CJH Financial Planning

It is often said that the first million is always the hardest . Assuming you are building your wealth from scratch and not raking in a six-figure monthly income like a professional footballer, you may have bills to pay, family to feed, and risks to worry about.  So how can you do it in a reasonable amount of time? The answer is simple (but not easy) - Discipline and Compound Interest . Firstly, we need to instill the discipline of "paying yourself first". This means setting aside a non-negotiable proportion of your income into investments every payday. I recommend 10-20%, but you can do more if you wish to. This money must not be touched for any purpose other than for growing it. Next, we need to choose where to invest this money, and use the effect of compounding to grow it.  As Albert Einstein said, " Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it. " The type of instrument that you invest in makes...

  As a homeowner, our nest is our pride and joy. It is also where we have sunk in a lot of money as well. Therefore we must ensure that our most valuable asset is protected. Here are three types of insurance covers that all home owners must consider. (1) Fire Insurance Fire insurance provides coverage for damage to the building, structures, fixtures, and fittings caused by fire. This is mandatory if you have an outstanding home loan, either with HDB or with a bank. Do note that fire insurance does not cover renovation or improvements, furniture, electrical appliances, and other home contents.  (2) Home Contents Insurance Home contents insurance provides more comprehensive protection and can cover damage to renovations or improvements, home contents, and personal effects such as your watches, computers, or valuables - they can often cost more than the renovation itself. Besides damage to property caused by perils, home insurance can reimburse you for loss should there be a burg...

If one day you find yourself terminally ill and needing life support to survive, would you want your doctors to turn off the machine? Some people may prefer to go naturally and in peace, while others may not want to burden their family with a mountain of medical bills to settle. If your answer is "yes", you may consider doing an Advance Medical Directive (AMD) . An AMD is a legal document that you sign when you're still mentally sound, informing your doctor that you do not want the use of any " extraordinary life-sustaining treatment " to prolong your life in the event that you become terminally ill and unconscious. An AMD is not the same as "euthanasia", because an AMD involves stopping artificial life-sustaining support in a situation where there is no real possibility of recovery and death is imminent. It can only come into force when three doctors unanimously certify a patient's terminal illness. An AMD is a voluntary and confidential decision...

"Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.” - Paul Samuelson And indeed, the stock market has turned into a casino with all the hype around "meme stocks" like GameStop, AMC, and most recently, Robinhood. However, never confuse speculation with investing. They are two totally different approaches. Speculation involves trading (buying and selling) financial instruments, usually high risk in nature, for short term gains. Speculators love price volatility and are not concerned with long term growth.  Investment involves buying and holding assets for the long run, to achieve capital gain and/or income. Investors are more concerned with the fundamentals of the company or asset that they are buying, and are more willing to ride out short-term market fluctuations. As professional financial practitioners, we advocate investing instead of speculation, simply because it works.  "The financial...

If you own a life insurance policy with death benefit, you may choose your nominees (or beneficiaries) to inherit the insurance proceeds using one of the two types of nominations. ✏️ 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 (𝐒𝐄𝐂. 𝟒𝟗𝐌) A revocable nomination informs the insurer who to pay the insurance proceeds to, and in what proportion. You may appoint anyone as a nominee, including foreigners or legal entities such as charities, or religious organisations. As the name suggests, it can be "revoked" or terminated anytime that you wish, without permission from nominees. Nominees will only receive the death benefit , while the living benefits belong to the policyowner. Take note that if you make a Will after doing a revocable nomination, it will supersede the instructions in the nomination. ✒️ 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 (𝐒𝐄𝐂. 𝟒𝟗𝐋) A trust nomination serves the same purposes in informing the insurer who to pay to. However, you can only nominate your spouse and/...

  "It never rains but it pours" This idiom perfectly describes the COVID-19 situation which hit the world badly at the beginning of the year. Fast forward the months, and we are now in December, a year from the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In March 2020, the World Health Organisation announced COVID-19 as a pandemic, leading to many countries locking down their economies, barring their citizens from leaving their homes other than for essential services, and grinding international travel to a halt. Singapore, the tiny city-state, was not spared. With a tiny domestic market and an economy that is highly dependent on import and export, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) projects that the economy will be shrinking between 6% to 6.5% this year. Drawing from Past Reserves It is reasonable to say that the economic impact would probably have been much worse, if not for the 4 sets of stimulus packages (“Budgets”) to help businesses and individuals w...

In case you haven't heard of the F.I.R.E movement 🔥 🔥 🔥 , it is spreading like wildfire worldwide right now. For the uninitiated, F.I.R.E stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early . Many have dreamt of retiring early and enjoying the rest of their lives sipping a cocktail on the Bahamas. But dreaming alone isn't going to make it happen - you need to TAKE ACTION! It's hard, but life will be so sweet once you get there. Here are 8 tips to help you get fired up (pun intended 😆 ). #1 - Start saving aggressively I have seen F.I.R.E. advocates saving between 30% to 60% of their income. The more you save, the more you can invest and grow your wealth! #2 - Cut unnecessary spending Live like a minimalist (check out The Minimalists ). Practise delayed gratification - do you really need that Apple Watch now? A dollar that you don't spend is an extra dollar that can be invested to make more money. #3 - Have multiple sources of income Don't depend solely on your salar...

