Credit Bureau and Credit Counselling

Credit Bureau of Singapore recently announced that many Singaporeans are falling back on their credit card debts. The most 'dangerous' group are those in the age of 30-45.

This age group is not surprising as this is the age group where most people are taking on a lot of debt like mortgage loans. Thus it is important that one manage debt carefully or they may overstretch themselves. Do note that you need to manage your loans carefully because it may affect your credit history. It is well understood that banks will disburse loans to you based on your credit history. If you have a bad credit history, banks will be quite unwilling to disburse loan to you unless a higher interest can be charged or your financial situation will be greatly scrutinized which can be troublesome and uncomfortable.

If you feel that you are falling behind on your payments, you should start controlling your 'outflow'. Do note take on more debt but instead pay down your loans as soon as you have the cash. The interest rate charged on credit cards is 24% per annum and 18% for credit line. These are very high interest rates, as such these loans should be cleared first before you take on more.

If you feel very stretched, approach the bank or the Credit Counselling Center in Singapore (CCS) for help. Banks are generally more willing to help you with your loans than you thought.

Below are the contact details for CCS:

Tel: 1800 CALL CCS (1800 2255 227)
Please ensure to dial 1800 before
2255 227.

Address: #12-01 Maxwell House
20 Maxwell Road
Singapore 069113

Email: enquiry@ccs.org.sg

Opening Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 9am–6pm

Website: http://www.ccs.org.sg

Want to know more about good credit management? Please click here.
Want to know how to better use your credit cards? Please click here.

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Singapore Budget - What is in store for us

Singapore Budget was announced on the 22nd Jan this year. What are the things the average Singaporean can look forward to?

Firstly, there is the doubling of the GST credits. This means that there will be more money in your pocket this year from the government. If you have debts out there, especially credit card or credit line, it might be wise to use it to pay down the debt. If you do not, congratulations, you might take out a bit to pamper yourself and invest the rest, save it for a rainy day.

Secondly, there is the twenty percent rebates on the tax payable subject to a cap of $2000. This will help to put in more money into the pockets of the middle class which forms the majority of the population. (Ain't it true for most countries? Hmmm....) Again, you might want to invest the extra money to build a bigger nest egg for yourself, using compounding interest to your advantage.

Thirdly, employers will try their best to keep Singaporeans in their jobs because of Job Credits, where the employers will get credits from the government. The size of it will depends on the number of Singaporean, paying CPF, in their payrolls. So it makes it 'harder' for Singaporeans to be out of job. But please do not be complacent, try to get yourselves reskilled if possible.

Fourthly, which is recently announced is that transport fares maybe coming down this year without any prospects of fare increase this year (now this is something NEW!! =) ) because of the many rebates and cut in corporate tax from 18% to 17%. The exact fare decrease will be announced at the end of February.

Given all these goodies from the government, it might be time to think through your personal budget and investment plans as more information and of course money flows in.

For more information on planning your budget and making investments, do check out the two webpages here.

Planning your budget and Investments

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