Transfer CPF Money from Ordinary to Medisave Account

Correction: we made a mistake in our earlier article, and we have thus made the edits. We like to thank our readers for pointing out to us when we make mistake in our research.

Today's topic was suggested by one of our readers.

If you got any questions/topics you would like us to talk about, let us know via the comments below or via this form.

You asked us what are some of the pros and cons of transferring money from your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) to your CPF Medisave Account (MA).

Here is the result of our research.

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Background

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If would like to know what is your Medisave Account for, click HERE.

But, long story short:

Source: CPF

You can use it to pay for your medical bills, family members' medical bills, as well as pay for medical insurance schemes like MediShield Life.

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Can it be done?

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Long story short: NO

You cannot transfer funds from your CPF OA to your CPF MA.

But, you can top up your CPF MA in 2 other ways.

• Voluntary contribution to all 3 CPF accounts (non-tax deductible)
• Medisave Account only (tax deductible)

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Recommended Read: Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

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The Pros of topping up CPF MA

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Why would anyone want to top up to their CPF MA?

So why would anyone want to transfer money from your CPF OA to CPF MA, here are some of the reasons.

1. Extra interest

CPF OA pays 2.5%+ interest per year

If you are saving money for your medical bills, you are probably stashing it away in some low-risk portfolio that gives less than 1% interest per year.

If that's that case, why not allocate a portion of it into CPF MA, which pays 4%+ interest per year.

Of course, you would still need to keep a portion of it in cash because there's a portion of your medical bills that still requires cash payment.

Just moving money from your OA to your MA gives you an extra 1.5% interest per year.

2. Has a cap

Your MA savings is subjected to a cap, known as the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS).

As of 2021, the BHS is set at $63,000 for those 65 years old and below.

Any amount that is in excess of your BHS will flow over to your

• CPF Special Account (SA) - if you are below 55 years old
• CPF Retirement Account (RA) - if you are 55 years old and above

Source: CPF

So, technically, your CPF MA money is not a bottomless pit where money keeps going in without any way to take out unless you are hospitalised

Your CPF MA will reach a cap, after which money will flow into your CPF SA or CPF RA, where it can be withdrawn (if other conditions are met of course 😉)

For more information on the BHS, click HERE.

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Recommended Read: Which Chinese Zodiac Has the Best Financial Outlook for 2021?

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The Cons of topping up CPF MA

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Here are the cons of topping up your CPF MA.

While you will get higher interest by making the transfer, there are also cons associated with it.

Here are the cons of transferring money from your CPF OA to CPF MA.

1. One-way street

You cannot un-do the top-up.

Once the money is in your CPF, it's going to be very hard for you to withdraw it out (except if you meet the various T&Cs).

Once you transfer from your CPF OA to your CPF MA, you cannot transfer it back from your CPF MA to your CPF OA.

2. Potentially no tax benefits

If you do a top-up via the Voluntary Contribution (VC), then there is no tax benefit.

However, if you do a voluntary CPF MA-only top-up using cash, the amount that you top up is tax-deductible. But, it will be subject to your maximum personal income tax relief cap.

However, if you transferred it from your CPF OA to CPF MA, there is no tax benefit.

3. Less cash

If you kept cash in your pocket, you can use it any way you like. 

Pay for a mortgage, pay for a holiday trip, pay for medical bills, anything!

But once you put it into CPF, the things you can use it for will be subjected to limits and restrictions.

Topping up cash into your CPF MA, while will earn you higher interest, will restrict you to using it only for medical purposes and nothing else.

Some day down the road if you realised you need extra cash to pay for a home downpayment, you cannot withdraw it from your CPF MA to pay for the downpayment.

3. Less ways to use your funds in CPF

If you kept the money in your CPF OA, you can use it for housing, education, insurance premiums, and other purposes.

But if you transfer the money to your CPF MA, you can only use it for medical purposes or to pay for medical insurance premiums.

If you are currently paying your home loan using CPF, if you make a transfer to your CPF MA and cause your CPF OA to have insufficient funds to pay your monthly mortgage, then you might have to pay your mortgage in cash.

In which case, it might be better if you just top up cash into your CPF MA (since this is tax-deductible) while paying your mortgage is not.

