Net Worth Update (May 2013) - First Milestone Achieved!

Current Net Worth
Assets	Apr-13	May-13	Change	% change
Savings Account 1	$3,029.26	$2,429.26	($600.00)	-19.81
Savings Account 2	$1,525.66	$3,133.53	$1,607.87	105.39
Savings Account 3	$18,567.34	$20,080.16	$1,512.82	8.15
Investment Linked Fund	$8,710.40	$9,126.35	$415.95	4.78
Schroders Commodity Fund	$9,510.86	$9,463.89	($46.97)	-0.49
Stock Holdings	$10,050.00	$10,135.00	$85.00	0.85
Phillip Money Market Fund	$15,020.14	$15,025.34	$5.20	0.03
Physical cash	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	0.00
Market Value Of BTO Flat (to be built in 2016/2017)	$750,000.00	$750,000.00	$0.00
Total Assets	$817,413.66	$820,393.53	$2,979.87	0.36
Liabilities
Home Loan	$617,500	$617,500	$0.00	0.00
Net Worth (including flat to be built in 2016/2017)	$199,913.66	$202,893.53	$2,979.87	1.49
Investible Net Worth	$67,413.66	$70,393.53	$2,979.87	4.42

Highlights

• Goal of $70k by December 2013 finally achieved. 7 months ahead of target.
• Have officially started full time work in May 2013. Estimated monthly savings from now should be around $2000 to $2500.
• Cash/Cash equivalents exceeded $40,000, constituting near to 60% of my investible net worth.
• Net worth accumulation is expected to be slightly slower in the coming months as I will be contributing $2000 to my girlfriend's university tuition fees in June/July.

Europe and Its Politicians

Europe's unemployment rate increased once more -- now at 12.2 percent.  This is the highest level since data collection on European unemployment began in 1995.  Expect new records ahead.

Too bad if you are young and live in Europe.  The unemployment rate is above 25 percent for those under age 25 almost everywhere in Europe and is well above 40 percent in places like Spain and Italy (lets not talk about Greece...their data, at this point, is probably suspect).

Meanwhile, the IMF has noticed that taxpayer bailouts mainly enrich hedge funds.  Why?  Because after sovereign debt collapses in price, hedge funds come in and buy it for 20 cents on the dollar and then sit back to wait for the bailout.  So, who wins.  The average taxpayer simply transfers large amounts of private wealth into the coffers of rich hedge fund tycoons.  Great policy!

It is now dawning on the IMF that restructuring sovereign debt (meaning a controlled bankruptcy) is a far better idea.  It puts the losses where the losses belong and doesn't end up using taxpayer wealth to subsidize hedge funds.  Wonder what took the IMF so long to understand what has been painfully obvious since this whole process began?

The assumption that Europe's problems were temporary and could be solved by taxpayer bailouts was an absurd assumption.   Just one look at European government spending and government revenues would convince anyone with a modicum of common sense that Europe's debts are unpayable.  There is no way out by the simple expedient of 'temporary' bailouts.  The numbers don't work and the sooner that is acknowledged the better.

Now that hundreds of billions of Euros of ordinary Europeans citizens' wealth has been siphoned off into the pockets of hedge funds by these absurd bailout policies, the IMF shows signs of waking up.  It's a bit too late, unfortunately.  Europe's problems are now far worse.  If Greece has been permitted to default on their sovereign debt four years ago, Europe would now be in a much better place.  But, politicians stepped in. 

The only way to reform Europe is to begin the process of controlled bankruptcies across the entire Eurozone.  It will be painful.  But, there is no choice.  Europe will end up with either a controlled bankruptcy or an uncontrolled bankruptcy.  That's the real choice.

The Significance of the Smithfield Acquisition

Chinese food giant Shuanhui  announced the purchase of Smithfield Foods this week.  This is a salient example of a process that has been underway for many years.

If one country has a 40 percent savings rate and another country has a zero percent savings rate, the country with the larger savings rate will, in time, buy all of the assets of the country with a zero savings rate.  That process is underway.

The US has had no net savings for several decades.  The reason for the absence of savings is twofold: 1) the private sector doesn't save because most Americans see no need; after all, the government guarantees income security and health care into old age (social security, medicare, medicaid); why bother to save (the Obama administration's recent suggestion to begin taxing IRA's provides some additional reasons for Americans to avoid saving); 2) the government sector is a big, big dissaver (that's what fiscal deficits are all about).

