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Saturday, December 30, 2023

Big homerun in year 2023

I had a big homerun shot in year 2023.

In fact, it clocked the highest annual gain (in quantum).

Year 2023, I am satisfied.

I wish I have the same good year for 2024!

Hall of Fame (2018 to 2022)

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

11 days Japan trip (December 2024)

We just booked 3x SIA tickets to Tokyo in December 2024!

This is going to be our 4th trip to Tokyo. :) We should tour towards Mount Fuji this time. 




We had booked all the hotel rooms, and the average daily room rate is S$252.


SIA had just canceled our flights and asked us to choose a different timing. That's great! 
I am now able to choose the best timing at no cost! 

My chosen flights now cost S$5,467! That's insane price for a family of 3.



Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Contents

Recent Holiday trips:

(Tokyo - Karuizawa - Fujikawaguchiko - Tokyo)

(Taipei & Taichung)

(Osaka - Kobe - Kyoto - Nara - Osaka) 


(Tokyo - Hakone - Takayama - Kanazawa - Nagano - Tokyo)

Singapore hot financial topics:






Break S$1 million milestone in CPF balance (Happy New Year 2024!)






(2) CPF (Central Provident Fund) & Delaying Monthly CPF Life Payout? 










CPF Annual Report 2020 (1M41 Regrossed Balances)




Moment of Truth: CPF - Having a Good Retirement Life in Singapore

Delaying Monthly CPF LIFE Payouts?


(3) How To Plan For Your Baby's Future (My Complete List Versus CPF Article)

http://jkfund.blogspot.com/2017/04/how-to-plan-for-your-babys-future-my.html

(4) SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme) 

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/09/retirement-planning-in-singapore-srs.html

(5) HDB De-Coupling:

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/06/hdb-decouple-topic-spr-sc-household.html

(6) Investment Linked Plan Insurance (For Baby)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/investment-linked-fund-for-infant.html

(7) Whole Life Insurance Plan (For Baby)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/10/buy-life-insurance-as-early-as-possible.html

(8) CPF (Central Provident Fund) For Baby 

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/05/cpf-versus-whole-life-insurance-for-kids.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/03/age-1-baby-has-cpf-account-do-you-know.html

(9) Singapore Insurance Summary

HDB rental yield now 13.52% !


4-room HDB Rental (Toh Guan @ Jurong East): Year 2022 update 







Singapore MOE School Fees (Primary 1 to 3) S$78 per year

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/02/year-2016-tuition-fees-at-local.html 

(24) Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (Malaysia)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/exclusively-for-malaysian-amanah-saham.html

(24) Citrine Residences & Sunway Iskandar Malaysia 

https://jkfund.blogspot.com/2018/06/citrine-residences-2-bedrooms-rental.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/why-i-bought-first-residential-project.html

(25) NusaHeights Service Apartment, Iskandar Malaysia

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/08/nusa-heights-service-apartment-my-first.html

(26) Malaysia i-Flexi Housing Loan

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2014/10/cimb-homeflexi-malaysia-housing-loan.html

(27) Horizon Hills, Iskandar Malaysia 

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2015/11/horizon-hills-reap-low-sell-high.html

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2012/05/why-i-give-horizon-hill-miss.html

(28) Pay Yourself First

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/09/pay-yourself-first.html

(29) My Exit Strategy On Singapore Real Estates: 99 Years Leasehold & 99 Years Lease

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/10/my-strategy-to-exit-on-singapore-real.html

(30) Engineering Change Order (ECO)

http://jkfund.blogspot.sg/2016/11/engineering-change-order.html

(31) True Living Cost In Singapore


Friday, October 6, 2023

3 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

I managed to record down my past 3 years expenses on my new car, Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo in great details. In average, I spent about S$435 per month for the car expenses.

I work from home 4 days a week since March 2020 (the start of COVID) and that is why the mileage is low. One day trip to office costs me S$8.30. Hence, it will cost me S$1,595 more a year in car petrol expenses if I go to office 5 days a week, which is not happening anytime soon.




