Vintage/Nostalgia/Throwback *hashtag

Every trend gets rinsed and repeated, mostly, its fashion related (see the bucket hats). From time to time, the cultural trend setters thought its time to portray certain lifestyles and cultures.

For the longest time running, many things have been soaked thoroughly in the good ol' days. Words like: vintaged, retrolicious, nostalgic, dapper, throwback is mentioned in every single social networking post.

I like the way some things are done the old way because it really is better not just because it is for being vintage. I see people selling chicken/ping pong print bowl or green metal cup for more than $2-3 I want to just take it and throw at the face of the seller.

I feel some people do these old things for the sake of being vintage. Not always, old is gold. Before anyone things I'm anti-culture or anti-trend hard ass, let me first come and say that I'm into the notion that for somethings, old is gold. Not all things, but some. Those that is really gold, you do not see the teens doing it because they do not get to show off doing it. For instance, chopping wood for fire, climbing flights of stairs to their 4 storeys and up HDB flats (hell, even young people who live on 2nd floor also take lift). I believe that in our ancestors age, they discovered many things, some of these things were perfected back then. Hence we never change the way we do them. Sure, marketing may steer us towards the cash cows instead.

For instance: shaving. Modern cartridge razors or electric razors are seriously bad for the skin yet some people only use that. They even use shaving cream for cartridge razor because that's how its done in the TV.

I don't see why anyone with a calculator at home will want to shave with a cartridge razor. 

Riding vespas. seriously, its a extremely overpriced scooter that just looks like its old. Remember to attached the silly looking helmets that over no protection to the cheeks and jaw with shades above it to complete the look.

Protect your forehead and your hair with this today. Also, goggles are as attachments to helmet only, not to be used by rider.

Vintage film cameras (unless you are a serious collector and/or photographer). Yes the images are warmer looking, but don't anyone who is not a professional photographer thinks that film is out? Its costly to develop, vintage cameras have too many moving parts that require alot of maintenance, some parts aren't in production anymore and are expensive to acquire. End of the day, you take these money-ripping things out to Haji lane or some weird back alley to take #stilllife #throwback #nostalgia photos only to post them into instagram or facebook only. Seriously, if you into photography for casual, just get a digital camera or basic DSLR. Don't come and step step (fake) one film camera user

cannot find any photos to illustrate my point as I do not want to offend any photographers but you get the point

Hair grooming, I just got into the slick back rockabilly thingy with my hair, I have always sported a side parting for most part of my adult life (at some point, it was spiking on its own like a gong kuay aka rooster). But nowadays I feel alot of things revolve around the dapper gentlemen kind of look. How come we are into dapper all of a sudden? Answer: Mad Men tv series.

The styling is good, although I felt that initially the clothing was a bit badly fitted, due to budget I suppose. But in mad men, its all about the hair and the slick. In sunny (sweaty, sticky) island Singapore, we face a very very different weather and climate versus our golden haired counter parts in the west. In many hobbies, there will be this group of people who call themselves purist. I honestly hate this term, not for what it represents but for the fact that this term is being abused and destroyed utterly by people with internet. For example, previously mentioned 'photographers' and in men's grooming case, usage of products that are from the past or making them overpriced. Pomade debates on oil-based vs water-based pomades for example. I can understand if American's do it. Firstly, they have seen oil-based pomades all their life. Their dad's did it, their grandfather did it and now, they are doing it, no wrong. Another reason is also their everyday drug store (our guardian or watsons equivalent) sells it since back it was first sold in early 1900s.

But what I cannot stand is Singaporeans who 'swear by' oil based pomades. Seriously serious? Swear by is kinda a strong word. Its true that forums have listed out the advantages of oil based pomades, but can you imagine, in humid Singapore where your pillow case has residue of grease? Its disgusting. Oil based pomades do not wash off in 3 or less washes of shampoo (PUB bills not you pay that's why shampoo until so song *shiok right?)

