Habits/Routines of Millionaires | How you can use them to improve your productivity

Welcome to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney, don't forget to give an early thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you like the content that I have been producing. So on to today's video topic: Habits/Routines of Millionaires | How you can use them to improve your productivity. 

 Millionaires seem to spend their time differently from others, when it comes to exercising, reading, working and using of their social media. How then can we curate our habits and actions to improve not just our financial status but our life routine as a whole to benefit the different aspects of our life. Follow me through today's video as I outline the possible changes that you can implement in your lifestyle.

They exercise

This is a really important aspects of rich and successful people. They don't forget about their health and exercises pretty frequently to ensure that they have the energy and stamina to last through a long work day. Millionaires spend more time exercising than the average person, this is time for them to build up their body as they prepare for a day of decision-making.

Research has shown that they have more time to exercise because they use less time on social media. A study by Social Science and Medicine involving a sample of 5042 Finnish twin males, aimed to investigate the direct effects of physical activities on long-term labor income and earnings. The results showed that being physically active positively influenced long-term (15 year) income, with physically active males receiving incomes some 14-17% higher than less active males.

It could be because exercise may improve a person’s performance at work by enhancing their perseverance when facing obstacles, fostering goal-oriented behaviors, and developing social skills. In addition, physical activity may encourage participation in competitive situations within the workplace by enhancing self-esteem, self-confidence and locus of control.

Having a 'rich' mindset

Mindset is important to get us to achieve our goals, a focused mindset is beneficial to a confident personality and a rich mindset is what differentiates capable individuals. So what is a rich mindset? Individuals with a rich mindset seeks to spend their time, resources, and energy on work that continues to pay off long after the effort has been invested. To do so, you will first need to step out of your comfort zone to do things that will benefit you in the long run even though you are not comfortable doing them.

Know what motivates you to get things started and moving. When you set big goals for yourself, you kind of adjust your thinking and actions to move towards it. Do not invalidate yourself, if you keep telling yourself that you aren’t smart enough or good enough, or that you don’t know enough, it’s not going to be easy to turn on the steady stream of cash flow. And with a hard and fast, low-earning mindset, constant negative self-talk, and a poor mindset, you won’t be likely to retire early or be able to grow and developed a rich mindset. Focus on what you can control eg to start a business, work on negotiating a raise, and automate their finances in order that they can invest easily. Instead of giving up at the first sign of failure and finding comfort in complaining, a successful person rises up to the occasion.

Build relationships

There is a study that suggests that you are the average of 5 people you surround yourself with, so it is your choice to choose people with a rich mindset or of a poor mindset. Choosing your friends is a hefty but very crucial task because a good network helps you to grow and develop a rich mindset for which we are about. Do not be afraid to make friends that talk about money because they might help you in learning new ways having a circle of good friends on which you can rely upon will also boost your self-confidence.

Read up lots

Reading helps you to have new ideas and knowledge about what you are interested in. I watched a Netflix documentary on Bill Gates where he had 'think weeks' which was a one week period, 2 times a year and would just spend the time reading. This is like creating a 'third place' that is not work or home and allows you to have deeper and more creative thoughts.

Reading up more also expands your horizon as more knowledge on a certain topic can be found. It allows you to be exposed to more areas and have a deep dive into what you are interested in.

Waking up a little earlier

This is a personal tip from me but not as a millionaire. Haha, ever since working from home, my workload has increased substantially. During my normal work day, many people would call or have meetings virtually, as this consumes up a lot of time, I some times do not have the time to clear my individual work or emails. By waking up an hour earlier, it allows and gives me some time to clear and focus on my urgent task for the day and to complete them if possible first thing in the morning.

Special feature on Elon Musk

1. He wakes up early and sleeps about 6 hours per day
2. Shower everyday
3. Use Stretch goals

You can also find me on:
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Conclusion

Good habits can in the long term improve our performance as we incorporate them into our routine. I hope that the information in this video has been beneficial. If you enjoy my videos and want more content from me, please hit the like button and subscribe to my channel. it will help me lots. See u guys soon and take care!

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-millionaires-billionaires-spend-time-reading-exercise-sleep-2019-2#millionaires-may-have-more-time-to-exercise-because-they-spend-less-time-on-social-media-the-average-american-spends-14-hours-a-week-on-social-media-compared-to-the-average-millionaires-2-12-hours-a-week-17

https://theyoungengine.medium.com/having-a-rich-mindset-1793206ea6de

3 Emotional Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Being Self Employed

Being a self employed in Singapore isn’t easy. During my initial years, I got many hard questions from my relatives. Many others said it was better to find a “real” job. On hindsight, all of them are employees. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, I have been self employed for 10 years and I hope to share with you 3 emotional questions that you should ask yourself before being self-employed. 

Question #1: Can you accept having a different schedule from your friends?

This sounds like a trivial question but I felt it was one of the hardest things when I first started out. I became a self-employed at 24. As most of my friends eventually become employees for companies, their schedule is a consistent 9am to 5pm on weekdays. Most of the time, they will be free on weekends. If there was a gathering, it will be either during weekday nights or weekends.

As a self-employed, our effective working hours are slightly different. The marketing that I was doing was more effective during weekdays nights and weekends as more people would pay more attention to it. It was also more effective closing deals during that period of time too. However, this will mean that it is difficult to attend any gatherings. Eventually, my friends stopped calling me out as I would be “busy”.

I found it very tough to be excluded during the outings then. I would be sad when my friends don’t invite me when they would in the past. This is one statement that stings.

“We thought you busy mah. So, we never invite you.”

Ask yourself if you are ready to have a different schedule from your current friends. Although I may have lost contact with old friends, I made new friends who are working on different schedules and some of them became close friends. When one door closes, another opens. 

Question #2: Can you accept not earning as much money as your friends in the initial years?

As a university graduate, there is a good possibility that your monthly income is in between $2500 to $4000. However, as a self-employed, your income is always a big question mark.

