Category: Wealth & Health

A New Singlife Grow & Referral Scheme

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

Singlife is offering up to $35 when you sign up for Singlife Account and their Singlife Grow. I’ve been following them for a while now and I realised that they have been promoting their GROW ILP account. I’m not sure if it took off well but given how there is marketing dollars to promote seems like it is encouraging a higher take up rate.  To get the $30 from grow, it takes very little effort. If you are an existing Singlife Account, you will still qualify for the Singlife Grow reward as long as you have never applied for Grow portfolio before. Just take note to use the code to get your credits – “ki02dAhi”

The new scheme and promotion

There isn’t a lock-in period for your funds, and you can withdraw without penalty but it seems like there is a cap at S$20,000 per account per day so do take note.

The interest mechanic

On top of the sign-up gift, you also get 0.5% p.a. additional returns for your Singlife Account when you set up your Grow portfolio which is a nice cherry on top of the sign-up bonus. This gives you 1.5% p.a. on your Singlife Account for the first $10,000.

Not to mention that if you complete the $500 spending per month, you get an additional 0.5% p.a. and that makes it 2.0% p.a. on your Singlife Account for the first $10,000.

The Additional Perks

As all promotion goes, do some form of diligence and check out the Terms and Conditions to understand what you are putting your money into. Read it here: Terms and Conditions

The Cash Mechanic goes like this.

a. If you are not an account holder, sign up using this code ki02dAhi + order and activate the Singlife debit card to get a S$5 sign up bonus

b. If you are an existing customer then check GROW out.

  • Sign and apply for your first GROW policy using this code ki02dAhi + Fund your first GROW policy with a minimum of S$1000 to get a $30 sign up bonus.

In short, if you are a new customer, your max benefits will be S$35 and if you are an existing customer, your max benefits will be S$30.

The Real Deal, GROW ILP (Investment Linked Plan-ILP)

Without doubt, I scrutinise at the term ILP. Personally, I have terminated 2 ILPs that I bought some time back without knowing what I was going into.

Singlife Grow is primarily an investment ILP with very minimal insurance. You don’t have to pay high upfront commissions nor high assurance charges, and no lock-in period for your funds. However, I’m not quite sure if there is a fund switch function and what the bid-offer spreads are like.

Singlife Grow is more of a hybrid robo-insurtech /advisor perhaps and I can’t really classify them under any sorts but for sure they are in the Insurance industry so hence the term ILPs. They are not the typical ILP which loads the consumer even before the investing starts so that’s a plus.

However, do take note of the investment risks so it can go both ways and there’s no guaranteed returns.

  • I understand that the fund managers who will be managing your funds will be from Aberdeen Standard investments
  • There will be three different class of investing, namely (Conservative, Balanced and Dynamic). Allocations can be found here: Grow Factsheet and the investment breakdown
  • They are also under ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) which is a big thing these days as people approach sustainable investing.
  • Coverage will be 101% of Net premium or Account value (In the event it has gone up much higher)
  • Fees will be 0.25% per quarter of the account value. (Management Charge)
  • No Cost of Insurance (Excellent)

Some important information to note:

Singlife Launches Member Get Member Programme, Rewarding New and Existing Customers S$35 for Every Referral

Benefit

  • All referrers and referees receive S$30 when the referee signs up for Grow, and S$5 when the referee creates a Singlife Account and activates their Singlife Visa Debit Card. With no limits to the number of referrals, customers can continue to refer and receive more rewards.

The Grow ILP – Investment Linked Plan

  • Singlife’s Grow is an Investment-Linked Policy (ILP) with portfolios managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments. Accessed through the Singlife App, customers can manage, save and invest simply through a single interconnected platform with absolutely no lock-ins. For more information on Grow, visit https://singlife.com/grow/.

The Flexibility

  • The Singlife Account continues offering the same flexibility customers desire with no lock-ins or withdrawal fees, and better peace of mind. For more information about the Singlife Account, visit https://singlife.com/manage/.  However last I tried, there is a cap of S$20,000 limit of transfer out per account per day so do take note.

The physical card

  • The Singlife Account is Singlife’s flagship everyday insurance savings plan that comes with a free Visa Debit Card, carrying no FX fees for foreign currency transactions.

The protection by SDIC

  • The Singlife Account and Grow are protected up to specified limits by Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC).

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. Just take note to use this code to get your credits – “ki02dAhi“

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 Singlife website for this article.

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.

