There’s a quite informative and definitely entertaining “edutainment” show on CNBC (Starhub cable channel 15) every Saturday night. It’s called “The Millionaire Inside“.
Tonight, the show hosted 4 guests who had these pointers on “how you can also be a millionaire”:
- Pay yourself first. Put away a sum of money, say 10% or more, every single month to an interest-bearing tax-free account (i.e. any good savings account).
- Don’t rent a place to stay. Own your home. It’s better to pay for a mortgage than to make your landlord rich.
- Invest in property, especially during a property slump. Apparently one of the gurus – Barbara Corcoran – said the US is currently experiencing a property slump. So it’s time to invest there now (well, if you are living there…)
- Invest in stocks of well managed and well known companies that are “on sale”. The self-made millionaire stock expert Phil Town did not elaborate much on how to identify stocks that are “on sale”, except to say that sometimes when big funds sell out certain stocks, their prices will nosedive. I suppose you gotta identify stocks that are selling at below their actual values. Easy?
- Be an entrepreneur. Start on the side part-time, build up your business, and then take the plunge when ready.
What is not expressly mentioned in the show is that it takes money to make money. How are you going to make the downpayment of your house (in Singapore, you have to put at least 10% down), buy shares, start a business, or even pay yourself when you have little or no income?
First things first. You gotta find a job that pays well. Then you find ways to grow your money. Get your priorities right.
42 Comments
its almost impossible in singapore
we have it tough here. As you said, if you are’nt well off, and your parents are not able to pay the full amount for your degree, you have so much loans to pay when you graduate. Including high living standards..we have to slog and slog and slog. pathetic.
Its actually not that impossible.
When I was an undergrad, I had to take loans for my tuition and hostel fees. Upon graduation and once I was gainfully employed, I started paying off the loan. Added to this, I was renting a room to stay and commuted to work everyday.
Along the way, I was pretty careful in the way I spent money and diverted much of what I had left over into investments instead, some with mixed results – but the important point is, I learnt. My friends were having a ball, wining, dining and holidaying in Europe and US i.e. investing in their lifestyle, whilst I led a much more modest & disciplined lifestyle and invested in income generating investments.
Today, at 40, I am happy to say that I can “retire from formal employment” and live off my investments, if required. My family and I stay in a landed property in district 10, own 3 investment properties, have more than $1 mil in our bank account, stock & unit trust portfolios, own 2 continental cars of which 1 is a convertible, are members of country clubs and best of all, we have no bank loans. We still eat at hawker centres besides the usual fine dining establishments and take an average of 3 holidays abroad each year as a family.
The idea is to save and invest as wisely as you can when you are young – the temptation to spend & enjoy is always there. Then, when you reach a certain stage of your life when you have more and are more comfortable, you can start having a more lavish lifestyle.
Nobody owes us a living. Its all a matter of choice and balance. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Patience, discipline and sacrifice are indeed virtues. Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it, but that’s not possible unless you have rich parents who are willing to finance you or have a very high paying job at a young age. For most, its really a matter of choice. At the end of the day, hard work, sacrifice & perseverance are necessary pre-conditions but not a guarantee for success. Well, luck and timing play a part too – but as the saying goes, fortune favours the prepared mind.
It’s not the matter of WHEN but it’s the matter of HOW ??? I agree with Bree that everyone has so much loans. How and When are you going to pay off the loans??? Of course, it’d be great to have investments and savings but there’re so many living expenses nowadays. Look at the costs of gas, house & medical insurances, they are outrageously high !!! It’d be great to have a extravagant living style but above all, I’d prefer to have a healthy life & happy marriage 🙂
thks “whizzard ” for the great advice… will take ur words to heart..
I like wat whizzard said.. but it is always so so tough.. and good suggestions? hahaz
Just read your story Whizzard. It is a very inspiring one albeit ambiguous and slightly implausible.
To be worth approximately close to SGD 10m at 40 (say you started work at 20), it would require continued success at work (salaried folk would only probably be able to attain that success in their mid 50s if at all), a successful business, some inheritance and/or financial windfall, and all investments succeeding exceptionally (highly improbable).
