tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555044005801789802011-12-13T17:31:17.057+08:00investment . personal finance . booksAlvinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-64114615105314651022008-09-24T18:30:00.004+08:002008-09-24T18:36:22.003+08:00

Following the marketing success of "The Secret", many people became aware of the law of attraction. Thereafter, it inspired many other authors and experts to step out and began talking about law of attraction. Did you get bought in by the idea? Do you believe that by having the correct thoughts, you can attract whatever you want in life (yes, including loads of money)?It is quite hard for people

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-25954184184263457192008-09-22T16:30:00.001+08:002008-09-22T16:30:00.563+08:00

Photo credit: Dan4thDo you believe I said it - protect your money by doing nothing.Yes, it is true. I mean what I say.There are two parts to this...InvestingFirst, it relates to investing. From the Mark Tier's book, "The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett and George Soros", the 10th habit advises us to have infinite patience when it comes to investing."When the Master Investor cannot

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-57040512664593817662008-09-21T20:10:00.004+08:002008-09-21T20:29:47.906+08:00

Mr Tan Kin Lian is the ex-CEO of NTUC Income and currently, leveraging on his vast experience in the insurance industry, he is teaching the public about personal finance, insurance and investment. His investment philosophy lies in low cost index funds. You can visit his blog: http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/OR his personal website:http://www.tankinlian.com/index.html If you need advice on

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-53643064313159905222008-09-17T21:40:00.000+08:002008-09-17T21:42:50.352+08:00

Recent spat of bad news reminded us that the saga in the financial industry is not over yet. The downfall of top investment banks is a genuine worrying sight. It began with the write-off of sub-prime related debts by the top banks from all around the world. Bear Stearns was the first casualty and saw itself bought out by JPMorgan. Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were bailout by Fed.

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-68368267320140047082008-09-15T19:16:00.005+08:002008-09-15T19:32:46.022+08:00

Have you read "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind"? I chanced upon a 6 part video of his seminar. Catch his charismatic presentation and I believe it can motivate you towards attaining your financial freedom. Enjoy! (you can also read the book summary here)Part 1/6Part 2/6Part 3/6Part 4/6Part 5/6Part 6/6

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-87611905328337483082008-09-11T18:42:00.001+08:002008-09-11T18:51:51.585+08:00

Photo credit: Marcio EugenioI don't know about you. But I do have 2 bank accounts. One is known as an "operating account" where my salary gets paid into as well as all my expenditures are taken from. Here is the list of transactions are made with this account: Income:- SalaryExpenditure:- Bills payment- Loan installment - Insurance premium - Cash withdrawal - Share payment- Petrol costs-

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-14873788157722487212008-09-06T10:35:00.001+08:002008-09-06T10:37:32.514+08:00

Photo credit: Will Lion1) Live simplyThe widely used phrase, "live below your means", advises us to spend less than our earning power. We all have desires and wants but we have to know our limits - not to spend beyond what we can afford. Though it is easier said than done, we still need to have the discipline to control our wants. Not to end up in debt is one thing, to be able to save is another.

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-14437388354821898262008-08-30T21:20:00.000+08:002008-08-30T21:23:35.947+08:00

Book Summary: Why trade Forex? 1) A market that is open 24 hours with only Sunday as a non-trading day 2) Highest trading volume market in the world = high liquidity 3) Only need to monitor 4 major currency pairs closely instead of numerous companies 4) Considerably large daily trading range 5) Shorting is allowed 6) High leverage 7) Convenient trading service, infrastructure and tools widely

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-69724675533368736742008-08-27T21:35:00.000+08:002008-08-27T21:36:45.126+08:00

Photo credit: Matthew J. StinsonJim Rogers showed his optimism on the future of Chinese economy in his latest book, "Bull in China". Currently living in Singapore, he even got his daughter to learn Chinese language! He has recommended many Chinese companies and non-Chinese companies who have a great presence in the Chinese market. I have picked out only the companies that are listed in

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-64655216305019205882008-08-23T08:07:00.008+08:002008-08-23T08:50:48.288+08:00

photo credit: Fort PhotoWhat has nature got to do with the economy? John Bogle mentioned about a gardener from the movie "Being There", and what we can learn about nature that is analogous to our economy. Chance was just a gardener who got kicked out from the house after his owner died. Being forced to go out to the world for the first time in his life, he met a President's advisor, Rand, who

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-51724091323740286772008-08-16T17:00:00.000+08:002008-08-16T17:01:45.924+08:00

