A RadioShack Short Squeeze Waiting To Happen [View article]
Thanks for linking to my article about RadioShack in SE Asia. I think the brand itself has potential to survive in Asia - just like its franchisee holder there has managed to keep alive the Borders and Kenny Rogers brands (or rather has figured out how to make them work) in the Asia market.
However and if RadioShack is going to survive as a company, what's going to matter for the next few years is how it manages to survive in the USA up until the point where the brand has a big enough presence in emerging markets or just outside the USA. That's the real question mark.
I also think they should have put Ron Johnson in charge to turn things around as RadioShack rather than J.C. Penney Company (JCP) and selling women's clothes to customers like my mother would be more his expertise!!! :)
Malaysian Elections: Will The Malaysia ETF Sink Or Rally? [View article]
Speculators placing bets? Local pension funds buying up shares? Its a good question and why I'm hesitant to jump in as there might not be much of an uncertainty relief rally after elections!
Remember and unlike other "emerging markets," local pension funds (many would have ties to the government) are big players in the Malaysian stock market verses the "hot money" or foreign investment funds...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
The Makati CBD and the Fort area in Manila. You could walk home at 3 am dead drunk with money pinned to your Barong and nothing will happen to you! The best part is that at least in the Makati CBD, you can find apartments that fit all budgets and walk to the office (you can also walk to the office in the Fort and Eastwood City areas where international banks in Singapore are probably moving many of their back office banking jobs to).
How much would a flat in the Singapore CBD or within a couple of MRT stops of it cost you?
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
Depends. If its an American company you do BUT if there is a tax treaty (I am pretty sure there is between the US/Singapore for retirement), somehow it gets credited or you don't have to pay into two systems.
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
You would still need to pay the 15.3% in social security and medicare taxes on the salary. The benefit of a corp is you can pay a small set salary and that's what gets taxed for SS/Medicare but then you have corp taxes to deal with. With an LLC, the SS/Medicare comes out of whatever is left after business expenses...
One catch: With an LLC, medical insurance can't be deducted as a business expense as it goes on the front of the tax form, not on the LLC schedules. Form 2555 for those living abroad means its also a mote deduction for expats - unless you are earning the big bucks.
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
I would add that the cost of maintaining a middle class standard of living for a local professional in "KL, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh" to be roughly in line for the most part albeit with some lifestyle adjustments e.g. it might be harder to find a certain standard of accoms in HCMC for a reasonable price, you will likely need a car in KL, maids are cheapest in Manila etc.
However, things have gotten way out of whack in Singapore. Maybe not if you are a local and get an HBD flat or already have a property BUT if you are thinking of moving there from somewhere else in the region or have the option to live in another regional city, the case for living/working in Singapore may or may not be there. The same goes for where you base most of your staff - whether execs or support staff...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
80 SGD to 400 to 500 SGD means the price has gone up at least 5X in SGD terms. According to my Quicken: 5 Nights at the New 7th Story Hotel in Jan 2002 (I was on my way to university in Australia) was US$26 a night for a total of S$225 or US$124.71.
In the last 10+ years or so, it looks like the cost of "eating out" just at hawker stands (always the most interesting food!) on visits to Singapore may have doubled to tripled - not counting the falling value of my US$ (Hard to tell as I do not record what I eat, just what was spent)...
If wages have kept pace with that C of L rise for most people, then fine. If not, someone is being squeezed and if they are locals, they aren't going to happy about it...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
@EconomicsCommentator - The person I know who said he does what I described has a US LLC and a local business in Thailand (hardly a tax haven AND there is a special tax treaty b/w the USA and Thailand) - he would probably be billing customers and charging expenses at both ends...
For me, its just easier and cheaper right now to write out a check for self employment taxes rather than get "creative" (which is also risky) as CPAs who are experts in expat taxes aren't cheap!
You can PM me for the name of the US based CPA I started using who is an expert on both small businesses and expat taxes BUT if this is something for future probate purposes, you might need to check with someone based in Singapore who is an expert on the tax laws of both countries as well as a lawyer...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
@karwai88 One thing I have noticed based on many of the comments/debate the "i dun unerstan u lah!..." post has attracted on various forums along those my own article has gotten is that many in Singapore (local or foreign), just like those officials who run mainland China, do not like hearing anything remotely critical (especially from "outsiders" or foreigners) and especially do not like sarcasm or mockery of any kind. Granted, the author of "i dun unerstan u lah!..." should not have used the word retarded etc as that word's meaning can go beyond being just sarcastic.