Cock grease for "cocks"

But I'm not here to change your habits, I'm just telling my readers (not like its alot, but surely there are some), do not buy into the crap marketing people push down your throat. Best is to educate yourself, make your own judgement. Always remember that you are in Singapore, not America, don't blindly follow people from another country.

look at this lovely vintage photo of Tong Ah (which is now moved a few units down the street, if you see this part of the building, turn right and keep going down to find, due to lease or something). Also look at that 'vintage' Honda Odyssey as well.

Also, Dr Martens boots (although Red wing is even more expensive, but it is better) and $400 denim is also over-rated and grossly overpriced. Sorry, I love the way they look, but seriously, $400 for a pair of jeans? Perhaps if you are such a purist, maybe you could find out the purpose denim is being invented for. I do not believe miners were folding cuffs to show off the red selvedge to other miners or laughing at them when they are not wearing any japanese denim or 500 oz rhino skin denim.

Double Your CPF Money Today!

For your info...

- Do you know, that money if left untouched in CPF for about 30 years, it will double itself? If you have $100,000 in your CPF OA in 2015, it will have at least $200,000 by 2045 without any additional contribution at all (assuming current interest rates of 2.5%). You do not need to do anything!!!

- Do you know, that money in CPF SA, doubles itself in less than 20 years?That's why its called special account!

This is not some magic advertisement or false claims by CPF. This is just the work of the little devil that we all know as compound interest.

This amazing little devil has build wealth for many rich people who understand it. It is by no means a magic bullet for us to riches, it is just a mathematical formula. 

Simple interest is like this: when you have $100, every year, you get the interest rate based on the same $100.

Compound interest is more complicated, but essentially, every time you get a interest payout, that extra payout adds to your sum and you get exponentially more each payout. There is interest on the interest previously earned.

Einstein (who is a physicist) allegedly said that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

The maths is very simple. There is a way it will work in reverse to find out how many years it will take for your money to double. Just take 72 divide by the interest rate. At 2% interest annually, it will take about 36 years to double the money you started out with. 

At an annual interest rate of 24%, it will take a mere 3 years to double the money. 

As always, I urge everyone to read up and research beyond the CPF web to gain more knowledge about how certain maths work.

MEDISAVE

When you actually get out to read up on how CPF works, and more or less understand the gist of the concept CPF, you will not be bothered whether the money is yours or the govt. I'm not commenting on whether I agree with the system, I do not believe my agreement in this matter is going to change anything.

I want to talk about for a moment on the ownership of the money in CPF or Medisave in particular.

I'm sure many of you have heard from your friends and relatives that if you go for surgery and/or being hospitalized, you can CLAIM from medisave.

Many do not realise that this is fundamentally wrong and it's this wrong mindset that leads to people thinking that CPF is not our money.

I recently had to go for a wisdom tooth extraction, for my lower wisdom tooth, it is impacted which means the tooth had to be surgically removed. But my upper wisdom tooth can be extracted normally. The fearful procedure didn't hurt, I was under local anesthesia so the upper tooth extraction is painless.

I didn't admit to anyone but I felt quite good throughout the whole process. Adrenaline kicked in, making me more excited, but I was quickly reduced to puking and vomiting once it wore off.

But I digress...

Many people are lamenting that CPF money is not their own, but by telling people they can claim whatever payment from CPF, that in itself, is already you subconsciously telling yourself and others that it is not your money, hence the need to 'claim' instead of 'use'.

Simple analogy: when you go ATM to withdraw money, do you tell people that you are claiming money from the bank?

Simpler analogy: when you take out your wallet to make a payment, do you 'claim' money from your wallet?

Remember people, I get that many of us are just complaining that CPF is my money, not the govt's money. I'm not here to say whether is it ours or govt's money. I just feel that we should understand the schemes whether or not we like it. Because, by not understanding it, there is no difference as not owning it.

Personally, I feel that the CPF is not great but its not harmful either, if I use the underside of my mattress as my CPF savings account, in 20-30 years, it will be worth half the value due to inflation. I'm not a savvy investor who knows how to generate enough income with all that money to beat annual inflation (assuming 2% annually) let's not talk about earning more money from it. Risk free 2.5-3.5% on OA and 4-5% on SA is honestly good returns (considering no tax as well on this gain).

