Important Things to Consider Before Becoming a Landlord in Singapore

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The idea of having a tenant who will cover the costs of the mortgage sounds great on paper. This situation makes owning a property seem like an easy investment. In reality, you must be ready to shoulder several fees and taxes as well as unexpected repairs. Not to mention, you must handle the stress that comes with it.

Renting out your property takes knowledge and experience. After a couple of years, you will know which strategies will work and which will not. In the meantime, consider these things before becoming a landlord in Singapore.

#1: ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE FOR SITE INSPECTIONS

Landlords cannot disturb the tenants’ home with unannounced inspections. Instead, landlords must arrange regular site inspections to ensure that the property is undamaged. You will be able to update your tenants if there are items that need replacement or repair during your visit.

With the tenant’s permission, it is a clever idea to arrange an inspection every six months. Inspecting the site will help you pinpoint or prevent severe damage. For instance, once floorboards start to rot, you will need to quickly fix the issue. Letting the problem brew for half a year may lead to ripping out the entire floor.

#2: BE PREPARED FOR PROPERTY TAXES AND MAINTENANCE COSTS

Additional fees such as property taxes and maintenance costs come with being a landlord. Most private condominiums have a monthly maintenance fee. This fee, charged by the management committee, is determined by your share value.

On the other hand, property taxes are progressive and are based on the Annual Value of your home (AV). The AV is the estimated gross rental income of your property per year. It is determined by a valuation from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Educate yourself about it.

#3: KNOW THE TAX DEDUCTIBLES

In case you are not familiar with the regulations, mortgage interest is tax deductible. The interest rate on the mortgage loan is tax deductible only if the property concerned yields income. Likewise, maintenance costs for the property are tax deductible. This can be more complex because you need to list all the items and costs of replacements.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

To check out the list of deductibles, you may go to the IRAS website. You should have a good understanding of what you can claim as a landlord. If you are uncertain, you can always ask a property agent or a wealth manager for professional help.

#4: BRACE FOR THE IMPACT OF VACANCIES

You cannot expect that there will always be rental income to cover the cost of the mortgage. A period of vacancy can happen for a variety of reasons such as the economic constraints of the pandemic, the tenant’s inability to pay for rent, the tenant will move back to his country, or the tenant’s decision to purchase his own flat. You will need to bear the mortgage without the rental income when vacancy occurs.

Moreover, do you have the capacity to service the loan if your monthly loan repayments are greater than your rental income?

#5: HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND

The situations stated above highlight the importance of setting up an emergency fund. Keeping six months’ worth of mortgage payments in the emergency fund is recommended. If you do not have it now, you can build your fund over time.

Your fund will give you sufficient time to find solutions in case you are faced with unpleasant scenarios. This will also help you deal with emergency repairs such as broken pipes and non-functional air-conditioner.

Sources: 1 & 2

 

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Follow these tips to prevent dehydration

by  in Lifestyle
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two office workers under an umbrella

When your body needs or consumes more liquids than it absorbs, you run the risk of getting dehydrated. When this happens, your body is unable to perform all of its functions properly.

Therefore, it’s essential to drink loads of water to stay hydrated, notably if you’re exercising or working out in the sun for prolonged periods. If you have plans to do anything outside, strive to do it during the cooler times of the day. Given Singapore’s hot and humid climate, make sure you’re dressed in light, comfortable apparel too.

Follow these tips to prevent dehydration.

Stay indoors

If at all feasible, stay indoors in an air-conditioned setting. It’s not a bad idea to head to the shopping mall or public library on weekends if you don’t have air-conditioning at home. Avoid sun exposure, especially between 10am and 3pm when the sun’s rays are at their harshest. Plan outdoor pursuits for early morning or evening time.

Drink when thirsty

It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day routines and forget to pay attention to your thirst prompts, but they are your body’s way of telling you that you need to start drinking up. Keep a bottle of water close to you and drink from it anytime you feel thirsty. Better still, drink water frequently now and then to avoid even reaching that parched condition.

Cut down on caffeine
kopitiam drinks

Image Credits: sethlui.com

Caffeine, the primary active element in tea and coffee, is a diuretic, meaning it dehydrates the body. This is because when you consume tea or coffee, the amount of pee you produce climbs. Dehydration happens when your body’s fluid balance is disrupted, and caffeine, by increasing fluid loss through urination, conceivably leads to dehydration.

