MoneyDigest - Personal Finance, Lifestyle, Money Saving Tips

Main Implications Of Brexit To Singapore

One of the most talked about issues surrounding the world today is the Brexit. Brexit is shorter term that refers to “British Exit”. It is the strong vote of British people to detach themselves from the European Union (EU). This referendum impacted the global markets including that of Singapore’s.

For starters, Brexit contributed to the changes in exchange rates as the value of Pounds drop in its lowest level in decades. Aside from this shift in currency, the Brexit has implications in Singapore’s trade, properties, and investments.

CURRENCY

The British Pound is in its weaker state – as of the moment.

To illustrate, imagine Sally is a Singaporean expat who moved to United Kingdom 6 years ago. Being financially savvy, she made a plan to save some of her money for retirement back home. Since Sally kept a relatively huge sum of money in Pounds, she was surprised to find out that her funds are worth less than they were a week ago.

Aside from the individuals like Sally, British companies are affected by the weaker British currency. It will cost them more money to grow and expand their businesses here.

TRADE

Unlike other ASEAN countries, the Singapore government has concluded their negotiations for “Free Trade” with the European Union. Within the Free Trade agreement, any imports and exports between EU and Singapore are more affordable and are subjected to lesser restrictions. This greatly helped our transactions as we imported over S$44.46 Billion worth of goods and products from the EU last year.

An issue floats as majority of our EU trade was with the Brits. There seems to be an uncertainty whether Britain will have more or less bargaining power over Singapore after the Brexit.

PROPERTY

According to Knight Frank, Singaporeans lead the list of Asian buyers who patronized United Kingdom commercial properties in 2015. With the prevalent clamor of Singaporean buyers and the ambiguity of the British market, banks such as UOB and DBS had to act quickly.

In a statement, UOB says that they “will temporarily stop receiving foreign property loan applications for London properties.” While, DBS is advising its lenders to be more cautious.

INVESTMENT

Behind Japan and Hong Kong, Singapore ranks third as the largest investors in EU. This is why the population of the Singaporean investors will be surely affected. In particular, a stock called GL Ltd (SGX: B16) encompasses more than 5,000 hotel rooms in London. If the British currency will decrease further, it can pressure GL Ltd’s profit in Singapore dollars.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

As a solution, experts suggest to diversify your investments in terms of currency exposure.

Let me close with the post that PM Lee Hsien Loong published in his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong/posts/1142353405827364
“Singapore will continue to cultivate our ties with Britain, which is a long standing friend and partner. We hope in time the uncertainty will diminish, and we will make the best of the new reality.”

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

How Money Can Ultimately Buy Happiness

In the previous posts I wrote entitled “Important Things You Must Know About Money And Happiness” and “10 Wonderful Treasures That Money Cannot Buy“, I highlighted that happiness along with other important values does not come with price-tags. This is supported by the 2012 report by Gallup.

According to the report, Singapore is still the unhappiest nation despite the fact that Singapore enjoys one of the highest per capita GDP values in the world. Surprisingly, it ranked as less happier than the populations of Iraq, Haiti, and Afghanistan.

Money cannot purchase happiness in all circumstances. Unless…you spend your wealth in the “proper” way!

Recent studies showed that there are some efficient ways that money can result to happiness. Here are some of them:

1. WHEN MONEY IS SPENT ON EXPERIENCES

A study by Cornell University researchers found that spending money on experiences instead of material possessions, improved the well-being of the person. Your feelings toward your materialistic purchases are subjected to buyer’s remorse as well as comparisons to others. Almost anyone can buy a new bag but, not everyone can experience the thrill of scuba diving!

To stimulate happiness, focus more on experiences that are unique to you. Only if these expenses are within your allotted budget – of course!

2. WHEN MONEY IS SPENT BASED ON THE SELF

Upon analyzing over 76,000 transactions of 625 participants, a recent study showed that matching personality to spending habits was more crucial than one’s total income and total spending. The personality categories in the study were divided into 5, namely: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. This is based on the Big Five Personality Traits.

