC share price held ransom by Great Eastern OCBC share price ambushed by MAS OCBC

Sign up & unlock articles! Is it the right time and right place for OCBC share price? At Price/Book Value of 0.805, OCBC share price is trading below its book value, no thanks to the fallout from COVID-19 pandemic. Yet against the backdrop of Singapore’s Phase 3 reopening, will OCBC share price be able to ride on the coming recovery? On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Singapore’s GDP expanded by 7.9% due to the robust showing from the manufacturing sector. Being the bellwether of the economy, bank stocks are proxy to the country’s economic condition. In this regard, the coming third quarter business update will be a baptism of fire for OCBC share price as investors will be scrutinizing the performance of OCBC’s insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern. What can float a boat can al

Following CPF’s announcement on 2 October 2020 regarding the revisions to the Dependants’ Protection Scheme (DPS), you may be surprised to find out that you are covered under DPS and have been doing so since you made your first CPF contribution. While Medishield Life and Careshield Life are compulsory health insurance plans that have received much public attention, most Singaporeans have not given much thought to DPS prior to the announcement. According to CPF Board, 1.9 million CPF members are covered under DPS as of the end of 2019. This means a significant number of Singaporeans are affected by the DPS changes. Here’s all you need to know about DPS and the changes that would be implemented on 1 April 2021. What Is Dependants’ Protection Scheme (DPS)? Implemented since 1989,

Just a week ago, a huge piece news was unveiled in Singapore’s insurance space. Aviva sold its Singapore unit to homegrown digital insurer Singapore Life (Singlife) in a deal valued at $3.2 billion, which makes it the largest of its kind in Singapore, and one of the largest in South East Asia. Singlife has said that moving forward, it plans to continue expansion and seeks to list on SGX. Singlife founder and CEO told Reuters that: “Our ambition is ultimately to list in Singapore. As a publicly listed company of the future, that gives ownership of our firm into a much more broad-based community.” Singlife’s listing would be a welcome addition to the insurance and financial services sector on SGX, which has remained resilient amidst the difficult economic environment brought about by

The best way to make money is to let money make more money. In this article, you will learn 30 Singapore Banking & Finance Stocks which are efficient in making money with money for investors, focusing in 6 groups of stocks (with strategies for 3 major bank stocks: DBS, OCBC and UOB): 1) Bank Stocks2) Finance Stocks3) Insurance Stocks4) Stock Broker Stocks5) Pawnbroker Stocks6) Investment and Other Stocks There are only 30 Banking & Finance stocks in Singapore, relatively less than other sectors as Singapore has tighter regulation in finance sector for services such as lending money (limited licenses available): AMTD IB OV (SGX: HKB), B&M Hldg (SGX: CJN), DBS Bank (SGX: D05), Edition (SGX: 5HG), G K Goh (SGX: G41), Global Investment (SGX: B73), Great Eastern (SGX:

Please click and read this disclaimer if you wish to continue with the contents below.Bench marking myself against STI and World Index:For last month's portfolio review click here Year to date:STI Index: -12.19%World Index: +0.35%My Portfolio: -6.6%Three years trailing:STI Index: -10.84%World Index: +15.54My Portfolio: +10.7% Year to date, I outperformed STI by 5.59% and under performed the World Index by 6.25%. Three years trailing, I outperformed STI by 21.54% and under performed the World Index by 4.84%.Portfolio composition:Transactions:Added more APT Satellite(HK:1045), Dream Intl(HK:1126), Tracker Fund(HK:2800), SwireProperties(HK:1972), FSY(HK:1448) and Alibaba(HK:9988)Commentary:STI ETF(SG:ES3) saw a 27% rise from the March lows likely due to iShare MSCI STI demand(lin

Please click and read this disclaimer if you wish to continue with the contents below. Bench marking myself against STI, HKSE and World Index: For last month's portfolio review click here  Year to date: STI Index: -19.39% HK Index: -6.89% World Index: +1.85% My Portfolio: -5.41% Three years trailing: STI Index: -18.04% HK Index: -3.11% World Index: +17.04% My Portfolio: +11.89% Year to date, I outperformed STI by 13.98% and HK by 1.48%, under performed the World Index by 7.26%%. Three years trailing, I outperformed STI by 29.93% and HK by 15%, under performed the World Index by 5.15%. Portfolio composition: Transactions: Sold all of my Great Eastern(SGX:G07) at 19.42 for a small profit  B

It has been a long time since I last updated my investment portfolio. The March'20 market crash was very sudden. I have remained invested mostly throughout this dark period. The major change I made was to shift out more of my more stable REITs from my CDP account into the margin account to avoid the possibility of a margin call in the event of a sucker's rally and to prepare for another potential market crash.1. Retail REITsThe retail REITs which I am holding in the margin account such as SPH REIT, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Lendlease right now are still down by 20% to 30% from the pre-market crash. Dividends have been cut drastically also. I remain cautiously optimistic that once the COVID-19 vaccine become successfully rolled out by end of the year or early next year, the devastating

Cancer cases have been steadily rising over the years. According to statistics from the National Cancer Centre Singapore, one in every 4 to 5 people in Singapore may develop cancer in their lifetime. Besides having to deal with the financial cost of cancer when diagnosed with the illness, other notable expenses include regular check-ups, medications, transportation and engaging a helper at home. This comes together with the burden of not being able to work and provide income for a period of time for dependents or for self. While citizens can tap on to government subsidies, such as MediSave and MediShield, for their treatment, there are limits to such subsidies, and non-medical costs are excluded from coverage. That is why having a comprehensive private health insurance can help to soften t

Dividend by month1) singtel lianbeng2) fcot sgx  starhillg fct sphreit cmt  capitaretail capitacom mit suntec dbs hsbank3) spost  taisin  nam lee hkland hsbank petronas4) hsbc5) fcot steng sgx  uob sph starhillg fct sphreit cmt cdg hcg Singre teckwah mit sci suntec  hlf ocbc ge6)  netlink hsbank maybank petronas dbs7) singpost  tcil hsbc8) fcot singtel  plife  suntec ocbc  starhill sci steng fct singpost sphreit cmt ock  capitacom  siaen mit sats uob cdg sci ksh gpi dbs9)   hlf teckwah singre capitaretail  petronas hsbank ge hsbc10) sgx tcil lian beng hkland hsbc  maybank11) fcot taisin sgx spost  starhillg fct cmt siaen mit suntec dbs sia netlink hsbc12) sph ksh ock sats  ksh gpi  petr

Just 3 weeks back, we spotted Great Eastern approaching the KEY 23.00 support dangerously…It has been pushing lower after each consolidation since August and hence there were definitely some signs of weakness…In fact, trend indicators were also pointing to more downside…Some downside targets were drawn with a potential break down of 23.00 expected eventually..See what I mean below…Buyers seems like that were not able to hold any longer and sellers were attempting to regain control again..Over the next few days after spotting, indeed, the break down occurred at 23.00 and sellers took price lower…Target were again reiterated with a sell down towards 22.00 expected next…That was the next crucial support based on prices 2 year back where it held,And this is also where we may start