My 100 Post

Its my 100 post. Haha and it also marks the completion of my first month of service with Schroders. Its been such a crazy month with so much to learn and master in a short time. The good and bad thing the learning does not stop, i always have new things to learn which is good but of course it is probably also the reason why i am staying till late cause i need to try to pick up the ropes asap. I am still trying to figure out everything and get my work, life and studies in balance which is probably an uphill to learn. Haven't really touch on my CFA yet and now i have e learning course to cope with. I mean all these things are good but i guess its really a test of balance. I am glad though to be busy and thankfully the environment is good and forgiving. I had no short of scares, like missing the deadlines and doing something wrongly but i guess with time, and getting to know the big picture, i have started to figure out how things work and should work and hopefully with time and experience, i will strive to achieve a near zero record while trying to increase the speed.

Post Convocation thought

Haven't had the chance to really write on the blog or do anything much. Its nearly a month since i started work and I had been working till pretty late (maybe i am slow to pick things up?). Anyway, I think my daily work is more or less stabilize but i do have new ones that pop out every few days plus my ongoing "mini projects". Not that I am complaining, I am in fact glad that i am learning more and more interesting stuff. At the same time, I am trying to do my CFA which is not really working right now but i guess got to get focus and get things done. Time is a luxury that i don't have much right now.

Nevertheless, I have finally graduated and have found a good company with good people who are willing to teach me and i am grateful for all these. I am also glad that i have my family, friends, lectuers and school staff who have helped me along the way in anyway possible either through giving me advice, telling me where are the jobs and things like dat. But for those very "blur friends" please help our friends who are still looking for opportunities if you happen to know any, opportunites come and go and the delay is costly. Not reprimanding anyone here but well i guess its just try to be more proactive and whether it is any good or not finally, at least we have done our part as friends so be a bit more ... hmmm i also don't know whats the word to use. I guess just open your mouth to tip the person off.

I miss school already haha.

Post Birthday and Job Hunt thoughts

I know I am really late in this post but I like to thank my friends who sms/facebook/celebrated or even snail mail me birthday cards. Really appreciate it. And yes, i found a job and like what my boss promise the learning curve is pretty steep in the sense that its on the job training, no orientation, no other new graduates and there is only me so well right now i am still trying to stay afloat. Hopefully, i can meet or even better exceed their expectations. Its tough starting out but i am glad at least i got the chance to start. Good luck to all my friends who are trying, the market is turning better so there will be silver lining out of this but choose wisely.

The need for bachelor of luck

Well, its been about 2 months since i have start the job hunting. I just came to realize while chatting with waihao that i have actually been to ten interviews in six companies out of 15 companies that i have applied for so far. Results were pretty mixed. I did get an offer on the first one but i did not take it. I am actually pretty glad that i didn't. I come to realize how important that first job is and getting it right. Most of the time, I held myself back, constantly thinking whether i was able to perform the task. Maybe i was too conservative but it was for a good reason that i did. Only time will tell when i get the right job and take the first step out.

So far, its been pretty demoralizing at times but i think i am still weathering the storm pretty fine. At least, my family does not require me to provide for them. I rather be label as picky right now. In the mean time I am actively preparing myself for the right opporunity, picking or revising skills that will put me in good stead.

Financial Beliefs and the job hunt

There is a spam of emails from different companies that are recruiting financial advisors or wealth management consultants. As with the mistrust of the majority of these companies, I have very little faith in most of the advisors nor consultants. Why? Simple, I don't think they know a great deal more than me or you about wealth management. Come on, passing a simple M5 M9 and HI doesn't make you all the more knowledgable.

I have taken and dropped a wealth management course in the states because the later part of the course regarding the tax area is irrelevant to the Singapore market but what i know is this, wealth management consist of a really big area and as mention not many of the advisors or consultants are trained to handle the dynamics of good financial planning. We all know, most financial planning will give you some amazingly big number that will make your jaw drop and then ask you to buy some unit trust or endowment plan because of their prescribe business model. How suitable are the products for you? Well not really because they don't know much and they just want to push a product so the majority of them just do not cater to your needs. That is one reason why i refuse to join them unless i am given my way in being able to really cater to the needs of my clients.

