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BBCWatcher

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Happy 2020! Notable U.S. Tax Law Changes

In the waning days of 2019 the U.S. Congress and the President came to an agreement on some tweaks to U.S. tax laws, part of the 2019 "SECURE Act." Here are the notable changes (as I see it):

1. Many types of U.S. tax advantaged retirement accounts, such as Traditional IRAs, required withdrawals starting no later than age 70 1/2 -- the so-called "Required Minimum Distributions" (RMDs). This age is now raised to 72 (for those age 70 1/2 on or after January 1, 2020).

2. The age 70 1/2 limit for making Traditional IRA contributions is abolished. You can now make Traditional IRA contributions at any age assuming you otherwise qualify.

3. You can now withdraw up to $5,000 from U.S. tax advantaged retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or IRA, without penalty upon the birth or adoption of a child. (For traditional retirement accounts you'll still have to pay ordinary income tax on the distribution since contributions are pre-tax.) This early withdrawal option gives new parents a little more financial flexibility and liquidity. You can even roll the $5,000 into a 529 plan for your new little one's benefit, if you wish.

4. Effective January 1, 2019 (i.e. retroactively), you can use 529 plan funds for certain apprenticeship programs and to pay off up to $10,000 of student loan debt per individual.

All of these changes are positive except perhaps to the U.S. Treasury to a small degree. If you have or will have a U.S. tax advantaged retirement savings account (401K, IRA, etc.) and/or U.S. tax advantaged education savings account (a 529 plan), perhaps from an overseas stint working in the United States, you too can benefit from these changes.

The increase to age 72 for RMDs gives you more flexibility to decide how and when you'd like to make withdrawals and/or conversions/rollovers. I personally like this one a lot because it'll give me 18 more months to draw down other, non-tax advantaged assets before tapping a Traditional 401(k), which should result in a little bit more tax savings when the time comes (long from now).

The expansion of 529 plans to cover student loan repayments, up to $10,000 per student, is quite helpful to undergraduates who qualify for Direct Stafford Loans. That type of student loan does not accrue interest and does not require any payments while the student is continuing his/her higher education, all the way through graduate school if there's no substantial break between undergraduate and graduate studies. So 529 plan custodians -- usually parents and other relatives -- can let a portion of those accounts grow tax free even longer and disburse the final $10,000 just before the 6 month grace period ends to help their beneficiaries repay all or most of their Direct Stafford Loans. Other types of student loans are much less attractive, but the combination of a 529 plan with Direct Stafford Loans (for those who qualify) is pretty special.
 

BBCWatcher

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Total Return "Porn" Through December 31, 2019

For some reason some people like to see my personal rate of return data. OK, here are the latest conveniently accessible figures through the end of December, 2019, across the three investment firms that hold the bulk of my household's investable wealth. My last update was through February, 2019, so this update is after most of the 2019 U.S. stock market bull run. These figures represent gross annualized total account returns ("money returns") in nominal U.S. dollars. There will be some capital gains tax or ordinary income tax due upon future sale, please note. After tax dividends have been almost entirely reinvested in full since the accounts were opened. (I say "almost" entirely reinvested because there's one very small, strange exception at Schwab.) Only Vanguard provides an easy way to look up a 10 year number while the others report out to 5 years.

Vanguard

10 Year: 8.1%
5 Year: 7.1%
3 Year: 9.2%
1 Year: 21.1%

Fidelity

5 Year: 7.9%
3 Year: 11.2%
1 Year: 26.4%

Caveat: A little under 10% of my Fidelity holdings are still not reflected in the above figures. This portion only came into existence more recently, and due to an apparent quirk in Fidelity's online system it won't show up in the above figures for some time to come. If it were included in the above figures then my guess is there'd be a slight reduction in the reported 1 Year yield figure, in particular.

Schwab

Inception: 13.57%
3 Year: 14.70%
1 Year: 27.00%

Vanguard holds the biggest share of investable assets, followed by Fidelity, and then Schwab. Savings continue to flow every month into Fidelity and Vanguard.

I have absolutely no complaints. None of this stuff is "rocket science." It's just the natural outcome of regular, dogged, monthly savings for many years into a very small number of low cost, well diversified funds.
 
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klarklar

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Hi BBCWatcher,

Any good news regarding changes to estate tax laws that will affect Singaporeans who invest in U.S stocks and leave cash in U.S brokerages like Interactive Brokers?
 