My income in my initial years were terrible. I always remembered the month when my salary was only $200. In the initial years, you need to build up your expertise, your knowledge and also your clientele. The thoughts of being employed at that time was tempting. This is because you know that your next best alternative is getting a stable income. It was also painful to compare your salary to those especially in the government sector.

Ask yourself if you are able to accept not earning as much money as your friends in the initial years. I also found it useful not to compare with other. Each job or each occupation has their own set of pros and cons. I believe that getting satisfaction and happiness in doing the job is more important that the salary you make.

Question #3: Can you accept having different life experience from your friends?

Being a self-employed means doing everything yourself. You need to work on your accounting, you need to work on your HR and also you need to work on your sales. There are no IT department to knock doors on when there is an IT issue. You just have to get it done yourself. You will find that the type of complains you will be very different from your friends. Some frustrations that will be hard to relate to are as follows.

“My manager like to micro-manage.”

“My manager is not a good leader. Why is he/she so discouraging?”

“The XXX department is holding us back. Why are they always so slow?”

“Can’t believe XXX got promoted. There must be something happening behind the scenes.”

During your meet ups, it won’t be easy to relate to their pains and frustrations. They also may not understand your pains and frustrations. As work makes up a big part of our lives, the level of connection with your friends may no longer like the pre-working days.

About Chengkok

Thank you, SingaporeanTalksMoney, for the opportunity to write on your blog. Initially, she wanted me to write about my journey as a trainer and how I started on my career. After writing a few sentences, I felt an epiphany to share about these 3 emotional traits that I faced during my self-employed years and I want to share them for those of you are interested to be self-employed.

Hi again, my name is Chengkok. I am an Associate Financial Consultant and the Founder of Wealthdojo. My vision is to build the biggest community of financially free families all over the world. It all started when I realize that the majority of families are overwhelmed by family and work obligations. Even though many of them are hardworking, they become stuck financially and unable to achieve the results they desire in life.

I am an active investment coach and mentor for Buffet Online School. I coach a diverse group of individuals from Executive to Chief Financial Officer with > $3.1 million worth of investment funds.

Lastly, I am also awarded as a Million Dollar Round Table member of AIA Singapore. Chengkok has been invited to speak in different countries including America, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore, he has been invited to speak at various institutions such as NTU, UniSIM, RP, Lim and Tan Securities, SIAS, USANA, and 93.8Live.

Check Chengkok out here.

My Goals for 2021 | Money and everything else

Hi Guys! Welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney! Please subscribe to my channel and like my videos for more content. Appreciate an early thumbs up Today, I will be talking about my financial goals and also overall goals for 2021, as we wrap up 2020.

I previously did a video on My Financial Goals in My 20s and it was quite vague and more of a rough guide over the next few years. For today's video, I hope to go in deeper and be able to stretch my goals so that even if I do not reach them, at least I would have strive for a goal that will bring me further. So for today's video, I will be covering goals for my portfolio, dividend, income, savings, health and well-being as well as goals for my blog and video content.

1. Portfolio Goals

I hope to hit the $50,000 portfolio goal in 2021. It seems like a huge stretch considering my salary is not very high, but looking at the growth of my portfolio this year, anything can happen. Meaning my portfolio could even drop depending on the market situation. But I hope to push my portfolio up to $50,000. Looking at the current value of my portfolio at $30,000 we are expecting a growth of $20,000 either through injection of funds or stock growth.

Read more: Ending 2020 with a $30,000 portfolio and dividends collected revealed! | Tesla stock price crashed like soufflé? 

 Read more: Cryptocurrency | Why I am getting into it and is it too late?

2. Dividend Goals

For this, if I am looking for growth stocks, my dividends would not be increasing as I do not have much capital to work with meaning I am not able to buy both companies that are growing and companies that pay dividends at the same time. So my dividends would stay somewhat stagnant for 2021. If possible, I hope to at least receive $100 dollars per month meaning an annual dividend payout of $1200 will be needed.

(1200/30000) x 100% = 4%

I will need a dividend yield of 4% on my current portfolio to get at least $100 per month.

Read more: Should I start investing now or when the markets drop?

3. Income Goals

Definitely, for my main income, an increment will not be possible as my manager did mention to us that there will be no increments for 2021 and considering that my contract just recently got extended a year with a small increment, the next best thing is to find a new higher paying job. I do find it difficult to coordinate having interviews while working as my workload is also pretty high recently due to the lack of manpower in my department.

If I manage to find another higher paying job, that will be a bonus. Otherwise, I would think that just having to be in my current job for another year would be a blessing.

4. Savings goal

Besides aiming to grow my investment portfolio to $50,000 next year, my cash savings on the other hand, I don't really find an immediate need to increase it substantially. I don't have to be holding a huge amount of cash as I do not have much liabilities like mortgages or debt. Also, I do not have dependents who need money from me except that I do give my mum allowances every month. So I try not to hold too much cash though I have at least 6 months expenses on hand. The rest, I try to keep them invested and will continue to do so in 2021.

5. Health and Well-being goals

For my health, I hope to definitely incorporate some exercise time in although I have been wanting to do so since last year. 2020 has made me seen the importance of having good health and will like to start an exercise routine in 2021.

In terms of of whole emotional well-being, I also hope to place more emphasis on it as I do feel that working from home has blurred the boundaries between my personal and working time. Working way past the usual working times have been the norm and some times even using my weekends to clear work. Of course, it isn't just me who is doing this, I find that during this period everyone else has been working doubly hard but I do find that doing so in the long term will affect me especially so because I do not have enough time to unwind. My mind some times just keeps thinking about work. So I like to improve my emotional well-being by not working too much over the stiputed working hours.

6. Blog and video content

My blog has always been a place for me to write my thoughts and update on my financial status. To be honest, it is what keeps me sane and on track because I know that I have something that I am working towards to. Ever since creating my YouTube channel, I like what I have been putting out, even though it doesn't gain much traction. I am glad to have some subscribers and viewers, I am really thankful for the support. I definitely hope to improve the content and design of my blog.