Endowus Performance March 2021 & YTD + New ESG Portfolio

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

Time in March 2021 seem to just go by in a quick frenzy. Stock markets have retraced and between Tech and Cyclical equities, it seems to sway from side to side. There isn’t seem to be any clear signs for any particular trend. The slightest event such as the cargo tanker remained jammed up in the Suez Canal seem to have caught commodities in a stir for a week or two.

I’ve been talking about Endowus for a while now. I think there is something that attracts me to them. Perhaps it is the way they present themselves or maybe it is their mindset of investing that struck a chord with me. I would actually recommend them to anyone I know to be honest and I know that my investments will be safe with them. Further, they raised their first ever Serie A fund raising for expansion. It does sounds like a great step forward. Whatever was private, we don’t know but their first fund raising after being around for sometime does spark some confidence about how prudent they are and how much the founders value their own equity in the company. To me that is a plus when the founders want to keep stock value mainly because they see value in their own company.

ESG Portfolio (New)

I am quite intrigued in their new ESG portfolio that was constructed through the different fund houses. To a certain extent, I do want to put more into it but I am unsure since I’ve not read up on this but I do know that ESG have performed relatively well in the European zone. This segment would serve me well for a long term portfolio because I do see the value in investing in sustainable companies an practices. After all, we are saving this earth for our next generation – a little step goes a long way.

This is at +1.97% since inception some time in Mid March 2021. I like what I am seeing. Of course this is a 80%/20% Equity/Bond portfolio allocation so there will be more movement on the equity side. This is long term so, just leave it in there.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is up 18.51% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD becomes stronger. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity. Overall from May 2020 to 5 Apr 2021, it is a 18.51% increase in absolute terms – Fantastic. From Jan 2021 to 5 Apr 2021, the fund was stable and rising more  at 4.86%+ increase in portfolio. Not too bad really.

In Terms of YTD returns in 2021, I’m looking at 4.86%. I’m happy. Definitely topping up if there are any corrections (By definition a correction is more than 10% drop in a single day)

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is also doing pretty well though not as well as my Dimension Fund portfolio. I’m still looking at 12.23% returns from May 2020 through to 5 Apr 2021.

In Terms of YTD returns in 2021, I’m looking at 1.68%. This is quite expected so not much of a surprise. I have no requirement to login daily to view my portfolio performance. Just a monthly review will be sufficient.

Similar to the previous months, cash management accounts have started to report a decline. This is also expected since LOW interest rate environment is here to stay for the long term.

I have been procrastinating about the Cash Smart Portfolio. Perhaps I will take a plunge to do it in April 2021. Takes a bit of courage to do that.

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

Last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management, it isn’t Cryptocurrency. Super high risk = Potentially Super high returns. Fair enough in economic terms. Just remember that = Potentially Super high decrease in portfolio as well.

I’m not ruling cryptocurrency as an asset class here. What I do see is that they will be a disrupter in traditional currency in the future. What I am saying is traditional investments brings stable, slow and disciplined returns. I do have a portion of my funds in cryptocurrency and the latest trend of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). I deal with these two investments separately and realistically.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, 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 Endowus website for reference.

When exactly is the best time to invest?

On By RistrettzIn Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

At last, the million dollar question – When is the best time to really invest. I really doubt anyone can really answer that question. To take on a serious note, the below points in my own opinion matters to when exactly is the best time to invest.

There is no best time

a. It depends on which part of your life you are at.

b. It depends a lot on how ready you are to commit. It takes a tad effort to do so when you want to invest.

c. Mental plays a big part. I don’t know or I’m not sure doesn’t cut it in my opinion. Everyone need to start somewhere. Today’s world is extremely informative so there isn’t really an excuse other than being lazy. (To a certain extent, it means that you have to take that effort to understand and learn)

d. It is never too early or too late. (Investing $10 you have today let you kick start your journey. If you don’t start, you probably won’t as well)

e. Everyone’s horizon and comfort is different. You have to stay disciplined and well-informed at the same time.

f. Never say never. Things changes and things happen – your chance will come but waiting is sometimes your worst enemy so comfort might be the best choice of word here.

Now, this isn’t a clickbait topic but recently I heard about being people rushing in to get their monies to invest in certain asset classes. While I am a big fan of new ventures and new exploration in investments, you kind of need to be in the know in order to assess the risk if a certain investment is worth it.  A recent trend about FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is getting a little out of hand. I think in investing you need a clear mind. If you know what you are getting into, heaving FOMO is actually okay. At least it calls you to action. Most people just wait for things to happen which is rather meh.

