City Of Possibilities..

SINGAPORE

New Announced Changes:

PRIME MINISTER Lee Hsien Loong unveiled a strategy as reported on 20th August, The Straits Times, to make sure that the poor and elderly have enough savings to fall back on.

Among the proposed changes ARE:

1. Working LONGER

From 2012: Employers to offer Re-employment to workers when they reach 62 - first till they reach 65 and eventually till age 67.

2. CPF Changes

a) CPF Board will pay 1 percentage point MORE INTEREST on first $20,000 of ORDINARY ACCOUNT and on a total of $60,000 in OA (ORDINARY ACC.) and Special Acc, MediSave and Retirement Account.

b) Drawndown age for Minimum Sum to be raised progressively from 2012 ( currently 62 years of age) to 65 years old in the year 2018.

c) Compulsory Annuities for those under 50 years old.

3. Housing Power

a) Additional CPF Housing Grant increased from $20,000 to $30,000.

b) Household Ceiling increased from $3000 to $4000.

c) For those 62 years old and above:

HDB will buy back tail end of the flat lease and offer a shorter lease: Will give a lump sum payment upfrony and annuities for the rest of one's life!


4. Education Boost

A 4th University (public funded) is coming Up!


5. Sprucing Up Estates


Lift Upgrading and NEW HOME IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS to make practical improvements in individual flats...


Also in the current plans are:

WaterFront Plans For Punggol!

The revamped vision for Punggol 21: A place full of greenary and waterfront activities. To do this, the river mouths of Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon will be dammed up and a waterway built to link the two freshwater lakes. New housing will lined up along the sides of the waterway. There will be malls and retail outlets.


Personal:

With the increased Grant, more can be done with the cash... Do scout around for deals that are good. Look for the intrinsic worth of a property .... rather than for the aesthetic reasons... Punggol looks set to increase in value.. why wait?