So you think you're smarter than a kid?

A riddle for you to keep awake... 

Eighty percent of Kindergarteners solved this riddle, but only 5% of Stanford graduates figured it out! 

Can you answer the following questions in one word?

1. The word has seven letters.... 
2. Preceded God... 
3. Greater than God... 
4. More Evil than the devil... 
5. All poor people have it... 
6. Wealthy people need it.... 
7. If you eat it, you will die. 

Did you figure it out? 
Try hard before looking at the answers 


Did you get it yet?



Give up? 



Brace yourself for the answer.... 

The Answer is: 





NOTHING!
NOTHING has 7 letters. 
NOTHING preceded God. 
NOTHING is greater than God. 
NOTHING is more Evil than the devil. 
All poor people have NOTHING. 
Wealthy people need NOTHING. 
If you eat NOTHING, you will die. 

From a Student to a Rat Racer

Money advice for new graduates

1. Define your financial goals. What do you want to have in the future? Write down your goals and a general timetable so you can remind yourself of your goals later on. Some good goals are: having a car in three years' time, enrolling in graduate school in five years' time, establishing an emergency fund within a year. By having a timetable, your goals become more realistic and attainable. 2. Look for a job that will use your skills, give you room for growth, and will give you steady income enough to meet your needs and allow you to save. The job market is very competitive but that does not mean that you should grab the first job opportunity that comes by. Weigh the pros and cons of each job offer and choose wisely. If the job offer comes with additional benefits such as car plan, subsidy for further studies, and profit-sharing, that's even better. 3. Once you have a firm job offer, draft a budget to help you plan your monthly spending. With a new job, you will have a steady income coming in. Start by saving first (see next item below), then allot amounts for regular expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and others. Live within your means. 4. Open a separate bank account for savings, different from your payroll account. This will be for your savings. Ideally, you should deposit money here regularly and make the money grow for future consumption. Ideally, too, you should take out the money meant for your savings (at least 10 percent of your income) as soon as you get your pay, so you won't be tempted to spend all of your income. 5. Save up for an emergency fund. Make this your priority for saving. Build up a fund equal to three to six months' worth of your expenses so that if anything happens-you lose your job or get sick-you can have a fund to dip into to help you in your day-to-day expenses. Don't touch this fund unless there's an emergency (thus the name). You can put this fund in a time deposit or money market account for easy access. 6. Once you have saved up enough money for an emergency fund, tackle your other savings goals. Save for that car or dream home in the future. Don't forget to start saving for a retirement fund because the earlier you do it, the better as compound interest will make your money earn even more without you doing anything. To give your savings a kick (in terms of growth), look into investing them in instruments or accounts that may give you more interest or yield than what a savings account may offer. Talk to your bank for more details. 7. Get insurance coverage. You'll never know what's going to happen, but it pays to be prepared always. Take out a life insurance policy if you have dependents. Buying life insurance while you are young also means paying for lower premiums. If your company does not give free health insurance, make sure you get one for yourself. With health care costs escalating and more so as you get older, it will do you good to have some form of coverage in place. 8. Read up on financial matters. Sharpen your financial IQ by reading more about personal finance and attending personal finance seminars. You can learn from experts to help you stay on the right track financially. Good luck and we hope all your financial dreams come true.

For those who are buying a Flat

Buying an HDB flat - Resale or brand-new?



By Goh Mei Yi (Compiled by Chew Hui Min)
There are two methods through which one can buy an Housing Development Board (HDB) flat: Either purchase a new flat directly from the HDB, or a resale flat on the open market.
A new flat from HDB tends to be much cheaper than resale flats in the same area due to subsidies from the HDB.
For example, a four-room flat in the recently announced Senja Gateway development in Bukit Panjang is priced at $242,000 to $306,000, but the median resale price of a flat in Bukit Panjang in the second quarter of 2010 was $340,000.
However, there are more eligibility guidelines for new HDB flats, including citizenship, and a household income ceiling. If you qualify, it is definitely a good investment for your family.
Direct from HDB
There are four ways you can buy a new flat from the HDB:

1. Quarterly sale of three-room and smaller flats
   Three- and two-room flats as well as returned studio apartments are sold on the first day of January, April, July and October.
2. Sale of balance flats
   Most of these new flats are surplus units in an established estate or town offered for sale through balloting.
3. Build-To-Order (BTO)
   HDB will launch a BTO site and invite applicants to book a flat. When most of the flats are booked, HDB will call a tender for the construction of the flats.
4. Design, Build & Sell Scheme (DBSS)
   Plots of land are sold to private developers who are free to design and price the flats as long as they work within the rules of public housing.
5. If you are in a hurry for a home or picky about the location, this is the method for you.
   
   1. Check out the listing of flats for sale in the Classified section.
   2. Contact the property agent or home owner to view the flats you are interested in.
   3. Get the HDB Loan Eligibility Letter or Letter of Offer from the bank.
   4. Once you find a flat, make an offer and exercise the Option to Purchase.
   5. Submit the resale application and wait for your First Appointment date.
   While a property agent would have a good gauge of the average prices of similar flats in a particular area, you should do your own homework and be aware of market prices. Here is some general information about resale transactions you can find on HDB's website.
   HDB Resale Price Index
   This index tracks the overall price movement of the HDB resale market. It is derived from resale transactions registered across various towns, flat types and models, using the fourth quarter of 1998 as the base period with an index value of 100. By comparing how it changes from one quarter to another, you can tell whether prices on the whole have moved up or down over a three-month period.
   Median resale prices
   This set of statistics provides the median prices for resale transactions of a particular flat type in a given town based on resale cases registered in the quarter. The prices are inclusive of Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) if the flat was sold at a price above market valuation.
   Median Cash-Over-Valuation (COV)
   You can find out what the quarterly median COV is for all flat types in any town. The COV is the difference between the resale price and the market value of the flat.
   Individual resale transactions
   At the HDB's e-Service resale transactions site, you can do a search for the resale transacted prices based on resale applications approved in the last three months. You can search by HDB town or street name, or by price range.
   
   source : http://business.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20100820-233109/2.html