MoneyOwl is an initative from NTUC Social Enterprise. They are sort of a Robo-advisor coupled with a suite of wealth planning tools such as will writing and insurance solutions. What really attracted me is their rather simple way of investing and using Dimension Funds as part of their portfolio construction.
As a retail investor, you will most likely not be able to access such funds. When the market tanked sometime in Feb 2020, I picked a few Robo-advisor to invest into and look into performance a few months later. Almost six months has passed now and I will most likely show some of the performance in my later posts but I must say, by doing nothing much, all advisors reported positive returns as compared to my own stock picking.
Changes to MoneyOwl
Recently, MoneyOwl announced that they have lowered their investment advisory fees as well as absorbing the platform fees.
a. For Asset under management S$10,000 and below, there will not be any fees through 31 December 2021. This fee will be rebated back to the portfolio. So take note that only Cash investments are eligible for this rebate. The cash management accounts do not have these in place and your total portfolio value has to be above S$50.
b. There is an introduction fee of S$99 which is worth about S$535 for a comprehensive Financial Planning. Money Owl’s advisors will sit down with you to review your portfolio with detailed report and recommended next course of action. (~2 hours)
c. Additionally, they are introducing free financial resilience workshops to focus on cash flow management and debt management. Likely through Webinars and anyone can join in.
It is nice to see that as a partner to our national social enterprise, they are making moves to help Singaporeans. The reduced fees on investments which is one of the key points in long term investments. The more fees you pay, the more it affects your own portfolio performance.
However, they should really look into improving the interface. (for e.g. making it into an app) They also introduced a referral fee scheme or some promotional fee scheme for new sign ups. Not much complains other than that.
This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.
We hear a lot of this all the time. Our parents, our friends, our colleagues and everyone. There isn’t any in my opinion. Some may beg to differ but there really isn’t any the way the see it. There is an actual science to this because it really depends on what kind of person you are. No one will manage your money better than yourself. There are three dimensions to this how I see it.
Your Life Cycle
Life-Cycle – Depending on which part of the cycle one is in, you will change the way you invest and how you want to invest. Different stages in life provides you with different perspective and capability to do certain aspects of financial tweaks. Some get a head start while other don’t but that is not the end goal. It is your objective that is key – No one should just carbon copy a portfolio or process. This is customised and should be based on your own circumstances.
How much you have to invest?
How much you have – This is really a sticky question because the real fact is that no one knows. I am of the mind that your own networth and liquidity is for your own to know and manage. Unless you own the millions that you can’t manage because time is what you need, this would apply to at least 90% of the folks out that. How much can you afford to save or take out that does not affect you paying off your bills on time depends on your financial situation. I remember when I first started out, the salary I have is for my own takings. The very first thing I did was to spend almost all of it. It isn’t smart but we all learn.
Paying yourself first
Paying yourself first is essential in building a bigger pool. The first $1k, $10k, $25k $50k, $100k will be exponentially easier with every milestone. However if you don’t start, then the milestone will not be met. Regular saving plans/investment does help in this process. Using the envelop technique is also recommended for guys who are really starting out.
Time – This is a large and essential part of everything else.
First, you need to find time and give time to learn and experience. No one grew up knowing everything, all of these lies with exposure and experience. Some gets it faster than the rest while others manages this slower. Like an exercise buddy, the journey is long but if you persist and encourage one another, it will ride for a long time.
No excuses – Is Netflix and the next PlayStation more important every other day? Educating and understanding finance takes time and effort. Even if you hate it, try it in a smaller scale model and gradually increase it over time. I can certainly say that over a time period, it will become second nature.
Second, You do not have a warchest overnight. You need to build it. No one knows when is the next drop, what is the next promising industry to go into. No one knows who is the next unicorn or donkey but through time, you will eventually find out about your own strength and sense of investing.
My four points on a good time to invest
These four points in my opinion sets the basis of what is a good time to invest. TLDR:
a. Anytime is a good time to invest as long as you have a plan and you know what you are doing
b.Do not invest more than what you require to pay your bills.
c. Start early, start young, the later you start – the tougher it is. It is never too late but the results will be less than one would expect.
d. Learn as much as you can so that you are well-equipped. Today, there are too many tools around to learn and see.
I also do understand that by saying “When is a good time to invest?” It will attract criticism as to “timing of investment”
Timing the Market?
