Sunday 25 April 2021

Should I put short term money into the stock market?

I recently saw an article from Seedly and I think it really relates a lot to millennials as we are now at a phase in life where we might be getting married, in the process of having a child and even maybe the downpayment of our property. This phase means that we require quite a large sum of money at the side to ensure we can make payments on time, so then should we invest the money especially now when everyone is investing and it seems like a bull market.

Having a sum of money on the side

My friend has a BTO coming up soon in about 5 years and so he has to get ready for a wedding as he hopes to have it before they move into their new place. Having a wedding is not cheap in Singapore and even at the cheapest venue, you would still need a sum of money for food, photographer and booking of the venue.

He has been a saver and has a sum set aside for it however as he witness many news on how people who invested from the start of the year till now has profited and maybe even grew their portfolio by 20% or even doubled it, he wondered if he should use the sum he has to invest. He asked my other friend and me about it.

To invest or keep it safe

My friend who really advocates investing at a young age thinks that we should invest as we can take on more risks. He did recommend to my friend to invest the sum of money into VOO (S&P 500) as it has grown at a rapid pace and he believes that it will continue to grow.

On my end, as I know that his wedding will be taking place in the next few years, I told him not to invest it as he wouldn't know whether on the year he has to cash out, will the stock market be higher than when he placed his money in. I feel that there is too much uncertainty for him. We concluded that he would need to think about it and because currently he has a relatively stable job which means he can still set aside money to either start investing or to invest a small sum and save as he goes along.

Depends on risk tolerance and earning power

A lot of my friends are very interested in earning profits from the stock market but at the same time afraid as well. I would think that is also definitely what I thought of when I was young. You have to really understand what you are investing into and along the way learn from your mistakes. You also have to handle the stress of maybe missing out huge gains (example dogecoin?) if your risk tolerance is not as high as others and you prefer a "safer" route for example investing into index funds. I would think there is no correct method and most importantly in investing, you have to have a strong emotion control to prevent yourself from selling at the slightly drop or profit.

Different permutations for managing his money

He can according to his risk tolerance choose to have his money split between the stock market and into the different safer account that Seedly mentioned in their article. In my opinion, if the amount he has saved is substantial, he should split it and invest a portion into the stock market as the earlier he starts, the better it would be due to the longer time horizon and then while earning his monthly income, he can further split it up to build back his funds and also allocate a small portion to his investments.

It is so interesting hearing how different people would manage a sum of money they have. And what ultimately matters is that you can sleep in the night without worrying if the money will disappear overnight. A peace of mind matters a lot especially when the sum is meant for something that you have been planning for. How would you go about managing a sum of money that you have been saving up? Do let me know in the comments below and as usual, do subscribe and like my videos for more content!

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Friday 23 April 2021

Should you buy Index Funds at an all time high? | Comparing my portfolio growth VS S&P 500, why I will be better off buying VOO

Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney! Today let's talk about Index funds being at all time high and should you be buying them now?

What is an index fund? And examples

An index fund is an investment that tracks a market index and they are typically made up of stocks or bonds. Just as how the name index fund suggest, it is tracking of an index through a mutual fund or exchange traded fund. Some examples of an index tracked through a exchange traded funds are:

Local

Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B)

SPDR STI ETF (ES3)

Overseas

Tracker Fund of Hong Kong (2800)

Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF (VOO)

Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF (VT)

In the past few weeks, index funds have been hitting all time highs.

Show news articles ss

VT has even hit USD$100 on 9 April 2021. VOO as well is now at $378.25 hitting new highs. Many are now apprehensive in entering as the ETFs seems overvalued and buying in at such a high price, will it still guarantee a profit?

 

 

No one really has the answer but if you pull out the charts and look at it historically, Index ETFs hit all time highs quite progressively and generally grow in value, this is because the companies in the index grow and hence valuations increases as well. For example, Apple, Tesla, Alphabet and Amazon have all grown in value since 10 years ago and hence increasing the value of both VOO and VT as they are included in the ETF.