There are many alternative asset classes available today. This is quite amazing as the banks used to hold the “Traditional” Asset classes such as Bonds, Forex, Equities, Structures, Options, hedge funds and private equity. Some of these access are only available to the rich.

Today, there are a huge variety of investing asset classes such as fine whiskey, fine wine, NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens), cryptocurrency, trading cards, Pokémon cards and many more. Money (Also known as Fiat Currency) are going through a digitisation process. No one ones what the future holds but for now, the adoption is still relatively low so my take is that there are still legs for growth.

The point of this article is to really remind ourselves what is a comfortable price valuation for anything that we do or purchase. Once that is being decided, then we have to move on and not harp over the fact that there is a price drop or if you should have bought it a few months ago.

Every step of the investment process is always a dilemma. The choices we make in life is very different and it varies the sec, min, hour or days. Even having a bad day at work also affects our decision.

Factors

The following is what I personally feel affects our investment decision emotionally:

a. FOMO

b. Stock tips or special investments (never succumb to rumours)

c. New investment asset classes (It excites me because I would think it is the new BTC – 1000x)

d. Alternatives to traditional investments (Regular investments are boring seriously)

e. A bad day/heated discussions or arguments

f. People showing their wealth from certain investments

g. Unique and exclusive (Limited) investments (Pre-IPO related)

Investment knowledge comes a long way and is always revolving. I personally believe banks are growing to be passé over the longer term. Wealth Management is only required for the selected few or many. There are so many options available to invest your money into that there isn’t any need to seek any alternative opinion. If you don’t care about your own money, then no one else will. Then again, others will have no time to manage that part of their finance and will require some managers to do so for them. That said, I always like to repeat my stance about investing and it is never one size fits all.

The sole duty of investments lies on yourself. Eventually, with or without a manager/expert analyst, the investment decisions and risk is one that you take on your own. So, we can’t really blame anyone for this. Some choose to pay a premium for the service rendered to save time while others choose to DIY and explore cheaper alternatives. There is no right or wrong in doing so – However there is a difference between penny wise pound foolish.

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/

These pictures were taken off certain website for reference.

ESG & more on Endowus & Why Endowus

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

There’s a lot of hype around Robo-Advisors these days. I still go by the same rules, if nothing is broken, there isn’t a need to fix anything. Robos are here to stay for sure and they have been rather un-emotional when it comes to investing (That is a good thing by the way if you are thinking otherwise)

Trust

Trust – It is the pinnacle of consideration when you invest or put money with a certain institution. Endowus has been – I would use the word trustworthy to describe them. A lot of these have been shown in how they conduct their business. Firstly, I have a finance background and for the longest time, I’ve worked in Finance. To be honest, there wasn’t a single day I felt happy until I truly left the industry. Finance is all about numbers and money. People are motivated by the fact that they make the quickest buck from the fastest source. However, what I am seeing here is quite the opposite. They are pretty truthful and walk the talk through their actions.

The points in Summary

  • The introduction of institutional class funds. If you are not in the know, you will not know. The more funds/money you have, the more you will be in the know hence you save more on fees.
  • The exclusivity in certain funds that only that few can launch with other fund providers. Sometimes, it’s about the expertise that is focused on the fund type
  • The fund rebate. No need to explain more about it. Fund fees and rebates are very transparent and apparent in how they rebate it back.
  • Quarterly fund charges are charged only end of the quarter. I’ve never seen that before or not many does it. Most funds and banks does the front loading. The worst type of funds are ILP – They embed the bid-ask to 5% (That’s just rip off and I say that those who offer these may not even know about it)
  • First and only digital advisor to be able to use your CPF to invest. Speaks a a lot about the trust of the board to allow them to do so.

New Point to Note (& ESG)

  • Recently, they launched an ESG fund portfolio that is made up from several well known fund houses specific to the ESG criteria. It is important to invest responsibly and sustainably. ESG has been around for the longest time. In Asia, we hardly ever hear it until only recent years and by quickly moving on this front – They are really one of the fastest to bring this up to scratch. No doubt, this is one to invest for the generations to come.
  • To secure your funds, all your investments are not held in custody. You own your own account in UOB Kay Hian but the investment is managed by Endowus. This is to safeguard your own money should they decide to close down one day (which I don’t think they will in the near term)

Finally, i recently received an email from them. For the longest time, they have the bar set at an initial S$10k investment. This has been slowly reduced and to date. For every friend who invests with Endowus, you both get $20 in Access Fee credits, equivalent to $10,000 advised free for 6 months. There is no limit to the number of friends you can invite.

