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| Save for your retirement and save on taxes - only available in Singapore.inc. |
Sometime in June this year, I blogged about how anyone in similar situation as mine can instantly get 7.53% capital gain and a 5.38% yield on capital per annum [link]. It was easy going through the fancy numbers and writing about it, but to actually put the plan to action? Tough. No matter how impressive the plan looks on paper, the idea of locking up my money for the next 15 years and never getting them back in full doesn't really sit well on me emotionally. It feels like I'm "giving away" my money, and who does that?
But as much as I hated that feeling of parting with my hard-saved money, I knew I had to stick to my plan if I am serious about securing my financial future. So I bit my tongue and took the plunge, contributing $200 to my mum's SA a few days later. Yes, a grand total of $200. This is the first time I am using the e-cashier platform on the CPF website; it's only prudent to test it out first. Expectantly, the money appeared in my mum's CPF account a few days later.
Then, here comes the hard bit. I intended to contribute a total of $7000 to my mum's CPF to maximize my tax benefits, which left me with $6800 more to go! Okay well, to some of the higher-income earners out there, maybe this does not sound much to you, but it's sizable and significant to me. You know how sometimes people can conveniently leave a $2 note in a corner of their house and forget about it? $6800 is not that to me. $6800 is an amount I will safe-keep in a strongbox made of 10 cm thick fire-resistant alloy that's hidden in the most concealed corner of my house and drilled to the wall with a pair of 10 cm long screws. Yes, it's exactly that, and now you can see how difficult it is for me to use that money to buy a golden egg that will only hatch 15 years year. In fact, it's so difficult that I actually put the plan on hold for the next 1 month.
In that 1 month, I kept looking for reasons not to follow through with the plan. I could not find one compelling enough.
So again, I bit my tongue for the second time and made a contribution of $2800. The money appeared where it should a few days later.
With $4000 left to go, I sat on the plan yet again. I sat on it so much that I nearly developed piles. Eventually, I got so sick of sitting and the risk of actually developing piles got so high that I went back to biting my now-swollen tongue instead and made my final contribution of $4000.
And now I can rest and prepare myself for the next round of tongue-biting and piles-developing exercise. I hope it gets easier.