Firstly, i like to start of by stating what are the types of expenses that you could possibly incurred when you decide to get married:

1) Proposal Ring                 Est Cost: $2000-5000

2) Wedding Band                Est Cost: $500-3000

3) Wedding Event              Est Cost: $20000-50000

4) Bridal Package               Est Cost: $2000-5000

5) Wu Dian Jin(Dowry)    Est Cost: $1000-3000
Well these are the costs that i have personally spent on and honestly how much you want to spend depends on what you want for your wedding day. Some people like to have extravagant wedding style while some likes to splurge on bridal packages spending up to $8000 on photos that they will eventually tuck inside their store room. I have to admit that wedding can be costly but it doesn’t means you need to burn a big hole. What is important is life after marriage and not so much on that day itself. Honestly how many people really remember what happened on your wedding day after 2yr?

After you have roughly estimated the cost of wedding, the next big item that you should be worrying is your down payment for HDB and cost of renovation. Again it brings us back to how much it will cost. Based on own experience, the down payment for HDB will be 20% of the value of house which is roughly $280-380k for a 4 room BTO. This amount can be paid partially via your CPF which makes it easier for most people. However before you commit to the most beautiful house, do take time to do your own calculation and making sure both parties CPF has enough to support the loan. I have many friends who went ahead to commit a higher value BTO knowing that both parties cannot stop working till they pay off their loan. I seriously can’t understand WHY! But as the saying different folks, different stroke. Hence i can only wish them all the best.

As for renovation cost, couple can always opt for renovation loan if they really don’t have enough but i will again try to encourage couple to take minimum loan and start saving after you are sure of the partner =) An average cost of renovation for BTO can range from $10,00 to $50,000 and it all depends on what are your requirements. Take time to shop around for the best deals but please take note that higher the price, the better is the quality. Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to renovation. Everything can have problems hence we can only bring damage to the minimum rather than avoiding it.

Just based on what i have shared, the amount of money that a couple should be saving up is about $25,000! Do note that i am basing everything on the lowest range and it means it’s just going to be a super simple wedding and simple home to stay in. Back to the magic number, an individual will have to save $520 per month for 2 years or $347 per month for 3 years. Therefore  right from the start of working stage, i will recommend my male client especially to save that minimum amount to cater for their big day.

I need to highlight again that the above estimation are all my two cent worth and it shall not represent anything or anyone. I’m really hoping that i am able to use this channel to educate more young adults the important of planning.

Taking the first step to make the choice to save is important. But it is only the stepping stone of many other crucial decisions that you have to make in order to accumulate more wealth.

Last year, a Citibank survey showed that Singaporeans were equally likely to park their extra cash in conservative products as in riskier ones. This came to show that people are stating to make conscious decision on the use of their money. However the answer to your investment depends on your investment disposition, for which one has to assess risk appetite, risk capacity and time horizon.

In recent Straits Times, newspaper reported that most Singaporeans are not ready to retire and there are ways that they are teaching the elderly on how to live longer comfortably. Well after reading these articles, it brought to my attention on the importance of parking your money in the right channel and how to grow your money in the right way.

Over here, i would like to share with you where would be best to part your money.

Conversative approach:
1) Deposit account: When i am refering to deposit account, it includes the typical saving account and fixed deposit that most banks offer.

In Singapore, most of us are getting quite low interest eg: 0.125% for normal bank account or ranging from 0.35  to 0.875% for fixed deposit. Even thought the interest is low but there are still people who likes this approach because they feel that it is better to earn less than to have the chance to lose up to 30% of their investments through uninformed decisions.

2) Government Bond: A bond is like a loan. In other word, it is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed interval. This form of investment is relatively safe as it promises regular payouts periodically even though the interest return is not high.

I would say that by investing in bonds are quite safe and it is better than normal bank deposits. However there are also junk bonds hence it would be a good idea to seek a professional advise before making the purchase.

Medium to High Risk approach: 
1) Structured products: In a layman term, these products involve derivatives to capitalise on the performance of an underlying asset such as a stock to give out a certain expected yield over a certain period.

