Soaring COE and Retiring Abroad + SRS Portfolio 23 April 2023

COE prices hit a new record high of $124,501 and Straits Times has a feature article on what's driving the insanity and when will it end? 

Who are the culprits? 

Basically the article highlighted a few "culprits":

• Private hire firms who has the ability to pass the higher costs to drivers (and consumers), who can sell the unhired cars in the second hand market and will benefit if individuals are unable to afford the cars as it will meant more demand for their rental car and rides 

I particularly like this suggestion from the reporter: "Make a decisive policy change to treat private-hire cars like taxis since they serve the same role as taxis. Cap their fleet size. Have an age limit on private-hire cars. Ban the conversion of private-hire cars to normal cars – or at least stipulate a minimum no-conversion period. Demand that ride-hailing firms adopt a transparent fare structure – the way taxi and public transport fares are transparent." but I don't think it's going to happen. 🤔

• Firms that distribute electric cars as the tax incentives allowed them to earn a decent margins and outbid the rest
• Easy credit due to loopholes on leasing and inflating the prices of cars

I would attribute it also to the influx of rich migrants who are able to afford the higher COE for luxury cars which wasn't highlighted by the reporter. They don't really care about the COE prices, in fact, the higher the car prices, the higher the bragging rights, not to mention the baby pink Bentley.

Would you retire abroad?

And that drives the next interesting article that appeared in the Sunday Times today - Singaporeans who have retired or plan to retire overseas (clockwise from left) are Mr Joseph Mok, Ms Maddy Barber, Ms Caroline Cheng, Ms Jean Voronkova and Mr Nickle Foo

Singaporeans who have retired abroad. Are you inspired?

Some of them retire while they are in their 30s. The article cited retiring in Bali, Phuket and Taiwan. I am not a fan of the sun, so perhaps Taiwan will be quite nice given the climate except that a war might break out anytime soon. 😬 If you like a European country where rice is also a staple, you can consider Portugal. 

Readers who followed me for a while now know that I have taken a first step by investing in a rental property for retirement. I don't really need to migrate somewhere but I would love to AirBnB around the world. One week here, two weeks there and if I like the city or town, extend it for a few more weeks and then move when the weather turns colder. But to do that in style, I need to make sure my passive income is adequate (still working on it).

For those who don't read the papers, do read the interesting article and think about how you would like to retire one day and run away from soaring COE prices!

SRS Portfolio - 23 April 2023 

SRS Portfolio - 23 April 2023

Not much update to the SRS portfolio. The portfolio value is at $365k as of last friday. I haven't topped up my SRS for 2023 as I am still sitting on some cash balance of $78,539. Perhaps I should explore whether I can use my SRS account to invest in a cash fund that gives a higher yield... Any thoughts or ideas?