Personal Finance Archives | Page 50 of 148

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.

Splurges That Turn Out To Be Wise Savings

Having money allows you to live the life you desire to live, if you spend it wisely. You have to weigh whether an item is an essential (need) or a non-essential (want) expense. In some cases, you have to spend more at the moment to save more in the long run.

Certain items are worth splurging on to help you earn more money or experiences in the future. Here are just some splurges that are actually wise savings:

#1: PURCHASING AN INVESTMENT FOR YOUR CAREER

Purchases that help you advance in your field are good investments. Know which tool you cannot work without and list them down. For instance, you must invest on a high quality camera and a reliable laptop as a photographer. There are also online classes and software programs that a photographer can benefit from on a daily basis. If an item supplements your future growth, it could be a smart move to spend extra cash on it.

#2: PURCHASING ITEMS THAT YOU USE A LOT

Before spending your hard-earned money on a product or a service, think of how long you are likely to use it. Then, breakdown the price using these factors (e.g., cost per wear). You may realize that the iPad you have been eyeing for so long may only cost you S$1 per day due to your current academic needs.

Home appliances and cookware are just some of the items that we use frequently. You can save so much money by cooking at home. Splurging on quality kitchen items such as knives and refrigerator can make a difference. It is recommended to invest more money on home appliances and cookware that you will use heavily because you will only end up spending more on repairs with low-quality appliances.

#3: PURCHASING ITEMS THAT YOU WILL CONSUME

Now more than ever, it is important to consume items that can strengthen our immune system. You really are what you eat! So, do not feel guilty about spending more money on fresh produce and healthier food items. What you spend on these items may help reduce your hospital bills.

Along with grocery shopping comes the ability to save more time. You may get your groceries delivered to your doorstep instead of going to the store. This will minimize your contact with the crowded places and will enable you to have more time to enjoy your day.

#4: PURCHASING SOMETHING YOU HAVE SAVED UP FOR

It is alright to splurge on an item that you have strategically saved up for in advance. For instance, you may have kept a portion of your monthly salary to splurge on a good laptop or a luxury bag at the end of the year. Some non-essential items are worth spending money on as long as you have saved enough funds to cover your significant expenses. Furthermore, it is a rewarding and a joyful experience to see the fruits of your labor.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

It is more than fine to get spend your hard-earned money on the finer things in life as long as you are smart about your purchases. Consider the points that were previously discussed above.

Sources: 1 & 2

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.

Long-term financial security: 7 key steps to follow according to CNBC’s personal finance journalist

Has the pandemic led you to think more about how you manage your finances? If you’ve been recently thinking about long-term financial security, this article might help.

As advised by CNBC’s personal finance journalist, Carla Fried, here are seven key steps to focus on to help you to work your way towards long-term financial security:

Step 1: Set short-term and long-term goals

Think about what would make you feel great money-wise. Next, list down your goals before deciding whether they fit into the short- or long-term.

Short-term goals

This could fall under plans that you can reach in a few months or by next year. Consider putting in place an emergency fund that can cover at least three months of your current living expenses.

Long-term goals

Do you find your salary gone up in smoke after a few days from payday? Time to look into saving at least 10% of gross salary every year for your retirement.

Step 2: Create a budget

Set a budget and stick to it. A budget exists to lay everything out in front of you so you can see for yourself the ins and outs of your balance. If needed, make little changes to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

Step 3: Build an emergency fund

We briefly mentioned this in step one – it’s good to have at least three months’ worth of living expenses saved in your emergency fund. With that said, of course, the more the merrier. If you can afford three, see if you can save up for six months and beyond.

Step 4: Pay off costly credit card debt

This applies to you if you have credit card debts to pay off. You don’t want to let the interest rates roll by delaying repayment of what’s due.

Step 5: Save for retirement

Image Credits: MoneyOwl

As stated earlier in step one, it’s right that you start saving for retirement. If you’re the sort that rides on ‘YOLO’, think again.

The writer suggests these steps to take at different life stages:

IN YOUR 20s:

Start saving at least 10% of your gross salary ASAP.

IN YOUR 30s:

Aim to contribute 15% of your gross salary.

IN YOUR 40s:

Having at least two to three times your annual salary saved in retirement funds.

IN YOUR 50s:

By 50, you should have six times your salary saved. By age 55, have seven times your salary saved.

IN YOUR 60s:

By age 60, have eight times your salary saved. By age 67, have 10 times your salary saved.

Step 6: Invest for retirement with a long-term focus

Your body won’t be able to keep up with the work when you’re old. Investment is the way to go for a comfortable retirement. Time to look into stocks and/or bonds to reap the benefits 10 years down the road.

Step 7: Borrow smart

To borrow smart, you will need to identify your true needs from wants. Do you really need to get a loan to buy that new car? Or would it be better if you settle for a second-hand vehicle? Or do you even need one in the first place? Ponder over these things.

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

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?