Singapore Budget 2013. Big issues on the horizon.

Singapore Budget 2013 - Initiatives Relating to CPF
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the following initiatives relating to CPF during the FY2013 Budget Statement in Parliament on 25 February 2013:

• Enhancements to the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme
  
  The WIS scheme has been enhanced as follows:

1)	Income cap extended to $1,900/month to benefit more Singaporean workers
2)	Higher WIS payouts of up to $3,500/year to better provide for expenditure needs and enhance retirement savings
3)	More WIS to be given out in cash to help recipients with their immediate expenses (40% of WIS payouts for employees and 10% of WIS payouts for self-employed persons)
4)	Increase in WIS payments to CPF Medisave and Special Accounts, without reducing contributions to the Ordinary Account, to boost the healthcare and retirement savings of older low-wage workers
5)	Additional criteria to improve targeting of WIS to focus on WIS recipients with limited access to household wealth


The changes will apply to work done from 1 January 2013 onwards.

Sad and Dateless on Valentines' Day

what a week.

Chinese New Year and Valentines day in a span of a week!

it's pouring today and i'm feeling awfully melancholy because my fiance is at work til late today. *BIG SIGH*

on the bright side, it's time to get back to work! I've got to start arranging meetings with my clients and one of them has been excited to look at the new Shield plan upgrades.

so maybe I DO have a date for Valentines' after all, haha

to all the lovers and the sweethearts out there, make the most of every moment you have with your loved ones and let it be Valentines Day every day :)

hugs and kisses,
Jessica

Medical Exam

I have recently bought a house. because of our Singapore Government (HDB) there is a compulsory CPF-related insurance that comes attached whenever you sign the papers for your spanking new residence called the Housing Protection Scheme.

There is actually a Fire Insurance also tagged to your CPF currently offered by the chosen provider - Etiqa Insurance Berhad.

Most people use their CPF to pay for majority/all of their housing loans and this helps to ensure that if one of the parties should leave untimely due to Death or Disability, they would not have to worry about the outstanding loan due to CPF.

I went to upgrade mine with AIA to make sure that I have sufficient cover including for Terminal Illness and I was in for a rough time. I previously have had some history in relationship to my chest area and that being on record, meant that I would have to go for some medical tests to make sure that AIA would be ok to ensure me.

That was SOME experience. Normally having to handle it from the customer's perspective, when you just "No la, it's just a checkup, after go already, everything should be ok", as compared to having to sit in the waiting room and answer all these questions from the doctor is somewhat a little different.

I know that it is always better to get covered for a portion of insurance rather than none at all (when the insurance company rejects your case entirely), so I went and sat for all the prescribed tests and made sure that everything handled smoothly. 

Through all the hassle of having to arrange for "time off" to go and see the doctor, and then receiving news from the underwriters that I have to go for further verification, I kept telling myself that it's important. If I say I would rather not go through with my insurance then what will happen to my fiance if I leave him one day? The waiting rooms and the nasty receptionists were a small price to pay to make sure he doesn't have to worry about our lovely home suddenly being repossessed upon my death.

ESPECIALLY after spending a CRAZZZZYYY month trying to get it ship-shape for Chinese New Year celebrations and house-warming before the wedding.

In any case, finally getting my certificate of insurance is a load of my mind, and I hope that this encourages you to ensure that you follow through to your policy issuance confirmations too!

Knowing how it feels,
Jessica