STOP! to Foreign Property Speculators

Members of Parliament have approved harsher penalties for foreign property speculators, but asked the government to crack down even more.

MPs noted that home ownership is a big issue for many Singaporeans, and further measures to restrict foreigners in the local market should be implemented.

This issue came up during a debate over the proposed changes involving foreign ownership of landed homes. Only citizens and permanent residents (PRs) who make significant contributions to the economy can own landed property. PRs can only own one such property and must live in it for at least three years before looking to sell it.

As for foreign developers, they can acquire land to build residential projects, but it must be completed in 5 years. To prevent hoarding, all units must be sold within two years after receiving the temporary occupancy permit.

If the conditions are not met, the government will forfeit their banker's guarantee pegged at 10 percent of the land price. However, with the new law, an extension charge will also be imposed for the extended time taken in the project’s completion period
 
--- Steven's Comments---
 
No matter how much the Government tries to slow down the property market. It will rise eventually... Furthermore, They are trying to attract foreign talents to enter Singapore! BUT trying to stop them from owning properties. We will never know whether an Individual has the tendency to speculate or not. Anyway.. all the BEST to us!

Asia Remains Strong

Asia’s macroeconomic conditions are expected to see supportive growth next year, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

However, the MTI cautioned that while household demand will continue to grow, the strength of the recovery could be hindered by weak household balance sheets and high jobless rates.

MTI also expects domestic demand in Asia to remain robust, supported by wage growth, healthy fundamentals and encouraging government policies.


It expects that Singapore will likely see an economic growth of between 4 percent and 6 percent next year.


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Looks like its rosy for us next year! All the way! All of my friends out there! Continue to stay vigilant, PLAN for your finances and work hard! And we will be laughing our way to the banks month after month!

Lifetime Plan to Family Wealth - Part 4

Internal controls



Even with the best of intentions and strong confidence, bad investment decisions can easily happen.

Experts therefore often recommend that internal controls be set up to serve as a guide for the optimal investment of family funds, as well as to reasonably mitigate risk and provide assurance, in accordance with the family's expectations.

Certain individuals in the family should be appointed as key decision makers when it comes to managing the family's wealth. This will enable chaos to be avoided, especially in times of urgency.

Procedures that safeguard access to family funds or accounts should also be in place, said Deloitte Private Client Advisers.

For example, there should be policies and procedures for documenting significant transactions or decisions, with processes for conducting regular checks. There could also be a requirement for dual signatures for transactions above a certain amount, or specifying access to vaults or cheques.

Further mitigation of risk could range from asset diversification or exposure reduction to certain investment or financial risk-management techniques such as stop orders.

Essentially, it does not mean risks should be avoided; instead, a calculated risk-taking approach is strongly advised.

"Because risks evolve over time, it is a good idea to conduct a formal risk assessment every couple of years," said Deloitte.

"Additional controls might be considered - monitoring measures that assess why results are different and what they should be given the climate, benchmarking performance to understand whether it makes sense, and discussing performance expectations based on independent evidence."

Lifetime Plan to Family Wealth - Part 3

Establishing Philosophies in Lifetime Plan

There are typically two main attitudes family members may adopt with regard to inherited wealth.

On the one hand, there are those who view the inheritance as something passed on to them for their personal use, and are comfortable with the fact that the financial legacy may end with them. And then there are others who hold the view that the inheritance is something to be enlarged to pass on to future generations.

Both views can co-exist, as long as they are clarified from the beginning and a balanced approach is adopted.

A family vision should therefore be first established to outline the family's hopes, goals and expectations in preserving family capital.

Specific guiding principles in the lifetime plan should also be highlighted, such as never investing in casino or tobacco shares.

More important is the next step - getting family members to commit to this "promise", since it serves as a foundation for related decisions and actions.

Moving forward, he suggests that family wealth can be divided into different "buckets", with some money considered as expendable inheritance and the remainder as family funds, which should be safeguarded.

Separate investment portfolios with different strategies and distribution policies should then be established for the two "buckets".

For example, the portfolio designed for wealth preservation may have a more conservative approach, and be characterised by low liquidity, with a selection of lower-risk investments and a higher proportion of inflation-resistant assets. Such a portfolio should also follow a longer-term investment horizon.

That said, a limit should also be established on the amount of funds withdrawn for personal use. Experts say a disciplined, sustainable rate of withdrawal is about 2-4 per cent of a family's assets.

Lifetime Plan to Family Wealth - Part 2

Understanding your Family's Past

Family lifetime plan experts point out that there is a greater need than before for family members to have a strong collective commitment and understanding on how to manage inherited wealth today, in view of the more complex financial landscape.

A starting point could be inculcated by creating an awareness of the past lifetime plan - family stories, particularly about how the family wealth was first built up, should be told and retold to the younger generations.

Downsides of the past lifetime plan, such as instances of failures and how family members struggled to achieve what they accomplished, should be emphasised to help the younger generations learn and grow.

It will also provide inspiration for the individual as to what is actually possible.

Lifetime Plan to Family Wealth - Part 1

Fellow SINGAPOREANS slog long every day and spend much energy drawing up a lifetime plan thinking about how best to grow their money, not just for better-quality lives but also to provide for the next generation.

Singaporeans do have sound lifetime plans and have generally been quite successful in accumulating wealth. A recent Credit Suisse wealth report showed that Singapore is the second-richest nation in the Asia-Pacific region, and the fourth-richest in the world, in terms of average wealth per adult.

But how can you ensure that the wealth that you have worked so hard to accumulate over the years will be protected and added to, and that a legacy will be maintained down the generations according to the lifetime plan?

"No one should presume that a family lifetime plan will automatically be maintained," said Mr Mark Daniell, author of the book Family Legacy And Leadership.

"Mere hope is not a strategy, nor a likely pathway to an enduring legacy."