This is a reminder to those who are planning to buy a new car.

There will be a cut in COE supply, so COE prices will continue to go up.

Buy now before prices go higher.

Huat Ah !!!!!!!

Unemployment rises among Singapore citizens, residents in Q2

28 Jul 2016
Channel NewsAsia

Retrenchments continued to rise, with about 5,500 workers laid off during the quarter, up from 4,710 in the first quarter and 3,250 a year ago.

SINGAPORE: Amid weaker economic conditions, unemployment among Singapore citizens and residents rose in the second quarter, according to preliminary estimates released on Thursday (Jul 28) by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Among citizens, the unemployment rate rose to 3.1 per cent in June, from 2.6 per cent in the previous quarter. Among residents, the rate rose to 3 per cent from 2.7 per cent in March. Overall, the unemployment rate was 2.1 per cent, up from 1.9 per cent in the first quarter.

An estimated 68,300 residents, including 60,300 Singapore citizens, were unemployed as of June, an increase from the 60,400 unemployed residents, including 50,800 citizens, in March.

EMPLOYMENT GROWTH SLOWS

Total employment grew at a slower pace during the quarter, rising by 5,500 compared to 13,000 in the first quarter and 9,700 a year ago.

The services sector, which formed the bulk of total employment increases, grew by 8,600, slower than the 13,200 increase in the previous quarter. Employment in manufacturing continued its downward trend, declining by 3,400. Employment in the construction industry grew by 400, after increasing by 1,900 during the first quarter.

“Looking ahead, a subdued growth environment post-Brexit, domestic economic restructuring and slowing local labour force growth will likely constrain job creation," said Ms Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank.

However, Ms Ling does not expect the unemployment rate to "deviate too far from the 2 per cent handle for now" as the Republic's growth rate for the second half would likely remain sluggish like the first half, while foreign manpower restrictions are unlikely to be lifted in the near-term.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said at a media briefing on Monday that Singapore’s economic growth is expected to remain sluggishamid a lacklustre global outlook. The central bank expects the economy’s performance over the next six months to be unchanged from the first half of the year, where growth averaged at 2.2 per cent year-on-year.

MORE WORKERS LAID OFF

Retrenchments continued to rise, with about 5,500 workers laid off during the quarter, up from 4,710 in the first quarter and 3,250 a year ago, according to MOM.

The bulk of the layoffs – 62 per cent – came from the services sector, which retrenched 3,400 workers compared to 2,530 in the previous quarter. Layoffs in the manufacturing sector fell to 1,600 from 1,790, and stayed relatively unchanged in the construction industry with 400 layoffs from 390 in the previous quarter.

DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said more cracks are showing in the labour market: "Growth outlook remains dim. Though there has been an uptick in growth performance in the second quarter, the improvement was subdued. Pockets of risks remain in the global environment, which could impact Singapore adversely. With this latest set of manpower statistics, we expect more labour pain ahead."

Reports like this should remind those of us who are still holding on to our jobs to be thankful.

It should also serve as a strong motivation to build up other sources of incomes because one can never tell when the "pink slip" will land on our desk next.

While for older folks (especially those in their 50s) it is more difficult to start investing at this age, they have the advantage of higher savings. Younger adults have the advantage of longer time horizon to build up their investment.

I started my first investment with my first paycheck 31 years ago. I still remember I couldn't sleep that night after making my first stock purchase. A stock which I still hold till today except that the number of shares has grown multifold because of stock split and bonus shares. All my shares in this particular stock are "free hold". Meaning that I have long recouped back the initial investment outlay. I have been enjoying the dividend payouts all these years.

Fast forward to today, I have established 3 main sources of passive income. Stocks and shares which provide me $50k dividend income pa, rental income of $40k pa, and interest income from bonds & FDs at $50k pa. for last year.

This year, because of the depressed oil prices, economic uncertainties (you can see from the number of retrenchments) and possible rate hike by US Fed, I expect my passive income to be lower. Still, it is better than not being prepared.

In today's difficult global economic environment, made worse by Brexit, we must be flexible. If you are a retrenched engineer in your 30s or 40s, married and has children to support and cannot find a new job, then you need to look at options which can at least give you some income. You can become an Uber or Grab driver using your own car. Better than a taxi driver as not many people will know. If you work hard, you can make good money, maybe $3k pm.

If you are already in your 50s and you have no more dependents, you can consider retiring in neighboring countries like Malaysia or Thailand. You can rent out your fully paid HDB flat for $2500 pm. After you convert to RM, you get RM7500 pm. You can live in luxury. You can rent a 3 bedroom condo in KL for only RM1500 pm. If you want to retire in Thailand, you will get THB65,000 pm. That's a huge amount for a retired couple.

So, don't worry. As long as you have fully owned your HDB flat, you have a good asset to allow you to earn passive income and retire.

Mai spread fear leh.

COE supply tsunami coming next year.

COE will drop back to $30k with poor economic outlook

Don't be kanchong spider

Retiring in a cheaper overseas location is definitely doable. Many Europeans and Americans retire in Asia to enjoy the lower cost of living. We are fortunate to have neighbouring countries which offer a much lower cost of living.

I will seriously consider retiring in one of our neighbouring countries as it will allow me to retire luxuriously. I'm thinking of retiring in a bungalow with a private swimming pool. This kind of life will never be possible in Singapore for middle class people. The locals in these neighbouring countries will look up to you if you live in a bungalow with a private swimming pool.

Yeah, they will also certainly be thinking of what is the best time to break in to do terrible things to you and your family while you sleep and take your valuables...

Retire in hell better, free.

Here comes this poor loser again, posting the same nonsense at 8.21am. Stop fooling around and do your work!

Thankfully we have the ability to retire in SG, with the same benefits that you talk about (3 bedroom condo). SG will eventually be a rich man's playground and we will be having fun in it. You better move out to KL or BKK before it's too late.

Aug 15 - Jul 16 - Turbulent Period
 

It has been a frustrating 1 year (for the period from Aug 2015 to End Jul 2016) for me on the financial front.

I saw our household networth kissing $6m a few times only to fall again in tandem with the STI. It all started in Aug 2015 where the STI collapse over 100 points in a single day. It rebounded strongly in Sep only to fall again in Oct and then up a little towards the end of the year.

2016 started off badly with the STI slicing off a few hundred points. If you recall, the STI was above 3500 points in early 2015 and it's now only 2868. We saw our stocks holding losing about $200k+ in value over this 1 year period.

It's times like this that we are reminded of how lucky and important that we are still working and thus able to make our networth grow albeit at a slower pace.

On the passive income front, it seems that we may still achieve last calendar year's performance of $130k by the end of this year. But when you see your investment value declined more than your passive income, it does take a lot of the joy away even though the loss is paper loss.

The world economy is still uncertain and oil prices are still depressed, so we are not too hopeful that the stock prices will recover anytime soon. Instead of solidly crossing the $6m networth target with a clear margin this Jul, we are now looking at this happening only at the end of this year, or not! Depending on whether the STI holds up or fall further.