February updates

Chinese New Year came and gone just like that and I gained almost 4 kgs. Gotta hit the gym and workout !

Hi-Interest Savings account - OCBC
I was so happy when they announced that step up promotion for Jan 2019 to Mar 2019 for 360 account only to realized that my workplace has "kindly" advanced our salary for the festive season. and because the pay date was 31 Jan, I would not have any salary credit interest for month of Feb. This would result in a lost of $93, talk about first world problems

Mortgage Management
As I did my sums before the big decision to purchase the new apartment, I was confident that my interest would cover the slight excess that the monthly mortgage above my monthly contribution. Indeed when I saw my CPF statement recently, the net interest from my OA covers whatever the excess is required. meaning to say that my OA would at least remain or increase despite me having to service my mortgage. Chances are if  I start to reduce the principal meaningfully, the OA would most likely grow at a pretty decent rate.

CPF - Utilizing it for retirement and tax savings
Saw the revision on MA max amount and was on the fence of using the opportunity to top up. However I am still skeptical over the moving goalpost plus the poor track records of the current management of the monies in CPF. I think I shall observe for a while more, since my tax bracket isn't on the heavy side yet.