SG Wealth Builder

The following article is a guest posting by iMoney (Intelligent Money), which was founded in Malaysia in April 2012 and started out with a team of three. It took 14 days to get from an idea to a fully functional website. The company’s vision was (and still is) to simplify financial matters for consumers, thus helping them make better decision.

Property prices in Singapore are among the highest globally. This market has always been a demand driven one. That is because Singapore is a commercial hub, connecting the whole of Asia with rest of the world. The country attracts business people, professionals and executives from across the world. As a result, demand for both office space and housing have persisted over time.

Apartment prices are on the raise

Apartment prices of Singapore’s core central region including Orchard Road district increased by 49% and prices in the suburbs that are popular with middle-class people increased by 70% since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009. According to a Channel NewsAsia research, household debt was 77.2% of the gross domestic product at the end of March 2013. It was just 64.4% in 2007. But the property prices grew by 120% in the same period.

Personal finance; saving accounts; bonuses; financial planning

Year-end bonuses

November 26, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 543 Views 2 Comments

It is that time of the year when employees look forward to collecting their year-end bonuses. Last week, the government declared the 13th month and 1.1 month annual variable bonuses for all civil servants.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has forecast Singapore’s economic growth to be about 3.5% – 4% for 2013. Growth is expected to be supported by externally-oriented sectors such as manufacturing and wholesale trade, in line with the slight pickup in the global economy, as well as domestically-oriented sectors like construction and business services which are expected to remain resilient.

With the world economy still in unstable mode, I believe most Singapore workers’ year end bonuses would be modest, in view of the moderated growth for Singapore economy.

This will be the 8th time I am collecting year-end bonuses. In my previous blog entry last year, I made a resolution last year to purchase an endowment plan for my baby daughter. This is to plan for her future tertiary education expenses. Hence, we bought an endowment plan in July.

For this year, I am setting aside some of the bonuses for next January’s Chinese New Year. I budgeted about $2500 to 3000 for the overall Chinese New Year expenses, which include red packets monies, new year clothing for my family and other miscellaneous expenses.

Stocks

Investing insights

November 23, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 0 Comments

Some people said that investing is all about timing, some said it boils down to luck. To me, investing is half science and half art. Sometimes you can analysis as much as possible on a particular stock but when the market suddenly crashes, all your profits and capital will be gone. That’s the hard reality.

Therefore, successful investing also requires the right skill to make critical judgement call and look at things from the big picture. To be a winner, you must remain calm in the face of market swings, and be prepared to go against the crowd. That will not be easy, and not many people, including myself, can achieve that. But if you are able to do so, the rewards can be substantial.

The difficulty of assessing a company lies in the qualitative analysis. This is because it is not easy for investors to come up with the intrinsic value of the business, especially for those novice ones. I have seen many Singaporean finance bloggers making investments in local stocks based solely on NAV or P/E. Some of them also invested in Reits or ETFs, with investment criteria based solely on potential dividend yields. These are very narrow measures to gauge a company and may not reflect accurately the value of a stock.

personal finance

When to Use a Credit Card and Not Cash

November 11, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 741 Views 0 Comments

Many people still pay for goods and services with cash and this is perfectly fine. Cash transactions are quick especially when you’re only buying a few items at the grocery store or convenience store. Using cash also lets buyers and merchants avoid fees associated with using a credit card. However, credit card issuersoffer their customers many benefits that could make it wiser to swipe your card the next time you pay for something.

Rewards, Rewards, and More Rewards

Rewards and bonuses are one of the main features of credit cards. Retailers that offer their own credit cards have a lot of promos for their customers as a way to gain loyal customers. Retailers such as gas stations and specialty stores promise their customers rebates and special discounts when customers use the store’s special credit cards. Some petrol stations in Malaysia for example, give 8% rebate on gas purchases with store-branded credit cards. It’s best to study your expenses and see whether your favourite store offers their own credit card. You could be saving a lot by using their credit card or at least earn more reward points. This is especially true for frequent flyers who want to earn more air miles by swiping their credit cards.

Gold; currency

BullionStar: China’s physical gold demand continues to be strong

November 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 502 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

Numbers for China’s gold imports from Hong Kong for the month of September is out. Net gold imports from Hong Kong were 109.4 metric tons. This was slighly lower than the import figures in August.