Overall, would like to thank all of you for your support and I am thankful for people who read my content. Having my goals listed out would hopefully allow me to be more clear about them and achieve them as well. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Ending 2020 with a $30,000 portfolio and dividends collected revealed! | Tesla stock price crashed like soufflé?

Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney. Please subscribe to my channel to stay updated on my content and also to punch the like button to show support for me! We are left with just about a month till the start of 2021, this has been a challenging year for everyone. But there are definitely good things as well, one of it is that I have managed to save a lot more in 2020. With the year coming to an end soon, today's video will be a personal finance update video where I show the breakdown of my portfolio and also dividends received this year. Kinda like a year end performance review.

2020 definitely was a year where I had more spare cash for investing as travel plans were disrupted and working from home became the norm. I guess this was the same for many because after the crash in Mar/Apr 2020, the markets have been recovering like a bull and even surpassed many valuations. It seems like everyone has a lot of spare cash as stocks, cryptocurrency and gold all surge to new highs.

On my side, my portfolio has definitely grown since the last video where I talked about my $18,000 portfolio which I will link it below and at the top. With my regular savings plan and occasional individual stock purchases, my portfolio has grown partly due to Tesla, from having a stock split to being included in the S&P 500, the news really just keeps coming in.

My Portfolio

My current portfolio as of 1 Dec 2020 stands at a little above $30,000. It has seen a 40% growth since my last portfolio breakdown done in around June or July 2020. Definitely, I will be showing a breakdown of my portfolio so that I can compare it again mid-year in 2021 and see if there are any major changes.

How did the portfolio grow?

The main growth factor for my portfolio are definitely the US stocks as S&P 500 and Tesla soared up with news of Joe Biden being elected and the vaccine being available. My Total World Stock ETF holdings (VT) has provided me with about 13.19% profit and Tesla providing me with about 83.16% profit as of 4 Dec 2020. There are winners and definitely losers, just like in my previous video, the investment that made me lose almost all my capital, Design Studio is down 84.57% and my Singtel holdings are down 32.49% as I bought them during the high.

My Singapore portfolio is still in the red mainly due to counters like Design Studio and some REITs that I purchased at a pretty high price. I am keeping all my Singapore holdings as I like the dividends and just having a Singapore portfolio is a little more assuring, at least to me. I am planning to also add more CRCT and Far East Orchard in the near future.

This year, beside my RSP of adding VT and VOO to the portfolio, I also added OCBC, Far East Orchard (O10) and most definitely Tesla which is the main reason my portfolio could grow so fast.

Dividends received from portfolio in 2020

Dividends! I used to loveeee dividends as it just makes you feel so good receiving some pocket money throughout the year, however, this year I have been buying more into US stocks and so my dividends for next year, 2021 will not be increasing much as I am now investing in companies that are growing and so will not pay dividends. With the current REITs, Banks and STI ETF in my portfolio, I received a total of $722.56 which translates to about $60 dollars per month. To me, that really quite a nice amount to be receiving, definitely hope to break 3 digits monthly next year but I have sold First REIT so my dividends might not be as much as expected. This will be something that I will look out for in 2021, my dividends payout.

Comparing dividends received from past years

My dividends received year-on-year has been increasing meaning from 2018 where I received $22.75 monthly and in 2019, $41.89 monthly to $60.21 monthly for 2020.

I hope to definitely be able to double the previous year dividends year-on-year meaning I hope to receive about $120 in dividends monthly for 2021. As I find dividends a nice cushion and in Singapore, we all love dividends.

Conclusion

Before I end it all off, in another news of leaked emails from Elon Musk to his employees, he has asked them to control costs and maintain profits because investor have been giving them a lot of credit for future profits judging by the stock price. Is this another way of Elon saying that "Tesla stock price is too high imo". I do have to say that everyone is looking out for Tesla's future, being a disruptive company, it's effects can be very profound in the years to come. But to do that, they have to make sure that they can survive first and I think Elon Musk has a way of communicating and doing that.

Thanks for staying till the end, do remember to subscribe and hit that like button for me to produce more content for you guys. My next video will be my financial goals for 2021 and how I hope to achieve it, so do subscribe and hit the notification bell to know when my next video is released. Bye!

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-must-control-costs-or-stock-will-get-crushed-like-a-souffle-under-a-sledgehammer-elon-musk-reportedly-says-11606871379

Side income ideas to start earning an extra $100 per month

This year has made a lot of people create a second stream of income or set up a side business as they realized that relying on one main source of income is very risky as anything can happen and you would be out of a job with no income.

Covid has hit a wide spectrum of people, from F&B to services and caused many businesses to shut. We are all afraid of losing our jobs as it is what provides us with money to survive. A few of my air stewardess friends have set up home bakeries, baking brownies and tiramisu, the number of their orders are huge scale with each session being sold out within hours. I myself have also patronize some local bakeries and though some charge at a premium, the choices and creativity really is great.

I think it makes for a great gift as well since we were encouraged not to be in close contact with one another. So to today's topic, side income ideas to start earning an extra $100 per month.

Provide your services

• Second opinions on Carousell

Providing something for others can help you earn because people will pay for your services depending on the demand. 2 recent examples I saw that I felt was very innovative was first on this guy who gave second opinions for a token fee of $5. Though he has not been earning from this service that he is providing, I do think it is a good start and especially so when he went viral, he has gotten a few request.

https://mothership.sg/2020/10/unbiased-opinion-carousell/

• Steven lim birthday song

The second one was on Steven Lim where he charged $100 to sing a birthday song, he managed to earn $78,000 within 7 months from it which is a crazy amount. Of course, you can provide a different kind of service depending on what you like to do.

https://mothership.sg/2020/06/steven-lim-birthday-dedication/

https://mustsharenews.com/steven-lim-car-advice/

• Upload your high quality photos to stock websites and earn everything someone uses them

Create a YouTube channel with whatever you are good at/interested in

If you love sharing about your life or anything, YouTube is a really great platform. I would say that even though my YouTube channel is not well-established because I have seen other people who have achieved a huge follower/views on YouTube and it really is just a starting point because once you have gained a following, many of them have created courses and do affiliate marketing through their channel.