Eg: Equity-linked notes with returns that could depend on the performance of a single stock,  a basket of stocks or stock indices. One of the concerns that i have for consumers is whether they know that if the product is capital guaranteed?

Over the past two years, we have seen many bank selling those structured products that had caused many others to lose their retirement funds. Eg: Mini bond.

2) Self-Investing: This is useful if you are really investment savvy. It includes stocks, unit trusts or bonds. If you can stomach even more risk, you can also invest in forex or properties. But all these comes with risk of losing more money hence it must be done carefully.

Please don’t think that by reading up a few books here and there makes you a savvy investors. Most successful investors i knew, have ‘paid’ their fair share of tution money to the stock market before they become the ‘ know-how’ investors. Therefore be smart and don’t act smart!

Investing is a life long skill that you will need if you like to retire comfortably.

3) Insurance and savings: Life insurance  products are another means by which people can build up their retirement funds. Typical products include endowment policies and investment linked or traditional life plans.

For those who may not have the discipline to set aside cash in the first place, an endowment policy is a great way to kick start the habit. Typically, such policy requires you to set aside premium every month into a policy that will either make regular payouts or lump sum payout upon maturiy of the policy.

Depending on your investment appetite, endowment policy can be either investment link related or non-investment link related. Investment link regular premium offers higher potential returns and the flexibility to adjust their funds allocation along the way.  However the flip side of such policies is that all the returns are non-guaranteed.

For those conversative consumers, a traditional endowment plan is the way to go. It helps to address those  with specific purposes whether be it in planning for retirement or children’s education.

Having to understand the type of products available, it is important to note that given the variety of products out there, they have to select properly. If you are unsure about where to start, it is imperative to seek professional advice from a reliable financial adviser. It is equally important for you to be forthcoming with relevant information for the adviser to work with.

Everything that i shared about are my two cent’s worth of knowledge. Hope it benefits you =)

Before you get the wrong idea, i am not getting married by any means but it is just that i will be taking over the ownership of my current house due to some reasons. This is actually quite a good news for me because it will mean that i will finally own an asset which will be providing me passive income and an opportunity to make capital gains when times is good. I felt that it comes at the right time because currently i am single and not having much commitments therefore by putting my money inside the house will be considered as a good investment.

My plan is to do a small renovation and after that will rent out the whole unit to let me earn some passive income and i will move out to rent a small place to stay. This way, i will not have to worry about the loan repayments since it will be covered by the rental and i also don’t have to fork out extra money to pay for my room rental too. Tho it’s going to be quite different staying alone but for the sake of future investments, i think it is a small price to pay =) Hopefully by 3 years, i will be able to save up to buy my first condo. And if i do so, i will be renting it out and i will stay in HDB together with my wife (if im married). The thought of dreaming about having my own condo excites me so much!

Another thing that i wanted to do this year as i mentioned earlier is to save up to 40% of my earning per month. To do so, i have listed down what are the neccessary adjustments that was needed in my current lifestyle:

1) Cut down on restaurants with my date to once/twice a month
2) Get busy so that i have no time to spend money!
3) No more expensive things for myself for at least next 6 months
4) Cutting down on entertainment activities to once a month
5) Less cabs taking

Well i believed that by strictly following these five things, i will be able to save up quite abit of my earnings and do regular investments. I’m also going to be more active in investing in unit trust to build up for my future. 2010 seems to be a good year to do regular investment since there are prominent signs of recovery. I believed that as a financial planner, we have to abide by the rules of saving and investing before we can preach what we believed strongly in. At least that is my motto when i’m handling business with my clients.

I often shared with my clients that it is not really how much you earn but how much you save! With that in mind, i am going to drill it deeply in me at least for one year and i will see how much can i really save. Good luck to me in saving! =)

The above two are part of my 2010 resolutions! I still have others that i will share soon!

Talking about passion makes me quite excited and i guess it’s because i am a more passionate person in nature so i tend to get quite hyped up upon hearing it =) But to many people out there, what is really passion to them? In fact, what is considered a passion to one person may not means the other person is the same.

