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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