How to actually move out of SG

[malcontent]

Right, but since I'm not of age to withdraw it yet, wouldn't renouncing my PR allow me to access it early?

Yes, if you really NEED access to it now, that’d be the only way. Most withdraw… not because they need it, but because they simply like the idea of getting their hands on it. In fact, CPF did a survey on what people did with their withdrawals at age 55 and a very high proportion simply left it in their bank account earning a lower interest rate. I guess it provided them a psychological benefit? But, not only did they lose the higher interest, they also lost the lawsuit protection that comes with CPF.

I would think about it this way - no matter what, you always need some safer investments in your portfolio to act as a ballast during turbulent times. Normally people use bonds for this purpose, but CPF has the same characteristics. By counting CPF in your bond allocation, is allows you to take more risk and safely ratchet up your equity allocation.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yes, But renouncing your PR is easy. As a PR why would you want to access it early? For me, and one of the reasons why I am still a PR is that until I can get my head around forsaking my country, the one I laid my life on the line for, I still want to have the best of both worlds. A nice AAA Moody's rated savings plan while I'm still here and a easy bail out if I'm not.

[Lisafuller]

Right, but since I'm not of age to withdraw it yet, wouldn't renouncing my PR allow me to access it early?

Yes, if you really NEED access to it now, that’d be the only way. Most withdraw… not because they need it, but because they simply like the idea of getting their hands on it. In fact, CPF did a survey on what people did with their withdrawals at age 55 and a very high proportion simply left it in their bank account earning a lower interest rate. I guess it provided them a psychological benefit? But, not only did they lose the higher interest, they also lost the lawsuit protection that comes with CPF.

I would think about it this way - no matter what, you always need some safer investments in your portfolio to act as a ballast during turbulent times. Normally people use bonds for this purpose, but CPF has the same characteristics. By counting CPF in your bond allocation, is allows you to take more risk and safely ratchet up your equity allocation.

This is a great point, Mal. I guess I just didn't want to leave cash lying around all over the place while not knowing when I'll be back. Also the move is expensive (new car(s), house), and with our girl going to college every bit helps.

[Lisafuller]

Yes, But renouncing your PR is easy. As a PR why would you want to access it early? For me, and one of the reasons why I am still a PR is that until I can get my head around forsaking my country, the one I laid my life on the line for, I still want to have the best of both worlds. A nice AAA Moody's rated savings plan while I'm still here and a easy bail out if I'm not.

Completely get it, it's the same reason why I had trouble ever applying for citizenship despite being here for so long, I just couldn't do it mentally. Now that we're going back, I see that that was a great decision on my part.

[malcontent]

Right, but since I'm not of age to withdraw it yet, wouldn't renouncing my PR allow me to access it early?

Yes, if you really NEED access to it now, that’d be the only way. Most withdraw… not because they need it, but because they simply like the idea of getting their hands on it. In fact, CPF did a survey on what people did with their withdrawals at age 55 and a very high proportion simply left it in their bank account earning a lower interest rate. I guess it provided them a psychological benefit? But, not only did they lose the higher interest, they also lost the lawsuit protection that comes with CPF.

I would think about it this way - no matter what, you always need some safer investments in your portfolio to act as a ballast during turbulent times. Normally people use bonds for this purpose, but CPF has the same characteristics. By counting CPF in your bond allocation, is allows you to take more risk and safely ratchet up your equity allocation.

This is a great point, Mal. I guess I just didn't want to leave cash lying around all over the place while not knowing when I'll be back. Also the move is expensive (new car(s), house), and with our girl going to college every bit helps.

I would try for financial aid and interest free student loans first. You can also consider superfunding a 529 plan (up to $170k per couple in one shot in 2023) as an immediate tax shield on any investment yield. I am looking at this as well.

TRULIA is a great search engine for houses. That is how I found the house I bought that my brother lived in for the past 15 years. CARFAX is a great a search engine for used cars. That’s how I found the Honda Accord my brother bought in 2019 - it was just under $10k and was in almost perfect condition.

When you arrive in the US from Singapore, it’s easy to get carried away given how much cheaper things seem — it’s important not to let the price difference cloud your judgment. Think of it this way, you’ll need the $100k saved in car taxes over 10 years to pay the $100k in property taxes for a $350k house over 10 years.

