Personal Finance Archives | Page 111 of 140

Smart, Simple, and Swift Ways To Save Money Now

Would you rather spend your six minutes to check the latest gossip on Facebook, to stalk the recent celebrity updates on Instagram, or to save a decent amount of money?

The last choice proves to be healthy not only to your finances but also to your life in general.

So start allocating at least 6 minutes of every day to do 1 of these money-saving steps:

1. UNPLUG THE TELEVISION

Did you know that the electricity cost for households is 20.35 cents per kWh? Thus, the monthly cost of a 40″ LCD television (TV) running for 6 hours daily is about S$7.69.

In reality, you cannot maintain the energy consumption of the television constant due to social events. There may be days when you alone time with yourself the remote and other days when you want to go out with friends. Also, free previews during holidays can make you want to use the cable TV even more.

To keep the tariff into a minimum, it is important to switch off and unplug your TV when no one is watching. Instead of leaving the TV on as a background noise, consider your hand phone as a radio. This small daily acts can save you a whole month’s worth of major electricity.

2. LOOK FOR ONE EXPENSE TO ELIMINATE

Spend your 6 minutes by examining your last month’s utilities bill or last month’s credit card statement. Use your hawk eyes to look for one expense you can reduce or eliminate. Whether it is the unusable Yoga studio membership or the expensive dinners at the restaurants, there is a surefire way to cut and save!

For example:

Say you have different telecom provider for your hand phone, landline, and cable TV. Cut them all and save money by getting a promotional bundle from one provider.

3. ALTER AND FIX YOUR CLOTHING BY YOURSELF

Tailoring or sewing services in Singapore can range from S$5-40 depending on the type of clothing article. Some of the prices are too much if you asked me. You might as well buy a new one. Good thing there is a better and quicker option – altering clothes by yourself.

Instead of tossing away your favorite shirt because of several broken or missing buttons, sew new ones into the fabric one by one. Learning how to sew a button is quick and uncomplicated. The first thing you must do is to choose a suitable button and a matching thread. Then, be guided by this short video:

Aside from sewing buttons, master the basics stitches now by browsing through the free tutorial videos available online or by reading this post.

4. COMPILE THE BEST FINANCIAL RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Make a concise list of the premium financial resources on the Internet that are both free and objective. Upon making the list, subscribe to their email or Facebook notifications so you are constantly reminded of the money-saving tips, great deals, online coupon codes, and other financial news. Rather than using your personal email, it is advisable to make a separate email for this.

This simple step can save you money regularly in 6 minutes or less! Begin the list by including Money Digest and MoneySENSE (the national financial resource made by the government).

Image Credits: facebook.com/MoneyDigest

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

Essential Insurance You Need As A Young Working Adult

Finally! After grueling years of hard work and burning the midnight oil, you have graduated. You are bound to face the next chapter of your life – transitioning to the workforce.

Aside from dressing professionally, meeting the deadlines, helping your boss, and socializing with your fellow colleagues, it is your responsibility to create an effective financial plan.

Financial planning is a process of managing your finances and knowing where you want to go. It protects you from all the potential pressures such as taxes and unexpected fees. And, an effective financial plan shall include a savings account and an insurance.

What if an unforeseen event happened to you in your first few months on the job and you have to be confined at the hospital for a week? Restoring your health to its full strength is overwhelming enough and the last thing you want to think of is whether you can afford the medical bills! Medisave and Medishield may alleviate the impact however, having an insurance policy would have been a better option to offset the charges.

This is why it is important to protect your future with a reliable insurance policy!

In fact, a study showed that the average amount of life insurance coverage a working adult needs (minus his personal and Central Provident Fund savings) is approximately equivalent to 3.7 times his annual income.

