Investments Archives | Page 31 of 38

4 Tips You Need To Know Before Buying A Home As A Single Singaporean

According to the latest Population Trends report, single-hood rates are highest among lower-educated Singaporean men in their 30s and 40s and among higher educated women. It is clearly observable that the number of unmarried Singaporeans have been growing over the years but that does not stop one to contemplate about purchasing his or her own flat.

With the hefty housing prices in the market today, can an individual with an average income really afford a huge investment single-handedly?

To tell you honestly, the answer is YES!

It is possible, but you have to consider these few things:

1. KNOW ABOUT THE AVAILABLE SCHEME AND GRANT

In 2013, the government introduced a scheme that allows first-timer singles aged 35 and above earning up to S$5,000 a month to purchase a 2-room flats in “non-mature” estates. At that year, HDB launched 3,861 flats for sale in Sengkang, Bukit Merah, and Yishun under the Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise.

This relatively new scheme is called Single Singaporean Citizen (SSC). As you are aware of, before SSC, singles could only buy either private properties or resale HDB flats which can be costly! Thus, this will give a great opportunity for all the singles out there that are planning to become home owners despite of their average incomes.

Say you are an unwed Singaporean who just turned 35 a few months ago and you draw an average of S$3,000 a month, you can be entitled to receive the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) worth S$10,000. However, the eligibility of SHG is only given to first-timer citizen who is applying for a 2-room flat in non-mature estates. Furthermore, his or her average gross monthly income must not exceed S$3,250.

By knowing the available scheme and grant, one can safely conclude that owning a 2-room flat in Singapore is possible without the need to fork out loads of cash upfront.

2. ANALYZE YOUR BUDGET

Since purchasing a house is probably the biggest financial commitment you have at this point, it must be planned carefully. Before you start looking for a flat in the non-mature estates, know what you can afford as well as what you need to pay for first. Even if you are purchasing a new private property, you will need to reserve extra money to cover repair, taxes, and maintenance. Affordability is certainly a huge issue!

3. PROTECT WHAT YOU OWN

There is a huge sense of comfort and independence in owning your own home wherein you make your own decisions as days go by. Along with that comes the responsibility to take care of yourself. It is important that you have sufficient insurance to cover your health and your life.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

4. CONSULT THE PROFESSIONALS

As I said before, buying a home is a huge commitment to make. This is why you must take your time and do your research with the available resources you have. Aside from this, it is always a good idea to talk to real estate agents or to consult a financial adviser beforehand.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

Aside From Warren Buffett, Here Are 4 Broadly Successful Investors You Need To Know

When you think of “successful investors”, one name comes to mind of most and that is Warren Buffett. With his amazing record, who would not be impressed? But, as time passes there are a few names that stand out in the shadows. Here are four of them:

1. HOWARD MARKS

Number 318 in the Forbes’ 2015 list of United States billionaire, Howard Marks has an estimated net worth of US$2 billion (or S$2.8 billion). Majority of his wealth came from the “Oaktree Capital Management” which he founded. Oaktree Capital Management, an investment firm trading in New York Stock Exchange, focuses on private equity, distressed debt, and high-yield bonds. Furthermore, his book entitled: “The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor”, was praised by no other than Warren Buffett.

2. WILL DANOFF

Majority of investors have heard of the Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Investments is the family company managed by Edward Johnson III and his daughter. Without him, the world may not have the discount brokerage market that it has today. As Fidelity Investments became one of the biggest discount brokerage firms, they launched Fidelity Contrafund in 1990. Fidelity Contrafund is so huge that US$1 of every US$8 invested in Fidelity’s stock funds goes there.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

And, the single manager behind Contrafund is Will Danoff. Under his reign, the Contrafund achieved an average annual return of 12.50% despite all odds in its lifetime. Dannoff is truly a very impressive investor.

3. SULEIMAN KERIMOV

From someone who made US$250 (S$355) a month to a multi billionaire, that is the inspirational financial story of Suleiman Kerimov. He started to work as an accountant for an electrical plant. To illustrate his previous uncomfortable situation, he and his wife used to live in the workers’ hostel attached to the plant. He made a transition into banking and found his initial investment grow rapidly. With this, he added even more investments. And, the rest was history.

