CPF SA Shielding hack - RIP (Obsolete)

[reddevil0728]

i know and appreciate and am trying very hard to understand your hint.

The post you quoted no more?

 

[ericcsn]

The post you quoted no more?

yes. decluttered ( I might do so as well just to housekeep a bit and clear my parts in the thread).

 

[s0crates]

SINGAPORE – The closure of the CPF Special Account (SA) for members aged 55 and above will take place from the second half of January 2025 onwards, after changes to the CPF Act were passed in Parliament on Oct 14.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ers-to-take-place-from-second-half-of-january

I suspect the main reason they don't do this on 1 Jan is because cpf always crash on 1 Jan. All the siaolangs log in to cpf beo their interest lol.

If you are smart, even before the forced closure happens, you just withdraw your SA in cash. I don't think they will pay you the interest when they transfer between accounts mid month. Arghhh

 

[BBCWatcher]

If you are smart, even before the forced closure happens, you just withdraw your SA in cash. I don't think they will pay you the interest when they transfer between accounts mid month. Arghhh

Here's the order of play in January for members age 55+:

• If you're making a Voluntary Contribution to MediSave (with tax relief), do that before your payroll cycle contributions in January. For example, if your payroll cycle ordinarily credits to CPF on January 10 then make your VCMA on January 8 (2 days ahead).
• If your Retirement Account has not reached the Full Retirement Sum and you want to top up your Retirement Account with cash for tax relief, your top up probably needs to beat both the Special Account closure and your January payroll cycle. It depends on how far away you are from the Full Retirement Sum and your Special Account balance in January after 2024 interest is credited.
• If you want a loved one (such as a spouse) to transfer his/her Ordinary Account dollars to your Retirement Account, do that after any cash top ups for tax relief. But don't wait until the very end of the month. It may take a few days for the CPF Board to process that transfer.
• If you want to transfer Special Account and/or Ordinary Account dollars to your Retirement Account, do it in January after any cash top up for tax relief and after "trapped" OA dollars from younger loved ones land in your Retirement Account.

 

[Froggyman]

Here's the order of play in January for members age 55+:

• If your Retirement Account has not reached the Full Retirement Sum and you want to top up your Retirement Account with cash for tax relief, your top up probably needs to beat both the Special Account closure and your January payroll cycle. It depends on how far away you are from the Full Retirement Sum and your Special Account balance in January after 2024 interest is credited.

Believe that the FRS amount refers to the amount that when you are at age 55 and not the FRS amount in 2025. Also it does not take the interest given into account.
Think you should be able to check whether you meet the FRS requirement by logging into your account to confirm.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Believe that the FRS amount refers to the amount that when you are at age 55 and not the FRS amount in 2025. Also it does not take the interest given into account.
Think you should be able to check whether you meet the FRS requirement by logging into your account to confirm.

For tax relief purposes it’s the current FRS, not counting interest. See here for reference.

 

[s0crates]

Here's the order of play in January for members age 55+:

• If you're making a Voluntary Contribution to MediSave (with tax relief), do that before your payroll cycle contributions in January. For example, if your payroll cycle ordinarily credits to CPF on January 10 then make your VCMA on January 8 (2 days ahead).
• If your Retirement Account has not reached the Full Retirement Sum and you want to top up your Retirement Account with cash for tax relief, your top up probably needs to beat both the Special Account closure and your January payroll cycle. It depends on how far away you are from the Full Retirement Sum and your Special Account balance in January after 2024 interest is credited.
• If you want a loved one (such as a spouse) to transfer his/her Ordinary Account dollars to your Retirement Account, do that after any cash top ups for tax relief. But don't wait until the very end of the month. It may take a few days for the CPF Board to process that transfer.
• If you want to transfer Special Account and/or Ordinary Account dollars to your Retirement Account, do it in January after any cash top up for tax relief and after "trapped" OA dollars from younger loved ones land in your Retirement Account.

Really I can't be too bothered with some of these little tricks and hacks. It takes away too much energy from other things that matter.

If my MA account value is gonna drop a bit due to medishield deduction I won't get a hardon and immediately top up to hit BHS and give myself an imaginary medal.

Just. Invest. Your. CPF. As. Much.As. You. Can. Afford. Long.Term. And. Compounding. Will .Reap. Huge. Rewards.

Anything else is just small wins relative.

 

[ericcsn]

Really I can't be too bothered with some of these little tricks and hacks. It takes away too much energy from other things that matter.

If my MA account value is gonna drop a bit due to medishield deduction I won't get a hardon and immediately top up to hit BHS and give myself an imaginary medal.

