4 Costly Investment Mistakes To Avoid During Pandemic

Investment is defined as the money committed or property owned that is acquired for future income. It has two main classes namely: fixed income (e.g., bonds or fixed deposits) and variable income (e.g., property ownership). The choices you make when investing your money can influence your future.

Most of us are unaware of the investment mistakes and other financial missteps that can affect our short-term and long-term financial goals. However, the pandemic has given us no choice but to face our financial nightmares head-on. On that note, please do your best to avoid making costly investment mistakes.

#1: SELLING OFF INVESTMENTS OUT OF FEAR

2020 hit us hard. Many people are maxing out on their credit cards and are breaking their savings to pay for rent, groceries, and other essentials. The market crash triggered a global panic as people are selling off investments, losing billions in the bear market.

Let us be honest. It is impossible to know when another market crash will happen. The market’s recovery has been based on the idea that the pandemic has become more manageable. The reality is that the COVID-19 cases continue to spike each day. The numbers may continue to get worse as the global economy reopens. In Singapore, new closures and safety restrictions have been employed by retail stores and other commercial establishments.

It is tempting to sell off your investments given the current situation. Think about it. You should not sell something due to relatively short-term market conditions. You are in this for the long-haul. Unless your investment beliefs and strategies have changed, you must consider keeping those stocks. Building an emergency fund by investing money can be a lifesaver.

#2: BELIEVING IN MARKET GURUS

Some people eagerly listen to “money gurus” that are believed to predict the market. Media gurus make their money from discussing about investments, selling their advice or charging fees to manage other people’s money. But, their followers are not all rich. If you could predict the market’s future, wouldn’t you shut your mouth and make money for yourself?

Forget about the money gurus, what will help you is to diversify your portfolio. Knowing the right companies to allocate your money to takes guts, wits, and luck.

#3: FOLLOWING YOUR PORTFOLIO ON A DAILY BASIS

The market is volatile and people are more concerned about the stock market than before. There is a lot of noise surrounding this. The noise may brew fear inside of you, which can lead to bad decisions. Try not to follow your portfolio on a daily basis.

Do not let fear consume you as many people are screaming voices of gloom and doom. As was mentioned a while ago, you are in it for the long-haul. You are not invested for today or tomorrow. Markets will fall and crash, but good companies will eventually recover as history showed us.

#4: WAITING FOR A BOTTOM TO BUY STOCKS

In theory, you can buy good stocks at a discount when the market crashes. However, it is nearly impossible to purchase something at a perfect price and a perfect time. Do not try to time the market as it can cause you to miss glistening opportunities.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

No one knows when a crash will come or where the bottom is exactly. Consider purchasing stocks from good companies at all-time highs. If you are planning to be in this journey for a long time, you can buy shares from the businesses you believe in. Just be strategic and realistic!

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3 Reasons Why Uptown @ Farrer Is A Good Investment Property

Uptown @ Farrer is an integrated development by Low Keng Huat, a reputable developer listed on the main board of SGX. This project is estimated to receive its Temporary Occupation Permit by 1Q 2021. Being so close to its completion date, so there only remains a small window of opportunity to gain a foothold into this unique development. Here are 3 main reasons why Uptown @ Farrer is a good investment property.

1. City Fringe Location

Uptown @ Farrer is located in an enviable city fringe location in prime district 8. It takes only 1-minute walk from Exit G of Farrer Park MRT station to reach the development. From there, you are only 2 MRT stops to Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, Singapore’s most connected MRT station with 3 interweaving lines. Because of its proximity to the MRT and city fringe location, it takes less than 15 minutes by public transport to get to Raffles Place and Orchard Road. This is the ultimate accessibility that one can enjoy!

Furthermore, the condominium is situated just opposite City Square mall, a large shopping mall catered to young families. It has a comprehensive mix of retailers such as Toys”R”us, MindChamps, Decathlon, Don Don Donki and NTUC to cater to every family’s needs.

In addition, it sits adjacent to the Ophir-Rochor road Corridor, a key district identified by URA to be a key area for growth and rejuvenation. Key plans include installation of key infrastructure to transform the entire area into a car-lite and lush green zone packed with lifestyle offerings. Uptown @Farrer is a beneficiary that stands to capture any positive spill-over effects from this massive government undertaking.

2. Easy to rent

This is a rare opportunity to invest in an integrated development that will be popular with renters. The entire project consists of a single residential tower with an exclusive number of just 116 units. Retail shop units nearby offer direct and easy access to F&B offerings (eg: Michelin star-rated Putien) and lifestyle services. These are key amenities that potential tenants will definitely come to expect and appreciate. In addition, the serviced apartment will be operated under Ascott’s co-living brand, lyf, targeted at millennials. With its social kitchen and modular spaces catering for gigs and events, it adds a whole new vibrancy to the entire development.