Snack on fruits and vegetables

Have a wide selection of fruits and veggies in your refrigerator for instant access. You can also choose frozen fruits and vegetables, which are just as nutritious as fresh ones, and in some circumstances, even more so. Fruits and veggies, both fresh and frozen, make ideal hydrating snacks due to their elevated moisture content.

Supplement intake when exercising

Drinking plain water is usually sufficient to prevent dehydration. However, certain occasions necessitate something more. For instance, those who participate in physical activities that last longer than an hour may need to restore their electrolytes, which can be done easily with a sports drink. Just make sure to read the nutritional information label first, as many of these beverages can be high in sugar and calories.

Natural biological activities cause us to lose water daily, but dehydration happens when we shed more bodily fluids than we take in. We need to keep the right balance of water and electrolytes in our bodies because humans are largely composed of water and electrolytes. Staying adequately hydrated can not only prevent you from getting those nasty side effects, but it will also make you feel better in general by preventing weariness, elevating your mood, and enhancing your cognitive abilities.

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How to disagree with your boss and still survive

by  in Career and Enterprising
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two colleagues conversing

Disagreeing with your employer isn’t career suicide because fresh ideas can lead to greater insights. Therefore, if your company’s workplace culture encourages diverse viewpoints and perspectives, “clashing” with your employer will be a lot easier.

Nonetheless, it’s also important to remember that bosses are people with unique leadership approaches. The most crucial thing is to get to know your employer and their management style so you can gauge how much dissent will be welcomed with open arms.

So if you’re planning to disagree with your boss and still survive, stay on this page for more deets.

Avoid judgments

When it comes to communicating your concerns, be mindful of your terminology. You should avoid using judging words like “bad” or “ridiculous” as they may irritate your counterpart. Cutting away unnecessary adjectives can be an excellent move because they can be easily misunderstood or taken too seriously.

Pick the right time

When confronted with a dispute, we all react defensively to differing degrees. And the more stressed a person is at the time of a conflict, the less probable that the grounds for the conflict will be adequately heard. Picking a fight with your manager at a business meeting is pointless because he or she is unlikely to respond positively. Oppose only when you have sufficient time to speak with your superior regarding your dissatisfaction.

Be mentally prepared

There’s always the possibility that you will say what you’re thinking but nothing will alter. Thus, you better brace for such a scenario. Your viewpoint may be conveyed, but it may not be well taken, in the sense that it will not influence any processes, whatsoever. It doesn’t mean you will lose your job; it just means you will have to do what your boss thinks is best. If that’s the reality, even if you disapprove, strive to come to terms with the decision made.

Determine their communication style
colleagues at a meeting

Image Credits: bizcoachinfo.com

Taking the effort to figure out your boss’s main communication style will help you better connect. If your supervisor, for instance, prefers to interact through email, make it a habit to write them an email first, requesting to address them face-to-face about an issue. The more you know about how to connect with your manager, the smoother your work interaction will be. In short, be mindful of the other party’s preferred communication style while exerting your own.

Unlike most Western-style approach which encourages people to open up and establish their identities, Asian culture frowns on challenging hierarchy and articulating opposing viewpoints. Seniority takes precedence over all other considerations, and disagreeing with your boss implies going against the culture’s conventions. However, things are changing for good and there have been an increasing number of progressive businesses, notably in the tech and start-up sectors, embracing conflicting stances. Just remember to mind your tone and disagree politely in a way that adds value to the conversation.

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How To Succeed as a Dual-Career Couple in Singapore

by  in Marriage & Family
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It comes as no surprise that the relationship between life partners has an enormous impact on their professional lives. Sharing a life with someone entails that you are each other’s support system. Moreover, you must take your partner’s ambitions, needs, and wants to account when making decisions.

Career decisions affect how you manage your household. In Singapore, dual-career couples are becoming more of a norm. The Department of Statistics released a population census last 2021, which highlighted the current labor trends in Singapore.

The last decade has seen an increase in the proportion of resident married-couple households with working wives and an increase in households with spouses who hold equal qualifications. The proportion of resident married-couple households with spouses holding equal qualifications elevated from 44.3% to 46.6%.

Let us put our focus on dual-career couples. Dual-career couples were the largest group among married couples, increasing from 47.1% in 2010 to 52.5% in 2020. This significant increase was observed across all age groups. It is understood that resident married-couple households with both the husband and wife employed earned more. In fact, they earned a median monthly combined income of $11,101 in 2020. This is higher than the median monthly income of households with only the husbands were employed ($5,070) and those with only the wives were employed ($3,213).

