What a crazy month June was. While I had quite a lot of fun this month, including travels to Cambodia and Bali for Holiday financially speaking it was a very turbulent month. All flights, entertainment and exploring were expensive and on top I had to pay a rather big (by Singaporean standards) tax bill. As expected this month I could not add much money to my portfolio as I decided to pay the tax in a big lump sum instead of going for the zero interest installment payment plan offered to the government. While I know installments are better financially speaking I opted for the psychologically satisfying option of paying everything at once and getting it over with.
Three new ETFs launched by Vanguard in Hong Kong
Finally! Vanguard Hong Kong has launched three brand new ETFs listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
For those who have read my previous entries, such as getting started investing in Singapore and the guide to Singaporean ETFs know that I really like low cost index funds and investors now have three brand new choices available in Hong Kong.
Why it is a bad idea to invest in some foreign dividend stocks from Singapore (withholding taxes)
Dividends are tax free in Singapore? Yes they are, but there are still bad surprises waiting for investors who want to buy some foreign dividend stocks and funds listed on stock exchanges abroad. Let me explain my silly mistakes and hopefully prevent some of you to fall into the same traps.
May 2014: Monthly update
May was a turbulent month to say the least. Portfolio value increased slightly to SGD 33,176 with the terrible performance of the stocks bought during my silly stock picking days dragging down the overall performance considerably.
My top 3 books on investing and personal finance
The bookshops are full with meters of shelf space containing personal finance and investing books. Unfortunately many of them simply are not worth their money. However, there are 3 time-tested classics which are my absolute favorite books on personal finance and investing.
Let’s do this! Obligatory first post
How to invest your money in Singapore?
I was asking myself this some time back after having decided not to spend all my money on fun & frivolous activities. My first steps were stupid to say the least and I made many silly mistakes including: trying to pick hot stocks to buy, trying to time to market and so on. This is when I realized some more research was in order and I came up with some leading principles which hopefully will work better in the long run.
My ambitious goal: be financially independent by 2027. What does financially independent mean? Passive income covering my costs.
This blog is here to share some of the things I learned and to prevent you from making the very same mistakes I did. Furthermore I have published my goals and a page to track my portfolio.
So let’s jump right in with my small getting started investing in Singapore guide:
- How to get started investing in Singapore in 5 simple steps?
- How to open a trading account in Singapore?
- Introduction to exchange traded funds (ETFs) for Singaporean investors
Most of all: this is an experiment. I have no idea how it will go. So let’s give it a shot and let’s have fun!