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Recommended Read: Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

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Conclusion

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There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

For example, if you got sufficient funds in your CPF OA to pay your mortgage, and would like to grow your CPF MA faster and maximise the interest you are earning from CPF, then you can consider making the top-up.

But, there is no hard-and-fast rule. 

Whether or not to top-up cash into your CPF MA depends heavily on your circumstances.

Whether or not to transfer the money from your CPF OA to your CPF MA, depends heavily on your circumstances.

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Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

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New Product Launch (Beta)

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We are building a new platform to help you find people to share your family plan subscriptions with. 

We help you find, match, subscribe and collect payment so that you don’t have to.

Convenience for you:

• You don't have to find people to share with you. We do it for you.
• You don't have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
• You don't have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription to that 1 person. We do it for you.
• You don't have to find it difficult to drop out of a family subscription plan because you shared it with your family/friends. We cover your share for you.

We like to know what you think about this service.
Let us know in the survey below what you think, and to be notified once we officially launch the product. 😉

SURVEY

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Promos & Referrals
We are starting to build a list of Promos and Referrals for our readers.
Click here to view the full list of Promos and Referrals we have. 

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Hey You!

If you have a money related story about you or your relatives' that you want to share, let us know in the comments below or email us at investmentstab@gmail.com.
Alternative, you could fill in the form below for us to contact you.
Story Form

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Dear Reader!
As we progress towards the next phase of our journey, we would like to find out what would make you like us even more.
We hope you could help us fill in a short survey of 8 questions (4 of them are MCQs) so that we can help tailor our content to you.
Survey

Remember to offer your opinions. If you don't put your two cents in, how can you expect to get change?
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Why We Still Need Insurance Agent

This is probably another one of our controversial articles, where instead of being our usual self and bash insurance agents, we are going to write about why we genuinely think they are important and should still exist. 

It is a common perception that insurance agents have a bad reputation - mostly because of their pushy, aggressive, and questionable sales practice.

Most of us would probably rather go to a dentist than meet an insurance agent.

And as much as we want to think they are not what we want or need, they definitely play an important role in our financial roadmap!

Today, we are going to be unconventional and write about the people we often mock about: Insurance Agents.

We will be explaining why we think we need insurance agents in our lives.

PS: we will be using 'insurance agent' and 'financial consultant' interchangeably in this article. In this article, both will mean the same, although there might be some difference in the real world.

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Importance of Insurance

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Insurance is one of the things that are important in ensuring that you can reach your financial goal and security.

It acts as the "protection" layer, protecting you and your family against expensive events like death, sickness, hospitalisation etc.

You will need it to cover these basic things like death, TPD, and hospitalisation, everything else can be "optional".

Optional include things like endowment, ILPs, etc, which are generally the higher income-generating products for the insurance agents.

There's nothing wrong with trying to sell higher-margin insurance to customers IF the customers need it.

Also, insurance agents have families to feed as well.

It is only wrong if they are not suitable for the customers, or if the customers are conned into buying them.

Kind of like buying the 256gb iPhone instead of 128gb.

It's a higher margin for Apple to sell the 256gb model but it really depends at the end of the day if the customer really needs it.

The problem with insurance is, we do not buy them automatically, because they are not life-threatening or required on a frequent basis.

If you starve, you will die; hence your stomach gives you the signal to go buy food and eat.

The problem with insurance is there is no such mechanism at play, and by the time you realise you need insurance, it's already too late.

If you realised you haven't left any money for your family to take care of themselves in the event of your early death, you cannot reverse and buy insurance to get the payout. 

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Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

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Importance of Insurance Agent

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That's where the importance of an insurance agent comes in.

Because they exist, and because they contact ("force", in a good way) you to go through your financial roadmap, they are able to help you identify the gaps and give you the appropriate advice on how to get your financials on track (or at least ensure sufficient protection for you and your family). 

I studied finance and investment to know the importance of getting insured.

But for people who are teachers, engineers, doctors, or other professions that are not in the "money business", this is not an intuitive thing for them.

And so the most realistic way for them to get their financial roadmap on track is to get advice from an insurance agent.