BBCWatcher

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Any good news regarding changes to estate tax laws that will affect Singaporeans who invest in U.S stocks and leave cash in U.S brokerages like Interactive Brokers?
No such changes to my knowledge. You still need to become a U.S. citizen or move to a tax jurisdiction that has a favorable tax treaty with the U.S. if you (your dead body, actually) want(s) more favorable U.S. estate tax treatment.
 

vegavega25

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Vanguard holds the biggest share of investable assets, followed by Fidelity, and then Schwab. Savings continue to flow every month into Fidelity and Vanguard.

Nicely done, BBC. Good for you, and wishing you and your family continued good returns in 2020 and beyond.

Could you say which specific 1-2 Fidelity and Vanguard funds have seen the highest proportion of investment?
 

BBCWatcher

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Could you say which specific 1-2 Fidelity and Vanguard funds have seen the highest proportion of investment?
I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the low cost "target date" index funds offered in the United States (and appropriate for U.S. persons like me), so I devote a big share of assets to one such fund. It's thus inevitable that long-term yields will eventually be progressively tempered through the automatic operations within the target date fund as it approaches and then passes its target date.

I consider the target date index fund to be "foundational" in character, and then I surround it with a very few other holdings to tweak it a bit. I keep the most aggressive funds inside the U.S. tax advantaged accounts, a classic tax optimization approach. But I'm also happy to pile into CPF with some gusto (even though the interest is U.S. taxable and the Singapore tax relief is U.S. attenuated), which is quite appropriate for PRs who have some catching up to do compared to similarly situated Singaporean citizens.

It's another January, so here's what I'm up to (in no particular order):

1. My spouse and I have already put the wheels in motion to make the maximum U.S. IRA contributions for 2020. (It takes a few steps and some days to do that, mechanically, but I start the process as early as allowed.)

2. We'll make our CPF top ups for tax relief at the end of this month.

3. I'm considering another regular sale of Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) shares, to keep that particular individual stock holding from becoming too big a share of total assets.

4. This month I'll finish closing my least useful financial account, to keep life relatively simple. I'm considering "pruning" a couple others.

5. I'm penciling in two family vacations for 2020, and I'm keeping an eye on airfares.

6. I'm checking my immunizations to see if any boosters are due in 2020. (Tetanus, maybe?)

7. I've done some very early work to get ready for tax filing.

Happy New Year, everybody.
 

crystalnox

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I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the low cost "target date" index funds offered in the United States (and appropriate for U.S. persons like me), so I devote a big share of assets to one such fund. It's thus inevitable that long-term yields will eventually be progressively tempered through the automatic operations within the target date fund as it approaches and then passes its target date.

I consider the target date index fund to be "foundational" in character, and then I surround it with a very few other holdings to tweak it a bit. I keep the most aggressive funds inside the U.S. tax advantaged accounts, a classic tax optimization approach. But I'm also happy to pile into CPF with some gusto (even though the interest is U.S. taxable and the Singapore tax relief is U.S. attenuated), which is quite appropriate for PRs who have some catching up to do compared to similarly situated Singaporean citizens.

It's another January, so here's what I'm up to (in no particular order):

1. My spouse and I have already put the wheels in motion to make the maximum U.S. IRA contributions for 2020. (It takes a few steps and some days to do that, mechanically, but I start the process as early as allowed.)

2. We'll make our CPF top ups for tax relief at the end of this month.

3. I'm considering another regular sale of Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) shares, to keep that particular individual stock holding from becoming too big a share of total assets.

4. This month I'll finish closing my least useful financial account, to keep life relatively simple. I'm considering "pruning" a couple others.

5. I'm penciling in two family vacations for 2020, and I'm keeping an eye on airfares.

6. I'm checking my immunizations to see if any boosters are due in 2020. (Tetanus, maybe?)

7. I've done some very early work to get ready for tax filing.

Happy New Year, everybody.
Curious about 3, how do you decide when to sell your ESPP or do you just DCA sell it on a fixed schedule?
 

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Curious about 3, how do you decide when to sell your ESPP or do you just DCA sell it on a fixed schedule?
I take a look every January with an inclination to sell a portion in late January, but since it's not an "emergency" I decide if I like the price or not -- and how much I like it (how many shares I want to sell).

That's not particularly scientific, but it's how I've been doing it.
 
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celtosaxon

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Thanks for sharing BBC!

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the low cost "target date" index funds offered in the United States (and appropriate for U.S. persons like me).

Does this impact flexibility if you want to adjust things? What happens if you want to shift more into municipal bonds in the future for tax reasons? Would you have to sell this fund while in a high tax bracket and pay capital gains tax just to reallocate the bond portion?

