I believed all the readers will find this question very familiar. Either we have been asking ourselves every other day or by our family members who want us to get married and set up a family.

The important question is that in this current fast pacing society, can we still save? Is it easy to save?

I guess the answer to this is really a ‘Yes’. Personally i have two brothers and one likes to save and while the other likes to spend. Both have two children. I also have a sister who is a full time mother with one child and survives based on single income.

From them, i really learnt alot on how to stay happy even though income is not high. The secret to saving is not so much on how much you bring home but rather how you view money. To my sister, having able to save a couple of hundreds can be a great joy for her and she has great plans on how to spend wisely with it. However as compared to my brother, the excitment or joy is not as much. So you can see that with the same amount of dollars, different people react differently.

Therefore the moral of this sharing is to tell you that by simply changing your view towards the dollar notes can change the way you are feeling every day. Take one more example that is myself.

i derived joy from being able to save on cab/car by taking mrt even though i own a car now. Each day as i travel for apppointments by mrt, i feel happy because i have no worries towards ERP and CBD parking. Most importantly petrol costs. I enjoy eating simple food that doesnt need me to pay for GST and service charge. I love to shop when i travel to places like bangkok or malaysia because the things are so cheap and it serves the same purpose. 

Maybe some of you may find that is it worthwhile saving that small amount of money or is it neccesary to be so ‘poor’ when you can well afford luxury items? To me, it is worthwhile because i hold on to this belief: The only thing in this world that will make you happy is FREE! Eg: Happiness, Air or appreciation of what we have. The person that tells you that buying the most expensive item will make you happy is bluffing you!

Isn’t it true? When we purchase a car, we will get concerned if we need to service or pay for all the expensive erp charges. When we purchase an ideal condo, are we not worried about the maintenances of the monthly instalment? When you buy your favourite LV bag, are you only happy when people notice? Please don’t tell me you feel happy to just own it and not want people to see or appreciate. If there is really the case, you should consider hugging it to sleep. At least it serves some purposes than collecting dust at home.

Therefore i hope that after reading this, you can start to change how you see money and from there, you will slowly find joy in saving money. It is never too late to save because at whatever age you are(as long as you are still working) , you have the rest of your life to save up! =)

Happy Saving!

In my recent appointments with my new clients, I realized that many of them are really in need of proper financial planning simply because most of them are lacking the basic foundations of saving. What I mean is that more often than not, they don’t know how to save money in a systematic way and never realize the importance of first setting aside money to save before deciding to spend that same amount of money.

How many of us as we are reading this and are reminded of the friends around you who behave in a similar manner? They earn quite a decent amount of income but they always complain to you that they do not have enough to save. Yet at the same time, you see them wearing new clothes, bags etc. I bet that you must be nodding your head and having that particular friend in mind right… Or perhaps even yourself?

If you do care about this particular friend, I urge you to ask this friend of yours to meet ME! Having spent a certain amount of time in this industry, I have had my fair share of viewing how industry workers work. And while there are many competent consultants out there in the market, I too know of many others out there who do not place much emphasis of understanding their clients and designing a tailor made plan which will help them to maximise their outcomes using minimum resources. Many consultants fall into the trap of advising based on what is best for them instead of recommending based on what is best for the client’s sake.

Personally though, I have always retained the mentality of “If you give others what they want, others will give you what you want.” Having that in mind helps me a lot as I grow with my clients, and they see that through the years as I keep them up to date with their plans, and how their finances have grown leaps and bounds, without them having to leave their comfort zone. As such, it is of utmost importance that you ask yourself this question whenever you meet a new consultant – “Is he/she in it more for me or more for themselves?” If you get the slightest notion that they’re not the least bit concerned about what you’re saying(about your life, your family – which all factors into your decision making process), my advice would be to leave. The consultant has the responsibility to grow with you!

Coming back to the topic of getting the basics right, I believe that every individual needs to first have that desire to WANT to plan because without this desire, there is no ‘NEED’ to plan. A person will not be motivated to do anything when there is no desire. Once he/she finds that desire, the execution and planning part will come hand in hand. It is not easy in the beginning but once it becomes a habit, it will be of second nature to you. So the important question is this – What kind of foundation should you have? Well that is exactly what I am going to share my two-cents worth of knowledge with you.