For example, Singaporeans who are high on “Openness” enjoy trying new things. These people can experience increased levels of happiness if they spent their money on a beauty or hair makeover.

Know your personality and spend money in accordance with your Psychological needs by completing a simple test here.

3. WHEN MONEY IS SPENT ON THE LITTLE THINGS

In the 2010 issue of Journal of Consumer Psychology, Jing Yang Zhong and Vincent-Wayne Mitchell surveyed the spending habits of 5,000 households. They found that the best way to increase one’s happiness was to make a series of smaller purchases. For instance, the people who spent their money on a series of concerts by lesser known artists were happier than those people who spent the same amount of money in one concert by an immensely famous band. Do you agree?

Well, it goes to show that the things that we think will make us happy often do not.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Dr. Elizabeth Dunn even believes that “we may be better off devoting our finite financial resources to purchasing frequent doses of lovely things, rather than infrequent doses of lovelier things.” Simply, satisfying our simple pleasures frequently can elicit happiness in the long run.

How to Keep Hiring Costs Low and Still Find the Right Candidate

Finding the right person for the job is what can make or break a company, especially if you’re a small startup. Singapore is one of the best places right now for fledgling IT companies given the increased interest in supporting infrastructure within the country and investing billions in new IT contracts in 2016. However, there are ways to find the best candidates without expecting people to travel, relocate, or even work in your office. If you’re willing to entertain the notion of a true modern day workforce, here are a few ideas about how to keep your hiring costs down and your productivity up.

Everyone Is Part of the Network

One of the biggest concerns that most managers have is that you’ll miss out on candidates if you restrict your search solely to online resources or interviews on camera. However, of all countries in the world, Singapore is the one where you should be just that. In fact, the Singapore Business Review reports that 74 percent of Singaporeans are connected to the mobile internet, a number higher than even that of North America, which is why the country is poised to win the Smart City race. Therefore, by keeping your search online, you’ll not only be tapping into a huge network of candidates, but it’s also a great way to see all the younger talent that is out there.

Today, you can also conduct interviews much more easily on mobile devices with the right providers. Don’t worry too much about whether or not your candidates will be able to deal with an on-screen interaction. The fact is that if they can’t manage to figure out how to join a video interview in 2016, then they’re probably not qualified to be working for you.

How to Use the Tools Available

Since the idea is to keep hiring costs down, you also don’t want to blow all your money on an overpriced conferencing system in order to conduct interviews or hold meetings. Therefore, a service such as Blue Jeans interactive web conferencing for IT is a common solution due to how affordable it can be for companies of all sizes. If you’re in the IT industry and you’re screening new hires, not only is it beneficial to use video to narrow down your search and make the hiring process go faster, but seeing how candidates deal with the situation is probably an indicator of how comfortable they are with new technology. If you’re dealing with someone who possesses confidence on screen during an interview, whether they’re in IT or not, it demonstrates an ability to adapt. If it’s an IT professional, they also should ideally know at least something about video conferencing today.

Traditional Hires Versus Remote Workers

What costs can you avoid when conducting your search for a new hire online? According to Monster Singapore, there are plenty of reasonable demands that a new employee can make if they’re being asked to relocate, including moving costs, temporary lodging costs, assistance in selling a current home, and more. However, there’s an easy way to avoid all of that and still procure the employee you want. This is a great example of how you not only can attract job seekers from further away than your local area, but also how you can potentially employ remote workers using solely the Internet. Video conferencing has made it possible to hire new staff from afar, an essential option to have in a competitive industry. Given that IT is one of the most popular fields to enter right now, making smart hires in the shortest time is absolutely paramount to the success of individual businesses. This is also a great example of how an investment in video conferencing technology can not only benefit your company when interviewing and finding qualified candidates, but also can be used in longevity, adding to the talent pool of your staff and making your projects even more successful. There’s no replacement for a good employee, and if you find someone who’s employable, regardless of how far away they are, you’d be wise to act on it. Unlike video interactions from years ago that required special equipment, today’s conferencing systems have embraced mobility in particular.