Nevertheless, these are very strong numbers showing China’s high demand for physical gold. It marks the fifth consecutive month that gold import numbers are in excess of 100 metric tons. In the first 9 months of 2013, China has imported an estimated 832 metric tons of gold. The Chinese are already the No. 1 gold mining nation today and they are enroute to become the No. 1 buyer of gold this year.

Such strong gold import numbers continue to support the view that China is accumulating her gold reserves. This is in line with China’s intention to prepare for the on-going efforts to internationalise the renminbi and reduce potential currency exchange risks of using the US dollar.

In today’s fiat currency dominated world, it is easy to lose sight of the true value of gold when it is relegated to being a commodity traded with other commodities (such as corn, cattle or copper) on the futures market.

Stocks

Gold or Equities?

November 6, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 868 Views 3 Comments

Recent market swings for penny stocks would make investors pause and rethink their approach on equities. Quite a number of investors lost their savings investing in risky penny counters. Some retirees even lost a huge chunk of their retirement funds. So the question for most investors is gold or equities?

Whilst I certainly won’t dispute the pros on investing in equities, I do believe in having a portfolio consisting of several investment instruments. And I believe that every investors should hold bullion in their investment portfolio. This is because gold prices often move in opposite direction to equities and currencies. So allocating gold in your portfolio can help to serve as a form of hedge against inflation and enhance your portfolio’s performance.

Investors should hold a long-term view on gold investments and not expect quick returns. They should consider it as a form of diversification to lower risk for their investment portfolio. Very often, I read articles from many writers in The Finance.sg sharing their investment experiences. Many of them pumped in hundred of thousands of dollars on shares, REITs and ETF. Their investment performances were impressive indeed but if the stock market plunged suddenly, large portions of their investment values would be wiped off overnight.

Money management; personal finance; relationship

Lending money

October 31, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1 Views 2 Comments

Lending money is always a sensitive topic for all. Last month, I completed my two weeks of National Service reservist training. I met the bunk mate who tried to borrow money from me several times. Initially, it was a bit awkward for both of us as I had refused to lending money to him. But after a while, after realizing that he did not have any ill feeling towards me, I had a good chat with him.

I found out that he left his previous contract job and was jobless for almost half a year. He tried to look for office jobs but to no avail. He holds a N-Level certificate and his previous job skill was obsoleted. My advice to him was to take on part-time jobs, working either as shop assistant or cashier. At least that would bring food to the table and allowed him to sustain day-to-day activities.

But to my surprise, he declined my suggestion because he wanted to be focused in looking for a permanent office job. At the back of mind, I thought that since he already had money problems and had no income, it was financial suicide to carry on like this. The more he dragged, the harder it would be difficult for him to find a job.

Book review; investment

The Warren Buffett Way (New Third Edition)

October 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 704 Views 0 Comments

Over one million copies sold in cloth and paper formats of the two previous editions, a New York Times bestselling book, The Warren Buffett Way, is now completely revised to cater for the new generation of investors. With additional chapters on the important distinctions between investment and trading; and the examination of Buffett’s most successful disciples, the third edition focuses on the timeless principles and strategies behind Buffett’s extraordinary investment success.

The Warren Buffett Way, + Website, 3^rd Edition is bundled with a companion website, www.thewarrenbuffettway.com, an interactive resource which offers an array of information to facilitate investors with putting Buffett’s approach in practice. It also comes with two supplemental materials which are a workbook, The Warren Buffett Way Workbook, and software, The Warren Buffett Video Course; each sold separately.

Author Robert G. Hagstrom’s authoritative and detailed interpretation of Buffett’s investment methods in The Warren Buffett Way, + Website, 3^rd Edition provides essential insights into the psychological challenges of managing a Warren Buffett portfolio as well as the role of patience in long-term investing.

The suggested retail price of the The Warren Buffett Way, + Website, 3^rd Edition (hardcover) is US$29.95; e-book (oBook, ePub, Adobe PDF and MobiPocket) is US$19.99; and The Warren Buffett Way Workbook and The Warren Buffett Video Course are priced at US$39.95 respectively.

Self improvement

Gambling

October 14, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 871 Views 2 Comments

Recently, I watched a video clip in YouTube featuring one of Singapore best known local celebrities, Lee Nanxing, who related his journey of conversion to Christianity after struggling with gambling problem. He recounted that when he reached his career pinnacle in the nineties, he unwittingly offended the Mediacorp top management and was being “frozen” by the media company for almost two years.

