Thursday, September 4, 2014

The Sell Out Option

Somebody must have peed in their pants. The national library put the books back on the shelves, the housing board apologized before animal rights groups could bite, and now the Ministry of National Development (MND) is hastily revamping the lease buyback options. Haste makes waste, as suggested by the Century 21 CEO, "I thought the scheme is trying to support asset-rich cash-poor families. Why would a family with a household income of $8,000 to $10,000 a month be considered poor?"

That question came about in the light of the changes proposed for the unpopular lease buyback scheme, to be implemented only from April 2015. Plenty of time to get it right - so much for the general's boast about one shot one kill. So what's new?

More Eligible
- extended to 4-room flats, currently stopping at 5-room and private properties
- household income ceiling raised from $3,000 to $10,000, which is dirt poor compared to those planners drawing $100,000++ per month
More hard cash upfront
- top-up requirement for CPF Retirement Account reduced to half the prevailing Minimum Sum (MS), confirming full MS is going overboard
Variable Lease Period
- standard plain vanilla 30-year lease now available in 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-, or 35-year lease options. A household must have at least 20 years of lease to sell, and only 80+ seniors can select the minimum 15-year lease option. And you thought ordering a Starbucks coffee was complicated.

According to MND figures, 250,000 HDB flats are owned by seniors aged 55+, and 80 percent are fully paid. The lease buyback scheme is good only for those eligible participants who have reached the current CPF draw-down age of 63, so it's still guesswork how many of those public housing flats will be unloaded. The previous scheme had only 800 takers since its introduction in 2009. Also interesting is the fact that the original premise concerning flat ownership was about having a stake in our country to fight for. With so many aliens brought onboard, the will to defend that stake have been shakened to the core.

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22 comments:

  1. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:02 AM

    Why do you think there is a new & improved Lease Buyback Scheme?
    Because wise Singaporeans voted in more Opposition MPs into parliament in GE 2011.
    Vote in some more Opposition MPs in GE 2016.
    And we will enjoy more good years for Singaporeans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:12 AM

    By the time people reach 80, they are still expected to calculate all these payments and transfer and decide whether this is a good lease or a con job?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:21 AM

    It may be inconvenient, but I would suggest rent out 2 rooms to earn monthly rental income rather than sell your lease. The majority of the sales proceed goes to retirement a/cs but if you need money urgently you only get small monthly payout.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9/04/2014 12:02 PM

      Now this is a useful suggestion.
      By definition, it definitely cannot come from PAP.
      Please vote opposition.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:22 AM

    From asset-rich cash poor to CPF-rich cash poor. Is there any wonder there are hardly any takers.

    They raise the ceiling just so that the lease buyback scheme can appear to be more "successful" on paper.

    Khaw is still treating our people as milking cows...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:26 AM

    Sell out option? That option has been exercised by the powers that be and we have been sold out. Roy Ngerng will ask,but where is the money?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:44 AM

    A loophole that will be exploited by new citizens, trust me. Our reserves will be used to fund these people when they retire back in their native land and still throwing monthly payouts from our government. Maybe compulsory NS should be a condition for new citizens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9/04/2014 11:46 AM

      I mean drawing monthly payouts from our reserves, the blood and sweat of our pioneers and baby boomers generation.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9/04/2014 4:38 PM

      I think it's call robbing Peter to pay Paul.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous9/04/2014 1:06 PM

    Seems to me like a scheme to officially funnel more taxpayers money from HDB to CPF (via MS). Mind you, in the cartoon above, the coupkle gets back less than 30% of the lease they sold back to the HDB. The remaining 70% goes to CPF. Are people seeing through the smoke or not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9/04/2014 1:09 PM

      Anything good the PAP Millionaires won't be calling us.
      Just vote Opposition to get a better deal from the PAP government.
      Your elderly parents will thank you.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9/04/2014 2:17 PM

      "Seems to me like a scheme to officially funnel more taxpayers money from HDB to CPF (via MS)."

      Just curious - is GIC asking for more money? Hmm....

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9/04/2014 4:58 PM

      According to the illustration, each member has about $120K to last 30 years. Keeping the math simple, that's about $330 a month to survive on, or $11 a day to stay alive. That can't be a solution.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9/05/2014 11:12 AM

      "or $11 a day to stay alive. That can't be a solution."

      "So how much is enough?" - Minister Vbala in response to MP Lily Neo for a review of social welfare benefits to the dirt poorest old people in her ward (who cannot even keep to within 3x his YoG target!)

      Delete
  8. Anonymous9/04/2014 3:19 PM

    Looks like even in the land of the fibreglass aquatic lion and other fabricated icons, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous9/04/2014 5:20 PM

    4rm flat with 65yrs lease valued at 450K.
    HDB buys 35yrs cost only 190K, whereas owners keeping 30yrs cost 260K.
    The sum doesn't adds up! Why is the owners 30yrs lease cost more? Is HDB being fair?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9/04/2014 5:23 PM

    The govt is going all out to lure the old folks to put $$$ into CPF. Why? Something is not right.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous9/04/2014 5:47 PM

    The elderly should just rent out one room for income.
    - I don't trust PAP's solution
    - anything good, I know they won't call Singaporeans.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous9/04/2014 5:56 PM

    Why nobody ask about the risk?
    What if 30 years later, the HDB apartment is worth $1 million? Will the old couple or the children be forced to hand over the apt free to the HDB? If so, the HDB would have profited by $800,000?
    It is ridiculous to estimate the price 30 years down the road. Who in 1980 when a 4-room HDB apartment was $50,000 would guess that an old HDB is now worth $450,000?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9/04/2014 6:34 PM

      Anything good, the PAP government won't call us.
      Singaporean want to sell to PAP government.
      You think you can get good price or not?
      There is only ONE buyer in the market ... the PAP government.

      I think aliens selling alien assets to Temasek & GIC probably get better prices.
      Temasek & GIC is not the only buyer in the market.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous9/04/2014 6:46 PM

    In the example given, interest rate is not a factor in calculating the nett cash proceed. What will a 30 year lease be priced if interest rate is zero or close to zero and what happens if the interest rate is 6%?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous9/05/2014 12:07 PM

    The state-controlled media is totally silent on the monthly payouts retirees receive who from the LBS scheme. A derisory sum of $500 per household based on 30 years annuities and a 3-rm HDB flat with 60 years lease remaining. How does an old couple survive on such a pittance. Do your sums for other permutations. 3rd world subsistence living at 1st world costs. They are only interested in making more money, not solving the plight of impoverished retirees. VTO

    ReplyDelete

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