Category: day2day

Sgp 每月开支分类总结 #relocated

Posted on by tiger40490

See also ##burn rate track`s/sheet:best practice
Beware: Perfectionist tendency would increase tcost of monthly exp recon. Better Update this once a few months.

WordPress table is clumsy. Migrated to spreadsheet.

天
数		 总计[a] 固定
账单[b]		 俩宝/
爱人		 娱乐
[c]		 保险
年费		 杂[d] 特殊开支
30 ~2023.11.29 Shanghai vacation
30 ~2023.10.30  4730 1010 1970 730 0
30 ~2023.9.30 $5780 710 1650 590 0 ESWT
31 ~2023.8.31 3000 1040 10 460 0
44 ~2023.7.31 $6490 1010 2910 680 6 俩宝学琴/补习
33 ~2023.6.17 $4220 1270 15 180 1476 final mtg-I payment
~2023.5.15 7530 1710 670 3204 176 flight $2953; mtg-I:2mon
~2023.4.15 $5320 410 2680 354 328 俩宝学琴/补习
~2023.3.15 $5100 1700 760 355 1354
~2023.2.15 $5410 1470 170 270 2514
32 ~2023.1.16 $5630 1100 gift4inlaws$753; laptop$399
30 ~2022.12.15 $5750 ex bx 1250 2140 600 3468 俩宝学琴 $18xx
29 ~11月15 3490 ex.. excluding reno
^ rate hike from 98 bps to 198 bps. Recon_mtg_I rising (double) to $9xx
32 ~10月17 $4270 ex.. excluding commission, including SBH$14xx
31 ~9月15 $3990 俩宝学琴 $18xx
31 ~8月15 2250
29 ~7月15 1980
27 ~6月16 6840 1476 俩宝学琴 $18xx, Agoda $505
33 ~5月20 2090
30 ~4月17 4720 俩宝学琴 $18xx
30 ~3月18 5850 2454
32 ~2月16 2750
28 ~2022.1.15 5620 3780
28 ~2021.12.18 4760 俩宝学琴 $18xx
31 ~11月20 3300 TVrepair$720
34 ~10月20 3500 400 1754 117 6 1230 俩宝学琴 $1740,
32 ~九月16 $3574 667 481 60 0 2366 vacuum$761; buxi
29 ~八月15 $5040 368 1743 0 0 2929 yoga$749, HP71, 俩宝学琴,
33 ~七月17 $3430 437 28 152 1476 1337 AIA
30 ~六月14 $2794 557 0 10 0 2227 fridge $1230
32 ~五月15 $2984 416 0 45 0 2523 TV $1279
30 ~四月13 $12,719 10920 0 361 382 1056 IRAS $10340
31 ~三月14 $4,726 512 189 77 2874 1014 MyCare+MyShield
61 ~2021.2.11 $6,875 俩宝学琴,yoga
34 ~2020.12.12 $4,604 428 1316 661 288 1910 $192 feeDBS; $423 Lazada 俩宝学琴
31 ~11月8 $3,172
31 ~10月8 $2,095
30 ~九月7 $ 3,338 567 1488 97 0 1186 俩宝学琴
31 ~八月8 $ 2,896 454  215 296 0 1931 yoga
30 ~七月8 $ 2,767 325  172 45 1476  749
31 ~六月7 $ 2,640 410  450 20 0 1760 Acer95
30 ~五月7 $ 1,990 220  390 60 460  860
30  ~四月7 $ 3,850 340 1640 250 420 1200 俩宝学琴
23 ~三月8 $ 2,200 470 520 24 42 1150 mixer
42 ~二月14 $ 7,450 530 460 1110 2880 2470 蚊帐 风扇
27 ~一月3 $1550 520 0 30 0 1030 laptop$300
43 ~12月7 $4650 710 910 470 290 BGC trip
27 9.29~10.25 $1290 290 200 0 0