If you are confident that the world/USA/Singapore or whatever index fund you are buying, the companies inside will continue to grow then there is no better time to invest except for NOW!

Time Horizon

If you buy index funds, you should be aware that generally holding over a long term will be profitable and for this year, the S&P 500 has grown tremendously and my portfolio (inclusive of dividends) as you can see has return about 26.87% however S&P 500 has a return of 102.66% return as of 17 April 2021 which is astonishing meaning you would have doubled your capital just by buying S&P 500 alone.

In hindsight, everyone will always say that they could have perform better if they invested otherwise. So many posts have been covering if you had invested $1000 in the S&P 500 from start of 2020 till now, your $1000 would have turned to so and so. For me, currently the only index ETF I am buying into is VT through FSMone RSP and I don't really plan on making any changes to that. The main purpose of this video is to inform and at the same time remind myself to keep myself in check. For those who think that it is too high a price to enter now, you might want to consider a DCA approach so that you are able to stay invested and as per the market movement, you can adjust the amount accordingly if you are afraid of doing a lump sum all at once. Hope you guys enjoy today's video. Be disciplined, stay invested and stay safe!

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Saturday 17 April 2021

Will I ever be able to own a property in Singapore?

Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney, I want to have a causal set up where I talk about the money problems I have or anything that I want to talk or share with you. Today, I am going to talk about getting a property in Singapore.

Turning 26 this year means many of my friends around me who have a partner and are planning to get married have applied for BTOs and most of them have successfully got a unit or if not, opt for a resale property. For me, being single means that I will need to wait till I am 35 years old to get a resale property unless I am going to get a private property.

I have all my life stayed in HDB flats so I definitely hope to buy one in the future because condos/private properties usually have maintenance fees which is sort of a recurring extra costs for the property hence it doesn't really appeal to me. I am staying around the East and definitely have looked through properties in the region. As I am currently single, let's assume that I am going to buy a resale when I turn 35 years old.

My understanding so far

So I know currently that there are 2 kinds of loans available, HDB loan which typically means you will use your CPF funds to pay for your property while there is a Bank loan as well where it could be based on a fixed or floating interest rate.

Mortgage Calculator

HDB has this mortgage calculator that I came across and I think it is really a good gauge to use. Let me show you in the video as I fill in the values that they assess/require.

Property has been a hot investment the past few years

I have been seeing many ads for property investing around when I surf the internet. It seems to really be like a property boom partly I would feel is due to low interest rate and also cos everyone has been saving lots from not travelling? HAHAHAHAH I am really not sure but there has been so many private property projects like Midtown Modern, Irwell Hill Residences and so on.

Worries on the future outlook

With many of my peers getting a BTO which definitely will be of a lower price than resale, it means that 9 years from now, when I am 35 years old, the prices that I am looking at will most likely not be the same. It kinda worries me in the long term when I compare my salary and property prices also on my living expenses.

Anxiety starts when you think about conditions that you are not in control of. Constant overthinking can give me more stress as I go along. I try to not think about it because it is not something that I can control and instead work on my present where there are things that I have control over. Hope you guys enjoy this different approach of video.

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Thursday 15 April 2021

Coinbase IPO | From $381 to $429.54 and closed at $328.28

Having a cryptocurrency exchange be listed on the NASDAQ is funny because cryptocurrency is thought to be decentralised meaning the government does not control it's supply and cannot produce more Bitcoin for example when it is in high demand.

So it is funny that Coinbase chooses to list on the financial market which is usually manipulated or controlled by institutional investors. However, being the first major cryptocurrency start-up listed in the US market, it has added more credibility to cryptocurrency showing it's power as it's listing IPO price beats the original reference price of USD$250.

