Official Shiny Things thread—Part III

[newjersey]

hi ST,

what do u think of crypto?

saw that u are with Ripple now.

hmmm, do you think Ripple would be the future of transactions?

and if so, surely, you don't think it has anything to do with XRP, right?

as XRP has really nothing to do with Ripple's ecosystem that is being pitched to the banks to abandon SWIFT.

Your thoughts, please.

TQ

 

[Perfect1onist]

Don't clap emoji use clap emoji Saxo.

Hmm, then which broker should I use (for overseas markets)?
StanChart? IBKR (but $10/month very chor)?

For local trading/investments, FSMone?

I am a beginner with low captial buying CSPX for the long term and probably doing swing trading in the future. I know StanChart cannot short so maybe I have 2 active accounts?

 

[Perfect1onist]

It's not only saxo.

Basically all brokers only accept first party transfers.

Revolut or transferwise accounts are usually not counted as first party because they are not really full banks. More of a bank-like transfer and payment service.

Thanks! Wow was that a recent change in terms? I had seen many comments where people had successfully used those platforms before. Saxo says they no longer accept 3rd party

 

[crystalnox]

Hmm, then which broker should I use (for overseas markets)?
StanChart? IBKR (but $10/month very chor)?

For local trading/investments, FSMone?

I am a beginner with low captial buying CSPX for the long term and probably doing swing trading in the future. I know StanChart cannot short so maybe I have 2 active accounts?

If you're going to be doing trading, just go for IBRK directly. Wrong thread for trading by the way.

 

[CarlJung]

Hmm, then which broker should I use (for overseas markets)?

Trying to answer the same question for myself. I shortlisted:

• Standard Chartered Bank
• Saxo
• Interactive Brokers

SCB is not very friendly, both as UI and as people. To collect the info you need you have to push them and it's not always straightforward to get them.
Plus I heard the exchange rate is not that good.

Saxo have all the info you need clearly stated on the website, if you send a mail they actually respond and with the proper and detailed info. The UI is probably the best of the bunch.

IB I have been told they have the best fees if you consider the $120 offset the trading you do during the year, and also the exchange rate are the best (or so they told me). But I don't like the fact they don't have an office in Singapore. It's my saving, if something happen, any problem, you don't have a door to knock to. I know is more something psychological than objective but still..

 

[zoneguard]

But I don't like the fact they don't have an office in Singapore. It's my saving, if something happen, any problem, you don't have a door to knock to. I know is more something psychological than objective but still..

IB has an office here, see this MAS entry. They were supposed to start operations this year but now I don't know. Search for the thread that discussed this.

The USD $10 fee each month (if you trade enough) will not be charged as the commissions generated in a calendar month reach $10. Alternatively reach USD 100k AUM.

 

[razoreigns]

2) Bonds having low or negative yields doesn't necessarily mean people don't want to buy them.

For example, the German government literally can't sell enough bonds to keep the market happy, even at yields of -0.5%.

May I know why people are willing to buy negative yielding bonds? Isn’t keeping the cash under the mattress (in a very secure house!) a better investment? It can also be counted as your bond allocation, is liquid and can be rebalanced easily.

 

[Wishdom]

HUAT AH! Just look at that 2 days ' graph. **** doesn't even make sense.

Sent from Ilovennp using GAGT

 

[Kaypohji]

What app is that ?

HUAT AH! Just look at that 2 days ' graph. **** doesn't even make sense.

Sent from Ilovennp using GAGT

 

[crystalnox]

Trying to answer the same question for myself. I shortlisted:

• Standard Chartered Bank
• Saxo
• Interactive Brokers

SCB is not very friendly, both as UI and as people. To collect the info you need you have to push them and it's not always straightforward to get them.
Plus I heard the exchange rate is not that good.

Saxo have all the info you need clearly stated on the website, if you send a mail they actually respond and with the proper and detailed info. The UI is probably the best of the bunch.

IB I have been told they have the best fees if you consider the $120 offset the trading you do during the year, and also the exchange rate are the best (or so they told me). But I don't like the fact they don't have an office in Singapore. It's my saving, if something happen, any problem, you don't have a door to knock to. I know is more something psychological than objective but still..