Or a combination of all of these, WITHOUT any fiduciary liability (loans, bills, etc). It would also mean that you had no kids as everyone knows how expensive they are to raise.
For the average person anywhere in the world who had a basic family,it is a shot in the dark. Your statement of saving wisely and investing, while fundamentally good advice, is vague in attaining anywhere near the kind of success you claim to have.
You sound like an old fart using cliches to encourage the myopic youth to change their decadent ways. Had you said you were worth half that, I might have believed you.
In summary, while I won’t begrudge you your success, I’ll take your words with handfuls of salt!
PS:I am employed in the financial sector earning a larger than average salary in SG, with my own investments etc, so there you go… the main article itself is rudimentary in its advice, but then again, who wants to divulge real money making secrets??
What Whizzard was saying is that it’s always wise to live within your means. Of course no doubt he’s earning a LOT also lah. But maybe if he copies his friends, despite earning so much he still wouldn’t have all that he has now. Makes sense?
Becoming rich is like standing on two legs: one leg is the “save and invest wisely” leg, and the other is the “increase your income significantly” leg. One without the other won’t work.
Anyway, if you feel it’s an old fart trick then keep spending your larger than average salary lor. Then wait till you’re 40 and write back here. OK? 🙂
Howcome – I did not say that its an old fart “trick” and that I would spend willy-nilly, I simply said that while the advice is sound, it is simplistic and cliched.
Anyone can be wealthy living within their means and by investing wisely etc etc etc. Everyone’s heard that ad nauseum. Who’s really giving away their real tips for success?
Dear Whizzard,
It would be useful to share with us how you generated your networth. Let’s be honest, savings will not get you anywhere. Either you had generated super returns or you had a relatively high income. It is not easy to generate consistent outside returns in stock market, property is easier due to the leverage effect. It will be useful to hear yourside of the “income” generation bit instead of just the “savings” bit.
OK, this is what I did, all in the spirit of sharing only. (1) I tried my best to spend within my means and have some spare cash left over each month. (2) I accumulated the spare cash and invested it instead of spending it off. I didn’t make money on all my investments, but on the whole, I did well enough to grow this a little. (3) I re-invested most of the profits instead of rewarding myself by spending it all away. I did reward myself though, but sparingly.
I made the bulk of my money investing in properties and some of my equity investments multiplied e.g. Capitaland & Keppel Land. To provide some details: bought DBS Land (before it became Capitaland) at $2.95 on 19 July 99, Keppel Land at $2.31 on 22 Sep 99, ST Engineering at $1.93 on 23 Aug 99, Natsteel Electronics at $3.12 on 18 Oct 00 (was taken over at US$4.53), etc, etc. I held these for many years. I began pulling most of my money out of equity in May 07, after the 1st time China stocks corrected in Jan/Feb 07 as I felt that a bubble was forming (I heard stories of Chinese workers demanding to take time off during lunch to trade the markets, young executives and housewives borrowing to trade stocks, people quitting their jobs to trade full time in the market, etc – sounds familiar like 93-94 in Singapore, yeah?) and the markets were getting very dangerous due to the extremely high PEs in China and extreme volatility in the regional markets when the Shanghai Index corrected – but it recovered and continued marching northwards until sub-prime hit for the 1st time in July 07. I got out for the wrong reason but I was out and this accounted for my current cash holdings.
Of course there were some bad equity investments over the years which I realised losses. I do invest in what some may call speculative stocks (I’d rather term them as situational plays which I aim for 30% to 50% returns within a short time frame of 2-3 mths. For longer term equity investments, I look for blue chips and put in smaller amounts per counter but for shorter term situational plays, I do put in substantially more per counter. No prices for guessing which I lost money in.
I have held onto my globally diversified unit trust portfolio for the past 8 years, seeing it yo-yo up and down and am regretfully still holding onto it now. Very bad returns – up 5% based on today’s market valuation – but who knows what tomorrow (1 year, 3 years, 5 years) may hold?
My 1st foray into the property market was from 1994 onwards, where I bought and sold a couple of condos. Made a few hundred thousand on those, funded by my wife and my savings and some bank loans. The house which I am staying in was bought in 1996 with those profits, a bank loan and CPF which was subsequently paid off over quite some years. I paid $2.4 mil for all 3 current investment properties which I bought direct from developers in 2002, 2004 and 2005, each time paying the progress payments with my savings from salary, bonus and rental income. I wouldn’t want to reveal details of those properties here as I prefer to remain anonymous.
