HDB Loan Calculator

This file does a pretty accurate calculation of your HDB Loan, provided you key in the correct information in the blue cells. If you have not obtained your HLE, assume the full amount for the moment.

HDB LOAN CALCULATOR - DOWNLOAD

Take note that the maximum loan period is 25 years or until you are reach 65 of age, whichever is lesser.

The interest rate is based on the current concessionary rate of 2.6%. This rate is adjusted every quarterly, in January, April, July and October each year. Current HDB market interest rate is actually 3.38%

The file gives you 4 options

1. Calculate by loan period with a maximum of $40,000 (combined) parked in CPF-OA
2. Calculate by loan period without any amount parked in CPF-OA
3. Calculate by desired monthly payments with a maximum of $40,000 (combined) parked in CPF-OA
4. Calculate by desired monthly payments without any amount parked in CPF-OA.

You can choose to see either with maximum $40,000 (combined) parked in CPF-OA or without for the loan breakdown.


MAXIMUM OF $40,000 (COMBINED) IN CPF-OA

The option of having a maximum of $40,000 (combined) parked in CPF-OA is included because the first $20,000 in each individual CPF-OA earns extra interest of 1% making it a total of 3.5%, which is higher than HDB 2.6% interest rate. It means you are better off keeping that amount to earn that extra interest, if you can afford to*. Look at the calculated actual interest paid to make the comparison of having any amount parked or not.

Although the extra 1% interest goes into your Special Account and you will not be able to use it for other purpose except for retirement, it goes into meeting your Minimum Sum later on when you retire. That means, there is more of your Ordinary Account to draw out from when you reach the age of 55.

Having a maximum of $20,000 in your own CPF-OA on standby will also come in handy if you are unable to service your mortgage when there are no contributions to your CPF-OA for a period of time due to lost of income etc. The number of months that amount can help you out will be

Amount parked / monthly installment = number of months you are covered


MAXING OUT MONTHLY INSTALLMENT USING CPF-OA CONTRIBUTION

To know if you need to top up in cash on top of your monthly CPF-OA contribution to pay for your monthly installment, take note of the table below. All you need to concentrate on is the amount credited into your Ordinary Account (as highlighted in blue). If the amount is lesser than your calculated monthly installment, it means you have to top up the difference in cash.

Take note the percentage decreases as you grow older so if your income do not increase as you age, it means you have to top up more after every stage in the table. So take note if you plan to max out your monthly installment using your monthly CPF-OA contribution.

The file provides an estimate of the monthly cash top up that you may need to make.

Employee Age (Years)	Contribution Rate (for monthly wages ≥ $1,500)			Credited into
	Contribution by Employer (% of wage)	Contribution by Employee (% of wage)	Total Contribution (% of wage)	Ordinary Account (% of wage)	Special Account (% of wage)	Medisave Account (% of wage)
35 & below	16	20	36	23	6	7
Above 35-45	16	20	36	21	7	8
Above 45-50	16	20	36	19	8	9
Above 50-55	14	18.5	32.5	13.5	9.5	9.5
Above 55-60	10.5	13	23.5	12	2	9.5
Above 60-65	7	7.5	14.5	3.5	1.5	9.5
Above 65	6.5	5	11.5	1	1	9.5

*  If you are a first timer, you may not have the luxury of  maintaining any amount in your CPF-OA as it will be emptied when you apply for HDB loan.

Simpang New Town

Looks like URA is finally going forward with the plans for Simpang New Town which was put on hold till Punggol New Town is fully developed. Since plans for Punggol have already been announced, Simpang development can finally start.

The area between Sembawang Road and Yishun Industrial Park A is already cordoned off to make way for upcoming HDB BTO projects. It remains to be seen whether HDB will group this BTO as part of Simpang or Sembawang.

Those who are planning to apply for new BTO in either Sembawang and Yishun can consider waiting till the next HDB sales launch as the November 2012 sales launch do not include this Simpang BTO in the list. One good reason is because a new MRT station between the current Yishun and Sembawang stations will be built. This will be the missing N12 in the current MRT stations map.

The location of the station will most likely be where Canberra Link, Yishun Ave 2 and Sungai Simpang Kiri intersect, right in front of the upcoming BTO, as that is the equal distance between NS11 and NS13 stations. 

Those staying along Yishun Ave 7 in condominiums like Yishun Sapphire, Yishun Emerald, Eight Couryards and One Canberra and HDB housing block 165 to 175 will also benefit.

To pay off or not to pay off

"Since the interest rate for the 1st $20,000 in your CPF Ordinary Account is higher than the interest of the HDB Concessionary Loan, it would not be prudent to transfer the funds from your CPF Ordinary Account to pay off part off your housing loan as the yield earned on the CPF Ordinary Account is higher than the interest expense of the housing loan"

- http://www.moneytalk.sg/2009/03/cpf-and-hdb-loan.html

"An additional 1% interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a member’s combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the Ordinary Account (OA). The additional interest received on the OA will go into the member’s SA or RA to enhance his retirement savings"

- http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/Int-Rates/Int-Rates.htm

So it make sense to keep the first 20k of your OA as it will earn higher interest compared to HDB loan interest rate. Anything above 20k are better off used to settle our HDB loan.