Definitely, the amount of effort into each video is huge, from recording to editing, there is much to do and learn but with visual content being the biggest thing now, there is no harm in learning new skills. With just ad revenues, big YouTube channels have said to be earning enough and it really depends on your ads and clicks but overall YouTube is a great platform to let your ideas flow.

I have been watching this channel called The Iced Coffee Hour with Jack and Graham Stephan, the guest on his YouTube channels are all huge and earn quite a substantial amount through their channels with different avenues. He reveals how much the channel has earn on every new episode and it is interesting. Of course, getting to earn from a YouTube channel is not easy as there are criteria to be reached. I would say that it is also a good way to explore other interest of yours. Cooking channels for example have been increasing since the beginning of the year as more people start cooking at home. If you have an interest or are good at it, you can film yourself learning or cooking up a storm. There are just so many ideas to present your video.

Create a blog/course/e-book

Besides having a YouTube channel, you can also earn ad revenues from blogs which you can co-create together with your channel. You can earn from the ads placed on your blogs. If you are able to attract a large following then definitely, you can also sell your own merchandise through the brand that you have created. Similarly to the Youtube channel, you can release your own courses or e-book for people to purchase.

Dividend income

Using the income earned from your main 9-5 job or from extra cash lying around can also be invested and the investments that you have can pay you dividends/interests. It might be a small amount in the beginning but once you build your capital up, the dividends that you can received monthly can turn out to be pretty substantial. Many people have managed to build up portfolios that provide them a "more than enough" monthly dividend payout.

I will be revealing in my next video how much dividends I have collected in 2020 and also my portfolio value, do look out for that!

Conclusion

All in all, building a side income can take time or it might not even seem rewarding in the beginning when you are putting in so much effort but not getting the returns as expected. If in the long run, it doesn't become profitable, take it as a learning experience and I believe it will be a good experience. In this time and age, setting up a website or youtube channel for yourself is easy but the content has to be good for people to want to continue to watch or read your content. I would say that my Youtube channel has very slow growth at the moment as I know the content and my expression is not as engaging. But I do hope to improve on the way and so if you like my content, do subscribe and hit the like button to show support. Thank you!

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Cryptocurrency | Why I am getting into it and is it too late?

Today's topic will be on cryptocurrency. I have been wanting to do this video for awhile and after seeing videos from Andrei Jikh and Chicken Genius on Bitcoin, how can I also miss out on releasing one.

Cryptocurrency has been a hot topic the past few years and many says that it will be the currency used in the future as it is not like fiat currency, a government-issued currency that isn't backed by a commodity such as gold. Fiat money gives central banks greater control over the economy because they can control how much money is printed. Take for example the US dollar where the US Federal Reserve has been printing money to counter the effects of Covid-19.

This has raised concern on whether the value of the US dollar will drop because more money is printed. I didn't really study any finance modules in school as I studied social sciences but having a currency issued by the government and regulated by the central banks means that the value of it is really based on the country's economy and how the government is doing.

On the other hand, a cryptocurrency is a form of digital or virtual currency that can work as a medium of exchange. Being virtual in nature, they use cryptography technology to process, secure and verify transactions. Unlike Fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies are not controlled by any central authority such as a central bank. Instead, they are limited entries in a database such as a blockchain that no one can change or manipulate, unless certain conditions are met.

Many have termed cryptocurrency as the future currency as it's definition of value is like gold except that it is digital and in times of crisis, the value doesn't change due to printing of money because demand for it still remains. Covid-19 has strengthen the value of Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency. Ether (ETH) which the second most popular digital token has also increased in value. Both of these tokens are decentralized, meaning that they are not issued or regulated by a central bank or other authority. Both make use of the distributed ledger technology known as blockchain.

Why I am getting into Bitcoin now?

I have definitely heard of Bitcoin for a few years, actually I first heard about it when I was in polytechnic in year 2015. At that time, Bitcoin was at a price of $200 plus and since then, it has seen tremendous growth to almost $18,000 as of 20 Nov 2020. I heard people mentioning that they bought Bitcoin and it risen in value in crazy amounts.

I was, to be honest skeptical of Bitcoin in the beginning because at that time, I wasn't sure what Bitcoin was and how it can be used. I even heard of the creator name, Satoshi Nakamoto and was like wow, he is anonymous. I thought that it was something of value to gamers as they could transact online easily. It was not until I watched Banking on Bitcoin from Netflix did I understand how Bitcoin work and how it come about.

At that time, being a student, it was a pretty huge amount and I was also buffered on how you can store Bitcoin as stories of hackers was on the rise. So I did not think of getting into Bitcoin. This year, as I see more institutions deciding to get into cryptocurrency, I decided to also put a small amount of money in. If it becomes more widely used, it's value will definitely increase as what we are seeing and with it being limited in value as well, people will know of it's value.

I have thus decided to also set aside a sum each month to buy Bitcoin in tranches using Binance. Hearing Andrei Jikh and Chicken Genius, I know that Bitcoin is now going to be widely accepted as even DBS is setting up a digital exchange for cryptocurrency.

Things to look out for

As I have mentioned, hackers like to target cryptocurrency companies/exchanges as the value is so crazy and if they do not have the proper infrastructure, they are very easily compromised. One example was Coincheck, a Bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in Tokyo that was hacked in 2018 and had about $500 million in digital tokens taken away. What was unique was that because that Coincheck used a prominent star to advertise and this attracted many young Japanese to borrow money to buy cryptocurrencies.

Something closer to home was Kucoin which is a digital asset exchange headquartered in Singapore lost over $280 million as the hackers obtained keys to their hot wallet. Those in their cold wallets were safe. So, how can we improve the safety of cryptocurrencies? This is then dependent on how we store them.

Hot and Cold Wallet

Hot and Cold wallet are how you can keep your cryptocurrencies. There are many other different types of wallets but hot and cold are the 2 most frequent used ones. Hot wallets are digital cryptocurrency wallets, while cold wallets are physical devices that store cryptos inside of them.