The good news is…there is an insurance company who have young working adults at heart. It is no other than DIYInsurance. DIYInsurance, Singapore’s first online insurance comparison web portal, insures young working adults with S$1,000,000 in protection and 75% of the starting job’s salary should you be unfit to work.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

DIYInsurance compared and analyzed policies across several insurers such as NTUC, Aviva, AXA, and Tokio Marine, to put together a package that is tailored to provide you with a comprehensive coverage. This package is called the “Young Working Adult Package”.

The Young Working Adult Package consists of:

S$1,000,000 assured in death and total permanent disability protection.

S$150,000 assured in critical illness.

S$50,000 assured in early critical illness.

75% of your income assured in occupational disability.

Here is an illustration:

This potent package that can easily be purchased in one go, will cover you during your working years till you turn 65!

What’s more? You can customize the plan according to your budget and needs!

In one amazing package, you get to protect your income stream, cover your hospital bills, have enough money for alternative cancer or stroke treatments, and provide your dependents with a substantial amount of money should you pass away!

So, what is the total cost of it all? An estimated amount of only S$220 per month (for a 25 year old non-smoker who is working on a desk job). If you must know, this starter pack will also reimburse you about S$350 in commissions.

This price makes DIYInsurance’s Young Working Adult Package ideal for working adults who want their essentials protected yet keep their expenses to a minimum.

Enquire or apply now at http://www.diyinsurance.com.sg/portal/packages/young-working-adult.

With a perfectly tailored insurance package that includes fuss-free processing and reliable after-sales service, what more can a working adult ask for?

*Aside from the package above, DIYInsurance launched the Price Beater option that guarantees to offer you with the best insurance deals out there! Simply email them the quote and benefit illustration you have been offered at [email protected]. Aside from offering you with a better price, they will give you up to S$50 in shopping vouchers (until 31 Dec 2015 only) !

(This article is brought to you by DIYInsurance.)

Financial Tips For Quiet And Reserved People

Whether you are known to be the quiet or reserved one, you most likely belong to a special group of people who are known as the INTROVERTS.

A common misconception of introverts is that the dislike socializing. Contrary to the popular belief, introverts are drained by social interaction. Many introverts can socialize easily…they just prefer not to.

In fact, you can be more interpersonally connected and emphatic than others. Use these and your other magnificent qualities to your advantage as you enhance your financial life.

To get started, here are some things you can do:

1. ACTIVELY LISTEN

Introverts, in general, tend to be great at listening. This skill can make you a good investor. Before investing your wealth, you must actively listen to what others have done or will do. Analyze the results of their strategies and actions. Then, make your own strategy based on the successful predecessors.

2. STUDY WHAT YOUR ARE SELLING THOROUGHLY

In order to increase your profits in sales, you must know what you are selling in a deeper level. Study your products and services thoroughly so that you can efficiently aid in the client’s needs. And if someone new approaches you, determine if he or she is a potentially good client. As an introvert you understand that it takes more than a wallet to make the sales flowing.

3. REMAIN CALM

Aside from being great at listening, introverts are usually among the calmest people in the world. This quality can be applied in different financial events, especially the unforeseen ones.

So when an unexpected bill arrives, use your natural calm then, come up with a way to pay it. When the market tumbles down, do not sell it right away because of fear; use your innate calmness to contemplate on the situation. As others panic to the unfortunate monetary events, you make levelheaded decisions.

4. WELCOME THE SOCIAL MEDIA

For an introvert, social media is a brilliant manner to communicate with other people in the safety of their own home. Embracing social media can help you to save cash in many ways such as selling your unused or underused items through Facebook, Instagram, or Carousell. You can also browse free tutorials to learn new skills so you would not have to ask a bunch of people in real life.

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

The downside to social media is that it can overwhelm you. This is why it is important to spend a minimum amount of time (e.g., 10 minutes/day) so it does not take over your wonderfully humble life!

Sources: 1 ,2,3,4,5,& 6

Not Investing Because It’s ‘Risky’?