People have always wondered why the stock market fluctuates. The phenomenon has kept many brilliant academic scholars bewildered, and they are still attempting to understand and explain how the market operates. One of the major theory is the Efficient Market Theory, which simply states that the stock prices will constantly adjusts and reflects exactly how the companies are doing. People either

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-31432782508369733422008-08-03T21:50:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:28.255+08:00

Book summary: The famous turtle program was the fruit of the debate between Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt, on the issue of whether traders are can be nurtured. Dennis believed it can but Eckhardt thought otherwise. Hence, they decided to make a bet by recruiting people from diverse background and most without experience. The book covered the entire story of the turltes, from the beginning

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-5446561513364995842008-07-31T21:24:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:28.369+08:00

The annual Invest Fair is here again! Investors or potential investors should go and see the latest offerings from the exhibitors. There are almost 50 exhibitors ranging from brokers to property developers. Attend the free seminars that you are interested in! Seminars are conducted throughout the two days in 4 rooms. Hope to see you there!Date: 16 to 17 Aug 08Venue: Suntec Singapore International

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-52036568171274025972008-07-27T10:11:00.005+08:002008-12-09T14:13:28.630+08:00

Congratulations to Mr Nixon Neo who had won the first ever contest conducted by bigfatpurse! He will receive "Personal Financial Planning in Singapore by Andy Ong and Lee Boon Keng" for the prize. Here is the winning entry:"... I am learning and researching about financial trading and found your blog informative. Being a book lover, your book reviews are valuable. You seem to give a holistic

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-7748550135144886502008-07-24T21:30:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:28.712+08:00

photo credit: davespilbrowPenny wise pound foolish - Save on the little things, especially daily expenses like food. However, when it comes to big ticket items like the latest electronic gadgets, this group of people will not be able to resist the temptation to buy. They tend to waste their effort on saving in one single purchase.Pound wise penny foolish - Splurge or willing to spend a little

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-29914890771019751542008-07-22T16:30:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:28.816+08:00

photo credit: mtsofanI found Adam Khoo's concept of "Level of Acceptance" rather interesting and true. But how is it related to the amount of your monthly income? He theorized that besides the level of acceptance, there exists a level of expectation. Level of expectation is what you aspire or dream to have while level of acceptance is the level that you are able to live with. For e.g., you dream

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-50153647142127644692008-07-20T16:35:00.009+08:002008-12-09T14:13:29.226+08:00

These are some of the best money blogs offering many money saving tips for readers. I think you will find it helpful. Do tell me if you have other recommendations! The Digerati LifeMoney and personal finance blog in Silicon Valley URL: http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/ My Money Blog URL: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/ The Simple DollarFinancial Talk for the rest of us URL: http://

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-83317056041450279772008-07-16T13:00:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:29.528+08:00

Book ReviewA very good book for beginners where everyone can understand without any difficulties. Most importantly, it keeps stressing the reader to take action! Providing you numbers to call, what to look out for, questions to ask and step-by-step instructions to set things into motion. As the title suggests, it really makes it automatic requiring only a one time setup. You only need to

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-43545150684613410712008-07-12T23:59:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:29.643+08:00

CONTEST HAS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!Been an avid reader, I have amassed quite a number of books at home that to an extent, my shelf is running out of space. Instead of auctioning it at eBay or Yahoo!, I have an idea of giving it to my readers! To thank you for supporting my blog! Though it is an used book, it is still in a very good condition (nicely wrapped up!). Most importantly, it

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-32317011063459186822008-07-12T09:30:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:29.895+08:00

The truth is - I am disappointed. Maybe I expected too much from it. But don't get me wrong, I remembered Adam Khoo's book, "Secrets of Self-made Millionaires", was one of the most motivating books that got me into action towards financial freedom. It was a really great book that is worth many times its price. However, his online product is disappointing.Here are the reasons why:the book was more

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-42285637287166773432008-07-06T09:40:00.006+08:002008-12-09T14:13:30.168+08:00

Book Review: I admit, I was pretty sceptical in the first place. Being overwhelmed by the law of attraction, you would not blame me right? Yes, this is one of the earliest books using the principle of the law of attraction. I was quite uncomfortable reading the language style – not our modern day style but of the yester years (note that this book was written in 1930s). Thus, a little more

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-77893000281936373242008-06-29T10:40:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:30.303+08:00

photo credit: nickwheelerozI attended a seminar on financial planning recently which was delivered by millionaire and one of country's top financial advisers, Thomas Matthew. The organizer is IPP Financial Advisers which I believe Thomas Matthew is one of the partners. An engaging speaker he is indeed, able to capture attention of the audience. Most of his principles that he brought across was

