Quarterly Checkpoint – My Sweet Retirement Goals for 2020

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Besides the disruption of the COVID-19 outbreak to my financials, the other goals that I have set for myself in the year 2020 have also been affected as well. I was watching a video on productivity on Udemy and came to learn about Chris Guillebeau. As shared by Chris Guillebeau, we should always track and check the status of our goals daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly so that we do not lose focus. Constant tracking of our goals ensure that we are making progression towards achieving our goals at the end of the year.

Since we have reached the quarter of the year, let me recap the goals that I have set for myself in 2020.

Goals Status as of April 2020 Not Met / Partially Met / Met
A Better Parent
Do at least 1 activity together per month Before the sports facilities are closed before COVID-19 outbreak, we do go swimming together as a family once a week. We also visited the arcade at least once a month. Met
Contribute at least S$600 to each of my child OCBC Young Savers Account I have contributed $150 to each of my child savings account from January to March. Met
A Better Leader
Read 12 Self Improvement Books Below are some good reads that I have borrowed from National Library.

  • Goodbye Things – Fumio Sasaki
  • Make Space – Regina Wong
 Partially Met

(1 book short. I am supposed to read 1 book each month)
Watch 12 Courses From Udemy
  • 7 Scientifically Proven Steps to Increase Your Influence
  • Self-Confidence: 40 minute Confidence and Self Esteem Guide
  • Radiate Confidence: How to Create a 1000 Watt Presence
  • How to be Successful: Create A Growth Mindset For Success
  • Time Management Mastery: Do More, Stress Less
  • Stress Management: 40+ easy ways to deal with stress
  • Time Management Secrets For Busy People
 Met

(7 self learning videos watched)
A Healthier and Fitter Me
Run 300KM I have ran a total distance of 165.7KM from January to March. Met
Workout at Gym 36 Times I used to visit the gym once a week. I have only managed to visit the gym once in January before the COVID-19 outbreak. The gyms are closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Not Met

(Impacted by COVID-19)
Less Financial Stress
Achieve 11.5K of Passive Income The stock market has crashed due to COVID-19 outbreak. With REITs slashing dividends payout, I doubt I am able to achieve this goal in 2020. Not Met

(Impacted by COVID-19)
Purchase 8K Worth of Singapore Savings Bonds I have purchased S$1000 worth of Singapore Savings Bonds from January to March. With falling interest rates, I am still hesitating if I should continue my regular purchase of Singapore Savings Bonds. Partially Met

(Skipped March Issue of SSB)

COVID-19 has certainly disrupted my resolutions for 2020, especially my financial goals. With the government announcing COVID-19 counter measures such as “circuit breaker”, I will most likely be spending more time at home, so are my kids. It is probably a good time to catch up with more reading and exercise to keep fit.

Have you been catching up with your goals for 2020?

DBS Fixed Deposit Is Offering 1.40% per annum

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In this month’s search of The Best Fixed Deposits of April 2020, some readers have highlighted to me that DBS Bank is offering fixed deposit interest rates as high as 1.40% per annum. This is slightly lower than what MayBank have to offer at 1.45% per annum but it is still attractive.

When you navigate to the DBS Bank Rates Online for Fixed Deposits, a banner that says “Revision of SGD Fixed Deposit interest rates from 2 April 2020. Click here for information on revised rates.” will appear at the top of the web page as shown in the below screenshot. Clicking on the link opens a PDF document that shows the revised interest rates. Alternatively, you can lookup the interest rate that you will get on the web page itself.

Based on a deposit of S$10,000 at the interest rate of 1.40% per annum for 12 months, you will receive S$140 at maturity. It is very strange but if you decided to do a longer placement of 18 months, 24 months or longer, the interest rate gets lower as shown in the table below.

Where to Find the Fixed Deposit Interest Rates

DBS Fixed Deposit Interest Rates (Effective 06/04/2020)

The Best Fixed Deposits of April 2020

My Sweet Retirement 6 Comments

It is extremely challenging to find good fixed deposit promotions this month as I can see banks either reducing the duration of the fixed deposit or keep on adjusting their interest rate. The 1 year interest rate for May 2020 Singapore Savings Bonds has fallen as low as 0.96%, thus any of the fixed deposits promotion below beats the Singapore Savings Bonds. Should the market crashes again, I believe banks will revise their interest rates again which happened last month.

I was extremely surprised that MayBank kept their interest rate for their fixed deposit at 1.45% per annum while I saw other banks slashing their interest rates to around 1.00% per annum.

If you have extra cash to lock in for 3 years, I will seriously request you to consider the NTUC Capital Plus single premium endowment plan which offers a guaranteed return of 2.13% p.a for 3 years. I have purchased NTUC Capital Plus using my Supplementary Retirement Scheme funds.

If you are looking for something extremely low risk right now to park your money, below are the list of Fixed Deposit promotions that I have collated for the month of April 2020:

MayBank Singapore Dollar Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 1.45%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

The total interest that you will receive if you place S$20,000 for 12 months is S$290.00. However, there are some catch should you choose to place your fixed deposit with MayBank

  • Every S$1,000 deposited into Maybank Current or Savings accounts (minimum S$2,000)
  • You can deposit S$10,000 into Maybank Singapore Dollar Time Deposit accounts (minimum S$20,000)
  • Receive 1.45% p.a. on 12-month Singapore Dollar Time Deposit

Hong Leong Finance Deposit Promotion

Interest Rate: 1.30%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: Not stated

The total interest that you will receive if you place S$20,000 for 12 months with Hong Leong Finance at an interest rate of 1.30% per annum is S$260.00.

CIMB Fast Fixed Deposit Promotion

Interest rate: 1.10%, Minimum Placement: S$10,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2020

The total interest that you will receive if you place S$10,000 for 12 months with CIMB at an interest rate of 1.10% per annum is S$110.00.

Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore)

Interest Rate: 0.90%, Minimum Placement: S$25,000, Promotion Valid Until: 7th April 2020

The interest that you will get is S$150.00 based on an interest rate of 0.90% p.a. for a placement of S$25,000 for 8 months.

If you are a priority customer, the interest that you will get is S$166.67 based on an interest rate of 1.00% p.a. for a placement of S$25,000 for 8 months.

UOB Time Deposit

Interest Rate: 1.00%, Minimum Placement: S$20,000, Promotion Valid Until: 30th April 2020

The total interest that you will receive if you place S$20,000 for 10 months with UOB at an interest rate of 1.00% per annum is S$166.67.