In my previous post about Ez-link Trival here Ez-link deal , they have upped one more level by allowing Mastercard in their Ez-link payment option.
The Deal
You can now earn an easy S$10 just by logging into their app, there will be an option to use Mastercard to pay for items via Google Pay.
EZ-Link and Mastercard have partnered to launch a new feature called Pay by Wallet.
This would add virtual Mastercard functionality to your EZ-Link Wallet (Google Pay). You can then spend these at more than 80 million Mastercard online and in-store merchants worldwide. Unfortunately, it is only available for Android users for now.
Free S$10
As like any new players in the market, the launch of Pay by Wallet, EZ-Link is offering an instant S$5 credit to users who activate Pay by Wallet on the EZ-Link App.
Do note that you will get an additional S$5 cashback will be credited to you when you make a minimum spend of S$10 within 30 days of signing up. The promotion is not unlimited, please take note.
Should you be interested to sign up for this, do download the Ez Link App and key in my Referral code: 3197B5C
Some Pointers to note
a. This campaign is limited to the first S$100,000 of cashback or the first 10,000 new EZ-Link Pay by Wallet user sign-ups, whichever comes first
b. Next, note that certain transactions are not valid here at T&Cs such as donations, education, government services, hospitals, utilities and AXS. (Standard Stuff)
c. Additional perks:
For every successful Pay by Wallet transaction of at least S$80 made by 31 July 2022, earns you one entry into a lucky draw with the following prizes. (All prize winners will be contacted latest by 30 September 2022):
1N staycation at Equarius Hotel or Hotel Michael with breakfast for two (3x winners)
A pair of Universal Studios Singapore tickets (80x winners)
Conclusion
Again, nothing much to shout about. To make more value for your buck, something to play around with if you have some time.
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 out my referral links.
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
The pictures were taken from EZ-link website for this article.
Money Owl has been the regular investing strategy monthly for about close to 2 years. 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.
This is really a small part of my portfolio at $100 monthly RSP for around two years for now. I Probably will stick with MO for now just to compare them versus Endowus. I like the management team, honest and no conflict of interest. Maybe I add on other investment strategies on their platform if the timing is right.
Who is Money Owl?
MoneyOwl is an initative from NTUC Social Enterprise. They are 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 (Dimension 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.
One of the reasons I went into MoneyOwl and Endowus initially was because of the Dimensional Fund. These are not readily available to retail investors but the investing landscape has changed. Retail is kind of king now.
Context
My MoneyOwl Portfolio is one that does not hold a lot. It isn’t my main Robo Portfolio but they kind of become slightly more trusted over the last few months. At the same time, for folk who have just started the investment journey, S$100 is definitely doable for a long long term portfolio. The whole idea of this blog is to also show that it does not take a lot to start building your own retirement pot. I still envy folks who are in the twenties and build their portfolio early.
However, when you are young – Money is a limited resource. As usual, personal finance also have to revolve around each individual situation and understand the situation will determine what is required.
On top of the asset that we acquire, there is a need to tweak the insurance coverage due to a new child and an increased mortgage. Should there be any issues that happen to any one of us, at least the full liabilities are covered.
Mar 2022 performance (Day One Deposit)
In portfolio terms, it is up +8.56% and compared to my last review in Aug 2021 which was at +18.30% on 2 Sep 2021, it has dipped quite a bit in terms of percentage points. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of $3,200. I kept the regular investing of $100 per month and it’s looking rather slow. I might increase this monthly amount to build the base up a little more. 2022 has not been kind to the markets and will continue to do so. So far, the defensive nature is what I have seen as a plus point.
If we look at Time Weighted Returns, it is the more accurate to account of deposit and withdrawals at +24.63%. Again, this return is just for reference. At the end of the day, what you originally invest in and the final amount will be the absolute profit.
In terms of the portfolio allocation, there is no change and it is at 60% equities and 40% fixed income. The portfolio consists 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.
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 and continues to do well.
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.
e. The government bonds remains to be on the downside which is expected though it recovered a little as compared to the previous month. The impact is negligible.
f. Recently, the russia exposure was mentioned to investors that it was removed and likely due to the sanctions.
