Noob savings questions

[Sakagamii]

lets say i have 20k sitting ard in my posb savings acct. any good ways to let it 'sit' in somewhere better? i gotta admit i haf almost no idea where and what to look for, would appreciate links if its too troublesome to explain also

wads de gd points about fixed deposits? are they feasible? i also seen some info bout blue chip investments but couldnt really understand it

 

[cookie_philosopher]

How long do you intend for the money to sit around for? Is it an emergency fund?

 

[The Rain Man]

I think the main thing you should do before anything else is to:

1) Set aside some emergency funds for yourself/family for a period of 6 months - 1 year
2) Determine your risk appetite
3) Start gathering information on interest rates/trading strategies before you act

Being able to determine your risk appetite would then lead you in the direction you want to go, be it fixed deposits, blue chip investments or day trading.

 

[Dividends Warrior]

How much risk are u willing to take? How much returns are u aiming for?

 

[Darkzi0n]

suggest TS read up first if u wan to invest... dont buy anything that u dont understand.

 

[Sakagamii]

How long do you intend for the money to sit around for? Is it an emergency fund?

just excess savings. i dun realli haf any commitments and my monthly expenses are average to be honest.

 

[Sakagamii]

How much risk are u willing to take? How much returns are u aiming for?

im not looking at those high risk investment since i'm just looking at ways to possibly earn some passive income with low risk. obviously low risk = lower returns and i understand that. i know 20k isn't really a big amt either

i do know that leaving it in the savings acct is not a good idea at all with the pathetic interest rates

 

[Sakagamii]

I think the main thing you should do before anything else is to:

1) Set aside some emergency funds for yourself/family for a period of 6 months - 1 year
2) Determine your risk appetite
3) Start gathering information on interest rates/trading strategies before you act

Being able to determine your risk appetite would then lead you in the direction you want to go, be it fixed deposits, blue chip investments or day trading.

1) i do haf like 5k set aside if needed. i come from an average family if i say so, my parents working as well as my siblings. the 20k can be considered excess tbh

2) as a newbie, i wouldn't look into high risk investments esp with my lack of knowledge. just wanted to know more on how and where to actually start looking around for. i assume that there are saving/investments methods that rate from simple -> complicated types?

3) thats why i hope i can start from this forum if possible. i assume fixed deposits are one of the simplest type? its pretty much a monthly deposit into an acct to earn monthly/annual interest?

 

[cookie_philosopher]

seems like you are not intending to lose principal at all. can consider the various fixed deposits out there. if you need more liquidity then the CIMB savers account. If no need liquidity currently fixDs are paying about 1%pa. Just hop over to the Fixed D threads to browse. A lot of advice there! Good luck!

 

[torrent06]

1) i do haf like 5k set aside if needed. i come from an average family if i say so, my parents working as well as my siblings. the 20k can be considered excess tbh

Excess cash is cash that you don't mind losing. Is 5K enough to last you for at least 6 months if you lose your job? You might want to build up more savings before thinking of investment. There are a lot of financial products (index funds, bonds, mutual funds, insurance) out there but which usually require a medium to long term horizon and the costs can actually erode the return, so research carefully before committing to anything. Fixed Deposits is a plain vanilla product and with the SDIC insurance for up to $50K of bank deposits, you won't lose your capital other than to inflation. With investment, you can lose more if you don't know what you are doing.

These days, there's a lot of talk about "better" to invest than leave money in savings deposit because of inflation but they don't realise the risks and costs involved (and the salespersons will never highlight them). I lost money when the government first encouraged people to invest in unit trusts even though it was considered a balanced (medium risk) portfolio and I lost more when I bought ILP (Investment Linked Insurance Policy). Start reading through the sticky threads in the forum and get educated.

 

[windwaver]

im not looking at those high risk investment since i'm just looking at ways to possibly earn some passive income with low risk. obviously low risk = lower returns and i understand that. i know 20k isn't really a big amt either

i do know that leaving it in the savings acct is not a good idea at all with the pathetic interest rates

If you're not into monitoring all the time, you can look at some of the low risk structured products. If those are still too riskly, probably an FD will be good until Fed decides to make up their mind .

 

[Dividends Warrior]

I recommend this book.

 

[bighead9n]

lets say i have 20k sitting ard in my posb savings acct. any good ways to let it 'sit' in somewhere better? i gotta admit i haf almost no idea where and what to look for, would appreciate links if its too troublesome to explain also

wads de gd points about fixed deposits? are they feasible? i also seen some info bout blue chip investments but couldnt really understand it

hahaha. i would rather to keep it rotten inside the posb saving account.

 

[chopra]

cimb savings

 

[AhPek_Lion]

20k is quite a huge sum to lose esp if u just started working. What i suggest is u split the money ....

5k inside bank account
10k inside fixed deposit (CIMB and UOB have some promo now)

remaining 5k can invest into say blue chips....perhaps start off small like few hundred monthly using this 5k ... have a feel of it before committing more

 

[bighead9n]

20k is quite a huge sum to lose esp if u just started working. What i suggest is u split the money ....

5k inside bank account
10k inside fixed deposit (CIMB and UOB have some promo now)

remaining 5k can invest into say blue chips....perhaps start off small like few hundred monthly using this 5k ... have a feel of it before committing more

i believe that use only 1k as a start to invest will be great.

 

[Capetron]

buy stock. good investment.

 

[Capetron]

blumont reture over one year is more than 5500%

 

[bakuten]

Buy gold... keep inside safe and forget abt it...

When u start to see ur Auntie relatives start talking abt it...den u know u huat liao lol

 

[AngeLeo]

1) i do haf like 5k set aside if needed. i come from an average family if i say so, my parents working as well as my siblings. the 20k can be considered excess tbh

2) as a newbie, i wouldn't look into high risk investments esp with my lack of knowledge. just wanted to know more on how and where to actually start looking around for. i assume that there are saving/investments methods that rate from simple -> complicated types?

3) thats why i hope i can start from this forum if possible. i assume fixed deposits are one of the simplest type? its pretty much a monthly deposit into an acct to earn monthly/annual interest?

Few ideas for you:
1. Increase your emergency funds to $12k.
Simple (round up - to be safe) reason:
Food: 3 meals per day x $10 = $30 ($30 x 31 days = $930)
Transport: Avg $200 / month
Utilities: Avg $200 / month
Total: $1330, let's cater $670 a month in case fall sick, summon, ppl's wedding, birthday or what.
So it's $2k a month. $12k for 6 months.

2. Where do you see this remaining $13k will be spent on eventually?
A - Retirement?
B - Future Expenses? (Car, House, Wedding, Children, Renovation, Holiday etc?)
C - Let it make more money for you (Investment, gamble etc)
D - Be philanthropic! Donate to charity!
If it's A, get an annuity or retirement plan (no liquidity though).
If it's B, Fixed Deposit or do some trading.
C involves risks and judgement, you don't sound like want to lose any of your $20k.
Choosing D would be very nice of you, i'd like to be your friend =P. It'll also help by offsetting your income tax.

3. Is your wealth protected in the first place?
In case of 'rainy days'...
A. Will you be touching your $5k + $20k?
B. Would the $25k be enough to tide you through?
Be insured, when you're still insurable, minimise the cost and get proper coverage since you have a sum set aside. There are good plans out there that gives good coverage and help to grow your money as well.

PM me if you wanna know more =)

$20k is not much, that's why I recommend you keep $12k for emergency.
It is also not little as well. Put in the right place, it can give you good passive income that will probably see you through your retirement.