Preparing for the Arrival of Baby in 2015

I have not been writing my blogposts frequently due to the need to do research on baby stuff. Being a first-time mum, I have been reading up ferociously on things that I need to prepare for the arrival of our little one. Besides asking experienced mums for their useful tips, I have also read reviews on the online forums and resources on what to expect and prepare. 

 

There are numerous baby items to be purchased as a first-time parent and as I hope to get the best bang for my buck, I have done a lot of research online to get the best deal in terms of quality and price. Besides going down to the physical shops, I have also done my homework on the web at the many online stores operating locally to compare prices and look at the selections. I don't expect to have the luxury of doing shopping very often once the baby arrives and these online stores will provide the convenience that the modern mum needs by delivering the goods right to your doorstep and often free delivery is provided with a minimum purchase of $60 to $100. Amazon.com USA now provides free delivery to Singapore on many items with a minimum purchase of US$125. I also like to refer to the reviews left by those who have made purchases previously to see if they found the product useful or not. If you want to go to the trouble of using shipping consolidators, you can also have the choice of shopping on other US shopping sites in the comfort of your home. Baby fairs held from time to time at the Singapore Expo, Suntec City and Takashimaya also provide attractive discounts and promotions on baby products, if you have time to make your way there.

I have affirmed that it is indeed not cheap to have kids in Singapore, even when the Singapore government is trying to help to defray some of these costs by giving out baby bonuses, subsidies, allowing the usage of our CPF funds to pay for visits to the obstetrician and delivery, subject to certain caps, amongst others. No wonder Singaporeans are having children later and later in life and having fewer of them. Having said that, it is still a personal choice whether you want to keep things simple or want to splurge on the best for your child.

It can cost between $5,000 to $25,000 onwards to prepare for the arrival of your baby. Most people spend from $10,000 to $12,000 on average. Aspiring parents have to start tightening your belts in order to provide for your child.

Delivery
Normal (vaginal) delivery can range from $1,000 to $12,000 depending on whether you choose  Government subsidized hospitals or Private hospitals and the type of ward you stay in. Please refer to MOH website for more details.

 

Delivery via Caesarean section can range from $2,000 to $18,000. Please refer to MOH website for more details.

If you wish to make claims from CPF for your delivery, do note that there are certain caps to be adhered to:
Maximum Medisave Claimable (subject to CPF Board approval)
Antenatal $450
Normal Delivery $750
Caesarean Delivery $2,150
Hospital Stay $450 per day
Neonatal screening tests and vaccinations $400 per account per year
Please refer to the CPF website for more details.

Confinement Nanny or DIY Confinement

Whether you choose to observe the confinement month or not also determines how much you will be spending in the month after child birth. A 28-days confinement nanny can cost somewhere from $2,500 to $4,000 during the Chinese New Year period, not forgetting the obligatory ang pows that you have to dish out before they start work and after they complete the stint which will add another $100 to the cost. This is not including the herbs that you have to purchase so that the nanny can prepare nutritious tonic food to help you in your recuperation. This will add another $100 to $300 on top of the costs.

If you prefer to do-it-yourself or get your mum or mother-in-law to help you during the confinement period, you have the choice to cater confinement food from experienced establishments which will cost anywhere from $400 to $900 depending on how many meals you cater per day.

Baby Essentials

Well, baby essentials like clothing, bath/baby care products, diapers / reusable nappies, nursing and feeding items, nursery items like cots, playards and toys will come to mind. There is a wide array for us to choose from to suit our needs. We may also prefer certain brands to others and these may cost more.
 

Post Natal Massage
Some mothers consider this a luxury but for others, it is a necessity, so as to get back in shape quickly after delivery. After 10 months of pregnancy, this will be an affordable luxury for new mummies to relax and pamper themselves. Depending on the type of packages and the masseurs you choose, whether freelance or from massage centres, you can expect to pay at least $300 to $800 for this.

Others
There are also many optional items like cord blood banking, baby's full month celebration and cakes, newborn photography, geomancer consultation to determine the Chinese name of the baby (if you are Chinese and require such services), just to name a few. Expect to spend another $8,000 to $10,000 or so if you want them all.