During that low period, Lee Nanxing was still paid his salary but he was constantly worried about his future as an artiste. As a result, he decided to venture into business and opened a pub with a few partners. Business suffered due to mismanagement and also because Lee Nanxing was too busy with a few projects in China. When he returned to Singapore, he was shocked to find the company in a financial mess. As he was the major shareholder, all the creditors pestered him for settlement.

Saddled with huge debts, Lee Nanxing tried to salvage his company unsuccessfully. Eventually, he decided to try his luck at gambling but that turned out to be one of the most fatal mistakes that he made in his life. He thought that with his few tricks that he picked up in the popular drama “The Unbeatables”, he could make quick money and paid off the company debts.

Stocks

Blumont Group

October 9, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 884 Views 0 Comments

The recent trading halt of Blumont Group had raised a number of eyebrow among Singaporean investors. Many local investors thought that investing in the stock market is akin to gambling, which is untrue. When it comes to investment, many Singaporeans don’t even know the difference between risk and uncertainty. In salient, risk in stock investments can be managed through the proper technique.

However, when it comes to gambling, you will not be able to predict the outcome and win consistently. Because of the lack of knowledge and self-awareness, most wealth builders tend to speculate in the stock market, resulting in the tip based investment culture in Singapore. The recent case of SGX suspending the trading of Blumont Group vindicated my thoughts.

Blumont Group, which was previously involved in the packaging, property and investment sectors, started investing last year in a number of companies in sectors such as iron ore, coal, gold, uranium and copper. On 4 Oct, Blumont was one of three companies suspended by the Singapore Exchange after their share prices plummeted by 40 to 60%. A Singapore broking house had also recently declared its shares as “designated securities.” That means investors cannot short-sell them, and purchases via the broking house must be paid for upfront with cash.

Career management

Optimizing energy levels

October 9, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 902 Views 0 Comments

Whether you are a full-time investor, entrepreneur or employee, there are bound to be times when you suffer from some off-days which inevitably affects your productivity. This is perfectly normal as we are human beings and not robots that are built with high level of performance reliability. However, successful people tend to have a knack of optimizing their energy levels for better performance.

In today’s context, being hardworking is not enough to be considered a high performer in the workplace. You need to work smart and not just work hard. To be successful, it is important to harness your energy levels, which can vary across different age groups, environments and personalities. In my opinion, it is possible to manage and optimize our energy levels to bring out the best for work performance. To achieve this, one needs to adopt good habits and internalize them into daily life routine.

For example a professional top currency trader based in Singapore would devise a strategy of monitoring closely the international currency movements he is vested in. To do so, he would have to be disciplined in his daily activities because he couldn’t afford to let slip any unexpected major market fluctuations which may destroy his wealth.

Blog updates

Re-inventing my blog, SG Wealth Builder

October 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 742 Views 0 Comments

Yesterday, I made the critical decision to register my blog domain name and got rid of “blogspot.com” from the blog’s domain name. The name of this blog was also changed to SG Wealth Builder. The name change means that I have to re-establish my page ranking in various search engines. It is indeed painful to start all over again but I suppose the only constant in life is change!

As a blogger, I am always challenging myself to improve my blog’s quality and content. Over the years, my blog has evolved from sharing of investment and entrepreneurial ideas to a portal of wealth building opportunities, providing wealth building information to readers. Along the way, I felt that the former blog title does not reflect the current activities in this blog. Therefore, the re-branding of this blog.

There are many people who think that they can make a living from blogging full time. In reality, this is very difficult to achieve. Indeed, you probably can make a few hundreds or thousands here and there from affiliate marketing or sponsorships. But in most months, there might be little or even no income at all. Over the years, I have seen so many local bloggers fizzled out from the scene after only a few months.

Stocks

SATS Ltd: Stable Dividend Stock from Singapore

October 7, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 634 Views 0 Comments

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

SG Web Reviews does not accept any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential losses or damages that may arise from the use of information or opinions in this article. The information and opinions in this publication are not to be considered as an offer to sell or buy any of the securities discussed. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice.The economy of Singapore has experienced rapid economic development since independence in 1965. Its strong economic performance reflects the success of its open and outward-oriented development strategy. The importance of services to the Singapore economy also grew, as evidenced by the increasing share of the financial and business sectors of the economy. In this article I am sharing about one of the best Singapore dividend stocks which will give you good returns.

Gold; portfolio management

Take advange of gold price’s correction!

