*Official* Shiny Things club - Part 2

[BBCWatcher]

If you have a USD account on SCB (I have the $FCY account), you can now transfer USD to IB for free.

Awesome!

This promotion ends May 31, 2019, so get your U.S. dollars out of Standard Chartered now. IB and Schwab are possible destinations, the latter specifically for directly held U.S. Treasuries (as a notable example).

 

[Indignified]

Hi All,

I am wondering what advice will you give a 27 year old who has been given part of his inheritance since 25. My parents are still alive and well but my Dad have given me an amount of 300k which i am allowed to spend on anything i choose.

I have been actively reading and researching about investing for the past 2 years but i am still unsure of what i want to do and my risk appetite as i feel i do not know how i want to spend it wisely

As of now i still have done nothing much except put 45k into SSB and settled some of my insurance needs.

This means i still have about 255k cash parked in several banks earning interest rates of anywhere between 0.005% and 2.5%

I have been living well below my means and recently hit my own personal goal of 1 year emergency funds which gives me some confidence in touching these funds.

Any advice on what i can do with it aside from letting it stay in the bank or should i max my SSB and leave the 100k.

 

[Prof. Utonium]

Hi All,....

Firstly understand your objective.

What is your intention with those funds.

Any short term objective that you would like to meet using those funds?

Many make the mistake of not having any time line and clear goals. They just wanna grow or become wealthy and take uncalculated risks.

Had you covered yourself with ample insurances?

Nice of your family to give you early. This might push you to be more financially prudent.

 

[tangent314]

I am wondering what advice will you give a 27 year old who has been given part of his inheritance since 25. My parents are still alive and well but my Dad have given me an amount of 300k which i am allowed to spend on anything i choose.

Well, since you are in a thread where people here mostly subscribe to the 3-fund portfolio strategy, your first step would probably be to open an IBKR account, transfer in $150k and then purchase IWDA. This gives you an immediate AUM of US$100k to avoid monthly minimum commission.

The rest could be split between ES3, SSBs and perhaps some CPF topups. Possibly open an SRS account to use for ES3 purchases if the money is to be held longterm until age 62. SSBs can be used to hold cash that can wait 1 month to be liquidated.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Possibly open an SRS account to use for ES3 purchases if the money is to be held longterm until age 62.

Only if there's decent or better immediate tax relief available, which is a detail Indignified has not yet clarified and is not yet in evidence. Also, SRS-related tax relief is, overall, less compelling than CPF-related tax relief. CPF tax relief(s) should be done first. It's often possible to get tax relief from both, but not always. It depends on your income tax situation.

 

[smart alex]

I think tmr IWDA is 57.60

 

[FinalDestiny...]

Hi all, one key point for the investment strategy mentioned here is buy whatever you’re short of each month.

Given that the market fluctuates, does that mean that I have to re-adjust the investment amount I set for POSB-Invest/IBKR saver every month if the market values deviate from the % ?

Also, if I already have SAF Aviva Group Term Life insurance, do I possibly need any other form of term life insurance ?

 

[Indignified]

Firstly understand your objective.

What is your intention with those funds.

Any short term objective that you would like to meet using those funds?

Many make the mistake of not having any time line and clear goals. They just wanna grow or become wealthy and take uncalculated risks.

Had you covered yourself with ample insurances?

Nice of your family to give you early. This might push you to be more financially prudent.

My intention is for capital growth and improvement of financial literacy to ensure that when i get the full amount i will not be clueless.

As of right now my objective is for Medium- low risk as i still feel these funds are not my own.
I currently have 3 types of insurance Hospitalization, TPD and CI. Will i require more?

For a timeline it will be in approx 15 years where i am looking at financial independence. As of now i still have no SRS account as i have just started working and my income is still very low.

I have been reading that i should top up my CPF as it is a 4% risk free option but that will lock up the funds till i am 55?

 

[sumos23]

Hi there. Does anyone know if there is an interactive broker referral program? Am interested to sign up.

 

[appl888]

Why are the closing prices for ES3 and G3B so different?
ES3 is 3.42
G3B is 3.49

Thanks in advance

 

[Prof. Utonium]

My intention is for capital growth and improvement of financial literacy to ensure that when i get the full amount i will not be clueless.

As of right now my objective is for Medium- low risk as i still feel these funds are not my own.
I currently have 3 types of insurance Hospitalization, TPD and CI. Will i require more?

For a timeline it will be in approx 15 years where i am looking at financial independence. As of now i still have no SRS account as i have just started working and my income is still very low.

I have been reading that i should top up my CPF as it is a 4% risk free option but that will lock up the funds till i am 55?

Being financially literate may not means you would be wiser in investing. Emotions come into play too.Though it helps in understanding financial jargon and analysis.

For capital growth with 15 years horizon, you should up your risk tolerance by a notch. Diversify your risks. May consider STI if you are just starting out, at least it is domestic and you may seem more familiar with the climate and companies. SSB is a good start too. Although I don't have it as I find the returns too low. But it is really worth mentioning and considering!

I wouldn't touch on insurance. To each his own.

