Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

[kichialo]

There is very little he can do to evade tax, usually it is those business owner that require e extra footworks by iras.
Seriously, I think he is glossly underpaid or maybe he has other perks like stock option or big bonus.
My buddy CFO of a listed co listed in sgx earns more than a mil a year excluding bonus.He is only 39.
Their pay all shown in annual report just need to know where to look.

Annual report only show a salary range, and not exact right?

[KopiKat]

There is very little he can do to evade tax, usually it is those business owner that require e extra footworks by iras.
Seriously, I think he is glossly underpaid or maybe he has other perks like stock option or big bonus.
My buddy CFO of a listed co listed in sgx earns more than a mil a year excluding bonus.He is only 39.
Their pay all shown in annual report just need to know where to look.

Annual report only show a salary range, and not exact right?

Some do show the exact figures. Offhand, I can't recall those cos. as I'd probably gone thro' too many ARs and usually just a quick glance till I find something in their financials which I don't like eg. Too highly geared or too low NPM.

[cif5000]

I feel that Sunday Times should not interview someone who likes fast cars and is into changing his fifth car in 10 years - what kind of signal are they trying to send out to the general public? [Sorry, but this interview seems like a complete contrast from last week's interview with Andrew Hallam].

The title says it all. It's about the interviewees' money and themselves. Not how to stay frugal, save money, invest, money virtues...all these craps. It's about who they are and how they spend the money that they have made, doesn't matter how they made it. Readers hoping to learn the "hows" should read something else. The qualifying criterion is that they have the money. Of course, they must first agree to be featured.

If you don't have money but have a good habit of saving, the best you can get is a column on "how to survive with $x,xxx in Singapore". If you invest (well), you might get something like "how to build a stock portfolio with a $x,xxx income". But doesn't that sound like a get-rich-quick seminar?

[Musicwhiz]

The title says it all. It's about the interviewees' money and themselves. Not how to stay frugal, save money, invest, money virtues...all these craps. It's about who they are and how they spend the money that they have made, doesn't matter how they made it. Readers hoping to learn the "hows" should read something else. The qualifying criterion is that they have the money. Of course, they must first agree to be featured.

I was more leaning towards the view that the newspapers have a duty of care to the general public to teach good habits of personal finance. While I do laud their efforts so far, some of the interviewees seem to either have some personal agendas; or else there is a disjoint between what is reported (i.e. frugal, hates debt) and the reality (takes up a loan every 2 years to buy a new car).

So I guess my point is that the journalist should improve their writing/reporting skills!

[Big Toe]

Lesson for media newbies:

Always be humble and say you make enough to get by.
Any mention of riches/luxury items is plain dumb.

For those who were successful and was highlighted by the media and had their riches hyped up,
the tax man really came knocking and it didn't end too well. I personally witnessed how a successful person was destroyed.
Especially true for private business owners.

[KopiKat]

Lesson for media newbies:

Always be humble and say you make enough to get by.
Any mention of riches/luxury items is plain dumb.

For those who were successful and was highlighted by the media and had their riches hyped up,
the tax man really came knocking and it didn't end too well. I personally witnessed how a successful person was destroyed.
Especially true for private business owners.

How could that happen if you'd been declaring your earnings honestly to the taxman?

The lesson ought to be :

Make sure you'd been paying your taxes honestly and diligently if you're going to declare to the whole world (or just Singapore ST readers) how rich and successful you are and how you indulges yourself by spending your money on sports car or any other luxury items.

[jamzc]

I think the guy deserves a bit of credit here. saving 50% of income is no joke. esop with the car changing AND his maniacal paying down of debt:
1) he paid off a $100,000 debt in one year for his car- around $8+k a month solely in installments
2) he bought a $710,000k property 6 years ago and has almost finished paying off the mortgage

on top of all that he can save $10k a month on a $20+k salary. that is pretty impressive

[egghead]

For a DINK family, this is entirely achievable.

[WolfT]

Why don we start our own 'me and my money series' since all so "got dragon got tiger"...lol!
starting from e mod! After that we start to scrutinize each others life story!

[Musicwhiz]

Why don we start our own 'me and my money series' since all so "got dragon got tiger"...lol!
starting from e mod! After that we start to scrutinize each others life story!

I think this was brought up before in the past, and most forumers here agreed that they would not be interested to share such private details.

I concur with their views - personally I would not be keen to share such intimate information.

And anyway, I really am not wealthy enough to have much to share about how to make money.