"You have an Enhanced IncomeShield Advantage Plan with Plus Rider.
Please refer to
https://www.income.com.sg/insurance...-premium-rates-for-enhanced-incomeshield#main for the premium table of your main policy. You may refer to the cash outlay column for the details.
For your Plus Rider, please refer to
https://www.income.com.sg/insurance...d/details/annual-premium-rates-for-plus-rider. Riders are only payable in cash. "
OK, if you're looking to save some premium dollars here you and/or she might consider:
1. A switch from this base plan to the public hospital B1 ward plan ("Basic").
2. A switch from the "legacy" Plus rider (which provides "zero dollar" coverage) to one of the new rule compliant riders (which caps your annual co-pays for covered services -- and the co-pays can still typically be paid using MediSave if you wish).
Check the premium tables first, of course.
Asking my employer to forget about SRS and just hand over the cash - I like that one! Unfortunately my employer is very conservative and doesn’t like to make any exceptions... but can’t hurt to ask! I think the max is going to be around $30k annually, and I’m only looking at around 4 more years of that before I move back to the US and seems like the SRS has to be kept open for 10 years to avoid penalties - not sure how the 50% tax thing works if not residing in Singapore at the time of withdrawal (nonresident tax rate?).
If (when) you've left Singapore you can withdraw starting 10 years from SRS account opening. You end up paying an effective tax rate of either 11% (half of 22%) or 7.5% (half of the 15% concessionary rate).
From a dollars point of view your employer shouldn't care about where their deposits land.
Current offer I have is from Austin, Texas. I am also exploring options from CA, though the taxes there makes Texas more appealing.
At equal compensation, yes, but that's not usually the case.
Not a big issue in my case, I have closed out all my unit trust positions last year, and will only likely start to build a tiny portfolio of some SG stocks in the coming months.
Caution: Many individual SGX-listed stocks are clearly PFICs, too. To pick just a few examples, CapitaLand, Jardine Matheson, and SPH sure look to me like they're PFICs as the IRS defines them.
The individual bank stocks (DBS, OCBC, UOB) look like they're exempted from those PFIC-related rules.
PS: On eventual taxes, like say (major if scenario), I work in US for 5 years and build up a tiny IRA account, eg $19,000 x5 years, so about $95,000 discounting appreciation/interest/co-contribution from co & what-so-ever.
IRA, no. The limit is US$6,000 per person (2019 figure, assuming you will be under 50 years of age for all of 2019). Potentially US$12,000 per couple (same year/age) if you can figure out how to get an IRA custodian to open an account for a non-resident alien spouse who has made a Section 6013(g) election and files a joint tax return.
The IRA is
in addition to your 401(k). Max out your employer's matching funds into your 401(k) first, then if you can afford more drive both -- to their maximums if allowed. I suggest Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA if you plan to retire in Singapore. Some employers don't offer Roth 401(k)s, so in that case you'd max out your employer's match to a Traditional 401(k) first, then max out your Roth IRA, then your employer's Traditional 401(k), in that order.
If your earnings are "too high" to contribute to a Roth IRA then there's a workaround for that. Ask if that "problem" applies.
Fast forward to when I am 60 years old but residing outside US, and I start receiving payouts from IRA..... Do I have to file income tax with US every year? (submitting also my CPF (after 65) allowance/dividend in SG stocks etc)
The short answer is yes, I believe so. Let's assume you're living in Singapore when you make a qualified withdrawal. You'll make the withdrawal, and the custodian will withhold 30% as I understand it. Then you file IRS Form 1040NR (a non-resident tax return) to claim back all of the withholding if it's a Roth 401(k) and/or Roth IRA distribution -- and assuming the distribution is qualified (you're old enough, basically).
But you only have to do that in the year(s) when you withdraw. A 401(k) has required minimum distributions (RMDs) starting at age 70 1/2, but there's a workaround for that if it's a Roth 401(k): roll it over to your Roth IRA when you're allowed.
....And I might be mistaken. If your custodian doesn't withhold, and if it's a qualified distribution from a Roth 401(k) or Roth IRA (i.e. zero tax owed), then you might be off the hook in filing.
It's helpful to maintain a U.S. bank or U.S. credit union account for these and other purposes, and of course you'll have that opportunity, to open a low cost/fabulous U.S. account and keep it. A Schwab One brokerage account (with its fabulous debit/ATM card) would be on my short list, for example. Though I'd skip the Schwab Bank account since that one won't survive your exit from the U.S.