Bottom line: take time to go read up and understand how CPF works, how it gives out interest to you, use Google to solve big words like accrued interest (click me! click me!!!). Maybe financial savvy people can build a workaround to put things into your favour.

Guys tip of the day: WEAR A WATCH EVERYDAY!!!

This is perhaps one of the best things I've ever did as a guy after from carrying a notebook and wet shaving.

What ever kind of watches you are keen on getting, get one today and wear it everyday.

CPF: whose money is this?

This kind of post landed someone into a lawsuit, our views should best be kept to ourselves as the CPF scheme, like all other schemes, laws and systems, affect each and everyone of us differently.

Good read: How CPF works for those who are confused about minimum sum, draw down age, the gist of the CPF is inside there in layman terms.

How to manage your account in CPF is different, there are many methods available to some what suit your retirement planning.

However, one think I can tell you is, the goal each of us should try to achieve is not minimum sum. If we only try to hit the minimum sum, we will be very jialat during age 55 to 65 or whenever is this age adjusted to by the time you get there. We should aim for a much more substantial amount of money above the minimum sum. And seems like pledging property is not a long term solution either.

Remember: AIM FOR A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF MONEY ABOVE THE PREVAILING MINIMUM SUM.

Disclaimer, I would like to say that if you are of low income, I hope you will strive hard and get out of this rut. All the best. Never give up hope and do not rely on Singapore Pools and stop spending money on cigarettes and/or liquor. 

The hard truths is that as far as CPF problems is concerned, we have no choice in that matter really. It seems like the only way to 'beat' the system is to stay healthy and live to a ripe old age.

I will not delve into the specifics of the CPF Life Standard Plan and CPF Life Basic Plan, you can read up about it here. I think despite what the name suggests, CPF Life Basic Plan is more of a better plan as you really do not need CPF to match your old age's lifestyle as your children's contribution + your own savings should be the key. And you have to leave some for your children, which is why its better to take up the Basic Plan as it has a much higher bequest amount.

For those who is planning to just meet the minimum sum in their retirement account, think about this for a moment if you think the money is better off in your account (if Govt lets you withdraw out the minimum sum at 65 and put into your bank):

If you live to 80 years old, you will have this 155000 for 15 years.
- Thats: $10,333 a year or $861 a month till age 80

If you live to 85 years old, you will have this 155000 for 20 years.
- Thats: $7,750 a year or $645 a month till age 85

If you live to 90 years old, you will have this 155000 for 25 years.
- Thats: $6,200 a year or $516 a month till age 90

You get the picture. You can say that you have bank interest or side incomes or children's contribution. But with no job or income, the compound interest is going to take a very long time to set in, on top of that you are withdrawing too. And children giving you money is a touchy subject. Not 100% confirmed.

As far as I can see, I am not that investment savvy to be still earning a size-able passive income at an old age. I would mostly cash out to minimise my exposure to zero. But that is at a later stage.

If you understand the concept of Total Defense, you will see that despite CPF, being some what unfavourable to us Singaporeans (mainly due to the fact that foreigners can just give up their SG passport to get back their money and return to their village to retire happily), the scheme in its whole as a nation, prevents scammers from targeting old people and somewhat protects the money.

Abit of a payout is better than no payout at all. And honestly, if you look around, you will find plenty of people wasting money, some wasting more than the others. Which is why, it will be abit hard for them to wisely manage their own money when they are older.

I always have this believe, if you give a huge sum of money to a low income family, most likely they will spend it all very quickly. Hence do not give a man a fish, nor teach him how to fish. Instead, loan him a rod, fishing is not that hard, and collect portions of money he makes from fishing.

If you are like me, mid 20s this year, it's much better to suffer now, save up, work more while we still can than end up still having to work till you die and not enjoy retirement fully. I rather work a job that pays $1,500 at age 25 than be having to work a job pay $2000 at age 65.

I do not watch local TV

As titled, I don't.

The contents are largely derivative, acting is bad (I do not blame actors, I blame the fact that acting in Singapore isn't quite what it is overseas), the actors just have a pretty face (most of the actors are from talent searches where looks are initially very important).

