How does the budget 2013 affect you?

[Watcha]

For the way car loans are calculated in singapore, 10 yrs loan is really not prudent.

They should just cap at 7yrs 70 %.

At 50%, if the 60k corolla 70k honda is coming back, I'll take it.

130k used to be a 3 room flat.

[pegasi]

I hear people criticize policies (not particularly referring to this one), and talk about how much the middle class is suffering. I see people go to protest for themselves and their next generation. I hardly see individual stand up for the lower class whenever a policy is announced. We assume the lower class is always being taken care of and deserve no luxury. We believe being rich is a sin and yet we fight our way to be up there.

The same middle class in the corporates do not accept a pay cut or even an increment freeze when the company is making huge loss and is bleeding.

I have to confess that I only take care of myself and my family, most of the time. I am the so called middle class and I think I am doing not too badly. In Chinese we say, 比上不足，比下有余。

I try not to discuss politics, at least not openly.

[ac_wong75]

Looking the amounts of posting here one can help to see that there were so many things in the budget but the one thing that people care about seems to be cost of Cars..... ;-)

[wolfeyes1974]

For the way car loans are calculated in singapore, 10 yrs loan is really not prudent.

They should just cap at 7yrs 70 %.

At 50%, if the 60k corolla 70k honda is coming back, I'll take it.

130k used to be a 3 room flat.

That's what I meant. If prices drop to this level, what's 50% down payment to buyers? This then becomes a double-edge sword.

[tsetse]

On the topic of the new car loan and purchase guidelines, I do support it even though it also affects my ability to change cars in future.

I have a friend whom keeps changing cars every 1 year or so, he always go for used cars and he always complain of problems. So finally after 4 or 5 cars later, I told him, eh bro, since u always complain about problems, why don't you go for a brand new one with warranty? It was then he confided in me, bro I very tight, every year end road tax, ins, roadtax, etc, I not enough to pay cos I stretch myself max max for my car loan and mods. He also have a young kid and family to feed then.

So that is why he changed a used car every year and got the dealer to inflate the price and loan abit more for the him to use to pay for his new car ins and roadtax(If any) and this snowballed till to an extent where he could no longer afford to change to cover and thus started borrowing money from friends to pay road tax and ins.

This caused alot of unhappiness in his family. I as his friend felt disgusted not because he borrowed money from me but because he could spend hundreds of dollars each time on his mods which he always does on a regular basis, but he has to borrow money from us (his friends) to help pay his ins and roadtax. And he knows he does not drive his cars long and still he goes to mod and mod.......

This new change although is very hard to swallow for most people (including myself) but I think it will make people think carefully before making a decision to buy or change their cars and with the 50 or 60% downpayment, should the owner face any issues down the road, one does not need to make any topups when cash is already a big problem by then and not stuck with a huge depreciating item down the road as well.

[pegasi]

On the topic of the new car loan and purchase guidelines, I do support it even though it also affects my ability to change cars in future.

I have a friend whom keeps changing cars every 1 year or so, he always go for used cars and he always complain of problems. So finally after 4 or 5 cars later, I told him, eh bro, since u always complain about problems, why don't you go for a brand new one with warranty? It was then he confided in me, bro I very tight, every year end road tax, ins, roadtax, etc, I not enough to pay cos I stretch myself max max for my car loan and mods. He also have a young kid and family to feed then.

So that is why he changed a used car every year and got the dealer to inflate the price and loan abit more for the him to use to pay for his new car ins and roadtax(If any) and this snowballed till to an extent where he could no longer afford to change to cover and thus started borrowing money from friends to pay road tax and ins.

This caused alot of unhappiness in his family. I as his friend felt disgusted not because he borrowed money from me but because he could spend hundreds of dollars each time on his mods which he always does on a regular basis, but he has to borrow money from us (his friends) to help pay his ins and roadtax. And he knows he does not drive his cars long and still he goes to mod and mod.......

This new change although is very hard to swallow for most people (including myself) but I think it will make people think carefully before making a decision to buy or change their cars and with the 50 or 60% downpayment, should the owner face any issues down the road, one does not need to make any topups when cash is already a big problem by then and not stuck with a huge depreciating item down the road as well.

Thanks for sharing.

I guess that friend of yours considers himself a middle class that is badly affected by the new measure.

[tsetse]

Thanks for sharing.

I guess that friend of yours considers himself a middle class that is badly affected by the new measure.

I think he is considered middle class but I no longer contact him due to some arguements.

[lefty]

That's what I meant. If prices drop to this level, what's 50% down payment to buyers? This then becomes a double-edge sword.

I see your point bro. But it still weeds out those who do not have that 50% downpayment but instead needing 100% loan over 10 years. .