And yes, I had a good opportunity with my career which propelled my annual pay-out to btwn $300k to $750k pa since the last 5 years (depending on whether I had good or leaner years). There are others in my age-group who earn more, I am sure of that.
In short, I could have developed a lavish lifestyle (spent my investment profit/bonus to finance a Porsche, Maserati or even a Ferrari – you get the drift – spend all the easy money) and raised my “core expenses” but I chose to exercise restrain and invested substantially my profits, my salary and bonuses into properties, paying off the bank loan and meeting the progress payments. And I did say that luck and timing do play a role too. Touch wood, I have been lucky on properties thus far.
I also have some friends who have done much better financially and are worth much more, if they did not spend it all away. I pale in comparison but once you start comparing, there’s no turning back. So to me, life is a journey. I chose to live carefully in my initial years and now I can take it easier (I think).
The take-away at least for me, is to spend within your means at all times and try to have some leftovers for investing. No matter how small, they can grow into something. All you need is 1 good cycle and not get shaken out during any downturn (and that is why capital is key – I could have invested by leveraging up highly but I may get shaken out during any downturn). Lastly, as long as you spend within your cashflow and don’t drawdown on your accumulated capital, you will be OK for the rest of your life. For most, cashflow = salary. I have tried very hard over all these years to change that equation to cashflow = non-salaried income and I think I have finally reached there. Of course, salary is important but the comfort of knowing that you don’t need to rely on it is very assuring, trust me on that.
The point I am trying to make is not about how to accumulate $1 mil or $5 mil or $10 mil but to get the formula right from day one and how far you go from there depends on your hardwork, perseverance, discipline, risk appetite, luck and timing. Firstly, spend within your means – if not, no spare cash. No spare cash, no investment. With spare cash, invest it and not spend it. With profit from investment, re-invest. If you made a wrong investment, you start again. If you don’t build up the means to invest, you will never generate any returns. The only way to build up the ability to invest is to spend within your means. Otherwise, salary is the only cashflow and that would mean running the rat race for a long time. I don’t have a shortcut though I wished I had one. Read the recent article on the guy who blew all his toto winnings away? If he had paid off his bank loan (which he did, wisely) and put the rest in his bank, he would have the means to invest – instead, he blew it all away on dinners, holidays, relatives, friends, etc. If the credit card promoter had saved up her earnings instead of splurging on expensive handbags, she would also have the means to invest. They “lost out” their new found wealth because they did not live within their means.
Equity valuations have gotten very cheap recently. Property prices have also been moderating. Imagine having spare cash around – you can start planning how to enter the markets.
Dear whizzard, do you mind revealing the industry you work in? Is it sales related?
Whizzard, thanks for the explanation, it is much appreciated. Good luck to you and I hope that I can achieve success such as yours, while still maintaining the humility you have. Well done…
Wealth Journey June 24th, 2008 at 11:51 pm , very well said.
Folks have tall poppy syndrome and dont like winners, but this only reflects their own self-doubt and limitations. Most of us relate better to the underdogs, who struggle all their lives with fleeting glimpses of success.
Thanks both, you’ve certainly made a positive impression on me.
Yes, I am involved in sales and marketing where the revenue pressure is constant.
And my last point on building wealth, at least in my case, is that it was built up over many, many years of slogging. It didn’t come easy. And I am sure it could unravel just as easily if one gets complacent.
Cheers and good luck!
Dear Whizzard,
Thanks for sharing your life experience, it has been most enlightening and I hope to emulate your success. I am a mid-30s banker and currently have a networth of US$1m. I am currently building up capital to invest into the next stock and property down cycle. I missed the last cycle as I did not have enough guts and capital to take that risk. Hopefully I don’t miss it again.
James
hi James, did you accumulate your US$1m net worth through working as a banker, or did part of it come from investments or even, say, inheritance? Thanks.
