[lazyplane]

On pt 2 and 4,

Can you give some idea on when will be a good time to make a decision to transfer OA to SA ? Eg what age , what are the considerations you took into consideration before making the transfer ?

I have been considering transferring from OA to SA but held back this because i think the SG property market may provide some nice opportunities in the near term. I also feel that the OA allows me to invest in some interesting equity plays when the time is right (hopefully my target price will come soon !)

Also the OA -SA i/r spread of 1.5% is not very attractive difference and i understand that these are guaranteed but there maybe some nice investment opportunities out there that will be better served keeping the funds in OA.

And i noted you are recommending repayment of the "housing loan" back to CPF. This one has really puzzled me cos a simple FD these days give around 2% i/r. Unless you are very near retirement say 5 years away ie age 60, i thought it will not be so good to funnel this into CPF just to earn the additional spread of interest. Locking these funds at 50 means that funds are locked in for 15 yrs.

Have you considered getting bonds or endowment plans instead ? Understand the usual transaction fees , fund expense ratios, but at least the funds are not locked in and there is room for wiggle and getting better returns.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

As I didn't get any negative response from my last post on the CPF statement, I thought I would share the rest of the "tricks" that I used to achieve over a $1m in my overall CPF account in my 30+ years of working life.

1. First, you must have continuous contribution. This one is a no brainer. No work means no salary. No salary means no CPF contribution. Don't quit especially when you are reaching your peak in your earning capacity at age 50 to 60. I see some forummers trying to convince people to quit early - this is a wrong move which is very detrimental to your CPF build up. Not only that, people often forget the employer's contribution. Over many years, this can be a substantial amount which goes directly into your CPF.

2. As early as possible in your working life, and whenever you can afford it, transfer funds from your OA to your MA and SA. MA and SA attracts 4-5% interest pa and is compounding yearly. Again, over 30 years, it will bring you a princely sum. We started transferring our spare OA funds into our SA and MA in our late 40s. After a short while, we found that the interest earned each year was able to keep up with the yearly limit adjustments set by the government, meaning we didn't need to transfer to the 2 accounts any more. Not only that, the excess interest from MA actually flows back to our OA.

3. As mentioned in my previous post, top up your CPF contribution to the maximum allowed ($37k+ this year). Your top up attracts tax relief.

4. As we reached our 50s, and after paying off our condo loan, we found we could save more money. The period 50 to 65 is the golden period to save money, so don't quit your job just yet. Your income peaked while your expenses decline. With the extra money saved, we decided to return the money which we withdrew from our CPF to pay our housing loans. This portion is represented in the CPF statement pie-chart in red color. We since returned over $350k to our CPF this way.

Oops, need to go to work. That's all for now.