SG Wealth Builder

Make money. Build Wealth. Preserve Wealth

Year: 2014

Keppel DC REIT
Blog updates 

Creating a high traffic blog

sgwealthbuilder 400 Views 0 Comments

If you are looking at starting a personal or professional blog, having a high traffic is vital to the success of your project. This may seem like common sense to many readers but many bloggers consistently overlook the importance of online traffic because they don’t realise that unlike brick and mortar business, or traditional mainstream media (e.g. newspapers and radio), unique visitors to your blog do not happen by chance.

In today’s context, given the billions of websites in the online galaxy, you cannot expect to achieve overnight success by advertising through newspapers or radio. You must have a sustainable strategy to capture traffic and make your online project a success. This is because the more unique visits your blog gets, the more established it becomes. More unique visitors would mean that a large group of people have visited your blog and read the content. This means that your marketing technique is successful.

Singapore finance blog

Once you succeed in creating a high traffic blog, you can easily devise ways to monetize your blog and create a form of passive income for yourself. It is thus important to know the technique that drives traffic to your blog because it can determine whether you can make money out of it.

Read more
Money management; personal finance; Investment 

Building your wealth in Singapore

sgwealthbuilder 342 Views 4 Comments
Hi SG Wealth Builder,
 
Let me first introduce myself. I’m currently an undergraduate and I would like to seek some advice from you because I’m quite lost. How can I increase my wealth to the next level? I’ve been making thousands every month month through trading for the last 2 years but I want to earn more. Is there any way to achieve this?
 
PS: In case you think I’m kidding around, I’ve attached my profit for March.
Thanks. 🙂
 
Yours sincerely,
Jacky
Many Singaporeans want to make money and become rich quick but very few bother to acquire the investment knowledge needed to build wealth.

I received the above letter from one of my readers a couple of weeks ago but could not find the time to reply due to my work commitment. As usual, I was reluctant to provide specific advice or guidance on investments that would mislead my readers into thinking that I am a financial guru. I just want to emphasize again that I am not. As a matter of fact, I don’t even work in the finance sector. But after much thoughts, I decided to share some of my insights pertaining to the reader’s question.

Read more
Property investment; Singapore market; housing prices 

Property Investors’ Alert: HDB COV Falls to Zero in Feb 2014

sgwealthbuilder 633 Views 0 Comments
SG Wealth Builder is pleased to form a partnership with SRX Singapore Property to bring you the latest information on property trend in Singapore. Below article is based on information provided by SRX Research and readers must not interpret it as a form of financial advice. HDB median COV dropped to ZERO. Overall HDB Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) dropped from $3,000 in January 2014 to zero in Feb 2014. This is the first time COV hit zero since 2006 when SRX began collecting COV records. 

 COV Trend

 
(2). Twelve out of 28 HDB Towns saw zero or negative median COV. This is an increase from seven HDB towns in January that saw zero or negative COV. Bukit Panjang, Punggol, Sembawang, Sengkang and Woodlands led the drop with negative overall median COVs recorded in Feb. Bedok, Bukit Batok, Chao Chu Kang, Geylang, Jurong West, Tampines and Yishun recorded zero overall median COV.

 HDB Median COV by Town and Property Type

 
(3). Almost four in ten HDB deals closed below valuation. According to transaction records from srx.com.sg agencies, 37.3% of HDB resale deals were closed below valuation in February. This represents a 7.9 percentage point increase from 29.4% of negative COVs in Jan.
 
(4). HDB resale prices fell 1.8%. Overall, HDB resale prices fell 1.8% in February.
Read more
personal finance
personal finance 

Money Wisdom from Li Ka Shing

sgwealthbuilder 473 Views 0 Comments

Many Singaporeans want to be rich and retire early in Singapore. But not many of them are keen to invest the time and energy to gain the knowledge required to be a millionaire. I came across a recent article by well-known Hong Kong billionaire, Li Ka Shing who shared some tips on how to become rich. Li Ka Shing’s story is one of rag-to-riches, so his success is particularly inspiring.

Like many of you, I share the same aspiration to achieve financial freedom. While I have not achieved Li Ka Shing’s wealth status, his strategy resonates with my philosophy of having a growth mindset. This means that one should put in the extra effort to develop new skills and knowledge. Take note that none of his pointers below encourages you to hoard money like a scrooge.

In that article, he outlined a unique plan that can help to improve one’s financial destiny. His approach is refreshing to me because so far I have not come across anyone with a similar approach. Basically, the gist is to split your income into five portions.

