Do it Truly, Faithfully and Wholeheartedly

08/08/2025

UOB to trim deposit rates on flagship account from Sept 1 after OCBC cut; DBS stays unchanged
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/uob-to-trim-deposit-rates-on-flagship-account-from-sept-1-after-ocbc-cut-dbs-stays-unchanged

📉 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲🏦

From 1 Sept 2025, UOB One Account will cut rates to ~1%–3% (down from ~1.5%–3.8%) on the first S$125k.
OCBC 360 has already trimmed rates twice this year.
DBS Multiplier stays unchanged at ~1.8%–4.1%.

💡 Tip: Review your savings strategy, compare across banks, and consider alternatives like fixed deposits, T-bills or money market funds.

Rates on UOB One to come down for the third time in 2 years; OCBC 360 rates down twice in 2025 Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

16/04/2025

I recently came across a post by The Woke Salaryman that thoughtfully breaks down the impact of escalating trade tensions and what this means for us in Singapore.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲?
As a trade-dependent economy, we are highly exposed to global headwinds. This includes:
📈 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 of imported goods, impacting both consumers and businesses
🔄 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, especially in manufacturing and electronics
🎢 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 and potential volatility in investments and employment

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰.
⚠️ While market volatility can be unsettling, it’s important to remember that 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀—whether it’s retirement, education, or legacy planning.
🛣️ 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. Staying invested and disciplined through cycles is often what separates success from regret.

As professionals in the financial services space, this is a critical time to reassess risk, diversify portfolios, and guide clients with clarity and confidence.

Kudos to The Woke Salaryman for making these complex developments so relatable and timely.

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23/03/2025

"𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝟮 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱?"

We all have dreams - career goals, family milestones, adventures, or a comfortable retirement. But what if one unexpected event - a critical illness, disability, or accident - derails those plans?

𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳:
1️⃣ "Am I willing to bet my future on luck?"
2️⃣ "Can I afford to self-insure?"
3️⃣ "What’s the cost of waiting?"

Insurance isn’t just about "covering risks" - it’s about 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 without fear. By transferring risk, you:

🛡️ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 for life’s joys, not emergencies.
💡 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 to focus on recovery, not financial stress.
🎯 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸, even if life throws a curveball.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Risk-takers thrive in business, relationships, and growth - but 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘀. Transferring risk isn’t admitting defeat; it’s ensuring you stay in the game.

"𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

14/03/2025

📢 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗹𝘀

🔹 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?
Chocolate Finance has 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐬 due to a 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 📈.

🔹 𝐖𝐡𝐲?
The company 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐗𝐒 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 💳 after some users leveraged it for 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✈️, which was deemed unsustainable.

🔹 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞:
Now takes 𝟑-𝟏𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 ⏳ instead of instant processing.

🔹 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭:
Chocolate Finance assures users that 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 ✅ but a step to 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞.

🔹 𝐂𝐄𝐎’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞:
CEO Walter de Oude acknowledged the situation and emphasized 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🏦.

For full details, check out the CNA article: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/chocolate-finance-suspend-instant-withdrawal-high-demand-fintech-sgd-usd-deposits-4990026

The financial services platform previously allowed up to S$20,000 in instant withdrawals per day.

02/01/2025

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/insurer-singlife-launches-shared-services-for-singapore-financial-advisers

Our firm, Alpha Wealth Financial Advisers, is being mentioned in this article as the firm has subscribed to a shared services hub set up by Insurer Singlife to support financial advisers in Singapore, in a move that is starting to gain ground in the industry as financial advisory (FA) firms are expected to become the preferred sales channel.

Insurers are starting to support FA firms as a way to strengthen their distribution networks. Read more at straitstimes.com.

15/10/2024

New benefits and changes to our mandatory nation hospitalisation & surgerical insurance plan.
Happy reading.

MediShield Life to offer higher claim limits, better coverage; premiums to rise from April 2025

Government support will more than offset the increases in the next three years for most Singaporeans. Read more at straitstimes.com.

25/05/2024

Have this honor to partner with iFAST TV to address on most search questions over the Web. For this episode, we are doing on "Unit Trusts and ETFs?"

We tried to relate some financial terms to our daily life to provide the understanding for the viewers out there.

For my followers, do give a 👍 on this video. Much appreciated 🙏

BK & Johnny explore the Web's most searched questions on unit trusts - are unit trusts better than ETFs? How do unit trusts work?---Looking for an adviser? C...

08/12/2023

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/infohub/news/news-releases/cpf-interest-rates-from-1-january-2024-to-31-march-2024-and-basic-healthcare-sum-for-2024

[𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀]
SA, MA & RA interest rate increased to 4.08% p.a. for Q1 in 2024.
BHS increased to $71.5k from $68.5k, which is a 4.38% increase. A $3k cash top-up opportunity for those who is planning to bridge their $8K Tax Relief in YA2025.

𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑟: 𝐷𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠.

View news release on CPF interest rates from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 and Basic Healthcare Sum for 2024

05/11/2023

[Weekend Reading]

Setting up a Joint bank accounts may seem to be the easier way to "distribute" your wealth but when this distribution is not stated legally, disputes on the fund will happen, especially so when the couple do not have child.

Some good examples listed in this article for your understanding.

Who owns the money in joint bank accounts?

It is important to spell out who owns the money in joint accounts to avoid disputes among the owners. Read more at straitstimes.com.

10/09/2023

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beokhoon_abcwithbk-militaryretirementspecialist-trustedadviserofprofessionals-activity-7106540639139352576-2jOj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

My third post to carry on from last week about sharing my Military Financial Planning journey.
This sharing has two portions, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 - 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 and 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 – 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫. It may seem like a lack of proper financial planning as I focus more on building my military career which is mentioned in my first post or could be your case in your current situation. Hence, I am here to share my experiences with you reader. Happy reading.

If you would like to read my previous posts, the following are the links:
- 1st article: My Military Career (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beokhoon_abcwithbk-activity-7075651567844036608-6aqq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop)
- 2nd article: Financial Planning during Military Career (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beokhoon_abcwithbk-activity-7103303885791928320-uVVc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop)

Last week, I addressed the ‘A’ portion of my write-up which is 'Assets not Built Properly', hence, this week I touch on the ‘B & C’ portion. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡…

01/09/2023

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beokhoon_abcwithbk-activity-7103303885791928320-uVVc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

My second post to share on my Military Financial Planning journey. Is a long post hence, I have to break it up into three portions as LinkedIn has characters limitation for each post.
This write-up is about 𝐌𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 “𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬” 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 which from my financial advisory approach, I realized my 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲.

Happy reading on this public holiday.

18/08/2023

Came up with these 6 simple steps on how to perform top-up to CPF MA.

By performing cash top-up to CPF MA, as an individual, you can also enjoy tax relief. For more information, do refer to the IRAS website:
https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/basics-of-individual-income-tax/tax-reliefs-rebates-and-deductions/tax-reliefs/central-provident-fund-(cpf)-cash-top-up-relief

The document captures different screenshots from CPF mobile pages on how to access the CPF website via mobile phone to perform a cash top-up to your C...