Sunday, October 20, 2013

Annunities

Of late, I have been thinking of retirement planning. Perhaps, in part being influence by the ads by Manulife on the MRT and in part, coming to the realization that I am getting older every year.

I am exploring two plans, one gives a fixed sum of $xxx amount once you reach 60 and another pays out $xxx per month when you reach 65 and when you are 75, it gives you a 25% increment to factor in for inflation. Once you reach the payout age of 65 years old, you can get a lump sum payout in addition to the monthly payout of $xxx per month.

So the plans are like



Company A
Company B
Years
26 years
16 years
Payout
Lump sum payout of
$12,000 @ age 65.

Lump sum @$6000at age 55

Lump sum
Age 65 onwards $12000 + $500/mth
Age 70 :$625/mth
Age 75-80: $781/mth
Every 2 years payout of
$300-$500
Total premiums paid :$433.80 x 321 = $135345.56
Annual: $5054.10 x 26 = $131406.60
Additional maturity bonus at age 85.
Age 55 onwards
$6000+($500 x 12 x 15 years) = $96000
Maturity reward of $228,432 at age 70.
Monthly
Premium
$433.80 x312 months.
$597.29 x  $192
$7167.48/year
Total
Payout till 80
$126,360 + $3000 = $129,360

$324432.


  I am wondering which should I choose. Should I choose one that pays out till age80 or one that pays out early. But what's going to happen after the insurance expires?



Friday, October 4, 2013

How to Travel in Japan for less than S$150 or US$115


This is a follow-up to my previous post on an  trip to Japan that has not been budgeted.
In this post, I will reveal my actual figures versus the estimates from my previous post.
If you are interested in reviewing the budget from the previous post, you can refer to this
(Budgeting for an unbudgeted trip).



I'm glad that the cost fall within the budget and some were actually lower than the cost I have budget for.

Here's a run-down of all the cost. The main cost that I factor in a travel budget are


  • Accommodation (Mix of hostels, home-stay, ryokans)
  • Transport(Trains, taxis, buses, coaches)
  • Meals(rice balls, instant noodles, restaurant meals, fast -food,snacks)
  • The figures quoted below are all in Singapore Dollars where I reside. So it will be lower if you convert the entire cost into U.S Dollars. Hence the USD 115.

ACCOMMODATION
Destination Days (Stay) Nights Lodging   J Yen S$
Tokyo 2 2 Kimi Ryokan
Tokyo
7875Y 103
Hokkaido-Biei-Furano 2 2 Cress Guesthouse-Biei
10000Y 131
Sounkyo Onsen+Daisetsusan 1 1 Resort Pension Yamanoue @ Sounkyo 8800Y 115
Hokkaido-Sapporo 2 1 Sapporo City S$68 68
Mt Fuji-Hakodate 2 1 Mt Fuji 3900Y 51
Tokyo 4 3 Shinjuku Washinton Hotel
3-2-9 Nichi Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo
Ph:81 33343-3111
  $252.20 252.2
          Total 720.2
TRANSPORTATION
From (Source Station) Mode Dep To (Destination)   Jyen S$
Haneda Airport to Kimi Limo Bus Haneda Ikebukuro West Station 2000 26
Ikebukuro to Kimi Taxi Ikebukuro  Kimi 1070 14
Kimi Limo Bus Haneda Haneda-Flight to Sapporo 1200 15
Kimi to Hotel Metropolitian
for Limo Bus
Taxi Haneda Haneda-Flight to Sapporo 710 9.1
Air Ticket to Sapporo(return) Place Haneda New Chitose Airport (CTS) 21600 283
New Chitose Airport to Sapporo Train New Chitose
Airport
Sapporo 1040 14
Sapporo to Asahikawa Train Sapporo Asahikawa RP
(4170)
-53
Asahikawsa to Biei Train Asahi Biei RP  
Biei Furano Round Pass Train Furano Furano 5400 71
Biei-Furano Train Biei Furano RP RP
Furano-Biei Train Furano Biei RP RP
Furano 1-Day Tour
Twinkle Bus Tour
Bus Furano Furano 1000 13
Sounkyo Train/Bus Biei Sounkyo Onsen/Daisetsusan 1920 25
Sounkyo Train/Bus Takikawa Sapporo 1920 25
Asahikawa  Train Sapporo Sapporo RP
(4170)
-53
Sapporo Train New Chitose
Airport
Tokyo 1040Y 14
Haneda Airport Kawaguchi 5th Station Haneda Mt Fuji 2400Y 31
Kawaguchi Sta. Bus/Monorail Gotemba Gotemba(Outlet Mall) 1470 19
Gotemba Bus/Train Gotemba Shinjuku 1630 21
Shinjuku Bus Haneda Flight back to SG 1200 15
Several Taxi Trips Taxi 5000 65
Subway Trips Subway 3000 38
Total 658.1

