SG Wealth Builder

My thoughts on “Letter about leaving Singapore”

September 10, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 636 Views 0 Comments

Recently, I came across an article featuring “Letter about leaving Singapore”. I felt compelled to blog down my feelings as the letter struck a chord with me.

Like the author, I feel very jaded living in Singapore. In fact, last year, my wife and me were seriously contemplating leaving Singapore for Australia. In the end, we aborted our plan because of our aged parents. We love them too much and thought that we should not be so selfish and left them behind in Singapore.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer
Friends and colleagues often tell me that Singapore has become a playground for the rich people. To a large extent, I agreed with them. Very often, there were articles of rich tycoons snapping up landed properties in prime district area or making big profits from stocks and shares. The rich get richer.

On the other hand, many middle-income and low-income earners hardly get by in Singapore with their incomes. Many of them are in debts, have hefty hospital bills to settle or just not earning enough to survive. How can you be happy and live a fulfilling life if you are constantly worried about bills, loans and debts? How can you remain motivated if you are hungry and desperate?

Stocks

K1 Ventures Stocks

August 25, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 811 Views 0 Comments

I have been tracking K1 Ventures for more than 7 years and had invested in the stock over the years. K1 Ventures is an investment holding company invested in diverse sectors such as finance, transportation leasing, education and oil and gas.

Those who are vested in this counter would know that this is an excellent stock which had paid out huge dividends over the years. Since FY05, it had consistently paid out dividends amounting to a total of $0.2275 per share.

If you had bought the share 7 years ago at $0.33 and hold on to them till now, you would have an incredible yield of 68.9%. Now, how many stocks in SGX are capable of giving this sort of dividends nowadays?

Voluntary Offer

Henceforth, I was pretty upset that GKB recently made a voluntary offer for K1 Ventures at $0.135 per share. For the uninitiated, GKB is an investment vehicle owned by Keppel Corp, CEO of K1 and BV Singapore. The consortium currently owns a combined stake of 62% in K1 and will own 100% on successful takeover.

The offer was so low that I didn’t even bother to think twice on whether to accept it. After all, if I hold on to the stock, over the next few years, I could potentially receive dividends well in excess of the current stock price, bearing in mind that many of the investments of K1 Ventures are riped for divestment.

Investment; SGX stocks; Equities; Stock trading

IPO: My views on Far East Hospitality Trust

August 8, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 0 Comments

Some time back ago, I received a query from a reader asking for my views on Far East Hospitality Trust IPO. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, normally I refrain from giving advice on IPO, especially business trusts or REITs.

I must admit that my knowledge in business trusts and REITs is lacking. But then again, investors need to understand that business trusts and REITs are very different from shares trading in the stock market.

The structure and nature of the business model can be quite complicated for the man in the street to comprehend. For example, investors need to know that REITs are actually managed by external managers and are backed by sponsors which are usually major property developers or shipping companies.

Sometimes, there may be non-transparency concerning party-related transactions, so there might be cases of poor disclosures to investors. In addition, the assets are financed not only by unit holders, but also through bank loans as well.

Borrowers have to top up their loan facilities, should underlying asset values fall below a certain point. So investors need to understand the leveraging risks of business trusts and REITs as well and not just be seduced by the compelling yield.

salaries

Higher Starting Salaries for Fresh Graduates

August 6, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 740 Views 0 Comments

A recent survey released by Hay Group last week revealed that fresh graduates are drawing higher starting salaries compared to 2011. Those without Honors drew S$2, 678 while those with second upper Honors and higher drew S$2, 766 and S$2, 882 respectively. It also revealed that those working in the engineering sector drew the highest average salaries of $2,777 without honors. Jobs in research & development and merchandise operations ranked second and third, with the graduates earning S$2, 764 and S$ 2, 742 a month, respectively.

I am actually quite surprised by the survey as I always assumed that those working in the finance sector are usually paid well and would be among earn highest earners. But the results of the survey showed otherwise.

Based on the results, I think engineers are still in demand and would still command respectable starting salaries. I am heartened by this as my degree is engineering and I hold an engineering job. I would like to think that my engineering career can still last for another 10 -15 years, unless I decided to do a career switch or switch to entrepreneurship.

