Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

Does not own a car but takes cab everywhere. Spends 2.4 to 3k a month but thinks in future he only needs 2k/mth. 2.4 - 3k in expenses is very comfortable for a single guy far from frugal.

Investment property was handed down from parents. Co owned because no siblings to split it with.

Almost everyone works during long school breaks. It's far from uncommon for his generation.

SCB gives extra reward points for their preferred clients. Personally think scb debit card cashback is a better deal

(05-09-2011, 02:24 PM)piggo Wrote: Does not own a car but takes cab everywhere. Spends 2.4 to 3k a month but thinks in future he only needs 2k/mth.

To be fair to him, he runs a business and so time is literally money. Taking cabs does cut down on a lot of travel time since public transport can get really clogged up during peak hours, and frequently using public transport I am late for meetings.

Even then, it can be very tough to get a cab during peak hours in the city/CBD area....

So its just a personal preference... Not frugality. It's similar to how some people live in rented apartments and invest their $ in businesses instead of buying a property of their own

Wonder how much he actually made from his properties, after finance costs were factored in. He actually held it through the last financial crisis where property fell 40%.....so in a way he's lucky that prices came bouncing back!

No mention was made on the water treatment company he bought at $1.40, and how much the stock split was....

The Straits Times
Sep 11, 2011
He keeps an eye on the long term
Downturns don't faze banking head who stays invested through economic cycles

By Magdalen Ng

He might have a head for business, but Mr David Leow, 42, admits that he is not always the most rational of investors.

He bought a unit at Sea View condominium in Amber Road, formerly Sea View Hotel, because it was there that he met his wife, Ms Hui Joo Hoo. While they were in university, they were sent on a business attachment to the Cold Storage outlet there.

Mr Leow says: 'Of course, it was not completely determined by my feelings. It had to be a unit that I liked, and at a price that I was willing to pay.' He has since sold the unit at a profit.

Mr Leow, who is the head of small businesses, Singapore, and head of cross-border trade in South-east Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, stumbled into the banking industry when he got a trainee job at the bank, which allowed him to work in the various business units.

'I thought it was fantastic. At that time, I knew what I didn't want to do, but I definitely did not know what I wanted,' said the business administration graduate from Nanyang Technological University.

His wife also works in a bank. They have no children.

Q: Are you a spender or a saver?

I am a saver. I put aside about 40 per cent of my income every month.

I make sure I know what my recurring expenses are, such as income tax, allowances to my parents, maid salary and levy and insurance premiums, which come up to nearly 35 per cent of my pay.

I deduct these from my salary so I don't get the illusion that my disposable income is equal to my salary. I also track my daily expenses with an application I downloaded to my iPhone so that on a monthly basis, I get a sense of my expenditure.

To take care of our mortgage and household expenses, my wife and I have set up joint accounts.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I do not charge a fixed amount, but I use my cards for most things that are more than $30. I withdraw about $200 a week from the ATM. I charge specific items, such as groceries and fuel, to specific cards, because of the discounts. But I try to support my bank at other times.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

I make sure that a couple of things are looked after - asset enhancement and protection. I stay invested in bonds and equities throughout the economic cycles.

I make sure I have adequate insurance cover and have contributed to the Supplementary Retirement Scheme account every year since it was implemented.

I bought insurance in the first year I started working. My life insurance coverage is about $800,000 but I tell my agent, that if I have enough for a decent funeral and cremation, that's enough because it won't be a strain on my family.

Critical illnesses and disabilities will be the real cash drain, so I have topped up my term insurance coverage to half a million dollars.

Q: Moneywise what were your growing-up years like?

My father was a businessman and my family was not rich, but we were never poor. I grew up in a three-room flat in MacPherson where my three sisters and I shared one bedroom. We moved to a four-room flat in Tampines when I was 15.

My earliest memory was getting involved in simple chores at my father's garment factory in Kallang. He subsequently moved to importing garments from Thailand, and I helped deliver them to retailers, or conduct stock takes.

Q: How did you become interested in investing?

When I first started investing at 17, I wasn't even eligible for a trading account, so I did it through my dad. The first stock I bought was Chuan Hup, which I still have today.

I look at three things - value, quality and long-term relevance.

For example, when I bought a few lots of a company in water treatment several years ago, it was trading at about $1.30 per share, which I assessed to represent good value, with the company having good management and being in water treatment. I knew it would become more relevant in the future. It is now trading at $1.70 due to unfavourable market conditions, but this is after a stock split, which means I have more stocks as a result.

Q: What property do you own?

I have one property, the one I live in. At the height of the last financial crisis, I had three residential properties - an executive condominium in Hougang and two condominiums in Katong.

Fortunately, we had the financial capability to hold on to them and sold them with a decent profit only when the market recovered.

Q: What is the most extravagant thing you have bought?

It was a Franck Muller watch for my wife for our 13th anniversary present this year.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I'm not sure if I'd ever retire, but I'd probably move on to something that allows me to have more time to myself and with my wife.

Q: Home is now...

A 3,261 sq feet penthouse in East Coast Road which was built in the 1980s. I bought it at less than $1,000 psf, and it has increased to about $1,100 psf.

I bought it because of the spacious bedrooms which allow my parents to live with me. New developments usually have bay windows and the blocks are usually built quite close to each other, so I'm very happy to have moved here.

Q: I drive...

A four-year-old Lexus IS250. It's always tempting to change the car but with the COE at this level, I don't think it represents good value to change now.

I'd probably do so after 2013 because that's when many cars would be due for scrapping as 2003 was a year of bumper COEs.

songyuan@sph.com.sg

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WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: What has been your worst investment to date?

I bought the shares of a technology company during its initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange. It showed a lot of promise initially, as the company was involved in a lot of government projects and had some good technology.