I accumulated it mainly from my salary and bonus. I did not manage to make much money from stock market as I did not increase the asset allocation sufficiently to stocks early enough. I also missed the property cycle, although I did manage to buy a place quite cheaply for staying. The US$1mil networth excludes my residential property.
I made about $500-600K in the last 4-5 years, I used part of the money to fully pay my house and my car. I had been pretty prudent with spending and therefore most of the salary/bonus went into savings.
I used to be an accountant in an MNC before switching to banking. I was only making $60K/year when I was an accountant and figured out that accounting will not take me anywhere, that’s why I took a pay cut and started fresh in banking.
From my personal experience, starting out on the remunerative career is critical in accumulating a certain networth. If I continued with my accounting job, I would probably be making only $100-120K/year now. I don’t think I could have invested my way to a US$1m networth by mid 30s.
James
hi James, thanks for sharing. Do you mean you made $500-600k _per year_ in the last 5 years? Are you working in an investment bank or doing sales in a retail bank?
I too agree with you on starting out on the right career – do you have any advice for me on switching careers? Is it important to know the right people, or do I just apply through head hunting firms and keep on trying?
Thanks again.
I made $500-600K/year in investment banking. Senior guys make even more than that, more than US$1mil/year during good years. Only top tier firms make that kind of money though, I am in a mid-tier firm and will never make that much but I don’t need that much anyway.
Unfortunately, switching to an investment banking career at mid-level is almost impossible unless you do an MBA with a top MBA school. I don’t have an MBA but I switched much earlier in my career and having an accounting degree helps.
Forget about headhunting firms if you don’t have experience in investment banking. For mid-tier switch, it is easier to get into equity research. Some investment banks do not mind hiring research analysts with domain experience. For example if you were in URA, you could possibly make a good property analyst or if you worked in LTA or SIA, you may make a good transport analyst or maybe you worked in a minerals MNC, you may make a good commodities analyst. Having domain knowledge gives you insights and connections into the industry which other analysts will never have, I have seen many real life cases of such switches. Equity research don’t pay as well as investment banking, but top equity research analysts in top tier firms get paid $300-500K/year. Mid-tier firms pay S$150-300K/year, still pretty decent.
My advice is:
1. Figure where your competitive advantage is? ie what is your current job and how do you use that experience rather than start fresh. Pitch yourself that way, you can maybe start as a research assistant/associate to an experienced sector analyst.
2. Get a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) first, it shows that you are serious about switching careers. If you pass it, it shows you have the aptitude to embark on a finance career. If you can’t pass the CFA, keep trying. But if you continue to fail, I think its better that you drop your dream as you may not be suited for finance.
3. Read about investment banking and equity research/valuations. There are lots of books of these topics
4. Send out your CVs to all the research houses/investment banks
5. Speak to as many headhunters as you can
It will be hard work and you need to invest time, I did all of the above when I wanted to switch careers. Timing and luck is critical, 2007 was a year full of new hirings as many investment bankers/analysts switched to hedge funds and private equity funds. So was 1999/2000 when many also switched to dot-coms. I suspect that 2008 will be tough to switch to banking as there will be retrenchments and hiring freeze this year. But it is perhaps something you can work towards in the next couple of years. Nothing is easy, I took almost 1 year before I found my job and having some luck is crucial.
Hope this helps. Good luck. James.
Another piece of advice – the world of finance doesn’t just revolve round equities. Read up on Fixed Income, FX, Derivatives etc – most people in Singapore don’t know much about these financial instruments, hence having knowledge of these would be helpful. Just my 2 cents’ worth – I work in FX derivatives trading with an international bank BTW.
hi james, what were the hours like? I know of many who earn good bucks but worked crazy hours. The saying is that you have to milk it really well for a few years cause you;ll be burnt out by then. Is that true?
Hi Sunny,
Actually it depends on the firm. My firm is a mid-tier firm and its european therefore somewhat more relaxed. The top-tier US firms are the killers. Also time is more manageable after certain levels.
Most of the time, investment bankers switch to private equity, hedge funds, corporate after a number of years. Money in the privare equity funds and hedge funds is still pretty good with a better lifestyle, there is a life after investment banking for the bankers. It’s not all that bad, the skills and contacts that you pick up in investment banking are invaluable and highly transportable.