 Read more: Q1 2021 Portfolio Update | Crypto, Stock Holdings and Dividends

Coinbase IPO Price

Coinbase opened at $381 and quickly shot up as high as $429.54, before closing for the day at $328.28. It is amazing how valuations are nowadays with IPOs being so hot. From Airbnb to Slack and Roblox, IPOs really are red hot as people want to snag a piece of it for themselves. There is so much volatility and excitement in the stock market that at times, it kinda scares me as price increases and decreases at such a rapid pace. All right, back to the topic of Coinbase.

Cryptocurrency prices leading up to Coinbase IPO

What it did was also to drive cryptocurrency prices up with Bitcoin hitting USD$64,000 and dogecoin hitting ATH. Coinbase being able to do a direct listing definitely boost the confidence that cryptocurrency is definitely here to stay. Traditional banks will now have extra competition as different storage avenues are available and people can have more exposure to them.

Coinbase has also mentioned that their business results would fluctuate with the volatility of crypto assets. This is a huge step into exposing more people to cryptocurrency and those who have stood with it since the beginning can finally see all the aspiration and ideas come true.

Read more: Let’s talk about Cryptocurrency | Revealing my Crypto holdings

Making history

It is amazing to be witnessing this whole thing and it will go down in history. I am happy to be able to record this down in my blog. There are just so many things happening that is worth recording. Let's see 10 years from now, how different would cryptocurrency be?

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Sunday 11 April 2021

How my $700 per month will fare in 10 years

Welcome back to another episode of SingaporeanTalksMoney. Releasing a short video this week on my regular savings plan (ETFs) with FSMone. So as mentioned in many of my previous videos, I have talked about how I am allocating a portion of my money into FSMone RSP and buying into Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF (VT) and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

RSP amount and current portfolio

$700 is not much to shout about and I hope to definitely increase the amount in the future depending on my main income. What I want to illustrate or talk about today is how this $700 will fare in the long run. Per previous Q1 2021 portfolio update, my current portfolio is at about $40,000 and cryptocurrency portfolio at about USD$4000.

I currently buy $500 worth of VT and $200 of ARKF monthly. VT I have been buying it monthly since early 2020 which means I managed to buy some units during the pandemic where it was as low as $69 however I bought in a small amount but growth of VT has been exceptional. $700 per month would mean an amount of $8400 invested annually into the RSP. Using a compounding calculator, let's see what my portfolio will look like in 10 years when I am 36 years old.

Compounding Calculator

So with a starting balance of $40,000 (my current stocks portfolio), interest rate/annual growth of a modest 5%, monthly additions of $700 and a 10 year period, my future portfolio value will look to be $173,650.22

Amount put in: $84,000

Interest/growth: $49,650.22

Current value: $40,000

 

 

So from the table you can see my starting balance of $40,000 and $8400 deposit for the first year where I will earn an interest of $2225.80 which is then added to my balance and compounded for the next year again and this whole compounding effects follow throughout the 10 years. Hence the interests increases over time as it is added to the balance and grows with it.

Deposits remains constant at $8400 but the interests increases in value.

Quote of the day:

"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world because: The real route to riches is to set aside a portion of your money and invest it, so that it compounds over many years. That’s how you will become wealthy while you sleep. That’s how you will make money your slave instead of being a slave to money."

  • Tony Robbins from his book Unshakeable: Your Guide to Financial Freedom:

Of course, this is assuming that on the 10th year, the market is good. It will not be a linear growth all the way and definitely a journey of ups and downs. But seeing these numbers really give me some form of motivation and encouragement to continue on my financial journey. I have started investing for about 3 years now and my growth has been slow so for me to know that something I am doing currently can grow to something larger really keeps me going.

This definitely also has to mean that both VT and ARKF has to perform at least 5% growth annually compounded for me to reach this amount. Past performance does not mean future growth so what I present in this video is definitely just for an overview and we can see in 10 years if it really hits it. In the meantime, I will need to work and ensure that I have employment to fund this. Hope you guys enjoy this simple and short video this week and let me know of any video ideas or feedback you have in the comments below!