In order to be successful in any business, you need to be a free thinker who’s not afraid of new ideas and systems. This is especially true right now in IT, since it’s the industry’s time to shine in Singapore. Whether you’re a manager in a large company or a CEO in a small startup, branching out to include staff that’s comprised of remote workers or doing all of your interviewing via video is essential. Time is money, and you don’t want to waste yours doing things the old fashioned way. Hop on your mobile device today and start finding the best person for the job in half the time than it would have taken two decades ago.

Incredibly Free Things That You Can Get At Hotels

Whether you are a frugal Fred who wants to get your money’s worth or a forgetful Bessy who left some of your travel necessities at home, here are some hotel freebies that are both money-saving and useful:

1. BATH ESSENTIALS

Let us start with the obvious freebies that guests typically take home – the bath essentials. Although you packed a sufficient supply of bath essentials, it does not hurt to pack a little more for future use. Keeping the shampoo and conditioner bottles as well as the soaps can save you a decent amount of cash.

If you have sensitive skin and experience adverse effects with the hotel soap, use it for other purposes. Keep the bar of soap and use it as a freshener for your drawers or shoes at home. Or, you may use it to clean your cosmetic sponges.

2. NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

The array of newspapers and magazines left at your room are not only free but also helpful. Firstly, you can use the valuable coupons inside to pay less in shopping for groceries, tickets, and more. Secondly, you can use these publications in the event that your child needs to cut pictures for his or her school projects. Lastly, you can use these publications as decorations to your dull office.

3. CURLING AND STRAIGHTENING IRONS

To all my fellow beautiful women out there who want to look their best but forgot to bring their trusty curling or straightening irons to the hotel, worry not! Many major hotels (i.e., large hotel chains such as Hyatt) offer loans for these hair styling items. Simply approach the front desk and ask politely for what you need.

4. SEWING KIT

Tailoring or sewing services in Singapore can range from S$5-40 depending on the type of clothing article. Some of the prices are too much if you asked me! You might as well buy a new one. Good thing there is a better and quicker option – altering clothes by yourself. But, how can you alter your clothing while on vacation?

Say you broke the straps of your backpack. Having a sewing kit can solve this problem right away. Thankfully, your Trump Hotel room has complementary sewing kits. Like Trump Hotel, many major hotels have free sewing kits on-hand. Remember to bring those kits before you checkout!

5. DENTAL CARE

The worst thing that I can forget while on a vacation is my own toothbrush. Unlike the couples who are comfortable with sharing one toothbrush, I will never use someone else’s! This is why I am very grateful that hotels provide basic dental care products such as toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and floss.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Minty fresh breath does not always come in cheap packages! In fact, a bottle of mouthwash can cost you about S$4-14. Hence, I suggest that you pack that free mouthwash with you.
Sources: 1 & 2

Travel Hacking: How to Score a Free Flight with Singapore Airlines

If travelling was free, you’d never see me again

Many of us love to travel, but the idea of parting away a significant portion of your salary on just the airfares alone is going to put off most of us. What most people don’t realize is that it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to fly — and there’s a group of people who have been gaming frequent flyer programs to get free flights.

A concept known as travel hacking, if used correctly, can be used to save loads of money on your next air ticket to your dream destination. Then there’s this infamous story of how a civil engineer earned 1.25 million air miles by just buying pudding. Of course, you are not going to see that happen in Singapore.

There are many ways for you to earn miles in Singapore and the most straightforward way is through airline rewards credit cards. If you are new to this, you can start off with the FlyerTalk’s forum where you can see many discussion on what’s the best credit card to earn miles,

Choosing the right credit card

The next step is to choose the right credit card that meets your spending needs. For an entry-level card, we picked the American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card where you just need a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 to apply. You can earn 1.1 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 spent locally and 2 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 spent overseas on June and December.

