Need advice on investment

[gladiusgg]

Hi guys. I'd like to set aside an initial investment capital of $30k and subsequently monthly investment of $1k~1.5k.

Purpose is to save and grow money for my house in 3~4 yrs time. So most probably I will cash out majority of the money for downpayment, reno and other housing expenses.

Initially I thought of opening a monthly savings account, but I find that the returns are so low. I am not familiar with investing in shares or bonds or RIETS. So I hope you guys here can help me out and give me some advice with your expertise.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bastogne]

u can look at posb invest-saver or ocbc blue chip investment plan for beginners like u.

 

[gladiusgg]

u can look at posb invest-saver or ocbc blue chip investment plan for beginners like u.

I'm reading about them now. It seems like the shares bought under these plans are held by the bank instead of my own CDP account. Not sure if there are any disadvantages for this?

 

[bastogne]

I'm reading about them now. It seems like the shares bought under these plans are held by the bank instead of my own CDP account. Not sure if there are any disadvantages for this?

u might want to open a cdp account first and maybe invest in nikko am sti etf for a start if u are confident as a beginner.

 

[gladiusgg]

u might want to open a cdp account first and maybe invest in nikko am sti etf for a start if u are confident as a beginner.

I've already opened a CDP account but I haven't bought anything yet cos I don't know what to buy!

 

[bastogne]

I've already opened a CDP account but I haven't bought anything yet cos I don't know what to buy!

try nikko am sti etf or singpost.

 

[gladiusgg]

try nikko am sti etf or singpost.

Thanks for the advice. So I have to call up a stock broker and then tell them that I wanna buy these shares right? Is there a way for me to buy it by myself?

 

[bastogne]

Thanks for the advice. So I have to call up a stock broker and then tell them that I wanna buy these shares right? Is there a way for me to buy it by myself?

tell your broker what shares you want to buy. Your broker will execute your order and handle all other details.

Alternatively, you can carry out your transactions through the stockbroker’s online trading platform.

 

[kaldorii]

tell your broker what shares you want to buy. Your broker will execute your order and handle all other details.

Alternatively, you can carry out your transactions through the stockbroker’s online trading platform.

i think there is commission for each transaction right? Is there any without such fee? Is it too much of a hassle to do myself?

 

[Epps_Sg]

1. Investment plan and investment management.
Buying the ETF or stocks is a start, after that you need to know how to manage your investment, meaning what actions will you take after you make the first purchases? will you buy the same counters every month or quarter to take advantage of dollar cost averaging? Will you build a stock/bond portfolio instead for the lower volatility? Will you use an active stock picking approach or a dumb passive investment approach?

2. Risk appetite.
Then there is consideration of how much risk you think you should take. your investment horizon of 3 to 4 years is not short but not very long also. Since you need the cash for housing, probably you may want to be more conservative, meaning your investment strategy should probably minimize or eliminate chances of major losses such as -50% loss, which is very possible if you only purely invest in stocks. A diversified portfolio of mixed stock/cash, or mixed stock/bond, rebalanced yearly, can have lower potential loss compared to 100% stocks.

Do adequate research and due diligence first before investing, because 30k is not small sum.

 

[AlphaQuant]

Hi guys. I'd like to set aside an initial investment capital of $30k and subsequently monthly investment of $1k~1.5k.

Purpose is to save and grow money for my house in 3~4 yrs time. So most probably I will cash out majority of the money for downpayment, reno and other housing expenses.

Thanks in advance!

hmm. the most important part of your post is that you intend to use the money in 3-4 years for your house, meaning you need your money back in 3-4 years.

i am not sure at all whether you will get your capital safely back after 4 years if u start pumping 30k now and then 1k every month. If you are looking at a 20-30 year horizon then i think it is fine - if the money is to be used for investment and growth and retirement planning etc. But your intention is to put your money somewhere safe and then get the money back after 4 yrs to pay for your house. The return of capital in 4 yrs seems to be more important that the return on capital in such a short time span.

If you are not aware, the Federal Reserve has hinted that they will start raising interest rates in 2015 (and before that reduce their bond buying) - this has significant impact on asset prices, be it bonds, stocks, properties, commodities. And more importantly, 2015 is 2 years away - so just 1-2 years before your intended withdrawal date of 2016-2017.