I don't think people would wake up one day, suddenly realise they need to get $X amount of life insurance and proceed to buy one themselves. This just does not happen in real life.

Hence the importance of an agent is they literally force you to sit down, walk you through the whole roadmap, and plan your finances.

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Recommended Read: Corporate Strategy 1: Rundle, Recurring Revenue Bundle

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Dilemma of an Insurance Agent

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Of course, insurance agents only make money if you buy policies from them.

And the money they earn from your premiums tends to drop after the first few years.

So for example, after you buy insurance from your agent, maybe they get 

• First-year 10% of the premium as their commission
• Second-year 5% of the premium as their commission
• Third-year 1% of the premium as their commission
• Fourth-year 0% of the premium as their commission

And since they have to do an annual review of your financial health, it makes sense for them to take that opportunity to either sell you a bigger plan (up-size) or sell you some other plans.

If they don't do that, how do they feed their families?

Furthermore, it's been proven that it's easier to up-sell and cross-sell to existing customers than to new customers.

So if not you, then who? 🤷‍♂️

But, there's only so much insurance one person need. Eventually, as a customer, you will no longer need any additional insurance.

However, to make ends meet, sometimes, some agents, would have to sell more despite already having enough, just like what Christopher said in his video below. 

Christopher went from being an insurance agent to starting a fee-based wealth advisor after a client told him "surely there must come a time whereby I have enough insurance."

Not saying that all insurance agents are like that, but you as a customer will eventually reach a point where you just have enough insurance. Then what?

Do you continue to buy more insurance to support your agent? Or do you stop buying what your agent suggests?

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Recommended Read: Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

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Conclusion

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We think we still need insurance agents going forward (says the guy who was thinking of becoming one).

But there's only so much insurance one needs to get.

Eventually, we all just need to be able to say 'No' when asked to get more insurance.

What do you think?

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Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

---

New Product Launch (Beta)

---

We are building a new platform to help you find people to share your family plan subscriptions with. 

We help you find, match, subscribe and collect payment so that you don’t have to.

Convenience for you:

• You don't have to find people to share with you. We do it for you.
• You don't have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
• You don't have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription to that 1 person. We do it for you.
• You don't have to find it difficult to drop out of a family subscription plan because you shared it with your family/friends. We cover your share for you.

We like to know what you think about this service.
Let us know in the survey below what you think, and to be notified once we officially launch the product. 😉

SURVEY

---

Promos & Referrals
We are starting to build a list of Promos and Referrals for our readers.
Click here to view the full list of Promos and Referrals we have. 

---

Hey You!

If you have a money related story about you or your relatives' that you want to share, let us know in the comments below or email us at investmentstab@gmail.com.
Alternative, you could fill in the form below for us to contact you.
Story Form

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Dear Reader!
As we progress towards the next phase of our journey, we would like to find out what would make you like us even more.
We hope you could help us fill in a short survey of 8 questions (4 of them are MCQs) so that we can help tailor our content to you.
Survey

Remember to offer your opinions. If you don't put your two cents in, how can you expect to get change?
Have feedback? Tell us now!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more timely updates about finance-related articles and memes! 😁
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Corporate Strategy 1: Rundle, Recurring Revenue Bundle

 

We are starting a new segment in our articles.

We are now going to talk about corporate strategies and business models, something we picked up when learning about investing.

Today, more than ever, business models and strategies are playing an increasing weight in how we invest our money, and we think it's only appropriate that we also dive into it when talking about investing.

And in our first-ever dive into this topic, we are going to be talking about "Rundle".

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What's a "Rundle"?

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The Rundle, or recurring revenue bundle, was the term coined by NYU professor Scott Galloway, to explain how companies can mix 2 business models (recurring-revenue subscription and bundling) together as one to grow faster.

"Recurring-revenue subscription" was the in-thing a few years ago. Any startups that had "subscription" as part of its business model found no shortage of venture capital fund outbidding each other to invest in the startups.

"Bundling" on the other hand, is an old retail strategy of combining several products together to sell as a package. Think selling masks with hand sanitiser in 1 pack instead of as 2 separate items. Customers buy more because of the perceived discount, while businesses get a higher transaction size.