Another interesting fact is that the starting salaries for non-honors engineering graduates are quite high (at $2,777).

personal finance

Personal Finance Expert, Dennis Ng, passed away

August 2, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 806 Views 1 Comment

I was shocked to learn that Dennis Ng has died suddenly of heart attack on 26th July. Dennis was well-known in Singapore to be a personal finance guru. He was the author of bestsellers, Mastering Your Personal Finance and What Your School Never Taught You About Money.

He was also the co-founder of HousingLoanSG.com, an independent mortgage consultancy portal. This article is dedicated specially to the man who have contributed greatly to personal finance literacy in Singapore.

I read from fellow bloggers in the investment community that he was someone who was willing to share his financial expertise and knowledge to novice investors. There are not many financial gurus, especially in Singapore’s context, who are willing to do so. Therefore, his demise is indeed a great loss to the investment community.

He is a role model of whom I aspire to be in the next 10 years. I don’t fancy myself as a guru, but it is my intention to share with my readers, my experience and lessons learned from investment mistakes. I hope that in the long run, I can reach the same level as Dennis Ng.

Thank you so much, Dennis Ng.Y

You shall be missed.

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personal finance

Special appeal to all Singaporeans to support Adelyn

July 31, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 746 Views 4 Comments

Many times, we took our health for granted. It is only when we lost our health, then we truly appreciate the beauty of life. I chanced upon this blog by a Singaporean girl called Adelyn Xinhui. She is born with cornea defect. I think many Singaporeans would recognise her face as she appeared in several Mediacorp charity shows before.

Xinhui has just released a music album, hoping to raise money for a cornea transplant operation. The operation cost more than $40k for each eye. Please read her story in (http://adelynxinhui.blogspot.sg/). In a gesture of support, my wife and me had bought one copy from her mom. Please help to spread the words around.

This operation may offer the girl a chance to lead a new lease of life and she genuinely needs help from fellow Singaporeans. I believe most of us can spare $20 to do a good cause.

Below is an extract from Adelyn’s blog:

My name is Adelyn. I am 10 years old. I was born with cornea defect called “Peter Anomaly”. I was sent for 4 times of cornea transplant when I was between 8 to 12 month old. However, all the cornea was rejected. Today, I can only visual lights, shadows and colors.

Self improvement

Robert Kiyosaki

July 23, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 999 Views 0 Comments

In recent months, I have been receiving requests from media and event organizers looking to promote their events on my blog, SG Wealth Builder. One of them was an event organizer who wished to promote Robert Kiyosaki’s event “The Power of Financial Education” held at Singapore Expo, June 2012.

I was approached a couple of weeks before the event was due to take place and was at first a bit skeptical. I mean my blog, SG Wealth Builder, is not even a popular investment blog in Singapore, so why would the event company chose to promote their event in it? I told my wife about it and she also found it puzzling.

Anyway, both the event company and me didn’t manage to work out a deal on time and so I missed the opportunity to promote Robert Kiyosaki’s event. On hindsight, I feel that it is a compliment that someone actually approached me to help them promote their events. Even though the deal didn’t go through, I feel honored that my blog, SG Wealth Builder, was considered by Robert Kiyosaki’s event company.

For the uninitiated, Robert Kiyoski is the famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, a motivational book on personal finance.

Blog updates

A new milestone for SG Wealth Builder

July 20, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 660 Views 0 Comments

SG Wealth Builder stormed past 51,000 page views today. This is a new milestone for my blog and to be honest, I am very pleased that my blog’s readership has been rocketing over the last six months. Although I started this blog three years ago, I stopped blogging for quite a while in 2011 because of work commitments. At the end of 2011, page views for my blog was 8500 only.

The increasing popularity of SG Wealth Builder is a compliment and serves to reinforce in me that this blog is going in the right direction. I hope that by the end of this year, my blog can reach 100,000 page views. I believe this is achievable if I continue to blog frequently and share with my readers my investment thoughts.

Maybe its a form of job hazard but I have a habit of reviewing my blog’s performance. If you noticed, I have changed my blog’s template recently. This is to give my blog a refreshed look. Even with this fresh look, my focus will still be bringing quality content for my readers. In this regard, readers can look forward to more of my stock analysis and outlook on the stock market.

Stocks

My views on Ascendas Hospitality Trust

July 19, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 683 Views 1 Comment

I am no stock analyst but yesterday one of my readers emailed and asked about my views on the Ascendas Hospitality Trust impending IPO.

