Financial ties while absent from SG

[PNGMK]

It's far too early for me to know where or if I will have grandkids.

[sundaymorningstaple]

It's far too early for me to know where or if I will have grandkids.

That is primarily my reason for sticking around. I'm watching 4 Grand kids between 1 & 8 grow up.

[malcontent]

I am certainly glad that I maintained ties to the U.S. during my 28 years here.

Things like having a good credit score and having long standing US accounts — I wouldn’t have been able to rent an apartment without those. Having a U.S. phone number (Google Voice) has also been essential, not just to make and receive calls, but I had so many new sign ups that required 2FA. And of course, having a U.S. credit card to charge things to, and a U.S. address (my parent’s home) to fill in on all of the forms which don’t cater to non-US whatsoever.

In some cases it just made it easier, but in other cases it was make or break. Moving around is hard enough; this definitely helped lube the gears at a minimum.

[Wd40]

I have also maintained my financial ties with India over the last 15 years and India has changed a lot. In 2009 when I left India, there was no national ID like NRIC in India. It was introduced subsequently. But everytime I went to India, I got something done. I got the national ID done for myself, my wife and finally my daughter. I opened non resident bank accounts and investment accounts and eventually transferred all my funds to India. I renewed my driving licence, I kept prepaid Sim cards. Have been filing taxes every year.

Every year when I go for vacation to India, I don't behave like an expat or foreigner. I behave like a local and try to use all the services that a local use.

Hell, not just India, I try to do this whenever I go. During my 5 day vacation in KL, I got the touch n go wallet activated and was paying there cashlessly

[malcontent]

I have also maintained my financial ties with India over the last 15 years and India has changed a lot. In 2009 when I left India, there was no national ID like NRIC in India. It was introduced subsequently. But everytime I went to India, I got something done. I got the national ID done for myself, my wife and finally my daughter. I opened non resident bank accounts and investment accounts and eventually transferred all my funds to India. I renewed my driving licence, I kept prepaid Sim cards. Have been filing taxes every year.

Every year when I go for vacation to India, I don't behave like an expat or foreigner. I behave like a local and try to use all the services that a local use.

Hell, not just India, I try to do this whenever I go. During my 5 day vacation in KL, I got the touch n go wallet activated and was paying there cashlessly

Some parts of the world make it easier than others to transition and live like a local, but the trend is moving against this. Singapore has also gotten harder. Back in 1996 I was able to open an ordinary retail account at OCBC with $500 on just a SVP; no chance of that today.

For US persons, it is even harder thanks to the heavy hand of the U.S. government. I’ve been turned away from Maybank and ANZ Bank here specifically because of that.

In the US there are still a few banks that will open accounts for foreigners, even as a tourist, provided you are there in person — usually with some evidence of a US address (for example, a piece of mail with your name on it that was delivered to that address). But these banks are few a far between.

[PNGMK]

Agreed Mal. Everytime I look up the rules for Australia govt services or whatever for returning expats I swear it has gotten harder.

[bxagw]

Ah, now we reached the topic of returning back to home country and our country make financial related services difficult for returning expat. I have plenty to rant about LOL, but I will refrained to do so. The government started to make everything difficult by stages from around 10 years ago (thanks to our president and finance minister). The principle "money solves everything" no longer applies there. If you left years ago without having bank account, it's a hell to open one now. Dealing with tax office even worst if you have inheritance, assets and money in the country. Right now I will play ignorant, and do the necessary when I return because I have no inheritance they have nothing to pursuit from me.

[Wd40]

Ah, now we reached the topic of returning back to home country and our country make financial related services difficult for returning expat. I have plenty to rant about LOL, but I will refrained to do so. The government started to make everything difficult by stages from around 10 years ago (thanks to our president and finance minister). The principle "money solves everything" no longer applies there. If you left years ago without having bank account, it's a hell to open one now. Dealing with tax office even worst if you have inheritance, assets and money in the country. Right now I will play ignorant, and do the necessary when I return because I have no inheritance they have nothing to pursuit from me.

Are you not a citizen of your home country? If not, then it explains.

India was a pioneer in allowing former citizens to live in India just like a citizen using a long term never expiring visa called OCI.

I know countries in this part of the world are less forgiving for former citizens and former citizens are treated no different from foreigners.

I think countries who offer dual citizenship are the best countries.

Countries like India who offer long term resident visas are next best.

Worst are the countries in this part of the world who treat former citizens like traitors. You don't get any loyalty when you do this.

[malcontent]

Just an update on my IRAS refund. As I think it was mentioned elsewhere on this forum, it’s supposed to be refunded back to the account where you had a GIRO arrangement… they even said as much.

However, when the time came, I got a notice that the refund didn’t go through and they needed me to have a PayNow set up with my FIN. I have PayNow set up with my mobile number, but not my FIN. After attempting to add my FIN to my PayNow in DBS, it says that has to be done in person at a branch. Fortunately I have another account as a backup that did allow me to setup PayNow with my FIN. I wrote back to IRAS letting them know that my former GIRO account is ready, and my FIN is now registered for PayNow on my alternate account, which is also ready. We will see what happens next.

I guess the lesson here is: make sure you register your FIN on PayNow before you leave.

[Wd40]

Just an update on my IRAS refund. As I think it was mentioned elsewhere on this forum, it’s supposed to be refunded back to the account where you had a GIRO arrangement… they even said as much.

However, when the time came, I got a notice that the refund didn’t go through and they needed me to have a PayNow set up with my FIN. I have PayNow set up with my mobile number, but not my FIN. After attempting to add my FIN to my PayNow in DBS, it says that has to be done in person at a branch. Fortunately I have another account as a backup that did allow me to setup PayNow with my FIN. I wrote back to IRAS letting them know that my former GIRO account is ready, and my FIN is now registered for PayNow on my alternate account, which is also ready. We will see what happens next.

I guess the lesson here is: make sure you register your FIN on PayNow before you leave.

Oops! Glad you were able to sort that out. In my case my employer has withheld more than what was due to IRAS and my employer paid the exact due amount to IRAS. Now I am waiting for the balance to be credited to my account, by my employer.

I had a CPF in lieu private provident fund offered by my employer. I managed to recieve those USD(about 200k) in my SCB bonus saver account and then I did outbound TT to IBKR account without any charges.

It is a bummer that USD is falling. For now I have parked the money in 6 months T bills at 4.3% yield.

[malcontent]

@Wd40 INR has kept up with the USD decline, at least YTD. Given the steady long-term INR depreciation trend, I doubt that will change anytime soon, other than short-term blips.

You could keep some SGS securities going if you prefer SGD exposure, but Singapore has a history of not allowing the currency to appreciate except when needed to keep a lid on inflation. Around 25 years ago, SGD and CHF (Swiss Franc) used to be at parity, and now 1 CHF will get 1.56 SGD. But will that trend continue? Nobody knows for sure. My Indian friends tend to prefer the higher yield options they have in India, since they see their future in INR terms.