But America has investment spending.  Who provides the savings for this?  Foreigners.  Foreigners pay for this by buying up US assets.  Every year that passes, Americans own a smaller percentage of American stocks, American housing, American office buildings, etc.  Eventually, we will own nothing in this country.

Government policies that actively discourage savings work.  They are working now.  (Obama policies that actively discourage hiring work as well.  They are working now.  You get what you encourage and you lose what you discourage).

Update: Gold Price Outlook (May 2013)

Would you cut loss? Would you cost averaging? Or, would you accumulate at current level? These are a few questions from Gold investors since March 2013. What a difficult questions to answer... Here is our view on gold prices currently:

Our answer is to cost averaging or accumulate now, and hold it at least until September 2013. Why? Let's read on...

Lately, there is some good signs which favors gold prices in the short term:

1. Federal Reserve chairman signaled records stimulus will continue until economy improves.
2. Physical gold demand has surged after mid-April drops, especially from Asian consumers and central banks.
3. US debt ceiling issue will be discussed again in September 2013, in which congressman will most likely to increase again, thus, printing more money.

If you're a technical guy, then let's look at the chart above.

A 'Double Bottom' pattern was formed and gold prices may rebound very soon. It will be a gain of almost 8% if it surges towards 1,500 level. That may not sound sexy, but, what if this occurs in June alone? One month 8% gain enough for you? Anyway, if we look at the chances of gold prices going up versus going down, which side got more potential?

Finance Malaysia blog is only giving all of you readers to have a good discussions here. Any comment?

Do YOU understand what is "Financial Planning"?

We can't deny that everyone of us can't runaway from financial matters, thus, planning it wisely would put you on a better path to achieve financial goals as desired. Does this called "financial planning"? Hmmm... Many people think that financial planning is for high-income earner and the rich. But is this true? If not, what is it actually?

Generally, financial planning is a journey to achieve financial goals set with a comprehensive and systematic step-by-step process. It involves taking a broad view of one's financial affairs covering many areas of wealth management.

What's Included in Financial Planning?

1. Cash Flow management:
• assessing your current financial net worth
• budgeting
• debts eliminations
• building savings
  
  
2. Insurance planning
• ensuring that our assets and family are well protected by having adequate insurance coverage
  
  
3. Investment planning
• this is the wealth accumulation step, whereby investing a portion of your savings with the aim of getting a higher return.
• an investment strategy is needed to ensure greater success
  
  
4. Tax planning
• this is an area largely ignored or forgotten by most tax payers
• it involves strategies to optimize our income, including from investments, by legally minimizing the tax payable.
  
  
5. Retirement planning
• this is crucial to ensure that your golden age won't be miserable
• start planning as young as possible, the better
  
  
6. Estate planning
• writing a will is the most common steps in this stage
• ensuring that your estate will be passed on to your beneficiaries, as you desired, smoothly and to avoid family disputes

The 6 steps of financial planning

According to licensed financial planner, Alex Yeoh (email: alexyeoh@vka.com.my), a solid financial plan should be more than just buying an insurance plan or having some unit trusts. It should cover 4 key areas, namely wealth management, wealth protection, wealth accumulation and wealth distribution.

The next question is: "Who should you sit down with to discuss financial planning?"

Stay tune for more...

EPF Rules on Nomination (MUST Read)

There is a chain email spreading about some EPF rules, that makes members worry such as below:

If ONE of your nominees in the EPF nominees list dies, automatically the whole arrangement (EPF Nominees list) is VOID. Meaning if, you only put in ONE name & unfortunately he/she dies before you? Automatically EPF will channel your EPF money to trustee of AMANAH RAYA upon your death.

Upon surrender to trustee of AMANAH RAYA, your children will have to battle the money through 3 channels;

• Majlis Agama
• Pejabat Tanah
• Mahkamah

Is it TRUE ???

According to EPF, if a member has more than one nominee, and one of the nominees dies during the member’s lifetime, ONLY the portion that was bequeathed to the deceased nominee will be invalid.

Should the member later dies without updating his nomination, the other nominees will receive their portion accordingly. Only the portion that was bequeathed to the deceased nominee will be subject to procedures under ‘EPF savings without nomination’ in which the first priority for the right to claim the member's savings goes to the nearest next of kin or the appointed administrator of the deceased member’s estate.

