Search the Community

Wah. What happened to NTUC Income? More than 100 financial consultants have filed a joint complaint to the CPF Board against their employer NTUC Income. NTUC Income has allegedly over-deducted from their income to pay into their CPF over many years. These over-deductions were not submitted to CPF Board but kept by NTUC Income which has not returned the bulk of these over-deductions to the financial consultants. This practice went on for many years in NTUC Income, according to the financial consultants TR Emeritus (TRE) spoke to. A letter from CPF Board (shown to TRE by the financial consultants) acknowledges that a complaint was formally lodged with CPF Board on 14 September 2012 [Link]. Over 100 signatures accompanied the complaint. In their collective letter to CPF Board, the financial consultants said that they had been chasing their union representatives to

Whats the income level u consider as 'atas' people? for example like talks with ur friends or relatives, till what earning u considered that person as successful or high income? P.S income above is per month not per annum ahha Just vote and reply not needed here

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/th...regions-highest Published June 28, 2012 Income inequality here seen as one of the region's highest 9 in 10 polled can't tell which income bracket they're in By lim wei sheng IT'S a head-scratching paradox. While Singaporeans perceive income inequality levels here as being one of the highest in the region, nine out of 10 don't even know which income bracket they belong to. According to a March 2012 survey of 10 Asia-Pacific cities by Fidelity Worldwide Investment, of the 90 per cent of Singaporeans who do not know which income bracket their household belongs to, 68 per cent underestimate and 22 per cent overestimate it. This leads to the poorest households in the first decile perceiving themselves as situated in the third decile, while those in the wealthiest 10th decile locate themselves within the more modest sixth decile. These misperceptions have implications for investment decisions, according to Betty Ng, director of investment communications, Asia Pacific at Fidelity. She said that overestimation can lead to overspending, while underestimation may cause investors to lose returns due to excessive risk-aversion or risk-taking. Income inequality fears remain very much alive, though. Based on responses by the 507 Singaporeans surveyed, a typical household needs to earn an average of $2,662 in monthly pre-tax income to be qualified as low-income, and earn an average of $12,140 to be qualified as high-income. The difference between what constitutes low and high income is the widest for respondents in Singapore, suggesting that respondents here perceive the greatest inequality in their current incomes. Three in four Singaporeans are also expecting widening spreads in income levels over the next 10 years, comparable to the regional average of 76 per cent. Only 42 per cent of Singaporeans believe that their household income would improve in the future, compared to 49 per cent for all 10 cities. Nevertheless, Singaporeans foresee a more optimistic future for their children, with 91 per cent of respondents believing that their children would attain middle or high income status when they reach their 40s. Indeed, 35 per cent of self-classified low-income respondents predicted that their children would attain high income status, while this proportion was 67 per cent for self-classified high-income respondents. Based on data from the Department of Statistics, average monthly household income in 2011 stood at $9,618, with income in the fifth decile standing at $7,032 while income in the 10th decile reached $27,867.

in MCF all above are low income class high income are table wipers, undertakers, people interested in backsides and ASKs

Hi got into an accident with a cab today. Claiming 3rd party. Any workshop that goes good repair quality and also can do NTUC income accident reporting at around kaki bukit or ubi area that you can recommend?

Trying to find out salary range in MCF forumer

Bought above from a bank after recomendation from the RM. 2,3 months down the road , keep receiving calls from the first RM and others to sell asthey claim am already making profit and is time to sell and buy into other product. I felt the sales commissiion payable to the first RM is not able to recover from the profit and uf i sell, have to pay commision again. At the end , there us no profit gain. Also, when check with them on the commission percent, different RM offer different rate from 4 to 2.5. Anybody encounter same?

It shows that the poor really do get the help needed. $800/month for unemployed is huge, even more than those cleaners. I think it's the sandwich-class who are working that really need some attention. Not in the form of hand out, but like more effective control in inflation and curb in rising property price.