The "Rundle" is the combination of the 2, where businesses package several products together and sell them as a subscription, offering a better value proposition, better value, and make higher revenue.

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Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

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How It Is Being Used?

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While companies in the subscription business are working hard to find products to bundle into their subscription, companies in the bundle business are working hard to get into a subscription relationship with their customers.

Case in point: Apple and Walmart.

Apple & Apple One

Source: Apple

Even on their service website, the first sentence states that it's a subscription that bundles several of Apple's services.

Originally, you can subscribe to the different services (Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud) on their own. 

Maybe you're already subscribed to Apple Music and iCloud, but now at just a couple dollars more, you can get TV+ and Arcade, instead of paying for the full price.

That "lower entry price" would entice customers who are on the edge to give the service a shot, and give Apple the slight revenue boost in its services segment.

This is the classic subscription model pushing for bundling to achieve the "Rundle".

Walmart & Walmart+

Source: Walmart

The sleeping giant has awakened and it's starting to face its toughest competitor (*cough cough Amazon) head on!

Walmart is a supermarket giant in the US, and while it has been growing over the years, the growth has not been spectacular and it has been gradually losing market share to Amazon.com.

Being a traditional supermarket, it is in the "bundle" business, that is, you get a slight discount if you bought 2 bottles of Pepsi instead of 1.

Businesses of such nature are one-off: customers buy where it is cheap and convenient, and have a low cost of switching to another provider.

Customers don't build an entrenched relationship with Walmart because if today another shop is selling cheaper than Walmart, customers are going to go to that other shop.

What Walmart has decided to do, is to start offering its customers a subscription service to entrench their customers into a relationship with Walmart (copying the strategy of Amazon Prime).

For a subscription fee, customers can get free shipping and many other perks, which attracts customers to do more of their shopping with Walmart because they have already paid a subscription fee (a sunk cost) and wants to utilise that fee to the max.

This is the classic bundling model pushing for subscription to achieve the "Rundle".

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How It Shouldn't Be Used

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Source: Inc.com

While most companies are innovating ways around how they can offer a "Rundle" service to their customers, not every company will be able to get it right.

To put it simply, a "Rundle" is only a value proposition.

It is a good way to accelerate growth IF there is a good Product-Market Fit (we'll explain product-market fit next time).

If there is no product-market fit, pushing out a "rundle" service is not going to grow your business.

Example 1: Bundling business pushing for subscription

You have a retail shop that uses the bundling business model currently, and you're pushing towards a "rundle".

However, the prices you charge before and after the subscription fees, are higher than your competitors.

In this case, what's the value proposition you bring to your customers to entice them to enter into a subscription relationship with you?

Why would a customer pay a $10 subscription per month to buy from a grocery store that charges higher prices than the supermarket across the street?

Is it fast delivery? Is it monthly promotions? Is it any other value proposition that can make customers find the whole "rundle" valuable?

If there is no strong value proposition, you might not have a product-market fit, in which case you should work on improving the product instead of pushing out a "rundle" hastily.

Example 2: Subscription business pushing for bundling

You have a software subscription business that has 3 software products. 1 of them sells really well while the other 2 barely sells.

You hope to bundle your 3 software products together as a "rundle" so that your customers will be enticed to get all of them instead of just the best selling one.

Of the 3 software you offer, only 1 is of value to your customers while the other 2 are crap.

You can offer a "rundle", but no one is going to continue that subscription because no customers will want to pay extra money for things that they don't use or are lousy.

After testing out your "rundle", customers will eventually drop back to just subscribing for just your best product if the other products suck.

A "Rundle" doesn't solve the problem of having a lousy product.

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Recommended Read: Cannot Withdraw CPF Money If Never Hit CPF Retirement Sum?

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Conclusion

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A "Rundle" is a great way to accelerate the growth of your business. and build loyalty.

However, it is only one part of the whole strategy, and it only works IF your business has a product-market fit.

---

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

---

New Product Launch (Beta)

---

We are building a new platform to help you find people to share your family plan subscriptions with. 

We help you find, match, subscribe and collect payment so that you don’t have to.

Convenience for you:

• You don’t have to find people to share with you. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription fee to that 1 person. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to find it difficult to drop out of a family subscription plan because you shared it with your family/friends. We cover your share for you.