BBCWatcher said:
I keep the most aggressive funds inside the U.S. tax advantaged accounts, a classic tax optimization approach.

I do this same, about 2/3 US small company and 1/3 Asian emerging markets... my longest term holdings. But interestingly, this strategy could backfire with SRS though! Singapore tax code is unique.

BBCWatcher said:
1. My spouse and I have already put the wheels in motion to make the maximum U.S. IRA contributions for 2020. (It takes a few steps and some days to do that, mechanically, but I start the process as early as allowed.)

I’m guessing those extra few steps are for the back-door Roth... same here.

BBCWatcher said:
2. We'll make our CPF top ups for tax relief at the end of this month.

Only my spouse alone has CPF, and OA-SA transfers are the only thing I have been able to do. I can’t entice anything else at the moment.

BBCWatcher said:
3. I'm considering another regular sale of Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) shares, to keep that particular individual stock holding from becoming too big a share of total assets.

What threshold do you target as a % of all stock holdings? Rule of thumb is 4% per portfolio theory. I’m currently at 5% but have had it over 50% in the past, luckily the risk paid off, but I don’t recommend that.

BBCWatcher said:
7. I've done some very early work to get ready for tax filing.

Same here, a few new forms to file this year, downloaded and did a dry run
 

BBCWatcher

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Does this impact flexibility if you want to adjust things?
I don't think so. The target date index fund is a relatively big share of the total, but it's less than a third of the total. That's why I've characterized it as "foundational."

What happens if you want to shift more into municipal bonds in the future for tax reasons? Would you have to sell this fund while in a high tax bracket and pay capital gains tax just to reallocate the bond portion?
I wouldn't necessarily have to sell that fund in particular. For example, I have some Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) starting no later than age 72 (up from age 70 1/2 with the tax law change), and some of that RMD cashflow would presumably be available for municipal bond investments if they have merit. Also, one of the advantages of the target date index fund is that the fund managers optimize for tax (as a secondary goal) better than I could on my own.

I have no idea what my future tax rates will be. However, I think it's prudent to plan for broadly, unavoidably higher tax rates in the future.

Only my spouse alone has CPF, and OA-SA transfers are the only thing I have been able to do. I can’t entice anything else at the moment.
My spouse didn't know what to make of CPF at first, but the first interest readout was an eye opener.

What threshold do you target as a % of all stock holdings? Rule of thumb is 4% per portfolio theory. I’m currently at 5% but have had it over 50% in the past, luckily the risk paid off, but I don’t recommend that.
Yes, I try to keep it below 5%.
 

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Hi BBCW

I wish to invest in USD using SRS but not keen to invest in equities or corp bonds.
Could you advise any way to earn low risk interest while exposing to USD?

Is there any Treasury ETFs?
 

BBCWatcher

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I wish to invest in USD using SRS but not keen to invest in equities or corp bonds.
Could you advise any way to earn low risk interest while exposing to USD?

Is there any Treasury ETFs?
Based on a quick search, I don't see any SGX-listed U.S. Treasury ETFs, and you need a SGX listing if you want to direct Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) dollars into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

I looked for a SRS eligible unit trust that invests in U.S. Treasuries, but I don't see one of those either. There are lots of U.S. dollar high yield (a.k.a. junk) bond unit trusts, and that's understandable because the unit trust managers all charge at least 1% per year in fees. A 1% annual fee (or more) wipes out more than half the coupon yield on U.S. Treasuries out at least to 10 year maturities, so that just doesn't compute. Not only are high investment costs destructive in terms of investors' results, they also eliminate the possibility of holding conservative assets.

The closest match I can find to what you're asking for is Eastspring's US High Investment Grade Bond Fund AS, a unit trust. The annual management fee alone of 1.25% is typical Singapore unit trust awfulness.

So I'm afraid I have the same answer that applies to many SRS accounts: either do your U.S. Treasury investing using other vehicles outside your SRS account (and reserve your SRS account for other stuff), or reduce/eliminate your SRS contributions if you're not satisfied with the more limited investment flexibility of SRS dollars versus unrestricted cash.

You could check to see if your SRS custodian can offer a decent U.S. dollar fixed deposit for your SRS funds. It'll be completely uninsured -- no SDIC, FDIC, NCUA, or SPIC coverage whatsoever -- but maybe that's the best you can do in the circumstances if you insist on something vaguely like U.S. Treasuries.
 