October 6, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 643 Views 0 Comments

Physical gold and silver buyers are once again treated with a surprise selloff in the gold and silver paper markets. Amidst high demand for physical bullion, especially in Asia, paper markets still set the price for real physical precious metals. At BullionStar, gold price and the price for physical precious metals are expected to decouple from each other eventually as physical demand continues to increase.

While western speculators are selling off paper gold, physical demand for gold is rising rapidly. In the World Gold Council’s Q2 report, demand for bullion and jewellery increased a whopping 53 % in the second quarter of 2013 compared to one year ago.

To put things into perspective, gold price has been on a bullish run for the past 10 years. The current correction should be seen as a healthy sign as the bull cycle for gold price comes to an end. Wealth builders should seize this opportunity to accumulate more physical gold as the gold price experience a soft landing.

Singapore is viewed by many international investors as the best place to buy and store gold because of its low crime rate and strong jurisdiction laws. However, low crime does not mean no crime.

Money management; personal finance; relationship

Family Wealth Management: Seven Imperatives for Successful Investing in the New World Order

October 6, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 736 Views 0 Comments

Singapore, October 3, 2013 – Mr. Mark Haynes Daniell is the founder and chairman of the Raffles Family Wealth Trust, a Singapore-based strategic advisory boutique focused on strategies for wealthy families and their investments, transactions, and businesses. He is also the founder and chairman of his own family office in Singapore.

Mr. Daniell is a former senior partner at Bain & Company, director of Wasserstein Perella, and president of k1 Ventures, a strategic investment company publicly listed in Singapore. He created and chaired the Private Wealth Management Initiative as part of the Singapore government’s Economic Review Committee in 2002. He is a director of various listed and private companies, including Olam International, Tiryaki Agro, Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte Ltd. (vice chairman), Sacoven PLC (chairman), and a cofounder of Capital Partners of Georgia.

His new book, Family Wealth Management: Seven Imperatives for Successful Investing in the New World Order (coauthored with Tom McCullough; John Wiley & Sons, August 2013), is a comprehensive guide to family wealth management which integrates all aspects of family and financial wealth strategy, from family vision and philosophy of wealth through asset structuring to serve multiple purposes, addressing state of the art asset allocation models, traditional and alternative assets, specific approaches to management of wealth in turbulent times, the integration of a family business into wealth management plans, careful monitoring of performance against internal goals and external benchmarks, and ending with a long term plan to engage and educate the family to ensure a positive environment is created for the current–and future–management of family wealth.

Trading

Investing: Why you should start young

October 3, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 0 Comments

The following is an article on investing by guest blogger, Neo Pok Chow, a 21 year old Singaporean trader and is the creator of http://www.optionssingapore.com/. If you want to have a better financial future, you’re welcome to learn about investing for free on his site.

Young people are often unaware or even clueless about their finances or money matters. Their school doesn’t teach them how to invest. Their parents don’t teach it either. Their peers have no clue. So to be fair, how are they suppose to know about it? This is actually a worrying sign. Ignorance, in this case, is not bliss. Ignoring your finance is foolish.

Young people need to realize that their age and time they have is their biggest attribute. They’re young and they enjoy their life hanging out and playing all around while being shielded by their parents. They fund their expenses using their pocket money and the occasional part time job during holidays. Life is good! They’re having fun! Why should they care?

I’m not saying that young people should not have fun. I’m just saying that it is good to start learning about finance and investing from a young age as it is beneficial down the road.

Stocks

Sheng Siong Group

October 3, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 932 Views 0 Comments

One of my favorite stocks which I am tracking is Sheng Siong Group, a supermarket chain in Singapore. The supermarket industry in Singapore is very competitive, with several big players like NTUC Fairprice and Giant. But Sheng Siong manages to stay very profitable for the past few years and overcome the challenges in the business environment such as increasing inflationary pressures and foreign labour restrictions.

Supermarket is considered a recession proof industry, after all, whether its good or bad economies, retailers still need to buy household groceries. Management of Sheng Siong Group should remain prudent in its expansion plans and consider making more of its outlets 24 hours operations so as to increase revenue.