Therefore it is NOT TRUE that if you, as a member, have named more than one nominee, the entire nomination will be void if one of the nominee dies before you. It follows however that if you have named only one nominee and he or she dies before you, the nomination will be void unless a new beneficiary is nominated.

What to do if one of the nominees dies, and I want to change it?

Please note that you DON'T have to produce the death certificate of a deceased nominee to change your nomination. You can change/update your nomination anytime by simply completing a new KWSP 4 (AHL) Form. This will automatically revoke any earlier nomination made.

What if BOTH member and nominee dies together / NO nomination ?

Depending on the amount of savings in the member’s account, if there is NO nomination the procedure will be as follows:

If member’s EPF savings < RM25,000:

• Initial sum of RM2,500 will be paid to the next of kin.
• The balance will be paid after a two-month period from the date of the member’s death.

If member’s EPF savings > RM25,000:

• Initially a sum of RM2,500 will be paid to the next of kin.
• The second payment (not more than RM17,500) will be paid to the next of kin after two months from the date of the member’s death.
• The balance of the savings will be paid upon submitting the Letter of Administration/Letter of Probate/Distribution Order/Faraid Certificate from the party that administers estates such as Amanah Raya Berhad or the Court or the Land Office, respectively. The process to obtain these documents is time consuming and certain fees will also need to be paid. On the other hand, with nomination, no fees need to be paid.

As such, this is precisely why nominating is very important. You should also ensure that you update your beneficiary whenever there are any major life changes such as marriage, additional new members or the death of a nominated beneficiary.

Source: EPF

The Significance of the JP Morgan Fight

For the past 100 years, small investors and lower income Americans have been able to invest in public securities and make huge gains.  No one with a diversified portfolio of American stocks today has a loss.  More remarkable, anyone who has held on for twenty years or more has huge, huge gains.  And this same statement is true for nearly all twenty year periods since the 1930s (eighty years ago).

The success of the public markets has provided a way for folks without access to financial acumen to take on capital risk and be successful.  You would think such markets would be applauded.

Nope.

Here comes the left.  First Sarbanes-Oxley was passed to make sure that small companies faces huge hurdles in taking their firms public.  Then along came Dodd-Frank, a creature of the Obama Congress, that continued the process of crushing public companies with mounds of mind-boggling regulations.

The final coup d'etat is now underway in the JP Morgan struggle.  If "shareholders" force JM Dimon out as Chairman of the Board of one of the most successful companies in world history (a company that has greatly enriched its shareholders), the public will pay the ultimate price.

And, who are these "shareholders" that would topple Dimon?  They are the 'agents' who, in theory, represent shareholders -- trustees who run endowments, pension funds, foundations.  The vast majority of these folks don't like free markets and seem upset by the prospect of lower middle income folks having a path to wealth through the public markets.

The real shareholders are workers and taxpayers who directly and indirectly provide the funding for these endowments, pensions funds and foundations.  They have no say at all.  They certainly wouldn't vote to lower their future retirement income, which is precisely the direction their trustees are pursuing.  In the name of 'corporate governance reform,' these trustees are destroying the access that ordinary citizens have to public markets.

So, topple Dimon and crush public companies and bend them to your will.  That is the plan of the leftists who dominate pension funds, endowments and foundations these days,   That ordinary Americans and real shareholders will have to pay the price for this nonsense is the great tragedy.

Ultimately, if the public market can be crushed, ordinary Americans will be forced to look to the government for their retirement, assuming the government has anything left at that point. 

Why IRS Scandals Will Never End?

The tax laws and IRS enforcement efforts are guaranteed to result in political favoritism on a grand scale.  Why?  Because they are complicated and ambiguous.

The American people do not understand the tax laws in their own country.  One suspects that tax specialists don't understand these laws either.  That leaves a lot of latitude to regulators.  They can pick and choose, as we now know that they did in recent years.

Every so-called tax reform simply puts more complicated things into the tax laws.  

The income tax needs to be abolished.  There is no generally agreed way to define income (that's the main reason why tax laws are so complex).  Even value-added tax concepts suffer from problems of definition.

Better to go to a uniform national sales tax.  That could be easily understood by all Americans.  The only way a national sales tax could become problematic is if there were exceptions (for food, medicine, etc.).  There should be no exceptions.

Imagine how much time and money could be saved by abolishing the IRS and substituting a national sales tax.  You can always make equity arguments, of course, but simplicity and transparency would be of enormous benefit to the average American.