Tips on getting your basic foundation right:

1)      You need to get the formula right: It is supposed to be ‘Salary – Saving = Spending’. NOT the other way around.

2)      Set up at least 4 bank accounts! One for daily expenses, one for emergency fund, one for luxury/entertainment and the last one for long term savings which can come in the form of normal bank savings or endowment plans.

3)      Allocate 10% into the 3 accounts and set the remaining for expenses account.

4)      NEVER buy a savings plan first.

5)      Set aside $10 per day for meals. Double it up on weekend. This way you can limit your monthly expenses for food. There is no need to eat expensive food when you know the next moment, it will turn into ‘waste’ – literally.

6)      Say ‘NO’ to credit card DEBT! Use credit card wisely before it kills you back.

7)      Don’t buy a car unless it can be used to generate more income or to serve your family. The amount of money that can be saved by not buying a car is enough for an average Singapore to hold a simple wedding in 1 year’s time.

      Live simple!

Yes, my last tip to get your basics right is to LIVE SIMPLE! Our grandparents eat porridge everyday and yet manage to live up to 80+ years. In today’s society, we eat nice seafood, Japanese ramen etc and still we all die at an earlier age in spite of all the nutrients. So what does this indicate? There is no need to splurge on unnecessary things and just focus on leading your life in a more meaningful way. The person that told you that getting everything you want in life will make you happy was lying to you!

I thank you for taking the time to read this article and I hope that you will take away these tips and apply it into your life. Do let me know if it creates an impact to you. =)

Hi there!

Its been again quite long since i posted here. Recently i received couple of feedbacks telling me that i should come up with a theme on a monthly basis so that i can keep my readers coming in. Well that was an excellent feedback and to be frank, it has been back of my mind to do similar post but just that i am trying to put time to sit down to write. So to start of, i like to talk about our mindset towards money for the month of July!

Being a financial planner, i have met numerous people ranging from low income family to high net worth individuals. So basically what is the main difference in them other than the fact that the high net worth are richer? If i can do up a summary, it would be their mindset towards money.

To start off something, let us examine how normal people view money. They regard money as something that they must work hard for and think it is quite hard for the money to work for them. They view money as the root of evil. They look at money as a mean for them to live day by day rather than looking at it as a resources to allow them to invest and earn better returns. When they want to buy things, they rather save up than to think of ways to increase their income to support the things they want to buy. (Such thinking may not applicable to all) Generally if people view money in this manner, it is no wonder that they don’t become wealthy.

So let’s take a look at how high net individuals view of money: They regard money as a way for them to do bigger things in life. They invest in business or property to yield them better returns. They will always look for ways to increase their income rather than saving up. In fact, most of them are quite generous in spending on useful things such as investing in books or self improvment course. They see money as a way to get them to a different stage of lifestyle. They have a totally different mindset towards money!

Therefore to kick start an individual view towards money manaagement, one needs to re-adjust their mindset. We become what we think so that’s why it is crucial to talk the root of all problem. I will talk more in depth in my second part on how i can share with you the secret to shift your mindset towards money =) 

Remember: The love of the money is the root of all evil and not the money itself =)

During the initial starting stage of training, people will feel the tiredness and not so motivated. But as time goes by, they became accustom to the regine and became expert on that. Eventually it reaches a point when its a matter of mind over body and the feeling of accomplishment that keeps the person moving. Usually during the last 5km of the 42km, people seldom can see the end point. They visualized it!

Its almost the same as saving or investing for long term. When people are introduced the idea of saving, they get excited. In fact, they may even want to start saving big amount per mth.

Slowly about 1yr later, they realized its eating up their income, making them having lesser money to spend. Assuming they continue with their plan, they will get used to the amount in no time. Then after paying for 20 odds year, they are nearing to maturity and they will be slightly motivated to continue with it by visualizing the amount of saving they can have.

In term of investment, it is even harder  to imagine because everything is non guaranteed. However if you believed in dollar cost averaging over long term, it will be beneficial in the long run. Only then can you see the returns.
Then in the end when their plan matures, they feel so proud of themselves. They will claim that they are smart to save and able to sustain so long. So right now, ask yourself whether is it the same feeling one will have when they completed their marathon.