We like to know what you think about this service.
Let us know in the survey below what you think, and to be notified once we officially launch the product. 😉

SURVEY

---

Promos & Referrals
We are starting to build a list of Promos and Referrals for our readers.
Click here to view the full list of Promos and Referrals we have. 

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Hey You!

If you have a money related story about you or your relatives' that you want to share, let us know in the comments below or email us at investmentstab@gmail.com.
Alternative, you could fill in the form below for us to contact you.
Story Form

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Dear Reader!
As we progress towards the next phase of our journey, we would like to find out what would make you like us even more.
We hope you could help us fill in a short survey of 8 questions (4 of them are MCQs) so that we can help tailor our content to you.
Survey

Remember to offer your opinions. If you don't put your two cents in, how can you expect to get change?
Have feedback? Tell us now!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more timely updates about finance-related articles and memes! 😁
Subscribe to our newsletter too in case social media platforms decide to stop showing you our content.

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Closing my Standard Chartered JumpStart Account

Today, we are going to show you how to cancel your Standard Chartered JumpStart Account.

Personally, I had to cancel the account because I was past 27 years old and no longer eligible for the higher interest rate.

I found it hard to find a function/button on its website that allows me to delete my account.

So after I found it, I decided to make a guide so that it's easier for you to cancel your own account in the future.

Refer to the steps below. 😉

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Steps to Close Your Account

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1. Go to Standard Chartered "Contact Us" page

Which for convenient sake, here's the link:

https://www.sc.com/sg/help/contact-us/

2. Select the talk to a chat option.

3. Proceed with some verification

4. Then tell the person that you would like to close the account.

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Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

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The Process

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The process is generally simple and fast.

Basically what I did above was all that was required.

I probably spent more time searching how to close my account than the actual act of closing my account 😅

---

Recommended Read: What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

---

New Product Launch (Beta)

---

We are building a new platform to help you find people to share your family plan subscriptions with. 

We help you find, match, subscribe and collect payment so that you don’t have to.

Convenience for you:

• You don’t have to find people to share with you. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to chase people to transfer you their share of the subscription fee. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to remember to transfer your share of the subscription fee to that 1 person. We do it for you.
• You don’t have to find it difficult to drop out of a family subscription plan because you shared it with your family/friends. We cover your share for you.

We like to know what you think about this service.
Let us know in the survey below what you think, and to be notified once we officially launch the product. 😉

SURVEY

---

Promos & Referrals
We are starting to build a list of Promos and Referrals for our readers.
Click here to view the full list of Promos and Referrals we have. 

---

Hey You!

If you have a money related story about you or your relatives' that you want to share, let us know in the comments below or email us at investmentstab@gmail.com.
Alternative, you could fill in the form below for us to contact you.
Story Form

---

Dear Reader!
As we progress towards the next phase of our journey, we would like to find out what would make you like us even more.
We hope you could help us fill in a short survey of 8 questions (4 of them are MCQs) so that we can help tailor our content to you.
Survey

Remember to offer your opinions. If you don't put your two cents in, how can you expect to get change?
Have feedback? Tell us now!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more timely updates about finance-related articles and memes! 😁
Subscribe to our newsletter too in case social media platforms decide to stop showing you our content.

Read More

What I Learnt 6 Months into My SGUnited Traineeship

It has been 6 months since I started my SGUnited Traineeship with a local bank back in August 2020.

It's a halfway mark and I thought it'll be nice to pen down what I have learnt or experienced so far.

Kind of like a good midpoint check on my progress and plan.

If you are currently working as a trainee and would like to share your experience, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us to share your experience.

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1. Slide presentations the school never taught

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I thought I was a good presenter until after my first couple of presentations to my boss, I realised I sucked at it.

Note: Everything the school ever taught you about presentation slides, throw it out the window. 

I'm saying this as a guy who went to both a business school and an IT school.

I was considered a good presenter back in school, praised by most of my lecturers and scoring high on almost all my presentations.

Entering the workforce and having to make my first presentation to my boss, I was like "how hard can it be?".

Turns out it was really tough, simply because it was very different from how schools made us think about how a presentation should work.

