America has started a war with China

Human rights, yuan revaluation, now poison paint, micro magnets etc are but the tools of an economic warfare. The Americans have fired the first shot and China is hurt. The damages are in hundreds of millions and bad publicity, lost of confidence and market etc China will have to react. China will need US$ to pay for all the losses. China will start to dump US bonds to pay for the losses. And the war will escalate. This is another front, other than the Middle East and Afghanistan that the Americans are opening. Fight on America. The righteous shall win. God will bless America.

CPF is forced saving

The CPF is a forced saving for the old age just in case everything is gone. It is not meant to be the sole means of survival for anyone. That is why the term used even to retain after 55 is called minimum sum. It is not the maximum sum or something extravagant. Now that people are talking about compulsory this and that, let them not forget that you can make things compulsory as long as they are within the confines of a minimum sum. Anything excessive will invite rotten eggs and anger. Now, what is minimum sum? This is an illusive figure that varies according to one's pocket, lifestyle and appetite. The $120k figure being used is a ridiculous figure to many people who hardly see $5k in their savings in their whole life. The premises for a compulsory saving scheme after 55 should include a clearer definition of what is minimum. A useful number should be the $300 pm that the govt is giving to the destitutes. This should form the basis of minimum sum. Compulsory saving should work upwards from this number. The people are not saving to eat in restaurants. Such luxury should be voluntary and be left to those who can afford them. Many will do well eating in hawker stalls or cooking for themselves. The next factor is a 20 year time frame, ie 62 to 82. Forcing people to save after 82 is ass talk. By 82, the bulk of the people would have gone. The remaining few if still needed state assistance would not be too much a burden for the state to bear. $300 pm or less. Whether it is annuity or to leave the sum in the CPF should be optional. And for those who wanted to save $120k or $300k in their CPF, by all means. The people must be allowed the option to opt for more savings to be left in their CPF at 55. The compulsion part should only be for the minimum sum, using $300 pm as the starting point for computation. For people who are working beyond 62, the minimum sum can be lowered proportionately and not increased. Who's the idiot who said the longer one works, the more must be saved? The above should be some of the basic premises to compute the minimum savings needed for the aged. As I am not paid for this, this is as far as I am prepared to offer. Let those who are being paid in millions to think of something more realistic and workable. They are not paid that kind of money for nothing. The higher one is being paid, the greater is the expectation. No more slipshod solutions. They must justify the supertalent pay that they are being paid for.

The CPF embarrassment

How best to look after the ageing population with their CPF money should be done by a neutral party that is free from all the encumbrances of existing interests and mindsets. Only an independent mind, with a simple objective of maximising the money in the CPF, can come out with a reasonable way to help the ageing population. And there is no need for a $3 million mind or even a $1 million mind. It is ridiculous to be embarrassed by superficial solutions that have been on the table all these years and push out as new and creative solutions. Any undergraduate doing his term paper would be able to come up with more exciting and innovative solutions. Empty the cup if we want to fill it with new tea. Or as they said, please don't teach old dogs new tricks. It is a waste of effort.

En bloc musing

The Horizon Towers sellers stood to sell their flats for $2.5 million each before it was aborted because of some technicality or reasons. And the buyer is going to sue. Now the issue is how much to claim. How about claiming that the plan to rebuild the place could generate profits in the hundreds or thousands of millions, like 100 storey high? This will probably mean a potential big loss in profits. Now the claim should be $5 million each from the sellers for breaching the agreement. Maybe claim $10 mil from each of them by submitting a plan that each new unit will be so well furnished and appointed that they can be sold at $10 million per unit. Those poor Horizon Towers owners must be having a nightmare now. It is now up to the buyer to decide how much they want to claim.

CPF Money

Boon Heng has come out with his second recommendation after his Japan trip. His first was to work longer and delay withdrawal. As one ages, withdrawal is not even an issue. Nothing to put in. His second recommendation is buying annuity plans, probably compulsory. How come I don't have this deja vu feeling that great things are happening? I was expecting a $3 million solution that will be more flexible and discriminating. I was expecting recommendations on how to deal with multi millionaires who need $20 mil but have $200 mil savings and those who need $20k but have only $2k and those who have half a million worth of properties or assets. And in my recent post I already mentioned that people who can work till they die need lesser or no CPF savings at all. Definitely they do not need to save more to stuff into their coffins.