Feeling of accomplishment! Feeling of happiness! Feels that whatever ‘suffering’ in the beginning are worthwhile Whether it is marathon or saving for long term, it all requires us to have long term vision and most important discipline. You need discipline to stop overspending, you also need discipline to make sure that every week you run constantly so that during marathon it will be easier.

So what i’m trying to bring across is that starting to save a  small amount is good for a start and as times go by, you will need to increase the amount of saving so as your retirement will be more ‘fruitful’ in the future. It’s like a marathon. No one runs super fast in the begninning.

Take for example two people, Mr A & Mr B, working in same company holding similar position but A getting $1800 salary and B is getting $2800(All nett income). They live in HDB. Mr A. is a simple man with simple lifestyle. No dining out after work. Watch rented dvd at home on weekend and no branded things on him. Takes public transport even with his wife. On the other hand, Mr B is someone that dines in restaurant once a week, no branded also but will spend weekend chilling out with friends over movies or drinking session. And of course not forgeting he drives a Masda 3. Looking at this situation, who do you think saves more money?

i believe that at this point of time the answer is obvious. It’s Mr A =) WHY???

Simple reason is because Mr A has lesser expenses than Mr B since he lives life simply and don’t care about social perception of him being so called ‘boring’ man.

In Singapore, if you are someone who stays home most of the time and wears the same clothing every year and never dines in restaurants, you will really be labelled as boring. And normally such people has lesser friends. I am not too sure but do you happen to have some friends like that and they seldom mix around with the rest right? If yes then i am right!  Whereas Mr B is the type of friends that many people like to hang out with because more fun and interesting having him around. He will also be more popular among friends and at least there will be more people turning up for birthday party compared to one that Mr A holds =) However my point is not to discriminate any person here but rather trying to share with you that one can save alot more just by being boring!

Just take the car for instance: Every month the Mr B will have to spend at least a minimum of $1.2-$1.5k on car expenses whereas Mr A will only need to spend $200-$400 if they take occassional cabs. With the amout of saving that Mr A gets, it is almost equivalent to the differences in their pay. So actually they are getting similar pay in the end. Plus all the chilling out sessions and restaurants & movies, all can add up quite abit per month. Mr B  normally finds difficulty saving up every month whereas Mr A will usually be able to save almost $500-$1000/mth. No wonder the people who can’t really buy insurance or got problem saving up belongs to Mr B type! Looks rich but actually quite empty sometimes.

Using this example, we learnt that it really doesn’t matter if you are earning lesser but more of how much you can save up is more important. However on the flip side, if you are able to maintain a low expenses while earning more money at the same time, it will be perfect! But again being very realistic, how many of us are able to do so? i dare to say that out of 10 people, only 2-3 can do it. The remaining are the type that once income goes up, their lifestyle will also goes up! So end of the day, no much changes.

In the end, it’s really the expenses that matter the most. Maintaining a neutral lifestyle is the best because you can get the best of both world. Afterall we can’t be too stingy to ourselves after working so hard at work. Decide what is more important to you: Whether life after retirement is important or life before retirement is more important and this will guide you to live your life accordingly.

So do you save more when you earn more or less? The answer only can be answered by you =) Boring or Interesting  person?

PS: It is possible to be an interesting guy with lots of saving too =)

I met with so many people who tells me that they would like to exercise to keep fit and like to go gym to build muscle so that they can look good when wearing clothes.

Then normally what goes through my mind is that have they ever thought that it is more beneficial to build financial muscle  than physical muscle and after building it, it can allow you to do many things! What i am trying to say is that our financial situation is just like our body muscle. It needs to be trained and maintained. If we didn’t not pay attention to it, it will turn to fats!

So today i will just like to share with you on some tips on how to gain financial muscle step by step.

1) Learn how to be independent and not lazy. It’s importance because if you are not independent, you will need to hire people to do your work. A classic example is hiring a maid to do housework either because you don’t know how to do housework or you are lazy.

2) Learn how to cook. Being able to wipe up a few dishes would definitely scored some points to your gf/bf. Moreover it is cheaper to buy at supermart then to dine at restaurant where you need to queue and pay for all the GST and service charges!