4. JOE ROSENFIELD

An investor whose returns were better than Warrant Buffet’s deserve a spot on the list. And that is no other than Warren Buffett’s friend named Joe Rosenfield. If you are a fan of the Silicon Valley, he is also a good friend of Robert Noyce. Joe Rosenfield is an American businessman who is best known for transforming his US$11 billion (S$15.64 billion) into US$1 billion (S$1.42 billion) for the endowment fund of Grinnell College.

He has an undeniable talent for determining top investment opportunities such as the Sequoia Fund back in 1977. But, his heart still resides in Grinnell College wherein he created a Rosenfield Scholarship that helped students pay for their Grinnell education. Now, that is a great way to give back!

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Sources: 1 & 2

5 Ways to Make Money Like Singapore Billionaire Peter Lim

Peter Lim is one of Singapore’s best known billionaires. Besides owning the image of Cristiano Ronaldo, the man is famed for his candid sharing and no nonsense remarks. Here’s some of the things we can pick up from him, even if we’re not high flying stock traders:

1. It’s Easier to Build than to Trade

“It’s very difficult to make money from trading. People who get rich are those who buy a company, build it, run it. Most of the traders, they come, they make money, because they have this gambling instinct. They take the money and spend it. The minute they lose money, they got no money to pay up.”

For those of you into equities, it’s a sober comment on stock trading. Most people won’t get rich doing it. If you have significant capital, maybe it’s better to consider setting up a small side business first – even if you don’t succeed, you’ll at least have a better understanding of how they operate.

For those of you who aren’t into equities, take it as a personal finance lesson. If you want to have a consistent income stream, don’t count on things like the resale value of your flat, or your gold and watch collection. You’ll have a more reliable shot at wealth by building a small side-business (however many attempts it takes).

2. Always be Braced for Losses

When you are holding stocks, if it goes up, don’t be too happy; when it goes down, don’t be too sad. Otherwise, how? Your life will also be fluctuating and you’ll die of a heart attack.
If you really lose sleep over it, maybe the best way is to keep the money in the bank.

What would happen if you bought S$5,000 worth of shares today, and you find they’re worth S$3,000 tomorrow? Would you have the ability to simply move on and chase the next dollar?

If the answer is no, you haven’t got the right mindset to get rich through trading. It is important that you have the psychological resilience to accept losses and gains (which carry their own perils, like overconfidence). It will also impact your career and happiness, if you feel a need to track your stock prices every 30 minutes.

If you don’t have the required sense of calm, then don’t get involved. Get a financial advisor to handle your investments, or keep it in your CPF (you’ll get better returns than from the bank).

3. Think Long Term When Investing

You have to invest with a longer-term mindset. You buy a good stock, leave it there for 10 years. Come 10 years, this dollar can be many, many multiples. I think the trick is really to think long-term. You may not have a lot of money, but you have a lot of time. The minimum length of my investments are five to six years, if not 10 to 12 years.

This is somewhat related to point 1. If you’re eager to trade and go for short term profits, you might get rich – but you’re making it much harder to do so. Remember, every trade requires two correct decisions: when to buy, and when to sell. Even if you get one right, you are likely to get the other one wrong.

For those of you who aren’t investing, this should be a call for you to start. Even a small amount of money, invested over 10 or 15 years in a reliable asset, can amount to significant sums.
If you invest just S$200 a month, at a return of 5% (achievable with most index funds and insurance policies), you would have over S$59,000 at the end of 15 years.

4. Don’t Just Work, Pay Attention to How Your Company is Run

Mr. Lim didn’t actually get a huge head start. Some of his early jobs were waiter, cook, and taxi driver. It was only much later that he became a stockbroker. During his rise, Mr. Lim learned a lot from the fast food chain Red Rooster, where he worked as a cook. Systems, management processes, logistics, accounting, etc. are all instrumental if you want to understand how well a business runs, and will come in useful when you want to invest or run your own.

So rather than just doing your job, poke your nose around. Find out how your company’s business model works, where it fails and succeeds, and which are the skills critical to its running.

5. It’s About Making a Good Deal, not a Good Sale

You make money when you buy, NOT when you sell.

Value investors already know this, but it’s worth a reminder. Rather than buy something and hope it grows in value, buy it cheaper and wait for it to return to its usual price. We especially love this one, because it’s so applicable in personal finance – taking the time to look for a better deal is the surest way to “make” money. Whether you’re buying a second hand car, or buying a melon at the supermarket.

One way to save money is to pay with a cashback credit card, which gives you a small discount on your purchases when you meet a minimum purchase amount. As long as your bill is paid in full each month, you always avoid paying full price. SingSaver.com.sg has a list of good cashback cards to get you started.

