You will build a short list of official sources you can check in a minute.
Kelvin now knows where the current figures live, but he knows it the way you know a phone number you've dialled once. Next January, when he's working out his CPF top-up again, he'll be back to searching and clicking the first result. What he needs is a short list he can open in a few seconds, with the right page already found.
This exercise builds that list. It takes about twenty minutes, and you'll use it every time an assistant gives you a figure, an article quotes a rate, or you're about to act on a number.
Open a new tab in the spreadsheet that holds your budget from module 2, or a new sheet beside it. Keeping the source list in the same file as your budget means you'll see it whenever you work on your money.
Create one row for each of these topics: CPF, tax, insurance, investing, loans and credit, and scams. That's six. Add others if they matter to you, such as housing if you're planning to buy, or a row for your employer's benefits if your company has an internal portal.
Give the list these headings, from left to right:
Official site: the organisation and its web address. The page you use: the specific page that answers your usual question. What's published there: in a few words, the figures or rules you'd look up. Last checked: the date you last opened the page and confirmed it was current.
The second column is what makes the list fast. "cpf.gov.sg" is a start, but what you actually need is the page with the contribution rate table, so copy its full address from the browser bar.
Work through the rows using lesson 6.3, Where to look up the current figure. Here's how Kelvin filled in the first few, as a worked example.
CPF. Official site: CPF Board, cpf.gov.sg. The page he uses: the contribution rates page for employees. What's published there: contribution rates by age group, the salary ceilings and the date they apply from. He added a second CPF row for the interest rates page, because that's a separate question he asks.
Tax. Official site: IRAS, iras.gov.sg. The page he uses: the page listing personal income tax reliefs. What's published there: each relief, its conditions and cap, for the current year of assessment.
Investing. Official site: MAS, mas.gov.sg. The page he uses: the Financial Institutions Directory, plus a second row for the Singapore Savings Bonds page. What's published there: which firms are licensed and for what; the current bond issue and its rates.
Scams. Official site: ScamShield, scamshield.gov.sg. What's published there: current scam types and how to report one. He added the MAS Investor Alert List here as well, because the scams he worries about most are investment ones.
For insurance, his row points to MoneySense for plain guides and to his own policy documents, which he keeps in one folder, for the terms that apply to him. For loans and credit, he listed Credit Bureau Singapore for his credit report, the Registry of Moneylenders on mlaw.gov.sg for checking a lender, and Credit Counselling Singapore at ccs.org.sg as the place to go if debt ever got out of hand.
Open each page as you add it. Make sure the address works and that the page shows what you expect. Then enter today's date in the last checked column.
The list only works if you use it. Two habits help.
First, whenever an assistant, an article or a salesperson gives you a figure you're about to act on, open the matching row and check it, which should take under a minute. If the figure matches, note the date. If it doesn't, you've just avoided acting on a wrong number.
Second, once a year, during the annual money review from The Singapore personal finance system, lesson 9.1, What to check every year, layer by layer, open every link on the list. Government websites get reorganised and pages move. Fix any broken link, and update the last checked date.
A finished list has at least six rows, each with an official site, a specific page address, a short note on what you'd look up there and a date, and it fits on one screen. Lesson 7.4, Write your personal AI money rules, will point to it as the place your current figures come from.
Start with the topics you'd check most often, and give each row the exact page you would open.
Create a source list with at least six topics, each with an official link and a note of what you would look up there.
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