We could rent out the IRS headquarters to a charter school.

New Fund: OSK-UOB Absolute Return Fund

With market continuously rotating between "risk-off" and "risk-on", an absolute return mandate with the adoption of a dynamic asset allocation approach would be a good vehicle to ride out the volatility. With the fixed income market having outperformed over the last 5 years, there is a high possibility that good quality equities - those with earnings growth and clarity supporting healthy dividend payouts would find favour.

This is a wholesale fund which aims to achieve medium to long term (3 - 7 years) capital appreciation through investments in equity and equity related securities of companies, and exchange traded funds with the potential to deliver total return in excess of the fund's benchmark return (8% growth per annum).

Investment Strategy

Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) will the focus of this fund, either through equity or equity related or exchange traded funds. The manager views the region as a vibrant economic growth region supported by factors such as favorable demographics, improving per capita incomes, positive foreign direct investment flows, and vast natural resources.

The strategy is to identify such investment opportunities in its early phase and select companies with strong fundamentals and attractive valuations to capitalize on its growth. Undervalued securities are uncovered through intensive and independent fundamental research.

A Barbell approach - buying dividend yielders coupled with growth (and cyclical) & value stocks would provide a combination of steady cash flows and capital appreciation. This new fund to some extent would allow the portfolio managers to focus more on stock picking without ignoring developments at the macro level.

Meanwhile, the fund's asset allocation is totally flexible between equity and fixed income / money market, depending on economic conditions.

Click here to download the fund's "Information Memorandum"

Meanwhile, On The Government Front

According to President Obama, we need more government.to provide 'fairness' for the American middle class.  The latest series of scandals -- Benghazi, the AP snooping situations, and the IRS targeting of conservative groups, should serve to show why government is not likely to be the solution to the problem of getting the economy going again.

Government scandals are not new and are certainly not limited to the Democrats.  Republicans are just as willing to bend government to their will as the Democrats.  That's why government is not the proper place to put our trust.  Our trust should belong in the free market, not in the bureaucrat, who may have another agenda.

Regulators can have a will of their own and it is very hard for the average citizen or company to fight them, especially when the regulators are willing to bend the law.

Free markets don't have political biases.  Free markets are all about individuals trying to make a better life for themselves and their families through their own efforts.

Government is about taking from one person by force and giving to another.  Those on the receiving end typically vote for politicians willing to do pretty much anything to demonize their opponents.  Again, Republicans are just as likely to do this as Democrats. 

Health care and pretty much every other endeavor should be provided in the free market.  The government should butt out.  By having medicare, medicaid and Obamacare, the US virtually guarantees that health care will be doled out according to the whims of the ascendant political party and the losers will pay and suffer the indignities of a disastrous health care system.

A good example of this is education.  Look where government employees and politicians get their education.  Then compare that to where the children of the middle class get their education.  This is the outcome you get when government is providing the service.

Pretty much the same applies to all of the provisions of government services.  The free market delivers best.  The government, ultimately, is mainly a purveyor of corruption.  Witness the current plight of the Obama Administration.

Are You Still Unhappy With Wall Street?

Those who invest in the US stock market have nothing to complain about.   Stocks are on a tear in 2013 and have produced returns north of 8 percent annually over the past 100 years.  What else does that well?

It has been almost impossible to avoid a lush retirement if one simply salted away money into an index fund regularly over the past 40 years.

So why do you continue to hear that Wall Street cannot be trusted and why do Congress and the Administration continue to try to crush Wall Street under a sea of litigation, regulation, and hyperbole.?

Will we really be better off without Wall Street?  The average American has had the rare ability to simply plump his money down into an index fund and retire in splendor ($ 2,000 salted away in an IRA annually produced over $ 2 million in 40 years).  I guess this kind of independence is too much for politicians to bear.

No one who has ever purchased an index fund at any time in history and still owns it today has a loss.  In fact, it would be hard to find anyone who hasn't made an enormous amount of money in their index fund.

But, give Obama some time.  Besides bludgeoning Wall Street into submission, his administration has sounded the first bugle in its war against IRAs.

Look for more of this.  Obama will leave no stone unturned in his war against America's middle class.  The war against Wall Street is designed, one supposes, to prohibit the average American from funding his retirement safely and force more Americans to fall back onto the US government for their retirement.