Being passionate in general is good as it gives the person extra energy in doing the work. Have you met someone who keeps telling you how boring is the job or keep thinking how exciting and challenging their job can be on a daily basis? What is the difference between these two person? The answer is ‘ Passion’

Right now i have this sudden inspiration to share with you how to be passionate about saving money! This is very important and interesting because there are many people out there that i have met are not at ALL keen in saving money. They believe that money is made to spend and not save. I almost fainted each time i heard such statement. Hence i think these tips will be useful to motivate us to save money.

Tip 1: Think of what you can do with the extra money saved.  Imagine being able to buy whatever your parents want or what you want in life. I am talking big purchases in general. With the extra money saved, you can have the opportunity to travel further rather than always being limited to nearby countries. With more money saved, you can also afford to do more charity work to contribute back to society. Otherwise, you will be too busy earning money and not able to give back society.

Tip 2: Think of the many business opportunities that are possible due to the build-up captial. Do you think you are able to execute your business ideas when you know you have $10k or $100k or $500k as start-up capital? If today there is this person that comes to you with a very good feasible business proposal but it requires you to have $10k so do you think you can take up the business offer or you have to deny it due to no funds. However often we heard of people saying ‘ Well the business requires too much capital that we does not have enough to go into’ So do you see my point? =)

Tip 3: Think about the investment opportunities that you can take advantage when time is right. Do you know that for those who have invested in early this year when all people are avoiding the market due to lack of funds and fears, they have already easily made more than 50% returns! A lot of people don’t like to save so even when they are presented with the right opportunity, they can’t take charge of it. This is really a great opportunity loss for them.

Tip 4: Think of the long term lifestyle that you desired. Do you prefer to have somthing that is temporary or permanent? Do you prefer to  be eating and enjoying life now but in future will have to keep struggling to meet end needs or having simple lifestyle now but in future can have the luxury to relax to do own things in own pace?

Tip5: Visualise the moment where you can go for a long holiday break and be able to spend freely without guilt. Have you ever tell yourselves that you got no money after each holiday you go? Is that common to you? If yes, i think you should start to make sure that such guilt disappear forever. You can always do so when you have set aside money for it and know that even when you spend everything, you will still have one sum of emergency fund for you to use. It’s only possible if you save alot!

Tip 6: Look at all the uncles/aunties that are still working at the age of 65 and those who are enjoying their fruit of labour by saving. Ever wonder how does these people spend their money during their younger times? Of course there are people who work at age 65 because they chose to work to past time but for most of them, it’s no choice. They have to survive. 

Tip 7: Adopt the ‘with money comes more opportunity’ attitude. I can guranteed you that with such an attitude, you will be successful one day because every single minute you will be thinking of how to earn more money and creating business opportunity for yourself. It simply gets you excited every day!

Tip 8: Have a rich people mindset. According to Napolean Hill, think and grow rich! This is very true! If you take a look around your friends, how many of them have the rich people’s mindset and are they rich? If mostly is yes then i’m correct. If no, these people could be on their way to success. Not forgeting that by thinking, actions have to be taken =)

Last tip: Throw away poor people’s thinking. If you are someone that always want to be super thrifty and like to save here and there and not even willing to invest for the future, the chances of you getting rich is close to zero! If you think that you born in poor family and will never have a chance to be rich, again the chances of you getting rich is zero! Law of attraction works in this way. You will attract whatever you think and it will come true! Poor people always believe by working hard and not spending on anything will be rich but the fact is that there are just something that have to be spent first before wealth will come to you.

Well i hope that the above 9 tips will be an extra motivational reasons for you to stir up the passion in you to save money! Cheers!

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 =)

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 =)

When we were young, we are able to save money most of the time because of no commitment. As we get our pocket money from our parents, they will encourage us to save 10-30% into our piggy bank. Such practice it’s very good because it instills the idea of saving up for long term. As we grow up and start our working career, many times we will be having problem saving up despite the fact that we are earning few hundred times more than what we are getting for pocket money. Why is that so?