Too often we hear of people or even peers who have not begun to explore the idea of investing because they’ve been told that it is ‘risky’. Wait, did you say ‘they’ve been told’? Does that mean that they never even tried their hands on it and come to the false conclusion that investing is risky? Sure, investing entails risk because there’s the possibility of losing money doing it. But do you really know what ‘risky’ mean? Does not losing necessarily equate to ‘no risk’? No.

True risk lies behind what is seldom seen. Having only one source of income is a really big risk. While the money is coming in from your monthly salary, it’s easy to feel safe and secure because you can settle your credit card debts, mortgages and bills. However, it’s this very framed up mindset, that money only comes from working (1 Income Source) that blinds us. We become so comfortable with receiving one paycheck per month that we fail to see the possibility of having multiple paychecks coming in.

Have you ever thought about “What happens if I got fired?” With layoffs becoming more and more common these days, it is a very real question. Is it simply just a time to go look for a new job to fix that broken stream of income? Or is it time to think about a greater issue at hand? This is the kind of risk I’m talking about, unforeseen risks. Who knows if another massive labour cut happens and you’re one of the unlucky victim? What would you do without 3-6 months of income? How are you going to pay for the bills now? Now, is having a job truly risk-free?

Consider this, what if you had a job while your investments were paying you cash dividends (Sharing profits with shareholders). Now you would have multiple streams of income, depending on how many different companies that pay out dividends consistently you have invested in. Even if you had lost your job, you still have a couple of income streams that does not even require you to do anything to make sure that money keeps coming in. This in turn creates a buffer for if in the unfortunate event you lose your job temporarily. On the even brighter side, you could have income from your job while your investments continue to pour even more income into your bank account!

Is investment still ‘risky’ when you see this side of the picture? Wouldn’t the risk of having only one source of income be even greater?

Just because you don’t know how to invest, doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to invest! There are many articles here on MoneyDigest and on the internet that can teach you how to invest. Just remember, which is more risky? Having only one source of income or spending some time to learn how create multiple sources of income.

Everything You Need To Grasp About Compound Interest

As an investor, the longer you keep your money on the account, the more you will make out of it. Elevation of your wealth each year is possible because of COMPOUND INTEREST.

With Compound Interest, you will not only earn interest on your principal deposit but also on any interest that is credited to your account. It helps your money to grow at an accelerating rate!

To better understand the concept, here is an illustration:

Say you invested S$50,000 to an account with a 5% interest per year. With the gains you made from compounding, how much would you earn in 3 years?

Year 1: S$50,000+ (S$50,000 x 5%) = S$52,500
Year 2: S$52,500+ (S$52,500 x 5%) = S$55,125
Year 3: S$55,125+ (S$55,125 x 5%) = S$57,881.25

Compounding adds up faster than you may think. As you can see, you earned S$7,881.25 in just three years!

Aside from its definition, here are some things you really need to know about Compound Interest:

1. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

The longer you keep your money invested, the greater the rate at which your initial investment produces returns. This is why it is advantageous if you started young. And if your “younger years” passed, the next best thing is to start now.

Calculate the possibilities of your accumulated wealth through a Compound Interest Calculator that is available here.

2. PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE CAN BENEFIT FROM IT

You do not need to be as financially literate as the people on Wall Street or as rich as Bill Gates because almost any investment will earn a Compound Interest if you leave your account untouched. The same principle and rules apply whether you invested S$1,000 or S$1,000,000.

3. TAKE CALCULATED RISKS

Yes! Compounding is powerful in almost all the circumstances but, you must not fall into the temptation of getting higher returns through higher risks. Unless you know what you are doing, taking on the higher risks can potentially lead to a chain of bad decisions from now until you retire. It is important to take well-informed and calculated risks to prevent destroying everything you once built.

4. PATIENCE IS TRULY IMPORTANT

Compound Interest requires you to sacrifice today to obtain its benefits tomorrow. It only works if you allotted time and effort in growing investment. The results may seem small at first but, you must persevere.

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

Certainly, its future rewards are greater than the sacrifice.

Sources: 1 , 2 , & 3

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