Title : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability By : Date : 11 January 2007 1856 hrs (SST) URL : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability - Channel NewsAsia SINGAPORE: Middle class wages have been stagnant in the past 5 years, according to economists, and this could lead to social instability. These concerns were shared by economists at the annual Institute of Policy Studies Singapore Perspectives conference, who also added that the government is taking steps to address the problem. Economists believe a US economic slowdown in business and consumer spending may cause problems for Singapore, but as Singapore is tops in the ASEAN resilience index, it should be able to weather external shocks, thanks to a diversified economy and strong Asian demand. They predict that growth going forward will be above 3 to 5 percent. The long-term growth limits for a mature economy was previously in the 3 to 5 percent range. However, economists are asking who this growth is for. The income of the bottom 30 percent of the population has fallen. What is more worrying is the fact that the majority of Singaporeans in the middle class has only seen about a one percent increase in their nominal income in the last 5 years. This is not not just a Singapore problem say economists who point out that stagnant wages is a global problem. The chief reason for this is globalisation, especially with India and China introducing a large pool of skilled and unskilled labour to compete with the labour forces of industrialised countries. Singapore is susceptible to this because of its open economy. Manpower Ministry data shows that 124,000 jobs were created last year and 45 percent of these jobs went to foreigners. "With the rate of immigration, even among unskilled and semi skilled labour at a rate twice of what we experienced in the 90s, at a rate fastest in the developed world, the question is - does this dampen our real wages as we grow? Does the strategy itself dampen real wages and depress real wages at the low and middle end of the spectrums? They are sacred cows but we should step back and think about them," said Yeoh Lam Keong, Vice President, Economic Society of Singapore. Another reason cited for middle class wage stagnation is the move by the government to cut CPF employer contribution rates for older workers by 4 percentage points over the last 2 years. "So if you were a worker in the 50-55 age group, you could have seen your wages fall as much as 10 percent over the last 3 or 4 years. Now with the economy improving, the government could bring that back, the increase is 1 or 2 percent. I'm in support of CPF tinkering but probably it happens far too often, but I think there's probably some justification to look back and think that the restructuring was a bit too aggressive on the CPF side and it has contributed somewhat to a very sandwiched middle class," said Chua Hak Bin, Director, Asia Pacific Econ & Market Analysis, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore. The government is looking at increasing CPF by 1 to 2 percentage points in 2007. Economists say workfare should become a more permanent pillar of the economy so as to cushion growing inequality. - CNA /dt

Professor Lim Chong Yah, who was a key architect of the economic restructuring exercise that overhauled Singapore

Not exactly a loophole. But just wanted to run this idea through your guys to see if it actually works.... Let's say you confirm + double confirm that you'll buy a property within this year. And assuming that you have more than enough cash to cover whatever cash component (stamp, min-sum or whatever they're called) for your property... Do a CPF Cash topup with the extra cash. This should be tax deductable, isn't it? Then just use the same amount of CPF to pay for the rest of the non-cash component of the property. Won't this work? In short. You have 100K cash. Your property requires 50K cash. Put 50K cash into CPF via CPF cash topup. Assuming you made so much that 200K are taxable that year, with the CPF topup, you have only 150K taxable instead. Then you just use the bigger CPF to pay for the rest of the property. You end up with the property and less tax payable. Is this workable?

Knn.... Just now went to IRAS online to do a draft... See the figure and it felt so strange... Look at it but somehow don't feel that I enjoyed any of that income... I think employer overstate and underpaid me like 80% izit? hahahaha... Really living hand-to-mouth... Yet when it comes to income tax, the figure look so big, I dunno where all that money went... sianz...

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/S...ory_782594.html By Jessica Cheam The Housing Board is relaxing the rules on two-room flats in mature estates and raising the monthly household income ceiling for applicants to $5,000 from $2,000. 'This provides an additional housing option for households who prefer to live in mature estates, but whose monthly income exceeds $2,000,' said the Housing Board in a statement on Wednesday. The income ceiling for 2-room flats in non-mature estates will remain at $2,000 to safeguard these flats for low-income families, added the Board. The Housing Board's string of initiatives aimed at easing demand among certain buyers and forging closer family ties will apply to the bumper crop of 8,000 flats that it launched on Wednesday. forging closer family ties ar.... zhun bo?