Standard School Slides Format

The school slides generally fall under this format, in that sequence.

1. Start with a narrative or what you want to find (2 to 3 slides)

2. Explain the numbers you did/found (2 to 3 slides)

3. Give the conclusion/steps/actions to take (1 slide)

I did just that, and literally, I got the "so what? what's the purpose of this?" from my boss at the first 3 slides.

I literally went to the last slide, showed the conclusion, then got sent back to work on the numbers again 🤷‍♂️.

That didn't end up the way I expected.

Long story short, after a few rounds of such "so what?", I went to learn how professional people (like Mckinsey) did presentation slides.

It was completely different from anything the school taught.

I learnt from YouTube how to create consultancy-kind of slides and actually paid for a course on it (which BTW is not SkillsFuture claimable cause apparently it's not a "skill" the authorities find "technical" 🤷‍♂️).

Below is the video that I learnt from to create consultancy-kind of slides. Thought it would be useful if I put it down here for you to watch and learn.

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Recommended Read: Why You Should Max Your CPF Retirement Sum Early

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2. Slow decision-making

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As with any organisations, once it starts to get big, bureaucracy and controls start to set in to rein in the chaos, which at times also meant that decision-making becomes very slow.

Although I had previously written that I think companies should follow Mark Zuckerberg's motto of "move fast and break things", I no longer think that this motto fits ALL companies.

Can you imagine that your bank account or payment stopped functioning because a bank was progressing so fast that some of its features/products were breaking down?

So companies that are dealing with serious mission-critical products/services should not adopt that whole "move fast and break things" mindset.

However, that's not to say "don't move and keep things."

We still need to make decisions, make bets, and bet on macro trends.

And instead of waiting for 100% of information clarity before making a decision, sometimes it's best to make a move even with just 70% information clarity. 

Sometimes what causes lost opportunity is the time to wait for that 30% of the information to come in.

Like Jeff Bezos said, there are 2 types of decisions, and most decisions belong to Type 2. 

But large companies have the tendency to use the Type 1 framework on Type 2 matters, which slows down progress and leads to frustration.

So it's important for companies to understand if their decisions are Type 1 or 2, and applying the corresponding decision-making matrix.

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3. Too many meetings

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Meetings can be packed end-to-end from the start of the day to the end of the day.

Real work can only be done after 6pm when no more meetings are schedule (if you are lucky)

How would it be possible to not work overtime (OT)?

I used to think that it was the lack of manpower that result in overworked staff.

Now I realised, we are not overworked, we are just over-meeting.

If we reduced the number of meetings we have, we might just have enough time to do some real work.

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Recommended Read: 8 Years of Investing: How a Hedge Fund Manager Wannabe Became Just Another Singaporean

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4. It's not about learning

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 I think a lot of people get into a job thinking "alright, I think I am going to take this job because I can learn a lot from this role/position/job/etc", and I personally don't believe in this kind of thinking.

I personally (it's just my opinion) think that it's better to pick a job that I can excel in, and then see what I can learn on my own during my time with the company.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean that you shouldn't learn anything on the job. You should still learn how to do your job right (the nuances and whatnot).

But join a few companies, and you'll soon realise the hard skills (systems, software, tools, applications, etc), are things that you can learn, and probably are not able to bring them over to another company because they probably have other systems, etc.

Instead, it's the things that are not in the SOP, like slides creation, or positioning of offerings, etc, that is portable across most companies, and are things that you pick up along the job, usually without someone guiding you.

1. It's a company, not a training institute. 

I always think in terms of "what can I offer you?" instead of "what can you offer me?"

I think a better offer would be to go in with a mindset of "this is my skills, this is what I can do to help you grow your business. Let me try", than one that is "I know I am not skilled for the job currently but I'll work hard and learn and do my best.".

I'm not saying the latter is bad.

But I'm just saying, if I'm an employer, I would think that the former is a much better offer than the latter. 

You do your best to push the company forward, and try and learn something on the side.

Not the other way round, try and learn something while pushing the company forward on the side.

Is this a hard and fast rule? Of course not!

It depends on situations, just like what Sir Richard Branson says.