The reason is simple: we lose the habit of saving because we have other wants and lose focus of saving for long term. As we grow up, our commitmentsget more and more. Resulting the fact that we are left with little money to save each month. Actually to curb this problem is quite simple. HAVE A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE! We can save a lot when young because we are simple. We buy sweets and our price of food is cheap. Therefore when you grow up, so long you don’t indulge in luxurious lifestyle i believe it is not difficult to save.

Another thing other than a simple lifestyle is to have the habit to save FIRST spend LATER! Many working adult forget this super simple formula and as a result there are always the one that find themselves having problem at month end. Actually saving 10% of your income is just like running 3km every week. Once you cultivated this habit, you can start to save more next time because you are motivated by the fact that the amount inside your bank account is increasing month by month. Same thing is like if you find yourself not feeling tired after 3km run, you will naturally want to run more to push yourself to a higher limit!

If you feel good being fit, then i am very sure you will feel even better when you see 5 digit worth of saving in your bank account! Am i right? =) Therefore i have decided to hit the gym every Sat morning for at least 1 hr to get the habit of working out and training for my marathon! Let’s work hard together to get ourselves and our financial muscles to pump up again!

Yes, the problem was that most of them are having a regular endowment saving plan from insurance company as their first policy! Some of them even took up a saving plan that amounts to 20% of what they take home. Personally i find it being too ridiculous to pay so many for a saving plan when the person has not even taken up any life insurance!

Guess this is what happen if a person buys a plan off the street without a overview of his/her financial situation. Some consultants will make sure of their ‘charm’ to ask customers to buy big amount of saving policy when they are young, claiming that the more you save the more you will get for retirement. While this is true but it only applies if you have settled for the wealth protection of an individual. Imagine how can one effectively builds up his/her retirement when he knows that the moment he is struck with illness, all the so-called money will be gone! Hence in my personal opinion, an individual should always meet up with his/her financial planner a few times before deciding on a policy and most importantly, get a life insurance or hospitalisation policy before anything else comes along.

Another reason why people will buy a saving plan first is also because some unethical consultants instill the idea that by getting a saving plan, they are comparable to a normal insurance as they also gives some life coverage. While it is true that saving plan comes with insurance coverage but they have to understand that the amount of insurance is too little to be enough for a person’s coverage. An ideal coverage should take up 10 times of the person annual income so anything less thatn that, it will be considered under-insured.

Saving plans are good but it will come in useful only when you have enough money to start preparing for your future! Before that, please get a life policy which can cover you for death, disability, major illness, accident & hospitalisation benefits. Hopefully by reading this story, people out there will be more cautious on getting a saving policy first!

It’s the beginning of 2009, the beginning of a new year.  2008 had passed and we are into a world filled with uncertaintly. Hence It is also the best time when you start to make resolutions or goals for a brand new year to overcome all uncertainty. As i believe one can only be successful if you have a vision.  Right now, can i urge you to pen down exactly what do you want to be different in 2009 especially in areas of wealth so that you can be financially successful at the end of the year.

One of the easiest and powerful way to accumulate wealth is to follow the famous “Pay Yourself First” rule, This is something that i strongly adovcate all my clients to do when they are starting a career.

What does “Paying Yourself First” mean and how you can follow it?

Basically, it means you simply set aside a certain amount of money each month that you will not touch (pay yourself), even before you pay your bills and expenses (pay others)!

Here’s a step by step guide which you can follow:

1.  From the amount of money you make each month, you decide how many percent of your monthly salary or income you want to set aside.  When you get your paycheck, the very first thing you do is to put this amount aside, hence the “pay yourself first”. The percent to set aside differs from individual to individual depending on each comfortable level and wealth target. Most people recommend 10% to 15% of the monthly income to set aside, but I suspect that you might need to go up to 20% or even 30% if you want to reach your financial success.

2.  Decide what you want to do with this amount which has been set aside.  Many will simply put the amount into their saving accounts.  However, the idea of paying yourself first is to use it for your wealth building.  You should be looking into investing them instead of just saving them.  Saving alone will not help you to reach your financial success.  Let the money earn you more money by investing it.  Consult with your financial planner or advisor to decide the kind of investment portfolio that suits you.