My CAT B COE was only S$41,510.

I will scrap the car when it reaches 9 years 11 months and I will stand to receive a refund of S$14,833, which includes COE rebate S$346 + PARF rebate S$14,487.



I love Black Nano coating that I went for second coating after 3 years.


I also tried Michelin Tyres Primacy 4 (215/50/R17) for the first time. I love it too! :)






I had the first Black Nano coating right after the new car collection.


The factory tyres were Yokohama Advan dB. Not bad too!


Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo is a fun car to drive. I don't mind driving this car for 10 years and probably I am going to get another new Honda Civic Turbo model in year 2030!

All my car journey in Singapore documented here:

Saturday, July 1, 2023

CPF Annual Report 2022 (1.25M43 Regrossed Balance)

CPF Annual Report 2022 had just been released!

CPFB | Annual reports

They had removed the most exciting annex table that they had tabulated for many years, simply because they do not want people to keep comparing with others within the same age group. It's like remove the class standing in the primary school examination. Not fun at all.

Nevertheless, below are the highlights from CPF Annual Report 2022.







With CPF regrossed balance definition, we have a combined S$1.25million dollars in CPF as of June 30th, 2023. :) That sounds better.

Net CPF balance in CPF account is S$951,677. 

We will surely break the S$1 million mark in net CPF balance by January 1st, 2024!

The key is to stay employed. 




The CPF regrossed balance includes the monies you have spent on investment / housing loan / education, etc. .

I personally think that is the right way of calculating as that shows your ability to draw cash into the CPF account (be it yourself or from the employer contribution).

Nevertheless, it excludes how well your stocks/ Endowus performance in the CPF OA account as they only count the amount you throw in.

That says, if your stocks/ Endowus perform well above 2.5% given by the CPF OA, you will expect much larger sum the moment you sell and return back to CPF OA!

Vice versa.  Nevertheless, I only have a small exposure of S$34,101.

We have achieved 1.25M43 and on track to 4M65!

Based on the 3 years growth data, it is quite easy to predict that we will have at least S$100,000+ annual growth in CPF balance. That's about 10% annual increment.

Last but not least, everyone must know how to project their own CPF balances.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

9 days Taiwan trip (March 2024)

I managed to book SIA ticket to Taipei during the March 2024 school holidays at pretty good price. S$508 per person. Family of 3, total S$1,524.

The lowest fare is S$464 if you choose to travel during the non-school holiday period. S$44 saving per person.

We probably stay at Taipei for 4 nights and Tai Chung for another 4 nights. Will see.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

8 days Sydney trip (March 2023)

We had a good time at Sydney.


The trip was delayed almost 3 years due to COVID19. It was supposed to be a holiday trip in June 2020. Scoot canceled the flight. We chose no cash refund but extra 20% flight credits that we later used to purchase more luggage allowance, flight meals and seat booking for this March 2023 trip.

The hotel room (The Sydney Boulevard Hotel) was upgraded to a bigger size, and we were given a FREE bottle of red wine because I am Expedia GOLD member. 😊 

Our Sydney expenses (S$2,374.05) distributions are as follow:

  1. 57% food (6% breakfast, 25% lunch, 8% tea break and 18% dinner).
  2. 33% shopping
  3. 10% transportation.








Our hotel:

(1) The Sydney Boulevard Hotel

Our meals:

(1) The Grounds of the City

(2) The Grounds of the Alexandria

(3) Macchiato @ Pitt Street (Italian)

(4) Mr. Wang (Chinese)

(5) XOPP (Chinese)

(6) #eatfuh (Vietnamese)

(7) Seoul Ria (Korean)

(8) chatthai (Thai)

(9) cinyen (Indonesian)

(10) Hakatamon Ramen (Japanese)

(11) Sydney Fish Market

(12) The Naked Duck

(13) Jamie's Kitchen

(14) Messina Gelato (MUST TRY!)