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ChinoGirl

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Hi BBCWatcher, with the falling interest rates of SSBs, would it still make sense to have it as the bond portfolio or go with MBH?i am currently holding both.
 

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Hi BBCWatcher,

I've been reading many of your threads and feel a little bad that I would ask the question here directly but I've searched all over and cannot find an answer to this. I've also read snippets on what you have to say regarding this issue but its not usually the exact same thing.

Here is my question: I'm looking to relocate from Hong Kong back home to Singapore with the same company. I have been getting paid in a USD/HKD amount and will likely to paid a similar amount back in Singapore. While I might try to lock in a SGD amount, I'm not sure how willing they will be to do this given the USD trajectory (or at least the consensus on its trajectory).

How would you suggest I get paid? I saw that you can get paid in USD in a Citibank account in Singapore without getting any TT charges. If i do this, there seems to be many things to consider, 1) how my credit score can be built up in Singapore, 2) how do i get that USD to SGD (I have an interactive brokers account but thats in HK and not SG).

Also have considerations on how will they pay my cpf (or in turn how would my own cpf contribution be done) but you might not have much insight into that.

Many thanks if you could answer my questions before I resort to a relocation agent. It's a small company so things are pretty restrictive.
 

adgjl321

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Hi BBCW,

My dad is nearing 62. Hasn't done much CPF planning unfortunately. Still working at the moment but not for too long more. Wouldn't have an urgent need for cash. What can he do at this stage? Max out CPF SA/RA (if not maximized yet?)
 

neanea

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BBCwatcher, could you list the funds you bought?

For some reason some people like to see my personal rate of return data. OK, here are the latest conveniently accessible figures through the end of December, 2019, across the three investment firms that hold the bulk of my household's investable wealth. My last update was through February, 2019, so this update is after most of the 2019 U.S. stock market bull run. These figures represent gross annualized total account returns ("money returns") in nominal U.S. dollars. There will be some capital gains tax or ordinary income tax due upon future sale, please note. After tax dividends have been almost entirely reinvested in full since the accounts were opened. (I say "almost" entirely reinvested because there's one very small, strange exception at Schwab.) Only Vanguard provides an easy way to look up a 10 year number while the others report out to 5 years.

Vanguard

10 Year: 8.1%
5 Year: 7.1%
3 Year: 9.2%
1 Year: 21.1%

Fidelity

5 Year: 7.9%
3 Year: 11.2%
1 Year: 26.4%

Caveat: A little under 10% of my Fidelity holdings are still not reflected in the above figures. This portion only came into existence more recently, and due to an apparent quirk in Fidelity's online system it won't show up in the above figures for some time to come. If it were included in the above figures then my guess is there'd be a slight reduction in the reported 1 Year yield figure, in particular.

Schwab

Inception: 13.57%
3 Year: 14.70%
1 Year: 27.00%

Vanguard holds the biggest share of investable assets, followed by Fidelity, and then Schwab. Savings continue to flow every month into Fidelity and Vanguard.

I have absolutely no complaints. None of this stuff is "rocket science." It's just the natural outcome of regular, dogged, monthly savings for many years into a very small number of low cost, well diversified funds.
 

BBCWatcher

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Hi BBCWatcher, with the falling interest rates of SSBs, would it still make sense to have it as the bond portfolio or go with MBH?i am currently holding both.
And I like both, assuming you're solely a tax resident of Singapore (not a tax resident of some other jurisdiction, as U.S. persons are for example) and have a long-term savings goal involving the future spending of Singapore dollars.

MBH works well as the bond leg of a long-term investment portfolio. Singapore Savings Bonds work well as some of your emergency reserve.

Here is my question: I'm looking to relocate from Hong Kong back home to Singapore with the same company. I have been getting paid in a USD/HKD amount and will likely to paid a similar amount back in Singapore. While I might try to lock in a SGD amount, I'm not sure how willing they will be to do this given the USD trajectory (or at least the consensus on its trajectory).

How would you suggest I get paid? I saw that you can get paid in USD in a Citibank account in Singapore without getting any TT charges. If i do this, there seems to be many things to consider, 1) how my credit score can be built up in Singapore, 2) how do i get that USD to SGD (I have an interactive brokers account but thats in HK and not SG).

Also have considerations on how will they pay my cpf (or in turn how would my own cpf contribution be done) but you might not have much insight into that.

Many thanks if you could answer my questions before I resort to a relocation agent. It's a small company so things are pretty restrictive.
Interesting questions!

