SG gov is not Buddhist in nature (successE and successZ). This PAP gov is keen to maintain a world class standard of living .. FOLB. High burn rate.

Subconsciously, I try to follow a few “habits”[1] from the SG government in terms of long-term financial planning. Here is a list of those habits.

• high savings rate — during each term the government squirrels away some amount for rainy days or long-term investment. I do the same. Across developed countries, many families have insufficient savings rate… 20% is rare, even among some ethnic Chinese families.
• .. (the other side of the same coin) “spend within your means” — 量入而出. In my burn rate criteria of “80% of LMHI [local median household income]“, I leave 20% buffer.. for savings/investment. This is somewhat comparable to the “squirrel away”. Other national governments do not have this discipline. They often spend more than their revenue … unsustainable.
• .. U.S. has poorer public healthcare, social support for the needy or elderly (see prevalence@poverty: SG ilt U.S.)
• high contingency reserve aka “rainy day reserve” … see seprate section below.
• high current income from investment — SG gov investment income from past-reserve contributes S$17b (3.3% of GDP) to the national budget, a big red packet
• low debt-burden — I hate interest cost as part of my monthly burn rate. SG government borrows only for investment that generates higher return than the interest cost. See public debt: SG^US
• ^^ The above are the top 3 factors of the cashflow high ground
• diversify across sectors — Admittedly, I’m over-concentrated in properties esp. in Asia. I did try growing mutual fund allocation, but disappointed.
  • I feel my peers tend to focus on single-country residential property or U.S. stocks.
  • Given our small balance sheet, none of us is well-diversified.
• unique abilities to generate income via gov-linked firms that have to stay lean and competitive. Similarly I have a unique dev-till-70 plan, based on wellness.
• low tax compared to all other rich countries, to reduce the burden on the current generation. I manage my family burn rate similarly.
• stay relevant to the new global cash-cow sectors — reinvent itself

[1] I won’t say “strategies” or “principles”

In this blogpost, I will focus on my strengths relative to my peers.

— The covid19 budgets — decisive deployment of rainy day reserves. I could consider spending my annual leaves to support my kids’ studies and grandparents.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/budget-2022-6b-draw-on-past-reserves-to-pay-for-covid-19-public-health-expenditure revealed —

In FY2020, the Government had said it would draw up to $52 billion to pay for measures but it now expects to use $31.9 billion for that financial year. In FY2021, the Government had planned to draw $11 billion to pay for the Covid-19 Resilience Package, but now expects to draw just $5 billion for that financial year. Reasons include

• stronger-than-expected rebound.. loan loss provisions were not used
• reduced expenditure of $10 billion earmarked for the Covid-19 Resilience Package
• ministries not needing to spend as much because of projects being delayed by Covid-19
• extra revenue from one-off revenue upsides, including from vehicle quota premiums and stamp duties