In the August issue of Personal Money, there’s a readers poll on EPF. Some of the feedbacks are indeed interesting.

1. Studies by the EPF have shown that 70% of members who withdraw their funds in a lump sum spend all of it in less than 10 years. Yet 53% or more than half of the respondents in the poll plan to make one lump sum withdrawal when they reach the age of 55.

2. 84% replied that they did not expect their EPF funds to be enough for their retirement.

These two points taken together shows that the Government should raise the retirement age. Especially more so now because with better healthcare and nutrition, people are living longer.

3. Of the respondents who withdrew their EPF money to invest, 62% reported that their returns are higher than dividends from EPF while only 15% reported lower returns than dividends from EPF.

Why are EPF’s returns so poor? EPF should start buying land and wait for the land to appreciate. It has enough money to buy lots of land. When development takes place either by private or Government initiatives, then EPF will make alot of profit, and this will benefit the contributors.

Do you feel that it’s a chore and a burden to exercise? Have you ever put off exercising because of lack of motivation? Well, this article may just provide you with the right motivation to get you off your butt and start exercising.

Healthcare costs have been rising rapidly for many years. Less and less people could afford to pay for healthcare out of their own pockets.

Now imagine this, everytime you exercise you are investing towards a healthy body. The healthier your body, the less need for healthcare. The less healthcare you need, the less healthcare costs you incur. This simply means you save more money! And the savings could go into hundreds of thousands. Now isn’t that a huge incentive to go exercise?

There really is no knowing when the economy will start to recover. Unemployment rose at a faster pace in June. Unemployment hit 9.5%, the highest since 1983. With consumer spending accounting for 2/3 of the total GDP, higher unemployment means less income. Less income means less spending.

The US economy is of concern to alot of countries because the US is a major trade partner to many countries. As long as the US economy doesn’t stabilize, the global economy will not stabilize.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The economy will only start to recover when people stop losing jobs. And this is where the government comes in to play a role by creating more jobs. Only then will the economy kickstart again.

I could not believe what I was reading. British airways offered its workers to work for free. So, the employees work for free, and the company survives. Well, how are the employees going to survive? These people have mortgages and bills to pay. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck.

The Management should have proposed the employees to reduce their salaries by 8.33% which is equivalent to a month’s salary over 12 months. This way, the employees could tighten their belts without drastic changes to their lifestyles.

The proposal by British Airways may hint at more serious issues to come. British Airways could be facing a cashflow crisis. By offering its employees to work for free one month, the company will save the cashflow upfront on month. If the company had offered its employees to reduce salaries, then the cashflow savings is smaller per month and is spread out over many months. Why did the company offer “work for free” instead of “reduce salary”? Maybe because it needed to minimize cash outflow quickly.

So, would you work for free? I wouldn’t, if I am an employee. However, if I’m working on my own business, then yes I would work for free.