First of all, investors need to know that Ascendas Hospitality Trust is a business trust and not a typical real estate investment trust (Reit). In this case, about 80 percent of the assets will be in the business trust and 20 percent in the Reit.

To be honest, I am not sure how business trust works and normally if I don’t understand a business model, I would not invest in the company. This is not to say that Ascendas Hospitality Trust is not a good stock.

On the contrary, it can be a potentially good stock that delivers consistent yield for long term investors. However, I would not invest in such business trust because I will only invest in stocks with business models that I can understand. To me, investing should be kept simple and as a rule of thumb, you must be able to describe the business in one sentence.

Secondly, I usually do not invest in IPO. Most speculators or novice investors like to dabble in IPO. They might have made some money but I observed that many times, after the euphoria died down, investor’s interest in these IPO would also disappear, causing the prices to drop.

make money

How the rich make their money

July 13, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 859 Views 1 Comment

It is often said that the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. Globally, the issue of social gap is entrenching in many cosmopolitan cities. Even Singapore, which is home to one of the largest concentration of millionaires in the world, is no exception. One of the key questions is how did the rich make their money and preserve their wealth in times of crisis? In one of the financial workshops I attended recently, the consultant briefly shed some light on how the rich made their fortune.

Every now and then, you would have heard about investment themes like renewable energy, technology, currency, property, ETF, gold/silver, investment-linked insurances and what not. These are actually hypes made by the movers and shakers to create bubbles so that small time investors like you and me will buy-in.

What happened was that years before the bubbles occurred, the ultra rich gathered their analysts and made them formulate new investment themes. After determining areas where they can reap in big monies, the rich dudes then pump in their funds.

They would hold press conferences and churned out quantitative data and charts to convince retail investors that their investment themes are the next big things.

Blog updates

Setbacks for this financial blog

July 11, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 729 Views 1 Comment

Recently, I have been doing a lot of reflections on how to deal with setbacks. Something nasty happened to me and set me thinking whether I should continue this financial blog.

When I started this financial blog three years ago, my intention was to chronicle my investment journey and captured the important setbacks and lessons learned. I hope to document down these lessons, not only to serve as reminders not to commit the same mistakes again, but also to share with my readers my investment journey. It was never my intention to offer any form of investment advice nor to induce anyone to buy financial products.

I feel that it is important to make this clear to all my readers that I am not a financial adviser offering investment advice nor am I a full-time blogger who blog for a living. I have a day-time job and I started this financial blog as a hobby.

Apparently, someone misconstrued my intention and claimed in a forum that I had been dishing out rubbish investment advice. He also claimed that I had a knack of writing load of stuff out of nothing and that my blog offers absolute zero value to readers.

Well I suppose he is entitled to his views and I leave it to my readers to judge.

Self improvement

The Bad Mood Fund

July 8, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 1001 Views 0 Comments

Recently I attended one financial planning courses sponsored by my company. It was a short two days course that touched on personal financial planning. In this article, I will share my views on bad mood fund.

One thing I like about the course is that the instructors focused on educating the participants rather than pushing financial products. That was why I enjoyed the course because I did not have to second guess whether the instructors was biased in his recommendations or whether he was trying to hard sell his company’s financial products.

At the end of the course, I learned quite a few things and thought that I just have to blog it down and share with my readers. One key takeaway was the “The Bad Mood Fund”.

In life, there are always ups and downs. Most of us faced challenges and obstacles in our daily lives. As a result, we can sometimes ended up feeling bitter, frustrated and angry. One of the best ways to “cure” your negative feelings, whether you are a man or woman, would be retail therapy.

Nothing beats buying something to pamper yourself at the end of a miserable lousy day isn’t it? I mean we all live only once and I think it is important that we pamper ourselves every now and then.

Money management; personal finance

So you want to become rich in Singapore?

July 5, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 737 Views 0 Comments

In my previous blog, I mentioned about how to become rich in Singapore. One of my readers, Eric, replied that most Singaporeans faced the “need” to be “rich” now rather than in their fifties. While I agreed that most youth nowadays want instant gratification and quick results, I cannot agree that being rich is a “need”. Rather, the desire to be rich is a “want”, rather than a “need”. It is important that readers differentiate the difference between needs and wants. I shall proceed to elaborate.

