No place to park your excess funds and want a flexible place to park while gaining a decent yield. SSB is the place for you to park your funds.
June 2019 SSB gives an average interest rate of 2.13% over the next 10 years and can be applied thru DBS/POSB, OCBC and UOB ATMs and Internet Banking. This bond will be reflected as “ SBJUN19 GX19060S ” in your CDP statement or “GX19060S” in your SRS statement and “ CDP-SBJUN19 ” in your bank statement.
Previously DBS tease about the new multiplier account with a cute rabbit. There is a previous write up on what could be the possible revised changes and the new T&C. The write up can be read here.
You will be able to earn interest rate from 1.55% to 3.8% per annual.
Account balance increased to $100,000
Salary and Spend
No minimum amount needed for any category as long as your monthly total eligible transactions add up to S$2,000 or more.
The number of categories remains the same with Salary as a compulsory requirement and 4 other categories. Below table showing how much interest you will receive base on your eligible spending per month and account balance in Multiplier account.
Credits: DBS
There is a calculator on DBS website where you can clink and play around and you will have the results on how much interest you will be earning per annual. I tried with what an average salary worker scenario and the results I get is 2.2% per annual.
Monthly installment (s) due on your home loan(s) with DBS/POSB will be recognized
Cash and Central Provision Fund (CPF) components included
POSB/DBS Insurance
In short, those insurance plans that are unwriting by POSB/DBS will be eligible. The full list can check from DBS Mulpliter website.
Investment with POSB/DBS
This is a little interesting as there are many ways to trigger this category. without much effort.
Credit your dividends to any DBS/POSB deposit account
Those investing with Reits or dividends shares shouldn't have this issue but need to plan on how to get dividends every month without fail (this can be quite tricky as companies might change their dividends policy like recently DBS changed the dividends from semi-annual to quarterly).
Luckily there is an alternative way and you only need to invest $500 over a consecutive period of 6 months. The method is called SSB Bond Ladder. How does this work? OK, SSB is semi-annual interest payout so If you apply for it for 6 months, you will have dividends credited into your DBS/POSB account.
Credits: Kyith
Purchase a Unit Trust via DBS/POSB
For point numnber 3, you can purchase G3B and ABF and switch around every 12 months. To me these 2 are the safest you can buy and hold shall you need to increase your total transaction.
Valid for Unit Trust Lump Sum Investments, Unit Trust Regular Savings Plan and POSB Invest-Saver purchased after opening your Multiplier Account
The investment amount of your Unit Trust Lump Sum Investment will be recognised after you free-look/cancellation period
Monthly contribution amount for Unit Trust Regular Savings Plan and/or POSB Invest-Saver will be recognised for the first 12 consecutive contributions per investment fund
Purchase(s) must be made in cash, not using funds from your CPF or Supplimentary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account
Trade in equities online via DBS
Fully settled "BUY" equity trades via Vickers Online will be recognised
For transactions via DBS Vickers online trading platforms, only the primary account holder will be accorded the transaction amount
Conclusion
The increase of account balance cap from $50,000 to $100,000 is much welcome for additional interest but do note that SDIC only covers up to $75,000. This account is good for those with excess cash and has more than $50,000 holding with DBS/POSB to fully benefits from the interests. There is another product from POSB which I believe not many people know is POSB Cashback Bonus. This product works the same way as Multiplier but It doesn't require you to have money In your account. For those that just started working, perhaps can have a look at it first before committing to Multiplier account
Just last week on the last day of filing IRAS, I tabulate out my HDB rental income and here are the results. I hope my results can serve as a benchmark as I know there's many discussion online regarding the yield. I'm using the current value of the house in the market for a better comparison and as my house is without any loan, there isn't any loan interest in the calculation.
In the Year 2018, the income is higher as the new regulation of 6 tenants per flat kick in on May 2018. This doesn't affect me much as my flat is rent to 7 persons. Misc expenses are on the high side as I replaced the aircon in 3 of the rooms and it cost me $3000 for the replacement. As for property tax, I'm paying $1068 a cost which is unavoidable.
For 2019, I'm expecting a drop in rental income due to the limitation of 6 tenants per house rules. However, I'm not expecting to have any major repairs for this year and next year and I estimate the yield to be around 5.2% if the value of the house remains.
The points shown excludes DBS/POSB cards that earn cash rebates, Smile points & Takashimaya bonus points. It displays the latest posted transactions on DBS Points earning cards.
If a transaction is missing, it may not have been posted yet. If you are a Supplementary Cardholder, your points will be credited into the Principal Cardholder’s account.
Begin the process by clicking on the Virtual Assistant icon located at bottom right of DBS/POSB main page. It works the same for both.
It will open up a chat box. Type Dbs Points
Click on View reward and it will ask for your authentication. Once that is done, you will see a few other options. Click on Points Per Transaction.
It will show you the latest 5 transactions but you can click onto See More for more transactions.
Conclusion
This function might not be new but surely it is new to me. Now I can save time by not waiting on hold on the phone and every transaction are shown on virtual assistant. You are able to see the bonus points that are being credited to you for DBS Woman’s World Card and DBS Woman’s Card. Another bonus perk is you are able to see which MCC your spending goes to as some of the bonus points will be excluded.