• Hot Wallet

Hot wallets are digital currency wallets which mean they are online and desktop wallet. Hot wallets can store any cryptocurrencies and are free.

• Cold Wallet

Cold wallets are physical devices that store your cryptocurrencies and are offline devices. They have a very limited variety of cryptocurrencies they can store. Cold wallets are very secure when it comes to cryptocurrency storage. Definitely, I would think that as you accumulate more cryptocurrencies, you would want to slowly store some in a cold wallet while keep some in a hot wallet to allow both safety and easy access to transact.

Am I getting in too late?

There are many people who have got into cryptocurrency early on and have seen massive growth on it. Then is it too late for me to get in now especially so when it has hit $18,000 recently. I would say that with more institutions buying and accepting Bitcoin, the growth from here might be higher. I wouldn't blame myself for not getting in early because I know that I needed some kind of confirmation before getting into something. There are so many interesting concept and things nowadays and cryptocurrency is definitely something to look out for in the future. Whether or not is this a good time to get it, I believe having to own some Bitcoin will make me understand how it truly works and read up more on it.

Are any of you already invested in Bitcoin? If not, are you planning to buy some soon? Thanks for staying till the end of the video and do hit the like button and subscribe to my channel.

 

References: https://www.fxempire.com/education/article/the-difference-between-fiat-money-and-cryptocurrencies-520616
https://www.livemint.com/industry/banking/lessons-from-the-fed-s-3-trillion-money-printing-11592322603528.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fiatmoney.asp
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/dbs-creates-buzz-with-its-plans-for-crypto-currency-exchange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincheck
https://fortune.com/2018/01/31/coincheck-hack-how/
https://www.coindesk.com/hackers-drain-kucoin-crypto-exchanges-funds
https://www.bitdegree.org/crypto/cold-wallet

Should I start investing now or when the markets drop?

Today's topic is should we just get started in investing now or wait for the stock market to drop again before getting in?

Many at times, when we want to start investing, we always wonder should I buy in now or wait? Historically, the markets have always trended upwards and so if you are in for the long term, it does not really matter when you put your money in as it will in the long term trend up. Many of my friends got interested in investing when the pandemic caused the drop in the stock market. I would guess that prices at that time was really attractive compared to today, when a vaccine has been announced and prices are slowly going up again.

How can we actually know the best time to invest? The answer is no one knows, you could be lucky once or twice but you will will not be able to get the lowest point every time and what if a bull market lasts for 10 years, will you be holding your cash for 10 years?

Just like in my previous video where I talked about DCA and LSI, if you like a lower risk, you can consider DCA to ensure your funds are spread out over a period of time.

Time in Market > Timing the Market

I am sure you have heard of this phrase, time in market BEATS timing the market. This is true in the long run because

1. Dividends (if any) will add up over time.
2. Allow compounding to take effect by earning returns on those returns over time. The longer you let your money ride out the ups and downs of the market, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome.
3. The stock market is a volatile place — but over time, it tends to trend upward and provide positive returns

Why we feel scared to invest our money

• Capital not guaranteed

Many are afraid of starting to invest right away because they feel that it is not capital guaranteed and they will lose all their capital. This is definitely true and that's why we dont put all our money into the stock market.

• Fear of losing money due to volatility

What if I put my money into the stock market now and it drops? This is what most people who are afraid to starting to invest immediately feels. I have to admit that when I first started investing, I was worried as well and checked my investment frequently. But you need to know and educate yourself why you have invested in that certain stock/ETF and that in the long term, it will reward you as you have done your research or checks. Even if it doesn't, at least you have learned something. If the volatility affects you, it is then better to maybe stick to less risk vehicles for your money which will usually mean a lower growth.

You have to make sure that you are comfortable with what you are investing in, if you want to invest in something more risker, set a side a small sum of money and be prepared to have a huge fluctuations. Having a mindset that fluctuations will occur over the short term can help but if you see any fundamental change or feel that the company has changed from what it is, do reconsider and think if you would like to continue to be invested in it.

• Not sure what to invest in

This is definitely something that stops most people from starting to invest immediately. Many of my friends have ideas of investing their money because to them, they know that by investing, in the long term it is good and they currently have time on their side as they are young. Hearing so many options and with some what a limited budget, my friends really want to hear what to invest in but the thing is that they want something to invest in that will grow and be beneficial in a short time but investing requires sometimes a long time horizon. I cannot guarantee them that whatever I am saying will make them profit and that is why I usually don't tell my friends what to invest in because I am really scared of the consequences.

How we should make ourselves get invested right now

• Overcome that inertia

Taking that first step is always the most difficult. Definitely because there is so much things to invest in nowadays, we are more cautious of what to put our money in. So we first should know ourselves, what kind of risk appetite, can we take volatility, are we looking for high returns and if so what type of asset allocation are we looking at. By understanding yourself better, you will know what kind of investing style or how you like your money to be allocated.

You might have a change of investing strategy along the way but adjustment can be made and at least by then, you would have gathered more knowledge on investing. So don't hesitate, once you have the basics and extra money saved up, The bottom line = The best time to get started investing is right now.

Conclusion: In fact, the biggest investment mistake you can make is NOT getting started, since the simple act of saving money is the most powerful tool you have at your disposal. Thanks once again for staying till the end of the video and do like and subscribe to my channel!

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Tesla to join S&P 500 on 21 December 2020

Huge news as S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Tesla would join the S&P 500 index prior to the opening of trading on 21 December 2020, potentially in two tranches making it easier for investment funds to digest depending on investors feedback. 

This means that Tesla will be included in S&P 500 and this means investments funds will need to buy Tesla to correctly reflect the index. This will definitely push Tesla price up.  