[b] 消耗类型: 固定每月寄来账单 包括 — 水电气，交通，电视，上网，物业， 税。比较其他类型，这类开支每月金额相对稳定。
[c] 娱乐类型: 开支 包括 — 机票+旅店，餐馆，门票
[d] 其他消费: 包括老婆用我的信用卡采购食品
[e] day count precision is unimportant but as engineers we want a reliable system — Take the 12月12>>2月11=61D for an explanation: Step 1) two enclosed month-ends give 62D; Step 2) 62D+11–12=61D
[a: most verified(to $10)field]  我的数据只能展示从个人银行账户里我花的金额 —

  • 排除老婆账户花的 （每月估计两千）、爷爷账户、奶奶账户开支金额
  • 排除投资的金额 （比如外汇兑换）– 这类金额不属于消费
  • 排除每月转账给家人（比较固定的）津贴 — 这类金额不是花费

每月天数[e]不等. 每月的总计数目没有比较性，也不能算平均值．原因是机票和保险数目太大，造成每月支出总数忽高忽低，趋势线基本不存在．

[23]IRAS BigGiro hazard #GiroLimit=$200

Posted on by tiger40490

 

NOA (Notice_Of_Assessment) is the final assessment. Consolidated_Statement is a draft submitted by taxpayer, subject to IRAS adjustments.

Monthly installment is interest-free. GIRO (taking place at very end of scheduled day) hits DBS-108 for both Property and Income taxes. For Property tax I will leave it to Giro. For income taxes, the monthly deduction  is a huge distraction (to recon++). I once decided to pay off full balance consisting of

  1. new liability on Notice_Of_Assessment
  2. left over unpaid balance of previous year

Q: What if you overpay by $100? Harmless. IRAS will return the overpayment via GIRO.
Q: What if you underpay by $100? Unfortunately, this amount would kick in via GIRO towards end of the payment plan [May-to-Apr]

There’s no cashback given by any bank. If you want to pay by AXS, then remember AXS is excluded universally.

— Early Apr plan .. On 6~7 Apr (by 12Apr), use scsc on AXS (immediate receipt) to pay off the balance. We can overpay slightly. After the 8 Apr payment shows up, you can pay the exact amount

( Webank can also pay 11k, but slow and I need to enter NRIC. AXS can remember NRIC. )

After IRAS team receives the full payment, they will reduce the monthly Giro to $200/M for May 2024 to Apr 2025.

–(mid 2023 situation) Before NOA is finalized, the probational GIRO engine (primitive and limited) ignores AXS payments, and keeps deducting the full GIRO amount 🙁  so I have decided on 16 May to log in to IRAS SSP (self-service portal) to suspend GIRO. After finalization, I can use SSP to re-activate the same GIRO (re-apply? Poor choice)

— big-Giro hazard.. I am using GIRO per-payee limit of $200 to prevent a full GIRO

background: My IRAS GIRO deduction will be ~2k for many years to come.  Need to consider “proactive”. After AxsPlus, we can immediately check IRAS transaction history. (AxsPlus also emails me e-receipt 🙂 Better leave a small Giro amount as a periodic pipe-test.

GIRO processing starts in T-3. If you make AxsPlus payment after T-3, then GIRO amount has been finalized already 🙁

If AxsPlus hits IRAS well before T-3, then GIRO amount will be reduced, applying on the upcoming month(s) towards the later months.

The Giro payment limit in DBS is a reliable feature to prevent bigGiro.

However, pre-emptive payment before Giro could trigger “replann” by IRAS backend.

— GIRO result is hard to see.
* if successful, IRAS portal shows it within T+3
* if unsuccessful, IRAS portal shows nothing like “failure” but shows the amount due unchanged

— lump sum IRAS payment .. The IRAS pre-payment has zero financial benefits. Much better is a delayed lump sump payment. For example, IRAS hotline told me

  • I can pay $200/M by Giro for Nov to Apr 2024
  • final GIRO amount would be 10,529. Due to my Giro limit, this Giro would fail twice on 6th and 20th of final month (May)
  • Better make a final lump-sum payment after 20 May

Jolt: Compared to mtg , IRAS late payment penalty is much lighter.

