Investing CPF Funds.

[SianZronG]

Any Guru investors out there have any tips on where when and how may i go about investing my safely kept CPF funds?

I heard next year they are raising the bar for minimum value of the account to qualify for investing. :think:

 

[Galdor]

Any Guru investors out there have any tips on where when and how may i go about investing my safely kept CPF funds?

I heard next year they are raising the bar for minimum value of the account to qualify for investing. :think:

Just walk into the Banks and there'll be a lot Sales banker waiting to serve you. But frankly, the price of UTs are too high to get now. Wait for the bubble to burst first.

 

[jsbn]

Any Guru investors out there have any tips on where when and how may i go about investing my safely kept CPF funds?

I heard next year they are raising the bar for minimum value of the account to qualify for investing. :think:

Minimum $20K in your CPF-OA. The $20K is to be locked in at all times.

Anyway, the usual talk is to "Buy low, sell high" but how low is low? How high is high?
When prices of UTs are like a dollar twenty, some ppl say, "Wait till drop until $1."
Now its like $2+. People say, "Wait till drop somemore."

If one's going on long term investment, timing the market is the most horrible move one can do IMO.

Most people here I believe do their own investments on fundsupermart.com, but if you've got a good and trusted friend who is an Independent Financial Planner, you can seek him or her for advice for a financial check.

P/S: Do take note that besides the one-off 'sales charge' (that ranges from 3 to 6%) which is standard to all transactions, a good IFP should never charge you anything more than that like 'service charge' and anything silly. I'd seen people saying that their Financial Planners charge them 'service charges' supposedly for 'job well done'. Its not exactly illegal but its not really right.

Forget about 'financial planners' stalking out at Bus Interchanges. Get those from independent financial houses like Professional Investment Advisory Services, Philips Capital, Fin-Ex, etc.

 

[k3nn3th03]

wa..

20k ah...

omg.... :bigeyes:

 

[gooseberry]

Take a look at fundsupermart.com or dollardex.com - you can do some research there, or some books from the library on investing. Those online platforms generally have the lowest sales charge in Sg.

Key is to setup a proper asset allocation plan for your investment (as this will be the major determinent in your long term returns), don't chase after "hot" funds, and hold onto your plan for the long term with rebalancing every now and then.

BTW, new law is that max. sales charge for CPF investments is 3% (whether you purchase from banks, IFAs, online platforms etc)

 

[raincool2005]

Any Guru investors out there have any tips on where when and how may i go about investing my safely kept CPF funds?

I heard next year they are raising the bar for minimum value of the account to qualify for investing. :think:

my advice : do not invest in insurance linked unit trust, instead always invest in 100% unit trust without any involvement of insurance. Separate insurance protection from investments !

invest in commodities when they dropped.. u need to monitor the news.

invest in blue chips stocks like SPH, ST engg, F&N, SIA when they dropped.

recently GOLD street tracks is made avail for CPF.. buy in when gold drops.

 

[mohgui]

bought one fund about 2 years ago for $1.60+... now it's almost $3.00 :thumbsup:

my other funds do not appreciate as high as that one. so far, move up about $0.40 nya... haiz.

 

[raincool2005]

Minimum $20K in your CPF-OA. The $20K is to be locked in at all times.

Anyway, the usual talk is to "Buy low, sell high" but how low is low? How high is high?
When prices of UTs are like a dollar twenty, some ppl say, "Wait till drop until $1."
Now its like $2+. People say, "Wait till drop somemore."

If one's going on long term investment, timing the market is the most horrible move one can do IMO.

Most people here I believe do their own investments on fundsupermart.com, but if you've got a good and trusted friend who is an Independent Financial Planner, you can seek him or her for advice for a financial check.

P/S: Do take note that besides the one-off 'sales charge' (that ranges from 3 to 6%) which is standard to all transactions, a good IFP should never charge you anything more than that like 'service charge' and anything silly. I'd seen people saying that their Financial Planners charge them 'service charges' supposedly for 'job well done'. Its not exactly illegal but its not really right.

Forget about 'financial planners' stalking out at Bus Interchanges. Get those from independent financial houses like Professional Investment Advisory Services, Philips Capital, Fin-Ex, etc.

Unit trusts are for people who have super no knowledge of wat is going on...

fund managers will feed their own portfolios with the best fats, the "leftovers" will then be given to people like u.

insurance agents or financial planners will do watever to sell " insurance linked unit trusts " becos the sales commission is super good for them, when u buy thru them u are actually giving them free money and your money invested in that fund will be subjected to the market risks and fund managers whom u never met him before.

my advice : learn the markets... read the news... trade the real stock markets and learn.. u will know how stupid u are to pin hopes on unit trusts during begining years

 

[raincool2005]

bought one fund about 2 years ago for $1.60+... now it's almost $3.00 :thumbsup:

my other funds do not appreciate as high as that one. so far, move up about $0.40 nya... haiz.

it depends on your luck, if the fund manager playing the stock market for your sake is skillful ! got good foresight.. u got it ! but if he is a screw-up !? then your money also screw up... :sweat:

i knew a fren who is fund manager for an american bank, do u know ? he can lost up to a million in one afternoon due to bad decision making.