There is anything much to add on and nothing to complain about other than your investment and redemption takes times to complete.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, 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 https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.

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.

A New Chinese New Year

On By RistrettzIn Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

A New CNY

A year has passed and the fight with Covid-19 is still ongoing today. The biggest festive of the year is coming in February 2021 – The Chinese Lunar New Year. How great things are going to be for the upcoming event. With a max of 8 pax per household, things will change for a while now. Zoom meetings are going to happen more instead of the usual activity.

Inside me, there is a little me shouting out in joy. To a certain extent, I dread those meetings with some of my extended families so it is indeed a relief for me and also less hassle for my family. 2021 is going to be a good year, as it is always when there is a new start. I get a lot of comments about giving out ang pows during CNY all the time. Frankly, the bulk of those good luck money goes to my family (Really close ones) That makes up about 80-85% of the budget? roughly. The balance 15% goes to friends and extended family so it isn’t really that bad.

Festive Season Again

The last few years has been great and I felt like I do enjoy the festive celebrating with my real and close and extended family. Now the reason for bringing CNY up is that usually it takes us one month in terms of preparation. The washing, cleaning up and preparing new notes. I think that for this year, many things will change including how I hand out the good luck ang pows. (Red Packets)

There is something which I would like to address though. The idea of red packets has been misconstrued for such a long time. Generally kids would enjoy this period since it funds their “wants” but my views about giving is that you should not be pressured into giving more in your red packets than you actually can afford. I can understand that kind of pressure sometimes but it defeats the purpose of giving.

Like many wedding red packets, there is a standard but is there really a need for a standard. It is good to know but it should still be a level of affordability as well. I mean I do understand that it is good to know what is the market rate but to understand that it is a matter of affordability to some, it might have been overlooked to a certain extent.

Objective

The objective of passing a red packet to someone younger is to wish them well. If you wish to, you may also extend that red packet to someone who is elderly. The amount should not matter that much, instead the intention and thought is what matters. Maybe many beg to differ but that isn’t really a correct or wrong way to do this.

The purpose to give a red packet follows a well wish depending on what one would want to wish for:

  • Good Luck
  • Happiness
  • Prosperity
  • Fresh Start
  • Health
  • Education
  • Promotion and Good Career

However if you really want to know the market rate, Seedly has a write-up here: https://blog.seedly.sg/chinese-new-year-cny-ang-pao-red-packet-guide/

As I have always been advocating, don’t always look for the “Best”. A guide is always good but it warps the conception and mindset once you have taken that look. Well, I can’t speak for everyone but I definitely can’t erase what I have seen once I see a sample or a blueprint or a guide.

Disclaimer

Whatever I blog about is purely my own opinion. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. For me, it is always about the whole package. Like minded people can flock together to create good and powerful things.

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do check out my shop or drop me a note here at https://lifejourney.blog/contact/

Thank you in advance for the support.

The pictures were taken from the respective websites for this article.

2020 – The Year in Review

On By RistrettzIn Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

2020 is going on by quickly as with any other year. Especially this  year, with the Covid-19 announced as a pandemic. The world went into a global communism, shutting off the doors everywhere quickly. It feels like Industrial Revolution version 0.0 but yet you have technology that kind of connects you with the rest of the world as well. What makes it different is that some industry do well, some medium, some would benefit in the longer term. Irrelevant businesses would eventually shut down while new ideas continue to grow in the market.

Looking back there have been some hits and misses and while things didn’t shape up nicely. The year ended off with a small little cheer that can light up our faces.

There are some segments I would like to focus on in review. That would help me to understand what I have done right, do better or not to do at all. This very blog started on the basis of money matters and personal finance – This shall be the basis of the review. Christmas and the New Year is coming and so I would also like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays. I am for once looking forward to the coming year and for a great 2021!

Thank you everyone who reads my blog or thinks that it is worth looking at. I am humbled by anyone who actually stumble or read what I have penned down online. Hopefully, the coming year would see some interesting moments for my blog or perhaps even more interesting concepts.

Money Decision

The Good

  • The decision to enter the market during the market dips in March 2020.
  • The decision to divest funds into StashAway, Endowus, Syfe, MoneyOwl and Autowealth. This has proven to be an asset for the long term.
  • Full contribution to the SA account for both Tax Rebate and Retirement Fund in CPF.
  • Usual contribution to SRS account which supplements the Retirement Funds.