A $200k car will weed out those who do not wish to plonk $100k cash and pay a $1666 monthly installment (based on 60months before interest

A $100k car will still weed out those who do not wish to plonk $50k cash and pay the respective installment

Similarly, a $60k car will likewise weed out those who had originally planned to take a full loan / 10years repayment.

Thus, at every price point, a certain segment of "buyers who normally bite more then they can chew" is prevented from over extending themselves and this group will end up not adding on to the COE demand, which they would otherwise have if this rule didnt come in place

[Newwatch]

I hear people criticize policies (not particularly referring to this one), and talk about how much the middle class is suffering. I see people go to protest for themselves and their next generation. I hardly see individual stand up for the lower class whenever a policy is announced. We assume the lower class is always being taken care of and deserve no luxury. We believe being rich is a sin and yet we fight our way to be up there.

The same middle class in the corporates do not accept a pay cut or even an increment freeze when the company is making huge loss and is bleeding.

I have to confess that I only take care of myself and my family, most of the time. I am the so called middle class and I think I am doing not too badly. In Chinese we say, 比上不足，比下有余。

I try not to discuss politics, at least not openly.

+1, well said, fully agreed.

[eastsider]

I dont know bout u guys but for me when it comes to car

The way i calculate is how much am i spending for the car per mth (installment+roadtax+insurance+parking+erp+petrol) vs my pay.

Even if i take a 5 year loan i will still even out the nett price for the car n divide it by 120 mths (if its a new car assuming drive till it gets scrapped). We pay insurance for the yr at 1 go but i still divide by 12 to count towards mthly car expenses.

Just make sure the NETT expense for the car is still acceptable vs ur pay.

I love singapore but the only 2 things i dun like is high car price n high property price. The rest i like them all, safety, systematic, 1st class country etc

[diapers]

Our property prices always pegged to prices in the vicinity. Its a sheer demand and supply thing.
Buyers will want a good selling price, and when there happen to be takers, you cant blame them for selling.
So in order not to let people profit excessively, the launch prices are pegged accordingly. Even then, when you sell it off later, high probability to make a decent profit.

Same thing for cars. COE so ex, still pple buy. Willing seller, willing buyer.

We are the bulk of the cause, which also end up with the higher authorities earning a bigger cut. Then we complain again when we see pple earn. Willing buyers, willing sellers.

Medical care can easily be settled with medical insurance, cost lesser than a well made 24mm strap for most of us.

The problem is there are too many pple with calibre, which are earning a decent keep every month in Sg at the moment. These can jolly well afford most of the luxuries, and if we want to match up, we just got to constantly upgrade ourselves and work triply hard.
The government cant be doing all these price stretching on their own, its backed by our own actions.

So before we just conveniently say " then you better think properly who to vote in 2016 ", we better think twice also.



Or.. Why not we just all move to msia. Haha.

[eastsider]

Moving to malaysia is not a good idea.

Safety is number 1 concern. The country is too big to control.

U think u can wear ur expensive wtch everywhere? Confirn kena robbed within 6 mths. U think ucan park ur bmw anywhere? Wait kena window smashed. U think ur wife n gf can just wear their diamon necklace everyday? Confirm kena snatched by bikers. Even if u have the money to buy luxury items u qouldnt because there is no occasion to wear it n too troublesome to worry about it.

[roguehog]

Is that what it is now? I have always been told that new cars depreciated the most during the first 2-3 years if you sell them. So supposedly the 2nd hand cars around that age should not be "very close" to a brand new car?

There again, maybe how "close" is subjective, and it is a different (but more correct imo) concept when we talk depreciation per year...

just an example bro, i saw a nov '11 volvo v60 for sale at $179,000 a out a month plus ago. back then the same car brand new would have cost about $200000. I'd rather spend a bit more with a full warranty then $20000 less with half the warranty used up.
I've learnt my lesson when I bought my current ride. It's been back to the workshop so often the people there recognise me on sight. they've changed so many parts on my car I should have demanded for a new car! hahaha!

[roguehog]

the govt, imho is too dependent on fiscal policies as deterrents.

makes sense. cos, in the end, they are the winners. they just collect the money from willing spenders. Makes me wonder, our country is run by scholars and supposedly the creme de la creme of this country. so much so that they can only think of fiscal/ monetary policies as deterrents??? I reckon now the question should be asked? has our cost of living really come down? Do you see it coming down with these measures? using high prices to limit our spending is a way of keeping our cost down??? how different are these policies from raising taxes?

i'll bet they will remove these policies just before the next GE. Or they will give out bigger Ang Pows saying that these policies have enabled them to collect a lot more money to 'share' with us. I hope fellow countrymen will look more in-depth and consider carefully during the next GE.

anyway, just my myopic take on the current budget.

[Watcha]

With the tiered ARF, they moved the target further for those who wanted a higher target.