With fewer units located within the building adding to the exclusivity, as well as an established transport infrastructure and numerous retail offerings a stone’s throw away, this condominium will appeal heavily to renters. Positive examples such as City Square Residences are testament to the popularity of this location. The ease of renting your residential unit signals strong potential capital appreciation in the future.

3. Rare Loft Units That Double Up

A significant effect of Covid-19 is that working from home may soon become the new normal. Therefore, it has become very important to find a conducive place within the house where one can conduct Zoom meetings to work in peace or have their children able to do home-based learning if needed. This is why loft units have increasingly become the apartment type of choice. Uptown @ Farrer offer several types of loft units with ceiling heights reaching 5.9m! The voluminous space allows a home-owner to craft out an extra place for a work office or a study room. In addition, the developer will be providing the loft decking when the unit is completed which is normally not the case. This is an efficient and cost-effective way to carve out more space for your home!

Here are 3 key reasons why Uptown @ Farrer makes a very compelling and good investment property. Simply make an appointment online or via your preferred property agent beforehand to view the showflat and make your purchase.

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Review: Here’s how we trade gold with no minimum start up cost in this S’pore-based app

A user-friendly mobile app

Right from the start, I commenced my gold investment journey with Everest Gold by downloading its mobile application. With the mobile app, it offers supreme convenience as I am able to trade 24/7 from the comfort of my home. This is something that banks cannot offer since gold has to be purchased over the counter.

The mobile app was designed with “ease of use” as the intention in mind as investors can access their investments anytime, anywhere. I really appreciate the instant liquidity and the option of trading on the go. It also negates the need for long hours of monitoring so that I can focus my time on other activities in life.

Low Investment Threshold

Whether it is purchasing gold jewellery or gold bullion from banks, the traditional way of investing in gold often involves high entry barriers. The amazing feature set by Everest Gold is that investment threshold starts from as low as 1 EGU= 0.01g of gold. This means that retail investors eager to get started on investing in gold no longer need to wait till a sizeable amount of funds have been accumulated before beginning.

Furthermore, any savvy investor would realise that fees eats into returns. The lower the fees, the higher the returns. Therefore, it definitely helps that there are no transaction fees involved when purchasing gold over the Everest Gold platform.

Safe and Secure

With all the amazing features outlined above, it is just as important to know that my investments will be safe and secure. At Everest Gold, all transactions are fully encrypted with the use of 256-bit SSL. This means that my transactions are safeguarded and personal information protected. Privacy is respected since it is compliant with requirements of the Personal Data Protection Act of Singapore.

I am also impressed with the robust verification process which is supplemented by biometric authentication. Prior to trading, a compulsory personal verification process is required to prevent financial fraud and identity theft. An auditor conducts regular audits to ensure the clear delineation of investor funds with Everest Gold’s own funds for business use. With stringent audits in place, all transactions at Everest Gold are transparent, constantly updated and fully accounted for.

Conclusion

As a retail investor, I am really glad that Everest Gold is here to streamline outdated procedures of investing in gold. In return, I know that I am getting higher liquidity, better efficiency and lower costs for my gold portfolio by trading and owning my gold on the Everest Gold platform.

Everest Gold is available for download on Android, iOS and desktop. 

For more information, visit https://everestgold.sg 

In line with National Day, enter referral code “WAVTW” when you register your Everest Gold account and receive 55 SGD worth of reward points. Be rewarded with 400,000 reward points for each successful account verification. Reward points can be converted into EGU during Gold Subscription Events. Promotion is for users residing in Singapore only. Valid till 31 Aug 2020.

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Everest Gold: What you need to know before investing

Everest Gold is a Singapore fintech company working to make gold trading and investment accessible and affordable for retail investors on a secure online platform. It employs advanced technology which allows clients to track real-time gold prices as they seamlessly build, invest, trade and sell their gold portfolios.

Investors do not need any specialised trading experience to yield higher profits when investing in gold via Everest Gold. Simply buy when the price of gold is low and sell when price is high to get instant profits! With zero transaction fees and no minimum amount required, take advantage of price movements to execute unlimited trades! Everest Gold is truly the most affordable and accessible platform for retail investors to start investing in gold today.

Read: How To Maximise Your Returns Investing In Gold With Everest Gold

Investment safety

Even more reassuring is the fact that Everest Gold recognises that being able to invest in a safe and secure portfolio is often the utmost important criteria in the minds of investors. Therefore, it has made investment safety and security its top priorities. To ensure that its customers have peace of mind while trading gold, it has entered into a tripartite supervision agrrangement with Pacific Trustees Singapore and Malca-Amit. This ensures that no party can unilaterally exercise its rights over the gold. Here is how each party plays a part in ensuring investment safety for clients trading on Everest Gold’s platform.