With effect from 1 Oct 2013, 10 more outlets will also serve customers 24 hours daily. These outlets are located at:1. Bedok Central 209: BLK 209 New Upper Changi Rd #01-631/#02-631
2. Bedok North 115: BLK 115 Bedok North Road #01-319 Singapore 460115
3. Bedok North 539A: BLK 539A Bedok North St 3 #01-477 Singapore 461539
4. Chin Swee 52: BLK 52 Chin Swee Rd #01-25 Singapore 160052
5. Clementi 352: BLK 352 Clementi Ave 2 #01-91/99 Singapore 120352
6. Clementi 720: BLK 720 Clementi West St 2 #01-144 Singapore 120720
7.

Stocks

Haw Par Corp

October 1, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 606 Views 0 Comments

I was reading one of the articles posted in Finance.sg on Haw Par Corp and decided that its timely to provide an update on the company’s performance in Q2 2013. As mentioned in my article in June, Haw Par Corp is a financially strong company. In terms of asset value, it is currently trading at estimate 31% discount. As of 1 Oct 2013, the net asset value is $10.73 but it share price is only $7.40! This is definitely a value stock with good business fundamentals.

Many Singaporeans can probably relate Haw Par Corp as the manufacturer of the famous Tiger Balm but how many investors know that it also owns the famous Underwater World at Sentosa? I like this company because it had been consistently giving out dividends for the past 20 years. The company is cash rich, is financially strong and is trading at below net asset value. However, this counter has risen in value so much for the past two years that it is beyond my entry price, which is $4.00. Looks like I have to wait until the next stock market crash to load up this overlooked stock in SGX.

The original business of manufacturing and distributing through Southeast Asia pharmaceuticals under the Tiger Brand names, the best known of which is ‘Tiger Balm’, was founded at the turn of the century.

Stocks

My Investment Portfolio

October 1, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 787 Views 0 Comments

For the past two years, I have been doing research on local stock market and is now in the midst of constructing an investment portfolio consisting of stocks and bullion.

I had stayed out of the stock market since 2010 because I just don’t see any value in the market for the past three years. Many counters with good business fundamentals are, in my opinion, overvalued. Under this bullish climax, I had resisted the temptation to invest many times because of the lack of margin of safety in many of the local stocks.

As the saying goes, you stand a higher chance identifying value stocks during bear market as compared to a bull market.

Notwithstanding the bullish market, I decided to compile a list of stocks which I would invest in during crisis times. They would become part of my investment portfolio. These are companies with strong cash flow, sustainable revenue and easy-to-understand businesses. Essentially, these are companies which will still be around 10, 20 and 30 years down the road. I am still doing research and will reveal the companies in due time. Nonetheless, I noted that three of the companies (Genting Singapore, Capitaland and Noble Group) are listed in the STI Index.

Gold; currency

Investing in Gold

September 30, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 650 Views 0 Comments

The sky is falling for India’s rupee, which has fallen 20.1% since the start of this year. The currency has slumped the most in two decades to a record low in the wake of government’s economic mismanagement and failure to tackle deteriorating infrastructure. The frightening slide in the currency has conversely led to a incredible hike in demand for gold in India. According to the World Gold Council, in the first half of 2013, India accounted for a staggering 28% of global consumer demand. The 566.5 tonnes of gold bought by Indians way surpassed Americans’ 83.4 tonnes purchased.

The reason why Indians crave for gold is because consumers buy the yellow metal for auspicious reason during their wedding and festival season, which will start in November and last till January. It is estimated that Indian household currently hold 31,000 tonnes of gold worth a massive USD$1.3 trillion at USD$1400 per ounce. In order to reduce its trade deficit, Indian government has been trying hard to curb gold imports by hiking the metal’s import taxes.

Import duties were raised to 6% in late January and then 8% in early June and then subsequently 10% in August. The same tax is also applicable to silver and platinum to fight substitution.

Investment; SGX stocks; Equities; Stock trading

SGX Stock with Favorable Yield

September 28, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 675 Views 0 Comments

SG Wealth Builder does not accept any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential losses or damages that may arise from the use of information or opinions in this article. The information and opinions in this publication are not to be considered as an offer to sell or buy any of the securities discussed. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice.

Singapore is a well-known country for integrity, reliability, quality, productivity, rule of law, and enforcement of intellectual property rights. These things are crucial in the knowledge economy. The country is also a good place for foreign investments. It is a one-stop agency which facilitates and supports local and foreign investors in both manufacturing and services sectors, as they move up the value chain to achieve higher sustainable returns and seek out new business opportunities.