I would also want to address this issue of timing. It does no one any good if you time the market. No one has the crystal ball.
a. Start by splitting your warchest into different portions. Be disciplined and when market drops, buy some then don’t expect these to turn unto profits overnight.
b. Keep an eye on what you are investing especially if you are buying into a company. Investing into index funds leave you to a more passive investor. We shall not talk about Core and Tactical management of investing this round.
c. Regular investing also helps. Find mutual funds or portfolios who have in-lined principles to what you belief and stick by it.
d. Remember to always review. Things change and so do us as humans during different life cycle.
Small Note
P.s. As you can see, my beliefs is as such that all things work in an ecosystem (Before it gets disrupted). Smaller efforts gives greater confidence and these translate into positive energy, mindset and clear mind. Then, this brings you to another aspect. When this Eco-system is in place, many of the things we have discussed earlier will be a second nature and you would know how to react accordingly.
My Take on Robo-Advisor
Personally I like to use some form of Robo, systematic investing such as Endowus. It also cancels out my liking of timing my Buy-in timing.
Most importantly, the cash related funds uses a big institution related fund manage such as Dimension Fund which is not readily accessible to retail investor.
They have shown that they return the rebates they receive from the fund houses instead of absorbing it to pay fees to Banks/Financial Institutions as recurring revenues
All funds invested are held on behalf by UOB Kay Hian and held in my own name so funds are safe I say.
My only grip is really about the buy time which I have no control over. By the time the markets drop, I’m not sure when my funds are invested but on the bright side, it means it is consistent and disciplined trading.
Relatively lower management fees which means more compounding interests for all. That is good news.
I also like that they only debit the management fees at the end of the quarter instead of taking money at the start. Tells a lot about how they want to be different. Say no to upfront fees.
The first Robo-advisor to be able to invest using CPFIS. I think they were also the first to be able to use SRS to do so as well. That makes one more level up as CPFIS only approves certain funds that you can invest in. This makes it flexible to invest using Cash, SRS and CPFIS.
If you use my referral code to sign up and invest minimum S$10k, we both get $20 each which can be used to offset the management fees to keep their lights running: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M
Disclaimer
Money is not everything – They say (Who? I don’t know). Without Money, there are lot of things we cannot do. With proper money management, these will slowly go away and your mind’s will be clearer. With a clear mind, things unravel. An end is always where new things start. Be positive and do not be bound by just money.
This is also not a sponsored posts. I used it and I like what I am seeing.
Crypto.com (MCO) has been around for almost 4 years now. I have not seen any utility crypto company who has delivered what they want to deliver to consumers over the last 4 years. They are as similar if not the same as any other company with a physical product that works.
Crypto.com
My first serious foray into crypto was the MCO card introduced by a friend of my. The great deal initially was a referral fee of USD 50 for both referrer and referee. Then comes the Spotify, Netflix and free airport access (via Lounge key – Not so much now but still it is okay) all these comes in at 100% cash-backed to the card via the utility token (Used to be MCO but now it is swapped into the CRO)
For many users, especially the pioneers or even global users who have been approved in their countries to issued MCO Visa cards (Debit card), it is certainly not what was listed in the white paper but hey, it is a pretty good move in my opinion and while the Wirecard Fiasco is still ongoing, I think it is a win-win for all Crypto.com users. Some users think otherwise but I find that this is an option once more to think bigger profits which a 10x margin might be possible. Of course crypto comes with risks. It is a big risk but it should also return big as well.
The community has been negative for such changes. I guess there is no right and wrong answer to it. I still choose to believe that is moving in the right direction for customers as well as sustainability. So in all that, I will still hold and wait on for more good news on their end. The CRO staked amount has also been adjusted lower which means more good news and more CRO released for usage.
The Swap Value
There’s the alert and actionable items: Action is required before 2 Nov 2020 at 23:59 UTC, or you will lose the functionality currently associated with your MCO. We will not perform the MCO swap on your behalf and the swap will not happen automatically.
Crypto.com will use the following formula based on the volume weighted average price as expressed in United States dollars (“VWAP”)to determine the number of CRO allocated to you that reflects each swapped MCO:
1 MCO = (30-day VWAP of MCO / 30-day VWAP of CRO) x 1 CRO
(30 days between 4 Jul 2020 to 2 Aug 2020, both dates inclusive)
So it will be fixed at 1 MCO = 27.4639 CRO
Crypto.com will offer an Early Swap Bonus in CRO if the MCO swap is performed before 2 Sep 2020 23:59 UTC, based on the following formula and criteria: So Swap early for
1 MCO = 33.1726 CRO
The pros is now that the stake and interest has now increased as CRO terms are on better rates. Development of De-fi is on its way. More flexibility in terms of usage and managing the tokens. Benefits are better now for existing customers.