In life, we can have many “wants”. We can desire for new and bigger cars. We can for desire designer-style apartments. We can desire to have a European honeymoon. Nothing wrong with these desires. But it is important to note that these are not essentials to our life. They are merely “wants” rather than “needs”.

For example, in Singapore, if you need a car for certain valid reasons, you can buy a pre-owned car rather than paying through the nose for a brand new car. If you don’t have the sufficient fund to go for a European honeymoon after your wedding, then probably the best option is to plan for a short trip instead. Therefore, before we purchase big-ticket items, spend some time to think through whether they are actually “wants” or “needs”.

Self improvement

How to be rich in Singapore

July 2, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 698 Views 4 Comments

How to be rich? How to be rich quick in Singapore?

A few months ago, I wrote an article on how to become rich in Singapore. The articles has since garnered more than 2500 page views and remained one of my most popular postings. The article has also received several feedbacks from my readers. I suppose at the back of most Singaporeans’ mind, most of us wish to know what is the shortest route to being rich in Singapore. I shall attempt to discuss more about this topic.

I always pondered aloud, what is the defintion of being rich in Singapore? Does it mean setting a monetary target of $10 million in the bank or does it refers to the state of the mind? Just yesterday, I read an article from a local Chinese newspaper about the plight of a senior engineer who was addicted to gambling. The article stated that the engineer earned more than $10,000 every month but owed gambling debts of more than half a million. Unable to withstand the constant harassment from loan sharks, the engineer committed suicide. For most Singaporeans, a monthly salary of more than $10,000 would probably make us among the top earners in Singapore.

Self improvement

Your relationship with money

June 29, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 808 Views 0 Comments

Different people have different concepts on money. Some people define being financial free means not having to work or free from debt. Some people deemed being financial free as doing what you enjoy for a living.

Whatever the case is, it is important to define what your relationship with money is. Is your relationship with money based on fear, greed or ignorance? I came to realize that if we do not establish our relationship with money early on in our life, then we will forever have unfinished business with money. Allow me to elaborate.

Most people’s relationship with money is based on fear. We are socially conditioned to think that having a job provides us a secure income and that having a job is the only means of bringing food to the table to feed the family. However, ironically, very often we fear of being retrenched by the company during economic downturn.

We also fear of being sacked by the company when we reached our fifties and could not find another job to support our families. It is this sense of insecurity that most of us hold on to our job. To overcome this fear and insecurity, there is a need to internalize what your passion and aptitude are.

make money

Creating Sources of Passive Income

June 25, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 778 Views 0 Comments

Lately, my wife has been asking me what does passive income mean and how to create our own sources of passive income.

To most working adults, the concept of passive income can be quite alien or new, especially for those who are not financially educated. This is because most of us were brought up with the conventional thinking that we should study hard and then secure a good job that pays well. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this traditional thinking but following this route will probably not set you on the path to financial success. In today’s context, with so many graduates (local and foreign) flooding the market, you need something special in order to be ahead of the peck.

Coming back to the main topic, passive incomes are sources of incomes which do not require you to actively work or labor in exchange for monetary rewards. Effectively, you are making money even when you are sleeping. Of course there are trade-offs to make. When we are working for a pay check, we are exchanging our labor or time in exchange for monthly salaries. Likewise for passive incomes, we are exchanging intangible commodities in return for monetary rewards. For example, in Singapore, one of the easiest way to make passive income is to sublet empty rooms in your HDB flat.

Career management

My views on the job market in Singapore

June 22, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 788 Views 0 Comments

It’s that time of the year again when local fresh graduates enter the job market. I still remember the trepidation and fear I had when I graduated 7 years ago. On one hand, I was pretty excited about having an income, being financially independent from my parents and having my own purchasing power. On the other hand, I was also worried about securing a job that comes with great prospect and good pay.

Many jobs but one career
First, the good news for fresh graduates: in this day and age, it is okay to job hop. The older generation of workers tend to believe in loyalty to company and would not jump ship for higher pay or job title.

In today’s context, employee loyalty is longer relevant in view of shorter market cycles. Nowadays, companies are quick to retrench workers during downturns, so if you overstay in your company, you might be the next one on the hit list. So it is alright to switch several jobs during the first few years of your job journey. But make sure you gained enough competencies, skills or niche knowledge from each job taken.

For fresh graduates, nothing is more important than gaining work experiences.