With that said, there are some points in his or her post which I know or have found to be TRUE (and if I point those out here, I will only get more abusive comments!) and others that are not true or exactly accurate and those are being shot down in the forums...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
While I have not lived in Singapore, there are some things in the "i dun unerstan u lah!..." that I find or consider to be true (no need to point them out as that will only lead to more abusive comments!) and other things that aren't e.g. making a negative judgement on the local labor force based on job applicants sourced from a job portal I've used in the past for candidate sourcing.
People should read that article (along with others like mine along with comments like yours - very informative although I don't know why you would want to leave Singapore to go to California!), the comments/debate its sparked on various forums and form their own informed opinion...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
True "wer'e all Eduardo Saverins now" - in spirit BUT not everyone is a corporation or wealthy family who has the kind of money he has to do what he did - renounce US citizenship, pay any exit taxes and basically buy or get another citizenship without much of a hassle.
However and for the long-term, you can't have a country/society populated by or only affordable for or only really attractive to the Eduardo Saverins of the world - except maybe Monaco and a couple of other places! (And I never criticized fines for littering or chewing gum in Singapore but merely said that's what many westerners think when they hear Singapore...)
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
@ljc.paul I think roojoo summed it up well.
Let me add this: While I have NOTHING against Singapore and I generally like the country, its not attractive for me to live there (unless I married a Singaporean or was offered a job there that I felt was both secure and paid a certain salary level...)
Let me EXPLAIN why as this may be TRUE for many other expats and foreign companies for that matter:
I recently set up an LLC in the USA but if I were to also set up a company somewhere overseas (I was told this by an American who does this), I could have that overseas company bill expenses to the US LLC to knock down my US self-employment and any other US taxes due (NOTE: I have not yet confirmed this with an accountant yet as I don't do it and I am sure one needs to be careful about dotting "i's" and crossing "t's"). So long as the money is held in accounts controlled by the overseas company and NOT distributed to me, its not liable for any US taxes as this is basically what Apple et al do in some form or another to "dodge" USA taxes.
When I checked on setting up some kind of entity like an LLC in Singapore, I checked on getting an employment pass to allow me to work for it and live in Singapore just for the heck of it. Besides the capital requirements (not too onerous), I was told I'd have to pay myself a minimum salary of $7k a month to get a visa to work for my company and live in Singapore. That amount would also be subject to US self employment taxes as its being paid to me.
In contrast, if I set up an entity somewhere else that's much cheaper to live, pay myself a token salary for living expenses and leave everything else earned in company accounts, I save on one of my biggest expenses and there are so many visa / retirement programs / investor incentives etc. in the region etc, its a matter of shopping around for a deal that's both legal and works for me.
The same logic applies for big MNCs and their armies of bean counters e.g. keep a few execs earning the big bucks in Singapore, send the remaining work to an office located in an investment incentive zone (with low or no taxes) in country X where salaries are also much lower, leaving all the profits/savings by not having everybody in Singapore parked in overseas accounts to avoid home country taxes etc.
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
@roojoo I bet if you mention going over to JB for a visit to a random Singaporean (despite the fact that many are actually or once were Malaysian citizens who moved to Singapore), they will react as if you are going over to the South Bronx or Watts or something!!!
I know there are some fancy subdivisions/condos going up in JB and then there is Legoworld where the price of admission is clearly geared for all the "high earners" on the other side of the causeway!
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
AGAIN, I am not the one calling people "retarded." If you read that person's WHOLE post/article, he raises some interesting points/observations - some (but not all) are spot on while some are not (albeit the tone and repeated use of the word retarded is over the top). The debate his or her post has sparked on various forums is also interesting to follow...
A RadioShack Short Squeeze Waiting To Happen [View article]
However and if RadioShack is going to survive as a company, what's going to matter for the next few years is how it manages to survive in the USA up until the point where the brand has a big enough presence in emerging markets or just outside the USA. That's the real question mark.
