Personal finance, life hacks and financial technology

Astrea V Review

In Finance, InvestingTags astrea, astrea v, bonds, investing, retail bonds, singapore, TemasekJune 15, 2019

It wasn't too long ago that the industry saw its first retail private equity bonds opened up to retail investors. One year after Astrea IV was issued, Singaporeans are once again anticipating the launch of these bonds.

StashAway Review

In Finance, Fintech, Investing, Lifestyle, ReviewsTags fintech, investment, robo, roboadvisor, stashaway, wealth managementJune 9, 2019

Long story short: if you'd like a simple, passive approach to portfolio investing, I think you'd like StashAway.

Getting started with Interactive Brokers (IB)

In Finance, InvestingTags account, brokerage, etf, guide, interactivebrokers, wealth managementApril 21, 2019

Interactive Brokers is one of my favourite online brokerages for buying overseas stocks. Its low cost, great platform and excellent FX rates means that I can build an overseas portfolio easily without paying too much commissions on local brokerages like Standard Chartered and DBS.

One ETF to own the world and achieve maximum diversification

In Finance, InvestingTags asset allocation, etf, global, investments, portfolioApril 3, 2019

You’ve probably heard it countless times – diversify your investments, don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Equity ETFs offer an excellent way to build a diversified portfolio of stocks. In Singapore, you might have probably heard of the STI, the index that tracks the performance of the top

Understanding my spending

In Finance, LifestyleTags analytics, spendingApril 2, 2019

What gets measured gets managed. It isn’t surprising that I apply a bit of what I do professionally into my personal finances – analytics. In order to understand my spending habits, I decided to track my monthly expenses to derive some insights so that it can be managed! Background and

Q1 2019 Portfolio Review – Diversity is Key

In InvestingTags portfolio, reviewMarch 31, 2019

The first three months of 2019 has seen global equities rebound significantly following last December’s sharp sell-off, driven by a less hawkish Fed and perceived progress made in trade talks between the United States and China. With geopolitical tensions and mixed economic data threatening to grind the decade-long bull run

Job Interviews: Proving that you’re the right hire

In LifestyleFebruary 20, 2019

I feel that this question gets raised quite occasionally over the course of my university life and rightfully so, students are generally concerned about how to land their dream job. I have been through at least 20 interviews and landed offers for almost 75% of them over my entire life,

Dividend vs Growth Portfolio

In Finance, InvestingTags dividend, etf, growth, investingJanuary 19, 2019

This is an interesting topic that I was asked by a friend to share my thoughts on, and probably one that might be of interest to a wider pool of readers – hence I thought of penning some of my thoughts and analysis down in this post. Comparing apples and

Singapore Savings Bonds – optimizing their effectiveness

In Finance, InvestingTags bonds, singapore, ssbJanuary 11, 2019

I previously blogged about the benefits and how to get started with Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB), which are a terrific way for Singaporeans to invest their money in – even aunties and uncles can beat inflation! Recently, there’s news that the government has plans to increase the deposit limit to

Here’s how to invest with $10,000

In Finance, InvestingTags invest, retirementDecember 30, 2018

$10,000 is the magic number that most people start to ask questions about what to do with their money – in this post, I will share what I would do with ten grand in the bank. It all begins with a plan There are many ways one could invest or

Pay in local currency – stop using DCC

In LifestyleTags credit cards, dcc, travelNovember 25, 2018

It’s the shopping season again and luckily for me, this year, I’ve been spending less. In this post, I’ve decided to address a common tactic that online merchants have been using to rob you without your knowledge. Spend 5 minutes of your time reading this and you may save hundreds

Earn GrabRewards with FavePay

In FinanceTags cashback, fave, favepay, grab, grabpay, hackNovember 10, 2018

By simply linking your GrabPay wallet to the Fave app, you can now enjoy double the rewards!

The First Insurance

In Insurance, LifestyleOctober 27, 2018

Insurance is a sensitive topic for many of us, especially since it has been historically plagued by scandals of fraud and deception. But insurance shouldn't be hard.

Should you buy Temasek’s 2023 Bonds?

In Finance, InvestingTags bonds, investing, singapore, TemasekOctober 21, 2018

It seems like the Singapore bond market has been pretty interesting in 2018! We saw the launch of Singapore's first private equity bonds from Astrea earlier in the year and now we have Temasek launching more bonds to retail investors - spicing up the market with more offerings...

Lump Sum vs Dollar Cost Averaging

In Finance, InvestingOctober 7, 2018

This is a very interesting topic and I get asked this question quite often, so I decided to do a post about it. The million-dollar question is - should I do a lump sum investment or dollar cost average over a period of time?

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