Ever since the CPFB introduced a colorful pie chart of our CPF savings a few years ago, I would look forward to mine every year like a teena...
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Not only do all of us have different financial circumstances, we also have different capacities to stomach stress. What works for one might not work for another (i.e. what might give someone peace of mind might be quite stressful for another).
So, listen to what others have to say but, ultimately, make our own decision, one that will not rob us of our precious sleep.
Chat with Reader #1
Reader: Hi there Ak. I have a question. I have a new bto flat that im staying in with abt 200k hdb loan spread over 25 years. It takes up abt half of my oa contribution every mth to pay it. Should i use the excess oa funds to channel it to sa or focus on paying off the house asap?
Assi AK I would max out my SA first. Money should go to where it is treated best. Doing so, I would maintain a buffer in my OA sufficient for 24 months of loan repayment in case something goes wrong.
Hi AK, do you think i should pay off 10k of hdb housing loan whenever my OA accumulates to 20k so that it stays below 20k to enjoy the additional 1% interest? i.e. 3.5% instead of 2.5%
Earning more interest is always appealing to me. ;)
1:11pm
Reader:
Cos I have a friend who says it's more impt to pay off housing loan as the 0.1% on a big loan is more than 1.5% on the 10k transferred. I.e. It only makes sense if the housing loan is less than 150k, correct?
I have a friend of more than 20 years who used to be fabulously fit. Now, he is "flabulously" fat. He is even fatter than I was last year before I embarked on my effort to lose weight. A few months ago, he said I looked unhealthy because I lost too much weight in a short time. Basically, I lost plenty of fat without gaining enough muscle mass. My entire frame shrank. Imagine that. Horrible, isn't it?
I was climbing stairs, lots of stairs, but I wasn't doing enough upper body workout. The solution for me, I found, was simple. Do more push ups. This is a simple and effective exercise that I can do at home. It builds stronger arms, shoulders and chest. It helps to strengthen the core too.
Anyway, when I saw my friend again recently, he said he has decided to lose weight too. It won't be an exercise to look fabulously fit but an exercise not to look "flabulously" fat. All he wants is to be able to wear swimming trunks to the pool again instead of a pair of board shorts. He said, "You can definitely go to the pool in swimming trunks now."
I don't enjoy swimming very much and walking around outside in a pair of trunks is like being clad only in my undies for all to see, I have always thought. He said, "But you can do it with confidence now." Yes, I know what he meant but I would still feel uncomfortable being mostly naked in public. My family and friends know that my determination to lose weight has everything to do with health and very little to do with looking good.
I was probably somewhat extreme earlier on in my attempt to lose weight. I was really driven by fear. This is similar to my determination to be frugal when I started life as a working adult. On hindsight, I was probably too extreme for many years of my life in allowing myself only $300 in spending money each month. Again, I was really driven by fear.
When we fear something, we are likely to take measures to avoid it. The fear that my health might worsen drove me to lose weight. The fear of growing old and destitute drove me to be frugal. Unless you are new to my blog, you would know that my frugal lifestyle is an important ingredient in the recipe for achieving financial freedom.
Now, I am pleased to share that my health has improved mainly due to my weight loss which has been achieved mostly through dieting and, to a lesser extent, a moderate exercise regime.
In the conversation with my friend, I joked, "I will only feel comfortable being mostly naked in public if I could hide my face." We had a good laugh and, then, he said, "Why not share in your blog? You are faceless there. You might inspire people like me to lose weight too."
OK, I am comfortable sharing how much is my passive income and how much I have in my CPF accounts only because I am an anonymous blogger. The purpose is to inspire by sharing my own experience. To be honest, I was afraid I might regret it but so far, so good. So, I guess this is another first for AK and I hope I don't regret doing this.
With some trepidation, I share here a topless pic of myself taken today:
Ooops. Wrong photo. It should be this one:
If you are overweight and think that losing weight is too difficult, I hope you will think again.
I believe that any overweight person mentally strong enough to go on a journey towards financial freedom is mentally strong enough to go on a journey to lose weight. I am putting an emphasis on mental strength because it is about discipline.
Losing weight is not an easy journey. Like our effort to achieve financial freedom, we have to make positive changes and stay the course. However, compared to trying to achieve financial freedom, losing weight is much easier. Believe it.
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