Taken from https://www.ft.com/content/5642b34b-ae8d-466d-a906-9acb473b601d

 

A great Christmas gift for many? I am currently holding 10 stocks of Tesla and so this is good (stock price going up) and bad news (higher entry price), the stock price of Tesla these few days have hovered around USD406 and it is a good price to buy in, judging by the news of the S&P 500 inclusion, Tesla is expected to increase as seen in the after hours trading where the share price have surged 11.5% to about USD455.

Elon Musk from the past week have been saying that Covid-19 is overblown and effects are not serious, he really is someone who creates news with everything he says. With Tesla added in to the S&P 500, more volatility is expected and things will get interesting. 

In the meantime, it has not yet been decided who will be removed for Tesla to be added in.

Should I start dollar cost averaging or a lump sum investment?

Dollar cost averaging or to a lump sum investment? This is a question on everyone's mind when they start to invest. And this is also today's topic for this video. There are many debates on whether dollar cost averaging or lump sum investment is better.

Before, I dive in more into DCA and lump sum investing, please give an early thumbs up or subscribe to my channel for me to produce more content for you guys!

So let's define them. Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy in which an investor divides up the total amount to be invested across periodic purchases of a target asset in an effort to reduce the impact of volatility on the overall purchase. For example, you have $25,000 you split it up and invest about $500 per month. This will mean that the $25,000 will be invested over a 4 year time period.

On the other hand, a lump sum investment would mean that the $25,000 would be invested straight into the stock market. There are definitely pros and cons to both strategies. I am going to talk about each method.

Dollar Cost Averaging

There are some advantages to DCA. Dollar-cost averaging helps spreads the risk of investing as you are spreading out your investments over a period of time meaning that you are buying both the lows and highs. This also means that you can take advantage of a market downturn as you will have funds on hand. The emotional factor is also taken out of it.

DCA is a good way to start if you do not have a huge sum of money available as putting money in consistently is beneficial in the long-term. It is also good if you have a large sum but are more of a nervous investor with lower risk tolerance.

A disadvantage of dollar-cost averaging is that the market tends to go up over time. This means that if you invest a lump sum earlier, it is likely to do better than smaller amounts invested over a period of time. The lump sum will provide a better return over the long run as a result of the market’s rising tendency.

Lump Sum Investing

There are definitely pros and cons to LSI as well.

Historically, lump-sum investing has a higher chance of outperforming dollar-cost averaging

Lump-sum investing gives your investments exposure to the markets sooner provided the markets are going up as you are putting your money to work right away which takes full advantage of market growth.

One disadvantage is that you might have no extra money to take advantage of a market downturn as most of your money would have been invested

Studies on dollar cost averaging VS lump sum investing

A study from Vanguard which I will put the link below have shown that lump sum investing produces better results. The study uses monthly stock and bond returns in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia to evaluate the historical performance of each strategy. For LSI, we assume that US$1,000,000 (or £1,000,000 in the United Kingdom and A$1,000,000 in Australia) is immediately invested into a stock/bond portfolio and then held for 10 years. For DCA, we assume that the same sum starts in a portfolio of cash investments and is then transferred in equal increments into a stock/bond portfolio over a period of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, or 36 months (with 12 months being our baseline scenario in most examples and exhibits). Once the DCA investment period is complete, the DCA and LSI portfolios have identical asset allocations, and both remain invested through the end of year 10.

Conclusion of the study:

If the markets are trending upward, it is logical to implement a strategic asset allocation as soon as possible because it should offer a higher long-run expected return than cash. Historically, a long-term upward trend has persisted for both equities and bonds, probably attributable to positive risk premia in the markets. In other words, positive returns have compensated investors for taking risks, hence the upward trend in those markets and the resulting probabilities of success for LSI. So, to the extent that an investor believes the positive risk premia are likely to exist in the future, LSI would remain the preferred method for investing an immediately available large sum of money. But if the investor is primarily concerned with reducing short-term downside risk and the potential for regret, then DCA may be a better alternative.

Which is the better investing strategy?

Research has definitely shown that lump sum investment is better as your money is in the stock market straight away because time in the market is beneficial. But if markets are going down and you are wondering if it is the right time to invest as you are afraid that the markets will continue to fall, this is when DCA is for you to take advantage of the drop. Also, emotions can run high if you invest a lump sum at one go. DCA on the the other hand will allow you to minimize the downside risk.

All in all, there will be individuals who prefer LSI or DCA, you will need to know your emotions and whether are you able to sleep if you take on more risk.

References:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dollarcostaveraging.asp

https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/online-trading/invest-lump-sum

https://static.twentyoverten.com/5980d16bbfb1c93238ad9c24/rJpQmY8o7/Dollar-Cost-Averaging-Just-Means-Taking-Risk-Later-Vanguard.pdf

As a Fresh Graduate, should I start with investing, saving or insurance?

When you first graduated, were you thinking about how you were going to allocate your money? Today's topic will be as a fresh graduate, should I start with investing, saving or insurance?

As a fresh graduate, receiving our first paycheck, we want to start doing something with the money we are earning, whether to buy for protection (insurance) or to grow our wealth or to save for rainy days, there are a million things we can do with our salary but what should we do first?

I will be sharing more on my perspective and also as a fresh graduate (I have been working full time for about 2 years now). For me, when I first graduated, my starting was not high and definitely not even at the median salary $3600, I was earning way below that meaning my take home pay isn't much as well considering that we pay 20% of it to CPF (retirement account)

I am lucky because my mother did get for me insurance in terms of life and hospitalisation insurance. This really helped me a lot because I knew that I had some form of insurance and can build on that further. I wanted to increase my coverage particularly for critical illness and when I first got my pay, I started with the most important thing, building up an emergency fund.

In my opinion, I would think that building savings to a certain amount and at the same time apply for insurance within your capabilities of paying will be a good first step. Once you have both savings and insurance in place, any other extra money can be invested.

Emergency funds/Savings

So I put aside $700 per month until I reached $13,000. This means that it will take me 18 months to build it up. Besides that, I also had some extra that I put into another account to build up as investment funds. Having an allocation is really important and it can pave the way for your financial journey as it lays very strong foundation.