The key difference is in geographical diversification. IWDA is the whole world, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on how you see it. IWDA geographical allocation is 60% in the US, which basically says: 60% of the world market cap is listed in the US (though it may be said that this is biased towards giant and large-cap companies).
But then, not all of these US-listed companies' primary business is in the US. There are many international companies that choose to list on US stock exchanges as well. Alibaba is one of them. So you can say that SPX is not entirely made up of US companies (so your exposure is partly international) and that IWDA is like SPX combined with international large companies listed on international exchanges.
As to performance, international markets generally have lower risk-adjusted returns. In other words, they have greater volatility (or other measures of risk) for the same return. Therefore, it is expected that IWDA may have a lower return for some periods, and higher for some other periods. The US is also still the world's largest economy and SPX also includes some of the largest international companies, so it can be said that it includes "the rest" that did not or weren't able to list in the US.
Both funds are suited to the whole market indexing strategy and either will work. The key judgment points in my view on choosing one over the other Is whether one believes that:
International markets would grow at a greater pace over time for the same risk vis-à-vis the US alone; and
International stock exchanges would attract and retain and grow capital at a greater rate compared to the US (I would think some prerequisites for that to happen are more stability and regulation in international markets).
Whatever happens in the US will affect both indexes. IWDA is 60% US and the fact is the US economy still affects the whole world. Therefore, it isn't the key differentiating factor between both funds. Both are available as Irish-domiciled ETFs. IWDA is IWDA, and SPX has CSPX (CSSPX on IBKR) and SPXS, among many others. Differences may be in their replication strategy or even simply the size or age of the fund.
In terms of 5 years performance, S&P 500 has a better return compare to IWDA.
S&P and IWDA
However, my risk appetite is low to mid-level. I'll choose IWDA as it is not totally in the US market and there is room for taking of effects shall anything happen in the US. Adding on, the growth of the international market will be at a greater pace.
In 2006, Genting was awarded the Sentosa integrated resort project by Singapore. It was officially open in 2010. The integrated resort is in operation for close to 10 years.
Last week, Genting announced it will invest S$4.5b in a renewal and refresh of the IR. The funding will be by internal funds and borrowings (which will likely start only from end-2020).
The project will take 5 years to complete and approximately 50% new gross area, adding 164,000 square meters of GFA of leisure and entertainment space. Developments and enhancements that will be carried out in connection with the Expansion Development, include the following:
Expansion of Universal Studios Singapore, with two (2) new highly themed and immersive environments – Minion Park and Super Nintendo World;
Expansion of the S.E.A. Aquarium to be re-branded as "Singapore Oceanarium";
Conversion of the Resorts World Theatre into a new Adventure Dining Playhouse;
Expansion of in-resort accommodation with up to 1,100 more hotel rooms at a new waterfront lifestyle complex and within the central zone of Resorts World Sentosa ("RWS");
An enhanced waterfront promenade to be lined with restaurants and retail outlets, and a spectacular public attraction;
Expansion of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) facilities which will bring in more events into Singapore; and
Development of a driverless transport system ("DTS") which will enhance last-mile connectivity to bring greater footfall to RWS and the rest of Sentosa Island.
Gaming Revenue
The casino will be able to expand its floor area by 500 sqm once the above is complete. The exclusivity casino license is extended to 2030.
From March 2022, both IRs will have to pay higher casino tax rates under a new tiered structure. Premium gaming will be taxed at 8% for the first S$2.4b of gross gaming revenue, and 12% for gaming revenue in excess of S$2.4b. Mass gaming will be taxed at 18% for the first S$3.1b and 22% for any excess revenue.
On top of the revised taxes, Singapore citizens and permanent residents will have to pay higher entry now, rising 50% to $150 for 24 hours.
Genting Performace
The company revenue is constantly at S$2 billion mark. During the econnamy downturn in 2015 and 2016, the company still manage to have a nett profit of S$193 mil and S$384 mil.
Source: Bloomberg
Earning per shares increased from 0.62 cents in 2015 to 6.27 cents in 2018. Dividends per share maintained for 2017 and 2018 at 3.5 cents per share.
Source: Genting Singapore
Conclusion
The golden question, to buy or hold?
With the upcoming Capex and fundings, I believe can adopt a wait and see attitude. Currently, the price is trading at $0.975 and P/B of 1.5x. I believe it can go lower and hopefully can go to $0.85 range for a 4% yield.
The impact will be known after end 2020 or beginning of 2021 not forgetting Genting is currently also bidding for IR projects in Japan.
However, Genting committed that there will be no change in the distribution of dividends in lieu of the increasing Capex.
Login with your SingPass to get a bird's eye view of your Saving Bonds (SSB) portfolio.
You will be able to access the portal with Singpass but not applicable for FIN Singpass user. Fin Singpass user will have to refer to CDP and SRS statements for your SSB Holdings.
You will be able to see how much you invested with Cash or SRS account and how much more you can apply. There is a chart which shows you your interest earned if you held all your SSB till maturity.
SSB Investment Summary
Moving down you can see how much interest you will be getting for your holdings for 12 months and 10 years.
It end with a timeline for current SSB application.
Current SSB Timeline
Summary
I like the interface alot, it's clean and easy to use. Everything is available at a glance. I'm looking forward to better rates so i can add more of my funds into SSB. Will be interesting to see how it look like when i have more allocations.