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-25228461350736483332008-06-24T17:00:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:30.463+08:00

photo credit: architekt2I came across a new fund that is rather interesting - Barclays Investment Legend Fund. The fund invests in companies and funds operated by today's top investors - or the investment legends:Warren Buffett - Berkshire HathawayJim Rogers - Rogers International Commodity IndexBill Gross - PIMCOIan Cumming and Joseph Steinberg - Leucadia National CorpMark Mobius - Templeton

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-3071010665921129762008-06-22T11:35:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:30.620+08:00

Book review:The book was written in 2004 and predicted that the market would peak in 2008. It was alarmingly accurate so far. If the author is right, we would be in the bear market for the next 7 years.At times, the author sounds like a prophet to me, drawing relations from Bible, Chinese Zodiacs and astronomical phenomenon. I felt a little discomfort on that portion. To reinforce his theory, he

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-13697456139135136742008-06-15T14:26:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:30.759+08:00

I have always been a fan of Seth Godin as I find his ideas are brilliant and are brought across in a manner that is interesting and easy to understand. Recently, I read his book titled, "The Dip", and I found it relevant to adapt his concepts into the realm of investment though he did not really intend to.Lesson 1 - Diversification is mediocrity"A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-7467700746458383802008-06-08T10:30:00.006+08:002008-12-09T14:13:31.508+08:00

Book Summary:Why invest in commodities?All investors should understand commodities as they served as a hedge against a bear stock market. This is because commodities and stocks are negatively correlated - commodities in bull run while stocks in bear run. The central issue of what makes commodities price go up or down is due to the law of supply and demand. Demand higher than supply = higher

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-85678845363021052682008-05-25T15:20:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:31.839+08:00

Market makers recently swamped the market with offers for retail investors to gain exposure to agriculture. Many retail investors are lured by the rising cost of agricultural products, to either hedge or take advantage of the situation. Here are some of the products that I have found:BNP Paribas Agriculture Fund- Tracks 2 agriculture indices: S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index Agriculture &

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-47182990228091971442008-05-16T14:55:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.004+08:00

photo credit - thinkpanamaAs our warrant market in Singapore is beginning to mature, more types of warrant are being introduced in SGX. Certificates are part of the warrant family. They serve investors who have a particular view and stand about current or near future market movement, and would want to take advantage of it.Types of certificates currently available in SGX:Participation certificates

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-24412145716481418272008-05-11T14:20:00.005+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.118+08:00

Photo credit - *MarSRICI is an index of various commodities introduced by Jim Rogers in 1998. Jim Rogers was a partner with George Soros in the successful Quantum Fund. He has been bullish on commodities and had published a book titled "Hot Commodities" in 2004. In his words, "People are consuming more and more, with fewer farmers and less farmland. Agriculture prices must go higher." He expects

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-29083904646915928762008-05-09T11:10:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.295+08:00

Harv Eker runs a 3 day course titled "Millionaire Mind Intensive", and the book is actually a condensed version of the course. You can find out more about the course from his website and I will go straight to the book. The book has two parts - Part 1 is where he talked about money blueprint and how everyone's money success is dependent on it. In part 2, he introduced 17 wealth files to be

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-31954979345368206542008-05-08T10:15:00.014+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.450+08:00

You may be a strong believer of the buy-and-hold strategy and an admirer of the world's richest investor, Warren Buffett. If you ask him when it is a good time to sell a stock, he will tell you almost never!So, what is the real reason that you should hold stocks for a long time rather than trading in the short term?John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Funds, studied the volatility of stocks in

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-58332784685769583672008-05-07T13:35:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.601+08:00

Want to buy gold? Do you know gold worth the most in the form of bullion bars? Gold jeweleries are not considered as good investment because the price that you paid includes designer and processing cost, on top of the gold material itself. These additional costs do not retain their value over time. On the other hand, buying gold bullions are very costly and not all retail investors can afford

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-19862066973003465832008-05-06T22:50:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:32.868+08:00

Photo Credit: Nemo's great uncleWe are honored to have an insurance consultant, Hendri, to explain to us the differences between whole life policy and term policy, and the implications that come along with either one of them.1) Hi Hendri, I noticed there is a school of thought that believes in buying term insurance and investing the amount of premium saved from a whole life policy. Do you think

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-13687933765202133082008-05-04T08:20:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:33.109+08:00