Third Party Custodian

Pacific Trustees Singapore is appointed as the gold custodian in the Everest Gold and the appointment. After users purchased gold on the platform, the ownership of the gold is transferred to PTS. Investors can rest assured that Everest Gold has no authority over gold assets.

With over 25 years in business under the Pacific Trustees Group International, Pacific Trustees (Singapore) Ltd (“PTS”) has over 4 years of experience in the corporate and individual trust. PTS provides a comprehensive end to end clearing and Trustees services for global and domestic equities and fixed income securities. As a fully licensed Trust Company by Monetary Authority of Singapore, PTS has full capabilities to provide for full range of trust and other related services thereto for major domestic corporates and regional corporates and financial institutions.

Third Party Storage

Malca-Amit, an international vault chain established since 1963, provides storage of luxury goods for high net worth individuals and internationals banks. Its global team of experts have vast experience over logistics, security, customs house and special operations. Malca-Amit has over 70 offices in 40 countries worldwide and uses highly secured and strategically located facilities.

Gold purchased by customers on Everest Gold’s platform is fully insured and stored securely in Malca-Amit’s state of the art facility located in the Singapore Freeport.

Regular Audits by Professional Company

Everest Gold has appointed a professional firm, Crowe Horwath First Trust LLP (“Crowe Singapore”) to perform independent verification of its gold supply, gold reserves and gold collection, on a quarterly basis, in accordance with Singapore Standard on Related Services. This is to ensure amount of digital gold issued on the platform is equivalent to amount of physical gold stored in the vault.

Crowe Singapore is part of an international professional services network, Crowe Global. Ranked as the eighth largest global accounting network, Crowe Global consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in close to 130 countries around the world.

The tripartite supervision arrangement between Malca-Amit, Pacific Trustrees Singapore and Everest Gold will allow retail investors to trade safely and securely while building up their dream gold portfolio. Investing in gold has never been safer.

Everest Gold is available for download on Android, iOS and desktop.

For more information, visit https://everestgold.sg

In line with this year’s National Day celebrations, Everest Gold will be giving 400,000 reward points (worth 55 SGD) for every new-sign up upon successful account verification. Reward points can be converted to gold during Gold Subscription Events. Enter referral code “WAVTW” when you register your Everest Gold account. Promotion valid from 8 to 31 Aug.

 

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‘Thrive with Grab’: New financial products including the opportunity to invest on the Grab app

Grab logo

Last Tuesday (28 July), we wrote about how Grab might be implementing a 0.32 SGD platform fee on each ride to help cover its costs.

Today (4 August), Grab Financial Group, the financial services arm of the ride-hailing company has announced a few new financial products including a micro-investment scheme that would allow you to invest as you spend on the Grab app.

The new features are part of the ‘Thrive with Grab’ strategy which aims to tap into Southeast Asia’s mass-market financial services opportunity.

According to Grab Financial Group senior managing director Reuben Lai, the strategy will allow consumers to “build their wealth, manage their finances and protect what they value during this uncertain period”.

Here are the deets.

#1: New third-party consumer loan

You will soon be able to access personal loans offered by Grab’s licensed bank partners. The group is working with its bank partners to integrate their application programming interfaces (APIs) so you can securely apply for loans directly from the Grab app.

#2: Micro-investment scheme: AutoInvest

After Grab Financial Group’s acquisition of robo-advisory start-up Bento Invest, they have created AutoInvest. AutoInvest is a new micro-investment product that will allow the public to invest at least 1 SGD per transaction on the Grab app. 

The good news? You will earn returns of about 1.8% per annum and the amount will be paid out to your GrabPay wallets.  

“AutoInvest sets GrabPay apart from other e-wallets by allowing users to invest their wallet balance easily. The invested sum can then be withdrawn at any time, with no penalties, to spend on Grab services or at any merchant accepting the GrabPay Card,” said Grab in its news release.

And of course, nothing comes for free. When AutoInvest rolls out in early September, you will need to pay a fee to use the service.

#3: Expansion of “buy-now-pay-later” payment plans

Following the launch of AutoInvest in September, expansion plans for its “buy-now-pay-later” scheme will also come to play in October.

You can look forward to PayLater Instalments, giving you the ability to split your purchases into monthly instalments. In addition to that, there’s also PayLater Postpaid, where you can defer your payment to the following month. It will only be applicable to selected e-commerce stores in Singapore and Malaysia in October.

The news comes after a report yesterday (3 August) that Grab is raising 200 million USD (275 million SGD) from South Korean private equity firm, Stic Investments.

What are your thoughts on Grab’s new initiatives?

 

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