For the longest time, there hasn't been anything scripted on local tv that is quote worthy, however, recently a TV show changed that quite abit. I am still not watching the show, but I do feel that the quote more or less touches hard on the subject. It is basis of this blog.

The acting still sucks especially from Chow Chor Meng  (sorry bro, I liked you when you were in Don't Worry, Be Happy, but I felt your acting seriously declined, but what do I know about acting eh?)

你以为着急赚钱的人只有我一个吗？
你去问一下其他的年轻人，有谁不着急？

服完兵役，念完大学23，24岁，一转眼30岁就到了。
在这短短几年时间，要结婚，要买房子，要生孩子，没钱行吗？
现在一间组屋至少30，40万。就拿最基本的开销来说，如果你在市区工作，一天来回地铁两三趟，偶尔赶时间搭个德士 ，光是交通费每天就要$6 - $7块钱 。吃顿午餐，最省最省$5-$6块钱。去个连锁咖啡店喝杯咖啡$6-$7块钱，$6、$7块。
这还不说，为了响应政府号召，早结婚、早生孩子，那我得赶紧去交个女朋友。如果不陪吃、陪喝、陪看戏、偶尔陪出国，外加送一点名牌礼物，就算我长一副明星脸也未必有女孩子要跟我。
有一些人还要读大学，贷款、分担家里的开销呢？等到要结婚的时候，摆一桌酒席$1000块开始起跳，拍个婚纱特辑$3000-$4000块钱，这都是钱钱钱啊！
我们这代年轻人不追求什么生活品质，就算是维持最起码的生活，不去赚一点钱行吗？你们也不想养一个儿子，等到结婚的时候跟你要钱摆喜酒，等要建立家庭的时候跟你们要钱买房子。

是，我承认我的手法是有一点极端，我有错，但是我的错是因为这个社会造成的！

The translation as follows and the comments:
You (the kid's dad) think I'm the only one anxious about earning money? Why not you ask the youngsters today, who isn't anxious? (you mean its the prerogative of adults to be anxious about money? kids are only there to spend money) 
After NS*, graduating from university around 23-24 years old, we'll turn 30 at the blink of an eye (not so much of a blink, but for this time period the amount of things to do is highly in-proportionate.) 

During this short period of time, we have to get married, get a house, have baby(babies), can we do all of these without money? (this right here is the basis of this blog.

The cost for a HDB is at least $300K-$400K now. ( now a 4 room hdb costs about $280k-$600k depending on location and grants). But its actually much more if you factor in HDB loans and CPF Accrued interest

Let's talk about the most basic need for spending, if we were to work in the city(town), a trip back and forth via MRT is $5-$6. (I live in the west and a train trip towards the city is about S$1.80 - S$2.00 one way)

Occasionally, we take a taxi when we rush for time is $6-$7. ($6-7 for about a 10 min journey, not to mention the nonsensical surcharges, and the fact that they are raising fares due to taxi companies being unable to rent out their taxis fully)

For lunch, we need at least $5-$6. (I can swing the lowest of $2 if I want)

Drinking cup of coffee from a franchised cafe is $5-$7 (Starbucks/Coffeebean? Why would a kid who is so concerned about savings buy $6 coffee when he can get the same at $1.10 each) 

As if that's not enough, we have to follow what the government's campaigns, get married early to have babies young. (govt have been doing that for awhile now, but the cost of living is not helping. Funny thing is last time they were pushing stop at two, which they quickly found to be detrimental in the long run.)

I have to get a girlfriend first. And with that we will incur expenses from meals, drinks, movies and go overseas occasionally, plus gifting a few branded goods. If not even with the face of a superstar, no girl will want to be with me. (this is also some what of a social problem these days, guys who spoil girls and girls who likes to be spoilt are at fault.)

Some of us still want to further our studies, what about loans, mortgages and helping out with the family's finances? (at a certain point, you have to reduce your contributions to your family, your new family is important too right?)

And when it's time to get married, it cost at least $1000 per table. (its actually $1,200 now assuming 4 star hotel banquets, remember to pre-plan this 2 years in advance!!)

