How To Teach Children About Financial Choices

As a parent, you must guide your children’s path to financial independence. Fortunately for you, there are available online tools that can help. Start knowing your teen’s financial personality through the Financial Identity Quiz. It is a research-based tool for teens and young adults aged 16 to 24.

After determining your child’s designated identity, you must discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Give some scenarios to help them decide better.

IDENTITY 1: THE PATHFINDER

As the name suggests, Pathfinders are committed to explore their own financial paths. This does nor mean that they do not need your guidance! From time to time, you must encourage thoughtful discussions about their financial goals. Where are they headed?

To give a distinct financial path, you must challenge your child to look for a positive financial model. It can be a professor, a blogger, an author, and so on. Discuss the steps taken by your child’s financial model. How does he or she plan to achieve the same path? Start by applying similar money principles as your financial model.

IDENTITY 2: THE NOMAD

Some people know their direct paths to success and others are still exploring. Not all those who wonder are lost, but the Nomad needs a little structure in his or her financial life. Help shape your child’s financial habits by finding an ideal financial path together.

Ask your child to do his or her research on a regular basis. You can train this by giving scenarios. For instance, ask what he will do if he showed up to an event without enough cash. Will he panic when faced with late fees via a credit card billing statement? Will he ask for your help when he missed a deadline for a school activity? Also, where will he buy gas when all the petrol stations are closed? These experiences can turn to teachable moments about financial obligations.

IDENTITY 3: TENDERFOOT

You may know a friend or two who has a Tenderfoot approach to money. A Tenderfoot has the most to learn when it comes to making financial decisions. You see, this type is so careful and conservative. This can be a good thing! However, being too careful can make you miss out on other opportunities. You need to take necessary and responsible risks along the way!

Help your children make their own financial decisions by asking what they will do when they are living on their own. Will they have a roommate or live with each other? What if they had an unforeseen medical bill or job loss? How will they raise enough money to survive? Discuss what they will do when help from a parent or a guardian is hard to reach. They have to take risks on their own.

IDENTITY 4: TROOPER

Last but not the least is the personality that echoes you the most – the Trooper. It is flattering to have your child follow in your footsteps. However, you also want to guide your beloved to make his or her own mark. What would be right for you might not be right for your child. Help your child to take ownership in money matters through discussions.

Image Credits:pixabay.com

Ask your child about the last time when he or she acted independently. How did it turn out? What was the problem and solution? How did he or she felt after taking the bold action alone? Then, make your child write down a list of personal priorities that he or she would accomplish alone. These priorities will be best accompanied by research. Help your child know which decision is the best one.

Source: smartaboutmoney

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Save With Certainty On Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan

The Open Electricity Market (OEM) has allowed households to switch from SP Group to other retailers to trim their electricity bills. While this has been a fantastic ride so far, it would be even better if households can make the switch with certainty on the following:

  • Knowing the unit rate to be paid across the entire duration of the contract
  • Enjoying the highest saving rate across the type of plans available

With so many fixed rate plans being offered in the market, consumers actually need to look no further than Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan to get the most bang for their buck. It offers one of the highest cost savings for a fixed price 24-month contract.

Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan

Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan is a 24-month fixed price contract where consumers pay only 17.78₵/kWh (price includes GST) instead of SP Group’s current regulated tariff of 24.39₵/kWh. This extremely low unit price is fixed for the entire duration of the contract. Furthermore, additional savings are thrown in as well:

  • $60 bill rebate;
  • Up to $50 one-time cash rebate for recurring payments made at Senoko Energy’s partner banks;
  • Up to 5% monthly bill rebate for recurring payments made with OCBC, Standard Chartered or UOB. Find out more about their bank partners here.

With such a low unit rate fixed across the duration of the entire contract, coupled with the excellent freebies thrown in, this makes Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan one of the lowest cost 24 months fixed rate plan in the market.

Highest savings amongst OEM Retailers for HDB 3/4/5 rooms, Condos and Landed properties

To illustrate why Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan is the lowest in town, let’s make a comparison across OEM retailers offering 24-month fixed rate plans based on SP’s average household electrical consumption.

Click on image to enlarge

Rates above are accurate as of 22nd May 2019.

Comparison are based on 24-month fixed rate plans with bill rebates factored, applied on national consumption patterns by dwelling types. Bank rebates are not yet included.

As seen in the above table, a comparable household staying in a 4-room HDB will enjoy 30.3% savings in electrical bills by switching from SP Group to Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan. The most important conclusion is that whether you are staying in a HDB 3-room or a condo apartment or even a landed house, Senoko Energy LifePower24 offers the highest savings rate amongst the OEM retailers compared. More importantly, Senoko Energy does not collect a security deposit when you make the switch.

