If a loan has to be taken up, it immediately becomes a liability instead of an asset which I personally feel is not what a fresh grad should be getting himself.
Additionally, to take up a loan to buy a car is pretty disturbing for a fresh grad, it adds a couple more years to his retirement age. Unless of course before buying the car, he has calculated for the car to be paid off by someone else. I am not referring to parents or be given as a gift. But if his net income produced from having that car instead of taking public transport is high enough to pay off that loan in 2 years time then that will be a different story altogether.
Shouldn’t a fresh grad be focusing on managing his investment portfolio and protecting his wealth? Unless of course, if the image of driving a car to him is more important than achieving early financial freedom.
Latest posts made by NigelTKM
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RE: Can a Fresh Graduate own a car in 2014
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RE: Branded Watches
Branded watch are nice, definitely stylish and to some an accessory to show their status.
Yes yes, of course sometimes we have to pamper ourselves. However having to buy a watch on credit or through installment, feels pretty weird. Pampering at the cost of adding more weight to the liabilities section under our personal balance sheet is pretty disturbing. Especially with some prices ranging up to quite a huge sum. Where one may even feel that they need a term plan, just in case. -
RE: Minecraft & Its Effect
computer addiction is a very dangerous problem indeed… I am not sure if it will help, but personally I think if your DC engage actively in sports, they won’t really bother much about computer games.
Perhaps it will be good if the children are actually brought to do sports by the parents regularly. It brings out their personal competitive spirit to outdo themselves every time they engage in that particular sport. Moreover they may feel good when they are one of the top performer in the sports section among their friends. Swimming and jogging may be a good start. Endorphin will make them feel better and lowers their level of anger I feel.
However if they are really very addicted to the games, perhaps it will be good to learn about the game from SupaSiMCraft’s post. Afterwhich, talk about the game and discuss purely about the game with your DC (do not talk about the bad effects of gaming and such yet). Ask them to teach you about the game when sitting beside them. Make jokes about the games and also praise them like “wow you mean you actually build things to defend yourself from the zombies? omg I think I will die in a day!!”. Eventually after a few days of that, they will feel that you are actually “into the game” like them. That’s when it will be easier to slowly ask them to cut down on the game by using jokes and terms from the game? Like maybe 15mins before the end of the gaming session by saying “Dear, about time to stop in 15mins, rem to build that wall you was mentioning before the zombies get you.” Over time I feel they might be more comfortable and felt that you’re not really commanding them, and that’s when you can have that heart to heart talk about why last time you were so against them playing computer games all day while relating to the bad effects.
Just my thoughts on this issue, personally I haven’t have any children so am not very sure about handling these situations. Hope I helped at least a little. -
RE: Spending Money Without Really Spending Money
pirate:
Very well written post pirate! I like your perspective.We all know that we should save for our retirement. But most of us also get the occasional urge to buy stuff and generally spend money frivolously. Life would be pretty boring if it is all about work, work, work and save, save, save. If only there is a way to spend money without really spending money.
But there is!
Let me give an example. Suppose I spend $1,300 buying a mint $1,000 banknote with a special 'collectible' serial number, such as 999999 (ok, ok 888888 would be better, but it costs a lot more!). Did I just spend $1,300 or have I only spent $300? If I really need money to pay off the friendly neighbourhood ah loong, I can always bank it in or give it to him for $1,000. Or more likely, I can easily get $1,100 for it from the neighbourhood hawker stall owner or money changer. So, I haven't even spent $300. But In the meantime, I get the same kick I get from spending $1,300 on something else.
Thus, the art of spending money without really spending it is simply to buy something that holds value whenever one has the urge to go out and splurge on something frivolous.
The good news is there are many such 'frivolous' things around. Examples include jewellery, art, rare coins, stamps, antiques etc etc. Now you know why the rich just get richer.
Of course, it is not really as simple as I make it out to be. One must do one's own homework on the subject matter in order to be able to sniff out good deals and avoid pitfalls, like buying fakes or being taken for a ride by unscrupulous sellers. The good news is that with the advent of the internet, much knowledge that used to be generally unavailable or were 'trade secrets' can now be found online.
Also, the smaller the buy-sell spread, the better. We all know some people simply love diamonds. Diamonds are sparkly, expensive and great for showing off. The problem is that the difference between retail and wholesale, and buy and sell prices for diamonds can be pretty big. Gold, on the other hand, tend to have a smaller spread. So, unless one is able to buy diamonds at wholesale or close to wholesale prices, buying gold jewellery would make better sense. Still, buying that 1 carat diamond ring would still be a better way to spend the money than at the karaoke bar or that very expensive restaurant.
Finally, I haven't even mentioned that some of these things actually appreciate in value over time - often at a rate higher than inflation. Ok, ok, they may drop in value too. But they rarely drop to zero even when the stock markets crash and people are jumping off buildings.
The best part is, it is never too young to start! When I was still in school, I spent $200 of the pocket money I have saved up for months on a rare coin. I was panned by my parents for wasting money. I still have that coin. I can sell it with my eyes closed for $1,500-$2,000.
