Category: New Ideas

Exploring new concepts and ideas

Futu Brokerage updates – MooMoo Singapore Promotions

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Deals, New Ideas, Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

Futu Holdings Limited (“Futu”) （NASDAQ: FUTU）is an advanced technology company transforming the investing experience by offering a fully digitized brokerage and wealth management platform .

Futu was listed on Nasdaq on March 8, 2019.

Under MooMoo, they are under the Singapore branch, https://www.moomoo.com/ and they are pretty aggressive on par with Tiger Brokers. The mechanics seem to change every month. You can now get like 1 apple share. If you transfer equities into their platform, you get even more perks.

Although after setting up the brokerage, maybe buying Futu stocks in the US stock exchange might be a good idea given their backing. Personally, these brokerages give the competition a run for their money. I find it easy to use and they are not just any fly by night company.

If you wish to sign up for those commission free perks and/or future promotions, do use my referral code here: https://j.moomoo.com/004Fsa

  1. Currently, the promotion would run for 600 days free commissions.
  2. To get additional perks, fund USD 2k or SGD 2700 equivalent. there is a SGD30 credit.
  3. Plus free level 2 market data for US market & level 1 market data for SGD market.
  4. SGD 50 cash coupon when you transfer in stocks.

For successful referrals, you can get up to 1 twitter share (Cap at 20 successful referrals)

For detailed T&Cs, do go to their website to find out more: FUTU T&Cs (June 2021)

Conditions for new sign ups

Do keep abreast of new terms and conditions as they tweak these to avoid gaming of the system.

As of 1st Jun 2021, (0000hrs SGT ) new customers who have successfully opened a Futu SG securities account from 1st Jun 2021 to 30th Jun 2021 (2000hrs SGT) can enjoy 1 Free AAPL share when they fulfil all of the following conditions,

  1. Successfully open a FUTU SG Securities account between 1st Jun 2021, 0000hrs SGT and 30th Jun 2021, 2000hrs SGT (hereinafter referred to as “activity time”);
  2. Deposited funds worth SGD 2,700 or USD 2,000 or HKD 16,000 within 30 days from account opening;
  3. Successfully unlocked the Level 1 Trading Badge or completed 5 successful trades

Conditions for Referrals

I’ll just pick out the most important details for a successful referral.

For each successful referral of a new customer that has used your personal referral link to,

  1. You have to successfully open a new FUTU SG securities account;
  2. You have put in a minimal deposit of SGD 2,700 or USD 2,000 or HKD 16,000 successfully. Within 30 days from successful account opening day;
  3. Once you complete 1 successful trade , you will receive 1 Free Twitter (TWTR) share. Additionally 30 days commission-free trading for US, HK and SG stock markets.

The rewards for the referral programme is cumulative but capped to the first 20 successful referrals only. This means referral rewards of 1 Free Twitter (TWTR) share will be capped at a maximum cumulation of 20 only. Similarly, the additional 30 days of free commission trading for US, HK and SG stock markets will be kept at 600 days. Successful referral rewards are only valid for all referrals that happened from 1st May 2021 till 30th Jun 2021 (2000hrs SGT).

This referral programme is applicable for all users on moomoo (both existing and new users).

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Futu Brokerage, do remember to use my referral code: MooMoo Referral

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Futu/Moomoo website for reference.

MoneyOwl Performance to date – May 2021 & New Referral Scheme

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, New Ideas, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

I have forgotten that I have been investing regularly into my MoneyOwl portfolio monthly for some time now. While the amount is nothing to be shout about. It is just regularly fixing something so that I can save and invest at the same time.

Who is Money Owl?

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. I believed back then I was comparing them versus StashAway. It was only when I found out about Endowus that I went full on robo-advisors.

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 18 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.

May 2021 performance (Since Day One Deposit)

In portfolio terms, it is up +17.85% on 7 June 2021 since inception in May 2020. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of 2,200. I kept the regular investing of $100 per month and it’s looking rather slow. I shall decide if I would want to up that amount soon given that I have quite a bit of commitment in the coming months.

