Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

[Stocker]

Most of their balance sheets only show assets but not liability.

[weijian]

BUT, still not yet financially independent!

So, either highly geared (for the 3 properties) or very high living expenses.

It's very obvious this one is a very family focused folk who will give the best to his kids. W/o the expenses of his kids, i guess his living expenses would be low enough to be financially independent now.

Better than some other folks who has answers like 'a XXXk Mont Blanc watch' or a '100k wedding at St Regis hotel' for 'What is your most extravagant thing you have bought' qn....

I spend the most on my family, on my kids' education, their swimming lessons, rugby lessons and so on. Four boys don't come cheap, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our greatest extravagance as a family are the family holidays. We take a few holidays a year. Our most expensive holiday was a round-the-world trip just over 10 years ago.

I plan to be financially independent when I get the children off
my hands!

[Musicwhiz]

The Straits Times
Feb 12, 2012
me & my money
Light on spending, heavy on investment
Businesswoman puts most of her money into property to generate income flow

By Joyce Teo

Ms Tan Yang Po, 49, is busy building a portfolio of properties that will generate a stream of passive income through her property investment firm.

She has been conducting property seminars since starting her own property investment company about three years ago and has now ventured into property development. She will soon launch her maiden project Azea Residences in Danga Bay, Johor Baru.

'I just like a good challenge, creating things from scratch. That gives me a lot of satisfaction. It keeps me going. I get scared if I were to do nothing for a while.'

Previously, she ran e-learning systems provider SkyQuestCom with local entrepreneur Richard Tan of seminar organiser Success Resources.

Prior to that, she worked with retail brands and was once director of Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, Asia-Pacific.

'I always knew that to be successful, you have to do what you like,' says Ms Tan.

She has a degree from the National University of Singapore and her family consists of husband Bruce, 56, an operations manager, and three adult children aged 25, 29 and 30.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I am a saver. I spend only 10 per cent of my monthly income. The rest is invested or saved. I am a very simple person with very simple needs.

I spend the most on food and transport. I have no time to shop and I don't buy for therapy's sake.

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

I use my cards mostly for business purposes. My personal expenses amount to barely $200 a month.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

I believe that the fastest way to make money is by starting your own business (if you have a passion).

Once you have done so, invest the money so you can let your money work for you and when you retire, you can do nothing and there will be passive income coming in.

This way, even if your business loses money in a worst-case scenario, you can still retire with an income stream.

I invest largely in property as I believe in focusing on what I know.

Within the property sector, you can diversify in terms of the property type and the country where it is located.

I have less than $100,000 invested in stocks.

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

We were so poor we had to give our hongbao money to our parents.

My late parents had six children, and I am the youngest.

My dad ran our family business which dealt in cane products and mum was a housewife. His business did not do well and yet he dabbled in the stock market and lost money.

But, as he was running a business and trading shares, the talk at home came to centre on these two topics.

There was, however, no conscious effort on his part to teach us about money.

I learnt about money management from books by gurus like Robert Kiyosaki, who taught me that you can retire without having to worry about money only by building a passive income stream.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

Because I grew up in a family that did business and invested, I started to dabble in shares and property on my own. But it wasn't until I read Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad that I gained some property investment knowledge.

I started investing in property here and overseas 20 years ago. I attended seminars and I learnt from the gurus. I did very well in my first few jobs and used the money I had to invest in properties.

My first investment was in a prime private condominium about 20 years ago.

I made $60,000 in less than three months and it got me excited about property investment. I then invested in an apartment in China, as my job took me to the country often.

Q: What property do you own?

I own more than 100 properties, most of which are residential ones and they are mostly in places like Britain, the US and Malaysia.

For most of them, the rent is more than enough to cover the monthly mortgage payments.

In Singapore, I own three properties. I bought a one-bedroom unit at The Sail three to four years ago for about $1.2 million. I also have a five-room HDB flat in Bedok and a two-bedder at The Bayshore that I bought about a decade ago. All three are tenanted out at rental yields of 4 per cent to 7 per cent.

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

It is my car, which cost me $120,000. I have no regrets. It's the only thing I really pamper myself with.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I don't plan to retire because I will be bored. I do, however, hope to gradually spend more time doing charitable work. I have helped deliver food to the needy and donated money to Kidney Dialysis Foundation.

I like to be on the go. I like to feel that I am learning. If I hang around doing the same things over and over again, I will be bored.

Q: Home is now...

My husband's 1,300 sq ft executive condo unit in Simei.

Q: I drive...

A silver Lexus 320.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg

---------------------------------

WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: What is your worst investment to date?

About five to six years ago, I lost about $200,000 in shares. I attended a course on investing, applied what they taught and made money trading shares in quite a lot of companies, based on technicals. I started with $20,000 and I made $60,000 in one week. Then I got greedy and put in more money - about $200,000 - and over three months, I lost almost everything.

So, now I 'collect' shares instead of trade them. I have shares in a few companies such as Keppel Corp, CapitaLand and Top Global.

Q: What is your best investment to date?

This was the first property I bought 20 years ago, a small condominium unit of about 1,000 sq ft in River Valley. I sold it in less than three months, reaping a more than 50 per cent profit.

[pianist]

i wonder why a person with her family need to own more than 100 properties?

[Drizzt]

she went a course, made 200% gains then lost all the capital. what kind of course teaches her that????

[Temperament]

i wonder why a person with her family need to own more than 100 properties?

Ya? And if it's true, i wonder why she is living so much, so much below her means? Very weird isn't it? And her Lexus 320 is worth only $120,000? {It is my car, which cost me $120,000. I have no regrets. It's the only thing I really pamper myself with.}
How much more "STINKO" can one gets? I salute you if what you say is the real you. But i doubt? Why? Because what was said by you do not reflect "natural human behavior" in many instances. HA! HA!

[kichialo]

she went a course, made 200% gains then lost all the capital. what kind of course teaches her that????

Gambling course?

[Temperament]

she went a course, made 200% gains then lost all the capital. what kind of course teaches her that????

Gambling course?

[mrEngineer]

Went for her talk previously. To sum up waste of time

[KopiKat]

Went for her talk previously. To sum up waste of time

The interesting thing is there'll be enough people from these free 'investment' talks, who'll sign up for the paid ones or sign up as members (pay monthly fees) in order to learn 'how to make passive income with little effort / capital'.

I do seem to see something in common amongst those Sunday Times interviewees who'd been inspired by Robert Kiyoski. They are usually inspired to do something similar as him ie. Make $$ from Books, Seminars, Courses,... on 'How to Get Rich'!

i wonder why a person with her family need to own more than 100 properties?

I did a search on the internet using her name + property (go search yourself as I don't want to indirectly promote her activities here as some may lose $$ and blame me). Many of her properties only need $10k-$15k outlay, in Houston (US) or Malaysia. They claim a Nett Yield of 8-9%. Not sure if the properties are all hers or that of her Property Investment Company / Club ie. may have other stakeholders.