[24]ccy pair:use A/B^B/A #%%take

Posted on by tiger40490

In everyday conversations, we care about a handful of currency pairs that affect our lives. For some Singapore residents, relevant pairs include SGD/MYR, SGD/INR, SGD/JPY. For me, the relevant pairs include USD/SGD and SGD/RMB. Every “relevant” currency pair has two formats — XXX/YYY vs YYY/XXX.  A practical question is … “Which format should I adopt, and shall I stick to that choice all the time?”

Aha .. whenever folks talk about YYY being a bargain, or getting expensive, they implicitly treat YYY as asset.  They wish to see a price history of YYY not XXX as asset.

By default, I prefer the industry standard format, i.e. news media format (rather than the reverse format). The first currency is the asset currency.

eg: USD/SGD .. “USD is falling” or “USD cheaper now”
eg: SGD/RMB .. “SGD is rising”.

Price history is almost always in the standard format, not the nonstandard format. Price history is fundamental to the concept of cheaper/attractive/bargain.

However, there are special situations to “prefer” the nonstandard format.

Eg: when SGD is my home currency, and we have some fixed amount of RMB to convert. It is more natural to say “RMB getting expensive”. This is one of those moments of decision.

  • Do we become flexible and designate the more “natural” RMB as asset currency?
  • Or Do we decide to stick to the market format, but be flexible to adopt a new speaking habit like “SGD relative to RMB is getting cheap”

bank::UOB

Posted on by tiger40490

==== the uobOne promo

  • maintain 150k (better than MCSA) in uobOne and receive $500 early each month, based on 1) crediting 2) card spend
  • card spend $500/M (based on posting date) .. THE stringent condition
  • FSC (fake salary-crediting) may not work. Real risk of lost int .. for 1M my 150k would earn virtually zero interest.

(Inferior to MCSA) Warning — you earn paltry/negligible interest if you miss the $500 spending threshold. I told UOB staff this is a stiff penalty for customers and a stressor for me.

(similar to MCSA) If you keep more than 150k then the excess balance earns a paltry DIR.

— (similar to MCSA) Q: to ensure I _always_ meet $500 card spend, what purchases?

  • Cristofori via Atome
  • scheduled starhub + pacLight
  • TC, spower

If I take up uobOne, then MCSA promo’s card spend will be LG2. I don’t have bandwidth for both.

— (similar to MCSA) Q: will the 4 ppa last?
(similar to MCSA) AA: “may drop a bit”
(similar to MCSA) %%A: I can stop any time

— UOB promo compared to MCSA promo

operational risk (and adjustment) .. I’m less familiar with uobOne requirements (more stringent than MCSA) and may overlook something, and pay a price in the form of /foregone_income/. If the additional income is modest, then perhaps stay within my comfort zone.

Yearly additional income calc, assuming “next-best parking” is SCB or EGA paying 3.5 ppa:

  • UOB over next-best for 50k is 50k * (4 ppa – 3.52 ppa) = $240/Y
  • BOC over UOB for first 100k is $353/30 * 365 – $4k  = $295/Y, beating UOB
  • Note BOC paid me $353 over 30 days.

Yearly income of (4%*150k=) $6k UOB vs BOC+nextBest

  • (conservative) $353/30 * 365 = $4295/Y …. 4.3% of 100k
  • (conservative) 3.4 ppa * 50k = $1700/Y
  • ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ $5995 matching UOB

— Another comparison, assuming I shift $500/M spend from BOC to UOB, so BOC yield drops by 50 bps

Annual addiontial income calc

  • $9800 = BOC 100k * 3.8% + UOB 150k * 4% ( excluding X on 3.4% )
  • $9400 = BOC 100k * 4.3% +           150k * 3.4% ( excluding X on 3.4% )

Sugg: consider this change when SCB or EGA promo drops from 3.4 ppa to 3 ppa.

##ePay limits ranked #Nets,Giro

Posted on by tiger40490

 

dollar limits ranked from high to low:

  1. $50k local transfers[FAST..], $50k PayNow, $25k bill payment .. login required
  2. $2000 ATM/Nets .. PIN-protected
  3. GIRO .. Payment limit (fine-grained) configured for each payee. GIRO institutions are usually reputable because the bank itself maintains a short list of (roughly) 100 institutions only.
  4. $[20->50-100] debit card per-transaction limit.. usable by whoever holding the card, without password!

