Finally! Our Cosy Sty...

[gimz63251073 0]

in my humble opinion, better to keep $ in Ordinary account.

1. First $20k gets 3.5% interest, more than 2.6% loan rate

2. Paying off a cheap loan too early might not be the best financial move. Save up the $ in the ordinary account and wait for recession time. Then buy up blue chip companies like SGX, SPH, SMRT....this kind of companies.

3. Transfer the $ over to medisave account for future healthcare needs. Earn more interest and at the same time take care of hefty medical bills in future.

The above comments are only valid if you had not over-stretch yourself, i.e. not a 30 year loan.

[coldflamez 0]

in my humble opinion, better to keep $ in Ordinary account.

1. First $20k gets 3.5% interest, more than 2.6% loan rate

2. Paying off a cheap loan too early might not be the best financial move. Save up the $ in the ordinary account and wait for recession time. Then buy up blue chip companies like SGX, SPH, SMRT....this kind of companies.

3. Transfer the $ over to medisave account for future healthcare needs. Earn more interest and at the same time take care of hefty medical bills in future.

The above comments are only valid if you had not over-stretch yourself, i.e. not a 30 year loan.

Oh! if the interest rate for first 20k is 3.5%, then i definitely should not pay off the housing loan with the spare cpf $ first! Thanks for that info, i might even change my monthly payment to a lower amount so as to build up the 20k first.

Doing some rough calculation, 3.5% x 20k = $700 interest that i will get from CPF annually.

2.6% x 20k = $520 interest that i will pay HDB annually.

So that's roughly $180 saving per year. If i pay over 20 years, that will be $3.6k in saving. Ok lah, it's not a gigantic amount but no point wasting it, right?

Edit: If it's 2 person's account, then it's $7.2k!

Edited August 4, 2010 by coldflamez

[gimz63251073 0]

Oh! if the interest rate for first 20k is 3.5%, then i definitely should not pay off the housing loan with the spare cpf $ first! Thanks for that info, i might even change my monthly payment to a lower amount so as to build up the 20k first.

Doing some rough calculation, 3.5% x 20k = $700 interest that i will get from CPF annually.

2.6% x 20k = $520 interest that i will pay HDB annually.

So that's roughly $180 saving per year. If i pay over 20 years, that will be $3.6k in saving. Ok lah, it's not a gigantic amount but no point wasting it, right?

Edit: If it's 2 person's account, then it's $7.2k!

technically your calculations are correct.

but practically difficult to do.Keeping CPF OA at 20k will max the savings, anything above 20k will earn 2.5%, so less beneficial.

Using a cheap loan while maintaining savings has an added advantage. In the event something unfortunate happens, the mortgage is covered, so your spouse will have a roof and at the same time, u still leave some money behind.

Some prefer to pay off the loan early for "better sleep at night"

I would rather use a cheap loan + cheap insurance while maintaining $ in CPF to cover the risk of an unfortunate event.

[floppy 4]

Oh! if the interest rate for first 20k is 3.5%, then i definitely should not pay off the housing loan with the spare cpf $ first! Thanks for that info, i might even change my monthly payment to a lower amount so as to build up the 20k first.

Doing some rough calculation, 3.5% x 20k = $700 interest that i will get from CPF annually.

2.6% x 20k = $520 interest that i will pay HDB annually.

So that's roughly $180 saving per year. If i pay over 20 years, that will be $3.6k in saving. Ok lah, it's not a gigantic amount but no point wasting it, right?

Edit: If it's 2 person's account, then it's $7.2k!

first thing first, i hope you understand the extra interest (1%) on the first 20k doesn't flow into oa. and without knowing the full details of your cpf details, i can only say you are not entirely wrong, but not entirely right. you may still end up with no extra savings (or extra earnings) from the additional 1%.

from cpf:

"In addition, an extra 1% interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a member’s combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the OA. The extra interest from the OA will go into the member’s Special or Retirement Account to enhance his retirement savings."

the keyword is combined balances. which means if your smra (special, medisave and retirement account) > $60k, you can actually earn the extra 1% from those 2 accounts alone. cpf provided some examples on these calculations.

so, if your smra is about 50k, you can only earn the extra 1% from 10k in your oa. the 10k could double up as your 'set aside from rainy days' fund. anything else can be used to reduce interest loan.