Say for example, the endowment fund matures about 20 to 25 years from today with a profit of maybe $5000 to $10,000 on average. Those who know the time value of money will be able to tell you $5000 to $10,000 in a quarter of a century later is not worth that much. For my understanding, endowment funds are more suitable if you have a specific purpose for the money and you probably won't want to risk it. For example, your children's education which is estimated for tertiary level to cost up to $300,000 per child in about 20 years time. Don't be too shock, the price of education has always risen faster than inflation and there is always demand for it. This also explains why not many people are having children. Can the endowment alone be enough, maybe or maybe not depending on your premiums but is it going to be your best vehicle ot deliver the results, again it depends on the individual. It depends on risk appetiate, spending habits and well your goals.

For me, simple yes i will have my endowment plan but that ain't the first thing i would be purchasing. It would be my parents hospitalizing insurances. Why? This is a no brainer, who do you think is most likely to suffer any illness. For most of us, its our parents and given the cost of healthcare here which is like education can only rise faster, this is going to be the time bomb that will rip you off your entire family savings. Its true what some Singaporeans have lamented about for a long time, you can die in Singapore but not fall ill. Are all the medicare and medisave going to be enough, well if you believe the governement will take care of everything by all means. Not for me. Therefore, i got my friend, one of the few good agents around to help me. Why is he good. Instead of just pushing his companies plan. He gave me a detailed comparison of all the different insurance policies available including those of his rival and explain to me what i should look out for. My advice is to do this and do this early because the later the folks get covered the more likely there will be problem areas which no one would be willing to cover hence increasing your risk. With that covered, now you can start getting yourself insured for other areas depending on the individual needs.

Another area for people to look into is their post marriage arrangement and housing. For most Singaporeans, they will end up working most of their life just to pay the housing loan. My own suggestion subjected of course to circumstances, is this, get a bigger house with a government loan and move the parents in as well. Political landmine with your other half and that is always the harder part to resolve but if you can do that the benefits are substantial. First, you can rent out the old estate and collect rent which you can then invest and roll your money. Second, with everyone staying together, there is less cost in maintaining two houses. Some couples aim to pay off their housing loan as soon as possible because of the compounding interest. However, my view on this is, you will never get another loan at this rate and you are paying this off using your CPF which in the first place you can't touch the majority of it until retirement hence why not just use your cpf and use your cash on other investment. You may even have enough to buy more properties and get passive income.

Another common mistake, youngster make is to get a car when they just started work. The monethly expenses will kill a lot of them. If these money can be invested and as early as possible over the long term, the returns will be substantial. Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts in achieving my financial independence but right now work on the job hunt first and hopefully get a good job which is kinda difficult given that most of the openings are now close.

Grad trip day 20 (Santa Monica and Hollywood)

Officially the last day we have in La, we set out to find the Hollywood sign.
The other place which had a good view of the Hollywood sign the Griffin Observatory.

After that its lunch at Chinatown and to Santa Monica.

At Abercombie and Fitch, imagine a nicely pack rack full of jeans, this is what it became after dear Scott went through the stack for an hour plus.

Finally back to our room to packed up before we were suppose to leave.

Grad trip Day 18 to 19 (LA)

Its another long drive out to LA something like over 250 miles.
First thing we did after checking in, the walk of fame.

The first night at the walk of fame was not spectucular, all we found was some dead and unheard stars that was probably our parents era.

Rikki with the face mask. We parked at CVS and bought something so that we don't have to pay parking. Guess what the other night before we left, i saw cvs towing 2 cars away. hengz so be careful where you park.

Next morning its Universal Studios Hollywood.

Word of advice get to the park early and start off your day at the lower area. We did that and we manage to avoid the crowd. We even manage to do some of the tides twice without having to que for it.

The funny thing, Rikki's cap flew off while we were taking this ride.

You get to see how they create some special effects in the movies which i think is very interesting

The studio tour should be one of the highlights beside the tours i think its is very entertaining and the best part you are sitting all the time and under shade so for those who don't want to walk this is the place.

The desperate house wife setting.

War of the Worlds.

This is a real man but he is damn good he looks really like a statue and a girl who thought he was a statue got the shock of her life when he move while she was trying to take a photograph with him (the statue) haha.

Off seasons so not much shows being film at the studios.

The Chinese theatre, you will find the biggest stars with the walk of fame icon here.

The Kodak theatre which i think is it the Oscars or some other big show is held here.