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Showing posts from January, 2016

EPF 3% reduction - what should you do?

Firstly, on a macroeconomic level, I think this is a good move. Increasing disposable income will increase consumption, hence increase overall economic output - thus the economy will continue to grow. Taking a more nuanced view - even if a lot of the increased income flows to debt reduction, this means less pressure on capital requirements on bank balance sheets. However, revenues will suffer slightly in the short term but in the medium term, this frees up capital to lend - this will stimulate growth. So the debate is raging on social media on what should one do and there are of course all sorts of accusations and pictures of calculations showing how much you will pay on GST, taxes etc .. there are so many angry people out there... sigh My suggestion is very simple - You Do What is Best for YOU . Don't Listen To People Telling You What They Want You to Do Just Because That Is What THEY Want To Do Themselves! So what is best for you? I've broken it down to 3 main categ

Gratitude

First time in my life I received such a substantial bonus! OMG! And I also got a 10% increment! One telling thing that my boss mentioned in front of everyone is that I don't complain. I may look shell-shocked at the amount of work he piles on me BUT I don't complain he he he Guess that could be one of the factors why he gave me so much.... Also because during the discussion on the bonus people, my peers were all showing him their unhappy look and I was keeping quiet, then he asked me what did I think and I blurted out that in all my years of working in international banks, this pool looks very generous already so I'm happy with it - then he burst out laughing and that, I think, probably contributed towards my payout - also because budget-wise, I "gave back" a substantial portion of my allocation due to some circumstances so that helped I guess. SO .. the big question is, what should I do with the money? At the moment, I shunted the whole lot into a 1 mon