As more households adopt the lifestyle of a dual-career couple, here are some helpful tips that can guide you through the journey.

#1: COMMUNICATE EFFICIENTLY

One of the main ingredients of a successful partnership is communication. Communication may take different forms for every couple, but it ought to be personal and practical. For day-to-day activities, you need to talk about the actions that will make your household run smoothly. Who will take charge of the household chores? Who will pick up the kids from school? Discuss feelings, ambitions, and challenges in a respectful and intimate manner. This will allow you to know what is going well and what is not.

#2: LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE

When you make decisions, it is important to look at the bigger picture. For instance, a mother decided to quit her job to take care of her kids due to the excessive costs of childcare. However, this decision can decrease the net earnings of the household and affect their overall financial status. On the other hand, taking a short-term financial hit to pay for childcare may increase the earning power potential of the couple in the long run. Think about your current situation and examine the best options for your future.

#3: CONSIDER ALL THE PARTS

A partnership incorporates two people’s needs and concerns on the table. Moreover, you must include the needs of your family as a unit. Listen carefully to your partner and reach a shared understanding of each other’s goals. Doing this will help you strike a balance in your life as a spouse, a parent, and an employee/employer.

#4: SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP

Let us face it! Communication does not come naturally to every couple, and that is okay. It is essential to acknowledge this and find other ways to communicate formally. For starters, a counselor can help you work as a couple to ensure that you are being equally heard and that you are developing your goals with consideration for one another.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

If your issue is finding time to communicate, you may ask a trusted family member to help lessen your workload at home. Seek part-time help while still meeting the needs of your household and your children. Seeking help can give you the physical and mental space to re-connect to your partner.

Sources: 1 & 2

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How to conserve iPhone battery life

by  in Lifestyle
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charging an iPhone

If you have owned an iPhone for a while now, it’s safe to say that you like both the design and the functionality of your gadget, which is suitable for work and play. Nonetheless, you are sure to have encountered drawbacks such as restricted battery performance.

The average battery capacity after a single charge varies greatly based on the iPhone model and how you use your smartphone. That is why we’ve written on the following strategies that can help you reduce iPhone battery drain on a routine basis while maintaining the majority of its functionality.

If you don’t want to modify any of the settings, we suggest you get a power bank, upgrade your battery, or buy a new iPhone. Otherwise, read on for ways on how to conserve iPhone battery life.

Brightness

One of the most significant battery drainers is screen brightness, hence, reduce the brightness of your screen to conserve energy. Swipe down from the top-right edge of the screen to launch the control center and slide your finger down the brightness bar to reduce it. You may also enable auto-brightness, which automatically adjusts the intensity based on the amount of environmental light available.

Airplane mode

When you’re in a location with a weak signal or no cellular service at all, your iPhone uses up battery power searching for a signal or attempting to reconnect. If your cellular service is poor, turn on airplane mode because you won’t be able to accomplish anything with a weak signal regardless. Airplane mode will keep your iPhone from hunting for a signal indefinitely, preserving battery life until you can get to a stronger connection.

Low power mode
low power mode

Image Credits: imore.com

When you need to stretch your battery power, use the low power mode. With a single toggle, the function suspends mail retrieval, auto-downloads, background app update, and more. Your iPhone will stay longer in low battery mode before needing to be charged, but just note that some functions may take longer to load or perform; they may not run until you switch off low battery mode or charge your iPhone to 80% and above.

High-power apps

Apps that require greater processing capacity from your phones, such as HD video editors or high-resolution games, can drain your phone battery. Keep to applications that don’t require a lot of data to launch or are mostly text-based while attempting to preserve power.

This includes the camera on your iPhone. While not as draining as other apps, repeatedly snapping photos or videos may deplete your battery faster. FaceTime is considerably worse because it must load both your video stream and the live video of someone else. Explore the battery section for more details if you’re unsure which applications are the culprits.

Is there anything more frustrating than seeing your iPhone’s battery bar turn red? Annually, the battery capacity of iPhones advances; this means that the iPhone 12 lasts longer than the iPhone 11, while the iPhone 13 series last even longer. Every new iPhone model, however, brings with it a host of new methods to deplete the battery. Consider the suggestions in this article if you want to help your iPhone’s battery survive as long as feasible when you’re out without a charger or power bank.

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