Human Capital Analysis

Your human capital does not go on forever:

1. After the age of 25 your brain starts slowing down. What becomes easy when you are 24 years old becomes difficult at the age of 40 years old
2. You become very expensive, and add to that, your health risks, low energy makes you look an attractive retrenchment proposition versus the vibrant 30 year old
3. Globalization have made your job harsher, competitive and somewhat unstable

You are the most important asset, and it is your job to make sure you enhance and preserve this asset:

1. Certifications and courses to enhance and retain competency
2. Get an MBA
3. Network extensively
4. Develop a good EQ, maintain good communications with your peers, bosses and customers
5. Learn to negotiate well

Do it well and you enhance that 3% increment to 7% or 10%.

If you progress to make $60,000 per year,  the next 10 years you will accumulate $687,000.

If you concentrate on building wealth but failed to progress enhancing your human capital, you lose out on substantial and predictable “capital gains”. Your investmentsmight or might not generate the desired returns, but your pay compensation have a higher degree of predictability.

Financial assistance to convert to digital TV

SINGAPORE: The government is expected to provide financial assistance for up to 170,000 households to make the transition to digital TV.

Communications & Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said on Tuesday that low-income households will be assisted with nearly all of the cost of migrating to digital TV.

Two more estates in Singapore - Ang Mo Kio and Jurong East - can also now receive digital TV signal for free-to-air programmes.

The service made its debut in Bukit Batok last December.

The THK Seniors Activity Centre@Ang Mo Kio is one of the first in the estate to receive digital TV signals with a new set-top box installed.

The centre had trouble receiving analogue TV signal previously.

Lin Yau Yeng, manager at THK Seniors Activity Centre@Ang Mo Kio, explained: "The analogue signal wasn't as robust and we were not able to receive the TV signal clearly. Now, with the digital signal, that has helped. The residents are able to come down and enjoy the TV at our centre, rather than staying at home alone."

Those who subscribe to pay-TV are already enjoying digital TV at home, regardless of where they live.

However, for those living in Bukit Batok, Ang Mo Kio and Jurong East, they can now enjoy digital TV for free-to-air programmes even without a pay-TV subscription.

To do so, they need either an Integrated Digital TV (IDTV) - a TV with a built-in digital tuner - or a set-top box which retails at around S$129.

To help low-income families join the digital bandwagon, the government is planning to roll out an assistance scheme for them, said Dr Yaacob.

He said: "We're working out the details at the moment, but by and large, based on the criteria that we have developed together with MOF (Ministry of Finance), we think 160,000 to 170,000 households will benefit."

Details of the scheme are expected to be announced at the Committee of Supply debate next month.

Singapore most expensive city to live

SINGAPORE — Singapore has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) list of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, according to the 2014 list released yesterday (this morning, March 4, Singapore time).

Congrats Singapore!

UMS giving good results

UMS will pay a final dividend of SGD0.035 per share, bringing full-year
dividends to SGD0.065 per share and a yield of around 10%. 

Cash flow remained healthy, though slightly lower due to increased working capital caused by higher business volume. 

Given its healthy cash flow and
increased profitability, we expect FY14 dividends to hit SGD0.07 or a
10.7% yield. 

As UMS pays quarterly dividends, this makes it an attractive dividend proxy to AMAT and the recovering semiconductor industry.