Your first job: the money playbook

Learn to read a job offer and a payslip, set up your first budget and loan repayments, and decide on insurance and investing in a sensible order.

The money habits you form in your first year of full-time work tend to stay with you. Many people accept the offer with the higher salary, look briefly at their first payslip and agree on an allowance for their parents without much thought. A year later, they can't say where the money went. This course takes those first twelve months in order: the offer, your payslip and CPF, company benefits and what they leave out, a budget that includes your family, your study loan, your first insurance decisions and your first investment. At the end of each module you have a piece of your plan to keep.

What you'll be able to do

• Compare two job offers by total yearly compensation, putting a cash value on each benefit
• Follow each line of your payslip from gross pay to take-home pay, including where your CPF contributions go
• List your employer's group insurance and other benefits, and note which gaps would open if you left the company
• Build a first-year budget that sets aside a fixed allowance for your parents and money for next year's tax bill
• Draw up a repayment schedule for your study loan or CPF Education Scheme balance
• Write an insurance brief that sets out what cover you need now, what can wait and your reasons
• Set a rule for what you do with each pay raise, and complete a 12-month money checklist before your first investment

Syllabus

Module 1: Compare offers on everything a job pays you

You will turn a job offer into one yearly figure that covers guaranteed cash, possible cash, employer CPF, benefits and costs, so you can compare two offers fairly.

• 1.1 Your salary is only one line of what a job pays
• 1.2 Bonuses that are promised and bonuses that are hoped for
• 1.3 Put a price on benefits, leave and the hours you work
• 1.4 Build a total compensation sheet for two offers

Module 2: Read your first payslip and follow your CPF

Read each line of a Singapore payslip, check it against your contract, and see where your CPF contributions go and what each account can be used for.

• 2.1 Every line on your payslip, from gross pay to take-home
• 2.2 Where your CPF goes and what each account is for
• 2.3 Ordinary wages, bonuses and the CPF ceilings
• 2.4 Check your payslip against your contract and CPF statement

Module 3: Know what your company benefits cover and where they stop

Read your employer's group insurance and benefits documents, use the benefits you are in effect paying for, and list the gaps that personal cover may need to fill.

• 3.1 What your company's group insurance usually covers
• 3.2 The gaps: cover that ends when the job ends
• 3.3 Flexible benefits, medical claims and leave you should use
• 3.4 Map your benefits and mark every gap

Module 4: Build a first budget that includes your parents

You will build a monthly budget from take-home pay. It sets aside next year's tax, gives your parents a fixed amount you have agreed with them, and starts an emergency buffer.

• 4.1 Start from take-home pay and next year's tax bill
• 4.2 Decide what to give your parents and say it out loud
• 4.3 A buffer first: an emergency fund sized to your life
• 4.4 Write your first-year budget

Module 5: Pay off your study loan on a plan

Learn how your study loan or CPF Education Scheme balance gets repaid, then write a payoff schedule your budget can carry.

• 5.1 Bank study loans and the CPF Education Scheme compared
• 5.2 Repaying the CPF Education Scheme, including into a parent's account
• 5.3 Pay early or invest the difference: how to decide
• 5.4 Write your loan payoff schedule

Module 6: Make the first insurance decisions and leave the rest for later

Work out what cover you already have, which risks you need to protect against in your first job, and which products can wait. Then go to any adviser with a brief written on your terms.

• 6.1 What you already have: MediShield Life, DPS and your group plan
• 6.2 The risks a first jobber actually needs to cover
• 6.3 What can wait, and the questions to ask any adviser
• 6.4 Write a one-page insurance brief before you meet anyone

Module 7: Keep the raise, make the first investment, and review the year

Keep lifestyle creep from eating your pay rises, learn the steps to finish before you invest for the first time, and end your first year with a checklist review.

• 7.1 Lifestyle creep happens one reasonable upgrade at a time
• 7.2 The raise rule: decide where the next increase goes before it arrives
• 7.3 Your first investment: the steps before you buy anything
• 7.4 Run your 12-month money checklist

Frequently asked questions

How long does the course take?

It takes about seven hours across seven modules, including the exercises. Most people finish in three to four weeks. It is most useful if you take it during your first few months of work.

Do I need a job already?

No. You can use an offer you are thinking about, or follow Hui Min's offer and payslip, which the lessons go through line by line. If you have already started work, use your own documents. The exercises are more useful with your real numbers.

How is this different from The Singapore personal finance system, end to end?

That course covers the whole system for any working adult. This one follows your first twelve months of work in order and spends more time on job offers, the first payslip, study loans and giving money to your parents.

Is this financial advice?

No. This course is for education only. It shows you how to read your documents and make your own decisions, and it never tells you which product to buy. For advice on your own situation, speak to a licensed financial adviser.

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