3) Learn to be contented. Throughout my personal experience, i came to realised that being contented with what you have is the most easy way to save money. Ask yourself this question: ‘When was the last time that you buy a thing is because a ‘need’ and not a ‘want’. There are many items that we can save money on if we really know how to be contented with what we already have.

4) Buy a saving plan. If you are not a saver by nature, it is best to kickstart your saving habits by allowing banks or insurance companies to save keep your money for better use in the future.

5) Invest regularly. This only applies if you are abit of investment savvy because you need to understand the risk involved when doing any investments. This strategy is good because it allows you to do dollar cost averaging in long term. It can be very effective if you really can abide to the rule of the game.

6) Save on clubbing expenses. If you club, you would have known the high cost involved in it and do you really think that it is worthwhile to spend so much over there. I know of guys who like to buy expensive drinks for ladies to impress them. Personally i felt that such guys are really native . They are throwing money into the sea! I mean girls are not so stupid to just fall in love with you just because you can buy them expensive drinks. In fact, many girls are just taking advantage of such guys who will just buy them drinks. I pity those guys that think they are rich but in fact, most of them are using credit card to pay for it which at the end of the day, they are so poor!

7) Take public transport. I think i have shared few times about how you can really save if you switch to public transport. Buying a car is really a waste of money if the purpose is just to show off your status. It’s a very childish thinking. So many people in singapore are struggling every month just to pay off something that brings them ‘status’

Get a hobby! By doing a sport, not only it makes you healthier but also richer because you will save all the money that you would have spend in shopping. movies or entertainments. If you like to read, you will find that you spend your time at home or in library. No chance to spend money also.

9) Buy an insurance policy. Buying insurance is like you engaging a care-taker to look after your family in case of emergency. You only need to pay a small premium per month and they will take care of the huge amount of bills when time needed. I believed that this is the best way to build financial muscle because i think it is good to be ‘strong’ when you are in crisis.  Without a payout from insurance company, you will be weak!

10) Reward yourself after saving a certain amount. Just like building physical muscle, we need to pamper ourself once we save up to a certain amount of money. This way, we will be more motivated to save. Eg: For every $1000 you managed to save, use $50-100 to get something that you always wanted. Although some may argued that this way will end up you saving lesser. I do agree but do you prefer to still be able to save and be happy or not able to save at all or be able to save but not happy? You choose!

Alright the above 10 tips are what i personally feel that would be able to help you in starting to build your financial muscles. I’m sure there are more ways and if you are kind enough, you can also drop me email so that i can put up over here =)

My friends are all asking me why I am not interested to get a car since last time and I have always tell them that I prefer to put the money in bank for saving purposes. Such mindset has allowed me to have many business opportunities because I am well-prepared in term of finances. So today I have decided to share with you 8 reasons why you should not buy a car and still be able to live life as per normal. This is especially important if you are not holding a sales job that requires you to travel around.

1) Exercise more by walking. Studies have shown that a brisk 30 minute walk 6 days a week is enough to trim waistlines and cut the risk of metabolic syndrome. Usually after a full meal, it is always good to take a walk for 15-30min before you sit down to help digestion. Imagine you have a car, do you think you will be so ‘hardworking’ to walk after a nice meal or you prefer to sit in the car to go home?

2) Save more money.  Every month I save extra $500-$1200 comparing to my friend/client who owns a car. This money has definitely made my bank account figure looks more attractive. Even better than driving something that looks good on you but lose money every second you sit on it.

3) Catch up the latest happening. With others driving me around, I can read online news to update myself on the happening. News is always on the tip of my fingers. If I am on the train, I can even surf net on my blackberry to chat with my friends or send emails to my clients. These are the luxury that you can’t do it if you are driving.

4) No traffic jams. During peak hour, you will most likely going to be stuck in the jam for almost 30-60min before you reach home. If you have taken train, you even have time to go shopping for awhile before going home. If it is in the morning, you may even be late for work.

5) No carpark charges. Parking in city area can be very expensive and always had to limit the time spent at the place. Most important, money saved on carpark charges I can actually used it for other useful purposes.

6) No need to pay for ERP. Every corner in Singapore seems to have ERP and it is quite expensive to go town area. Hence by not having car, there is nothing for me to be concerned about. I just need to pay for MRT fares. You can save some brain cell too because you don’t have to think of ways how to avoid charges.

