How to Improve Your Credit Score

Note: Credit rating and credit score will be used interchangeably and they have the same meaning for this article. 

What is a Credit Score
Credit score is a score that creditors use to determine how likely you are able to repay them in time should they decide to extend the loan to you.

The credit score calculated by the Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) is a four-digit number based on your past payment history on your loan accounts.

Credit: CBS

The score ranges from 1000 to 2000, where the higher the score by an individual, the lower the chance of individuals reaching a delinquency status. Together with the score, the risk grade and the probability of default is provided as shown in the picture.


Read: How to Re-finance your Mortgage Loan

How to Lower the Cost of Car Ownership

In my previous articles, we talked about the cost breakdown of car ownership in Singapore, together with what to look out for when purchasing a car. The articles have highlighted the high cost of car ownership in Singapore, due to the various taxes and duties levied upon the car not forgetting the cost of maintaining the upkeep of the vehicle. In this post, I am going to show you how to lower the cost of car ownership in Singapore.

According the data published by the Singapore government, the volume of new registrations for off peak cars is trending higher since year 2015. This could be due to the high cost of maintaining a full license car in Singapore, the craziness of the roads during the peak travelling period and the convenience of public transport system.

Read: The Cost of Owning a Car in Singapore

How to Determine Your Job's Salary Range

This month of April is when some of us might be looking for new opportunities after receiving our year end bonus for the previous fiscal year. All of us here have various reasons for leaving our current employer, be it due to the people you are working with or thinking of career advancement or even switching industries completely.

For those embarking on a job search or thinking of negotiating their current salary package with their current employer, the inevitable question on everyone's mind will be what is the salary compensation package you are looking for.

From my experience, stating that your compensation package is "negotiable" does not cut it with the recruiters. Neither does giving them your ideal figure, you will be in a disadvantageous position as you are "revealing your cards" to the recruiters even before you have a chance to showcase your talent during the interview.

The recruiter can either:-

(i) Offer you a compensation scheme that is less than their original budget if your expected salary range is lower than they expect

(ii) Drop you from the candidacy for the position if your expected salary range is higher than what they have in mind

(iii) Work on your current salary to package a slight raise

I acknowledge that you will eventually have to submit your current payslip to the Human Resources for verification. Nonetheless, try your best not to reveal your salary figures during the initial stage of the recruitment.


Read: How to Negotiate Your Salary and How to Prepare Your for a Job Interview

The Cost of Owning a Car in Singapore

In my previous article, we touched base on What to Look Out for When Buying a Car. In this article, I am going to breakdown the cost of buying and owning a car in Singapore to give you readers a clearer picture of the cost components of car ownership in Singapore.

Disclaimer: The figures reflected in this article is accurate at the time of writing. 

What to Look Out for When Buying a Car

Buying a car is no mean feat, especially for first time buyers. What makes it even more intimidating is the high cost of car ownership in Singapore and the tonnes of choices that comes along. In order to not get carried away by the honeyed words of the car dealers, I have compiled a list of points to consider when purchasing and selecting a car.

How to Read Books for Free

These days time starved professionals do not have much time to read books, much less pay a visit to their nearest library to borrow books. Gone are the days where people visit the library as a past-time. With the advent of technology gadgets and entertainment (read: distractions), the amount of time spent reading has dropped. 

According to a study done by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the average time an adult spent reading is 25 minutes/ day in comparison to spending 200 minutes/day watching the telly. Various articles have been written about why you should spend time to read, such as allowing one to be more creative and open-minded and being successful in life. 

Reading should not be an expensive and inconvenient habit. In fact, it is free and easily accessible as long as you have access to a mobile device. 

How to Borrow National Library Board's eBooks using the OverDrive App for FREE

How much does it cost to buy a Second Property in Singapore

Case Study

Cost of Condo: Suburb Properties - OCR
New Sale: $1.2 million
Currently Own HDB flat. Purchase Condo as 2nd House - Non-Residential.
Outstanding Bank Loan.

(i) Down Payment
Loan Tenure does not exceed 30 years and sum of loan tenure and age of borrower at the time of applying for the loan is below 65 years. Down payment is 50% of the purchase price or market valuation, whichever is lower. The first 25% in cash, next 25% in cash and or CPF.	50% x 1.2 mil = $600,000
Loan Tenure exceed 30 years (max 35 years) and sum of loan tenure and age of borrower at the time of applying for the loan is above 65 years. Down payment is 70% of the purchase price or market valuation, whichever is lower. The first 25% in cash, next 45% in cash and or CPF.	70% x 1.2 mil = $840,000
ABSD	- pay 12% of property value or purchase price, whichever is Higher
	12% x 1.2 mil = 144,000
	- need to set aside CPF minimum retirement sum before you can use excess CPF money in your OA account
Conveyancing Fee
Professional Legal Fees	$2000 - $2500
GST	7%
- Stamp Duty paid in cash/ CPF:
- First $180,000 - 1%
- Next $180,000 - 2%
- Next $640,000 - 3%
- Remaining Amt - 4%
Conveyancing Account Fee	$200 - $400
Total Upfront Payment = Down Payment + ABSD + Stamp Duty = 600,000 + 144,000 + 3000 = $747,000
However, If able to pay off 1st housing loan
- will be considered as 1st loan
- 5% downpayment in cash, 15% downpayment in CPF
- 3% stamp duty
- 7% ABSD
(ii) Monthly Re- Payment (Bank Loan)
Depends on Bank Loan Interest Rates	Rough estimate for calculation purpose = $2100
(iii) Monthly Maintenance Fee	Estimated $300/ month
(iv) Property Tax
Depends on the Annual Value of the home.
Based on rental income	e.g $3000 x 12 months = $36,000
	Residential Tax Rates (Non- owner Occupied Residential Properties) = (10% x 30,000) + (12% x 6000) = 3000 + 720 = $ 3720 annual
(v) Renovation and Furniture
Reno	$30,000
Furniture	$20,000

Credits: Straits Time, EdgeProp, iCompareLoan, PropertyGuru, Dollars and Sense, 99.co, Ezbuy, HomeLoanWhiz

Decoupling to Buy a Property in Singapore

What is Decoupling (Fractional Purchase)

Decoupling happens when one partner's share in a property is transferred to the other person.