Just. Invest. Your. CPF. As. Much.As. You. Can. Afford. Long.Term. And. Compounding. Will .Reap. Huge. Rewards.

Anything else is just small wins relative.

Accept and respect that there are different strokes for different folks.

For me I look forward to these tricks and hacks. Keep them coming.

I do bother, am receptive, have plenty of energy for them. And will act on them.

 

[highsulphur]

Really I can't be too bothered with some of these little tricks and hacks. It takes away too much energy from other things that matter.

If my MA account value is gonna drop a bit due to medishield deduction I won't get a hardon and immediately top up to hit BHS and give myself an imaginary medal.

Just. Invest. Your. CPF. As. Much.As. You. Can. Afford. Long.Term. And. Compounding. Will .Reap. Huge. Rewards.

Anything else is just small wins relative.

i agree to some extent. Am i going to switch bank account from one to another just because one offers 0.4% more? Maybe not. But one thing I want to optimise is to pay as little tax as possible so I will do whatever I can do reduce my tax liabilities like topping up CPF Medisave account whenever possible.

 

[s0crates]

Accept and respect that there are different strokes for different folks.

For me I look forward to these tricks and hacks. Keep them coming.

I do bother, am receptive, have plenty of energy for them. And will act on them.

If you can do everything then great. But if you choose to pick sure-win pennies instead of focusing on proper asset allocation into risk assets then you are going to be very worse off.

Obviously some pple like BBCW can do both well but most of us don't.

Whether I accept or respect pple who like these little hacks doesn't change the reality that they dont make a significant difference in your ultimate financial outcomes

I am particularly interested in CPF SA investing now as it's a big pool of my wealth sitting there earning an ok-ish 4% (ok 4.14% lol) when I got another 30+ years before I reach 65 and I can jolly well grow it more aggressively. I have gone to the extent of meeting fund managers at events and learning from them why don't they offer better SA options lol. That's just an example of taking interest in things that can ultimately make a difference.

 

[ericcsn]

i agree to some extent. Am i going to switch bank account from one to another just because one offers 0.4% more? Maybe not. But one thing I want to optimise is to pay as little tax as possible so I will do whatever I can do reduce my tax liabilities like topping up CPF Medisave account whenever possible.

DSDF.
On the 0.4%, agree if your bank is near zero balance.
But if your bank balance is $10K, that's $40. And if there is $40 lying on the road, I will pick it up.
Or if your bank account deposit is $100K, that's $400 - a very fine meal for 2.
And if your bank account balance is $3M, that's $12K.

 

[Nofear40]

If you can do everything then great. But if you choose to pick sure-win pennies instead of focusing on proper asset allocation into risk assets then you are going to be very worse off.

Obviously some pple like BBCW can do both well but most of us don't.

Whether I accept or respect pple who like these little hacks doesn't change the reality that they dont make a significant difference in your ultimate financial outcomes

I am particularly interested in CPF SA investing now as it's a big pool of my wealth sitting there earning an ok-ish 4% (ok 4.14% lol) when I got another 30+ years before I reach 65 and I can jolly well grow it more aggressively. I have gone to the extent of meeting fund managers at events and learning from them why don't they offer better SA options lol. That's just an example of taking interest in things that can ultimately make a difference.

Using SA to invest in bank stocks? > 5% dividend yield and potential capital appreciation.

 

[ericcsn]

If you can do everything then great. But if you choose to pick sure-win pennies instead of focusing on proper asset allocation into risk assets then you are going to be very worse off.

Obviously some pple like BBCW can do both well but most of us don't.

Whether I accept or respect pple who like these little hacks doesn't change the reality that they dont make a significant difference in your ultimate financial outcomes

I am particularly interested in CPF SA investing now as it's a big pool of my wealth sitting there earning an ok-ish 4% (ok 4.14% lol) when I got another 30+ years before I reach 65 and I can jolly well grow it more aggressively. I have gone to the extent of meeting fund managers at events and learning from them why don't they offer better SA options lol. That's just an example of taking interest in things that can ultimately make a difference.

Like I say, DsDf.

I don't disagree with your approach when one is in his/her 30s- 40s (even early 50s), where he/she has to accumulate wealth during these periods but have more limited resources to allocate and looking for the best ways to grow his/ her assets quickly but while with higher risks still has a long runway ahead to recover from.

For some elderly ppl still working, it is more about principal protection and preservation and saving whatever that we can, and derisking investments as far as possible.

So my friends and I gratefully accept the yearly savings from BBCW suggestion to top up to BHS at start of the year (plus those off medishield premiums or hospitalisation fees paid using cpf MA) especially for those of us whose tax brackets are on the upper side. And when it is for a couple (husband and wife), it doubles for them (and also we like it when it overflows into our cpf OA earning at least 2.5% or more when invested in tbills which is safe for old folks like us).