2. Learning is personal

It's interesting how Singapore is now pushing people towards lifelong learning.

It's like once people graduated from school and entered the workforce, they immediately stopped learning - which I do think is true, due to circumstances (commitments) and the whole "That's it I'm done with school".

When actually if you look at really successful people, they are always learning.

We like to think learning has to be proper, it has to have a school, have a curriculum, and it better gives me a certificate at the end of my course.

But when you look at successful people of our times (Musk, Bezos, Gates, Jobs, etc), I don't think they take courses on the side.

But they are constantly learning.

It doesn't have to be from a school, and it doesn't have to be formalised at work.

If you are keen to learn, you will learn. 

If you are not keen to learn, anyone who has been through school will know that nothing will ever get learnt.

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Recommended Read: 9 Things I Learnt from my Internship at GIC

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Conclusion

I like my current role. 

It's a mixture of marketing, ops, analytics, programming (although added on subsequently without additional pay 🤷‍♂️).

It's a wide variety of things to do daily, which doesn't bore me, a key reason why I chose this role over other offers.

And I do think there are still quite a lot of things to learn (which is great).

But, as I always say, there are always rooms for improvement. 😉

And PS: to anyone from my company reading this, please don't not convert me after my traineeship ends 🙏🤣

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Which Chinese Zodiac Has the Best Financial Outlook for 2021?

As legend has it, the Jade Emperor (Emperor in Heaven in Chinese folklore) wanted 12 animals to serve as his guards. To determine their ranking, he sent an immortal being to earth to spread the message about a race, where each animal’s rank would be determined by the order in which they passed through the Heavenly Gate.

On the day of the race, Rat woke up early but encountered a river with a swift current. To overcome this obstacle, Rat jumped onto Ox’s back. Ox did not mind and helped Rat cross the river. After crossing the river, Rat jumped off Ox and dashed towards the feet of the Emperor. Rat finished first place in the race, Ox came in second, and the rest of the animals followed— that’s how the Chinese zodiac began.

On 12 February 2021, we will be welcoming the Year of the Ox. Apart from hosting reunion dinners, enjoying pineapple tarts, and receiving red packets, what’s Chinese New Year without reading your Chinese horoscope predictions? While shopping malls and Feng Shui masters focus on how lucky you’ll be in your career, health, and relationships, we’re shedding light on your financial luck for 2021. If you’re unsure of your Chinese zodiac sign, find it in the table below.

Key Highlights

• The Monkey, Rooster, and Dog zodiac signs are predicted to have the greatest financial luck in 2021, according to Feng Shui Grand Master Tan Khoon Yong.
• The Tiger and Rabbit zodiac signs will obtain financial independence by discovering a new income source.
• The Dragon zodiac sign will enjoy large profits, as long as they take advantage of the investment opportunities.

How to Find your Chinese Zodiac Sign

Chinese Zodiac Sign	Birth Year
Rat	1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
Ox	1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Tiger	1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
Rabbit	1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
Dragon	1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
Snake	1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
Horse	1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
Goat	1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
Monkey	1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
Rooster	1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
Dog	1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
Pig	1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

The Chinese zodiac sign is based on your birth year.

Your Chinese Zodiac Financial Outlook for 2021

Here is a breakdown of your Chinese zodiac’s financial prediction for 2021, and the investments you should consider making.

Rat

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rat

Your financial prospects will greatly improve, compared to the previous year. Your work at hand will reap huge profits, especially during the 5th and 10th month. With Rat being your zodiac animal, you’re naturally smart when it comes to money matters. If you have spare money, consider making an investment in your field of expertise.

Ox

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Ox

The financial horoscope of the Ox can be improved. You should avoid high-risk investments and maintain caution towards spending beyond your means. Wealth is predicted to dip during the 3rd, 6th, and 8th months. As family expenditure will be particularly large during 2021, remember to create a budget and plan to increase your monthly savings. Consider opening a savings account, as a low-risk way to earn more with your money.

Tiger

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Tiger

When it comes to your finances, wealth projection is flat, and money can be easily lost, especially during the 7th month. On the bright side, the 4th and 8th month will bring you the highest financial luck. As you gain more financial independence, remember to save throughout the year to avoid financial hardships.