The Straits Times www.straitstimes.com Published on Jan 17, 2012 http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Breaking...ory_756490.html 'Foreign talent policy had effect on income gap' Inflow hurt wage growth for some, says expert panel By Melissa Tan

Hi guys, I heard NTUC income policy holders were encouraged to install a GPS system into their car for tracking if theft occurs. Anyone knows if non-ntuc income policy holders can install this ? also, any other 3rd party after market gps tracker in SG or Msia ? Im planning to drive my rav4 up to msia, im getting quite freaked out. I had a nightmare last nite that my car was stolen.. hee hee hee

its the time of the year again... i almost fell off my chair when i saw the estimated tax payable..... any ideas to claim more deductibles (legally of cos!)....

Property gurus and experts like changman999... please comment

There have been lot of discussions in various threads on the car affordability in this high COE season. Based on my assumptions / calculations, Top 24 percentile household income (11,600$ monthly after CPF) may afford 200k car Top 30 percentile household income (10,300$ monthly after CPF) may afford 100k car (thanks to Salary.sg for arriving the percentile) My basis are quite generic and may vary from person to person. As a good rule, I have assumed 20% of the income as savings. Household Expenditure basis: House 1500, Children 2000, Utility 400, Food 1200, Transport 1700 or 3000, Misc 500, Income Tax 1000 Saving (20%)2000, Total 10300 or 11600 (depends on 100k or 200k car) Car Expenditure basis: Expenditure for 100k (200k) car: Car loan 1000 (2000), Road Tax 62 (150), Insurance 150 (250), Petrol 175 (250), Office parking 100 (100), Home parking 95 (95), Parking coupon 30 (30), Servicing 50 (100), Cashcard 50(50), Total 1712 (3025) If you want to be more specific, you can workout with your expenditure / savings pattern.

I always wonder what is a comfortable annual income for a person to own a condo and a car (not full cash, monthly loan repayments for both) to support in Singapore.. What's your take?

Government policies to draw foreign talent into Singapore likely helped widen the income gap in Singapore, a study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) found. "Rising tide of foreign workers almost certainly impacted wage growth at parts of the income distribution and thereby worsened inequality," said Manu Bhaskaran, adjunct senior research fellow at IPS who chaired a panel on "Economics: Business as usual, no longer?" for IPS

INCOME OPPORTUNITY: Dear Partners.Our southbound train services from Toa Payoh to Marina Bay stations were disrupted this morning. Partners.

A female client had asked dating agency Lunch Actually to match her with a possible candidate. The agency found a match who fitted her list of requirements. But after the first date, the woman opted not to go on another date with the man whom she was matched with. The deal breaker? The man was shorter than her. Lunch Actually's annual Regional Dating Survey indicated that out of 640 Singaporean respondents, 70 per cent of the women surveyed said they will not date a shorter man. This is despite the fact that the Singaporean men surveyed said they are happy to date a taller woman. The survey also found that Singaporean women also prefer to date a man who is better educated and have higher salaries as compared to them. While such results may appear to show that Singaporean women are demanding, Lunch Actually CEO Violet Lim explained the reason for her female clients' requirements. She said: "I think it is understandable that women have high requirements when it comes to dating because as women are getting more educated and doing better for themselves when it comes to their career, they feel that they have achieved a certain comfort level in their life, and they are not willing to compromise on their quality of living." The survey of about 1,900 people across markets in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia also revealed that online dating was becoming a popular method for singles to find their match. Ms Lim said that tech savvy Singaporeans have not been put off by the bad press of online scammers using dating websites to con unsuspecting victims. She added that Lunch Actually's online services eSynchrony.com and Eteract.com run stringent checks on their members using information from the Registry of Marriages and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore to verify their identities, and blacklist suspected scammers. She said that 75 per cent of her clients who went on dates Love Actually arranged for them through eSynchrony.com were satisfied with their first dates.

