One of the topics in my D.I.Y. financial planning class is about budgeting. Budgeting is the act of creating a plan to spend your money. No, it isn’t about restricting you on your spending and cutting out on the fun. It’s about understanding how much money you have and where you want it to go so that you can plan in advance. One of the money jars we can allocate our money into is the Education jar. Many people graduated from their tertiary education and started working for

This will be a long debate over what is an essential to you and what is not. It boils down to the root of realizing our ‘must have’ and ‘good to have’. This basic line, however differs amongst people, especially if we are taking a perspective from a first world country, this line might be pretty high. Let’s take technology for instance. In the 70s, if you were to own a Big brother big handphone (大哥大), you are deemed to be doing big business and well to do. If you drives a

“I want to earn lots of money or achieve that prestigious award so that I can give my family a good life”. Have you ever heard of such phrase that people declare? Take a moment to think about this: What is a good life to you? We often see on social media how “good life” our friends have with their new car, luxurious travel trip, limited-ed bag, happy family studio photos, fairy tale wedding, latest electronic gadgets, etc. Somehow these material images had given us an impres

Everyone knows the importance of having insurance. We have heard so much from advisers or been educated by advertisements. We look for what we need, set aside a budget and apply for it. Most people will stop here. But do you know that financial planning doesn’t just stop after you sign on the dotted line? Implementing an insurance is only half the work done. Going back to basic, what is the main reason for getting an insurance? A couple of them: Leaving a financial legacy for

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your weekend captain speaking, apologise for the slight delay. Do bear with me as I only fly on the weekend. We will take off as soon as I find the air pressure button.” “Hi, nice to meet you, I am a Gynaecologist, you can trust your first delivery in my hands. By the way I am also a certified Barista, Yoga coach, and a Real Estate agent, let me know if you want to visit a showflat and have a nice cup of coffee.” How would you feel if the pilot

Many of us own watches, or at least one watch in our life till date. Some may have a few for different occasions - for your day to day work image or attends business and formal event, different colour to match different outfit. There are many types of watches to choose from: luxury watches, fashion watches, dress watches, sport watch, analog, digital or a mechanical watch. “What time is it now?” Well, whatever your choice may be, whether it’s a Rolex submariner or a retro Cas

Wants are sold by society! A 101 financial tip to good money management is to understand the difference between a need and a want. A need is a necessity, an obligation, an essential, a must-have, you almost can't live without. How about, what is a want? Want is a desire, a craving for, a wish, a good to have, should have but (actually) it's alright without. "I'm feeling lazy today, just spend a little more on transport, take a cab." "Once in a life time wedding, just go

Needs are imposed by nature! If you were to pen down a list of what your needs are on a paper, how much do you think you could write? I am quite sure you can easily fill up the whole piece if given some time. One of the key to good money management is to understand the difference between a need and a want. No one taught us on this differentiation in real life, things became grey and subjective to individual. Let's head back to some basics: what is a need? Need is a necessity,

When you are in a relationship, have you ever ask what is your partner's values and perceptions of money? Many couples do not discuss about money. Such conversation is deemed boring or complicated to some. The ego men wouldn’t talk about money, unless he earns more than the woman. On the same note, the woman wouldn’t talk about money, because she don’t want to scare the man away with her high expenditures. If both live a modest lifestyle, they naturally think there is nothing

Money by itself has no meaning to it, it is just a medium of exchange. But why is everyone chasing after money, looking for higher paying job, doing investments, attend trading courses, or even going into multiple businesses? What we want is not money, it is the things we want or experiences we gain using money. To form a family, a holiday to relax, the feeling of having status, gain attention, to have more time, for self development, for companionship, etc. The underlying re

All of us love to be given favour: having things done to our desire, being treated well, granted support even when it wasn’t meant to be. Every good things that happen, that’s natural favour, just that we may forget to count our blessings. Opps! Very often we may say “Such a coincident, Heng ah…, I’m so lucky today, I didn't do anything and I got it.” That’s favour on your side my friend. Ask, and you will receive. Most of the time, favour will be with the one who ask. People

Choose the right plan for the Best Buy Lorna Tan, 2 sep 2018, The Sunday times Buying a life insurance plan can be a bewildering experience for consumers as there are many products in the market. Insurance is a long term commitment, so it is important to make an informed decision after taking into account your financial circumstances and objectives. Here are some tips for consumers: #1 Do not buy on impulse Ensure that you can afford the premium over the tenure of the policy.

We can easily put a value to our property and our car, even a mobile phone and luxury bag has a value. What about the value of You? What is your price tag? Imagine you have a golden goose at home and this golden goose diligently lay golden eggs for you everyday. The goose says “Master, you can use my golden eggs to buy anything you want”. Over the years, you have successfully used the golden eggs to fund for your daily needs eg. for food, for your education, purchase a house

A master was leaving house for travel, and before he leaves, he entrust his properties to his 3 servants. According to the abilities of each man, one servant received 5 bags of gold (talents), the second servant received 2 bags, and the third servant received one bag. The bags of money was a significant amount of money. The servants who received 5 and 2 bags immediately put the bags at work to gain profits. The third servant, on the other hand, dug a hole in the ground and hi

Many people grew up with the expectation of banks as "big, strong and friendly" institutions that will stand right by them to keep their savings secure and, in the case of fixed deposits, their principal guaranteed. As such, banks typically enjoy a high level of trust with their customers. Young and old instinctively view banks as safe havens for savings. This translates to a sense of security when they have dealings with a bank. It is common for banks to tie up with insuranc

Stepping into the end of 1st quarter of the year, many of you would have done planning and setting your direction for the year by now (I hope). It is not too difficult to set what you want, or at least just be better than previous year in any one of the areas of your career, finances, relationship, health, spiritual well being, personal lifestyle, or giving back (that’s extra tips for goal setting, you are welcome). There are so much we want to achieve and do, often driven by

When it rains, be ready to celebrate! Almost everyone would have heard of this term or being advised by someone to always save for rainy days. While it may seems like an Emergency fund, Rainy day fund is different. Rainy day fund is for unplanned repairs, unexpected medical or dental bills, and unanticipated events. It is not meant for personal wants and desires, and may comfortably be between $2,000 to $8,000. On the other hand, Emergency fund sustains your living expenses i

A topic that many individuals asked for my comments. As funky as it may sound, as trendy as it seems, the next big thing is small in size, in fact it is an imaginary metal - Bitcoin, the crypto currency. This article came just in time for me to share. From the tulip mania of the 17th century to the modern dotcom bubble, investors have followed irrational exuberance into despair more times than we can count. But we have never seen anything like Bitcoin. Regulatory barriers and

Well, there are many variation of thoughts when it comes to Financial Planning (FP) and it all depends on whose mouth it is coming from. Let’s hear from the professions say: Teacher 👩🏻‍🏫 - FP is a comprehensive evaluation of an investor’s current and future financial state by using..... 📖 (textbook answer). Doctor 👨🏼‍⚕️ - FP is about taking care of your health because Health is Wealth 🍎 Lawyer 👨🏽‍⚖️ - FP is about making sure your assets are clearly distributed upon

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!!! "I want to be a better person." "I want to hit $x sales target." "I want to loose 10kg by June." It is always during this period, time for setting new year resolutions again. Have you ever wonder why on 1 January? What has change? Did you change your name? Did you change your identification number? Did you move on to another career path? Did you marry another husband/ wife? Did you change your sex? Did you travel to another planet? N