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Wednesday 7 April 2021

Becoming a Tik Tok Star | Earning $1000 per minute

Social media has been an amazing tool for marketing and also to create a brand/identity for oneself. I came across this video while scrolling YouTube and to be honest, it is very common nowadays to have teens earning large sums of money from their online platforms. And it looks really lucrative.

Achieving their first million at an early age

Graham Stephan, Jeremy (Financial Education) , MeetKelvin and Andrei Jikh who each have their successful YouTube channels and are multi-millionaire recently revealed how old they were when they earned their 1st million.

  • Graham Stephan: Obtained his first million at age 26
  • Jeremy: Obtained his first million at age 28
  • Andrei Jikh: Obtained his first million at age 31

They were all very young and it is amazing how they managed to build up a brand for themselves and subsequently use it to create different sources of income. I think once you are able to have a following, it is easy to use it as a base for your other ventures.

Diversifying the income sources

Many of them move on to have multiple YouTube channels that cover different content using their current fanbase. Of course, the content and hard work they put in is huge and requires a certain amount of commitment. Merchandise and courses are another way that social media influencers increase their income. One example is Logan Paul, he has gained such a massive following that he has merchandises and even most recently have started selling NFTs and earned a few million.

Singapore’s financial sites

Social media can be a great platform for you to share your knowledge or just to share your life if you like people to follow and create content. Starting your own website or social media sites can just be done remotely and with low cost.

One very popular and impactful financial website is The Woke Salaryman, Ruiming, one of the co-founders wrote a viral piece on how he managed to save $100,000 before age 30 and it attracted a lot of attention. What really appeals about them is that they are very interactive on their Instagram page where the co-founders, Ruiming and Wei Choon frequently have Q&A sessions to engage their audience. This was how they grew and slowly it became profitable with sponsors that they are now able to quit their full-time job and grow The Woke Salaryman as a business. They filled up a gap where there are not many financial sites that provide a comprehensive and simple to understand drawings that are engaging and really puts information into bite-sized pieces.

Seedly is also another great platform where they build up a community that can ask any questions and anyone can help to answer. I like how they have a very comprehensive guide

How you can become a Tik Tok Star

In this video that I watched, Josh Richard, a 19 year old entrepreneur and social media influencer started his social media journey when he was 16 years old and at that time earned about a few hundred dollars each night he did his live streams. He slowly expanded his reach by trying to create viral videos. He provided some tips on how he managed to increase his following

  1. Post consistently

In the world of content, having consistent updates will help retain your audience. Josh made sure to go on live every single day from 10pm to 2am. This 4 hours meant that his audience will turn on and they knew that he will be there definitely. This creates a routine for them to tune in to his page. He saw the amount of money rolling in increase over the period where he consistently went on live. From a few hundreds everyday to thousands each day.

  1. Find out how to create viral videos

He also mentioned for Tik Tok, having a viral video is essential as your reach will be wider. Especially since Tik Tok is about short videos. He looked out for criteria and tried to emulate them for example doing tricks or a prank to garner more views.

  1. Learn to manage your money

This is not really related to his Tik Tok growth but he said that after he managed to earn a substantial amount of money through his social media, he started spending way more beyond his means by buying branded apparels which was way more than he could afford. He eventually realised that he has to stop impulse purchases in order to manage the money that he has earned.

Conclusion

Social media can be a great platform to share your ideas and everyone will have different purposes in using it. Some will just want to share their knowledge while others are looking to be famous. It can be unhealthy to want to be famous from the beginning as the numbers and followers will matter a lot to you.

Getting started is easy and definitely recommend it as a supplement to your business if you have one. There is a huge untapped potential to it.