After I had $13,000 I loosen up on my savings and channelled more into my investments meaning I started saving about $200 - $300 per month to my emergency fund. If you need a large cash buffer, you can choose not to decrease it but for me, I want to invest more and hence the reduction in savings.

Insurance

After I had my savings done, I decided to look into insurance since I am now earning a fixed income monthly and can ensure that I can pay for my insurance premiums. Since I have life and hospitalisation insurance already, I decided to get a personal accident and a critical illness. Definitely, what came to my mind was the premiums involved, you have to make sure you can pay for your premiums and not overload yourself.

I chose to pay for all my premiums yearly because you can save quite a bit as it is paid lump sum rather than monthly. So before the premium deduction date, you have to make sure you have sufficient funds to pay for it. I would think that hospitalisation and critical illness is particularly important because once you fall ill, the costs can add up and these 2 protection can ensure that your cost can be covered or lessen. For me, life insurance is not so critical unless you feel that you have children and a lot of people who really depend on you for their survival that if you do pass away, they require a lump sum to survive.

For me, my mum currently has adequate insurance for herself and she doesn't depend entirely on me for survival. My brother has a scholarship and has monthly allowance so I don't find a huge need to get a large sum assured if I do pass away. But it depends on the situation you are in as every family differs.

Investment

I started investing actually when I was in university but definitely pumped in more money after I started work full-time. You should always have an emergency fund (3-6months salary/expenses) before putting the rest of your money into investments because if things do go bad in the market, you have your emergency fund to lay back on and will not need to liquidate your investments especially if it is a bad time.

Investment is something that is best to start when you are young so that you can afford taking more risks (venture more) and also have the time for compounding to take place. For me, I was into individual stock picking initially and it was bad, my portfolio ended up too diversified for a small amount of capital and I decided to start index investing also because of work commitments. So far, it has been going well for me and I will keep to it. Though I still buy individual stocks once in awhile.

As a fresh graduate, we all have a lot of thoughts on how we want to use our first pay check and I think it’s good that we are thinking about it. My mum told me that her first pay was $200 and she spent it all on a makeup palette where she even had to borrow some money to pay for it. Haha, that’s definitely quite funny as I always asked her how come she spent all her money. But she just mentioned that at that time, she just spend whatever money she had on hand as at that time saving wasn’t in her mind.

If you are thinking about how to allocate your salary means that you know that financially you have some goals. 

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How you can save the Earth and save money as well!

Today's topic is how you can save the Earth and save money at the same time. Before I dive into today's video, do give a like and subscribe to my channel for more content! 

As the 11.11 sales come, many people will be adding items to their carts and checking out. The online shopping sites have also come out full force with all their ads. But before we go all out on this shopping spree, let's stop and think if we really do need the stuff that we are buying.

The world has experienced climate change scale never seen before and it is really up to us to make the change even on a small scale, we can still do our part. I have made small changes to my lifestyle and will continue to do so, although my family is not so much on sustainability, I try to let them know and see if there are ways they can make small changes as well. I will be sharing with you 3 tips on how you can save the Earth and save money!

Invest in reusable and make sure you use them!

I cultivated this habit since young by making sure I always have a reusable bottle of water with me. This means that I will not need to buy a plastic bottle with water when I am out. I know this sounds really simple but I have seen many people who buys a plastic bottle of water from 7-11 or the supermarket every time they go out. The bottle that you buy contributes to the plastic waste and you can save money just by bringing your own.

Similarly, when I pack food to work or pack food home from the hawker centers or food court, I really try to bring my own lunch boxes unless I do not have them with me to ensure I am not having an extra plastic container and plastic bag being used just to transport my food back home. This can also save the 20 cents that is usually charged for the takeaway container. Covid-19 has caused a plastic waste crisis as more people stay home and order food in. If you do order food delivery, it is inevitable that there will be plastic boxes or bags used.

Don't over order/cook and reduce your food waste

Food waste accounts for about 10 per cent of the total waste generated in Singapore, but only 18 per cent of the food waste is recycled. The rest of it is disposed of at the waste-to-energy (WTE) plants for incineration. Food that goes to a landfill generates methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide and this contributes to climate change.

By making a tweak to your cooking or order habits, you can save both the money and your money. Making sure that you get your proportions right when you cook, if you have a certain number of pax, do not over cook but if you do, you can portion the food beforehand and top the food if it is not enough otherwise, you can keep the segregated portion for your next meal. An interesting article I came across was that in Hong Kong, 40% of food waste are due to Cantonese soup where the leftover ingredients in the soup are thrown away daily. The article suggest family having a proper meal plan to reduce food waste for example cooking winter melon soup where most of the ingredients can be eaten and the meat used in soup can also be eaten.

My mum cooks soup and we always finish everything inside because her soup base is usually goji berries and anchovies, the meat that she uses, we also finish it up.

When eating out, when we are ordering, we are hungry so we over estimate on how much we can eat and when the food come and portions are huge, we end up not being able to finish the food. This is something that I have been trying to make changes as well, every time we visit a place, we definitely want to try all their food but there is only so much we can eat. We can order in sequence for one where if there are appetizers, mains and desserts, we can order the appetizers and mains first and if we are still able to eat, we can proceed to order desserts. It is really easy to over order but we need to keep in mind that food waste is really something we can control on our end.

Bike/walk otherwise take public transport whenever possible

I am sure everyone knows that cars produce emissions by now, by using public transport it helps you to save money and also reduces carbon emissions. If most of us can use public transport and not a car to each individual, we can reduce the number of cars and lessen the carbon emissions.

Of course, there are people who rely on their car for a living and they need it to use it. But overall, if you are alone, choosing to take the public transport can save the Earth much more.

Conclusion

Overall, if you can implement small changes in your lifestyle, bringing your own container or recycled bag to buy things, it will help and in the long term you will get used to it. For us, reducing our waste is one of the easiest things we can do, if we can save the Earth and save money as well, why not get started? Hope you guys enjoy my videos today and if you enjoy the contents I am producing, please like and subscribe to my videos, it will help me lots! Thank you.