There are 3 important financial statements to the fundamental investors. They are:1) Income Statement2) Balance Sheet3) Cash Flow StatementHere are the brief descriptions of the components of the 3 financial statements. Each component contains several sub-components themselves.Revenue - Amount of money earned by the company.Expenses - Cost of running the company and business.Profits - Difference

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-83464406453276005522008-05-01T12:51:00.006+08:002008-07-07T19:57:48.922+08:00

Why aren't you rich? Do you want to be a millionaire? Do you know what it takes to be one?Everyone has this powerful asset to be rich, but most people do not use it. In fact, they use it wrongly, totally opposite to how the rich use it. Do you know what it is? Yes, it is your mind. You need to have the mindset of the rich to be rich!The fundamental principles to become rich apply to all, no

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-71242736354566155672008-04-30T12:40:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:33.255+08:00

Buy a car with $0 deposit! $0 driveaway!After 5 years...Hey, I cannot get rid of my car! I still owe the bank money even if I sell the car! But wait a minute, the car dealer says I can bring forward my old loan when I buy a new car! Wow, I have been eyeing that red hot sexy convertible and now it can be a reality. Just take a new loan!Few months later...Oh no, my car loan installment is more than

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-11820132951791672212008-04-30T09:05:00.000+08:002008-04-30T12:42:36.864+08:00

The quote can exist in several forms:"Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.""Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world."I guess this is an urban legend and Einstein did not really say anything about compound interest, yet it is used so commonly nowadays. Here are the arguments:From markharrison,"The earliest mention of this quote that anyone seems to have been

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-74808748010784455862008-04-29T11:45:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:33.777+08:00

I just discovered another free resource for investment education!Morningstar is one of the most reputable mutual fund performance trackers and analysts in the United States. Thus, you can trust what they teach!They offer 4 courses1) Stocks - 5 levels2) Funds - 5 levels3) Bonds - 2 levels4) Portfolio - 5 levelsIn return for their free course, you would need to register to their website. They will

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-13689881893445554942008-04-29T09:55:00.001+08:002008-04-29T10:20:38.778+08:00

Cum-dividend (CD) comes before Ex-dividend (XD). A stock is said to be CD indicates that the company is paying out dividend in the near future which serves like a preempt notice to investors. The company would have announced the amount of dividend to be paid out but has yet to. If the shareholder sells a CD stock, he/she is not entitled to the dividend. There has to be a cut off date that the

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-13476353908121973322008-04-28T11:25:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:33.916+08:00

There are 5 factors that affect the price of warrants (Don't know what are warrants? Click here). The first three factors are the more influential ones as compared to the last two.1) Underlying priceThis is the most obvious factor since anyone that buys a warrant expects the underlying stock to move in a particular direction. Remember every warrant has a strike price? The difference between the

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-17212882604461041182008-04-27T11:55:00.007+08:002008-12-09T14:13:33.980+08:00

Good day! I just came across a great easy to follow website that teaches the basics of Forex and I am so excited to share with you. The best thing is that it is free! It would save you money from buying any forex guidebook for beginners.What I like about this website:1) Clean, cute and organized layout so you can navigate around the site easily. Nowadays, there are not many sites that spare you

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-17602006928269416582008-04-26T10:20:00.013+08:002008-12-09T14:13:35.483+08:00

There have been many investment courses appearing in advertisements lately and gaining a lot of exposure. Are these courses useful? I would like to quote Derek Bok (again) - "If education is expensive, try ignorance." One should try to invest in yourself so as to be better prepared and increase your chance of winning in the market. I have spotted the following courses and wrote some brief notes

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-31310537803193927602008-04-22T19:30:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:35.588+08:00

photo credit: john pI believe many new car buyers will have problems determining a budget when buying a car. I will show you how to calculate your budget based on your ability to finance the car in 5 steps.Step 1 - What is the amount you can fork out for the deposit? D = ____Step 2 - What is the amount of monthly installment you can afford for the car loan. M = ____Please note that you must take

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-28479389473019021332008-04-19T23:15:00.007+08:002008-12-09T14:13:35.676+08:00

Photo credit: Robert FonalThe full quote - "It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong."Soros's style of trading is very unforgiving and he is always ready to admit when he is wrong and cut his losses. Admitting one's mistake is one of the key things to successful trading - he or she will be

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-57015710816237559982008-04-05T10:49:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:36.067+08:00

Warren Buffett is a supporter of Fisher's ideas of growth investing; enough said.Book Summary:An outstanding investment has to satisfy the following fifteen points:1) Potential sales increment for several yearsInvestors should look at long term sales growth projection of a company and not make the judgement based on its performance year by year. This is due to the nature of business cycle which