In terms of the portfolio allocation, it is at 60% equities and 40% fixed income and makes up of 4 different funds. Everything will be on Dimensional Funds. I kind of wished that I had a small cap fund in there. But I guess, as long as my main robo has that exposure that would be good as well on an overall basis.

Personally, I like the allocation % because it is just widely diversified for equities and widely disperse in terms of investment grade.

To punch in the details on the profit and loss sheet.

a. The Global Core Equity Fund will be the largest allocation and makes up most of the returns to date.

b. The Emerging Market Large Cap Fund will be the lowest allocation and makes the least of the returns to date. I don’t mind some EM exposure at this point in time.

c. The Global Core Fixed Income Fund will be my main steady income Fund and finally.

d. The Global Short Term Fixed Income Fund will be the last stabiliser in my portfolio.

MoneyOwl fees

A few months ago, MoneyOwl announced that they have lowered their investment advisory fees as well as absorbing the platform fees due to the pandemic.

a. For asset under management S$10,000 and below, there will not be any fees charged through 31 December 2021. This amount will be rebated back in 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. The review is expected to contain detailed report and recommendations (It is estimated to be around 2 hours). I do think there are some discounts if you use some linked services of sorts such as Ohm Energy (You get a S$20 off)

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 long term goals.

If you would like to give MoneyOwl a try do remember to use my referral code: 1JIC-91CM

Both of us with get S$20 worth of GrabFood Vouchers for every product or service that you sign up so that means that both of us will get up to S$60 worth of GrabFood Vouchers. (Total of 3 services/products)

Disclaimer

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.

If you would like to give MoneyOwl a try do remember to use my referral code: 1JIC-91CM

Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from Money Owl’s website for this article.

Singlife Reopens with new Marketing Strategy

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Interest Rates, New IdeasLeave a comment

I like how Singlife uses the community to spread information. It is definitely a cheap way to spend money. It gives me content to publish while it provides Singlife with multiple arms to disseminate information. However, there isn’t any referral scheme with this re-open. Instead, I guess that to stay sustainable, they have to reduce the interest rates for the first S$10k.

I received the email from their Marketing Communications team and it reads:

The Central Banks continue to keep interest rates low, Singlife has introduced a new way to be rewarded for spending and investing, earning up to 2.0% p.a. return on the first S$10,000 through the following campaigns:

  • The Save, Spend, Earn Campaign and,

  • The Grow 0.5% p.a. Bonus Return Campaign.

The catch here is up to 2.0% p.a. return. Beginning 1 July 2021, the Singlife Account will offer up to 2.0% p.a. return on the first S$10,000. The base crediting rates will be revised to 1.0% p.a. on the first S$10,000 and 0.5% p.a. return on the next S$90,000, customers will still have the opportunity to enjoy up to 1.0% p.a. bonus return.

So, sustainability of the business is a way forward. I’ll say that the interest rate has been semi-nerfed for valid reasons. On top of that, you can still gain 0.5% more by spending and another 0.5% if you invest with GROW. Personally, I wouldn’t put money with GROW but I will spend to make the interest up to 1.5% for the first S$10k.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion. 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.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations

In this article, the pictures were taken from websites for illustration only. Stay Safe!

Futu Brokerage – MooMoo Singapore Promotions

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Deals, New Ideas, Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

Here comes another brokerage in Singapore – Futu Holdings and under the Singapore name “MooMoo”? Sounds kind of fishy but legit.

From their website:

Their investors include Tencent Holdings, Matrix Partners and Sequoia Capital. Sounds decent to me.

Futu Holdings Limited (“Futu”) （NASDAQ: FUTU）is an advanced technology company transforming the investing experience by offering a fully digitized brokerage and wealth management platform .

Futu was listed on Nasdaq on March 8, 2019.

Under MooMoo, they are under the Singapore branch, https://www.moomoo.com/ and from time to time they will run a promotion to fund the brokerage account to get 1 Apple share. Although after setting up the brokerage, maybe buying Futu stocks in the US stock exchange might be a good idea given their backing.

After Tiger brokers, here come another commission free brokerage mobile platform with similar functions and good promotions. It seems like the apple share promotion has ended. If you wish to sign up for those commission free perks and/or future promotions, do use my referral code here: https://j.moomoo.com/004Fsa

  1. Currently, the promotion would run for 600 days free commissions.
  2. Also if you fund USD 2k equivalent. there is a USD30 credit.
  3. Plus free level 2 market data.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Futu Brokerage, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Futu/Moomoo website for reference.