Let's start with the CPF part first. If you're a Singaporean citizen or Singapore PR who works in Singapore for pay you're going to have compulsory CPF contributions. The only real question is whether you'll be classified as self-employed (thus have compulsory MediSave contributions only) or employer-employed. You'll be classified as the latter if the company you work for has a Singapore entity, and you probably want to be classified that way if there's a choice. It doesn't matter whether you're paid in Singapore dollars, U.S. dollars, Turkish lira, or loaves of bread. Whatever the compulsory CPF obligations are, they'll be calculated according to the converted Singapore dollar value of whatever you're receiving.

As for whether you want to get paid in U.S. dollars or Singapore dollars, that's really up to you and your personal circumstances, and what you can negotiate with your company. There's also a potentially interesting third option: being paid in both currencies. Yes, that's possible: USD X per month and SGD Y per month. (Pretty much anything is negotiable.) A compensation arrangement involving some split across currencies effectively means both parties (employer and employee) split the foreign exchange risk, whatever it is. As it happens, I was paid that way (two currencies) for a few years.

A variation on that basic concept is "exchange rate banding." Currently (as I write this) the exchange rate is roughly S$1.35 per U.S. dollar. For example, you could agree to be paid in U.S. dollars, except that if the exchange rate falls below S$1.20 per U.S. dollar (equivalent to a ~11.1% pay cut in Singapore dollar terms) the employer agrees to increase your U.S. dollar compensation to "true up" to the S$1.20 level, to make sure you experience no greater than a ~11.1% pay cut in Singapore dollar terms. In other words, you assume all the currency exchange risk between S$1.35 and S$1.20 (and enjoy all currency exchange benefits in the other direction), and your employer assumes all the currency exchange risk otherwise -- still with the option to terminate your employment per whatever exit terms you negotiate, of course.

Let's suppose you reach an agreement to get paid in U.S. dollars. I see no particular reason why you couldn't continue to get paid into whatever U.S. dollar bank account you have in Hong Kong if that's working for you, continue using Interactive Brokers for currency conversions (and other legal purposes), and then IB deposits Singapore dollars to your bank account in Singapore using your one free withdrawal per month. Your income tax and compulsory CPF contributions are still whatever they are, even if you're paid into a bank account on the moon, metaphorically speaking. (IRAS and the CPF Board don't particularly care where you're paid, as long as all the taxes and compulsory contributions legally owed are paid in timely fashion -- and those are paid in Singapore dollars in Singapore to IRAS and to the CPF Board.)

You would still report your change of residence to all your financial institutions, including your bank in Hong Kong and IB. IB can still receive first party U.S. dollar deposits from your bank in Hong Kong however you're doing that today -- no problem.

Of course, if you are getting paid in U.S. dollars to a bank account in Hong Kong, your employer probably has no Singapore entity -- and you're probably going to be classified as self-employed. Maybe that's all that's available to you with this employer.

There's plenty of other stuff you could potentially negotiate which could be quite interesting and mutually advantageous. For example, if this employer offers group medical insurance coverage, is it still relevant to medical care in Singapore and elsewhere (i.e. is it international in scope, coverage levels, and coverage terms)? If it is, then probably what you'd do is maintain a baseline, inexpensive public hospital B1 ward Integrated Shield plan in Singapore (Great Eastern's Supreme Health B Plus if you're a Singapore citizen, I'd suggest) for portability and continuity of local medical coverage, then your group plan lets you run wild in Singapore and elsewhere, so to speak. It's much the same thing with group disability income insurance (DII) if that's on the table. Employee stock purchase program? Stock options? Relocation assistance? Whatever is already part of your reality is at least a starting point for negotiations.

Taking an educated guess here, it's likely that your employer is anxious to reduce their existential risks by diversifying talent and other resources away from Hong Kong to some extent. Being someone who can relocate to Singapore puts you in a good position, one would think. Be reasonable, and make it easy for your employer to say yes, but also try to understand what your value is and work from there.

Did that help?
 
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BBCWatcher

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BBCwatcher, could you list the funds you bought?
I'd rather not provide that level of detail, but there's nothing strange or exotic, and it's not complex.