The cons would be the way they initially managed and wrote on the white paper. This definitely lost some points as well as how MCO was originally the golden boy which has turned obsolete now.
All Benefits remains the same and on the same tier. Not bad I supposed, just that the quantity of CRO is now much more than before. I don’t think that’s a big deal. The whole idea is adoption, more utility and more users. It spells 10x to me more. Just be patient.
There is an ongoing promotion for National Day 2020. That is a one-year complimentary membership for Gallery Insider. It is really good to see companies doing their part to make art and increase activities locally.
National Gallery Insider
From the Gallery Insider (link here: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership) – This Gallery Insider is an annual membership programme. Insiders get unlimited access to their dynamic line-up of exhibitions, as well as privileges and discounts for selected programmes. You can also get unique museum merchandise and the Gallery’s culinary offerings at a discount. This sounds really good as it is a great time to explore such options now. Travelling is definitely not available in the near term. However it is not all doom and gloom. There are other things to do and appreciate in Singapore.
Click here at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership to get your FREE ONE Year Gallery Insider membership. This is worth up to $120 in value from unlimited and priority access to all exhibitions. There is a bonus perk of up to 15% discounts on dining and shopping. This is pretty decent.
Free Perk
This Free perk will end on 31 October 2020 so get it as soon as possible. Don’t forget you need to be there physically to activate your membership before October 2020.
However do note that this is for Singaporeans and Singapore PRs. Time to explore Singapore. It is not a sponsored post but I find this a great initiative and also a good way to find out more about Singapore.
There is an ongoing promotion for National Day 2020 – That is a 1-Year complimentary membership for Gallery Insider. It is really good to see companies doing their part to make art and increase activities locally.
Reading directly from the website at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership, it says that Gallery Insider is an annual membership programme. Insiders get unlimited access to their dynamic line-up of exhibitions, as well as privileges and discounts for selected programmes, unique museum merchandise and the Gallery’s culinary offerings. Sounds not too bad to explore such options now that travelling is pretty much out of the way for an extended period of time. It’s not all doom and gloom. There are other things to do and appreciate our own Country.
Click here at https://www.nationalgallery.sg/support/join/membership to get your FREE 1 Year Gallery Insider membership, which is claimed to be worth up to $120 in value from unlimited and priority access to all exhibitions. Also, there is a bonus perk of up to 15% discounts on dining and shopping. Not too bad I guess.
This Free perk will end on 31 October 2020 and I am guessing while stocks last? Sign up asap! Don’t forget you need to be there physically to activate your membership before October end.
However do note that this is for Singaporeans and Singapore PRs. Time to explore Singapore. It is not a sponsored post but I find this a great initiative and also a good way to find out more about Singapore.
This is really a great piece of marketing work from Singlife. Though late into the referral game, this is some good way to get and garner new acquisitions. It is well known that Singaporeans are pretty starved for yields. This insurtech firm is one that I have wrote about recently and it is a good product.
(Updates 1 Nov 2020): I received an email from Singlife communications – As a heads up, Singlife Paid Referral Programme will come to a close on 1 November 2020.
All referees (i.e. people who have been referred) who have successfully in-forced their Singlife Account by 1 Nov 2020 will have up to fifteen business days (i.e. 20 Nov 2020) to order and activate their Singlife Visa Debit Card for both you and your referee to still qualify for the S$10 referral bonus.
You also probably received an email from them on 30 Oct 2020 notifying of the upcoming termination.
As from their excerpt:
“Singlife’s Paid Referral Programme has enjoyed a successful run and will come to a close as of 1 November 2020. Thank you for all your support! Upon the Effective Date of Termination (1 Nov 2020), all referees who have successfully in-forced their Singlife Account(s), by the Effective Date of Termination, will have up to fifteen business days (i.e. by 20 Nov 2020) to order and activate their Singlife Visa Debit Card to qualify for the S$10 bonus.”
Still, the good and bad and them. It is still a decent alternative cash source.
The Good about Singlife
I’ll have one more strong and valid point to date with this referral scheme.
A referral fee of S$10 is deposited in your Singlife account for each friend you invite to Singlife and there are no cap for this. Each friend gets S$10 too so if you find this useful, do use my link to sign up here: https://app.singlife.com/S49MSfXlF8
SDIC covered
Relatively high interest rate for the first $10k
Simple and fuss-free – registration and login all done online
You can also spend normally like what a debit card does, having a functioning physical card.
Transfers are all ifast which is really impressive and same day receipt
Customer service is pretty responsive and quick to reply (Live chat and email)
Some form of insurance is complimentary including retrenchment insurance (It’s not a lot but it is a nice gesture)