SNACK – Microinsurance

On By RistrettzIn Deals, New Ideas, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

As I have said, I am a firm believer of insurance but not a firm believer of agents. I am of the mind that there are invested interest. Even the most honest guy needs to earn a living but I have yet to find anyone who is able to pass my test. More often than not, I tend to DIY on my own so most of my plans are generally bought online. The exception is that during the early years, agents used to manage those that I bought.

Why Insurance?

Let’s face it. Everyone needs to transfer their risk and that is a fact. Whether it is term or whole life plans, it is up for a debate but no best answer. You need health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, travel insurance, car insurance and the list goes on. My only grip is that DIY stuff comes cheap but you have to figure out how to to that on your own. Nothing wrong with that but it comes in as a pain when you don’t have time to manage those stuff.

Try Microinsurance

Personally, I feel that it is fine to try out a cheaper alternative of insurance just to get yourself covered at the lowest cost possible. SNACK is by Income and recently introduced this concept of microinsurance. I find it appealing personally coming from someone who understand how these things work. It kind of like supplement what i have existingly.

I think that the Income branding is starting to change and this helps with the brand image. At least they try to speak the millenia language. Next, I find that with such low cost products – There will be less barrier to entry. The difficulty in this solution is to educate people. It is much easier to say that it is complicated than trying to find out what this is all about.

Once you sign up online and register the amount you can commit daily, every document will be sent to you via email or digitally. Quite simply, I would say.

They are 3 ways your can choose to buy insurance from (Choose 1 or whatever you need):

a. Critical Illness

b. Personal Accident

c. Life Insurance.

You can also trigger these daily costs from a few parts:

a.  Redeeming a deal from Burpple or pay for meals using a VISA card.

b. Commuting bus, train or cab and pay for it using a VISA card.

c. Through retailing and purchases using a linked VISA card.

d. Shopping for groceries using a linked VISA card.

e. Through entertainment and paying using a linked VISA card.

f. Topping up petrol and paying using a linked VISA card.

g. Pay your utilities and paying using a linked VISA card.

h. Activate your fitbit app and fulfilling your daily steps.

You may be thinking what happens if you hit every objective. There is a limit to the premiums charged to your credit or debit card depending on the weekly cap you’ve set up. Once you’ve hit this weekly cap, SNACK will no longer charge you premiums when you complete lifestyle triggers and you will not be issued any more policies for that week.

The minimum amount daily you can set is $0.30 and you can add on as many triggers as you wish.

There is also a cap on each insurance segment:

a. For Personal Accident, the cap is at $100,000

b. For Life Insurance, the cap is at $200,000

c. For Critical Illness, the cap is at $200,000

These insurance are known as non-participating policies so the moment you stop paying for these, the coverage will stop. To me it is a stop-gap kind of coverage and at an extremely low cost. If you are looking at the full suite, take time to understand and learn. You will definitely benefit from the knowledge and to suss out your new insurance agent. Whether they are in it for the long term or to hit and run. We will never know unless we experience and have the basic knowledge.

Disclaimer

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.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

The pictures were taken from SNACK website for this article. If you need a referral code, please use my referral code “PAU4055” and both of us will be rewarded with additional $500 coverage for personal accident. Visit here https://www.snackbyincome.sg/ to find out more.

Everest Gold

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Alternative Investments, New Ideas, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

The sound of Everest Gold is not exactly sound and safe at first notice but they are a new digital trading platform. You can trade gold digitally now, akin to a stock brokerage account. There are a number of articles out there from bloggers and online news that talks about Everest Gold.

Trying it out

To try it out, you do not need to put in any money. All you need is to use my referral code and your will be awarded 200k points which is approximately USD 20. These rewards can be used to subscribe for gold during their events.

  • No need for any transactions. Just make sure your details, bank accounts and everything is verified.
  • Referral is limited. Not sure if they will be bringing this back but in Oct 2020, the fee was 300k points which is approximately USD 40.