Rabbit

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rabbit

Your financial luck in 2021 is relatively flat, with extra financial success during the 9th month. Although you’re a natural saver, this year's income is set to be far less than expected. Every time you’re able to save a sum of money, it is destined to be spent on various necessities. This may cause you to feel challenged when managing money from home. With the finance industry becoming increasingly digitised, there are many new financial management tools that can help you manage your money in an easier, smarter way.

Dragon

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Dragon

You will be presented with investment opportunities where waves of profit will come crashing in. Be content with your financial abundance and avoid the temptation of going overboard, which may put you at risk of losing more than you gained. Your financial outlook for 2021 is stable and you will not need to worry about covering household expenses. You will be especially financially lucky during the 10th month.

Snake

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Snake

Your performance in the workplace will yield double the financial return. You will also earn money from unexpected areas. However, your financial consumption will also increase. Remain open to an opportunity that will let you strike rich during the 4th month. If you’re used to being cautious with spending, seek guidance from a friend or mentor born in the Year of the Ox.

As the Snake is a fire sign, it clashes with metal – an element that represents money. According to Chinese Ba Zi readings, the Ox is nicknamed, “The Storeroom of the Metal”, which means they can safeguard the wealth of animal signs who have trouble achieving monetary abundance. To increase your financial luck in 2021, look through your contact list and contact an Ox benefactor.

Horse

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Horse

You’ll experience smooth progress in your career, which will be tied to good income. Expect to receive the highest financial luck during the 11th month. If you find yourself faced with unexpected events, learn to plan monthly expenditure as opposed to spending money on meaningless things. Consider applying the 50-30-20 rule when to divide your income into three categories:

• 50% should be spent on your essential needs;
• 30% should be used for discretionary spending;
• 20% should go towards your savings, investments, and emergency expenses.

Suppose you earn S$6,000 a month, after all taxes and deductions. According to the rule, S$3,000 should be spent on your needs, S$1,800 should be used for your wants, and the remaining S$1,200 must be used for your savings and investments.

Goat

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Goat

Your financial income may be greatly reduced, especially during the 3rd month. However, with hard work, you can expect financial success during the 6th month. Approach financial matters with increased caution. If you’re intrigued by the idea of making money through investing, you should first understand what investing is all about. Start by understanding the basics of investment, including the risks and portfolio diversification.

Monkey

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Monkey

Your financial luck looks quite bright. You’ll enjoy increased wealth and bonuses during the first half of the year. Also, you’ll earn rewards from your side investments. While you will be most financially lucky during the 4th month, you’re expected to face great loss during the 12th month. To avoid financial hardship towards the end of the year, consider planning ahead with a Robo advisor, a low-cost alternative to traditional wealth management advisors.

Rooster

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Rooster

Your wealth projection is quite positive and you will encounter many good opportunities in 2021 to obtain high returns. However, as you tend to be more materialistic by nature, your expenses will also be relatively high. Remember to minimise spending, even if you have a comfortable monthly income. Be especially careful during the 2nd and 6th months and welcome good fortune during the 5th and 11th months.

Dog

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Dog

Your financial outlook is relatively flat. As you tend to be more conservative in nature and risk-averse, it is recommended that you focus on diligence this year, and wait for the right investment opportunities to come to you. You may not receive a windfall or a big promotion – but you won’t be burdened with significant income complications either. 2021 will be a year of financial smooth-sailing, without any major ups or financial loss.

Pig

CNY financial horoscope prediction 2021 - Pig

For your wealth prediction, expect to receive a good income from your investments. You will not need to worry about financial shortfalls, with the exception of the 3rd, 6th, and 10th months. You will also enjoy a pleasant financial surprise during the 5th month.

Chinese Zodiac Wealth Predictions in 2021

After the financial rollercoaster during the year of the Rat, we can’t wait to see a better financial outlook during the year of the Ox. While it’s exciting to read you Chinese horoscope and see all the good fortunes the new year brings, remember that luck will only go so far – it’s up to you to make the most of the new year, work hard, and make smart financial decisions. The same applies for those whose financial predictions weren't the most auspicious – take it with a pinch of salt. Happy Chinese New Year!

 

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