But don't always look at it as an investment! Once you do, it becomes less fun. And some people will get carried away by greed, and get swindled. Now, where is the fun in that?
So, the next time you feel a sudden and irresistible urge to go on an outrageous shopping spree because your boss or spouse is being such a jerk, seriously consider shopping for some overly ostentatious gold jewellery instead of overly priced shoes.
Who says you can't have your cake and eat it?
It is true that people tend to spend alot and lose track of their real goal due to that sudden urge. There is a reason why the rich get richer, and that is wealth management/protection. Because most people when they earn more they also spend more. How often do people spend their bonus on investing or getting a proper plan out for their retirement or for their loved ones.
In fact most of the time I hear people saying \"oh my bonus is x times this year, time to go for holiday, or time to buy that car, time to buy this buy that\"
When the pay rise, people buy bigger house, bigger cars more branded stuffs. And plunge into more debts thus exposing themselves to the risks in life.
Is that holiday, car, LV bag worth it? When we start to spend on things we don't need, eventually we will have to sell off things we need. And when life throws a wrench into your plan, a huge portion will be wiped off. Even the accumulated investments might become channeled into paying off debts instead of paying for that retirement.
Everyone knows this at the back of their minds, but why do they not plan for it? Well like what is mentioned be disciplined and plan for your own business, i.e. our own lives. -
RE: Is your cpf enough for you to retire?
sailor:
That is awesome sailor! I am really glad to see that the product have helped you! What is significant is also the love you have shown for your children, I am very sure they must be very happy to have great parents.Well said.
Its always good to start saving/investing as early as you can. It does not need to be a big sum.
I started an insurance/investment/savings account for my kids at age 1 at $200 a month. I have accumulated about $30,000 to date (my kids are 15 and 12 now), not much but its a heads up for my kids.
In my job I have seen others benefiting from their choice to plan, it feels good to have helped them out. -
RE: Is your cpf enough for you to retire?
sailor:
I strongly agree with you sailor. I feel that if the kids do support us, it should be seen as a \"bonus\" income. What is important is to plan for the retirement early. But there are still many planning on depending on their children while some people start a little too late as they spend tomorrow's income today.I don't know about others, but my CPF alone is definitely not enough for my retirement.
You need to have other savings and investments to tie you thru your old age.
Don't depend on your kids, not that they wont support you, but at the rate of things going up and up. cars, coe, housing, etc. They will have a tough time supporting themselves.
However, although with the accumulation of wealth through savings and investments. Life changing events happen, and it sometimes wipe out the entire life savings we have kept for our retirement. Then what happens next?
And with the kids already having a huge chunk of worries as you have mentioned. That life changing event will throw a big wrench into their plans. Especially since these days we are having kids at an older age. By the time we hit retirement, they are mostly in their own family building phase.
Accumulation is important, so is the protection of the accumulated wealth. -
RE: 2014 new year resolutions
Jennifer:
A new item to add to my last year list: to teach my elder boy to cook simple dishes and bake his favourite cakes.
OMG DID I SEE COOKING AND BAKING!!
I like to learn from my mum too, every mother's cooking is the best meal ever! -
RE: Newbie reporting (Need help witj some of the lingo here!)
ohhh and there are also DC and DK, being Dear Children and Dear Kids respectively. Had the same question in mind when I first joined awhile back
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RE: My Life Experience as a Parent
It is really touching and heartwarming to see the different cases of sacrifices made for the children, here in this thread. Reminds me of my own parents.
I bet all your DC will definitely think back one day and feel loved by your partners and you all.
I still have a long way to go before I get married and have my own children. In the meantime, am starting to do my own financial planning for my future children’s education. Starting early to get an early break on my expenses in the future. -
RE: Are you in debt?
Yea I agree, there are plenty of good and informative books out there. The bookstore is a piece of heaven on earth. Then comes the part of putting it into practice which might be challenging for many. Those 3 factors mentioned to manage debts are very relevant, earning, spending and investing.
Investing needs to come with several personal skills, the spirit to seek for self improvement (to read up, going for courses and listening to different perspectives) and discipline (to stick to your investment portfolio plans). Bundled with the knowledge and skills of investing itself.
There are alot of people in a rush to make more money by jumping into investments without proper knowledge and skills. And the market is a shark infested area waiting for that random surfer to enter the water in a rush because he sees a large and beautiful wave to ride on.
I believe most of us invest for the purpose of a better life for our families and us, i.e. to better manage our cash flow(decrease debt). But many people focus on the accumulation portion so much until when something bad happens, A huge chunk gets chopped off. Then they have to puncture their accumulated cash flow and transfer it out into the outflow bucket and falling back into debts. Protecting those returns generated is one important factor.
Why do businesses cover themselves with so many different policies, for their keyman and for their own employees like you and I? We are all businesses, our own lives, our investments, our families, ourselves. These are part of our very own business in life, but why is it that we just focus on investments? Didn’t investment itself teach us to mitigate risks?