MEALS
Date B'fast Lunch Dinner To (Destination) Snacks Jyen S$
20-Sep-13 N.A N.A Flight Ikebukuro West Station N.A 0
21-Sep-13 Rice balls+coffee Bento Dinner @Ootoya Kimi N.A 5440 70
22-Sep-13 N.A N.A Dinner provided@Biei Haneda-Flight to Sapporo Autumn Festival 2050 26
23-Sep-13 B'fast provided N.A Dinner provided@Biei Haneda-Flight to Sapporo Tour 585 11
24-Sep-13 B'fast provided N.A Dinner provided@Accomodation New Chitose Airport (CTS) N.A 0 0
25-Sep-13 B'fast provided N.A ramen@ramen Village Sapporo N.A 975 13
26-Sep-13 B'fast provided N.A Instant noodles Asahikawa 350 170 7
27-Sep-13 Instant Noodles N.A Tendon Biei 200 605 10
28-Sep-13 Instant Noodles Cake Dinner Treat Furano 495 105 8
29-Sep-13 Bread N.A Dinner @Yoshinoya Furano 750 1190 15
30-Sep-13 Instant Noodles N.A Katsu Don Biei 600 1605 21
Drinks from vending machines Furano 1200 15
Total 196

What I realized
  • Try your best to have at least breakfast included in the cost of the accommodation. This saves you both time and money. You do not have to do the morning roll call to get everyone to be on time, norning breakfast at the time of accommodation normally does the trick.
  • If you have both breakfast and dinner provided at your place of accommodation as is the case with our minshuku at Biei(Will post updates on accommodation at Biei soon. Best place to stay at Biei), you can often save much more and control your cost, leaving you with more Yen for shopping, snacks etc.
  • You can see from  the actual cost that the biggest bulk of our budgets were taken up by transport which includes an internal flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido. Within Hokkaido, I think it is better to drive as the fuel cost is less than individual coach/bus trips.
What is not included in the cost
  • Two Onsen trips. One was included in our accommodation at Sounkyo, the other at Mt Fuji which we paid 900 Yen.
  • Overweight baggage cost of $212. Yes, for our first trip, we were over weight by about 14 kg and over weight baggage at SQ is expensive.
Takeaway
  • Japan is a well  organized country and runs on clock-work efficiency. Belying that clock-work efficiency is a culture that is always prepared. I find that Japanese are always prepared when they meet you or when they need to be in front of people or guest. 
  • They seem to have a planning culture and it is relatively easy if you do your research before you depart to connect on trains and buses to your destination.
  • Japan need not have to be expensive if you can live in relatively inexpensive places, dine where the locals do and learn a bit of Japanese before you leave. Otherwise, it's useful to download a Japanese app.
  • I find this trip of great value for money and it is one of the best trips I have ever planned for and travelled to especially as I don't speak the language. But be careful who you choose as a travel companion as you can see that I skipped most lunches not out of choice but travelling with a shopaholic who constantly asks you if they should buy multiples of the same items when it is cheap and takes a 'hella' of a day.
  • I might have more time to sample the local food if I had travelled with another. But would have spent more on food.