Stocks

Investment Outlook for Boustead Singapore

September 25, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1 Views 0 Comments

Boustead Singapore has risen by 45% for the past 12 months. The P/E and P/Cash flow ratio are estimated by S&P Capital to be 12 and 10.8 respectively. These metrics suggested that the stock is currently expensive. The good thing is that net gearing remains at 0%.

Although this counter seems overvalued, fundamental business prospect still looks good. Boustead Singapore is a global engineering specialist in energy, water infrastructure, industrial real estate and geo-spatial solutions.

The main driver for the business is the real estate division, which contribute 24% to its top line in Q1FY14 to SGD101.2 million. Oil and gas division is the second main contributor, reporting revenue growth of 38% year-to-year. Water infrastructure and geo-spatial technology were the weaker divisions, reporting negative revenue growth of 25% and 14% respectively.

I like Boustead because it is financially strong with net current assets of $150 million. The company has consistently paid out dividends to shareholders for the last ten years and it is well-managed with sound corporate strategies. Although Boustead has no formal dividend policy, it has a tradition of paying dividends linked to long-term net profit growth. Boustead has achieved respectable growth in dividends over the past ten years, with a compounded annual growth rate of 21% over that period.

Stocks

SGX Stock: Offering Attractive Yield

September 17, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 875 Views 0 Comments

The economy of Singapore is mainly supported by the activities in the manufacturing and services sectors. The manufacturing activities account for about a fifth of the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the services sectors contribute approximately two-thirds of GDP. The country is actively promoting the growth of the quaternary sector of its economy i.e. the knowledge-based part. I am sharing about one of the Singapore Dividends which will make profit for investors who are seeking to invest in SGX stocks.

Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) Profile

Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a media organization in Singapore with businesses in print, Internet and new media, television and radio, outdoor media and property. It is engaged in publishing, printing and distribution of newspapers, distribution of magazines and books, providing services of multimedia content, holding shares in subsidiaries, holding investments and providing management services to subsidiaries.

personal finance

New credit card rules in Singapore

September 12, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 645 Views 0 Comments

In recent years, there were various articles on increasing trend of Singaporeans defaulting on their credit card payments. I think this is a worrying sign in Singapore. Below is a press release on a new government policy to curb lending practices by local banks.

11 September 2013
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has finalised changes to credit card and unsecured credit rules aimed at improving lending practices by financial institutions and enabling individuals to make better borrowing decisions.

2. The policy changes follow a public consultation, in which respondents generally supported the proposals. MAS has taken the public feedback into consideration and adjusted the proposals where appropriate. Details are set out in the responses to feedback received on the consultation paper.

3. The key policy changes are as follows:
(a) Financial institutions will be required to review a borrower’s total debt and credit limits before granting a new credit card or unsecured credit facility, or increasing the credit limit on such facilities. This is to enable a more realistic assessment of an individual’s borrowing capacity.

(b) Financial institutions will be required to disclose to individuals who roll over their credit card debts and revolving credit facilities the potential cost of doing so and how the debt will accumulate.

Book review; investment

Value Investing in Growth Companies

September 11, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 644 Views 0 Comments

One of my readers recently wrote to me requesting my views on a few Reits in Singapore. I have not replied him but followers of my blog would know that I don’t believe in Reits and have never invested in any Reits before. This is because the business model is too complicated for me to understand. In this article, I will share my thoughts on value investing.

One of the most important things that investors have to realize is that a good stock must have a simple business that are easy to understand. For example, we know that Super Group sell instant coffee and SingTel provides telecommunication services. Many investors, especially the novice ones, rush to invest in Reits simply because they thought that Reits provide dividends, so Reits must be a form of good dividend. They fail to understand the real business model and if you prodded them further what is Reits all about, they would be clueless. It is like putting the cart before the horse and missing the forest for the woods. To this end, I will like to recommend a good investment book for my readers.

A Unique Guide to Wealth and Financial Independence Using Value Investing Strategies

Many people spend their life working for active income.

Gold; currency

BullionStar Review: The 5 stage life cycle of a fiat currency

September 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 911 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

Gold and paper currencies have been at war for more than three thousand years. When currencies were pegged to gold, they appeared to coexist peacefully. Nevertheless, when the peg ceased internationally, they became each other’s nemesis and thus began the battle for monetary supremacy. A study on the history of money, and its relationship with inflation, is essential to appreciate the role of gold as money.

