Showing all Fitness Blogs for Singapore

People who are successful in life often fail to spend sufficient time on planning and structuring their estate, thus leaving behind a potential headache for their dependents. This often leads to conflicts amongst siblings and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth concerning their parents’ lack of foresight.

Legacy planning and protecting your family's wealth and finances should be the first thing an expat does according to finacial expert Freddy Meindertsma, read on to see his advice for securing your family's financial security.

The importance of writing a will

The ‘will’ is a legally enforceable declaration of how a person wishes his property and assets to be distributed after death. By writing one, a guardian for the children can be appointed, as well as an executor of the estate responsible for handling matters usually supervised by the probate court.

Without a will an estate passes ‘probate’ according to Succession Law, where the legal court will take it into their hands to conclude all your legal and financial matters after your death—with further complications if there are assets in several countries. The problem for many expats is they find this out too late.

Probate, by definition, refers to the general administering of a deceased person's will, or the estate of a deceased person without a will. The court appoints either an ‘executor’ named in the will or an ‘administrator’ if there is no will.

Singapore has always been one of the more popular countries among expats, but did you know that the island city-state boasts the highest paid expats in the world? According to a recent article by HSBC, relocating to Singapore pays off lucratively for expats in terms of disposable income and savings. But that is only a few of the many reasons why expats who move to Singapore are the highest paid in the world—and Team Expat has collated and broke down the facts for you below:

Fact #1: Low cost of living and working in Singapore

Contrary to popular belief, the cost of living and working in Singapore can be kept to a minimum, if one knows how. For example, instead of owning a car, why not use public transport? Not only is the country’s public transportation network extremely accessible—you can go almost anywhere by bus or MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) alone—it’s also really cheap. If you need to go somewhere that’s not accessible by bus or train, the option for cabs is open to you, and they are still more affordable than the cost of maintaining a car.

The Strait Times reported that living and working costs in cities with more space has decreased, and Singapore recorded the biggest decline at 16.6 per cent. Although this can be seen as a decline in local economic conditions or demand for property, cheaper rents could also prove to be a global competitive advantage—low rents coupled with high quality of living could entice expats to move to the country. Ultimately, the low cost of living and working in Singapore makes it easier for expats to save more of their income, making them the highest paid in the world, based on the amount of disposable income leftover after taxes, household and necessary expenditures.

Fact #2: Singapore’s financial markets are flourishing

According to The Strait Times, more and more millionaires are choosing to relocate to Singapore over Hong Kong due to the Umbrella Movement—a pro-democracy demonstration that began on 28 September 2014 as a form of grass-roots objection to the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) of 31 August 2014. Although it seems that activists have abandoned their fight, leaders of the pro-democracy movement explained that the struggle is not over, and that they are merely laying low until further developments in Beijing. As a result, wealthy expats from Hong Kong prefer to relocate to Singapore, which raises the average of 1 in 35 Singaporeans by 17 per cent, according to WealthInsight.

Additionally, Singapore is known for its superior quality of life and flourishing financial markets, which factors into migratory expats’ decision-making. An increase in the number of wealthy expats in the country leads to higher amounts of spending, which in turn helps to stimulate the economy more, if Keynesian economics are to be believed. Further reports from WealthInsight also show that the country’s wealthiest have the lowest average wealth in Asia (USD 5.2 million per individual)—a lower average means that the wealth is distributed evenly among the country’s population.

Think back to the day when you were packing for your big international move: Remember the stress of deciding what you should bring or leave behind? Due to limited luggage space and budget constraints (we can’t all hire movers to ship every piece of furniture we have to our new home), was there anything that you wished you packed but didn’t? How do you decide what you should bring along?

Packing to move abroad is a whole different ballgame from packing for a vacation. You’re going to be home away from home for an extended amount of time, and unless you have relatives to house-sit for you back in your home country, you’re likely going to sell it, along with most of the items you own. How you decide what to keep and what to sell requires you to do some research about the country you’re relocating to.