Saxo charges 0.75% per fx transaction. SCB doesn't "charge" anything but typically has a spread of about 0.5%. IB is practically spot rate, plus a flat US$2 fee per fx transaction which counts into the $10 monthly min.

 

[kram62]

What app is that ?

IBKR app
Quite good app, can do everything I need directly through it.

 

[Coutinho_#23]

Hi all, currently I am a student, touched G3B using DBS vicker + cdp.

If I wish to invest in us market, would yr recommend IB, Fsmone, scb or vickers? I am not a frequent investor and doubt next time also when I have a job hence I find IB abit unrealistic for me. Going 25 yo soon..

Any advice? So far I see that IB is better than the others due to commission fee. However was taken aback by the dividend part, under 100k and the inactivity costs.

 

[streetfighter]

Thanks for sharing your experience, & please continue to post such fresh views.

Please ignore those losers here & don't put to heart. I suppose they are jealous of your performance?

I watch the market everyday, spend about 1-2 hours on it. That is the only way to have a good feel of where the market is going and horn the skill to be able to buy low sell high to get much higher returns than blindly DCA into ETFs.

This has helped me to achieve Financial independence at the age 45 years old.
The ability to control one's emotions is very important. People who are not able to do so when they watch the market everyday are just emotionally too weak to be able to use their mind to control their emotions.

 

[streetfighter]

Beware of Saxo - custodian fees + high forex.

Trying to answer the same question for myself. I shortlisted:

• Standard Chartered Bank
• Saxo
• Interactive Brokers

SCB is not very friendly, both as UI and as people. To collect the info you need you have to push them and it's not always straightforward to get them.
Plus I heard the exchange rate is not that good.

Saxo have all the info you need clearly stated on the website, if you send a mail they actually respond and with the proper and detailed info. The UI is probably the best of the bunch.

IB I have been told they have the best fees if you consider the $120 offset the trading you do during the year, and also the exchange rate are the best (or so they told me). But I don't like the fact they don't have an office in Singapore. It's my saving, if something happen, any problem, you don't have a door to knock to. I know is more something psychological than objective but still..

 

[Kaypohji]

Interface looks good
Much better than scb

IBKR app
Quite good app, can do everything I need directly through it.

 

[swan02]

It’s great Chris does what he does to achieve financial freedom via timing. If it works for him, best to continue. But it wont work for many.

But one does not need to time the stock market to do well. I’ve retired at 38 and I’m 44 now with half of my gains via stocks etf,

For years I Simply blindly DCA and lump sum with no need to even do research though I spent time controlling my thoughts with much difficulty.

although I admit purely timing and using all fancy technicals and fundamentals and putting lots of effort in the very early days. it’s probably all luck of timing the market. All these extra work caused me more headache and pain and sleepless nights.

I don’t see any obvious out performance of my timing vs blindly DCA.

Some how I have bought a crapload of stocks recently. Looks like I’m timing the market. Yet also I’m continuing DCA. Both ways work as long u keep at it and are well diversified. No bonds. Complicate things.

Thanks for sharing your experience, & please continue to post such fresh views.

Please ignore those losers here & don't put to heart. I suppose they are jealous of your performance?

 

[streetfighter]

Thanks for sharing. Just wondering what kind of net worth you need before retiring at 38? For some people, they can retire with $1200 a month. For me, i need at least $6000 a month. So if at 38 & assuming i live till 90, i need about $3.74m (excluding residential property).

It’s great Chris does what he does to achieve financial freedom via timing. If it works for him, best to continue. But it wont work for many.

But one does not need to time the stock market to do well. I’ve retired at 38 and I’m 44 now with half of my gains via stocks etf,

For years I Simply blindly DCA and lump sum with no need to even do research though I spent time controlling my thoughts with much difficulty.

although I admit purely timing and using all fancy technicals and fundamentals and putting lots of effort in the very early days. it’s probably all luck of timing the market. All these extra work caused me more headache and pain and sleepless nights.

I don’t see any obvious out performance of my timing vs blindly DCA.