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$100,000 and below, there will be a 0.6% p.a. management fee and 0.5% p.a. for amounts above S$100,000. This amount will be rebated back in the portfolio. So take note that only Cash investments (Wise Income will also incur management fees), 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).
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)
Personally, I think that they are decent. A very conservative bunch.
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
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.
This is really a small part of my portfolio at $100 monthly RSP for around two years for now. I may take it all out of StashAway and put it with them or Endowus on any pullback. Maybe I will RSP into ESG or the Lion Global infinity 500. I will decide once I see the situation.
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 24 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.
One of the reasons I went into MoneyOwl and Endowus initially was because of the Dimensional Fund. These are not readily available to retail investors but the investing landscape has changed. Retail has as much power as one Ultra HNW investor if combined as a whole. Of course, you can still argue that doing 1 ticket size is better than doing one million ticket size.
Summary
My MoneyOwl Portfolio is one that does not hold a lot and it is through regular S$100 crediting. It’s not a lot but as it isn’t my main Robo Portfolio, I am less inclined to put more cash into investments. At the same time, for folk who have just started the investment journey, S$100 is definitely doable for a long long term portfolio. The whole idea of this blog is to also show that it does not take a lot to start building your own retirement pot.
Importantly, personal finance also have to revolve around each individual situation and understand the situation will determine what is required.
On top of the asset that we acquire, there is a need to tweak the insurance coverage due to a new child and an increased mortgage. Should there be any issues that happen to any one of us, at least the full liabilities are covered.
Feb 2022 performance (Since Day One Deposit)
In portfolio terms, it is up +7.2% and compared to my last review in Aug 2021 which was at +18.30% on 2 Sep 2021, it has dipped quite a bit in terms of percentage points. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of 3,200. 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. 2022 has not been kind to the markets.
If we look at Time Weighted Returns, it is the more accurate to account of deposit and withdrawals at +22%. Again, this return is just for reference. At the end of the day, what you originally invest in and the final amount will be the absolute profit.
In terms of the portfolio allocation, there is no change and it is at 60% equities and 40% fixed income. The portfolio consists 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.
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 and continues to do well.
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.
e. The government bonds remains to be on the downside which is expected though it recovered a little as compared to the previous month. The impact is negligible.
f. Recently, the russia exposure was mentioned to investors that it was removed and likely due to the sanctions.
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$100,000 and below, there will be a 0.6% p.a. management fee and 0.5% p.a. for amounts above S$100,000. This amount will be rebated back in the portfolio. So take note that only Cash investments (Wise Income will also incur management fees), 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).
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)
Personally, I think that they are decent. A very conservative bunch.
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
I was lured by the high yields of CakeDefi which is roughly around 80% or at point of writing. This is accounted for in APY (Annual Percentage Yield) by staking. I signed up about 3 months ago but failed to take any action on this. Given how cash interest rates is just no longer interesting, I’ve been looking to invest my cash.
The crypto space is really intriguing. I’ve been reading trying my best to keep up with the crypto world but it is extremely dynamic but I do see use and real world cases which we can tap on and try to make a deal out of these new coins/system.
I decided to put in SGD$100 into Cakedefi as an experiment to see what rewards I’ll get in the next three months or so as a regular monthly updates similar to what I have been doing for my own robo advisors accounts.
If you are keen to join Cakedefi, here’s how to do it online:
Registration
Head to my referral link below (QR code or referral code) to set up your Cakedefi account.
Rewards: Get a total of US$30 worth of DFI ($20 worth of DFI when you sign up and make a deposit of $50 or more + $10 referral reward)
KYC applies – you’d need to standby a pic of you with your IC (and writing date and the stuff that you are applying for – their website will guide you), and upload proof of your addresses through your banking statement or utilities bill.
KYC approval time is fast so you can do this rather quickly.
I’m only trying out the staking on DFI and not farming for other stuff. I have yet to be convinced by CakeDefi so I will only play small money here.
