Stocks

In 2010, I invested a fair bit of money in Thakral, one of the listed companies in Singapore. At that point of time, they declared their intention to change business focus and also proposed a significant dividend for the shareholders.

I did some research on the company and decided to invest, tempted by the declared dividend. Eventually, I did receive the dividends, but the stock prices fell in tandem. As the stock prices languished at that price, I sold my Thakral shares after a couple of months. Subsequently I did keep track of the stock price and company performance. For 2 years, the price remained at S$0.030.

Recently, due to the penny stock rally, I realized that Thakral had rocketed to S$0.040. I wondered if I had kept faith with Thakral, I would have made thousands of profits in one week. I don’t know if you ever had such investment experience but it sure pain like hell seeing the stock which you once owned rocketed by so much.

I sure am tempted to re-enter the stock market but still stand by my resolution to wait till the next stock market crash and then invest. Hopefully I can make a killing by then.

From 1st July 2012, the CPF Board will subject wrap fee charged for CPF Investment Scheme to a maximum of 1% per annum.

A wrap fee is an ongoing fee charged by financial advisors for providing bundled services such as advisory, brokerage and administrative fees. It is typically levied monthly or quarterly by liquidating a small portion of the investment. Currently, CPF members who maintain wrap accounts for their CPF Investment accounts are charged up to 1.5% annually by their advisors.

Since 2006, CPF board has been progressively implementing new measures to lower the cost of investment and enhance the quality of funds under CPF Investment Scheme. This new measure should bring cheers to retail investors as high costs may potentially erode investment returns over the long term.

Such development is in the right direction and will go a long way to encourage more Singaporean to invest responsibly using their CPF funds.

Under the CPF Investment Scheme, you may invest in CPF-approved unit trusts, bonds, endowment policies and gold products, after setting aside $20,000 in your Ordinary Account. If you wished to invest using your CPF Special Account, you need to set aside $40,000.

But before you start to invest your CPF monies, it is important to examine your risk tolerance and your financial situation.