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Sunday 4 April 2021

Q1 2021 Portfolio Update | Crypto, Stock Holdings and Dividends

We are in the month of April and the first quarter of the year is over. Great time to have an update on the portfolio. So today's video will be Q1 2021 Portfolio Update | Crypto, Stock Holdings and Dividends. Just an update on what positions I have initiated so far this year and how the portfolio is performing as a whole. Hope you like this rough overview of my portfolio! 

Stocks Portfolio

In terms of my current portfolio, I have added these few positions in 2021, 2 new counters and 2 existing:

  • Tesla - (Existing)
  • Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSE:VT) - (Existing)
  • Palantir (New)
  • ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) - (New)

VT and ARKF are part of the regular savings plan I have with FSMone and so it will be a recurring monthly addition. I switched out VOO for ARKF just to have a different kind of exposure. In my previous video, I believe that ARKF on Fintech being the next disruptive industry is very much true. Even though there are many Fintech companies around with Square being the largest holding in ARKF, I believe it will be an interesting space to watch as technology can further propel the finance industry into new heights.

As of Thursday, 1 April 2021, my portfolio is valued at $40,129 with a total return of about 10%. Not the best but I am happy with the growth as I changed my strategy to enter the US markets. The recent volatility involving Tesla has also impacted my portfolio as about 30% of my portfolio consist of Tesla partly due to it's tremendous growth. If the market goes up in the later part of 2021, I really hope to end the year with my portfolio value breaking $50,000. Subscribe to my channel to follow me on my progress!


 

 


Cryptocurrency Portfolio

My cryptocurrency portfolio is a small portion of my investment but it did balloon up a little over the past few months before dipping recently. It is interesting to have part of my portfolio in crypto. I know that there are people who really understand the aspects and bought it early, I only started reading up last year and with more interest from institutions and more retail investors, I was more confident to put a portion of my money in Oct 2020. 

 

 

 

Judging by the volatility of it, it is scary and exciting to follow up. It is also available 24/7 for buying and selling which makes it even more attractive as the market for cryptocurrencies doesn't close, you can buy and sell at anytime. I am holding only Bitcoin and Ether, missed out on Dogecoin (haha) but definitely will be investing more into Bitcoin and Ether over the long run although current prices have really gone up from what I originally bought in at. But I will not be putting a large amount in as the daily volatility makes me not want to put so much of my money in.

Dividends

So let's talk about dividends, I don't think there will be any increase in dividends this year, 2021 as the pandemic is still around as vaccine programmes have been slowly rolled out. I will have a drop in dividends as I sold off First REIT last year. So not expecting to hit a monthly 3 digit dividend this year but I hope for at least a high 2 digit dividends. I have been focusing a lot on US stocks this year and so I have not been buying any local stocks where most of my dividends are from.

 This year, I have and will be receiving dividends from Tai Sin Electric, STI ETF, OCBC Bank, Far East Hospitality Trust, CapitaRetail China Trust, SGX and NikkoAM STI ETF so far announced. As you can see from the table, I received about monthly $60 per month last year which was a nice improvement year on year. But for 2021, I am expecting a lesser than $60 per month amount. I will slowly pivot towards dividend investing once my capital or portfolio is at a substantial amount for example, $300,000 or more.

Growth of portfolio

As many of my readers know, I am aiming to get $100,000 in assets excluding CPF before/when I am 30 years old. For now, my portfolio growth has been great in 2020 but we are definitely not able to predict the future and if 2021 will also be a great year for stocks. Judging by my current investment amount yearly (RSP and also extra investment cash) that I do, the portfolio will have some form of growth but it is not sufficient to be able to reach $100,000 by age 30. My main aim is actually not to set an achievement for a certain age (refer to seedly's article) but because I understand having a substantial amount in my portfolio will then allow me to see the true effects of compounding as mentioned by 15 hour work week. I want to reach there ($100,000) as soon as I can.

Hope you guys enjoy today's video as I update my investment portfolio and dividends for Q1 of 2021. If you like my content, do hit the like button and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for all the support and hope 2021 has been great so far!

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