Real income divide Moving into a new neighbourhood has highlighted class differences Published on Nov 6, 2011 By Chua Mui Hoong [email protected] I was at a Dempsey cafe with some friends when a stray comment got me thinking about Singapore, social class and lifestyle experiences. What do you do on weekends, I was asked. Nothing much, I replied. My favourite weekend morning activity is to have breakfast at a hawker centre and read the papers. Oh yes, he nodded. Just to soak in the atmosphere? I was puzzled by the comment. In the two seconds it took me to process why, the conversation had moved on. And then I realised why. I have lived in everything from an attap house to a landed property to a condominium, but I always returned to Housing Board flats. Hawker centres, coffee shops and the rhythm of HDB life represent my native habitat. It is places such as Dempsey I go to, to soak in the atmosphere. And even then, I avoid weekend evenings when the trendy turn out in droves, and go there on quiet weekdays. I moved to a HDB estate in the west five months ago. Since then, I've realised two things. One, I remain at heart an HDB kid. Two, I had become used to certain comforts of a middle-class life. I had assumed they were just common habits of an increasingly affluent Singapore, but living here has sensitised me to just how subtle but real, the gap is between the working class and the middle class. In the Bukit Timah condominium where I used to live, every other car was a BMW, an Audi or a Mercedes, with a few Lamborghinis and Porsches. This is the UMI - upper middle income - class. Many are millionaires. According to a Boston Consulting Group report in June, Singapore has the highest concentration of millionaire households in the world, with 16 per cent of all households boasting at least $1 million in assets under management. That's 170,000 households out of 1.13 million. In Bishan where I also used to live, the carparks even of HDB estates are full of Japanese sedans and big cars, with a sprinkling of European luxury cars. This is the solid middle class, the HDB burgher. In my current estate, every other vehicle is a van, pick-up or lorry of some kind. I glance at the registered addresses on the vehicle, and I know most of those driving these vehicles home are not the bosses. My guess is they are the delivery drivers, the maintenance technicians. This is working- class Singapore. For the average HDB working class family, life remains a struggle. I see it around me. HDB shops have bare cement floors and fewer wares. Children play unsupervised by adults. When I changed my curtains, I packed my old ones into a bag, affixed a label that said 'Fits Master Bedroom' and left it at the foot of my block. It was gone when I returned from breakfast. My categorisation of Singapore groups are, of course, generalisations based on anecdotal experiences. But anecdote can be the basis of insight. In middle-class Bishan, I enjoyed the convenience of HDB life with its coffee shops, but I also had easy access to the cafes, organic food stores and deluxe cafes I enjoyed. Here in the west, the merchandise and shop mix is different. I went shopping for Dryel. That's the dry-cleaning kit that comes with a zipped-up bag and sheets of chemical cleaners you can use in your dryer, so you can dry-clean your silk dresses at home. I used to have no problems finding it in my old neighbourhoods. In my new estate, I couldn't find it in a few supermarkets. I asked one sales staff and was greeted with a stare, a loud question and a shake of the head. If you think about it, it's not surprising. Not many HDB families have a clothes dryer, so why would they need Dryel? I gave up, and returned to my old haunt, the Cold Storage at Guthrie House, a tiny supermarket with an amazing knack of stocking things every household - okay, every UMI household - can need. There was Dryel. And nice bread. And nice pate to go with said bread. I came to see that there are not just two Singapore: the heartlanders and the rest. Among the heartlanders, there is the middle class and the working class. And, I am coming to realise, there is another sub-set of the UMI class. If the UMI is the top 20 per cent, the top 1 per cent would be the Ultra Rich. My totally subjective definition of this group is that they earn at least $2 million a year, live in Good Class Bungalow areas or penthouse condominium apartments, and fly First or Business Class on holiday. These folks apologise for their homes being 'only 5,000 sq ft' - as one interviewee once told me. Their numbers will grow, if Singapore continues to do well, and attract Asia's rising super class. So there you have at least four groups: the working class and the middle class among the heartlanders; and in the private property group, you have the UMI and the Ultra Rich. So long as social boundaries are porous, and the average heartlander can move from the working to the middle to the UMI group, the Singapore Dream remains alive. The new twist in the old debate on inequality, though, is the gap among the elite: between the top 20 per cent and the top 1 per cent. New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote last week of this Blue Inequa- lity fuelled by zooming incomes of the top 1 per cent. 'Within each profession, the top performers are now paid much better than the merely good or average performers. If you live in these big cities, you see people similar to yourself who are earning much more while benefiting from low tax rates, wielding disproportionate political power, gaining in prestige and contributing seemingly little to the social good.' I have a feeling the anger over high ministerial salaries is fuelled in part by Blue Inequality. Some critics of the high-ministerial pay policy come from the UMI class, and don't see why folks who went to school or used to work in the same office with them, should be propelled into the Ultra Rich group once they enter politics, thanks to multi-million-dollar salaries paid out of the public purse. It's easy to target the Ultra Rich as Public Enemy No. 1, as the other social groups can band together against them. But that battle is not really relevant to the lives of the working class. For this group, what matters most are a job that pays enough for a life without strife, and good schools for their children. For this group that forks out only for essentials, a set of made-to-measure curtains is a luxury. [email protected]