 

[mohgui]

one should know that going into Unit Trusts is for the long-term. this is what real investments are. a person cannot be labelled stupid during his newbie years in investment. most Unit Trusts are good if you see them from the long-term point of view.

to make short-term gains... then you speculate in the stock market. of course, the stock market is volatile and the risks are there. if you have a weak heart, my advise is to stay away from it. a person is stupid if he rush into the stock market blindly... like monkey see monkey do.

i've burnt myself before. the pain is there... just treat it as some school fees in learning on how to speculate :bsmilie:

 

[mohgui]

i knew a fren who is fund manager for an american bank, do u know ? he can lost up to a million in one afternoon due to bad decision making.

nothing can be worse than Nick Leeson. he made England's oldest investment house close shop :sweat:

 

[raincool2005]

one should know that going into Unit Trusts is for the long-term. this is what real investments are. a person cannot be labelled stupid during his newbie years in investment. most Unit Trusts are good if you see them from the long-term point of view.

to make short-term gains... then you speculate in the stock market. of course, the stock market is volatile and the risks are there. if you have a weak heart, my advise is to stay away from it. a person is stupid if he rush into the stock market blindly... like monkey see monkey do.

i've burnt myself before. the pain is there... just treat it as some school fees in learning on how to speculate :bsmilie:

who say stock market is speculative ? it is the person decides to gamble on it, not the market.:lovegrin:

most people gambled.. but u can have a choice.

 

[raincool2005]

nothing can be worse than Nick Leeson. he made England's oldest investment house close shop :sweat:

.. and those monies which some unit trusts are tied to it ? they will never get back a single cent. And those investors who bought this fund and that fund ? they cannot see where their monies go to... all they see is daily prices and some information... but do they know what is going on behind the curtain ? the answer is NO.

monies as long they are monies can move around in a bank... ! u dunno where your money goes.

 

[Sunburst]

Keep the money in the CPF and use it later for purchasing your house is the best option.

 

[nemesis32]

no tips from me.. i was considering the same thing and so here's what i suggest.

1) Look up CPF website and see how much u have and what you can invest.
2) If equity (shares), look at your own risk tolerance (high risk=high Return etc) and see what type of risk level you can take. If you are big risk taker, aiming for super high returns (like 80-100% within 1year), you prob better off betting on soccer, 4D, toto or go casino. 20-50%, prob shares with some speculative angle, 5-20%, blue chip for dividend and potential capital gains. 5-20%, you can try some unit trusts also (go check www.fundsupermart.com and read up). 1-5%, prob fixed deposits, leave the money in CPF (not bad now for risk-free) or govt bonds etc.
3) decide which options, look for online trading (for lower fees etc) or look for financial advisor/insurance agent (for personal advices)
4) BUY or not, depends on you.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[mohgui]

Keep the money in the CPF and use it later for purchasing your house is the best option.

most people given the choice, will use money to grow money. money idling in CPF funds can hardly grow money.

using CPF funds to purchase house doesn't really guarantee that you'll make more money. what if property prices take a dive? you'd still be paying for something that has already depreciated. you could end up paying more.

in the end, we can't win. we can just minimize our losses and try to gain as much as we can. the value of money depreciates over time too.

 

[nemesis32]

Keep the money in the CPF and use it later for purchasing your house is the best option.

If you have housing loans, there's really depends on your risk appetite.

If you take a HDB loan thats like 2-3%, leave ur money in CPF or invest elsewhere is prob better. Rem, home loan is one of the best debt as it's low interest and easily obtain. Once you pay off, you will be hard to find any other sort of borrowed money with that kind of rate.

If you leave spare cash in bank who gives u 0-1% interest, repay your loan. Simple.

 

[mohgui]

another option in making money out of your new home is to rent it out (provided you are in no rush to move in). the rental proceeds can be used to repay your loan. this is the most viable option of not using your own money to repay the loan. let someone pay for you :bsmilie:

 

[raincool2005]

another option in making money out of your new home is to rent it out (provided you are in no rush to move in). the rental proceeds can be used to repay your loan. this is the most viable option of not using your own money to repay the loan. let someone pay for you :bsmilie:

current market rental rate for a 3-room flat is $2600 a month. ;p

 

[mohgui]

current market rental rate for a 3-room flat is $2600 a month. ;p

see?! renting is a money spinner. i've rented a 3-room flat (walking distance to MRT) for $1000 4 years back. things were cheaper then.