Note PayNow is slightly safer since payee name is shown.

— debitCard .. usable via payWave or swipe

Also limited by #104 balance.

$500 is the lowest in self-service eBanking, but I don’t like $500, so I had it call hotline to set $50 limit, visible in online banking AvailableLimit

If debit card charged by theft, then police (based on police report) need to run all the relevant cameras.

##Chn bank account #overview

Posted on by tiger40490

Compared to Cambodia, Philippines,,, China banks are better .. easy2visit; 24H hotline; efficient

— Common t$costs

  1. Common $cost: cross-bank ATM.. LGlp small amount
  2. Common tcost: revive a dormant/de-activated account or ATM card
  3. Common tcost: replace expired passport.. Need to bring old + new passports to a branch. If you don’t update, then you will face difficulty when you bring an unrecognized passport to branches.

— Common operations:
* operation: check balance, cash-out
* operation: deposit at ATM or transfer-in. [Transfer-out requires SMS OTP sent to a real-name phone number 🙁 ]
* operation: update mobile num
* operation: update password/PIN

==== BOC/ICBC offshore RMB facility
Warning — any RMB amount I withdraw(min Y50)/spend in China, from BOC.sg account may get locked up inside China indefinitely, since you can’t deposit the amount back to this offshore account. Remember our long-term goal to bring out our RMB assets.

RMB time deposit is self-service on mobank. Safe early withdrawal.

Default plan:

  • place time deposit to earn some interest, but we might leave some 1k buffer for “dire_situation” below.
  • Favor shor-term TD for RMB. When SGD/RMB improves (drops), withdraw in physical RMB (FOC), and convert to SGD at money-changer.
  • .. If you convert at BOC, bid/ask spread can be as big as 1300 pips i.e. 5.32/5.45. FX rate is unlinked to unionpay

— j4: use my MCSA as a contingency “resource” in addition to my onshore accounts [ICBC,PSBC, HSBC,,], when onshore accounts deplete/dwindle, or grandparents are unavailable. (This was my original hope for the EGA sub-account.)

In a dire_situation like running out of money for subway/food/taxi, having “another contingency RMB account” can mean the difference between having money vs penniless.  Even a SGD resource would alleviate this dire_situation.

We tend to neglect such a dire_situation as it is rare. I seldom spend more than RMB 3k/week. This “j4” is like disaster-recovery planning.

— Usage: branch deposit of excess RMB carried to Singapore. Keeping physical RMB long term in Singapore is a stressor and a hazard.
— Usage  (LGlp) ATM/POS:  Withdrawal is free at BOC machines (RMB 20/withdrawal at non-BOC). Deposit unsupported.

POS is available at “major” merchants, where foreigners shop, without wcpay/alipay. Eg: Xiaomi shop.

Any RMB deduction will hit this sub-account first. If exhausted, then SGD will be converted, with no fees.

UnionPay card is better supported than MasterCard.

 

 

Posted in chn

GEL earlyCI4boy

Posted on by tiger40490

 

  • plan name 47YearsGreatTerm
  • expires before age 64 on 31/Jan/2072
  • policy #025245718-3 , viewable in my own SSP [eConnect]
  • $592.60 every Feb, started 1/Feb/2025
  • 200k sum assured, with earlyCI rider and TPD
  • Iris Pek

 

Posted in chn

##RBBT loan

Posted on by tiger40490

See also simplify: cashflow juggle

SMP=StatementMinimumPayment

— todo: Final payment is special and high-stake. Better set up reminders a month before 6M anniversary

  • MB: 5 Aug 2024, better pay off before flying out on 2 Aug
  • HSBC: 2/2 ~ 2 Aug 2024

— 2 May misstep.. I made an honest, ignorant mistake when I removed citi mobile app (along with the “token”).. 12H lockout. In the cool light of day, impact was very small. (less than $8 interest charged). This kind of mistakes are hard to avoid and will happen many times. We can’t pre-empt these mistakes.. we can only learn afterwards.. a training fee.

