S$280 from SCB Bonus$aver Account

For cash solutions, there are plenty of those around on robo-advisors. Cash solutions actually mean as good as cash. They can also be termed as money market solutions. In terms of allocation, they can be considered riskier than holding cash and less risky compared to bonds. Generally, the risk is lower as compared to any investments.

Cash Solutions/Management

Most of the solutions are termed as cash management. It may sound complicated, it is just another term or a financial description.

i. It can be a series of money market funds combined to get a yield.

ii. Some of these cash solutions also be cash backed by loans/mortgage/cheap loans.

iii. When there are deals or directive from a company, there can be a combination of marketing dollars and promotions. These benefits the consumers usually.

There are multiple creative fiduciary ways to get a better yield however not all are covered under SDIC. This means that if there is a bank run – Your first S$75k in the bank covered by SDIC is secure.

The SCB Bonus Saver account

Standard Chartered Bank is running an interesting promotion for customers who currently do not have a Bonus Saver Account. The clause is that you need to transfer fresh funds (Not from Standard Chartered Bank) to the newly opened Bonus Saver account.

As a result from using SingPass to apply online, you will get an additional S$30. (Total: $208 via Bonus Saver + S$30 via SingPass) Hang on there. If you sign up via SingSaver, you get a little more!

a. The first condition is to fund SGD 50,000 into the Bonus$aver account until the end of the next month. This means that if you opened the account in May, you have to keep the cash in there until end of June)

b. The second condition is to take note of the promotion end date. That will be 31 May 2021. There is still 10 days to go from today 21 May 2021. The account opening is almost instantaneous.

If you apply the Bonus Saver account via SingSaver here at SingSaver Bonus Saver Promotion

Option wise, you can choose to get a set of Apple AirPods Pro (worth S$379) or S$250 cash when you make a min. fresh funds deposit of S$50,000 + S$30 cash upon account opening. Validity will be till 2 Jun 2021.

(Total: $250 via Bonus Saver + S$30 via SingPass) Sweet.

Take note of the charges

  • After you receive your payout take note of the – Fall below fee (fee incurred if you fail to meet the minimum average daily balance of S$3,000): S$5 per month [This is the item you need to take note of]
  • Early account closure fee: S$30 (within 6 months of opening) [Close it after 6 months if you do not require this account]
  • Cheque book fee (optional): S$10 [Not required in my opinion]
  • Debit card annual fee: S$20 [I don’t think we will get there]
  • Credit card annual fee: S$214 [I don’t think we will get there]

How to apply?

If you are looking to apply for the Bonus$aver account and Bonus$aver credit card, you will have to be between 21 to 65 years old.

Click on this link: SingSaver Bonus$aver to apply.

Terms & Conditions

Check out the T&Cs here before you apply: SCB Terms and Conditions

Just a disclaimer, I don’t get anything from this. It’s just a good deal how I see it.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.

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

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

A reward for a survey (Depends if it is worth your time) – Fully Redeemed

So, a friend of mine shared a link about the LTA survey here. This Link here LTA Survey. (I was informed that this is fully redeemed now)

Giving your views

Frankly, for S$10 it doesn’t really do much but again everyone is different. Some people actually think that when they save less or get a deal that isn’t the best as losing money.

So if you have some time, why not consider doing this. It will also help by giving some real thoughts and helping to build Singapore. I’m not quite sure if there will be a reward for this but if you have some time, why not then.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.

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

The pictures were taken from relevant website for this article. Stay Safe!

Portfolios Test – Baptism of Fire (Robos, Cryptos, Value Investors & more)

Portfolio Drawdowns

In the year 2020, almost anything that you buy in any asset class will make you some money. Going into the year 2021, it is going to be a tough year. As I mentioned many times, portfolios will go through their baptism of fire. Perhaps it is the month of May. As the saying goes, sell in May and go away? It is going to be a trying year. This year, we will most likely see portfolios taking a hit. This is the time to put all those concepts to use.

Equity markets are pricing in the real leverage, over trading and over optimism with inflation risks and other factors to concerning investors. What are the other reasons? Frankly no one will know. Risky assets are always risky and they reward you with the rewards if you are spot on.

