In partnership with
🎯 Personal Finance Quick Action
Given we’re into February, many of us are probably set to receive (or have already received) an annual bonus of some sort from our employer.
Before we go out and spend it, though, we should be looking to “pay yourself first” by ensuring we’re got a gameplan to save/invest a set amount of it as soon as it hits our account. There are a number of things we can do with our bonus.
First off, we should set a good chunk or “lump sum” aside for either long-term investing or savings. This can be in the form of just buying into a broad-based, low-cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks global stocks or perhaps topping up your emergency fund.
Remember, a minimum of 6 months’ worth of living expenses is the baseline we should aim for when building a robust emergency fund.
If we think of putting a minimum of 20% of our overall bonus towards this then we can be happy with it although some advice out there suggests a figure closer to 50% of our overall bonus would be a good habit to get into.
Personally, I think anywhere within that range works depending on your fiscal needs this year.
Second, we should try to get those “voluntary top-ups” – that offset our income tax – done early in the year.
Whether it’s for your CPF Special Account/Medisave Account (CPF SA/MA) or Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS), these top-ups can be done earlier in the year so we can start that compounding process earlier.
It also means we can avoid scrambling to try and do the top-ups towards the end of the year when we realise we’re getting close to 31 December.
For other options of what we can do with our bonus in 2026, check out one of my latest Instagram posts here.
Money Management Making You Mad?
Most business owners hit revenue goals and still feel cash-strapped.
Not because they're not making money. But because their money flow is broken, their decisions feel urgent instead of strategic, and their systems feel fragile instead of solid.
The Find Your Flow Assessment pinpoints exactly where friction shows up between your business and personal finances.
5 minutes with the Assessment gets you clarity on:
where cash leaks
what slows progress,
whether your current setup actually serves you
No spreadsheets, or pitch. Just actionable insight into what's not working and why.
Educational only. Not investment or tax advice.
📷 YouTube Deep Dive
Check out my latest YouTube video! Subscribe and follow along as I share a weekly tip on my Tim Talks Money channel.
💳 Card & Miles Hack of the Week
In terms of air miles in Singapore, what’s the best way to think about online spending when we want to earn 4 miles per dollar (4mpd)?
One of the cards everyone talks about is the Citi Rewards card because of its ability to both earn 4mpd for online spend and pair with the Instarem Amaze card to earn 4mpd on offline spend too.
Granted, it is more versatile than “online-only” options but one of the biggest bugbears I have with the Citi Rewards card is the arbitrary travel spend exclusion, where you only earn 0.4mpd for spending on airlines, hotels, or travel-related spend.
Added to that is the other random exclusion on in-app transactions with the Citi Rewards; so think Apple Pay/Google Pay wallet transactions within an app like FoodPanda or Deliveroo.
When compared to the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard – which gives you 4mpd on all expected eligible spending – the Citi Rewards really doesn’t match the “I don’t need to think” test when spending on it.
As a result, for those of us who are looking for a solid online-only option then nothing beats the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard.
The only thing to watch out for with the DBS card is the fact that its DBS points expire after one year but if you’re not able to redeem miles (for points) at least once a year then it’s probably not worth your time “playing the miles game”.