FBFs are also minor missteps, though less forgivable

— RBBT [reduc`bal balance-xfer] .. experiment of juggle ^ arb
The juggle … is the monthly payment commitment

The juggle is a lot  worse than EGA or TimeDeposits. Therefore, it took me a lot of courage to take on this juggle.

  • risk: late payment or insufficient payment,
  • .. Before going overseas, better pay in advance
  • .. if very sick, I need to immediately pay off 100%
  • .. if I pass away suddenly, then wife need to pay off these two loans immediately. Banks will send letters to request immediate payment.
  • secondary risk: sys2 overload .. stress, distraction

— 0%LIR loans.. The additional profit margin is small, but the risk is real. Poor flexibility. No parachute (escape-pod). Unlike RBBT, I can’t FPP entire loan whenever I find it uncomfortable. FPP would need due diligence [calculation]

Example: Maybank deal 1.28% upfront cost. 6M FPP would (roughly) double my EIR to 2.6 ppa. If you FPP after 3M, then EIR would be 5.1 ppa.

==== HSBC Ploc RBBT. aaron.h.m.chung@hsbc.com.sg 66580908.

TnC: https://www.hsbc.com.sg/content/dam/hsbc/sg/documents/personal-line-of-credit-personal-term-terms-conditions.pdf

  • The date displayed for each debit or credit is the posting date, not always equal to transaction date. When you make a payment from EGA, posting date could be T+1 or T+2.
  • int posted 24~26th. Better pay SMP after that. Single monthly payment.
  • $75 late fee

int calc eg:

  • 24 Jul $86.99: [10Jul-23 Jul] 14D/365D * 1.68 ppa * 135k ≅ 86.99
  • 24 Jan 8D/365D * 1.68 ppa * ADB 116k ≅ 42.95
  • 24 Feb [2/2 – 23/2] 22D/365D * 1.88 ppa *135k ≅ 153.00
  • 25 Mar [24/2 – 24/3] 30D * 1.88 * 131.1k = $202.58
  • 24 Apr [25/3 – 23/4] 30D * 1.88 * 127.4k ≅ $197
  • 24 May [24/4 – 23/5] 30D * 1.88 * 123.7k ≅ 191
  • 24 June [ 24/5 – 23/6] 31D * 1.88 * 120.1k = 191.77
  • 24 July [ 24/6 – 23/7] 30D * 1.88 * 116.6k = 180.2
  • 24 Aug [ 24/7 – 31/7 ] 8D * 1.88 * 113k = 46.5

==== Maybank tele-sales (Freddy Wong 62980671). Technically, this is known as a “fund transfer” loan from credit card account.

  • payment towards RBBT is always posted on a business day, even if you make immediate payment (from a MB acct) on a non-business day. Therefore, to maximize deposit interest, it’s financially advantageous to make final payment on a business day.
  • LIR-arb: 1.5 ppa over 6M * 100k quantum = $750 interest gain.

— calc engine:

  • Core principle: EOD runningBalance * 2.5 ppa/365 = daily accruedInt
  • daily accruedInt is added up to a “finance charge” and added to runningBalance (“posted”) right after statement date. Monthly compounding.
  • payments (from YoungStarz) always hits the runningBalance immediately, even on weekends. Verified online:)

Eg of 24 Feb statement: runningBalance is 56k for 5 days. Daily accruedInt is $3.836/day. $3.836 x 5 = $19.18 is added to runningBalance right after EOD 24 Feb, so statement balance is 56019.18. This is the new runningBalance until a payment hits.

24 Oct:  2.5 ppa * 30D/365D * ADB $68.3k ≅ 140.07
24 Nov: 2.5 ppa * 31D/365D * ADB $67k ≅ 142.22
24 Dec: 2.5 ppa * 30D/365D * ADB $65.8k  ≅ 135.18
24 Jan: 2.5 ppa * 31D/365D * ADB $64.6k  ≅ 136.98
24 Aug: 2.5 ppa * 7D * 65k = $31

— monthly paying .. If you fail to make the SMP (2% of runningBalance as of 24th) by the due date, regardless of the shortfall, lateFee of $100 applies. LateFee is the only penalty.