Li Ka Shing

1st portion (Expenditure)
The first set of fund is to cover your living expenses. He elaborated that one should take hardship when young and eat simple.

Read more
Singapore Savings Bonds SSB
Stocks 

Profit taking on K1 Ventures

sgwealthbuilder 515 Views 0 Comments

Recently I liquidated my remaining K1 Ventures shares in my CPF Ordinary Account. Total profits, including dividends and capital gains, amounted to $1,400. This represented a total return of 13%  in 3 years. It could have been more if I had not pared down the investments since last year. As of now, I am not vested in any stocks.

The intent of investing my CPF monies was really to divert a portion of my CPF monies from the Ordinary Account before HDB wiped out the monies for settlement of my HDB purchase in 2010. I wanted this investment to be a buffer in case I got retrenched from my job and still need to service my housing loan. With no income, this investment could then be liquidated and used to pay the HDB monthly installments for at least one year. This buffer was important for me as I am the sole breadwinner.

Investing

Three years later, I am glad that the nightmare scenario of losing my job did not happen. But nevertheless, I decided to sell off all my K1 Ventures. Firstly, my financial situation has improved substantially due to higher income and advancement in my job. These developments contributed to significant cash savings for me.

Read more
Property investment; Singapore market; private housing prices 

Are cooling measures for Singapore property solving the right problem?

sgwealthbuilder 485 Views 2 Comments
SG Wealth Builder is pleased to form a partnership with SRX Singapore Property to bring you the latest information on property trend in Singapore. Below article is based on information provided by SRX Research and readers must not interpret it as a form of financial advice.
Recent Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) data suggests that the government’s cooling measures have been very effective at reducing the volume sales for condominiums and private apartments. In particular, the combination of measures to tighten the loan-to-value limits and the total debt servicing ratio have helped cut volume sales from 32,125 transactions in 2012, to 20,203 last year. These two measures have been effective at reducing demand because they restrict the amount of capital Singaporeans can borrow to purchase investment properties.The impact of the cooling measures on price has been less dramatic. Again, the two measures seem to have had the most effect. However, prices did not plummet like volume did. Instead, the former plateaued and experienced monthly gains and losses.

It is more difficult for cooling measures to bring down prices than it is to bring down volume sales. The reason is that the market is constantly in search of a fundamental price for each home, factoring in many variables and pricing signals unavailable to analysts and policymakers.This

Read more
Stocks 

Three things about Baker Technology Limited

sgwealthbuilder 380 Views 1 Comment
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are based solely on the author’s perspectives and/or experiences. Readers must not treat the articles as financial advices. The author shall not be liable for any damages caused to the reader(s) arising from the use or purchase of information, products and services directly or indirectly featured or implied in this blog.

Recently I chanced upon this stock called Baker Technology Limited and decided to do some research after a fellow blogger claimed that this is a good investment. Usually I am fairly skeptical on penny stocks in SGX because good ones with growth potential are far and few. Most of them are either overvalued or simply trash stocks not worth mentioning. But just out of curiosity, I decided to do an evaluation on this stock.

Dividend Stocks
In light of the low interest rates, one of the favorite strategies in recent years is to invest in stocks that consistently pay out good dividends. For those who invested in Baker Technology Limited, this investment may look like it fits the bill as a classical dividend stock. In 2013, it paid out $0.10 of dividends and this year May, it will pay out $0.05.

Read more
Blog updates 

Top Ten Personal Finance and Investment Blogs in Singapore

sgwealthbuilder 527 Views 1 Comment
I am so happy that my blog. SG Wealth Builder has been featured by DirectAsia.com!
In one of their latest articles, my blog was ranked fifth. Check out the article here.

The author wrote the following:
Having begun life way back in 2010, this one-man-blog is one of the ‘old guard’ of Singapore finance blogs – but it is still regularly updated with insightful posts on wealth accumulation, investments and money-making in general. In fact, this blogger furnished his readers with more posts in 2013 than any other year. Some in-depth information on investing here, and while it may not seem like a blog for beginners at first glance, many younger, less experienced investors do write in for advice and tips.

DirectAsia.com has established itself as one of Singapore’s leading online insurers in recent years. The company’s mission is to change the face of insurance in Singapore, and to bring the best value insurance policies and customer service to the region. On this aspect, the company’s core values are aligned with the philosophy of my blog, SG Wealth Builder.