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-21159238396853549972008-04-01T22:47:00.008+08:002008-12-09T14:13:36.232+08:00

Photo credit: JavierThe full quote - "Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That’s all I’m trying to do."This quote really sums up the essence of Warren Buffett's method of investing. Firstly, he treats investment as buying a business - how many of us see it this way? He

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-13425599578013386032008-03-30T19:40:00.004+08:002008-12-09T14:13:36.369+08:00

Photo credit: Peter TittenbergerDerek Bok is not exactly an investment guru, but I would like to borrow this phrase to investment as I feel it is very apt to 2 groups of people. The first group consists of the financial illiterates - They failed to realize the importance to make plans for their personal finance, and because of the failure to plan, they find themselves stuck in the rat race. They

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-54029083557049288382008-03-30T15:40:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:36.592+08:00

I will only touch on the focus of the book which is Warren Buffett's investment philosophies.There are 12 tenets grouped in 4 categories namely, business tenets, management tenets, financial tenets and value tenets.Book Summary:BUSINESS TENETSSimple and Understandable BusinessInvest in your "circle of competence", that is, business that you understand. In this way, you can accurately interpret

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-89852272459535477782008-03-23T22:35:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:36.833+08:00

Photo credit: Scott WillsSupplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) is a retirement financial planning tool to augment the Central Provident Funds (CPF). The main difference is that the former is voluntary while the latter is compulsory. SRS was introduced in 2001 by the Singapore Government as a measure to deal with the increased financial needs of aging population. Why you should put money into SRS?

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-56899256804966703582008-03-23T19:20:00.005+08:002008-12-09T14:13:37.175+08:00

Found this article from The Straits Times dated 13th Feb 08, regarding CPF Life (the new compulsory annuity scheme first proposed during National Day Rally Speech 2007). The information will be useful for all Singaporeans and hence, posted here for your convenience:Workers aged 50 and younger who pay CPF will come under the new annuities scheme that starts in five years' time in the year 2013.1

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-31203929890779018352008-03-16T21:05:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:37.314+08:00

Photo credit: Rob LeeBonds are I.O.U. (“I Owe U”), debt related securities issued by government or companies. The issuer is the borrower and the bond buyer is the lender. The borrower promises to pay back the principal amount at a specific date. To compensate the lender, the borrower has to pay a fixed interest rate during the loan period. Bonds are usually long term, 10 or 20 years are

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-37035089177963445002008-03-16T11:59:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:37.498+08:00

The diagram shows a typical trend following model. Read further to understand the characteristics of trend following as an investing strategy:Contrarian market psychologyThe masses have often proven themselves wrong. Many so-called investors have short term price memory such that when they see a stock drop in price, they will think it is ‘cheap’ to buy. But more often than not, this ‘cheap’ stock

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-69175302272359853092008-02-22T20:28:00.011+08:002008-12-09T14:13:38.377+08:00

Time is money... You probably heard of compound interest or future value of money. They mean the same thing - money can grow over time due to the interest earned. Here is how you can calculate your future value of your investment: FV - Future ValuePV - Present Value i - interest rate (Annual rate of return in % / 100) n - no. of yearsExample: I invest $5,000 at an annual rate of return of 6% for

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-30230143177060684372008-02-22T18:30:00.003+08:002008-04-18T23:36:25.642+08:00

Rule of 72 is a quick and reasonably good estimate to determine how long a particular investment can double its value. It assumes a fixed annual rate of return. The formula is simply taking 72 divided by the annual rate of return. Example: I expect an annual return of 5% for my investment, it would take 72/5 = 14.4 years for me to double the value. You can use the online calculator from

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-18240294369080679772008-02-22T13:47:00.006+08:002008-02-22T15:09:56.632+08:00

Treasury bills (T-bills) are government issued securities to borrow money from the public (like an IOU from the government). As they are backed by government, it is widely accepted as a very safe instrument. However, in some countries where their economy is not as strong and stable, the risk of defaulting is higher. Investors are compensated for taking the risk by granting them a high interest

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-31950094023666085212008-02-08T18:30:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:39.230+08:00

Book Review:With so many web 2.0 supporters, it is important for someone to raise an opposite perspective of the downsides of this latest technological driver, so as to remind us that things are not as perfect as they seem, and really ask whether we are ready to accept these downsides. The author received many criticisms (as I surveyed the book reviews in Amazon), especially from apparent web

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-60891674861207702622008-01-28T23:40:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:39.479+08:00