It is always hindsight

No one has any crystal ball so stop looking for gurus. As emotional as many people out there, I see green with envy for others who make the one hit wonder and 1000x their portfolio. The truth is, I doubt that I will even go into that kind of trade. However, it doesn’t stop me from trying stuff out. You never know which one might hit the jackpot.

Cryptocurrency – The way?

Dreaming of 100 BTC at USD 10? If it ever gets there again, will you buy a 100 of those? This is a question only every individual can answer on their own. To put things to perspective, d not look at what others have. Instead, look at your own portfolio and see what make sense of it. What does it serve and what is your target?

There are plenty of blogs out there who have different styles and objective. Their aim is not yours. We are all unique in nature. Learning to cope with drawdowns are key to the investment journey. Don’t panic, keep calm and keep buying. Just continue to do what you are doing consistently, results will show for itself when the time comes.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.

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

The pictures were taken from relevant website for this article. Stay Safe!

SHIB or Shit Coins (Cryptocurrency)

There has been a number of crazy movements in the crypto world. No one can really explain the reason fundamentally but it created a bunch of young millionaires especially from Elon Musk little tweet about Dogecoin.

With only 11 days in the market, Shiba coins seems to be the next trend of meme coins. Woof Paper perhaps of white paper: https://www.shibatoken.com/

Pretty funny comments I would say reading the whitepaper. I hope VB burns or keep SHIB.

Buy or Risk? It really depends on your risk taking level. No pain no gain, no risk no returns.

Currently, it seems like you can use 2 ways to purchase SHIB:

a. Buy via Crypto.com App

b. Buy via metamask [Through the Ethereum (ETH) network]

c. You can buy it through Binance now. That’s pretty huge.

Crypto trading and currency is not for everyone so do your own diligence. Don’t FOMO, invest wisely. Good luck! Now, to the moon.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Crypto.com to trade any other coins, Use this Crypto.com App to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD. Referral Code: im3py887ty

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 SHIB website for reference.

Syfe – Performance Mar 2021

Here is yet another robo advisor that I get on my portfolio since the start of 2020. It has been okay I feel. Ever since 2020, it has been a year and till today – I’m not exactly convinced though.

I am caught in both minds. I like reits but yet I don’t quite like Singapore equities in general. Dividend paying equities are definitely good but yet I have more appetite for a growth company. It is just not that sustainable over the long term I feel. Where are the money coming from to build more creativity and expand their business.

Why Syfe?

When the markets were down during March 2020, it was quite exciting times because those were the kind of period which I actually will put money into investments. To a certain extent, I have also put money into other robo advisors such as Endowus and StashAway. While those are more of a “global diversification”, Syfe is more of a local bias for it’s Reits+ Portfolio and truth be told I then took the plunge for a small amount just to try it out a non-DIY approach to Reits investing.

Next, what I struggled with then over the period is that there were quite a discount off many equity tickers and I didn’t really know what to buy or what to expect since the market was in a downtrend. As with every investment, making a rational or emotional decision can only be determined after the event has passed. Reits has since risen, dropped and risen yet again. Frankly, I’ve been busy to keep looking into my own portfolio.

I haven’t got around to increase the investment funds so it is only a very small initial amount. Partly, my mind tells me to do dollar cost averaging for my other investments so we still have to see how things go.

Performance (March 2021)

12 months has gone by and +23.44% is pretty insane in my opinion. Then again, the base that I started out with is quite a fantastic benchmark so maybe that isn’t too fair. From here, there isn’t fresh funds invested as I am think more about my overall portfolio. I do think I have enough of the local investments and typically Singapore equities are rather slow and neutral in performance. Even the STI isn’t that exciting in my opinion. If you really look at a 50 year and beyond horizon for S&P 500, it is an amazing uptrend with good returns.

Do use my referral code to get some benefits when you sign up a new account with Syfe. Referral Code: SRPTSMQ5J

You will get (Find our more about their referral scheme here Syfe Signup) :

a. S$10 bonus if you invest S$500

b. S$50 bonus if you invest S$10,000

c. S$100 bonus if you invest S$20,000

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 Referral and Recommendations

The pictures were taken from Syfe website for this article.

When exactly is the best time to invest?

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.

A New Chinese New Year

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://lifejourney840443474.wordpress.com/contact/

Thank you in advance for the support.

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

2020 – The Year in Review

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?

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.