The Bad

  • Didn’t save as much as I wanted due to a lot expenses. Staying at home also meant that there were more expenses for food deliveries.
  • Celebrations were a little more elaborate due to the covid. More shopping and gifting at home since there wasn’t any travelling that can be done in the next year or so. Which I kind of miss and it has been taken granted for.
  • Not too sure if it is actually is a good or bad thing that Covid hits the business. We are actually pretty resilient to the situation.

Mental Health

The Good

  • It has been pretty refreshing to work from home. After 3 months of working from home, things have been turning rather boring but it is family bonding indeed.
  • It is actually better to avoid a lot of negativity in some offices. Luckily for me, I don’t have that issue but it kind of helped for the family mentally.
  • Work has more flexibility and there isn’t that much of a rush so it helps me generally.

The Bad

  • It became kind of stressful with the wife and kids and in laws.
  • Working from Home became both good and bad because it has become rather boring where I miss the hustle and bustle of communicating with colleagues and networking with new friends.
  • There are no limits to when working hours end so I can keep on working throughout which isn’t that great. My place of relax now becomes a place where I need to focus and work.

Fitness

The Good

  • Definitely more time to do more crunches and jogs.
  • A change in lifestyle and a change in diet.
  • Exercising is actually an individual sport. Group exercising are sometimes counter intuitive.

The Bad

  • The diet and exercising kind of slowly died off and I see myself seeking more new ideas to be more active.
  • The holiday weight doesn’t help so I need to work harder to stay focus.
  • Group games are pretty impossible now so less options to stay in better shape.

Summary

The Good

  • Finally, after procrastination for years. I decided to put in the effort to pen down and build a personal finance blog. How far will I go? I don’t know but due to the Covid situation, I took some time during the wee-hours of the morning when I could not sleep to build in some hosting, webpage, WordPress setup and finally writing articles which I think people might like to read about.
  • I would like to thank those readers who picked up my codes for the services that I use. Hopefully, these services will bring the same level of expectation that I already have since I have been using them for a while now.

The Bad

  • I am still deciding whether I should attempt to write a book. A simple and funny one. It’s just to figure new projects to work out on.
  • A long-term objective is to explore alternative income/passive income
  • I’m still in the infant stage of this personal finance blog. The growth rate isn’t quite what i expected but hey I’m still learning and exploring so I’ll keep trying.

Conclusion

I decided against looking at winners and losers in the equity markets as time and again I have traded, won and lost. At least 3 or 4 cycles it happened. Using the right services to not let my emotions go wild or make irrational decision only to regret it later on. The focus of investing money should not just be money but also investing in yourself. There should also be time taken to upgrade ourselves, improve our own health and find out what matters to every individual.

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 the websites for this article.

Being Angry for the things you have no control over. Does it help?

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

There are many times when we are angry. Be it for the right or wrong reasons, there will be times where our own limits are being tested. Some people just cannot take it that they are wrong, that’s just more Alpha kind of folks. Some people are just generally angsty all the time. The slightest thing piss them off. However, when you are angry, who is it that is really affected? Are you venting to the person beside you though you are not angry at them? Or are you just shouting to yourself for someone else you are upset about?

The person whom you are shouting and angry about probably don’t even know. So, what is the point in getting angry. I get it, sometimes i need to let off some steam too but not all the time though. The other day, there was an angsty driver who couldn’t get on the main road because there were just too many cars. The other day, I heard someone banging the table downstairs while working from home. Shouting eventually came on and I could hear someone else shouting back.

Deep Thinking

That made me think a little deeper. When you are angry, the person who do not know you are angry at them. Should you really express it? Eventually, the question to ask is that if one can control their emotions. Not me I would say. I am human and I cannot control over worrying, being angry and also overthinking. I’ll say most of us tend to think that we are right but is that really true? Truth be told, that little arrogance sometime annoys me a little. All we need is just to keep our heads down, be humble and learn along the way. There will always be someone or something that is better than you.

Investing the same?

Similarly, your investment style differs. Emotions run wild in those events and each time you think that markets are coming off, you actually risk missing a chance to recover more than what you should have if you would have chose to do nothing.

The thing about personal finance is that whether one has just starting building your finances, middle stage of building your fund or at a late stage of taking on your retirement funds. Young, old, poor or rich in all categories – There is really no one size fits all and regardless if you are famous or not. There will be emotions involved in all situation.