Book Review:Funky Business is written by 2 Swedish Professors from Stockholm School of Economics, on their take on what the future business would be and how should companies change in order to survive in the new economy. The tone is more casual than usual business books so as not to dull the reader, but the quality of their points is not compromised, and do have references to back them up. They

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-79094372377639538192008-01-19T20:20:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:39.671+08:00

CANSLIM is a highly talked about stock picking system developed by William O'Neil. The system combines both fundamental and technical analysis of stocks and is derived from the extensive research of greatest winning stocks each year for the last half-century. He does not believe in value investing or buying stocks at a bargain. He prefers to pick leaders who can make a significant price movement

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-26509632185997418242008-01-15T23:40:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:40.196+08:00

Warrants are a form of financial derivatives. Derivatives' values are dependent on and derived from underlying assets. For e.g., for a warrant which tracks ABC company as the underlying asset, its value is dependent on ABC company's share price (Note: there are other factors that affect the price of a warrant).The definition of a warrant - a warrant gives you the right but not the obligation to

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-15323078626709173792008-01-12T23:20:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:40.334+08:00

Do you find it hard to save money and that even if you have tried, the figure in your bank account always remains stagnant? Saving money is the foundation of personal financial planning. Even if you are a capable high salaried personnel, you can end up poor with extravagant spending. Thus, I hope the following tips can help you to save money.Value money. As simple as it is, you need to value

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-16109701868357296672008-01-04T23:05:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:40.540+08:00

Be careful when agents try to sell you mutual funds (equivalent to unit trusts in Singapore). Since you do not have the expertise and time to invest on your own, you may feel it is better off to leave your money with the professional fund managers who do it full time. It seems like an easy way out, but there are important issues that you need to understand before you think it is the best way for

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-5202036978695005212008-01-01T13:50:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:40.711+08:00

img source: The EconomistThere is a common saying that, in every crisis, there are opportunities. Very true indeed, as we see in this US Sub-prime Crisis which caused major financial institutions to write-off billions of money, a few of the large sovereign wealth funds seize the opportunity to buy a stake in them.Temasek Holdings - US$4.4 billion (+ an option to purchase US$600million) for 9% in

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-70850906190625748202007-12-28T00:03:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:40.888+08:00

Book Review:This is the second book I read about entrepreneurship (and here is the first) and I felt the author really covered many aspects of starting a business. Being successful in creating several companies, he reinforces his theory with many real-life, concrete examples. His theory is well organised and presented in a very structured manner and thus, easy to follow and remember them. I term

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-46023283343287741562007-12-25T22:50:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:41.177+08:00

Book Summary:The Power of Mental HabitsMental habits are important to a successful investor. The author discovered many master investors had the same winning habits and it makes no difference in which investment field they specialize in or the cultural background they come from.The Seven Deadly Investment Sins1) Believing that you have to predict the market's next move to make big returnsHighly

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-14788004913470518842007-12-25T12:10:00.006+08:002008-12-09T14:13:41.302+08:00

img source from sgwarrants.comThe diagram shows a typical name of an index warrant. First term: The underlying that the warrant follows and tracks. In this case, it is tracking the index, Straits Times Index (STI). Second term: This can be called the strike price or the exercise price. For a company warrant, the strike price is not shown in its name, i.e. SIA SGA eCW080121.Third term: Shows the

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-82104981954470492872007-12-22T19:25:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:41.800+08:00

Book Review:A comprehensive consolidation of several ideas and principles for any man on the street to learn to manage their personal finance and grow his wealth. The author is convincing and illustratrative with his examples, bringing his ideas across clearly. I like best his foremost emphasis on having the correct attitude towards money - value it. It is indeed the most fundamental skill that

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-76463779292987099292007-12-18T20:30:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:41.864+08:00

Here are the 10 good reasons why you should not buy a car, which I discovered after I sold mine. It is not that bad afterall (sounds like sour grapes :) !1) Exercise more by walking. Duke University Medical Center found that a brisk 30 minute walk 6 days a week is enough to trim waistlines and cut the risk of metabolic syndrome.2) Contribute to save Mother Earth - reduce carbon dioxide emission

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-25745178876155059592007-12-15T13:30:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:42.281+08:00

Book review: I can still recall the once popular and hyped ONE.99shop retail stores, and how rapidly one store sprang up after another. Just when everything seems to go smoothly, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak arrived and eventually caused the downfall of ONE.99shop. The author, Nanz Chong-Komo, is the founder of ONE.99shop and wrote this book based on her experiences as an

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-25498200843970811402007-12-01T01:00:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:42.756+08:00

