Cory Diary : CPF - My First VC3AC

As remembered, after completed all my Voluntary Housing Refund (VHF), the money goes into CPF OA. ( VHF is to return all the money loan from my CPF OA account to buy housing ) .

To get higher interests, I have it moved to CPF SA which has Max limit of 186K (FRS). This is through CPF OA to SA Transfer. There is still a little room for more and as earlier blogged, after selling my Singtel discounted shares, the money also go to CPF OA. I have it moved to max out to current CPF FRS allowed.

Then after, to increase my SA further allowed other than through Salary Income, I will need to proceed with Voluntary Contribution to my 3 Accounts (VC3AC). There is no tax benefits for this step. The key benefit is to get access to CPF SA 4% Interests. The ratio distributed to my CPF accounts are as follows.

Now at age 51, I am in golden age group where my top up matters if I want to focus on CPF SA. The max limits allowed is $37740 including Mandatory Contribution (MC) from income such as salary. With SA allocation as above chart at 31.08% of every dollar top-up. I can do this for 5 years till age 55.

And I did my first VC3AC as follow.

The ratio is as expected. And this can be seen when we login to the CPF website from above chart. So my CPF SA will now be 186K + 1473.19 = 187473.19.

One thing to note is that if CPF MA hits BHS limit, the excess of it will flow in CPF OA per my understanding. "Once CPF members reach age 65, their BHS will be fixed for the rest of their lives. The prevailing BHS is $63,000, and will be adjusted yearly. "

Final note if we exceed annual limit of $37740 due to VC3AC, it will be refunded without interests. So if we are still getting MC for rest of the year, you will exceed if Top-Up already maxed.

Cheers,

Cory

2021-0127

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.

Cory Diary : Trading Records 2021-0122

A little motivated with my new Notebook and keeps looking to squeeze out time to play with in-between chores. One of my favorite app is Chrome Browser and for some reason my tradingview chart aren't showing the numeric values. After figuring out for some time decided to re-install the Chrome browser and without full screen extension. Looks like problem resolved. Phew. Now I will continue my trade reports.

CICT reported their number. Looks like it doesn't meet market expectation and there is some shading. I have some stakes in the stock for long term so kind of amuse with the market sentiment since they are still in rebate mode. It has rebound quite an amount recent weeks since adding some more shares at low below $2 last year. When I look at the TA, looks like it has hit the peak. I refused to sell and this caused me to lose some capital gains. Reduced some today as I soon realised my exposure has been quite much now and this allows me to re-deploy some of the funds. I still hold a good amount but no longer blink when I see my galaxy chart. It is still a recovery counter but I think it may take some rest before moving forward again. Singapore and Malls cannot go away.

Sheng Siong has shown indication of good result by the amount of bonus they have declared for their staffs. So is in a hunch that I think their result probably is good so decided to add some more to my current position. Is still relatively small. But for a portfolio of mainly banks, Reits and some blue chips, they are welcome addition. I use to hold quite an amount in this counter and profit wise is one of the best preforming after Singtel during it's heyday. I like the business as they are not only profitable but also a household name. One thing I find excited of Sheng Siong is that their online business which complement their overall fulfillment. Looks like they are well managed.

There are a few stocks which are really hot in the SG market right now. iFast, Nanofilm, SGX, ... and there are also quite a number of penny stocks animated to my dismay. While the more established stocks can be hyped, they are still good business fundamentally behind it whereas penny stocks always give me the impression that they are heavily manipulated through forum, news or analyst reports. When things start to die down, retailers again will likely be hanging up there dried ... . Anyway I decided to buy Nanofilm to satisfy my itchy fingers.

Finally, I did a quick Buy/Sell trades on Boustead for kopi. Decided not to hold another "Reit" like counter since I have much of them. People who get them hope for a further re-valuation. I decided not to wait.

Cheers

Cory

2021-0123

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.

Cory Diary : Value Notebook to continue my Investing Journey

My Struggle

Old workhorse that helps me to earn hundred of thousands will be decommissioned from active duty. The keyboard was broken with the caps falling apart for a few years already but I was reluctant to repair or change instead I spend like $25 bucks on a wireless keyboard as workaround. On/Off the wireless will stop functioning but due to the SSD drive, the reboot often fixes it quickly.

The machine is HP Folio 13.3" for 7.5 Years. Slightly more than $1k as it was an exhibition set for already 6 months. Yeah I am that "Value". Weight about 1.5kg which is quite heavy for mobility use. My back not helping. And then the SDD is only 100GB which in today standard is not enough. Period. 

I also did a self-upgrade on the memory. It was a harrowing experience because I basically have to tear the machine apart to slot in the new memory stick which is behind the mainboard. Finally got it working and when I put them altogether, I found a few screws to spare that I decided to do away. Maybe I should add a badge for putting humpty dumpty back again on my blog wall.

I have been struggling how to manage it every time there is a major app installation considering Windows OS easily takes up more than 70% of it spaces. The software was upgraded on courtesy of Microsoft from Win 7 to Win 10 even though I preferred the older version. The touchpad is hard to use. I am not sure was it after long years of service or what, as I could not remember but mouse is a must to navigate around the workspace.

Finally, as is a consumer unit, the screen is very crisp, it lit very well and so are the reflection. The brightness getting more and more intolerable. Often I feel my eyes aging on me. The last straw is the power adapter is connecting loose to the machine. It will slips out if I move my notebook a little and need to remind myself to ensure is plugged as the battery aren't pristine anymore. I guess the friction is gone.

Delay Gratification

HP ProBook AMD Ryzen 13.3" 

Despite record returns in 2019 I did not budge. Decided during Covid Year that if I do get a decent profit I will seriously consider to get a new computer and I achieved. With the amount of time facing the computer, there is list of requirements.

1. It has to be SSD drive. Speed of booting up is superb but most importantly the media reliability. How often has hard drives failed on us and we loose everything.

2. 1TB sounds good. A 10x upgrade. I would be happy to pay a little extra for 2TB if there is a SKU for it but there aren't for the range I am looking at.

3. Long battery life like more than a day. At least can last my "World Tour" in flight.

4. Click feel keyboard to register my feel.

5. No Built-in ODD of-course . I want it slim and light ! 1 Kg is nice. I painted this exact goal by the way. Just want to be able to carry around with me even to the Everest climb I think.

6. Display with little reflection. Eyes are important. The size has to be 13.3" for my preference.

7. CPU speed that allows me to game like AK ! Forget about Intel. I want AMD for the Class. I feel the Emperor has been dethroned.

8. Type C USB for charging is the norm nowadays which is what I wanted.

9. Ya has to be Windows. We have a love hatred relationship. But I am not a Mac guy. Is too late to re-learn for me for better or worst.

10, Fast USB speed. This will save a lot of time backing up and transferring data. Time is money especially when we are dealing with GBs of data to manage. No clouds for me but maybe I will evolve later.

And I found HP ProBook 13" AMD Ryzen 7 4750U 16GB 1TB / Win 10 Pro. It comes with fingerprint sensor. I blocked off the cam on first use and disabled the location. I also prepared a recovery USB drive immediately. Fortunately, the touchpad feel is good without need for a mouse. For $1.8k I think this is a Value Buy. Happy Buy, Happy Man, Happy Investing. My dear says finally.

Cory

2021-0121

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.