Recently, I also fell ill and because of that I had to take some matters off my hand. At the same time, markets doesn’t care if you are ill or well and that kind of struck a chord that I need to do less of trading and more of passive investing. Looking back at some of the portfolios for 2020. All 4 robo-advisors returned double digits which is by far the best I have seen. Of course, trading returns have been the best returns for me but those are super high risks.

Robotic in Nature

The idea in letting someone trustworthy to manage your funds are hard to come by. Banks are driven by profits and their pockets matter more than what money you have. Even if they did, they would have another agenda. Nonetheless, the idea – You get it! Only services make revenues.

Convincing Strategy

I’ve been convinced by the way Endowus and StashAway have been working for me as a portfolio:

  • Fee wise it is always all inclusive.
  • ETFs or Fund investing has always been the way to invest regularly. They track index and replace those companies who underperform along the way.
  • In particular, Endowus provides that 100% trailer fee rebates. It is the best one I’ve seen so far to not take a dime that is not transparent to the consumer. On a side note, your funds are in your own name (invest and managed via UOB Kay Hian but through your own channel) If anything happens to Endowus, your money is safe in that sense.
  • Such portfolios are not timing the market and look further into the long term. You need to be disciplined in that manner.
  • I mean especially for Endowus, they charge you a small fee which keeps them running. They invest into some fund types which are institutional in nature. Layman, it means as a normal consumer – you probably could not access these funds.
    • Usually but not always, the so called “hidden fees” are reduced due to economies of scale (Institutional class – Imagine Sovereign wealth funds)
    • Special corporate classes which have a minimum to invest. By using Endowus, collectively as retail investors normal retailer investors can put their money in at a fraction of the cost.

Agree to Disagree

Some points I kind of read and agree but disagree:

  • Yes, I read and heard that you can mimic trades and portfolios but my question is that if you have the economies of scale. How big are your trades?
  • Forex Exchanges rates especially in USD. Can you really accept using another channel to make the exchange or accept the market rate in your brokerage?
  • Replacing and re-balancing your portfolio. I think time matters more to me than doing these stuff which is time consuming. There are people who love doing this and do not mind doing so. So, leave it to those who does the best in their jobs.

This image was taken off Seedly and taken as a reference. Frankly, minimal investment amount should be the last thing on your mind. Fees, rebates and what is the company trying to achieve should be the top priority.

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/

a. Use my Endowus referral link and both you and I will get $20 credit to our account: Endowus Robo-Advisor to sign up now.

b. Use my Stash Away referral code and both of us are entitled to a 6-month management fee waiver, for up to $10,000 SGD of assets invested. Visit Stash Away Referral here to sign up now.

SGfindex – The all in one consolidated banking view

On By RistrettzIn Personal Finance Series, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

This is really a nice initiative from MAS to combine all the bank data but I do have some gripe over it and there are nuances which I find myself complaining all over it. Before I do, I shall not and since this is something interesting to see, I would suggest everyone to try it.

Due to the technology involved in this, I wouldn’t suggest those who are not too savvy to attempt. You will get more frustrated from this. Technology do help us but also complicate our lives so much more. It’s just removing a a middle man to reduce pricing but then re-introducing the middle man as  multiple stores and having different shop fronts and products which differs a little from one another.

What is Findex?

If you give your consent to the platform, you can share your personal financial data across Citibank, POSB/DBS, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB, plus government agencies like CPF, HDB and IRAS

This system is jointly developed by GovTech and I suppose SingPass is the security gateway to this capability. It is also stated that personal data is not stored.

I find that this is really in the infant stage of the launch and the applications can be developed into something more. That’s more GovTech and the merchants to find out.

What is the buzz about?

Consolidated bank accounts into one app. Let’s put it this way.

If you have a Standard Chartered bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.

And if you have a OCBC bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.

If you have a DBS bank account, choose the sgfindex option, login to Singpass and link your other bank accounts.

Okay, I think you get it. It is manual and you will need to endure with the lag, error 404, missed linked, etc….

I mean yeah, you get to see all your accounts in one app. All your credit cards, loans, selected government related accounts will be on it and that’s that.

Meanwhile, if you manage to come to this part of the reading – Thank you. If you are keen on getting $5 from Standard Chartered Bank. Do run through their exercise and also read their T&Cs at https://www.sc.com/sg/bank-with-us/sgfindex/

Don’t expect too much though.

Disclaimer

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 website solely for the purpose of illustration. Remember not to be a slave of money but make as much as you can.