How do we begin? To make the CAKE, you’d need the main ingredient: DeFi coin.
First, transfer BTC from Gemini to your Cake wallet at here
I chose Gemini because of their 10 free withdrawal per month
There are also many ways to do it. However take note that buying BTC with cash on Gemini is a $4 charge per transaction.
Transfer from Gemini to Cake is pretty fast as well:
Email from Gemini: Your Bitcoin withdrawal has been confirmed
Email from Cake: Your deposit is being processed. You will receive another email when your deposit is successful.
Once you have BTC in your Cake wallet, click on “Swap” at DeFi column
OR, head to staking page where you can swap + stake in one page.
I received 11.4 ish DeFi coins which works out to be around USD$2.63 per coin.
Referral Reward
Upon deposit of US$50 coins and above, I received notification of the bonus DFI:
The bonus DFI that is worth USD 30 is frozen for the next 180 days and is already working for you. Currently you get paid the base APY plus a little bonus %.
Free money to take but take note that the bonus will be locked for 180 days.
As most would caution, maybe these will turn into ZERO so only do it if you are comfortable.
If you already intend to stake with CakeDefi, pls use my referral link here where you’d get a total of US$30 worth of DFI ($20 worth of DFI when you sign up and make a deposit of $50 or more + $10 referral reward)
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. Please use my referral code if you would like to try CakeDefi: 786793
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
There is a little frenzy about crypto credit/debit cards these days. They have these multi-currency features, money transfer options and split billing which kind of attracts me to these functions. Revolut is one of those cards other than crypto.com which give a cashback but it set themselves apart by being a money manager as well. It is less of crypto trading but a simple was to get into the things of crypto.
Again, this is just getting to start on the crypto journey. They are proving time and again that this is going be a force to be reckon with as compared to fiat (Normal cash and currency)
The Revolut Credit Card
Revolut is a digital banking app and card that focuses on technology, low fees and premium features. It’s designed for those who travel frequently and offers ways to spend abroad, including international money transfers with no hidden fees.
There is only one physical card and limited services if you take on the free service. However, if you wish to upgrade to a more premium tier. You can always do so later on so no worries about those first until you try them out
Some of the more interesting local context is that Revolut tries hard to bring in new partnerships such as 20% cashback on public transport by using the card and so on. Brands such as Nike.sg, Lazada, Decathlon and iHerb is already on their cashback programme. I find that these cashback returns are pretty decent and you can redirect your funds to purchasing cryptocurrency if you wish to. Otherwise, you can just leave that as cash.
Some features
With Revolut, you can do the following:
Use it as a debiting account. You can set up recurring payments, transfer or request for funds and withdraw cash at international ATMs. You’ll be able to view your balance on an analytics screen.
Make international payments. The app lets you transfer money to 150 countries, fee-free, at the interbank exchange rate.
Spend globally fee-free. All spending abroad is also charged at the interbank rate.
Hold different currencies in your account. You can hold a balance or make an exchange in the app in 28 currencies.
Pay friends or request payments. You’re able to pay other people, request for payments, or use the split-bill feature to divide a group spend with ease.
View spending habits. Using analytics, your can view your spending and track them like a money manager
Control your card and account. You can lock and unlock your card in the Revolut app as well as set monthly spending limits.
Save money. They have a vault feature let you build up funds for a specific funding goal. This is not a bank account so you do not earn any interest. This kinds of reminds me of what Hugo Wealth Card can do.
Rewards. Benefit from personalised cashback and discounts when you spend at Revolut’s partner merchants, including Amazon, Lazada, Nike and Zalora.
Instant balance top-up. Reload funds from your bank account to your Revolut account fast and conveniently.
Customer service available 24/7. Get in touch with customer service directly through Revolut’s app. Paid accounts are also entitled to concierge service and priority customer support.
No credit check. You do not need to show a salary or paycheck to get a limit as this is as good as a debit card.