Why Consider Decoupling

This creates a sole owner, leaving the other half of the pair free to buy another home without having to pay the ABSD (Additional Buyer Stamp Duty), as that purchase will be seen as his or her first.

What to Consider Before Buying a Second Property in Singapore

A random thought led to this random article. Though I am well aware that I cannot afford to purchase a second property at this point in time, I still decided to do my research out of curiosity to see if I can afford to be the home owner of a second property.

One cannot only look at the mere figures for property purchase decision, he must also consider the qualitative factors before making a commitment. For the numbers and cost calculation, please refer to my blog post on How much does it cost to buy a 2nd property in Singapore.

Open Electricity Market (OEM) in Singapore

Singapore used to have a sole provider of electricity, Singapore Power (SP Group) for the residential applicants. Before this, residential consumers have only one option which is to get their electricity supply from the SP Group at the regulated tariff, where the price of electricity is fixed every quarter. Recently, the Singapore government decided to open up the electricity market by inviting more players into the scene to keep the prices and services competitive. The Open Electricity Market initiative will be launched in phases across Singapore, with my housing unit having the chance to switch electricity retailers from 1 January 2019. 

At the time of writing, we have stayed in our current unit for only 4 months. The average cost of our electricity bill is $40 per month. Taking that into account, I did my research on the plans that may be suitable for us. 

Note: it is not compulsory to switch electricity providers.

How to Do a Fund Transfer for Interactive Brokers

Reference Guide for Doing Funds Transfer for Interactive Brokers Account

Ensure Trading Account is funded before trading. 

User to set up Standing Instructions with Interactive Brokers before Initiating Fund Transfer from your bank account. 

Selecting a Brokerage - US Market

US market Stocks	Interactive Brokers	Saxo Capital Markets (Classic Account)
Commission	0.5% (min $1)	0.01 USD/ Share (min. 3.99 USD)
Minimum commission	2.50 USD	15 USD
Minimum Holding Fee	Monthly minimum fee of $10 for accounts between $2000 and $100, 000	0
Platforms	Desktop - Trader Workstation Mobile App (2FA)Webtrader Platform	SaxoTraderGO SaxoTraderPRO
User Support	Hotlines dedicated to various regions, chat bot, FAQ Personal experience: it is hard to get customer support, send emails, received no replies request for callback, received callback after 2 days Tried chat-bot, answers provided were weak and not so relevant. *Update: Hotline works but it is not toll-free, no Singapore hotline and I had to call Hong Kong hotline which is costly. As for the Live Chat function, I had to wait for some time before the next available agent was ready. Response from the agent was slow and the problem was not resolved by the time I ended my Live Chat. (Issue I encountered was Delayed Data not showing on my Trade Workstation	Dedicated SG hotline from 0830 to 1730 Singapore office available. Personal experience: Dedicated account manager based in Singapore to assist with my queries. Follow up call to check on my interest in opening a trading account with them
Firm Reputation	Since 1977 Cannot trade Singapore markets, probably to protect local brokerages' interest since they charge lower fees No impact as I am already using iOCBC to trade Singapore equities	Fully licensed Danish Bank can trade in Singapore markets, but that's not what I'm looking for
Required Minimum in account	10, 000 USD (on website) *Update: IB removed this requirement when I called to check (July 2018) require funding for account activation	2000 USD
Monthly Activity Charges	10 USD monthly, cannot be waived unless- more than 100, 000 USD in Equity- generate more than 10 USD in commission and fees	6 consecutive months of NO trading - 100 USD
Cash Movement	1 free withdrawl per month Thereafter, - 10 USD for Wire transfer- 1 USD for GIRO	No charges if request is submitted via Online 40 USD if done manually
How to Fund the Account	Bank transfer	Bank Transfer - 1 to 5 days Credit/ Debit Card - Immediate, Credit card charges of 0.5 - 2.5% Stock Transfer
US Market Options	Interactive Broker	Saxo Capital Markets (Classic Account)
Trading Fee	0.70 USD/ Contract (min $1)	6 USD (1 -250 Contracts) 3 USD (251 to 1000 Contracts)1.50 USD (1000 to 5000 Contracts)
	Fixed Rates for Infrequent traders Tiered Rates for Active Traders	No Minimum Fees for Contract Options
		No Custody Fees for Contract Options
Bought Options Daily Holding Fees Per Mil	Nil	Less than 30 Days - Nil
		More than 30 Days - 1.10 For Equities Options
Forex Commissions	If Monthly traded amount is < USD 100 Mil then = USD 2 or 0.2 bp * Trade value	As per website, commission for 5 major currencies from as low as 0.4 pips, depending on initial funding and trading volume