TR EMERITUS

By James Oh One of the keys to success is being meticulous. You need to pay close attention to  details so as to master a particular trade. This profound principle also applies to wealth creation process. Saving is the main core step in wealth creation. It was highlighted well by Ben Franklin "Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." We can't deny that it forms the fundamental pillar in sustaining wealth. As such, no matter how small you begin, it will eventually turn into your financial reserve, which will then be used as a bridge to the next higher level of wealth. This reserve is required to cushion you throughout the waiting period for your harvest. Here, I am not disputing that you may get instant windfall on your investment venture, but the probability is remote. At the same time, it is not wise for you to live in another extreme scenario whereby you keep on cutting expenses until you do not live life at all. Therefore, you need draw a line where to put a stop. Alternatively, you may make some alteration to your spending pattern in a such way that can bring more benefits for the extra you spent. For instance, you may reward yourself with a gift/ have a celebration for your new achievement. This is important because it will drive you further to achieve a next higher target in the long run. By doing so, you will also have a more meaningful life. In reality, this sort of benefits may be difficult to quantify with accuracy especially if you want to take into account those intangible benefits that associate with the extra you have spent.  Here, you have to use your gut feeling or experience to gauge this value. No doubts, it is very subjective and arbitrary. But, we have to take it into consideration so as to give us a fair value of it. However, it may be even more complicated especially if we wanted to book in the value of its indirect benefits such as good feeling which may indirectly enhance your productivity due to the good effect derived from the extra money that you have spent. Your judgment will only improve through trials and testings. Individual's wealth management skills are also not exempted from this process. Similarly, saving is a skill where you have to practise until it become part of you, i.e. ingrained as a habit. You will then be able to be in control of yourself and not spend lavishly, without affecting your main financial goals. Despite the fact that you allow some deviation against saving, you are in overall control of keeping  your financial goals intact. This is because  you have  mastered the skill that allows you to control your spending pattern so as not to affect your overall financial structure. No one can challenge you in this aspect because you are the only one who knows your financial destination. This operate exactly like the ship captain who maneuvers his ship when he faces with unexpected storms or other challenges that come along his voyage. Some use budgeting tools to navigate their spending pattern to keep their finance on track towards their financial destination. I am not against this idea. However, I want to warn you that more than often we will not achieve our  budget no matter how well you prepared it. In reality, there are so many unknown factors which are not possible to predict with accuracy. A good examples is the fluctuation of the foreign exchange rate. Therefore, your experience and skill will come into play in these areas to assist you to make those necessarily adjustment that will not have any adverse impact on your financial destination. It is clear by now that priorities lead to prosperity. Your financial prosperity will be your most highest priority and you will prepare to do anything to ensure that this priority will stay intact no matter what happens to you.  By focusing on that particular financial prosperity, coupled with other values such as persistence and power of concentration, I  see no reason why you cannot achieve it. Once you have achieved your financial destination, the more challenging issue is how to sustain it. You must be aware that it is much more easier to achieve your financial destination than sustaining it. To sustain it, you need to stay in control at all times. Bear in mind that the more wealthier you are, the higher risks you are exposed because more swindlers will prey on you than others. You also need to be guarded against your own temptations which more than often make you stumble. What bring you up may bring you down as well. That is the law of nature that has been operating throughout the human history. James Oh   Other articles by James Oh: >> How to get faster results >> How to retire gracefully >> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2) About the Author: James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids. James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent With more and more young couples missing out on the homes of their choice due to sky-rocketing prices of public housing, the state media is spinning stories to lay the blame squarely on Singaporeans instead of the government. The prices of HDB flats have reached a record high in June this year caused partly by the continuous inflow of foreigners into Singapore and limited supply of new flats. According to a report by real estate agency ERA, 40 per cent of the buyers of resale flats are PRs. An Indonesian PR "spoilt" the market of late by forking out $653,000 for a 4-room HDB flat in Queenstown. Despite rising resentment on the ground, HDB is adamant that public housing remains affordable in Singapore. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan castigated first-time home buyers for being "fussy". Now, PAP MP Dr Muhammad Faisal has an another explanation and as usual the government is absolved of all responsibilities for its ill-thought polic.y Dr Muhammad, an assistant professor of real estate at the National University of Singapore, feels that couples who run into trouble with housing often fail to plan ahead. 'I've met residents who are often in distress and can't get a flat because they apply six months or a year before their wedding date, without thinking it takes three years to build the flat,' he noted. The HDB scheme, which was started in the 1960s, carries with it the risk of a couple's relationship turning sour while they wait for the flat to be built. They will also have to forgo the downpayment - 5 per cent of the flat's selling price - if they give up the unit, as is the case with married applicants. The Sunday Times quoted the example of a young Singapore couple who paid the downpayment for a 5-room flat in Punggol when they are planning to get married 4 years later in 2013. The government should ensure that HDB flats are readily available for young Singapore couples in the first place rather than to ask them to plan well ahead when nobody can guarantee that their relationships will stay intact for the next few years. Singaporeans should not be asked to pay the price for poor government planning. It is HDB which should plan ahead and increase the supply of flats in the last two years when the rate of immigration is at the highest. According to Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, there are over 20,000 new citizens and 90,000 PRs last year. A quick check on HDB infoweb reveals that the number of new flats built between 2006 - 2008 annually numbered less than 20,000 which is grossly inadequate to meet the housing needs of the population. It is deplorable that the state media chooses to ignore the truth and deliberately distort the facts to deflect attention away from the role of the government.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Following the raising of the idea of a pre-citizenship test by PAP MP Madam Halimah Yacob in parliament last Monday, the state media has been actively selling the idea to Singaporeans. The Sunday Times even conducted a mock test for 50 locals and foreigners and it turned out that the former did not fare much better than the latter group. The test consists of 10 questions ranging from Singapore's colonial history to its public holidays with the respondent scoring an average score of just five out of 10. None got all 10 answers right. Overall, the scores of the 36 Singa-poreans aged between 13 and 64 who were polled hovered around the six-point mark. They fared better than the 14 foreigners, whose length of stay varied between two days and 14 years. These non-Singaporeans scored anywhere between zero and a respectable seven. While Singaporeans are getting increasingly worried about the rate of inflow of foreigners, the government is more concerned about the rate of integration among new citizens. According to the National Population Secretariat, there are more than 20,000 new citizens and 70,000 PRs last year. Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng revealed that two out of every three PR applicants are successful. A $10-million Community Integration Fund, probably the first of its kind in the world, was launched lately to make the newcomers feel welcomed in Singapore. The fund offers free language courses to prospective migrants who do not have to take a basic English proficiency test before they are allowed to work and live in Singapore unlike in other countries like Australia and Canada. Due to the rising resentment on the ground at the relentless influx of foreigners, the senior leaders have tried to reassure Singaporeans that their interests will be "protected". However, they did not promise to reduce the inflow of foreigners other than to "tweak" it. The pre-citizenship test will have no impact on the current rate of immigration which will see Singaporeans becoming a minority in the next few decades should it continue unabated. Already, foreigners make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. The increasing numbers of new citizens will form the next generation of voters many of whom are likely to vote for the ruling party thereby ensuring its political hegemony. The fact is not lost on the PAP which has been actively courting the new citizens and "recruiting" them into grassroots organizations like RCs. Minister of Community, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan quipped lately that he is "happy" that 4,500 new citizens are serving as grassroots leaders in various estates. Singaporeans may soon become the one to take the pre-citizenship test to "re-integrate" themselves into a new Singapore dominated by foreigners and the newcomers.  Read More →