 

[BBCWatcher]

So my friends and I gratefully accept the yearly savings from BBCW suggestion to top up to BHS at start of the year (plus those off medishield premiums or hospitalisation fees paid using cpf MA) especially for those of us whose tax brackets are on the upper side. And when it is for a couple (husband and wife), it doubles for them (and also we like it when it overflows into our cpf OA earning at least 2.5% or more when invested in tbills which is safe for old folks like us).

Thanks for that. Yes, if you keep MA “full” you’ll get the MA interest every January 1st in your OA, available to spend on anything you wish (assuming your RA is at least adequately funded). Keep MA at or above $60,000 and you’re guaranteed to collect all bonus interest no matter what happens with your other accounts and CPF LIFE decisions. And $60,000 pays for a lovely funeral if that’s your wish. So I think the MA “package” makes a lot of sense if you can afford it.

 

[s0crates]

Using SA to invest in bank stocks? > 5% dividend yield and potential capital appreciation.

You can't invest in single stocks with SA. cpf restrictions.

Also, dividends sucks with cpf investing in general as the money doesn't immediately transfer back into your CPF account. You can lose interest because of that.

 

[s0crates]

Like I say, DsDf.

I don't disagree with your approach when one is in his/her 30s- 40s (even early 50s), where he/she has to accumulate wealth during these periods but have more limited resources to allocate and looking for the best ways to grow his/ her assets quickly but while with higher risks still has a long runway ahead to recover from.

For some elderly ppl still working like myself (and I just reached 60), it is more about principal protection and preservation and saving whatever that we can, and derisking investments as far as possible.

So my friends and I gratefully accept the yearly savings from BBCW suggestion to top up to BHS at start of the year (plus those off medishield premiums or hospitalisation fees paid using cpf MA) especially for those of us whose tax brackets are on the upper side. And when it is for a couple (husband and wife), it doubles for them (and also we like it when it overflows into our cpf OA earning at least 2.5% or more when invested in tbills which is safe for old folks like us).

Sure, older people has less risk capacity, and might just be forced to take the risk free small wins. You may have another 30-40 years to live; if you can sustain your lifestyle with just risk free assets, then you have built up an enviable pool of capital.

 

[dork32]

If my MA account value is gonna drop a bit due to medishield deduction I won't get a hardon and immediately top up to hit BHS and give myself an imaginary medal.

Topping MA is a nice avenue of running tax. The following provided me opportunities to top up my ma
1. Ceiling raised 2500
2. Medishield 1300
3. Careshield 400
Total 4.3k

Take myself. i am on 11% and close to 55. Topping up will cause my oa to go up faster, which is as good as cash to me. Of course i get to run $400++ of tax.

i do agree that if you are much younger, topping up is like locking money into your cpf.

 

[Okenba]

I am particularly interested in CPF SA investing now as it's a big pool of my wealth sitting there earning an ok-ish 4% (ok 4.14% lol) when I got another 30+ years before I reach 65 and I can jolly well grow it more aggressively. I have gone to the extent of meeting fund managers at events and learning from them why don't they offer better SA options lol. That's just an example of taking interest in things that can ultimately make a difference.

Generally agree with your approach not to sweat the small stuff.
If there was $50 on the pavement in front of me, sure I'd pick it up. But if I had to jump through hoops to pick it up, then it would depend on the hoops and whether I had the time or inclination to do it.

But I'm more interested in what you've found out about SA investing.
Care to share? Any good options at present?

 

[BBCWatcher]

Starting sometime next year (2025) you'll be able to redeem Health Promotion Board Healthy 365 points to pay MediShield Life premiums, and you'll get $2 instead of $1 per point redemption increment. If those redemptions are paid into your MediSave Account, and if your MA has reached the Basic Healthcare Sum, then presumably they'll land in your Ordinary Account.

This is all a bit speculative, though. We'll have to see how it works. But I'm intrigued since doubling the value of Healthy 365 points is terrific.

 

[vsvs24]

Sure, older people has less risk capacity, and might just be forced to take the risk free small wins. You may have another 30-40 years to live; if you can sustain your lifestyle with just risk free assets, then you have built up an enviable pool of capital.

Buy this... High returns... Keep in bank cannot sustain your lifestyle ... you must invest in higher return products to keep up with inflation.

That's why so many elderlies get scammed or induced to buy products sold by banks or insurance agents without really understanding what they are taking up.

Better to have lower returns then risk the capital for the elderlies.