Money management; personal finance; relationship

Difference between miser and smart spender

June 14, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 855 Views 2 Comments

I always like to browse through some of my fellow blogger’s postings. I find many of their postings informative, useful and at times, engaging. In fact, their articles help to shape my current philosophy on life, personal developments and investments. I am just so glad to have embarked on this learning journey because it just keep making me become a better person. In this article, I am touching on the difference between miser and smart spender.

One of my favorite blogs is Janny Cole’s “How to be Rich, Happy and Free from Scams”. One unique aspect of her postings is that she covered both United States and Singapore financial tips and news.

In her latest posting, I learned something new again and that is the difference between miser and smart spender. I agreed with her wholeheartedly that time is money and that if your hourly income is more than what you would pay for someone to do the household chores, then hiring domestic helper makes perfect financial sense.

Working or doing business in Singapore is already so stressful and at the end of a busy tiring day, the time saved on doing household chores can be invested to relax, build bond with family or brainstorm new investing ideas.

Money management; personal finance; Investment

What does it mean to achieve financial freedom

June 13, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 600 Views 0 Comments

In my previous post, one of my readers, CreateWealth8888, commented that my ex-colleague might have achieved financial freedom and therefore resigned from my company without a job.

Well, I am not going to dwell on the issue of his resignation reason but I think CreateWealth8888 brought up an interesting topic and that is being financially free in Singapore.

Everyone has his own definition of financial freedom. For me, being financially free in Singapore means you need not work but can still live comfortably without having to worry about the bills. And I think this is an important fact.

Most Singaporeans derive their incomes from their jobs or businesses. It is crucial that after we retired, retrenched or resigned from our jobs or businesses, there are financial mechanisms or means in placed to ensure that our quality of lives do not suffer as a result of the lack of mainstream income.

There are a few who became rich overnight after striking lotteries or inheriting assets, but normally this sort of wealth do not last. So essentially, being financially free does not mean you have to be rich. But what you need is to equip yourself with the know-how on how to kick-start your life journey to financial freedom.

Career management

The peril of quitting without a job

June 12, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 580 Views 2 Comments

Recently one of my colleagues tendered his resignation letter. I do not know his actual reason for resigning but apparently he was unhappy that he was overlooked for promotion, so I supposed he quit to register his unhappiness. As he resigned in an abrupt manner, I can only postulate that he has not found a new job. He is 40 this year, a bachelor and held only executive positions throughout his career. He does not have management experience nor post-graduate qualifications.

Career suicide
I am no HR expert, but I think my ex-colleague just committed a career suicide. Quitting at the age of 40 is a bad, bad career move. Even though he is single, with no family commitments, given his age, he may not be able to find jobs that pay him similar salary.

This is because firstly, his bargaining power during salary negotiation for his new job will be greatly reduced as his prospective employer will know that he has no income.

Secondly, quitting without a job will surely not go down well with his prospective employer who may wonder if he has character issues. In this day and age, organizations look for employees who are team players and can fit into their organizational culture.

Investments

Investment Insight: Fixed Income Securities

June 11, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 0 Comments

As mentioned in my previous posting, I am sharing my views on fixed income securities, which refers to financial products that offer investors a return in the form of fixed periodic payments (coupon) and the eventual return of principal at maturity. Example of fixed income securities include government bonds and preference shares issued by companies.

Benefits of Investing in Fixed Income
Historically, the returns of stocks and bonds moved in opposite directions at the same time. Investors can reduce their portfolio risk through diversifying their investments on fixed income securities, which offer investors a predictable income stream during times of market volatile.

Fixed income securities are very transparent in the sense that investors would know how much interest they can expect to receive, how often they will receive it and when they can get back their principal investment monies. Investors can also check the prices in real-time and the volume information from SGX website and their broker’s trading platforms. Fixed income securities also operated like shares and investors can buy and sell them through broker anytime during trading hours.

How does it works?
Issuer borrow principal amount from investors and repay the money at maturity. In exchange, investors receive coupons (interest payments), usually paid in twice-yearly installments.

Investments

The correct way to invest your money

June 9, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 923 Views 0 Comments

In life, besides working hard for money, you have to also ensure money work hard for you. This is especially so in this era of low saving interest rates. Currently the inflation rate is about 4 to 5% in Singapore and the bank saving rates are below 1%. So effectively, your purchasing power is eroded. So how do you go about beating the inflation and make sure that money is not slipping away from the pocket? The key is to invest your money correctly.