Sign Up Now for up to $110 Bill Rebate

To milk the most out of this opportunity, consumers should quickly sign up for this limited-time promotion to enjoy up to $110 rebate. Hurry to lock in both the unit rate of your electricity bill and the greatest possible costs savings available in the market. Give your household the peace of mind and sign up with Senoko Energy LifePower24 Fixed Rate Plan now!

Legal Disclaimer: It is still important to exercise due diligence when choosing your retailer, so be sure to read the fact sheets and fine print.

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3 Key Digital Marketing Tips to Drive Sales

Every business needs an effective marketing strategy to meet sales objectives. As we are progressing tremendously into the technological world, it is imperative that businesses leverage the digital realm to speak to their target markets in more effective ways. Here are three useful digital marketing tips you should consider as part of your overall sales strategy.

Build an SEO-friendly website

Having an online presence is the basic necessity to thrive in the digital world. With 4.92 million internet users in Singapore at a penetration rate of 84%*, tapping on this medium to market your business is essential. You can first start off with a fully-optimised website that is search engine friendly. While Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is crucial for search engines to rank your website on the first page, you must also know how to target your audience online using SEO.

  1. Keywords

Before beginning any SEO optimisation strategy, you must know what keywords or phrases you want to rank on search engines. These words or phrases are what your potential customers will key into the search box when they are looking for a product or service that you also offer. There are many ways you can do keyword research. For instance, you can find out what generic words or phrases best describes your brand and also look up those used by your competitors to see where you are lacking in. There are several powerful keyword planning tools you can find online to perform this step.

Do note the type of customers you want to attract. If you are looking to drive sales to your e-commerce site such as Shopify, your potential customers are more likely searching for a product or service with a buying intent and thus, your keywords and phrases should be more product and service-focused. Those seeking information often use different short and long-tail keywords that are topical. While the former appears to be a more direct way to drive sales, the latter is also an important digital marketing strategy to tap on as it can persuade potential customers to visit your website to learn more about your brand before making a conversion.

  1. On-page SEO

Once you have decided on your keywords and phrases, it is time to work on your on-page SEO. These include updating your metadata by giving descriptive page titles and unique meta descriptions for each web page. Your URLs must also be easy to read, and your site must be accompanied by a clean web structure that is easy to navigate.

Images play a big role in search engine optimisation too. You can boost image SEO by updating your alt texts, image descriptions and titles with relevant keywords that relate to the nature of the image, the text it is accompanied by and the webpage it is displayed on.

  1. Content

One other crucial element of on-page SEO that is significant in digital marketing includes optimising your website content that can drive sales. While it is necessary to include keywords in your optimised content, you must remember that your content is not only meant to convert prospects but also serves as a resource for others to share. This means that you can reach new audiences that will increase your website traffic and thus increase the chance for you to convert a lead to a customer. There are different types of content you can include – blogs, videos, guest posts, product reviews and guides, among others.

Establish a powerful social media presence

Once you have a well-optimised website, you can now take advantage of social media to further enhance your online presence and be a level higher in your digital marketing sales strategy. There are 4.6 million active social media users in Singapore, with 4.2 million accessing the application via their mobile phones. Apart from creating paid advertisements on these platforms, you can create engaging organic content that your customers want to read, and drive engagement through likes, comments and shares. This allows you to generate positive brand mentions when your followers consistently interact with your brand in ways that meet your objectives. It is also an excellent opportunity to incorporate weblinks into posts and encourage your followers to click on them to reach your site.

All in all, boosting your products and services on social media not only helps to increase traffic to your website (that could potentially lead to conversions), but it also helps to build a base of loyal brand followers who are willing to share your content and thus increase your audience reach.

More prospects, more opportunities for a conversion!

Attractive Google My Business Profile

If you are running a business with a single store or several franchises across the country, setting up your Google My Business (GMB) profile will be incredibly helpful. An important SEO ranking signal, GMB allows you to manage your presence on Google Maps where you can provide all relevant details of your business such as the address, opening hours, telephone number and email, reviews as well as a link back to your website. Moreover, you can also give prospective customers an idea of what your business looks like by incorporating a 360 virtual tour. This allows them to have fun while interacting with your content and be prompted to find out more about your business by navigating to your website through your GMB profile. This drives organic visitors to your site who have the potential to generate conversions.

There is never a direct way to drive sales when it comes to digital marketing. Often, customers may not be as receptive to promotional content and thus it is useful to find other meaningful ways to engage them before they are more confident to make the purchase.

* Digital 2019 Global Overview Report, Hootsuite

 

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Parenthood Tips and Essentials From The NTUC Good Start Bundle

What is the NTUC Good Start Bundle

Being a parent is truly one of life’s most blissful moments. While parenthood can be incredibly exciting, there are likely to be some challenges along the way as well. To better equip parents embarking on this journey, NTUC and its social enterprises have partnered the Embracing PArenthood Movement to put together the NTUC Good Start Bundle. It consists of necessities, parenthood tips and perks that will benefit any parent with a newborn.