For paper currency, there is always a boom-bust cycle. It often begins with the healing of a country’s economic woes and promises of prosperity for all. To better illustrate how the boom-bust cycle works, one can draw reference to the recent economic history of United States. In the late nineties, US technology stocks formed a huge bubble mainly because of over leveraging of debt through low interest rates. Start-up technology companies with mediocre or even negative earnings were valued in the millions. After the crash, which coincided with the terrorist attack on New York, interest rates were lowered again to spur economic growth, forming another bubble in housing. When the housing bubble burst, it almost took down the whole world’s banking system with credit facilities drying up, thus triggering the global financial crisis in 2008.

Stocks

Five SGX Stocks with Low Risk and High Yield

September 3, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 673 Views 0 Comments

Singapore has many advantages of investing money. It’s strongly pro-business environment provides an efficient infrastructure and a transparent administration. The economy of Singapore is committed to free market development and free trade. The investors who are looking for Singapore Dividends these stocks will be helpful for them.

Hafary Holdings Ltd (SGX: 5VS)

It is an investment holding company. With its subsidiaries the company is engaged in the supply of premium tiles, stones, mosaic, wood flooring and sanitary wares and fittings to customers in the Singapore market. It has two operating segments: General and Project. The Project customers include architecture firm, property developers and construction companies. On July 2, 2013 the company incorporated a SPV in Singapore, World Furnishing Hub Pte. Ltd.

It has a market capitalization of 90.09 Million, EPS is 0.07, P/E ratio is 3.15 and the dividend yield is 14.88% at the annual dividend payout of 0.03.

Gold; currency

Why Gold will Rally

August 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 796 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore gold and silver bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

The collapse in gold price from a high of USD$ 1,900 per ounce in August 2011 down to USD$ 1,340 has led many investors to wonder whether gold will continue its downward spiral.

One of the most powerful price indicators is the net positions by professionals who hedge gold. These hedgers are not those speculators or traders in the commodity market, but rather, most of them are legitimate hedgers who are owners of mining companies. They use options and futures contracts to hedge their position, to ensure a positive fiat-margin on the mining.

If they don’t hedge, it is usually an indication that the market will turn bullish because these hedgers hope to profit from a rise in the price of the commodity. Conversely, if there is an increase in the net short position, it would be an indicator of a bear market looming.

Currently, the hedgers are the least net short in a dozen of years. This means that they have not been so bullish on gold since it was priced at USD$ 300 per troy ounce.

Book review; investment

Build a New Investing Brain

August 22, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 563 Views 0 Comments

Since young, I always thought that there must be a scientific approach towards investing. I don’t believe that intelligence play a part when it comes to investing because I have seen many smart professionals lost their hard earned money in the stock markets. I have also seen not-so-educated friends making huge piles of money from their investments. So the perennial question: is investing a form of art or science?

While we cannot change the external environment, we can certainly control our own thoughts and actions. Many people mistakenly thought that the market is our greatest enemy. Actually they are wrong. The greatest enemy is yourself. Your decisions, thought processes, actions and personal experiences shape your investment destiny. To truly succeed in investing, we must know our own self and do self-assessments. Otherwise, it will be very hard to change the way you think in order to change the way you invest.

As an investment advisor to high net worth individuals, Wai-Yee Chen has spent years watching her clients make investment decisions—some good decisions and some not-so-good decisions. Though confronted by the same market variables, those clients often make very different choices with very different results. Here, Chen argues that it’s usually not the data that affects investor decision-making as much as the way investors themselves think.

Gold; currency

BullionStar Singapore: Strong Buy Signal on Gold

August 21, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 675 Views 0 Comments

This article is extracted from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices.

Crisis? What crisis? One could be forgiven for thinking that the plunge in gold price during the second quarter of 2013 could spell the end of one of the longest bull-run for the world’s gold markets. But apparently this was not the really the case, at least not for physical gold. According to the May 2013 press release from The World Gold Council (WGC), demand for bullions and jewellery, which makes up of 72% of global demand, has seen a surge following the mid-April price fall. This has left many retailers in China and India running out of stocks and refineries having to introduce waiting lists for buyers. On the other hand, gold-backed ETFs have seen outflows of 350 tonnes out of a total of 2700 tonnes held, from January to end of April.

The divergence in behaviours reflects the dichotomous nature of investment in gold, with consumers who prefer bullions and jewellery behaving very differently from investors of paper gold. This phenomenon indicates that even if there is an outflow of investments from the paper gold market, there will be always be a ready market among Indian and Chinese consumers.

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