My dad is nearing 62. Hasn't done much CPF planning unfortunately. Still working at the moment but not for too long more. Wouldn't have an urgent need for cash. What can he do at this stage? Max out CPF SA/RA (if not maximized yet?)
Yes, it's a heck of a good deal if his Retirement Account can have a bigger balance. (It's his Retirement Account specifically. Once you reach age 55 there are no more directed Special Account top ups.) Presumably he's nearing retirement, or at least would like to retire if he could, and he's no longer a 30-something worker with decades of earning, saving, and prudent investing ahead of him to build a retirement nest egg. I really can't think of anything better than CPF Retirement Account top ups for older (ahem, mature and experienced) workers who haven't formed much (or any) independent retirement nest egg yet. (In some classic cultures and contexts, children and grandchildren -- and claims on their earnings -- are the retirement plan. That approach has always had its limitations and works even less well in modern Singapore. I'm not a big fan of it.) You just can't beat the RA's combination of 4+% interest and safety for somebody in that position.

So yes, he and everybody who loves him who can help out ought to be slamming lots of dollars into his Retirement Account, starting with at least maxing out available tax reliefs which are available as long as his RA is below the Full Retirement Sum. Here's an example assuming all these individuals pay some income tax:

1. You top up his Retirement Account by $7,000 for tax relief.

2. Your older sibling does the same thing, also for tax relief.

3. Your younger sibling is cash strapped at the moment but still qualifies for tax relief, so you hand your younger sibling $7,000 to top up your father's RA. Your younger sibling then pays you back a couple months from now, maybe sharing some of his/her tax relief with you.

4. Your father tops up his Retirement Account by $7,000 for tax relief.

Everybody does this on the second to last business day of this month (January, 2020) using PayNow QR, I'd recommend. That'll mean that the top ups start earning RA interest from February 1, 2020, while also earning whatever bank interest the funds are currently earning for most of January.

There are also possible CPF transfers available. For example, if your father has funds in his OA and SA, he can transfer those funds (drawing first from his SA, then his OA) to his Retirement Account. The portion drawn from his OA will then be upgraded from 2.5% OA interest to 4% RA interest. You, your siblings, and any other qualified family members may also be able to transfer some of your CPF dollars to your father's RA. See here for details on those rules. Those of you who have used OA dollars for housing might consider paying some or lots of those OA dollars back if the transfer to your father's RA would draw from OA, then do the transfer.

It's best to do any such transfers after cash top ups for tax relief, but transfers should also preferably be done within this month (January, 2020) to start earning RA interest as early as possible.

What does a fatter Retirement Account buy your father? It buys him a more generous income stream starting as early as his 65th birthday month, although he can defer the start of that income stream to as late as age 70. If he was born in 1957 (which is probably correct based on his current age), he'll be able to choose among four payout variations (unless he's somehow already made a payout decision): the classic Retirement Sum Scheme's fixed term payouts (which end at age 90 -- Happy 90th Birthday?) and the three CPF LIFE payout plans (with monthly payouts that end only when he ends, i.e. that last for the rest of his life). That payout plan decision comes later, a couple months before his 65th birthday at the earliest, and is a topic for another day.
 

disr87

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Thank you so much for your long and detailed reply. I've been trying to research on this topic for about 2 months now on and off to no avail and this pretty much answers almost all the questions I have.

Just for more information, I am a Singaporean Citizen, and they are basically setting up an entity for me here in Singapore, but I am a director/only employee at the moment so I imagine I'd be paying employee CPF. I wouldn't say that they are necessarily looking to reduce their risks through me (being a Singaporean I requested to move home more than a year ago and before things escalated), but they do seem to be looking to diversify some data backup risk in Singapore more recently.

The only additional question I have is - if I am paid elsewhere, how does the employee contribution part of CPF go to CPF? I imagine the government wouldnt let you do just VCs, because that could lead to many a tricky situation. That said, I imagine that if I go ahead with the the half and half (SGD and USD) option that you suggested above, it could solve that issue, and also give me some flexibility on the exchange rate front.

Thankfully my company has global insurance coverage, and I also double dipped with my own Integrated Shield rider insurance (credit my fiancee for this one).

Tried to send you a PM revealing more private information but having only 3 posts I couldnt. Can't believe my account only has 3 posts, probably created a new one in 2018. Been lurking our fav hwz for >10years
 

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Hi all, looking for some advice!

Parents have tasked me to help them do something with the money in my dad's SRS account. Dad is turning 66 this year. He only started max topping up his SRS account a 3-4 years back so it's not fat or anything. Likely to be working for a couple more years... nothing set in stone yet but it's his own business so he'll retire whenever he wants to. I'm still learning lots on my own, for my own investment so I don't know what to do for someone who's already near the end of his working career.

What's the best I can do for my dad at the moment? Will be reading up more on my own but if I could get some advice in the right direction would be very helpful. Thank you :)
 
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