When I mean the correct way to invest your money, I do not mean that we should immediately take out all our money from the bank and start investing in various financial instruments. Rather, we should do our homework first before making any moves. Always remember the mantra “Don’t be in a hurry to lose away your money”.

I always believe that there is a systematic approach to investing and that laying a strong foundation is crucial for every investors. We should educate ourselves the way of financial wisdom, preferably at young ages, so as to give ourselves a strong head-start. Remember, the journey of investment is a long one and there are always many new things to learn, no matter how established you are.

personal finance

Dangerous Investment Advice

June 5, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 535 Views 1 Comment

One of my readers, Createweath8888, commented in my previous post that in this era of low saving rate, it is wiser to “invest well with most of our saving” instead of putting our money in the bank. Whilst I respect his view, I consider that a reckless financial advice. Simply because investment is never risk free. There is always a risk that you could lose a portion or all of your monies.

All of us must have a certain level of saving, then can we think or talk about investing. Depending on your comfort level, the amount of savings you accumulated can provide crucial safety net in times of crisis. Nowadays, with shorter financial cycles, you never know when retrenchment will strike. If that occurs, how prepared are you? Bear in mind that when you have no job, money will stop flowing into your pocket, but expenses will never stop. In such situation, I bet you would have appreciated that “Cash is King”.

It’s not that I disencourage investing. In fact, I agreed that we must all learn to invest in order to beat the high inflation rate. But before we jump the gun and pour our hard-earned savings into investment products, we must first build our fundamentals and learn to walk before we try to run.

personal finance

The magic of compounded savings

June 5, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 783 Views 2 Comments

Many people underestimate the magic of compounded savings. Two years ago, when I was wooing my wife, I gave her a plastic piggy bank as an anniversary gift. I noted back then that she had difficulty saving regularly because she needed to repay her student loan and supported her family.

So I gave her a piggy bank hoping that she developed the good habit of saving. She was pleasantly surprised to receive the gift and made a commitment to deposit only one dollar coins in it. Subsequently, I also bought one for myself and after we got married, we challenged ourselves who can save more.

Recently, both of us decided to count the number of one dollar coins in our piggy banks as my wife’s piggy bank was filled to the brink. Before counting, it was obvious that I had lost as mine was only about one-sixth filled. Nevertheless, we were very excited to know how much she had saved over the last two years. In the end, we counted 2000 one-dollar coins for my wife and for me, its less than $200. Both of us marveled how much she had saved considering that she is now a full-time housewife with no income.

Money management; personal finance; relationship

Attaining personal financial success in Singapore

June 2, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 786 Views 0 Comments

Some time ago, I wrote an article, “Three Ways to Become Rich in Singapore”. Recently, a reader commented that I made it sound so easy to become rich in Singapore. In this article, I would examine how to attain personal financial success in Singapore.

Striking it rich is never easy, especially in Singapore’s context. After all, if most Singaporeans are willing to toll 16 long years to obtain a tertiary qualification in the hope of securing a good job, what make you think that financial success can be achieved in a couple of years?

The hard truth is that the route to wealth is never easy and the ideas which I mentioned in my post, “Three Ways to Become Rich in Singapore”, merely explore how we can become rich. It was never my intention to spread the belief that attaining financial success is easy. After all, I am not a self-made millionaire (yet) and making money really requires lots of hard work. In this respect, I think its worthwhile to share a little bit more about my thoughts.

No short-cuts
I belong to Gen-X and believes in hard work and sacrifices to attain financial success. Nowadays, the new generation of youth think otherwise and many of them believe in quick success with less effort.

personal finance

The $100,000 Question

May 29, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 812 Views 0 Comments

Singaporeans who are contemplating a new car must be wondering if it is worthwhile to buy now. This is especially so considering the sky-high Certificate of Entitlement (COE). Despite the recent drop in the prices of COE, the entitlement to drive a new car on Singapore roads still remain very expensive. Buyers need to fork out at least around $100,000 for a new car. This is by no means a small sum, even for a big-ticket item. So let’s examine what are the factors we should consider before damaging our pockets.

Buy for the right reason
Most Singaporeans, especially those conservative and thrifty ones, consider cars as sheer liabilities, at least in Singapore context. They argued that public transport is excellent in Singapore and hence there is no need for a car. But I beg to differ. For some people, having a car can be an asset to their job or business.