To help you along, Team Expat has compiled a list of items which, according to expats like yourself, they regretted not packing:

1. Converters and adapters

Unless your home country has the same electrical configuration as your new country of residence, you’ll need converters to change the voltage of the electricity to match your devices, and an adapter to allow your chargers to fit into the wall sockets. While converters and adapters are readily available in most countries, especially Singapore, it isn’t worth shelling out additional money for them if you already have them, plus you will definitely need them for the first few nights to charge your devices in case you don’t have time to run out and buy some.

2. Bedding

This is one thing that many expats tend to forget, since bed sheets and pillowcases can take up a lot of luggage space. However, unless you’re arriving early to a home furnished with a washer and dryer, or planning to sleep on a sheet-less bed, you may want to pack a couple of bedding sets. Doing this also ensures you don’t have to worry about doing laundry immediately when you land, but remember to check out the size of the beds in your new home.

Singaporeans have a saying, ‘kiasu’, a Hokkien and Singlish word that means a grasping, selfish attitude. Derived from ‘kia’ “afraid” and ‘su’ “lose”, the term is literally translated as “afraid to lose”.

In more ways than one, this “never say die” attitude has seeped into the Singaporean way of life, from serious competition for straight A’s in school to feeling downright guilty when one clocks off from work at 6:00pm sharp. Sounds ‘kiasu’, right? But the peer pressure remains powerful as ever, not just for hard working Singaporeans but also for highly driven expats based in Singapore who willingly respond to emails at all hours and donate much of their off-hours to work.

Working longer hours increases stroke risk by up to 30%

PARIS (AFP) - According to a research published back in August 2015, working 55 hours or more per week is linked to a one-third greater risk of stroke compared with a 35 to 40-hour work week.

The review of 17 studies covered 528,908 men and women over an average span of 7.2 years. Increased stroke risk remained once smoking, alchohol consumption and level of physical activity were taken into account. The study, published in The Lancet, found that compared with people who logged a standard week, those working between 41 and 48 hours had a 10 percent higher risk, while for those working 49 to 54 hours, the risk jumped by 27 per cent. Working 55 hours or more a week increased the risk of having a stroke by 33 per cent, the study showed.

Working longer hours is also bad for a company’s bottom line in the long run

Even the most slave-master of employers would concur from evidence that: cracking the whip actually costs the company more loss in terms of employee absenteeism, higher turnover, and rising health insurance costs, when employees have to put in excessively long hours at work.

Relocating to another country is daunting, however, Singapore is a welcoming city with easy access to modern amenities and facilities. The transition  can be made easier if you take the time to get prepared well ahead of time.

Singapore to the uninitiated…

A tiny dot at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore is an economic giant – globally. The vibrant city is a melting pot of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Arabic, and English cultures, an ethnic mix reflected in its eclectic cuisine. Flourishing under the late Lee Kuan Yew’s efficient and determined government, this island nation is considered south east Asia’s most modern city excelling in trade and tourism. It’s safe, clean and green environment, warm tropical climate, and excellent infrastructure all combine to make Singapore a welcome change for millions of expats around the world.

Important To-Do’s Before You Move to Singapore.

The thought of change is exciting, but it’s also best described as the lull of anticipation before the storm! Once you get into the actual hustle and bustle of logistics and paperwork, “new” experiences don’t seem so hyped up anymore. To help alleviate some inevitable relocation anxiety, here’s a list of  things you should prepare for:

Gather information

TheExpat.com is a great resource for expats moving to Singapore, and we are working hard to be truly comprehensive. Aside from our blog featuring the latest expat information, news and happenings around Singapore, check out our experts profile page for professional advice on relocating, property, finance and more; don’t forget to look at our classifieds section if you’re looking to buy and sell expat second hand items in Singapore; and our business directory will point you to tried and tested services.