[Lisafuller]

We've applied for aid because tuition is crazy even if you're making several hundred thousand a year.

I've never heard of Trulia, I've only used realtor.com and Zillow in the past, just to monitor prices. I'm assuming once we get there we'll need to use a realtor, which I'm not too concerned about because it's a necessary expense, though from my understanding, the expense is borne by the seller.

[malcontent]

We've applied for aid because tuition is crazy even if you're making several hundred thousand a year.

I've never heard of Trulia, I've only used realtor.com and Zillow in the past, just to monitor prices. I'm assuming once we get there we'll need to use a realtor, which I'm not too concerned about because it's a necessary expense, though from my understanding, the expense is borne by the seller.

Yes, I’m selling a house I own right now, and it’s 6% sales commission borne by the seller (which is split with the buyers agent, if applicable). They make good money!

From what I’ve read, you should always apply for aid, because applying for aid is a requirement for certain scholarships.

[Lisafuller]

We have applied for FAFSA and done up the CSS profile on college board. Each school has its own set of requirements which can be a lot of hoops to jump through, but it's a hell of a lot better than spending 80K a year.

[PNGMK]

We have applied for FAFSA and done up the CSS profile on college board. Each school has its own set of requirements which can be a lot of hoops to jump through, but it's a hell of a lot better than spending 80K a year.

I'd assume you will try to convince your doter to apply to state schools and establish residency in said state to reduce costs?

[Lisafuller]

We have applied for FAFSA and done up the CSS profile on college board. Each school has its own set of requirements which can be a lot of hoops to jump through, but it's a hell of a lot better than spending 80K a year.

I'd assume you will try to convince your doter to apply to state schools and establish residency in said state to reduce costs?

Actually, no. For now we'll be living in Miami and the state schools in Florida while pretty good, are notoriously large and don't have a great liberal arts focus. We don't want her to be limited. Also, in order to qualify for in-state tuition you have to fulfill a minimum period of residency, and we don't want to hold her back any longer as she's already taken a gap year.

[Lisafuller]

Been crazy busy this month working out the details of the move, and right now it's looking like I'm going to be staying in Singapore for a bit longer while my daughter and husband move back to Miami.

Hubby has his flight booked for 19th April, while my daughter is looking at the first week of May. He's leaving early to get the house set up. She is going to have to take the dog with her, we discussed leaving him here with me, but she absolutely refused as he is her baby.

I expected there to be some costs involved, but nothing could have prepared me for the full extent of expenses. We inquired with a number of reputable pet relocation companies and were quoted anywhere from 8 to 10,000. I don't know if this is just me, but that seems absurd.

We're going to have to take him on our own, if anyone has any experience it would be greatly appreciated.

[malcontent]

Been crazy busy this month working out the details of the move, and right now it's looking like I'm going to be staying in Singapore for a bit longer while my daughter and husband move back to Miami.

Hubby has his flight booked for 19th April, while my daughter is looking at the first week of May. He's leaving early to get the house set up. She is going to have to take the dog with her, we discussed leaving him here with me, but she absolutely refused as he is her baby.

I expected there to be some costs involved, but nothing could have prepared me for the full extent of expenses. We inquired with a number of reputable pet relocation companies and were quoted anywhere from 8 to 10,000. I don't know if this is just me, but that seems absurd.

We're going to have to take him on our own, if anyone has any experience it would be greatly appreciated.

My wife sent her dog back to the US after it couldn’t adjust to life here (terrible skin problems due to the heat). I think she worked directly with the airline and it didn’t cost any more than a normal passenger ticket from what I recall (it was put in cargo). That was over 20 years ago, so I don’t recall much more detail than that.

[Lisafuller]

It seems like we're going to have to take a different approach, having him fly with SQ as checked baggage for the first leg of the trip, and then flying private for the second.

[PNGMK]

Some airlines (and SQ is one of them) have cracked down on taking dogs in the cabin. I would check with Detla / United etc first. We need to take our cat back end of 2026 so I am interested in finding out the answer too.

[PNGMK]

Looks like United still allow in cabin pets. https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel ... -pets.html