Unfortunately, the quality of the company's management was really poor, and the business has not been faring well. The stock price is now less than 10 per cent of its IPO price.

Q: And your best?

From a personal perspective, it's my wife, because of the support she has been giving me.

From a financial perspective, it would have to be my investment in properties, from which we have made over $1 million over the years.

Ok.. so banking staff are also more interested in having their wealth in properties than stocks/bonds? .. Speaks volume to me.

I noticed that many interviewees seem to buy a expensive watch as his/her most extravagant item. Another observation is that many interviewee's most extravagant item is usually a recent purchase, e.g. few months ago. So it seems to me that most people do not remember what they spend on 1 year later.

(11-09-2011, 12:42 PM)wj888 Wrote: Ok.. so banking staff are also more interested in having their wealth in properties than stocks/bonds? .. Speaks volume to me.

They are more willing to give loans to buy properties than to buy stocks/equities.

That really speaks volumes.

Perhaps that means properties are more inflated than equities/bonds?

Yep, he's a spender all right. Even before his own company really makes it big (it was mentioned he's drawing a minimal wage, and also no mention of whether his Company was profitable), he's already bought a $1 million condo and a very expensive BMW. Well, I guess image is important if you're a businessman?

I was also looking at this "best" investment - buying HDB in 2003 for $528,000 and selling it last year for $733,000. That's a gain of about $205,000 (38.8%) over 7 years. Without factoring in the cost of financing, that's a compounded gain of about 4+% per annum only, nothing much to shout about!

The Straits Times
Sep 18, 2011
me & my money
From poor kid to rich dad
Vincent Tan had to work when he was a child, and that made him want to be a boss

By Joyce Teo

Growing up poor, Mr Vincent Tan had to take on odd jobs from a young age to supplement the family income. His father died when he was 10 and his mother worked as a hawker to support him and his six siblings.

When he was in primary school, he was peddling food and newspapers around his neighbourhood and at the Bedok bus interchange. In secondary school, he worked as an electrician's assistant during the school holidays.

This taught Mr Tan, 42, the value of money and fuelled in him the desire to start his own company.

'Life hasn't been easy, so I want to provide a better life for my family. I don't want my kids to have the same experience,' he says.

So when a former classmate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic suggested some three years ago that they start their own electronic components distribution company, he jumped at the chance. After all, it was in a line that he knew well, having spent 15 years in it. He was then the marketing director at Advent Electronics.

Mr Tan and his friend each invested $50,000 in Acton Technology, which now has six staff here and three in Thailand. Mr Tan runs the company and also helps his partner with the sales and marketing work at the latter's Philippines-based electronic components distribution firm.

Last year, Acton's revenue rose to US$1.9 million (S$2.4 million) from US$780,000 in 2009. This is projected to rise to US$2.6 million this year. Mr Tan says he and his partner are, for now, content with minimal pay as the profits are being ploughed back into the business.

Mr Tan has a master's in strategic marketing, which he took up in 1998. He had to juggle work with studies and taking care of his first-born child. His wife Lynn, 39, is a librarian. They have a daughter, Celeste, 13, and a son, Dante, 10.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I would say I am more of a spender, though I think I try to strike a balance between saving and spending. If I like something, I will earn the money to buy it. I take my family overseas every year. The farthest we have been to is Australia. I don't spend beyond my means. I save about 40 per cent of my monthly income and use some for insurance payments.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I have several credit cards but I usually use only two - one for my company expenses and one for my personal expenses. I charge an average of $3,000 to $4,000 to the credit cards every month as I use them to pay for my own and my family's insurance. I withdraw $200 from the ATM each week.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

I have about $60,000 invested in a few stocks such as CapitaMall Trust and Swiber Holdings. They are more for long-term investment.

I am also insured for close to $1 million and have bought medical insurance, endowment plans and life policies for my family.

Q: Money-wise, what were your growing-up years like?

I grew up in a relatively poor family. I lived with my parents, six siblings and two cousins - so there were 11 of us - in a two-room rented flat in Balam Road in the MacPherson area.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I learnt about investing in shares through my friends. I started in 1999 and invested in stocks such as Singapore Petroleum Company on the advice of a friend. I got out in a couple of months and lost $10,000 as the stock kept falling. My friend also lost a lot of money.

I went back into the stock market a few years ago. It's different now as I do my own homework. I read up a little about the company that I want to buy into.

Q: What property do you own?

A 999-year leasehold three-bedroom condo in Springdale in Upper Bukit Timah, which I bought last July for about $1 million.

Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?

A brand-new BMW 320i for $130,000 in 2007 and a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch for about $8,000 five years ago.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I hope to be financially independent by 50. If I grow the company, I can list it one day. I'll still want to work but the work will be more fulfilling.

Q: Home is now...

The unit at Springdale.

Q: I drive...

A grey BMW 320i.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg

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WORST AND BEST BETS

What has been your worst investment to date?

Shares of Chartered Semiconductor, which I bought in 2004 at $3.94.

I thought they were very safe as I was buying into a Government-linked company.

But I lost almost $20,000 when the firm delisted in 2009. I had used my CPF funds to buy the shares but that was still a painful experience.

And your best?

My previous home. It was a 99-year leasehold condo in Yishun, which I bought in 2003 during the Sars period.

I paid $528,000 for it and sold it for $733,000 last April.

he 'invested in stocks such as Singapore Petroleum Company on the advice of a friend. I got out in a couple of months and lost $10,000 as the stock kept falling.'

seems like mr market would not hesitate to punish short-term investors. SPC turned out to be 1 of my most profitable counters to-date - having bought it and held it till accepting the GO from petrochina.