11/28/2014

What is $60 billion?


During the global financial crisis it was officially reported that the combined losses of the two SWFs were $60b. It was a staggering figure and many people put a lot of 0s behind it, ie $ 60,000,000,000 to show how big this number is. But do they really register, how big is this sum of money?
 

The Philippines announced a budget of $20m to acquire navy boats to compete with China for control over the disputed islands in the South China Seas. Damn big deal. India announced a budget of $3b to purchase weapons to want to be a super power. Another damn big deal. All these are nothing compare to the $60b that was lost. Got any idea how big is this $60b? It can build 30 Gardens by the Bay all over the island but would not be able to find any spare land to take more than 3. We would not have the land for 30 Gardens by the Bay in the island. What about the $6b to buy the super expensive toys called F35s at $300m each for 20 pieces? $60b can buy 200 pieces of F35s!
 

I don’t think many of you would get the picture still. Using a workforce of 2m and each contributing $200 pm to the CPF this will mean $400m into the CPF per month or $4.8b per annum. Actually it could be more than $6b if bonuses are included. It would thus take 10 years to contribute $60b by the whole work force at today’s income level.
 

15 to 20 years of CPF contributions of the whole workforce
 

To collect $60b from a smaller workforce and a smaller income base like the last two decades, it would likely take 15 to 20 years to reach $60b. Now you get the picture of how big this $60b sum is? It is the equivalent of15 to 20 years of the whole workforce’s CPF contribution to lose in one go.
 

Of course today more than $60b could have been collected since the financial crisis in CPF to cover up this loss. But if hypothetically the $60b were CPF money, the loss would not and cannot be covered as the new money must be returned to the CPF contributors when due. It is just new money to pay for loss of old money as a stop gap measure. Uh, did someone say no need to pay back with all the changes to the CPF system? Really? CPF not your money any more?
 

Let’ take it that the $60b is not CPF money, so there is nothing to worry about your CPF savings. The point of this article is to show how big a sum of money is $60b with the CPF savings used only for reference and comparison purposes. Imagine the equivalent of 15 ot 20 years of contributions by the whole workforce gone in a smoke.

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

SINGAPORE: There are now 32 billionaires in Singapore, with a combined wealth of US$65 billion, according to the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014 released on Wednesday (Sep 17, 2014).

SINGAPORE - The ranks of the wealthy in Singapore swelled to a new high last year, fuelled primarily by strong economic growth amid flat or slightly softer local equity and real estate markets.

The number of high net worth individuals, or people with investable assets of at least US$1 million excluding their homes, jumped nearly 5 per cent or 4,600 to 105,100, according to the latest World Wealth Report by consulting firm Capgemini and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) released today. (Jun 19, 2014)

Anonymous said...

There must be good reasons why at least 60% Sinkies voted PAP every election. And anon 9:00 am provided some, and only some.

Anonymous said...

I thought they not only earned back the 60 billion but even more sine then? Correct or not. Knn if info is incorrect I very worry leh. As for cpf, they do pay u back though in peanut amount month to month. Unlike in Greece the govt just take x% of the depositors money by legislation.

Anonymous said...

How much tax money is actually collected from these so called billionaires?

If Singaporeans are so worthless, stop asking us to serve national service.
Stop asking us to "contribute" to CPF.

Why not Yew ask these billionaires to do it instead?

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:03, you one of the billionaires of million hairs?

Anonymous said...

With 10 billion Sin Dollars, Sib can be protected comprehensively using Gurkhas. There is no need for National Service. Young Singaporeans do not have to waste their times and live. They can spend their time to sturdy and make money after graduation. This will make Sin richer and more Gurkhas can be engaged..

Anonymous said...


What a waste! What a waste!

With the $60,000,000,000.00 we
may be able to lease BATAM for
956 years to house a population
of up to 10M.

Never mind, the next time.

Virgo49 said...

PAP promotes only the Billionaires.

The rest so called millionaires are just in names only.

They are poorer than the Pulau Ubin dwellers.

Ever see those driving Mercs, BMWs, Audi running to drive their cars when the coffee shop assistants shouted:-

Car Park Lao Loy!!!!

What do you think???

Anonymous said...

Has the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy ever come out with any proof or academic paper to quantify exactly how much benefits all these billionaires bring into Singapore?

Or for that matter;
What is exact value of Singaporeans' National Service and CPF contribution worth to the Singapore economy?
If our efforts don't matter.
Why do it anymore?

Anonymous said...

Why are we forced to give up our citizenship if we want withdraw all our hardearned savings from the pap-controlled so called cpf accounts when we re-locate abroad ?

Anonymous said...

A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund investing in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity fund or hedge funds.--wiki

OUR SAVINGS IN THE FORCED CPF ACCOUNTS DO NOT TO BELONG THE STATE IT BELONGS TO PEOPLE! IT WAS NEVER A STATE FUNDS SO PLEASE IT BACK TO US

Anonymous said...

They should open up their books to the citizens for scrutiny in GIC and Temasek for ALL the transactions related to our money in CPF.

Afterall Mdm Ho has never spoken on TV

Anonymous said...


Still A Lot Of Angry People!

the CPF issues have been talks of the town for months.....

is the govt doing something asap to the CPF before the next GE.....

it seems that there is still a lot a lot of unhappy people out there regarding CPF issues.....

cheers......

Anonymous said...

What is happening to our CPF or money in the GIC and Temasek, not important. What is important are the arrears the residents are not paying to AHPETC. The TC can become unsustainable ok. The GIC and Temasek, so strong, so much money. See, lost $60b also can, still going stronger.

b said...

If they need 59 years to calculate the reserves, they obviously cannot calculate. $60b is an underestimated amount?

Anonymous said...

Who gave them the permission to transfer our money in cpf savings to GIC -subsquently buy Temasek bonds ?

Anonymous said...

/// Who gave them the permission to transfer our money in cpf savings to GIC -subsquently buy Temasek bonds ? ///
November 28, 2014 5:42 pm

You.
You the stupid voter gave them permission.
That's what a parliamentary majority means.

Anonymous said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjvuRh5iNNw

Very relevant to those who don't understand the magnitude of a billion