Some how I have bought a crapload of stocks recently. Looks like I’m timing the market. Yet also I’m continuing DCA. Both ways work as long u keep at it and are well diversified. No bonds. Complicate things.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Just wondering what kind of net worth you need before retiring at 38? For some people, they can retire with $1200 a month. For me, i need at least $6000 a month. So if at 38 & assuming i live till 90, i need about $3.74m (excluding residential property).

No, that's not quite right. You have to adjust for inflation, and age 90 isn't actually a very good estimate. It looks like roughly 30% of males age 38 today are going to live past 90.

So let's assume you incorporate 2%/year average inflation and age 110 as your assumptions. That's 71 years of spending at $6,000/month (2020 dollars). Add that all up and you'll spend a total of S$5,112,000 in 2020 dollars which equates to about S$11,308,000 in nominal dollars.

My point here is that early retirement math is hard if you're sober and realistic in your forecasting. Let's run those numbers again but with one "small" change: age 45 retirement (7 fewer years of spending). Age 45 is also pretty ridiculous for the vast majority of people, but it's less ridiculous than age 38. So that's 64 years of non-covered spending at $6,000/month (2020 dollars), or S$4,608,000 total (2020 dollars), or about S$9,370,000 total nominal. Yes, that's right, if you work 7 more years on the front side then you reduce your total nominal retirement spending by about S$2 million with these forecast assumptions.

This daunting math also helps explain why I keep harping on the absolute critical importance of insuring your future income potential against disability (Disability Income Insurance). Most people are f**ked in Singapore if they lose their future income earning potential. Don't be f**ked: insure it, at least to a reasonable extent.

 

[swan02]

You need to base on your safe withdrawal rate. Inclusive of cpf, I have a withdrawal rate of 1.56 percent currently living in HDB. But I also have a low cost of living for the family which has gone down considerably. To b safe, I aim to be less than 3 percent SWR.

I might be buying a private property and that might jack up the withdrawal rate but will be less than 3 percent.

Even With my low withdrawal rate, keeping my previous extremely low allocation to risk assets is still unviable. Considering that I have missed the rally, and interest rates are low, I have no choice But to up the equity asset allocation and seek to invest everything maybe within 3 years or less keeping 200k in cash/bonds. I have also lean towards Singapore banks and reits for psychological buffer of dividends n safety. I keep only 30 percent international and leaning to Berkshire atm.

I might also shield sequence of risk using debt via pledging cash assets as debt is cheap.I’ve also decided to become a real estate sales person to hedge that risk starting next year.

I think u need 2.9m for a SWR of 2.5 percent at today’s money with an asset allocation starting at 50 percent risk assets and 50 percent safe assets and reaching 100 percent in risk asset between 5 to 10 years. Your 3.74m sounds overkill maybe it’s future value ?

how did u derive that figure ?

Thanks for sharing. Just wondering what kind of net worth you need before retiring at 38? For some people, they can retire with $1200 a month. For me, i need at least $6000 a month. So if at 38 & assuming i live till 90, i need about $3.74m (excluding residential property).

 

[dullthings]

Does this affect decisions with respect to MBH / A35?

There's a lot going on here, and you're jumping to some conclusions that are, I'll be blunt, wrong.

1) Some corporate bonds already have negative yields.

Microsoft, for example, has a EUR bond maturing in December 2021 that yields about -0.25% (if you're curious, the ISIN is XS1001749107).

2) Bonds having low or negative yields doesn't necessarily mean people don't want to buy them.

For example, the German government literally can't sell enough bonds to keep the market happy, even at yields of -0.5%.

3) Bonds having low or negative yield doesn't have much effect on equities.

There are negative yields at the moment in, off the top of my head, the EU, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Japan (probably a few others). Bond yields in the US are not negative, but their stockmarket has wildly outperformed the rest of the world.

In short, if you're the sort of investor who's fine owning a corporate bond yielding 0.1 or 0.2%, if that bond's yield drops to zero you won't sell it and buy stock, because the sort of investors who own 0.1%-yielding corporate bonds tend to think stocks are too risky.