How Parents Can Benefit From The NTUC Good Start Bundle

The NTUC Good Start Bundle is helpful in a variety of ways:

1. Necessities a newborn needs

The NTUC Good Start Bundle includes the FairPrice FairMily Kit (worth up to $100) which consists of milk powder (for babies above 6 months old) and grocery essentials. It also includes an exclusive FairPrice Online Deal, which is a god-send as parents could be too busy and exhausted from tending to their newborns. With this exclusive online deal, parents can now shop from the comforts of their home without ever leaving their newborns out of sight!

2. Mother Tongue Reader to ignite your child’s love for her Mother Tongue

Parents may receive a Mother Tongue Reader or Parent-Child Activity Book at PA’s Embracing PArenthood Community Celebration events. The Mother Tongue Reader comes with 3 sets of mother tongue language stickers and is a fun and interactive way to grow your child’s love for their mother tongue language. Early experiences matter, so remember to get either book for free and start them young!

3. Exclusive birthday celebration packages (worth $149) at Downtown East

NTUC understands that planning for the baby shower or first birthday celebration could be the last thing on the minds of busy parents. That is why the planners at Downtown East stand ready to organize these important milestones. With such experienced hands on deck, fatigued parents can focus on spending precious time with their babies and simply turn up to bask in the joyous occasion.

Why Should Parents Sign Up For The NTUC Good Start Bundle

Besides the goodies mentioned above, there are other perks and privileges within the NTUC Good Start Bundle that await parents and their babies:

  1. Complimentary entry to The Little Skool-House Early Literacy Centre every Thursday;
  2. Complimentary Plus! Card for non Plus! Members;
  3. One-year complimentary health insurance for your newborn

The best news is that the NTUC Good Start Bundle is completely free! There is absolutely no reason to say no to these goodies?

Sign Up For The NTUC Good Start Bundle

All families with Singapore citizen babies born between 2016 and 2019 are eligible to receive the NTUC Good Start Bundle goodies! Getting your hand to these amazing goodies is as simple as the following steps:

  • Head over to the NTUC Good Start Bundle website
  • Fill in your family details (both parents + child)
  • Wait for NTUC Good Start Bundle to contact you shortly!

If you are an eligible parent, give your child a head start by signing up for the NTUC Good Start Bundle worth more than $300 for free!

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Here’s a Taobao Hack - Get paid while shopping on Taobao!

What is the ShopBack Button and can it really save you money?

If you haven’t heard of the ShopBack Button, you really are missing out on a lot and by a lot, we mean cash. The ShopBack Button is a browser extension that saves you money while online shopping on Taobao, Agoda, Foodpanda, Qoo10, ASOS & more!

For those of you familiar with the ShopBack, you may have forgotten to click through ShopBack’s website or may have purchased a store without realising it’s on ShopBack.

With the improved ShopBack Button, you will never miss out on free money again! With a few clicks, the browser extension will remind you to earn cashback every time you do a Taobao haul.

What is ShopBack Button?

The ShopBack Button is a free browser extension that helps you earn cashback on most of your favourite shopping sites. Here’s how you can get it:

  1. Add to your browser from either the Google Chrome Web Store or Mozilla Firefox Add-ons page
  2. Shop on any one of your favourite websites as you normally would
  3. The ShopBack Button will blink to notify you if the store has cashback
  5. Before you add to cart, click on ‘Activate Cashback’ on the ShopBack Button so that it turns green
  6. Add to cart, check out as usual and your cashback tracked in your account within the next few days.

Let’s take a look at how you can earn Cashback on Taobao…

With the improved version of the ShopBack Button, it’s super simple and easy to use. Here’s how it works:

  1. While browsing on Taobao’s site, click on the ShopBack Button to see whether the item has cashback
  3. If it does, simply click ‘Activate Cashback’ and continue shopping. Do this for every item you add to cart.
  4. After you add all your items to the cart, check out within 12 hours after adding them to your cart.
  5. ‘Confirm Delivery’ on your items and your cashback will be tracked within 1 day

Just like that, we get to save up to 10% Cashback on every item on Taobao.

Why we like the ShopBack Button

  • Free and easy to install
  • Convenient and seamless with your shopping journey
  • Pretty smart as it tells you which stores have cashback even when you google and will always be there to remind you to activate your cashback before you check out

So treat the ShopBack Button like a virtual piggy bank that collects coins while you shop. Give it a few months and you can see your savings add up to a sizeable sum that can fund your next holiday.

If you’re shopping on Taobao’s 5.20 Thanksgiving Sale this weekend, don’t forget to use the ShopBack Button to get up to 10% cashback on top of up to 50% off shop vouchers on Tmall Signature store. If you’re regular Taobao fan, be sure to also check out their monthly Taobao 5.28 Member’s Day Sale on 28th May for free shipping promotions on Tmall Signature new arrivals!

New to ShopBack? Sign up now to get $5 here!

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