A wedding photo shoot will cost at least $3000-$4000 ($3k is the basic ones, mostly a size-able wedding photo shoot album costs about $4500 and up)

And all of these requires money, money and MONEY!!! (actually its whats afterwards that requires money.)

My generation of young adults don't demand a quality lifestyle. Is it even possible to not earn some money now, even if we were to live a life of the absolute basic? (this is not true, youths these days do not know the true value of money including myself. Otherwise, thrifty-ness shouldn't come as a challenge to them, kids these days are all about brands and it is also very accessible to own them. For eg, plenty of 0% installment plans for luxury watches and jewelry that do not cripple you right away but eat you like a slow disease). 

You don't want to have a son to have to ask you to pay for his wedding and his house, do you? (Although no choice really, we need our parents help as much as we can get right now to do these things).

Yes, I admit that what I did to earn money is a little extreme (I don't know what he did).

I've made mistakes and I'm at fault, but my fault is because of what this society has made it to be! (I didn't watch the show to see what he actually did, so can't comment)

* for non-Sg readers, Singapore has conscripted army for all boys. It mostly occurs between their first tertiary education (junior college/polytechnic/ITE ) and their university education. It typically lasts 2 years. 
For girls: after you've completed tertiary education, you can start your university studies
For boys: after you complete tertiary education, you take two years to serve NS before resuming university or starting to work.

Kids these days don't have it easy just like how our parents. Although it's a different kind of hardship, it is still difficult nonetheless. In the past, the struggles might be about poverty and low income related. But now, it's mostly about keeping up with others.

Our parents are always asking us to save up save up, it's a good concept but the rate of savings is always not enough. You need to learn to earn more money using your own money.

Out there, there's a lot of get rich schemes, short cuts to money, windfalls, etc.. But as some people say, as easy as you can get it, you also can lose it just as easily.

As far as making extra money goes, I think everyone should follow these few rules, most of them are quite self-explanatory:
- don't do anything illegal
- don't hunt people around you (for sales esp)
- you must be able to sleep well at night
- you must be able to sleep well at night 
- you must be able to sleep well at night
- don't believe in rumours and do not buy on rumours
- don't believe in get-rich-quick scams
- do your homework when you are investing in anything
- always keep track of the money/expenditure for long term
- do not get into a lot of debt (some debt to free up cash flow is useful), even personal finances also require certain leveraging.

Although the saying: to buy the rumours and sell the news. But this only works when you position yourself ahead of retail stock investors and your position is able to make use of herd mentality to drive up prices.

Are you able to drop 10k on a share and wait for it to rise overnight? High returns also means high risk, there is no two ways about this, otherwise no one will be hedging.

But if you look at yourself, you are more likely unable to position yourself as such. Hence you should read up on value investing and really do some homework to generate the yields long term. Instead of studying what Warren Buffett buys today, you should see how he accumulates his wealth over time. He and Walter Schloss study a certain investment through and through. He know when will the shares of a wonderful company be truly cheap (under priced) and buys them to keep for long time. Think Coca-cola company, Gillette and IBM. That's what value investing is. He realised that Coke will be in business for a long long time.

Famous investors say a lot of things. But the one thing they all repeat and repeat and practise themselves without fail is: sleep well at night. Don't invest till you are so afraid and keep yourself awake at night. Its not worth it most of the time.

Cost of living will carry on to go up there is no doubt about it. Always remember your end goal. Your financial health at old age. You do not want to be working after retirement age.

Photo credits: draken from club snap

Don't call us poor

I was watching this show the other day. You could catch on Toggle (disclaimer: not affiliated), you need to sign up to their account and also for some computers might need to download microsoft silverlight which is just a web based player (guess they hate quicktime, apple owned).

This documentary series delve into lives of various Singaporeans with low income and their lives in one of the most expensive cities to live in according to BBC, Singapore.

You can follow the lives of various people.

The one that gave me the deepest impression is Hong Chuan Chuan.

I am not here to judge her, but I feel that her children are suffering the worst. I do not believe giving her money will aid her situation in anyway and if anything, worsen the situation.

For good or for bad, everyone should give this a watch to get another perspective in life not seen often.