A good wife worries about retirement adequacy.

A recent conversation with a reader:

Reader says...

I have been a silent reader mostly for several years now. 

And i am ashamed to say that i now feel like i have not learned well from your blog, and am caught in this situation where i just do not know if i should bite the loss of almost 15k, or just continue with the plan i bought from my FA. 

Hence, I am writing to hear your advice.




I am 34 years old and my other half is 36... purchased a Retire Happy plan last year. 

My husband purchased it mainly because of me.

I was doing a review of this plan and chanced upon your words of wisdom on this Retire Happy. 

And then i realised that i might as well have topped up my own CPF account.




What should i do now?

Even though its my hubby's money, it is foolish to continue with a plan that is not value for money.

If i terminate the plan now, I will lose about 15k, which is damn a lot of money. 

If i don't, there is no guarantee that my hubby will save. 






After i have explored the CPF option, we are shocked to know how good it is but my husband still says he won't be maxing out his CPF as he doesn't have enough cash.

The most sensible and logical thing would be for my hubby to max out his CPF with the monies he is using for my plan and use it to provide for our retirement, but honestly, money is truly emotive and i don't know if he can.

What should i do, AK? I feel like a foolish wife now.

Would be eternally grateful for a response.

AK says...

I am only talking to myself in my blog. 

If you overheard me talking to myself, you have to decide if I make sense. ;)

I think you know what you want to do.

Does it make sense to continue sending money to where it is not treated best?




I understand that things are not as straightforward in your case because you are trying to force your husband to save money. 

Frankly, however, what is to stop him from not making regular payment towards Retire Happy?

I feel that if he is committed enough to pay regularly now, you should trust him.




Instead of paying Retire Happy, ask him to pay you and you manage the money. 

You could take the money, do MS Top Up to his CPF-SA and not keep it for yourself to show that you are doing this for him and the family. :)

To be quite honest, we cannot be sure of anything in life. It is all about trust. 

There is no guarantee that things will always go our way. 





We just have to do what we feel will give us peace of mind.

It depends on what we believe in.

I believe in having a risk free and volatility free portion in my investment portfolio. 

I believe in having an annuity that pays me not for only 20 years but for life. 

I am lucky to be a CPF member and I am maxing out the benefits of my membership.






Related posts:
1. Retire Happy.
2. How many $29K do we have?
3. How to upsize $100K to $225K?

Selling a car or a flat yourself.

Things change and that is one of the few constants in life.

Some changes hardly matter but some changes affect our lives in a big way. 

Changes could also be catastrophic. 

Remember the Dodo.

What is this leading to?




A few months ago, I sold my car without going through a middle man. 

Cars of the same make, model and age at pre-owned car centers were going for upwards of $50K at that time. 

I was offered $40K to $45K by different resellers then.

I decided to find a new owner for my old car myself. 

It was a relatively short search as a friend was looking to replace his much older car then. 




We had a win-win situation with the middle man removed.

It did mean, however, that we had to visit LTA in Sin Ming, queue up for more than an hour to do the transfer of ownership but that was just a minor inconvenience.

If you are thinking of selling your car, you might want to do it yourself. 

It is quite easy:
http://www.oneshift.com/used-car-buying-guide/718/how-to-sell-your-car-directly-to-a-buyer



Now, if selling your car without having a middle man is a good idea, what about selling your flat without engaging a property agent?

Well, it seems that many people are also selling their flats without the help of a property agent:

"According to figures from HDB, the number of resale flat buyers and sellers who have gone the DIY way rose to 24 per cent in 2015, from 11 per cent in 2010. 

"So far this year, 23 per cent of resale transactions carried out from January to May were completed without a property agent."
Source: CNA





It is probably an understatement to say that real estate in Singapore is expensive. 

Real estate is very expensive. 

A commission of 1% or 2% (as in the case of a HDB flat) is a big deal. 

I remember selling my home a few years ago and having to pay a 5 figure sum to the property agent. 

That is a fair bit of money.

If we can save a bit of money, why not?

If we can save a lot of money, what are we waiting for?




So, how easy is it to do it yourself?

I went to the eCitizen website and found out how easy it actually is:
https://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/Topics/Pages/Selling-your-HDB-flat-A-step-by-step-guide.aspx

"We were surprised because we thought it would be quite complicated. 

"The officer at HDB (Housing and Development Board) was also very helpful to go through the paperwork with us." 
Source: CNA






For a seller who is willing to spend some time to do some work, considering the huge amount of money saved, it is worth it.

“Especially with the emergence of social media, people get connected much easily compared to 10 years ago. 

"That’s why many home owners are now able to find home seekers by themselves or vice versa...”
Source: CNA

Selling your car or flat?

I think it is worth exploring the option of doing it yourself.

Related posts:
1. Fixed rates, SIBOR, FHR18...?
2. Affordability and value for money.