For example if you are a housing agent, you definitely need a car to meet clients at different time and places. In addition, some jobs, especially those sales and marketing ones, also require candidates to possess private transport so as to meet clients.

On the other hand, some Singaporeans buy car because of family needs.

personal finance

How to find a good financial advisor

May 25, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 584 Views 0 Comments

Most experts recommend novice investors to engage financial advisor to help them achieve their financial goals. Yet how do we find someone whom we can trust? Over the years, I have met many financial consultants, some good, some down right bad. I would like to share with my readers some of my experience dealing with these jokers.

Title Inflation
Many of the financial advisers I met carried with them big titles like Associate Director, Vice President, Sales Director, etc. A lot of them were also quite young. I think many of them suffered from the mistaken belief that if they carry big titles, customers will respect them more and will be more inclined to buy from them. Actually I don’t care about titles when I look for a financial consultant. To me, titles are just job designation. But normally I would look out for someone who is a Certified Financial Planner. I would give the fellow slightly more face-time.

Know your needs
Before you even sat down with the financial advisor, make sure you know what you need. Not all planners offer comprehensive advice tailored to your needs. Decide what you want and expect from the adviser. For example, last month, I was shopping around for a medical shield plan for my baby girl and invited a financial consultant to my home for a discussion.

Gold

UOB Gold/Silver Saving Account

May 23, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 950 Views 1 Comment

Two years ago, I wrote two articles on my investment experience on UOB Gold/Silver Saving Account. There were many comments and queries from my readers.

Firstly, I must clarify that I did not represent UOB when I wrote the articles and UOB also does not pay me for promoting their product. Secondly, I wrote the articles based on my investment experience. I had made some money from it and thus, wished to share with my readers.

I will not bear responsibility for any potential losses incurred as readers need to do homework before investing or alternatively, they should seek financial consultant’s advice before deciding for themselves whether to invest in this product.

Recently a reader queried the GST and fees chargeable for the transactions for UOB Gold/Silver Saving Account. Based on UOB’s website, there is no GST chargeable for transactions. As for the fees, they are indicated clearly in the website for both Gold and Silver savings. I would advise investors to confirm with the bank staff before you open a Gold/Silver Saving Account with UOB. Their customer service’s contact can be found in the website.

As I mentioned two years ago, UOB was the only bank that offered this scheme.

Self improvement

Manage your emotions in your investments

May 20, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 629 Views 0 Comments

In the investment circle, everyone knows the golden rule of setting targets for investments. But how many investors actually put that into practice when the crunch comes? After all, greed and fear often come into play whenever we make important financial decisions. To build wealth, you must learn how to manage your emotions in your investments

Investors often make irrational decisions, leading to losses in their investments. They sell their stock holdings when the stock market crashes and buy when the market booms. When they lost money, they blame their stock brokers, they blame the market, they blame the stock analysts. They blame the whole world except themselves. What most investors failed to realize is that the greatest investment enemy is within ourselves and that we failed solely because of our ego and fear.

When I started investing as a newbie 13 years ago, I belonged to this category. I felt like a winner when I made money from my stock investments and a loser when I lost money. Over the year, my thinking changed as I read from self-improvement books, articles and magazines. I came to realize that managing your ego and fear is crucial to our decision-making and that when it comes to investing, it’s not about winning or losing the game.

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Enter the stock market now?

May 19, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 612 Views 0 Comments

The recent mini-correction in the stock market must have caused some jitters to many local investors. Most of us wonder whether the current Euro debt mess, which has been on-going for three years, will spark off a major world-wide stock market mayhem or taper off in a few years. My own personal view is that history will repeat itself all over again and that a major correction is coming, probably at the second half of the year.

During 2007-2008, my company announced pay adjustment for all existing employees and I remembered my pay was adjusted upwards by $550. The feeling back then was buoyant for everyone in Singapore. Fresh graduates got record high starting pay and people were making money in the stock market. Penny stocks were speculators favourite plays and volumes for these counters were extremely high.

Then, reports of “sub-prime mortgages” started to surface in newspapers article. Most people just shrugged off this development in the United States. The issue dragged on for several months and soon imploded with the collapse of the Lehman Brothers. Of course, the stock markets tanked and caused world-wide mayhem. There was a U.S. Presidential Election and Obama was sworn in as the new President to deal with the financial crisis.