Edited August 4, 2010 by floppy

[coldflamez 0]

first thing first, i hope you understand the extra interest (1%) on the first 20k doesn't flow into oa. and without knowing the full details of your cpf details, i can only say you are not entirely wrong, but not entirely right. you may still end up with no extra savings (or extra earnings) from the additional 1%.

from cpf:

"In addition, an extra 1% interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a member’s combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the OA. The extra interest from the OA will go into the member’s Special or Retirement Account to enhance his retirement savings."

the keyword is combined balances. which means if your smra (special, medisave and retirement account) > $60k, you can actually earn the extra 1% from those 2 accounts alone. cpf provided some examples on these calculations.

so, if your smra is about 50k, you can only earn the extra 1% from 10k in your oa. the 10k could double up as your 'set aside from rainy days' fund. anything else can be used to reduce interest loan.

Thanks for the clarification.

We are a young couple, so definitely don't have a lot of $$ in our special accounts and medisave. Even if the extra interest go into the special account, i guess it's still fine. Will try to build up the $$ in the OA first rather than pay off the housing loan then.

Edited August 10, 2010 by coldflamez

[coldflamez 0]

Btw, anyone has any cleaning tips?

I noticed some cobwebs around at the corners of the walls! Yucks!

How often do you guys clean the house and what do you use? Feather duster, vacuum or something else?

[fencer 0]

Btw, anyone has any cleaning tips?

I noticed some cobwebs around at the corners of the walls! Yucks!

How often do you guys clean the house and what do you use? Feather duster, vacuum or something else?

if use feather duster, stil need to remove them from the duster leh..

Vacuum, easier.. coz just pour out together w dust and rinse w water if needed...

[froggy 0]

if use feather duster, stil need to remove them from the duster leh..

Vacuum, easier.. coz just pour out together w dust and rinse w water if needed...

how about magic clean? just clean off the cobweb, remove paper and throw

[fencer 0]

how about magic clean? just clean off the cobweb, remove paper and throw

Good idea also but need climb up and down, so have to be careful..

Best is kill the source of the cobweb while on it.. would be less and less cobwebs overtime..

Edited August 22, 2010 by fencer

[coldflamez 0]

Do you guys experience insects coming into the house when fogging of the rubbish chute is done?

Even though i tapped the opening of the rubbish chute, quite a num of big ants still got in and i had to hunt them down... yucks!! :fire:

Any suggestions how to avoid this?

[coldflamez 0]

On a lighter note, i just got this recently in a garage sale.

Ultraman phone!

Inside of the phone

Actually, i wasn't expecting it to work and just got it as a deco as it's cute. So i was pleasantly suprised when it actually worked!

Best of all? I got it for 1 buck, hehe...

[coldflamez 0]

Hi Coldflamez,

Can share with me where you got the platform bed? From your ID or? Can i have the contacts. Thanks

Hi, my contractor custom made it for me, think i was quoted 2.4k, which was much cheaper than that quoted by system mind and aussie closet.

Will pm you his contact.

Are you starting on your reno soon?

[gorilla_chow 0]

Hi, my contractor custom made it for me, think i was quoted 2.4k, which was much cheaper than that quoted by system mind and aussie closet.

Will pm you his contact.

Are you starting on your reno soon?

hi there

care to share the contact too....might be considering platform bed for the master bedroom.

thanks

gorilla choe

[coldflamez 0]

hi there

care to share the contact too....might be considering platform bed for the master bedroom.

thanks

gorilla choe

ok, sent you alan's contact.

[wj888 0]

Eh.. if everything is under the platform storage... How do you wash your floor? Wouldn't water seep into it?