Pick the low-hanging fruit first

American Express have several welcome offers that you should take advantage of. For example, they are giving away 5,000 KrisFlyer miles when you charge to your card for the very first time. You can basically swipe any amount to you card to earn this.

There is also a 3,000 KrisFlyer miles which you can easily earned when you spend at least S$700 in the first 6 months upon Card approval. It’s not that hard, really.

For a limited time only, make a Grab Ride booking with your card and you get another 500 KrisFlyer miles between 5 May 2016 and 4 May 2017.

You should aim to pick up all these “easy” miles first and we are talking about a total of 8,500 KrisFlyer miles that doesn’t require you to spend too much money and time to achieve it. With that miles, you can already redeem for a free one-way Economy Saver flight to Bali with Singapore Airlines.

Work towards your goal

Now that you already have 8,500 KrisFlyer miles in your pocket, you can work towards your goal of redeeming higher-tiered awards such as a return tickets to Bangkok, Hong Kong and/or other popular destinations that you would like to travel. Check out the Singapore Airlines Awards Chart for more details. If you have a KrisFlyer’s account, you can use the miles calculator.

Start accumulating your miles

The key to accumulating your miles is to make your spending counts. Charge any daily expenses that you can think of to your credit card. Assuming you diligently do it for a year, here’s a rough estimate on how much miles you can accumulate:

Transaction	KrisFlyer miles earned
1st Transaction Welcome Bonus	5,000
Spend S$700 in 6 months	3,000
First Grab Ride booking	500
Pay for Starhub bills (Mobile, Broadband, etc) at S$120/month	1,584
Top-up EZ-Link Card using EZ-Reload at $80/month	1,056
Travelling to Hong Kong with AMEX-exclusive SQ fares at $188/pp (for 2 pax)	752
Hotels booked with Kaligo.com (3-night at Hong Kong Gold Coast Hotel at $163/night)	3,490
Spending in Hong Kong (S$1,000)	2,000
Dining out with friends $250/month	3,300
Movie at Cathay Cineplexes (Twice a month for 2pax)	660
Pay for groceries at FairPrice $100/month	1,320
TOTAL	22,662

A one-way economy saver ticket to Seoul costs 22,500 KrisFlyer miles, and you can redeem your miles without converting them as they are credited to your KrisFlyer’s account directly. Some miles cards requires you to pay a fee to do the conversion, so you enjoy the benefit of free conversion with this co-branded card.

Take advantage of other card benefits

American Express let you enjoy up to 50% savings with American Express Selects at a wide selection of restaurants in Singapore and around the world. On top of that, you enjoy exclusive fares to 8 destinations with Singapore Airlines including an all-in return ticket to Hong Kong from just S$188 — if you get your card approved by 15 Jul. Click here for the full list of destinations

This American Express^® Card is also eligible for use with Apple Pay.

Sign-up for a miles card today

There are many cards in the market which have higher rates such as the UOB PRVI Miles Card and Standard Charted Visa Infinite but requires a higher annual income of S$80,000 and S$150,000 per year. This will accelerate your accumulation process and you can consider upgrading your card once you meet the requirements.

For now, you can start off with the DBS Altitude Card or the American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card which requires just a $30,000 annual income to be eligible.

Sign up for the American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card before 31 Oct and you also receive S$80 worth of NTUC vouchers.

Apply online and get instant decision within 60 seconds.

How to get additional S$80 NTUC vouchers

Step 1: Click on the above products to apply

Step 2: Take a screenshot of the Thank You Page at the end of the application

See below for examples of Thank You Page of each bank

Step 3: Fill in the Form on SingSaver.com.sg

Fill in the form before 31 October 2016 to participate in the promotion! You will receive an email from SingSaver.com.sg after submitting the form. Reply with the screenshot of card approval from the bank after you receive it to claim the voucher!