7) No concern for petrol. Petrol prices have been soaring and it burns a big hole in the wallet if you have a big fuel consumption car. Prices of oil will only affect the investment that I made and not anything else. Save me a lot of unnecessary worries.

08) No maintenance. Often I heard my friends complaining about the huge amount of expenses they need to incur every year when they send for maintenance. It became worse if they meet an accident and have to get the car send for repairs. I’m grateful that the only maintenance that I need to do now is just body maintenance =) Spending $2.50 per week to go gym and train up.

They are addicted to their mp3 or psp all day long and some just can’t live without it. So it brings me wondering how many of us are addicted to saving money or investing? Supposed you have this ‘addiction’, I am sure that you be one of the richest person on earth. Imagine being addicted to saving, seeing the figures in your bank account jumping every month will simply gets you very excited! I believe that it will become a very good habit which will get you many opportunities in the future. Eg: with money, any investment/business opportunity would be possible for you or in times of crisis, you are well-prepared. 

For all kind of addictions, remember that it is always good to keep a balanced. I need to say that you can’t possibly eat bread everyday just to make sure that you save up money or you keep your hair till quite long so that you can save abit on haircut. In life, many things are meant to spend and we are also supposed to simulate the economy by spending some money. Friends told me that if one keep saving money and never pamper himself, he/she will be known as ‘stingy’!

So after reading this, i wonder how many of you actually will change your addiction to love saving money? Do drop a msg if you really do. I love to hear from you =)

Today I just sold another Major Illness term policy to my client and she said this to me: ‘ Hey Peter, such term plan is really quite value for money bcoz the moment anything happen to you, big sum of money will be given to you. Its like setting aside small amount of money to gain 200% return upon major illness occurs.

It suddenly occurs to me that seldom clients will think this way. Many will just see it as a waste of money to buy term policy because of it’s no cash value nature. However if we really look at it from other point of view, it’s actually providing client the most value! With just a small amount that you paid, should anything happened to you, your whole family will receive much financial relief from it.

With the value-for-money mindset after my appointment,, I went ahead to buy a nice briefcase that I long wanted but never buy due to it’s high price tag. Finally I decided to go ahead because I told myself that rather than spending 100 plus on a bag every year so why not I gather all the money and get a good one that can last many years. It’s actually the same amount of money spent Most importantly, it provides me a lot of satisfaction as I know that I have bought a bag that is of good quality and it’s something that I really want. FYI: I have bought several bags for the past 3 years but none of them lasted for more than one year

Therefore my point is that in life, there are many things that we want to buy but if I can advise, please buy the things that can really makes you happy and most value for money! Learn from my bag lesson and you will save a quite abit of money!

I used to have a friend that only spend $10/day for all his 3 meals and I was quite amazed by how he did it. So he shared with me that he will spend $2 for breakfast, $3 for lunch and $5 for dinner. Then I went on to ask: ‘What about your drink?’ He just answered that he brings along his water bottle everywhere he goes. Personally I felt he was very disciplined to be able to keep to such tight budget and still be able to live life as per normal.

Of coz if you asked me whether is such behaviour too extreme for today’s context, I would feel that we can allow to pamper abit more by adding $5 more to $15/day. Basically if u multiply by 30days, it will work out to $450/mth and it’s quite a reasonable amount to spend on food. A daily budget is very important because it will determine where you eat and what you eat. On the other side, do your best not to compromise on the nutritions required that you need as you would not want to appear too skinny while saving money.

After you set a budget, the second thing that you can start to do is to find cheap and nice food. Usually cheap food comes with no air-con so I can say that it’s an exchange of comfort with money. There is really no need to eat expensive food everyday as it will burn a big hole on your wallet. Once awhile indulge in good food to pamper yourself is good enough as you will be more appreciative of such food.

Personally I also have the above habits for myself and it has been going for past 3 years. I started this habit only after I become a financial consultant knowing the importance of small planning in life that will goes a long way for me. Therefore I like to urge everyone who is reading this article to do some reflection on your daily habits. Ask whether is your habit making you to spend more money or save money? From there, I’m sure you can decide what you want for yourself

Happy saving!