Car ownership in Singapore is a costly matter. Thus, you may want to seriously consider the need for a car since Singapore has a good public transport system. If you really think you would need/want a car, you should evaluate your financial situation before committing. In this post, I try to compile a "all the costs that you need to know" guide at your convenience, as I feel it is important to

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-16410013356661941742007-11-27T00:15:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:42.892+08:00

Recently, I came across this new start-up company, Prosper. It is a platform for individual lenders and borrowers to lend/borrow money from one another, thus, bypassing the banks. Harnessing the power of web technology, it managed to link up borrowers and lenders together and allow them to decide who to lend to or borrow from. This is definitely different from what our banks usually do. Since

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-40722383707773222742007-11-14T14:45:00.000+08:002007-11-14T14:47:17.602+08:00

Saw this interesting presentation from CNBC:On Halloween 2007, Bill Gates Made $1 BillionAs Bill Gates owns 877.5 million shares of Microsoft, even a few cents change in share price worth millions! On 31 Oct 07,MSFT: Open - 35.57 Close - 36.81 (CHG +1.24)$1.24 x 877.5million = $1.08 billionOther prominent earners on 31 Oct 07:Steve Jobs owns 5,546,450 Shares of AppleAAPL: Open - 187.00 Close -

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-81144511257818422192007-11-10T05:39:00.000+08:002007-11-13T10:47:20.641+08:00

Heard the phrase from one of the episodes in Prison Break and I found it meaningful. It was said by the Mexican old man (who took Sucre in for the night) to Sucre, after he said he was going to a place to look for his 'hope'. I see grace in this context as you have everything you wanted or hoped for. A person who has yet to achieve what he wants, has hopes. These hopes are the driving forces to

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-11348420147022765012007-11-09T12:12:00.000+08:002007-11-13T10:50:55.735+08:00

Warren Buffett's investing strategy was heavily influenced initially, by Benjamin Graham and later, by Philip Fisher. He combined the ideas of the 2 men and came out with a proven winning strategy. Benjamin Graham taught him to buy companies at a bargain with a margin of safety, which is known as value investing. Thus, they will make money when the companies reflect their true values in their

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-85783397169971330922007-11-04T13:58:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:43.165+08:00

Book Review:The oil price hit a record level of US$92/barrel at the time of writing. The Straits Times had an article on China Government rationing the supply of diesel as the price of diesel can no longer be passed on to the consumers due to the already high inflation in the fast growing China economy. The situation prompted me to pick up a book that talked about the highly possible oil crisis

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-90754759889386344252007-11-04T02:44:00.003+08:002008-12-09T14:13:43.321+08:00

If you are interested to invest in the Straits Times Index (STI), it is available in SGX through the STI Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). It started in 2002 and is managed by State Street Global Advisors. STI is mainly a blue chip (major companies) index of the top 30 companies listed in SGX. As compared to S&P 500, it is a much narrower basket of stocks. Nonetheless, it is the most widely used

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-47673277214690381172007-11-02T00:57:00.002+08:002008-12-09T14:13:43.452+08:00

If you are a firm believer of the Random Walk Theory or the Efficient Market Theory (EMT), you would want to invest in an index fund. Index funds have been widely available for a long time in US and Vanguard is the leading index fund provider. John Bogle who founded Vanguard is a strong believer that the Index is hard to beat in the long run. Thus, if you cannot beat the index, buy the whole

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-63850785514722262552007-10-20T17:00:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:43.752+08:00

Book review:Harry Browne came out this Permanent Portfolio which makes up of 25% stocks, 25% bonds, 25% gold and 25% cash. He claims that this protfolio will be able to tide you through any bull or bear run as the components are negatively correlated. From his website (harrybrowne.org), it was mentioned that from 1970 - 2003, the average yearly gain is 9.5% and the worst year (1981) only

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-38364506159010457672007-10-10T21:34:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:43.953+08:00

Book Review:Babylon was a rich and modern city at its time and through its stories, the author did a great job to inculcate basic personal finance knowledge that everyone ought to have. Everyone wishes to be rich or financially free and many would think it takes great luck to be able to achieve that. But the author stressed that it is through very simple methods and a determined mind to succeed

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-58807515087764734992007-09-26T19:30:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:44.915+08:00

Book review:The Long Tail is an important book for business, IT and culture in the future. The book look into the power of our internet that have evolved into a potent force after the tech bubble. You may think it is another book that speak the good of technology and all the jargons only geeks can understand. However, the book actually dealt with the economics of internet and suggest how