As soon as you notice the statement and iFF you can avoid EGA, you should pay the SMP. Otherwise do it on payroll date. Do not pay before statement date.

Final due date follows loan approval date! You must pay off the loan by that date. Do not rely on statement. Instead, pay off 100%  a few days before the 6M anniversary.

Chn ePay platforms#wpay, suspension,

Posted on by tiger40490

k_X_PPD_China

 

For many essentials in China, you would need these two infrastructure accounts namely wcpay and alipay. Most shops can’t accept credit card or ATM card, basically nothing but alipay/wcpay. Shops do accept cash but some don’t have enough small change. Beware over-dependency on alipay/wcpay. They tend to be more complex and have more restrictions than POS or offline cash

I believe mobile is the primary GUI (browser? Nah), so you need to invest sufficient time to learn the basics. Alipay has better customer hotline but its integration with taobao is tricky.

I think Alipay is more foreigner-friendly. There is a brower interface with minimal functionality.

For Alipay/wcpay, each mobileNum is dedicated to one account only. Externally, each Alipay account is identified by a mobileNum (occasionally, email address). No sharing of mobileNum between two accounts.

— fake banknote .. Another reason to prefer ePay. Some unscrupulous taxi drivers or shops may quickly switch your genuine banknote for a fake one and then return the fake banknote to you “Hey, you gave me fake money”.

They usually do this with 100 yuan notes since they are the most valuable, although it may happen with 50 yuan notes too. Because of this, travel advisors suggest travelers in China keep some 10 or 50 yuan banknotes for small payments and avoid using 100 yuan notes when taking taxis or making small transactions. Personally, I guess this is rare, but frequent enough to warrant the above advice.

— PPD .. Alipay, wcpay, Meituan, Hello .. these platforms all have a PPD [=prepaid deposit] account, often in addition to bank card binding. Each platform has a “deduction_precedence” governing which account to hit first.

Alipay and wcpay can transfer to/from bank card. Unlike paypal, transfer-out incurs a 0.1% fee for wcpay/Alipay.

— risk of suspensions by banks, alipay, wcpay
In many countries, credit cards can be suspended, when banks pick up suspicious signs. In Singpaore, I have seen many. SCB once locked down my FAST.

In contrast, China /operators/ are more vigilant on fraud detection. They often use face verification (hard to pass). China goverment require these /platforms/ to use smrz, but Meituan is less strict.

Alipay and wcpay have larger user base than most banks. I think their systems are more automated.

Alipay payment amounts tend to be smaller than bank transfers. Alipay is almost as trigger-happy and as regulated as banks, in terms of fraud prevention. Trigger-happy banks would freeze your account and require verificaiton at branch. Alipay would also freeze your account and require some verification.

To recover from suspension, it is easier to visit a branch. However,

  • I worry about psbc::gp card suspension. Grandpa is immobile.
  • I worry avbout my alipay/wcpay account suspension. No branch:( I took lots of pains to pass smrz and then remain under the radar.

If wife’s alipay binds psbc::gp, suspension of the bank card is unlikely and only authorized by PSBC, according to hotline.

==== wcpay
My wcpay is set up with smrz (+bank card) + 15910255241
HSBC-Sg visa card … can keep there as reminder “Foreign cCard usable”. Removed in Sep 2023

RedPacket is a payment channel, not an account. All incoming/outgoing amounts hit the wcpay PPD.

PPD is one of several payment_modes (also payment_channels). 服务 > 收付款 > below QR code > payment modes ranking > PPD is one option beside bank card.

In Sep 2023, I was able to top up Hello PPD from wcpay PPD.
In Feb 2024, I was able to withdraw/cashout from PPD to my ICBC bank card within 2 seconds 🙂

Settings > Help/Feedback > online help .. there’s some live chat
Settings > Help/Feedback > wcpay > Help center
Settings > General > 辅助功能 > wcpay

Q: why is smrz so much stricter in wcpay than wechat?
%%A: I think wechat is just another messaging app, but wcpay is a financial infrastructure component. A wcpay account is a bank account.

Posted in chn