Mother’s Day is celebrated worldwide on the second Sunday of May, and falls on the 11 May this year. Hopefully, you have prepared what you want to tell your mother or your wife (on behalf of young children) on a card and with a bouquet of flowers. A nice family meal together will also be nice.
Beyond these lovely items, there are also financial gifts that you can consider doing for the special women in your life.
The added benefit is that these gifts can be done on the spot – and are great last-minute gifts if you haven’t prepared anything!
#1 Voluntary CPF Top Up With Cash
Topping up your mother’s CPF account with cash allows you to boost her retirement savings. This can be especially useful if she was a stay-at-home-mum (SAHM), raising you and your siblings, and may not have much in her CPF account.
The limit that you can top up is quite high – up to the Full Retirement Sum of $213,000 in 2025 if she is under 55 or the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) of $426,000 in 2025 if she is older.
Though, you may want to consider two factors when deciding the amount to top-up: 1) the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS) and the tax benefits to yourself.
If she is a Singapore Citizen aged 55 and above, she may be eligible for the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS). In this scheme, the government will match every dollar of top-up to her CPF account made in the year, up to $2,000. The matching grant will be automatically credited into her Retirement Account at the beginning of the following year. You can check her eligibility via the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme Eligibility Checker on the CPF website – all you need is her NRIC number and date of birth.
There are tax benefits to making top-ups as well! You can get an equivalent tax relief of up to $8,000 for cash top-ups to your parents, grandparents or parents-in-law. Note that from 1 January 2025, cash top-ups under the MRSS will no longer be eligible for tax relief.
For example, if you make a cash top-up of $5,000 to your mother’s CPF account, she may enjoy a matching grant of $2,000 from the Government via the MRSS, and you will be eligible for $3,000 in tax relief.
#2 Buy Gold (And Perhaps Even Jewellery!)
Gold is a timeless gift that have held its value for centuries. Besides thinking about just the dollars and cents of it this time, and buying gold bars and gold coins, you can even consider jewellery.
Of course, part of gifting jewellery is allowing her the experience to select the jewellery shop, browse the designs and try on the items. While this may not be the most practical way to invest in gold, it is still a gift that will hold its value rather than drop to zero one day.
Gold prices have risen steadily over the past year, and historically, acts as a hedge against inflation. You can easily purchase a bar of the precious metal from banks or bullion dealers like BullionStar – a 20g bar costs less than $3,000 today.
Alternatively, you can buy paper gold for your Mum through an ETF, a unit trust or a special bank account. This gives you more flexibility to decide how much to get, without worrying about storage or security.
Read Also: A Golden Opportunity: 4 Reasons Why You Should Consider Investing In Gold
#3 Investing In The Companies That She’s Always Excited To Shop At
Investing can seem like a boring gift that is not very tangible. But, it can be done on the spot – and it can potentially also provide a very tangible dividend each year.
Buy your mom a piece of the business she’s already an avid supporter of. As cliched as it sounds, if she enjoys the bargains she can find shopping at Sheng Siong, it’s a listed company on the SGX that also pays a dividend of 3.4%.
If she enjoys travelling, you can consider investing in hospitality REITs like CapitaLand Ascott Trust, which owns over 100 lodging properties, under the Ascott, Somerset, Quest and Citadines brands, and located across gateway cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Melbourne, Munich, New York, Paris, Perth, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Or, you could invest in Singapore’s flagship carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA). Both CapitaLand Ascott Trust and SIA have a dividend yield of 7.1%, currently.
With the annual dividends, your mom can potentially buy herself an extra gift each and every year.
The list goes on, as moms can have an endless list of brands they’re already customers of and enjoy shopping at. This list does not have to end in Singapore either, as digital brokers such as IBKR, Tiger Brokers or moomoo provide low-cost access to US, Hong Kong and other major stock markets.
#4 Make A Lasting Power Of Attorney (LPA) With Mum
A Lasting Power Of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that allows a person to appoint one or more people to make decisions and act on their behalf, should they ever lose mental capacity. This is one very important aspect of estate planning, and would likely pave the way for general conversations with Mum about end of life care.
From now until 31 March 2026, the government has waived the application fee for an LPA. So, take advantage of that. Speak with Mum and choose a date to meet with an LPA Certificate Issuer such as an accredited doctor, practicing lawyer or registered psychiatrist. Doctors tend to charge less the other two categories.
You don’t have to make the LPA on Mother’s Day itself, of course! But on her special day, taking the time to have a meaningful and honest conversation with her about her desires and wishes for herself and the family will go a long way.
Read Also: What Is Lasting Power Of Attorney (LPA) And Why All Singaporeans Should Make One
#5 Health Is Wealth, And Time Is Money
This may seem to be a bit of a “cheat” answer – but it is in line with what we believe at DollarsAndSense. Perhaps the best financial gift for Mum this Mother’s Day is the gift of better health and time together.
First, review their medical and hospitalisation insurance policies with her. Find out if there are any gaps in coverage, especially for early detection of critical illnesses. At the same time, check and make sure she is not overinsured and paying exorbitant premiums for coverage she probably won’t utilise or cannot easily afford.
Secondly, make the commitment to accompany her to a comprehensive health screening, such as those offered under Screen for Life, our national screening programme. Going through the tests to assess Mum’s state of health will help to recognise potential medical risk factors and may motivate her to make lifestyle changes that both of you can do together.
Ultimately, the real gift goes beyond this one day a year. It is having Mum in our lives and giving them the same love, care and support they showed us all of our lives.
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