A Malaysian Guide to Home Buying Fees & Charges

Like any other country, buying a house and taking a home loan / mortgage in Malaysia involve legal fees & charges - which many people fail to take into consideration especially when they’re buying a property for the very first time.

So to all Malaysians buying your dream houses right now, allow iMoney to show you ALL the fees and charges involved when you buy a house or apply for a home loan.

Jamie Dimon's Lament

Shareholders will vote soon.  Right.  Wrong.  Shareholders typically have no idea that they are shareholders.  Shareholders' agents -- pension funds, endowments, foundations, money managers -- these folks vote the shares, acting as agents for shareholders.

What do these agents think?  They think that capitalism is fundamentally flawed and that corporations spend too much time seeking profit opportunities.  Instead, public companies should be more concerned with 'activism.'

How does this help the ultimate shareholders?  It makes them poorer.  Retirement income is lowered and assets are frivolously wasted by the so-called agents.

But, what do the agents care.  It doesn't affect them in the slightest. 

In the name of corporate governance reform, these 'agents' are trying to impose an outside (of the company) Chairman of the Board for Citigroup, replacing Jamie Dimon and pushing Dimon to a subsidiary role.  This would recreate the corporate governance structure that prevailed at Enron (and others) before they famously slid into a scandalous bankruptcy.

JP Morgan is one of the best performing large financial institutions in the world.  Shareholders have been richly rewarded for the past five years by owning stock in JP Morgan.  So, what to do? 

Make a mountain out of a mole hill out of a $ 6 billion hedging loss by the great whale!  What a waste of time!  That loss did not keep JP Morgan from producing huge income and income growth, even in the same time period as the $ 6 billion loss!

So, what's the right answer? Decapitate JP Morgan.  Maybe, we can create another Enron.

The move to replace JP Morgan as Chairman is anti-shareholder.  If successful (and it will be ultimately), it will weaken JP Morgan, make retirees poorer and less able to cope financially, and enrich politicians and wealthy social activists (and their foundations and endowments).  It will also serve to continue to undermine free markets and common sense.

Cantor Off Track

Eric Cantor has mostly good ideas, but his latest effort at appearing 'kindler and gentler' is a good example of modern Republican policy initiatives at their worst.

Fearing the appearance of always saying no, Republicans like Cantor look for ways to push 'feel good' concepts to compete with Democrat 'feel good' concepts.  Cantor's bill to provide for time off instead of cash for overtime pay is a good example.  What Cantor should be doing is trying to repeal the overtime laws, not make them even worse.

Why is the government defining overtime?  Why isn't that something that should be worked out between employer and employee?  Why presume that one size fits all?  Arranging overtime should be strictly a discussion between employer and employee.  Government bureaucrats should take a hike.

By introducing legislation like this, Cantor joins a long list of Republicans that seem willing to outdo their Democratic brethren in pushing the government into more nooks and crannies of areas that should be left to private citizens.  The government should butt out and Cantor should know that.

Hold The Applause

The stock market roared on Friday, relieved, one supposes, that the onset of a new depression has not yet begun.  A paltry 156,000 new jobs were created in April, which, normally, would be bad news.  But previous month's revisions gave 2013 a monthly average of over 200,000 jobs created per month.  That was better than previously thought, but is dismal and inadequate to reduce unemployment unless folks simply quit looking for work.

Since Obama took office, 9.5 million Americans have given up looking for work.  Why bother, when there are alternatives?  Besides, the Obama Administration and the Congress have made it almost un-American for businesses to hire anyone, so why not go with the flow.

It's pretty amazing that the pitiful record of the Obama Administration on the economic front has now become acceptable.  Europe has gotten use to the spectacle of double digit unemployment and widespread economic stagnation.  It looks like America is following suit.

13th General Election and the Property Market

General Election is coming. One of the hotly debated topic would be the escalating house prices and the needs to provide more affordable houses to Rakyat. In line with that, iProperty.com has done a survey on "The 13th General Elections and the property market" with 2275 Malaysians respondents. What did they said?

Created by Iproperty MY, the number one website in Malaysia. Whether you have a house for sale or are looking to buy.

3 Possible Election Outcome & Share Market Reaction

* Note: This is NOT a political post. Instead, we're talking about share market movement based on possible election outcome. Abusive comments are strictly prohibited and will be remove automatically.