Referral

Use this link to find out more if you are interested at Everest Gold or use this referral code when you decide to sign up: TZLLE. Both of us will get more rewards for subscription.

History

A little dig up of the company. Everest Gold is a Singapore-based  fintech gold trading form. The creation of such a service is to digitise gold trading and makes it easy for both beginner and expert investors. It is suitable for anyone who have interest in gold trading. I personally have also tested their customer service team and response is pretty decent.

Everest Gold uses 999.9 pure investment grade gold. 1kg bard are from a refiner in switzerland. You can also download them from an app and investing starts from 1 gram. From what it seems, anyone can trade and liquidate almost immediately. Physical gold assets can also be collected from their depositories by submission of a request in-app.

Disclaimer

I do use this service and by signing up as a referrer, both you and I will get some benefits.

As with all investments, there are risks involved so please do your own diligence.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from the Everest Gold website for this article.

Grab Invest (Robo)

On By RistrettzIn New Ideas, Personal Finance Series, Robo Advisors, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

During the earlier part of 2020, Grab announced an acquisition of a wealth start-up, Bento. The have since re-branded them to be GrabInvest. It looks like they have ambitious plans to expand into South East Asia with Singapore as its base. We have seen quite a number of new services and products that Grab has been rolling out. That is the benefits of having strong backers as well as a branding that aims to disrupt some industry. I’m not too sure how big they can become but they have been throwing marketing dollars for some time to build their brand. You can read more about the acquisition here at Bento As GrabInvest.

Invest, Save and Grab

It sounds like Grab is going to bring out the brand in their app once more. They probably want to integrate this into the Super App that we often hear about. The tag line is pretty effective I say.

Almost No Barrier to Entry

It takes only a small amount to start investing. I don’t think Syfe and StashAway has a minimum amount to start investing but this set them apart from the usual investing through micro-investing. I’m not too sure about the effectiveness though.

Saving Money

Each time you use the app to do certain actions, you get to choose an amount that will be used to invest automatically. Good habit though.

Spend

There is no lock-up for your funds so you can transfer your money back to the wallet anytime. Talk about flexibility.

Underlying Investments

Okay, looking at how things are. This is similar to the other robo-advisors as to their cash solutions. The underlying funds would be Fullerton Fund and UOB asset management. My guess is the usual short duration bonds or assets as close to cash funds. Due to the nature of the expected returns projected at 1.8% p.a., it is most likely the case.

Fees are simple at 0.45% p.a. Similar or higher than other solutions. If you ask me, I’ll go for Singlife account where you can deposit up to S$10k at 2.5% p.a. and it is SDIC protected. Micro-investing versus Singlife – Singlife wins hands down but integration wise and branding, Grab edges forward a little more.

Read about my previous post on Singlife here at Where to Park Your Funds? Singlife

For excess funds of more than S$10k, get into Dash and Earn. The first year will be at 2% p.a. capped at $20k. Then go for Tiq Gigantiq at 2%p.a. (For the first year) capped at S$10k. On the options available, I’ll give grab a miss unless I have too much spare cash in their wallet that I can’t take it out.

Conclusion

It seems like it is a hype for now. Other for convenience, I can’t find much differentiation from the rest of the many options available in the market except for convenience. It doesn’t help that Grab is trying to take over the world by trying to integrate everything. I don’t support a monopoly so that is a minus. However, I do think that there are other services which will show up on the app in the near future. Coupled with the fact that digital banking license will be announced in Q4 2020 or in 2021 should there be any delay. As a consumer, we should be happy about competition.

I do see more pros than cons though, given their history of data breaches and bad marketing. Also, I don’t see that they are MAS licensed or approved nor are they working with any financial institutions other than the mentioned fund houses or asset managers. On top of that, monies are held in custody of Grab. Reading their Terms and Conditions, it seemed like they got their own ass covered as compared to the consumer so I’m not too sure about that.

I still don’t see it on my Grab App even after updating the app so I’m wondering how buggy their app can be over time.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post and purely my own opinion that I am writing about in my thoughts. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. Don’t be too fixated with what is the best.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services and products here at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

Images seen in this article were take off the relevant websites for illustration purposes only.

