Ever since the CPFB introduced a colorful pie chart of our CPF savings a few years ago, I would look forward to mine every year like a teena...
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28 November 2016:
If you have read this article before and if you fell short, have you made any progress? If this is your first time reading this article and if you fall short, there is no better time to take action than now!
-------------------------- We might want to ask ourselves a few questions:
1. Do we pay ourselves first each month? 2. Do we dine at restaurants frequently? 3. Do we delay gratification? 4. Do we have the right insurance? 5. Do we maximise benefits from the CPF? 6. Do we have an adequate emergency fund? 7. Do we keep an eye on credit card debt?
Increasing our earned income is but one step in our quest to become wealthier. We must also be prudent when it comes to spending money.
We absolutely should have proper measures in place to guard against involuntary wealth destruction.
Finally, we have to recognise legal and ethical opportunities to build wealth and capitalise on them.
Here is an inspiring email from a reader:
Dear AK,
I was smiling when I was reading this post (I'm not mad) but was delighted to find out someone had benefited from your blog like me. (AK says see related post #2 at the end of this blog post.)
Salary Management - Now, growing wealth and management have been a common topic between my husband and I. So first salary management, for the two months at home as a "free-loader" cum housewife, I decided to make myself useful and forced myself to write down all the fixed monthly recurring payments and worked out some strategy with my husband.
Strategy: For the first joint account, we credited our salaries and that will be the spending account. A second joint account is created for savings/travel. Once the $10k is reached, we will transfer that sum to the 3rd joint account as emergency funds. Every month, we will save minimum $2500, of which, $2000 will go to the second joint acct and $500 will go to the 3rd account.
We hardly eat at restaurants. We don't see a point in celebrating any events by going to expensive restaurants. If we want to pamper ourselves, we would buy good salmon and beef from the wet market, and cook at home.
A good part of the motivation was achieve financial independence. A small part,it may not sound that nice.
Delayed Gratification - This probably took some mental muscles. My husband and I are active in sports. We run 10k and half marathons. Now the cycling bug has bitten us. We are the sort where we would pay for quality goods so that the goods can last longer. We set our sight on a $4000 road bike each because eventually we would want to do an Ironman in our lifetime.
AK is also thinking of buying a bicycle. This costs $138. Hmmm.
Every time, we talked about it, we would feel guilty and sometimes your words would cross our minds. (See! You are that influential!). In the past, once we have saved that budget, then we would spend or use 0% interest free installment. Although we have set that budget, both of us agreed that we should delay the purchase until next year June and save aggressively now till it's way above the bikes' cost. Then decide again.
Insurance - Two insurance agents I spoke to, asked if I want to be a part-time agent. My husband always laughed when I challenged the agents. We are fixed on buying term insurance.
CPF - We have transferred part of the amount from OA to SA. The painful part was, I should have read your blog before letting HDB wiped out my OA. That's $38k which could have earned 5% in my SA. Ah...
Investments - Like what you have recommended when I first wrote to you, we have to make sure that our safety nets are secured and now the priority is to grow our emergency funds and get adequate insurance. Yup, so we would be delaying investments until the first two are settled.
Credit Cards - We are starting to make it a habit to check the credit card usage at least once every week and not wait until the day our salaries come in. This would prevent overspending. We tried those expenses app where you enter every purchase, that has not gone down too well. To start small, we will check our credit card balance regularly.
Sorry for the long post and I can see why blogging can also be "talking to myself". Halfway through the email, I also felt like talking to myself.
Thank you AK,
Impressed? I know I am. Well done!
Remember, for anyone, the best time to start on the journey towards financial freedom is now.
It has been a while since I blogged about a movie although I have watched quite a few since the last time I blogged about one. Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In one word, epic!
C3PO and R2D2, move over!
BB8 is the new star of the show!
I watched my first Star Wars movie in Capitol Theatre when I was in Primary 3, if I remember correctly. I have watched every single Star Wars movie since. Yes, I am a big fan. If you are a fan like I am and if you are a male in your 40s, you should be and you would want to watch this latest episode. I enjoyed the movie partly because it was like a family reunion with all the original cast although all much older now. Yes, I know. Sentimentality is a sign of old age. Although I suspected that it would happen, it was still very sad when Hans Solo died at the hands of his own son (whom he fathered with Princess Leia). Their son who called Darth Vader his maternal grandfather went to the Dark Side, in case you are wondering.
