Gold Rush

Sunday Times Singapore, December 13, 2009, Sunday As gold price hits never-seen-before levels, Gabriel Chen looks at why the precious metal can make a good investment and asks analysts about its prospects   If some pundits are right, gold is well on its way to a dazzling US$2,000 (S$2,780) or more an ounce in the next decade – [...]

Buying policies: Don’t go with the flow

Sunday Times Singapore, December 13, 2009, Sunday   small change   Get insurance coverage according to your needs and circumstances By Ignatius Low, Money Editor   – PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO   I bought my first life insurance policy when I was just 19 years old. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked. All I knew was that I was [...]

More jobs and better pay likely next year

Sunday Times Singapore, December 13, 2009, Sunday Employment prospects are improving in tandem with business expectations   By Shefali Rekhi   Women seeking jobs in childcare, security, social services and other sectors at a job fair earlier this year. An upbeat forecast for the economy is fuelling optimism that companies will start to hire more staff and offer [...]

Reits an option for property investors

Sunday Times Singapore, December 13, 2009, Sunday property   They offer a relatively liquid way to gain exposure to real estate sector, and dividend yields By Joyce Teo If you want to invest in property but cannot bear the idea of borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy that fancy condominium unit or going through the hassle [...]

Er, what is an SWF?

Sunday Times Singapore, December 13, 2009, Sunday   FINANCIAL QUOTIENT     Where do you see this? Most often in news articles, usually involving some billion-dollar investment deal. What does it mean? SWFs, or sovereign wealth funds, are government-owned investment funds that invest their country’s savings or reserves in international assets such as stocks and bonds. Singapore’s Temasek [...]

Surge in asset prices to fuel inflation: HSBC

Straits Times Singapore, December 12, 2009, Saturday   Rate could hit 4% next half-year as spending and home prices climb By Fiona Chan INFLATION could hit a high of 4 per cent in the next six months on account of the surge in asset prices here, according to a new report by HSBC.  It said investors feeling rich [...]

4% interest on CPF savings extended

Straits Times Singapore, December 12, 2009, Saturday CENTRAL Provident Fund (CPF) members will continue to receive at least 4 per cent interest on a portion of their savings until the end of next year, said the CPF Board yesterday. These are for funds in the Special and Medisave Accounts (SMA), and the Retirement Account (RA). Funds in the [...]

Flat prices will rise but still be affordable

Straits Times Singapore, December 14, 2009, Monday MM: Cost grows with economy, but Govt will help first-home buyers  By Zakir Hussain , POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT SINGAPOREANS can expect the prices of HDB flats to keep on rising as long as the economy continues to grow, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.  However, he assured young couples that the [...]

It’s not easy to sort things out with CPF Board

Straits Times Singapore, December 14, 2009, Monday   WHEN my husband and I bought our resale HDB executive flat in July, we bought a home insurance policy from Prudential almost immediately. We then applied online to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board for an exemption from joining the Home Protection Scheme. The board rejected our application on the [...]