I firmly believe that consumers, or rather investors, should be empowered to make investment decisions based on transparent information. To this, there are certainly areas within the insurance industry that needs to be improved – namely customer service and transparency.
Read more
Money management; personal finance; Investment 

How to invest and be rich in Singapore

sgwealthbuilder 439 Views 1 Comment

Hi sgwealthbuilder,

I read your blog post on how to start building wealth from young and I enjoyed it thoroughly it helped me to understand more about investing and how I should go about developing myself as an investor.

However, I realize you tackled the situation for young investors who have yet to start or are interested to start. Hence, I was hoping if you could share with me your experience or some wisdom on what a young investor who has some knowledge, capital and owns a few shares already. I really would like to know whats the next step of vision and many blogs do not really touch on this category of ‘very young investors who accidentally started before reading financial blogs’.

I’m sorry I have yet to introduce myself, I’m a young army boy just turned 19 and saved up just about 12k and invested about 8k into Suntec Reit and FCT a couple of months ago. I do plan on purchasing gold because I like the feeling of holding my assets and I am aware of the benefits of having gold (cheap during economic booms and recovery, which are happening soon I think?). 

I noticed you mentioned you do not normally give advice to people since you are not a financial adviser and such but I hope you could guide me somehow as my parents and close relatives do not invest and I’m the first to venture into this ‘taboo’ world. 

Read more
SG Wealth Builder
Self improvement 

How to build your wealth from young

sgwealthbuilder 530 Views 4 Comments
Hi SG Wealth Builder,

I am one of your readers of your blog, apologies if this email came as a surprise, I stumbled upon your blog while browsing the net on my iPhone.

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m John, a 3rd year polytechnic student. Though mentioning this might have made your head turn away, since I’m still young and probably in no position to search for any financial-generating opportunities like Stocks or Investments due to the lack of capital, but I believe it’s good to start young. I cannot find any tips that cater to someone like me, hence i wrote this email in hope to hear from you.

Problem is I don’t have any opportunity, or know of any methods to grow financially. hence I hope that through this email, I can get some guidance from you of what a person at my age and situation should do.

Hope to hear from you, thank you.The above is an email from one of my readers but the name has been changed to protect his identity. Since I started blogging four years ago, I have received quite a number of emails from readers seeking financial advice from me and normally my policy is not to reply their queries.
Read more
Property investment; Singapore market; private housing prices; imoney 

Is It Possible To Sell Property Without An Agent?

sgwealthbuilder 368 Views 0 Comments
Property owners often think whether they can sell the property of their own or not. This line of thought pops up in mind because there is cost involved along with additional procedures and countless meetings. And some people do not want to involve a third party unless it is absolutely required.

The simple answer to the question is – yes it is possible for property owners to sell by themselves. There is no law in Singapore that says one cannot sell the property of his / her own! But for that they need to be equipped with related information, should know in and outs of property selling and must have an idea about the selling procedure.

In a demand driven real estate market like Singapore, owners often think of selling their existing property and buying a new one. With the continuation of price cooling off since mid 2013, many property owners have already sold their property in a bid to hunt for new ones. Urban Redevelopment Authority announced that about 27,000 public housing flats will be ready to sell in 2014. And according to industry experts, 95,000 new private units will come on the market over the next five years. This opens a wide door for property owners to consider selling the existing one and buy a brand new one.

Read more
Keppel DC REIT
Blog updates 

Singapore Finance Bloggers

sgwealthbuilder 485 Views 0 Comments
I started this blog since 2010 and along the way witnessed many fellow finance bloggers leaving the scene one by one. Many of them started off very brightly but slowly faded off. Eventually they just gave up blogging all together, probably because of work or family commitments. Some of them were actually brilliant writers and I thought it was a loss to our local community when these bloggers stopped sharing their financial experiences online. Even though there are new finance bloggers coming on-board in blog aggregators like The Finance.sg or Singapore Investment Blogs, I hope this declining trend will not carry on, otherwise this unique group of bloggers would just disappear.

Yes, I used the term “unique” because there are not many Singapore blogs on personal finances. Most bloggers prefer to develop themes on food, lifestyle and politics but not personal finances. I suppose there are a few reasons to this. Firstly, it is easier to capture readership if you write articles on food, lifestyle and politics. These are common topics that attract large unique visitors. This is because Singaporeans like to eat and constantly look for interesting places to go, so naturally they tend to visit blogs for recommendations.

Read more