I will miss Hans Solo.
OK, on to a delightful find. The Millenium Falcon! Yes, older and dirtier but it still packed a punch! I dreamt of flying in the Millenium Falcon when I was a boy. Luke Skywalker had the easiest job in the movie, appearing only at the end, standing on top of a mountain, looking contemplative. We don't have to contemplate too much. We know to look out for the next episode. I am not going to say very much else except to thank my broker for the treat.
It is always very heart warming to receive thoughtfully written emails from readers and I would like to share another one here.
Hi AK,
My name is C and I am Pig too (younger batch though). :P
I was introduced to your blog 2 months ago by a friend who is a avid stock trader/investor, a month before my birthday, hence I see it as a God-given birthday gift because it really is.
I initially suspected his intention of pestering me to invest in shares since he has lost quite a sum of money in stock market (due to Ezra). "Why would he pull me down the muddy water" I thought to myself before, as I have always been frugal and risk-averse (which means I am those kind that sitting on cash). However I started to appreciate his intention after reading your blog posts and others (Tan Kin Lian and some of your guest bloggers).
These are what happened to me after reading your blogs:
1) I realised that I have double cover for H&S (Aviva My Shield Plus and AIA HealthShield Gold Prestige) from 2 different insurance agents. Excess payment of $1400. I am cancelling AIA one.
2) Liquidated unit trusts which I placed through my insurance agent, paying 5% front-load fee and other charges which I ended up suffering capital loss of $2xx. Plus $2k loss of CPF-OA 2.5% compounded interests, not to mention the future compounded interests on this interest lost. *heartache*
3) Open OCBC 360 account to maximise idle cash while waiting for opportunities
4) Open CIMB trading account and nibbled on OCBC counter at $8.70. Thinking of nibbling on FCT and Ascendas REITS.
5) Contemplating of cashing out Tokio Marine life insurance which I bought 5 years ago and buy term life instead. $2k annual premium for 25 years for $200k sum assured upon death/TPD/CI seems insufficient. Guaranteed return is low at 1.5% IRR while non-guaranteed is between 2.5% to 4% upon 67 years old, while the benefits illustration stated 3.75% to 5.25% *roll eyes*
6) Thinking of transferring some money from CPF-OA to SA and leave the rest for my first property at age 35. May consider MS top up of $7k to benefit from tax relief. But CPF website is down, couldn't do bank transfer for the time being. Duh -__-
7) Your blog posts on property investment broke the old beliefs I had. Used to think that house is an investment even if it is owner-occupied and I used to want a big house. Now, I feel blessed renting than buying, as the rental cost $600 p.m. is cheaper than the monthly mortgage instalment. Not sure if property market will revert to 2009-2010 pricing in near future, but it changed my mindset when comes to house-hunting in the near term.
Although you always say that blogging is a hobby and you are just talking to yourself, your knowledge and experience sharing undoubtedly serves a higher purpose- helping those financially-illiterate folks like myself to seriously look into own finances and make full use of the limited cash to achieve financial independence and better, financial freedom. After-all, aren't we all striving for a better life and money is a mean to get to that?
I guess it is fated that it is a year of massive change for me - not only that I was introduced your blogs and I diligently reading it, I have just joined a new company few months ago, and there are female colleagues that are also into stock/ppty investment and one of them even threw a question on why I paid so much for my whole life insurance for that sum assured!?!?!?
All these events are like a nudge for me to review my own finances and make good of what was lacking, and then seriously put money to work, to benefit from the beauty of compounding interest and probably the deep correction in stock market, if it ever happen.
Not to mention that I feel ashamed for making so many mistakes in personal financial management, especially so that I am a Chartered Accountant. Like my sister said: "Accountant also lost money? that's a mission impossible."
Anyway, I have come to term that I made silly mistakes and I still could make things right. I am writing just to let you know that PLEASE keep on blogging, you wouldn't know how many ppls you have helped indirectly along the way. Thank you, AK!
Keep in touch,
~ C
I could talk to myself until the cows come home but we must want to make changes to be better off financially.
To everyone who has taken the first step, soldier on and you will thank yourself in future.
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