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-72167775585903141112007-09-24T14:11:00.001+08:002007-10-20T17:49:04.534+08:00

Warren Buffett believes that risk in investment is when one has no knowledge about it. When you do not know, he suggest that you should not invest because the risk factor is too high. Conversely, if you are financially literate and have a clear idea of what you are doing, you will be able to evaluate whether an investment has potential. And with this ability, you reduce the risk of choosing a

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-41868798546776098442007-09-24T13:44:00.000+08:002007-09-24T14:13:03.869+08:00

smurfiechowchow interprets:Let's see the effect of losing some of your capital:For e.g., you invested $1000 and made 10% profit = $1100If you lost 5% initially, $1000 - 5% = $950,You need higher earnings to reach $1100, (1100 - 950)/950 = 15.8% (as compared to 10% if you did not lose part of your capital)Most likely, you would take more time to make that profit, which the time wasted could have

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-74406871738393276132007-09-23T10:46:00.000+08:002007-09-23T11:00:52.571+08:00

Few had known that Sir Isaac Newton invested in the shares of South Sea Company and lost money. The Company primarily did slave trading with South American countries. With great promise of prospect, people started snatching up the shares and pushed the price ridiculously high. It seemed like an easy way to get rich quick and more people get into it by paying more and more. The Company proved to

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-89718326517042526532007-09-23T09:46:00.001+08:002008-12-09T14:13:45.502+08:00

The first edition was published in 1973 and stirred a controversy in Wall Street. Many of the Wall Street analysts and traders were not very happy with his Efficient Market Hypothesis (also known as Random Walk Theory) saying that they are not able to beat the market in the long run. However, there were also people who supported him and one of them is John Bogle who started the Vanguard Index

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-82916657541216418102007-09-21T11:13:00.000+08:002008-12-09T14:13:45.825+08:00

The most controversial point he made was that successful traders or fund managers are attributed to a high degree of luck. He further explains why they can have consecutive fantastic records by using the analogy of coin flipping. As the coin only have 2 sides, one will have a fifty percent chance of guessing the correct side that lands up. If there are 100 traders/fund managers at

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-8413772167754884262007-09-21T10:59:00.000+08:002007-09-23T10:31:12.540+08:00

smurfiechowchow's interpretation: A power of a man is that he can acomplish anything he wants as long as he puts his mind to it. However, to be contented with what you have and not succumb to greed is something that makes a man even more powerful. The man will definitely live more happily as well.

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-92066651891499358732007-09-21T01:28:00.000+08:002007-09-21T10:53:40.353+08:00

Seriously I think this sentence is flawed and contradicting. For the statement to true, that nothing is perfect, this statement cannot be totally true... simply because the statement cannot be perfect. Which means the sentence has to be wrong in order to be correct. It may sound confusing but think about it... it really contradicts.

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-38840359441071266872007-09-21T01:14:00.000+08:002007-09-21T10:54:23.169+08:00

He said it in relation to the Efficient Market Hypothesis where it claims that the market is always efficient. Warren Buffett's method of investing is to buy companies of value, at a price that is less than what it is actually worth. Thus, if the market is efficient, the 'actual' or intrinsic price (as Benjamin Graham calls it) of each company will be reflected correctly in its stock price, and

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-44480957292257948042007-09-01T21:37:00.010+08:002008-09-13T07:48:21.712+08:00

Hi, many thanks for visiting my site.You can address me as Yong Han or Alvin (if you find it easier) and I live in one of the smallest countries in the world - Singapore. Read on to know more about me and my investment strategy. My Background I am not born with a silver spoon and in fact, my parents are very bad money managers. My dad is constantly in debt, spending more than what he earns and

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-78143308764720816402007-09-01T17:45:00.007+08:002008-09-13T01:18:12.224+08:00

Personal finance is an important subject that everyone need to know. For most of us, our jobs are not enough for us to sustain a lifestyle that we want, or allow us to retire with financial security. We want to be financially free and not let money bogged us down. Thus, we need to invest wisely and grow our wealth to achieve our goals. On the other hand, the investment world is not as safe or

Alvinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-455504400580178980.post-67379257677036615092007-09-01T16:27:00.003+08:002008-04-17T08:40:53.745+08:00

If you have any questions regarding personal finance or investment, feel free to drop me a mail or directly leave a comment.I may not know the answer right away so please give me some time to find out for you. In this way, we can all learn together!Likewise, contact me if you have any books (investment, personal finance, business, management, self-help) to recommend for summarizing and I will try

Alvinnoreply@blogger.com0