Conclusion
What will you choose for your baby and yourself? Most of us have budgetary constraints, so we will have to weigh the pros and cons, in order to make the final decisions. We must not forget that, at the end of the day, it is our love for them that matters most rather than any material wants which are definitely secondary.

Understanding Your Credit Report

Two weeks ago, I attended a talk organised by the Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) on Understanding Your Enhanced Credit Report. The bureau representative went though the information shown in a Credit Report and how to improve your credit rating.

Why are Credit Reports Important?

Your credit report is a record of your credit payment history compiled from banks and major financial institutions. CBS supplements it with publicly available information such as bankruptcy data from the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office (IPTO).

Lenders typically check your credit file to assess your credit worthiness prior to making a decision to provide credit or giving out loans. They usually look out for the repayment status of credit facilities, credit repayment history, any default / bankruptcy information, number of existing credit facilities, new enquiries, outstanding balances and overdue balances in the credit report to assess your credit worthiness.

Also, the credit report has now become crucial for financial institutions to assess potential borrowers who are interested to take up home loans as they have to comply with the minimum Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) set by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) of 60%. Please refer to the full details on the new property cooling measures and rules here.

CBS does not play a part in the lending approval decision. The lending decision is solely at the discretion of the lenders after applying different criteria to evaluate a consumer's credit worthiness.

What Information is Displayed in a Credit Report?
 

There is usually a 1 to 2-month time lag in the information presented in a credit report as the banks need time to submit information to the credit bureau for aggregation and compilation.

A Credit Report typically includes a Summary of your personal credit facilities and aggregate credit limits, Account Status History, Previous Enquiries, Default Records, Bankruptcy Proceedings, Debt Repayment Scheme (DRS), Narratives, Credit Score, Aggregate Outstanding Balances.

Information remains on a credit report for varying lengths of time depending on its relative importance in the credit-worthiness assessment. For example, Aggregate Outstanding Balances are retained for 6 months while Bankruptcy Proceedings remain for 5 years from date of discharge.

What is a Credit Score?

A Credit Score is a number used by lenders as an indicator of the likelihood of debt repayment and the probability of going into default. The score ranges from 1000 to 2000, where individuals scoring 1000 with the highest likelihood of defaulting on a repayment, whereas those scoring 2000 have the lowest chance of being delinquent.

Factors Affecting Your Credit Score

The 7 main factors affecting your credit score are as follows: Utilization Pattern, Recent Credit, Account Delinquency Data, Credit Account History, Available Credit, Enquiry Activity and Excessive Credit.
 

How Do I Improve My Credit Score?
 

These are the factors which would assist you to improve your credit score:

1. Paying your bills on time and in full

2. Not having overdue balances

3. Keeping your outstanding debts low or consider charging less

4. Not having bankruptcy and default information in your credit report

5. Limiting the number of credit facilities you own

6. Not applying for lots of credit within a short period of time

A Complimentary Copy of Your Credit Report
 

A complimentary copy of your credit report will be provided within 30 days, from the date of your credit application with any CBS members. To obtain your free credit report, kindly request in-person at the CBS office.
 

How to Obtain Your Credit Report
 

A paid copy of the report at S$6.40 can be obtained by :

Applying online via www.creditbureau.com.sg with your SingPass ID and Password

Or, applying in person at the following locations:

CBS office at 2 Shenton Way, #20-02, SGX Centre 1

Any SingPost offices island-wide

Crimson Logic Services Bureaus at Chinatown Point #19-01/02 or Supreme Court Building, Level 1

CASE office at #05-01, Ulu Pandan Community Building

Please refer the website for more details and to sign up for the talk if you are interested.

 

Current Credit Situation in Singapore
 

It was reported in the Sunday Times on 14 Dec 2014 that credit cardholders chalked up a whopping $10b in outstanding credit card loans by Xmas. However, two in three customers still pay off debts in full every month. Around 3% of credit cardholders (about 47,000 people) have debts exceeding a year's salary. MAS says that the consumer credit situation in Singapore remains sound as most consumers use their cards prudently as a payment channel rather than as a source of credit. To help people avoid debt problems, MAS is strengthening credit card and unsecured credit rules in 3 ways:

1) Enhanced Credit Assessment

Since June 2013, financial institutions have been required to conduct checks with the credit bureaus and take into account the total credit limits and total outstanding debt balances of a borrower before they can grant him or her a new credit card, a new unsecured credit facility or an increase in credit limit.