Financial independence as in? The FIRE movement? Personally I prefer to have a sum in mind and works toward it. What can be quantified can be improved, what can't is just lofty dreams.

Don't bother about SRS unless you are high income earner.

Do optimize your CPF soonest. This means, topping up what you can and transferring OA to SA to earn the higher interest. However, do not act blindly as the funds would be locked till 55 provided all else remains unchanged. After all CPF can be used for house purchase.

With the being said, CPF first priority should always be for retirement followed by housing. Too many wiped out their CPF monies and got it stuck in property instead. Although one may argue you may rent it out, but if you do want property income might as well get REITS. Property in SG is highly intervened by authorities.

If you are still young and have no plans to get a property within the next 5 years or so, do transfer all to SA to take advantage of compounding effect. Then slowly build up your OA for house purchase.

In future, once your risk appetite is higher you may take the SA/OA portion as part of your bond portfolio and allocate the liquid assets you have to more equities.


YMMV~

 

[Investnewbie82]

Hi all,

I read when discussing ETFs, US domicile ETFs are deemed unsuitable for non-US citizens. Does this merely referring to the 30% DWT as opposed to 15% for Ireland domiciled? Or any other factor that makes it impossible/wrong for us to buy?

Enjoying the IWDA run for now but sad the next DCA price will be high.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kehyi4]

Why are the closing prices for ES3 and G3B so different?
ES3 is 3.42
G3B is 3.49

Thanks in advance

er, because they are different ETFs, run by different companies, with different NAVs, different expense ratios etc? The only thing they have in common is that they track the same index - STI

Sent from null using GAGT

 

[appl888]

er, because they are different ETFs, run by different companies, with different NAVs, different expense ratios etc? The only thing they have in common is that they track the same index - STI

Sent from null using GAGT

Sti is 3400
3.42 is reasonable
3.49 oh well is too big?
Lolx

 

[mousepad_88]

i know ST advocates DCA into IWDA. Can i ask if there any scenario where one should hold off on our scheduled DCA-ing?

 

[hwckhs]

Why are the closing prices for ES3 and G3B so different?
ES3 is 3.42
G3B is 3.49

Thanks in advance

It might be better to compare each ETF's price to its own NAV. These ETFs may have cash from dividends declared from its holdings, so even the NAV will likely be slightly off from STI.

Try not to compare the price of 2 different ETFs. You can compare other attributes (eg. expense ratio, liquidity, AUM etc) though.

 

[hwckhs]

i know ST advocates DCA into IWDA. Can i ask if there any scenario where one should hold off on our scheduled DCA-ing?

You should only do DCA if you don't want to time the market, and you want to get (slightly lower) average price over the long term.

If you hold off when price if high, then you are timing the market!

If you are forced to hold off due to unforeseen cash flow issue, then that is perfectly fine. However, do not use this as an excuse for not properly plan your expenses. Expenses should have been planned and allocated for before you invest.

I had done some research in the past, to see if there's a mechanical method that's better than DCA. There is one called value averaging (VA). However, its major drawback is that monthly investment amount varies depends on the stock price. You invest less SGD amount when price goes up, and more when price goes down. The real issue comes when there is a crises, you find that the price tanks so much that you don't have the required money to buy. DCA is still the most practical method. For DCA to work, you need discipline and a conviction in it.

 

[sbladerz]

Hi guys,
I'm just wondering if you guys know of a medical that is likely to insure my mom for hospitalization coverage even though she has been rejected by the few major ones (prudential, ntuc, ge, axa etc.) for instance, how about sompo medilite?

Thanks

 

[Muneyzmart]

In your opinion, how much income do you think it is high enough to be contributing to SRS?

Being financially literate may not means you would be wiser in investing. Emotions come into play too.Though it helps in understanding financial jargon and analysis.

For capital growth with 15 years horizon, you should up your risk tolerance by a notch. Diversify your risks. May consider STI if you are just starting out, at least it is domestic and you may seem more familiar with the climate and companies. SSB is a good start too. Although I don't have it as I find the returns too low. But it is really worth mentioning and considering!

I wouldn't touch on insurance. To each his own.

Financial independence as in? The FIRE movement? Personally I prefer to have a sum in mind and works toward it. What can be quantified can be improved, what can't is just lofty dreams.

Don't bother about SRS unless you are high income earner.

Do optimize your CPF soonest. This means, topping up what you can and transferring OA to SA to earn the higher interest. However, do not act blindly as the funds would be locked till 55 provided all else remains unchanged. After all CPF can be used for house purchase.

With the being said, CPF first priority should always be for retirement followed by housing. Too many wiped out their CPF monies and got it stuck in property instead. Although one may argue you may rent it out, but if you do want property income might as well get REITS. Property in SG is highly intervened by authorities.

If you are still young and have no plans to get a property within the next 5 years or so, do transfer all to SA to take advantage of compounding effect. Then slowly build up your OA for house purchase.

In future, once your risk appetite is higher you may take the SA/OA portion as part of your bond portfolio and allocate the liquid assets you have to more equities.


YMMV~

 

[qazamy]

Is there any update to Shiny's book?

Still IWDA, ES3, and SSB right?

Bought it back in 2017

The book got update? If got, how update?