With so much death and sickness around, I am thinking of buying the above, anyone can share with me the pros and cons of the above, given it is a long term commitment and will cost $1300 a year without any returns.... Serious question, pls do not flame me saying that I am a half past six financial planner.

Median income of S'poreans increased over past 10 years By Saifulbahri Ismail | Posted: 11 October 2011 1935 hrs Photos 1 of 1 Singapore workers SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally and the median income of workers also increased 11 per cent in real terms, over the past 10 years. These were some key findings in a paper released by the Manpower Ministry on Tuesday. Singapore faced three recessions in the past 10 years, yet Singaporean workers are earning more. But almost all of the income growth occurred in the later half of the decade. From 2001 to 2010, the median monthly income grew 11 per cent in real terms, or 29 per cent in nominal terms. However, income for households at the bottom 20th percentile grew only 8.1 per cent in real terms, or 34 per cent in nominal terms. The government has pledged to raise average Singaporeans' median incomes by 30 per cent in real terms over the next 10 years. To achieve this, the median income must grow by threefold from the current level. Analysts said this is not something that is impossible. "What we need to do is to try and aim for growth of between 5 to 10 per cent over the coming decade before we can actually achieve the aspiration that has been set. Singapore's economic condition is actually determined to a large extent by circumstances beyond our control. So, this really has to depend on the global economic climate that would allow such an ambitious growth performance," said Associate Professor Randolph Tan, head of the Business Programme at SIM University. There were also more Singaporeans working over the decade. The number grew by 1.8 per cent per annum. There were 1,712,600 Singapore citizens in the labour force in June 2010, making up the majority or 58.3 per cent of the labour force. This is faster than the growth in citizen population aged 15 & over of 1.6 per cent per annum over the same period. Government transfers had a redistributive effect on household income. In addition, Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally - with nearly eight in ten Singaporeans (aged 25 to 64) employed in 2010. This employment rate surpassed economies such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada and the UK. The ministry explained that although Singapore's labour force participation rate is not higher than in many advanced economies, the unemployment rate amongst those in the labour force is low. With the strong economic recovery, the unemployment rate declined to 3.1 per cent in June 2011, down from a high of 4.5 per cent in 2009 during the recession. The unemployment rate was lower among better educated citizens, as well as older citizens. However, once out of work, older Singaporeans were more likely to stay unemployed longer. The long-term unemployment rate of older citizens aged 50 & over was 0.8 per cent, compared with 0.7 per cent for all citizens in 2010. With continued emphasis and investment in education and training, more Singaporeans are also holding higher skilled jobs. In 2010, 23 per cent were degree holders, up from 14 per cent in 2001. Including those with diploma & professional qualifications, the share was 41 per cent compared with 28 per cent in 2001. Forty-nine per cent of citizens employed in 2010 were in professional, managerial, executive & technical (PMET) jobs, up from 42 per cent in 2001. - CNA/cc ----------------- The above good news prove, once and for all, that citizens are champion grumblers.