2) Measures to Prevent Debt Accumulation

From June 2014, financial institutions will not be allowed to grant additional unsecured credit to a borrower who is 60 days or more past due on any credit card or unsecured credit facility.

In addition, other financial institutions will not be able to increase credit limits or grant new unsecured facilities to this individual.

They will also be prohibited from granting further unsecured credit to a borrower whose outstanding unsecured debt aggregated across all financial institutions exceeds his annual income for three consecutive months or more.

3) Information Disclosure

Also from June 2014, financial institutions will be required to disclose to borrowers who do not pay their bills in full how their debts will accumulate and how long it will take for them to settle their bills fully if they were to pay only the required minimum payment every month.

Conclusion

Hence, it becomes increasingly important for consumers like us to be financial savvy and know what the financial institutions are looking out for, especially if we want to score a loan for our private property. 

UOB launches new online property loan Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) Calculator

For those hoping to buy a property as the property market is softening, UOB just launched an online proeprty loan calculator for you to determine your total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) for mortgage loan applications.

Under the Monetary Authority Authority (MAS) TDSR framework, financial institutions can only offer loans to customer with a TDSR of 60% or lower. UOB's TDSR calculator covers loans to purchase and refinance properties from private residences, HDB flats, international properties and commercial properties. 

The service is free and can be found on UOB's website under the bank's Mortgage Resource Centre. For more details, please refer to the website.

Hong Leong Finance HDB Home Loan Promotion

Hong Leong Finance is offering attractive 3-year fixed rates on HDB home loans, lower than the HDB concessionary loan rates.

 

 

Period	Interest Rate* (% p.a.)
1st Year	1.19% (Fixed)
2nd Year	1.49% (Fixed)
3rd Year	1.59% (Fixed)
Thereafter	3.25 (HHR# - 1.25)

#HDB Home Rate (HHR) is currently at 4.50% p.a.

*For minimum loan of S$100,000 and 3-room HDB flats and above. HDB Concessionary Loan Rate is 2.60% p.a. at publishing time.

 

Please refer to the website for more details. 

Hong Leong Finance Fixed Deposit Promotion

To celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday, Hong Leong Finance will be offering promotional rates below on its fresh funds fixed deposits:

Interest Rates (p.a.) for Fresh Funds
Amount	12-month	15-month	18-month
S$25,000 to < S$100,000	1.30%	1.35%	1.40%
S$100,000 to < S$200,000	1.35%	1.40%	1.45%
S$200,000 and Above	1.37%	1.42%	1.48%

 

Please refer to the website for more details.

UOB SGD 6-Month Fixed Deposit Promotion

Enjoy interest rate of 1.50% p.a.* on a 6-month Singapore Dollar Fixed Deposit.

You might have noticed that during the last Fixed Deposit Promotion that UOB had in Nov 2014, they were offering 1.25% p.a. interest on a 8-month Singapore Dollar Fixed Deposit and current rates that they are offering is more attractive, albeit a shorter tenure. We can foresee interest rates slowly inching upwards and this is definitely good news for depositors like us.

Tenor	Promotional Interest Rate* (p.a.)
6-month	1.50%

Simply deposit a minimum of S$20,000 in fresh funds.
This promotion is available from 15 December 2014 to 31 December 2014.

Please refer to the website for more details.

RHB Fixed Deposit Promotion

RHB is now offering up to 1.375% p.a. on its fixed deposits, limited to fresh funds only. See below for the promotional rates.

Tenure	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
Deposit Amount	S$20,000 to S$249,999	S$250,000 and above
6-month	0.90%	1.025%
9-month	1.25%	1.375%

 

Hurry now to enjoy this Christmas Promotion!

Please refer to the website for more details.