(This article is brought to you by SingSaver.com.sg)

6 Useful Reminders From Benjamin Graham

I have been reading Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, as many of you have as well. Very often when we read something, we forget them if we do not take down notes. I found these 6 Principles from Benjamin Graham extremely applicable and timeless, thus the sharing!

1) Not just a ticker symbol

“A stock is not just a ticker symbol, it is an ownership interest in an actual business, with an underlying value that does not depend on its share price.”

Especially for traders, this would serve as a good reminder that it’s not just a symbol (eg. APPL, BABA, GOOG). Every listing on the stock exchange is a business and it has an underlying value to it. (Balance Sheet, Income Statements, etc.) I used to be an active trader and I too fell prey to this point. It didn’t matter to me what company it was, because my mindset was to grab my profits and run. What happens if your Technical Analysis was wrong and you lose instead of profiting then? While it works for some, it’s definitely not the best way to start out your investment journey because more often than not, you lose from capital loss and commissions unless you have a trade plan in place, and deep pockets for learning.

2) The market is a pendulum

“The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism and unjustified pessimism. The Intelligent Investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.”

Mr. Market will present to you the same stock at different prices. It’s up to you to selectively pick at what price you want to buy it at. If you knew the value of the stock was around $5, would you pay $10 for it or $1 for it? The price you buy it at typically reflects the amount of patience you have. You’ll never know how low a stock can go or how high it can get but if there’s something you can be somewhat certain. The fair value of the company. Use it to your advantage, as a benchmark to compare against the price you are paying! Is it justifiable?

3) Price is what you pay, value is what you get

“The future value of every investment is a function of its present price. The higher the price you pay, the lower your return will be.”

If you decide to sell a stock at $10 no matter what price you buy it at, your entry price will determine your return. If you bought at $1, your returns would be 1000%. If you bought it at $5, your returns will be 100%. Mr. Market doesn’t care at what price you buy his stocks, so buy it cheaply! Buy it below the true worth, and he still doesn’t even care! So don’t feel bad to buy a stock at a huge discount!

4) The one risk you can’t eliminate

“No matter how careful you are, the one risk no investor can ever eliminate is the risk of being wrong.”

Even the greatest investor himself, Warren Buffett, made mistakes. What makes you think you won’t? If you can’t eliminate the risk, mitigate it! Only by insisting on ‘margin of safety’, no matter how exciting an investment may be, can you reduce the damage of your error. Say you bought a stock at $0.60 thinking it was worth $1, but in fact it’s only worth $0.80 (40% margin of safety in this case). Even if you were wrong, when it goes to $0.80 you’ll still profit. Assume you bought at $1, and market decides to be perfectly efficient at it’s pricing, reflecting it’s true value of $0.80, you’ll be facing with a 20% loss.

5) Be a critical thinker

“Become a critical thinker who takes no Wall Street ‘facts’ by faith, and invest with patient confidence, you can take steady advantage of even the worst bear markets.”

The secret to your financial success is inside yourself. Don’t simply accept what is presented to you, spend the time to dig into the figures, to test the ‘facts’. Don’t be too gullible and take everything with a pinch of salt! Engage in your own study despite being bombarded with ‘facts’ or hot tips.

6) See what others can’t

“Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors.”

While it seems easy to foresee which industry will grow the fastest, that foresight has no real value if most of the other investors are already expecting the same thing! The growth would have been priced in before the news is out! Therefore, it’s not simply choosing a growing industry. Can you see it before the majority sees it? (Think contrarian) It’s usually easier to find these industries when you approach the industries with a contrarian thinking, loving an industry that everyone seems to dislike. With patience, it could pay off handsomely because of the sell off!

How does your behaviour sharpen your stock investment skills?

Investment books often urge readers to do extensive research to identify megatrends such as social and cultural shifts that could make a potentially big difference in investing decisions. However, the real answer is never simple. The ideal way to value anything, including company shares, would be to plug yourself entirely into the real world, which means shaping your daily behaviours such that it enables you to maximise your exposure and learning about almost everything.

Given the increasing connectedness of the world and the rapid explosion of information, learning is no longer confined to any one medium or source. Therefore, keeping an open heart and mind is in reality the best bet to a lucid understanding of the dynamic and complex interactions across companies, industries and countries.

The flowchart below illustrates the types of personal behaviours that may help individuals to hone their stock investment skills.

Click to enlarge:

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