Promotion and perks for signing up:
Sign up with my link and get 25 SGD after you order a card and complete 3 purchases all before the 5th October 2021. While you await the physical card you can use a virtual card as all actions must be completed before the deadline. https://revolut.com/referral/paulbo2uw!SEP1AGG
Read more about the Terms and Conditions here at Terms & Conditions
Revolut Junior
On top of what is offered, you can still create and order a Junior card if your kid is above 15 years old and it is a good time to teach about personal finance and budgeting. I think this is pretty cool for an added value option.
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.
Please use my referral code if you would like to try this card out. (This is a limited offer only until 5 Oct 2021) Referral Code
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
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.
I think that given the amount of time I am left with for the next month, I would likely blog lesser than before. I just have not much time on my hand but I will still squeeze in deals and new information and I have some content to share. I’ll need more time to read up and understand more about the product first before I pen it all down.
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.
One of the reasons I went into MoneyOwl and Endowus initially was because of the Dimensional Fund. These are not readily available to retail investors but the investing landscape has changed. Retail has as much power as one UHNW investor if combined as a whole. Of course, you can still argue that doing 1 ticket size is better than doing one million ticket size.
Summary
My MoneyOwl Portfolio is one that does not hold a lot and it is through regular S$100 crediting. It’s not a lot but as it isn’t my main Robo Portfolio, I am less inclined to put more cash into investments. At the same time, for folk who have just started the investment journey, S$100 is definitely doable for a long long term portfolio. The whole idea of this blog is to also show that it does not take a lot to start building your own retirement pot.
Recently, we also purchased a bigger apartment and had our second child. Funds are relatively being used up quicker and outflows have been on a hectic level. Our own portfolio would definitely be used up for the new renovations and purchase as well as childcare in the next 1.5 years. So, personal finance also have to revolve around each individual condition and understand the situation will determine what is required.
On top of the asset that we acquire, there is a need to tweak the insurance coverage due to a new child and an increased mortgage. Should there be any issues that happen to any one of us, at least the full liabilities are covered.
August 2021 performance (Since Day One Deposit)
In portfolio terms, it is up +18.30% on 2 Sep 2021 since inception in June 2020. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of 2,400. 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. August was a positive month again by +0.1%
If we look at Time Weighted Returns, it is the more accurate to account of deposit and withdrawals at +31.38% (which is 1.0% compared to July 2021) Again, this returns is just for reference. At the end of the day, what you originally invest in and the final amount will be the absolute profit.
In terms of the portfolio allocation, there is no change and it is at 60% equities and 40% fixed income. The portfolio consists 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.
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 and continues to do well.
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.
e. The government bonds remains to be on the downside which is expected though it recovered a little as compared to the previous month. The impact is negligible.
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
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.
One of the reasons I went into MoneyOwl and Endowus initially was because of the Dimensional Fund. These are not readily available to retail investors but the investing landscape has changed. Retail has as much power as one UHNW investor if combined as a whole. Of course, you can still argue that doing 1 ticket size is better than doing one million ticket size.
July 2021 performance (Since Day One Deposit)
In portfolio terms, it is up +18.19% on 4 Aug 2021 since inception in June 2020. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of 2,300. 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. July was a positive month again by +0.3%
If we look at Time Weighted Returns, it is the more accurate to account of deposit and withdrawals at +30.38% (which is 1.5% compared to June 2021) Again, this returns is just for reference. At the end of the day, what you originally invest in and the final amount will be the absolute profit.
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.
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 and continues to do well.
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.
e. The government bonds remains to be on the downside which is expected though it recovered a little as compared to the previous month. The impact is negligible.
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
With the internet, news and services get rolled out pretty at a light speed. Recently, the blog community and several other channels (likely paid/sponsored) has seen a new service in town. It isn’t your usual savings or investment account but instead a Goldback account. At at current, it looks really simple at this point in time. I’m not sure what they have in store for future development. (https://onelink.to/hugosave)
Hugo Save or Wealthcare
Savings are made made simpler through the Hugo Save App. How this works is through Roundups – every transaction on the Hugo Platinum Visa Debit Card is rounded up to the nearest dollar. This weekly Roundup savings are then automatically invested into real physical gold via the Hugo Gold Vault.