Save more when you shop more (Shopback)

On By RistrettzIn New Ideas, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

Shopping for groceries, ordering food from the food apps and online shopping has taken over the world. Covid-19 has made the world to go online and digital in over a short span of time. I find the transformation amazing to the point where businesses are starting to show that they value the digital aspect of promoting their products and services. In Singapore, I do see that many businesses are transforming and redesigning their businesses to a different model as before. However, there are still those black sheep who are out there to just cheat or jack prices up to profit from scarcity.

Shopping

Speaking of shopping online. This is a really cool site to download the app into your mobile phone. This is a local company named Shopback. It gives you cashback into your account for any online spending. These days, you can link your credit card and once you spend on your credit card, the cashback automatically gets credited to your Shopback account. Talk about convenience. There is a new function that Shopback has and that is to purchase vouchers directly from Shopback. You can even use the credits from the cashback you received from previous purchases. That’s stacking more deals and more discounts.

Cashback

Each time you use your card on eligible brands and products (F&B, hotel staycation, vouchers and etc…) there will be a cash back amount allocated to you. The cash will be credited to your account ranging from 3 days to 3 months depending on when the merchant pays them for referring or recommending their products. To a certain extent, it is similar to affiliate marketing. Instead of paying out in marketing costs, the merchants pay affiliate marketers to promote their brands and Shopback gives back a portion of that commission back to the consumers as a form of incentive.

Enough said about getting more bang for your buck. Try it out and see it for yourself. We both earn a $5 bonus once you use my code and spend $20. Easy Peasy.

Save more by using ShopBack to earn Cashback. Download the app and sign up with my referral link to get $5. You can thank me later! https://app.shopback.com/OXuizVNBy9

Even More Cashback?

With the recent 9.9 sale, using a Citibank credit card seem to net you more cashback than usual. Something like additional 3% more cashback but not too sure when that would last till. Promotions don’t last forever so while stocks last. You can actually buy online vouchers from Qoo10, comfortdelgro, grab mart, grabfood, grabtaxi, pupsik, fairprice, GV and more

During random periods or campaigns, they may have upsized cashback deals which doubles the % of deals to your account once you make a transaction. From local brands to big global brands, grocery shopping and ticketing. I’ll say it is a no-brainer.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post and purely my own opinion that I am writing about in my thoughts. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence.  Don’t be too fixated with what is the best.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services and products here at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

Images seen in this article were take off the relevant websites for illustration purposes only.

The Brave Browser (Side Hustle)

On By RistrettzIn New IdeasLeave a comment

Side Hustles are stuffs that you need to take time to work on so being lazy or saying that it is too troublesome doesn’t make the cut. There’s is going to be some level of work or readings that is required to understand how things work. Some things work out and some doesn’t but my style is that I try it out, figure if it works, how it works. Calculate the time spent and or effort and if it is worth doing the side hustle. I guess constantly reviewing your side hustles is also key to saving time.

Brave Browser

As I do some form of crypto investing in my portfolio and exploring crypto apps, I came across this browser which is named as Brave. This is similar to Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and many more. They are similar search engines just that they have curated advertisements instead of those massive adverts that you receive while surfing on the internet.

Downloading the Brave Browser is easy. Visit https://brave.com/ and choose the file to download.

Sign up and login the Brave Rewards to check on the rewards you have obtained.

 

You can then set the maximum number of advertisements that will push to you. You can also download the browser on your mobile app.

Before you get the BAT credited to your wallet. You can sign up for a Gemini or Uphold Crypto Wallet account to temporarily hold the tokens.

Before you start, if you have content, Websites, YouTube, etc… to connect your channel to, you will need to verify your channel. One way is through WordPress plugin. It is not instant and requires sometime to verify so be patient. Visit here to read more: WordPress Installation Guide

Benefits of the Brave Browser

  1. Pages load 3 to 6 x faster.
  2. Importing and continue where you left off.
  3. Support your favourite sites with Brave Rewards
  4. Safer Browsing with privacy and security
  5. More curated advertisements which you can view to get some BAT Tokens.

You can send a tip to my website if you wish to.

There is a guide here to do so here: Thank you for your support

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from the Brave browser website for this article.