I also think they should have put Ron Johnson in charge to turn things around as RadioShack rather than J.C. Penney Company (JCP) and selling women's clothes to customers like my mother would be more his expertise!!! :)
Malaysian Elections: Will The Malaysia ETF Sink Or Rally? [View article]
Remember and unlike other "emerging markets," local pension funds (many would have ties to the government) are big players in the Malaysian stock market verses the "hot money" or foreign investment funds...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
How much would a flat in the Singapore CBD or within a couple of MRT stops of it cost you?
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
One catch: With an LLC, medical insurance can't be deducted as a business expense as it goes on the front of the tax form, not on the LLC schedules. Form 2555 for those living abroad means its also a mote deduction for expats - unless you are earning the big bucks.
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
However, things have gotten way out of whack in Singapore. Maybe not if you are a local and get an HBD flat or already have a property BUT if you are thinking of moving there from somewhere else in the region or have the option to live in another regional city, the case for living/working in Singapore may or may not be there. The same goes for where you base most of your staff - whether execs or support staff...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
In the last 10+ years or so, it looks like the cost of "eating out" just at hawker stands (always the most interesting food!) on visits to Singapore may have doubled to tripled - not counting the falling value of my US$ (Hard to tell as I do not record what I eat, just what was spent)...
If wages have kept pace with that C of L rise for most people, then fine. If not, someone is being squeezed and if they are locals, they aren't going to happy about it...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
For me, its just easier and cheaper right now to write out a check for self employment taxes rather than get "creative" (which is also risky) as CPAs who are experts in expat taxes aren't cheap!
You can PM me for the name of the US based CPA I started using who is an expert on both small businesses and expat taxes BUT if this is something for future probate purposes, you might need to check with someone based in Singapore who is an expert on the tax laws of both countries as well as a lawyer...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
With that said, there are some points in his or her post which I know or have found to be TRUE (and if I point those out here, I will only get more abusive comments!) and others that are not true or exactly accurate and those are being shot down in the forums...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
People should read that article (along with others like mine along with comments like yours - very informative although I don't know why you would want to leave Singapore to go to California!), the comments/debate its sparked on various forums and form their own informed opinion...
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
However and for the long-term, you can't have a country/society populated by or only affordable for or only really attractive to the Eduardo Saverins of the world - except maybe Monaco and a couple of other places! (And I never criticized fines for littering or chewing gum in Singapore but merely said that's what many westerners think when they hear Singapore...)
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
Let me add this: While I have NOTHING against Singapore and I generally like the country, its not attractive for me to live there (unless I married a Singaporean or was offered a job there that I felt was both secure and paid a certain salary level...)
Let me EXPLAIN why as this may be TRUE for many other expats and foreign companies for that matter:
I recently set up an LLC in the USA but if I were to also set up a company somewhere overseas (I was told this by an American who does this), I could have that overseas company bill expenses to the US LLC to knock down my US self-employment and any other US taxes due (NOTE: I have not yet confirmed this with an accountant yet as I don't do it and I am sure one needs to be careful about dotting "i's" and crossing "t's"). So long as the money is held in accounts controlled by the overseas company and NOT distributed to me, its not liable for any US taxes as this is basically what Apple et al do in some form or another to "dodge" USA taxes.
When I checked on setting up some kind of entity like an LLC in Singapore, I checked on getting an employment pass to allow me to work for it and live in Singapore just for the heck of it. Besides the capital requirements (not too onerous), I was told I'd have to pay myself a minimum salary of $7k a month to get a visa to work for my company and live in Singapore. That amount would also be subject to US self employment taxes as its being paid to me.
In contrast, if I set up an entity somewhere else that's much cheaper to live, pay myself a token salary for living expenses and leave everything else earned in company accounts, I save on one of my biggest expenses and there are so many visa / retirement programs / investor incentives etc. in the region etc, its a matter of shopping around for a deal that's both legal and works for me.
The same logic applies for big MNCs and their armies of bean counters e.g. keep a few execs earning the big bucks in Singapore, send the remaining work to an office located in an investment incentive zone (with low or no taxes) in country X where salaries are also much lower, leaving all the profits/savings by not having everybody in Singapore parked in overseas accounts to avoid home country taxes etc.
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]
I know there are some fancy subdivisions/condos going up in JB and then there is Legoworld where the price of admission is clearly geared for all the "high earners" on the other side of the causeway!
The Singapore Story: No Longer A Sure Thing For Investors? [View article]