(15) Tenacious

(16) Black Star Pastry

(17) Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills

(18) Meet Fresh @ Chatsworth

(19) Beautea

(20) Bill & Toni's

(21) The Wyatt @ Gordon

(22) Aunty Ed's Restaurant

(23) Tea Break ~

==============================================

(1) The Sydney Boulevard Hotel

We stayed at this hotel for 7 nights. Average daily rate A$200.95. It is located at the city center, William Street.

The room size is great indeed and there is a Woolworths metro right next to the hotel. 

Expedia Gold member will receive a FREE bottle of red wine. :) 









(1) The Grounds of the City

The food is fantastic. Love the filet mignon (AS$50) and king grab linguini (A$32). The mango tango (A$9.50) is lovely too. :) Good ambience.

Total bill: A$91.50.









(2) The Grounds of the Alexandria

I came here with huge expectation, but the food is just normal. Wild omelette and eggs benedict were good but not the brekkie burger. My sister joined us for the breakfast. Total bill: A$118.50.

There is one lululemon outlet store nearby. We bought our first lululemon cloths at 50% discount, pretty good deal. :)












(3) Macchiato @ Pitt Street

Highly recommended! The thin crusted pizzas were great! Eye fillet (A$49) was fantastic too. Must come!
My sister family joined us. Hence, the bill for 7 was A$319.

















(4) Mr. Wang

The food is nice, but it is way over-priced. 
I don't think that's half duck portion, A$59 for half duck. 
Mapo tofu was extremely silky and nice.









(5) XOPP

We enjoyed the food. It's a nice location too, near the Chinatown.









(6) #eatfuh

It's a typical Vietnamese fuh (noodles). We had it at Surrey Street branch. Not bad!






(7) Seoul Ria

Dinner with my ex-high school classmate with her husband too. A decent Korean BBQ place at Chinatown!








We had this matcha dessert elsewhere at Chinatown too after the dinner.


(8) chatthai

Good Thai food indeed. It is a chain store at Gateway Shopping Centre, Circular Quay.








(9)cinyen

Delicious Indonesian Medan food near UNSW, Anzac Parade, Kingsford.








(10) Hakatamon Ramen

My son craved for Japanese ramen. Hence, we were here at Hakatamon Ramen at Darling Square. Not bad.









(11) Sydney Fish Market

A must visit place. You can get all the fresh seafood here! We had 2 rounds of lunch. :)












(12) The Naked Duck

We had a quick brunch here. The food is just all right. Nothing special.







(13) Jamie's Kitchen

We had breakfast here before heading back to Singapore! Decent breakfast.








(14) Messina Gelato

This is the best gelato that you must try at Sydney! We had it 3 times all together at different branches.








(15) Tenacious

Pretty interesting place to have coffee break at Oxford Village, Tenacious.








(16) Black Star Pastry

That's one pretty and expensive cake. Overrated. 








(17) Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills

Ginger brulee tart, good place to have coffee break at Surry Hills.












(18) Meet Fresh @ Chatsworth

Meet Fresh Taiwanese dessert at Chatsworth. The portion is big!






(19) Beautea

Taiwanese bubble tea shop, Beautea. 







(20) Bill & Toni's

That's our first meal at Sydney. Linguine gameri and scallops was pretty good. The cafe is a walking distance away from our hotel, Stanley Street, Darlinghurst.






(21) The Wyatt 

We had breakfast at The Wyatt at Gordon with my sister. It's a pretty cozy cafe.





(22) Aunty Ed's Restaurant

We had lunch at this place at Katoomba Street, Blue Mountains. The food was just normal, probably too much fried food.






(23) Tea Break ~

Gelato and drinks at Bondi Beach.



Gelato at Barangaroo.


Coffee break at Art Gallery of New South Wales.



Quick lunch at Sydney airport.







THE END

4 years expenses (Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo)

I managed to record down my past 4 years expenses on my new car, Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo in great details. In average,  I spent about  S$427 ...