James
hi, anyone care to share what an investment banker actually does? and are all investment bankers tagged to foreign banks or local big banks too have investment bankers?
WHAT DOES AN INVESTMENT BANKER DO?
In gist, investment bankers help firms raise funding via the capital markets (bonds, equity, convertibles and other hybrid such as mezzanine financing as well as buy-out loans) and advise on mergers & acquisitions as well as divestitures.
CLIENT COVERAGE
Usually, these are the client coverage guys e.g. they take care of clients in the Real Estate sector or known as sector coverage or country coverage e.g. taking care of clients in say a specific country Malaysia.
They spend their time cultivating client relationships and sending proposals to clients in the hopes of landing a fund-raising mandate or a M&A mandate. Their value comes from the quality of their relationship with the clients and how they are able to land deals with these clients since the space is very competitive. Clients in turn place a value on such bankers based on their ability to deliver & execute, the quality of their advisory expertise & domain knowledge as well as their connections within the industry sector and access to the capital markets.
PRODUCT COVERAGE
There are also investment bankers who are on the product-side i.e. they are the specialists in structuring and executing a transaction once the mandate has been landed e.g. an ECM guy would execute an IPO or a follow-on equity offering.
LOCAL OR FOREIGN BANKS?
Both local and foreign banks have their respective investment banking teams. The foreign boys have been in this game for centuries and have an established global network in terms of industry expertise and access to the global capital markets whilst the local banks are visible mainly in the domestic investment banking activities and weaker in terms of cross-border deals.
we have been seeing comments of ppl earning $500k pa as investment banker. i presume these are in foreign banks. what will those in local banks be earning though at say VP level?
Whizzard,
Do you work in investment banking as well?
James
just to share my story. I am early 30s and i run my own company started back during the dotcom era. I estimate my networth at S$3M today. I arrive at this by adding up all my personal assets including home and valuing my company just based on cash position(no debt).
It took me 5 years to increase my networth from 0 to 1M. It took 2.5years or so to do the next 1M and now it is 1M per 1.5 year. If things go well, it should be increase of 1+M per year.
So just to let readers know that it is not just banking and finance that can help you achieve your financial goals. Running your own business can help you do that easily too. And i know quite a few other late 20s, early 30s entreprenuers who are probably worth twice or thrice what I have. Best of all, many of us did it without inheritance and started from just $20K or $100K.
Thanks for sharing that with us, “business”. That’s an inspiring story.
business, starting a biz seems to be quite a big task especially with the uncertainties looming ahead. any advice for those keen to start but don’t know how?
thanks.
Anybody can share their experience on Intellectual Property investment? Cuz I think that beside property/financial business people actually get rich by licensing their IP rights especially in entertainment industries like movie/games or even comic. Pls apologize if it’s a-question-too-far.
To James or other investment industry veterans.
Your comments are rather insightful. Btw i am a IT professional specializing in SAP FICO/FI (finance) module, however i have realized that financial investing is where my true interest lies, and am contemplating on swicthing career to either equity research, private equity , assest mgt or Private wealth banking. i am in 32 now and taking CFA lvl 1 this dec, and had got offer from a US MBA school (top 25 on EIU ranking).My plan to do both concurrently My thoughts are: is it late for me to switch now? Would any investment firm hire at the age of 33+ , especially with no formal financial job experience . Your comments or advice would be greatly appreciaated. Thank you
Actually, I’ve a few questions myself. I joined a VC firm 2 years back because I wanted to work in the financial sector. However I had come from a background of PR and Communications, so my current work is still in this area. While I find I do have a knack for networking and cultivating good client relationships, I still find it difficult to get a job in Private Banking. Having advised and managed high networth clients, I do have good knowledge of financial products, strong relationship management skills but somehow something is still lacking. Should I get an MBA or some Private Banking certification?
hi everyone, i need advice! i bought lehman brothers unsecured bonds and am wondering if it is a good idea to sell off my bonds to a secondary market transaction or continue to hang on to them. also, i’ve investments in permal.. i’m afraid i’m going to lose all my money in there looking at the current american financial situation. is it wise to sell it off too?? id rather make a little loss now than to lose everything in a sudden downturn. thanks.