Local investors have been staying sideline for months ago. Do you started to feel itchy now? Honestly, this is the feeling of mine as an investor, from being active to passive lately. I can't wait to start investing again in share market. However, we shouldn't simply jump in next Monday, right? Let's see the 3 possible election outcome and how market may react accordingly...

OUTCOME #1: BN retained power

Judging by the strong influx of foreign funds flooding local share market prior to election, this is definitely their expected outcome. If materialize, Monday market generally will rally. However, I expect this kind of rally will be short-lived, and turning downward after that. Why? Simply ask yourself these questions: When is the better time to take profit if not that time?

OUTCOME #2: Opposition Alliances won

Many people predicted that market will react negatively to this kind of election outcome. It's not strange. Anyway, once all the worries have settled down, new cabinet was formed, share market will recover. So, an U-shaped rebound is my bet.

OUTCOME #3: Almost 50/50 for Both

This is the worst outcome for share market. A hung parliament does not bode well for the nation. In this situation, very likely, elected assemblyman may jump-ship to another coalition vice versa. So, share market very likely will through months of instability. Dead share market was expected.

Even said so, Bursa Malaysia will definitely still be operating, not as published in one of the advertisement by political party. Hahaha. It's funny to see that kind of advertisement.

Top HDB Projects In Singapore

The shocking news of HDB Singapore flats fetching a record high of $1 million dollars has left many Singaporeans in astonishment. These flats are mostly maisonette or executive apartments located near a MRT station. However, newer HDB developments with the current standard floor area of 110sqm for a 5-room flat have not yet crossed the million dollar mark. In my opinion, million dollar HDB flats will become more common when flats in the following top HDB projects enter the resale market.

The Pinnacle @ Duxton

Located just minutes away from the Central Business District, The Pinnacle@Duxton is one of the most highly sought after HDB projects in Singapore. On 29 May 2004, HDB released 528 units under phase 1 of its Build-To-Order system and units quickly became oversubscribed.

This HDB Project was officially completed in December 2009 and a keys handover ceremony was held on 13 Dec 2009. The Pinnacle@Duxton is expected to reach the million-dollar mark as units will be eligible to be sold in the resale market after the five year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) is fulfilled by 2014/2015.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pinnacle@Duxton,_Singapore_-_20100101.jpg

Tiong Bahru View

Situated right next to Tiong Bahru MRT and Tiong Bahru Mall, it is quite a surprise that this piece of land is not given to private developers instead. Just a month ago, the piece of land situated next to Tiong Bahru View was sold to Keppel Land for $550million or $1,163 per sqft, the highest price per square foot ever tendered for a purely residential site in the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. In fact, I feel that Tiong Bahru View has a slightly better location than the GLS land parcel due to its closer proximity to the MRT.

The estimated completion date of this project is 31 Dec 2015, meaning that these flats will enter the resale market in 2020 after the 5 year minimum occupational period is fulfilled. With surrounding resale HDB flats selling for more than $900k, it will be a huge surprise if good units in Tiong Bahru View do not cross the $1million mark in 2020.

Mixed Development at Clementi Town Centre

The development, completed in November 2011, is a 40-storey mixed development. The residential component of the mixed development consists of 388 units of new HDB flats. They were built under the HDB’s Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) programme primarily to house home owners from within the same township. Located just above the Clementi Town Centre and less than a minute walk to the MRT and bus interchange, this development is set to be one of the top HDB projects in Singapore. 5 room resale flats located 300 metres from the MRT are already selling in the range of $800k-$900k. 

Source: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10297p.nsf/ImageView/CORPORATE_PR_15052012_Pic1/$file/IMG_8645.jpg

Moreover, Clementi Town Centre is just one stop away from the upcoming Jurong Lake District. With plans to transform Jurong into the next commercial hub with a good mix of shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, hospitals and residential buildings, the area will be transformed to a unique destination for business and leisure by 2025.  Property prices in Clementi will certainly increase as a result of the spillover effect from the revamped Jurong Lake District. In addition, when these flats enter the resale market in 2016 after the 5 year minimum occupational period is fulfilled, property developments that are currently under construction such as Trivelis (DBSS), Clementi Ridges (BTO), Trilinq (Condominium) and SERS development right beside Clementi Mall, will all be completed. 

As more HDB projects in prime areas start to enter the resale market in the next few years, we will definitely see more million dollar HDB flats being transacted. The expansion of our MRT network will also drive up property prices across the island. Million dollar HDB flats will soon be the norm. What do you think?