I would recommend that you setup what is known as an automatic withdraw from your bank account to your investment institution for your investments.  This is when money is automatically taken out of your savings or checking account each month and put into your investment.  Generally, you have to select a certain day each month for when the transaction will occur, and it will happen every month on that day, just like paying your bills.  In this way, it does not rely on your ability to set aside a certain amount each month. It relies on the computers who automatically invest your money for you. It is also easy once you realize how you don’t miss the money.

3.  Next, you pay off your bills.

4. Live on whatever is left over from your paycheck.  It does not however imply that you need to use up every single cents of what is left.  If you have surplus, then good for you.  If you have a substantial surplus, then go back and re-adjust your investment amount.  Increase you monthly set-aside amount for investment, and let it generate more money for you. Engaged in a regular investment saving plan for long term is a very good strategy because it takes advantage of dollor cost averaging.

5.  And finally, NO CREDIT CARD DEBT!  Don’t spend on credit.  As credit card are easily issued recently, the more you should be careful. A simple card can be a knife or a sword to you depending on how you use it. Also be very careful with home equity loans and car loans. It’s easy to get into trouble with both.

If you are disciplined, you can pay yourself first without running into a credit rut.

First, keep your personal expense low.  Don’t go out and spend your money on “ego” toys like a new car, a new outfit or a long vacation.  Not until the habit of paying yourself first has built up enough assests for you to afford them. Buy second hand car especially if you are a first timer!

Second, when you come up short, don’t dip into your investment to pay off your creditors.  Robert Kiyosaki believes that if you are under pressure from creditors, the pressure will actually inspire you to come up with new ways of making money.  Look for other ways to tide over.

As you start to build assets, you will see that the income from your assets will allow you to pay for your personal expenses and expanded your means for you to live the livestyle you want. 

Paying Yourself First is a simple yet powerful concept.  It is so powerful that it could be apply to other area besides money.  You can apply these same principle to time.  Pay Yourself First if you are a busy working mother.  You need time to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family!

All the best to you in 2009! Wishing everyone a happy new year and be more prosperous in this brand new year! Cheers =)

By some measures, tuition has increased an average of 8% every year in the last 25 years. What does this mean for your child? A child born today could face a tuition bill three to four times over what a college student pays today. One estimate holds that scholarships and grants cover less than half of all college costs, on average Thus, it’s imperative not only to save for your child’s eventual college costs, but to start now.  

Tertiary education is without a doubt expensive, and is spiraling out of hand from more and more people. Being unable to provide for a tertiary education definitely means losing out to people who do.

This is a fatal flaw in today’s ever so competitive job market. Soon, a degree will be the minimum requirement for s good job. 

That means that saving up for an education is important. It certainly is not an easy task, but one that is crucial and requires self-control to fulfill. It requires a plan, and the commitment to follow through your plan.

First, calculate your needs. Perhaps, estimate for one can never calculate inflation. Research on the costs of courses, hostel fees, living expenses, costs of books, transport fees. Nothing should be left out. Then, look at the different ways of funding.  It is good if you can find an option that can meet your estimate cost at the lowest interest rate. Take note, you might not want to include the possibility of your child working to pay off a bit of the costs when in university. In some prestigious universities, working when studying will really kill the grades. That is for certain. Now, work towards that estimated number through endowment plans, unit trusts and some other way that you want to use.

Put aside a sum for that purpose each month. Be logical. Do not put away too much until you realize that you have compromised on your daily living expenses. It should be a number that you will be comfortable with in the long run .Using that same number, figure out how much you will have by the time your child is ready for university education. If you have more than one child, your goals need to be more ambitious. Seek a financial advisor to help you with the confusion and frustration.

Always remember no debt is definitely better than any debt. Do not think of loans until you reach the time to decide. If you already have enough by then, use your own money to pay for it. Having a debt to be paid off after graduation is not a pleasant thing. Those should only be “last resort”.