There are also other options such as:
1. Micro Investments – Grab Invest (Nothing Fancy but also nothing exciting). These have no lock-ins.
2. Micro Insurance – SNACK by Income. They offer small insurance benefits that build up over time. They can be a good source of insurance coverage for freelancers or folks who just came to employment.
3. With Hugo, they focus on savings and what more can they do to provide it as a platform to save eventually rounded into Gold.
a. You sign up with your details here at Hugo: https://www.hugosave.com/, click on the download button.
b. Fill and submit your details. I believe they have a pretty quick turnaround. Meanwhile, you will need a photo of your NRIC and selfie as a check.
c. Within the next business day, you should have your account setup and proceed into the app to get your physical card. This portion takes about 2 weeks minimally to obtain the physical card and start spending.
Each account is provided with an account number and a DBS Swift Code which is safeguarded within DBS Bank. You can load money via FAST to your account at Hugo
c. You can then explore to create moneypots (Savings) and if you spend on your card, there will be a round up function which will complete your micro savings into what they call Goldback.
Features
There are several features on the app:
You can add money pots to create saving goals. (for example – different kid, PS5, new gadget) Take note though that there will not be any interest earned.
Separately, there is a Gold Vault which you can:
regularly invest in by setting a monthly date and amount to put into Gold
Ad-hoc invest into the Gold account.
The Gold account in the Gold Vault is physical gold allocated against your investments. They are stored in an accredited London Bullion Market Association vault and insured by Lloyds of London.
Some Partnership links
It seems like HugoSave have a couple of partnership links that users can take advantage of:
a. From Circles (Telco): https://bit.ly/HugoXCirclesLife (minimum S$40 payment for 5 bills, get $S20 in staggered Goldback payment) You will need to be a Circles customers I suppose and looks like they have a promotion code to sign up too.
b. From Ohm Energy (Electricity Retailer): https://bit.ly/HugoXOhm (minimum S$40 payment for 5 bills, get $S30 in staggered Goldback payment) You will need to be an Ohm customer I suppose and looks like they have a promotion code to sign up too.
My Personal Thoughts
Pros
Good things first – When i first checked this out, the first thing that came to mind was a structured way to save money. This works for me in terms of setting saving goals for myself and pocket money for my kids.
The idea of roundups came in as a fresh perspective. Putting it into Gold was a little off-putting initially but i figured out that it is a safe haven so no harm to do so.
Next, I eventually thought about freelancers and people who say that they can’t really save every month. This put in to practice what you can really do now. Putting money pots and fix your savings without spending it.
With the increase and new generation into freelance work, this will help people in terms of educating savings. You have a fixed
Cons
I’m just thinking as a devil’s advocate. Should there be more than Gold as an option in this roundup function?
Next up, the physical card took rather long to arrive before I can use it. Perhaps, there can be consideration for spending on the numberless card before it arrives.
Are there any signup perks for customers? Since the objective is driven by savings instead of an interest bearing account. Considering that I can do the same via a Bank app, what is the edge other than purely savings.
Afterall, I’m pretty seasoned in this new app, new services stuff. They spend money to acquire customers, then roll a tight budget to stay sustainable. Nothing wrong in doing so, that’s just entrepreneurship and staying relevant.
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.
Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations
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.
June 2021 performance (Since Day One Deposit)
In portfolio terms, it is up +17.77% on 30June 2021 since inception in June 2020. The portfolio size isn’t something great. Just a net deposit of 2,300. 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. June was a stable month at least.
If we look at Time Weighted Returns, it is the more accurate to account of deposit and withdrawals. Again, this returns is just for reference. At the end of the day, what you originally invest in and the final amount will be the absolute profit.
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.
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 and continues to do well.
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
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
Some of the more interesting local context is that Revolut tries hard to bring in new partnerships such as 20% cashback on public transport by using the card and so on. Brands such as Nike.sg, Lazada, Decathlon and iHerb is already on their cashback programme. I find that these cashback returns are pretty decent and you can redirect your funds to purchasing cryptocurrency if you wish to. Otherwise, you can just leave that as cash.