What i am concern abt is that you dump 30k in something, then 1k mthly, and you do it for 2 years and smile every month. Then in 2015, some new chairman of the Fed does something crazy, causes another asian financial crisis where all money flock out of asia, and you will be quite worried 1-2 years before your housing plans starts.

I do not know what can give you a high return in 3-4 years, but i suggest you think carefully abt getting your money back safely in one piece before proceeding.

 

[Dividends Warrior]

Crisis in 1987
Crisis in 1997
Crisis in 2008
Crisis in 2017/2018???

If you need that money 3-4 years later, you may just run smack into another economic crisis.

My sincere advice. Put in fixed deposits.

 

[wooty100]

Looks like u need short term plans and relatively good liquidity.

Investment knowledge you said you are having some reservations and did not start even you had opened your account. My suggestion is u can go for fix dep and wait for the time to mature for your needs.

Or

Invest partially into various products available in the market provided you can stretch your horizon longer say anything from 5 to 15years or so. U can look into unit trust/etfs investments either by posb or ocbc investment scheme which offers a rate of 1%(posb) the last time i checked.

Or

Consider a ILP preferably after a series of good fact finding and risk assessment. Test the agent on various recommendations. Typically this plan should be mid to long term anything from 10yrs onwards. Difference from bank scheme is you can attach a CI waiver to cover your premiums in event of CI n disability.

 

[lemizeraq]

Hi,

You need to both retain your principal amount ($30k) and also grow your money. Since you need the money for your housing in 3 to 4 years time.

Suggest you do this:

1. Put bulk of your savings, say $28k to fixed deposits that mature in 1 year and renew them until you are near the time for your housing.

2. Go to a bank and sign up for index funds or ETFs that allows $1K as minimum deposit and buy two different ones that are from different regions to diversify your investment (one of these should ideally be Singapore or Pacific related which includes Singapore).

3. Ask to do a regular savings plan with the two index funds and split your $1000 to each fund monthly.

4. Nearer to the date where you are to get your house, preferably 1 year to the date, see which fund is doing well and liquidate that and hold the other until you need it.

5. When you have your bonus each year, pump half to fixed desposits, the other to investment in either different ETFs, REITs or other shares to collect dividends.

 

[antonpoh]

Crisis in 1987
Crisis in 1997
Crisis in 2008
Crisis in 2017/2018???

If you need that money 3-4 years later, you may just run smack into another economic crisis.

My sincere advice. Put in fixed deposits.

Actually that crisis didn't starts in 2008. It begin to drop in Aug 2007. So guess now you all know when the next one will come le.

 

[cookie_philosopher]

Looks like u need short term plans and relatively good liquidity.

Consider a ILP preferably after a series of good fact finding and risk assessment. Test the agent on various recommendations. Typically this plan should be mid to long term anything from 10yrs onwards. Difference from bank scheme is you can attach a CI waiver to cover your premiums in event of CI n disability.

I don't even know how to react......zzzzzz.......

 

[bakuten]

i believe in the current economic climate, it is a good time to hold some of your portfolio in precious metals. Gold/Silver namely.

maybe take 15%-30% of your total investable $$.... put into gold n silver.

then depending on your appetite for risk. allocate a dollar ratio of gold:silver
silver = more volatile but more upward potential. (read up on gold silver ratio to learn abt it)
gold = more stable but less upward potential. (the most liquid asset for the past 5000 years.)

as for the other 70%.
diversify them out into different stuff. so if 1 side gets hit, other side will gain which will reduce your losses or amplify your gains.

 

[Epps_Sg]

i believe in the current economic climate, it is a good time to hold some of your portfolio in precious metals. Gold/Silver namely.

maybe take 15%-30% of your total investable $$.... put into gold n silver.

then depending on your appetite for risk. allocate a dollar ratio of gold:silver
silver = more volatile but more upward potential. (read up on gold silver ratio to learn abt it)
gold = more stable but less upward potential. (the most liquid asset for the past 5000 years.)

as for the other 70%.
diversify them out into different stuff. so if 1 side gets hit, other side will gain which will reduce your losses or amplify your gains.

Sounds similar to what the Permanent Portfolio strategy is doing... hehe.