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 References:

https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/3r-programmes-and-resources/food-waste-management

https://www.goingzerowaste.com/blog/save-money-go-green/

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2158108/how-cantonese-soups-create-40-cent-hong-kongs-food

US elections and why emotions matter so much in investing

Took leave today to spend some time with my mum and brother as we went out for lunch and also to get away from work for awhile. The US election has given investors a wild ride with stocks dropping and then going back up again as results are slowly revealed. Though we still do not have a definite answer to who will be the next US president, the stock market during this period has been so interesting. 

The past 3 months have seen the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) go from a low of $297 to the current $321. It's been a ride of red and green, lots of red and blue on the television as me and brother keep up with the US election the past few days. 

My portfolio value has since increased and my portfolio size is considered small, being only about SGD 26,000 I can't imagine for those with larger positions, how exciting and nerve racking it is seeing the value of your portfolio fluctuates. Some people just sells off their investment once any bad news is released and this really can make you feel panicky as you are reacting to every piece of news you see.

Tech stocks went back up with the house being very divided with almost half being filled with republicans and half (larger proportion) being democrats, this means that policies will face more resistance and be more difficult to be passed. Tech stocks do benefit from it as this means that regulations will be tougher to be passed which beneficial to the tech companies. 

With US being more divided then ever, it will be an interesting journey ahead. In Singapore, DBS, OCBC and UOB reported their earnings with a drop on Y-O-Y, I believe the current situation is still looking good but as we move onto 2021, it will get harder as government subsidies/initiative stop and when the Banks need to recover the loans, there will be default and this will affect the Banks. 

With so much going on, people will tend to think more about their investments as the volatility can make people feel uncomfortable. With the US elections dragging out longer than expected, more people are facing higher stress levels and anxiety.

Uncertainty is stressful but don't let your emotions get the better of you. Though it is easy to say this, it is hard to implement it, if you feel that you are really very easily affected by the news, reduce your frequency of checking the news and think of other things to do besides checking your investments. In the long run, I feel that getting to know yourself more and managing your emotions are very important. Take care and remember if you feel stressed or anxious, you are not the only one, it is ok to seek help. 

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Buying Tesla Changed My Investment Strategy/Outlook

Today's topic is going to be about how buying Tesla Changed My Investment Strategy/Outlook. I used to only buy Singapore stocks and I liked it as it was stable and price fluctuation wasn't large. I knew of US stocks and it's volatility and I was at one point sure that I wasn't ready for it. I kept growing my SG portfolio, adding on STI ETF and REITs which are definitely what most other Singaporeans like in their portfolio as the dividends looks really attractive.

At one point, after my SG portfolio was over $10,000 I was looking at faster growth and more so on capital growth as dividends was slow due to my small capital. Looking at the growth of the US stocks and coming across Chicken Genius channel who really really advocates and support Tesla's innovation and growth, I decided to read up on Tesla and bought 1 share of it at US$989.

It turned out to be an amazing buy, as it rose and even split to 5 other shares. I added another 3 shares after the split and my average cost of Tesla is now US$290.55 which means with Tesla currently being about US$420, I have gained about US$1000 in all. In such a short span of time, I have never experienced such huge growth in any of the SG stock I bought.

It brought a new perspective to me as definitely, Tesla is not the only growing company, there are lots more out there that are growing at a rapid rate. Of course, with companies growing so fast, some due to hype and some due to innovation or some just based on their 'future' growth, everything is quite speculative and there are companies that drop as fast and crazily as well. I think after you have built a portion of stocks in SG, you will be more willing to venture out and try something more exciting.

Tesla changed my whole perspective as I am now more focused in the US stock market and there is so many more companies and different concept businesses that SG do not have. Considering my capital is not huge, investing in the US markets means that now if I do lose some money, it is not as risky or as scary as I can earn it back although I don't aim to lose money.

Risk and volatility is something the US market is about, one moment the company is all hyped up based on being the competitor of a company and next, news of it's CEO or failed partnership can change the stock price. The US market is really sensitive to news and that's why it gets so exciting for some. I am definitely still a newbie but will continue to dabble in both the SG and US markets. Here are some reasons why you should enter the US stock market when you are young:

1. Largest and Most Liquid Market

• The US is the top most country in the world in terms of market capitalization. The market capitalization of the US is nearly five times that of China and fifteen times that of India.

2. FAANG

• The acronym FAANG represents five stocks which are Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. Traded on the NASDAQ, investors turn to technology companies when they are looking to invest in growth stocks and a large amount of media attention and investors’ portfolios are concentrated around FAANG. These companies have changed the way we live and have reshaped the world whether it comes to how we purchase goods and services, how we watch movies and play video games and even communicate with our family and friends. FAANG shareholders have no doubt been well rewarded.

3. Performance

• During this year, many people have noticed the lacklustre performance of the Straits Times Index as compared to the S&P 500. If you had put in the same amount of money in the beginning of the year in STI ETF, it was priced at $3.306 on 2 Jan 2020 and currently, it is $2.517 on 28 Oct 2020 meaning you would have lost some money as the drop is quite significant.

On the other hand, if you had invested in S&P 500 at the beginning of the year, you would have gained as it was $298.42 on 2 Jan 2020 and currently it is about $311.80 on 28 Oct 2020.

The above factors all contribute to why I am slowly moving to invest more in the US markets.

Beside investing in individual stock occasionally, I have a fixed monthly regular savings plan to buy index funds and in a way, this keeps me disciplined and not so emotional swayed.

In conclusion, I am not saying that you cannot grow your wealth in SG stock market and that you definitely will profit if you invest in the US stock market but that the movement of both markets are very different. You will need to find out your risk appetitie, investment style and the amount of volatility you can handle. Both sides have their pros and cons and need to fit the individual. But if you are young, I would say to try out the US stock market as well, after you have your basics like emergency funds to ensure you have the holding power to ride out the waves.

https://www.piggy.co.in/blog/why-should-we-invest-in-us-stocks/

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