Happy New Year! May your year in 2020 be filled with joy and laughter. In less than a month, it will be Chinese New Year when we wish each other a prosperous lunar new year. But why prosperous? Why do we want our family, friends, colleagues, acquaintance and strangers to do well financially? Is this unique to the Chinese when other races wish each other happiness, peace … [Read more...]
The naked truth of Singapore’s property porn
(Disclaimer: This blog post contains mature content and is restricted to adults age 21 and above. Readers under 21 or immature in sexual or financial intelligence are advised to seek parental guidance before continue reading.) According to HSBC's 2019 survey, Singaporeans spend an average of over three hours per week on property-related window shopping, reading real estate … [Read more...]
Will buying a home make us happier?
This week the government announced higher CPF grants and a raised income ceiling for first-time HDB buyers. More citizens are now eligible to buy new BTO flats or resale HDB flats. A recent advertisement from the CPF Board is seen at MRT platforms with a headline that reads, “In 2018, nearly one million Singaporeans used CPF for their housing and found what really sparks … [Read more...]
Will Hong Kong people buy Singapore homes?
Some readers ask me whether there will be more Hong Kong people buying Singapore homes, and whether this will raise local property prices and sales volumes. Maybe they know I was from Hong Kong two decades ago. Or they have seen too many media reports on riots in Hong Kong. Like many foreign countries, protests and strikes to Hong Kong people are like typhoons that … [Read more...]
The wisdom of passing wealth and properties to the children
We all wish to leave something behind to our next generation. It is a gesture of love and goodwill, and how we want to be remembered. But very often, we don’t know what, when and how to give. I just read a very good legacy planning book titled Wealth of Wisdom: The Top 50 Questions Wealthy Families Ask. The book has fifty-three chapters written by different subject … [Read more...]