This is a follow-up from a post 3 years ago , where I compiled the credit ratings of the life insurers in Singapore, to have an idea of the differences in terms of their credit worthiness. Flawed Assumption People often think that life insurers and the policies they issue are homogeneous (the same), and often compare benefit illustrations as if two companies are going to make the exact same amount of profits, exact same amount of investment returns, have the exact same amount of business operating costs, and et cetera. How far away from the truth that flawed assumption can be.  Every life insurer holds a different asset mix in their insurance funds, and have different profits/returns/costs. Even their shareholders may demand a different dividend rate on their shares. Therefore it is not surprising that life insurers with larger assets and bigger operations in Singapore tend to be the ones rated higher by Standard and Poors (S&P), one of the foremost rating agency in th...

Today a business friend asked me if there is any way to insure her parents, who are in their late 70s, against medical costs. I told her that unfortunately the policies at my disposal have a maximum entry age of 75, and therefore I’m not able to provide cover for them. However I advised her on a viable alternative, that is “self-insurance”. I asked if she has any other siblings and she replied yes. I then went on to suggest that from now on, she and her siblings should start contributing some money into a medical fund for their parents, and this pool of money becomes an “insurance fund” for them. Coupled with Medishield Life as well as their Medisave funds, this approach should help to alleviate most of the medical costs. Suddenly I can see an imaginary light bulb lit up in her mind — an “a-ha” moment! She said that if each sibling contribute $200 monthly, it seems like this is a do-able strategy. Financial planning isn’t always about buying more insurance policies. Sometimes...

As I approach my tenth year in the life insurance and financial advisory business, it has come to a point in my career where I am embarking on a new challenge, that is to groom and train young people into successful financial consultants. As such, I have been away from writing articles for a while, busy juggling both client consulting and mentoring responsibilities. All newly minted financial consultants have to undergo intensive product training, mastering one product at a time, until they reach a level of proficiency and experience where they can flap their wings and fly on their own. While I was training the new blood of our industry, it is inevitable that that the new consultants ask which products do our clients like the most. Although financial planning is a highly customised affair, and no two persons' financial needs are exactly the same, some products are indeed in higher demand than the rest. This may be due to a greater awareness for certain types of policies. And du...

You may have heard that Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate developer, has decided to run for the President of the United States of America. Beside his undisputed success in the real estate world, Donald Trump also boasts an impressive track record as a businessman, investor, and reality television star. Admittedly, his skills in influencing people, negotiation and cutting deals are second to none. However, I was more keenly interested in how he got started, and how he had the money to go into real estate development, which is extremely capital intensive. Therefore I did some research on his background. Donald’s life might have been very different if not for the financial support and tutelage from his father, Frederick “Fred” Trump, who born in in 1905 in Queens, New York City to German immigrants. Fred was also an entrepreneur and real estate developer, and this rubbed off on young Donald, who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. By the time of his death, Fred Trump ...

Unit Trusts (UTs) or mutual funds seem like investment vehicles for the layperson with little or no investing experience. So how do they fit into a savvy investor's portfolio? Firstly, let's examine the unique characteristics of UT investing: - UTs pool together investors' money to buy assets such as shares and bonds. This allows investors with small capital (even $100) to start investing. - There are thousands of UTs in the market, covering a variety of asset classes, geographical regions, sectors, and industries. - UTs are professionally managed by a Fund Manager, and relieve the investors of the active monitoring and trading of their investments. - UTs charge annual management fees, usually about 1 to 2 percent of the asset under management (AUM). This fee is taken out from the AUM, which cause the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the fund to go down. Most funds are priced based on their NAV, and therefore annual management fees indirectly causes the value of an inve...

Getting married involves financial commitments, so get them right to ensure a harmonious life journey together. Here are some findings from a survey conducted by the American Institute of CPAs. More than half of couples argue over unexpected expenses More than one-third of couples fight over insufficient savings Couples aged 45 to 54 argue an average of 4 times a month about finances As you can see, money worries can be a strain on a relationship. Hence, sound financial planning and good money management is integral to a successful and harmonious marriage.

Relying on your company insurance may be disastrous. 1. Cover is usually not complete as companies wish to save costs (as shown in the article where only $45 was paid out for stroke). 2. You lose your cover when you leave the company. 3. You may be 'forced' to leave the company in the event of a prolonged illness or disability. 4. You may change job and your new company offers even lesser coverage than the previous one. 5. When you try to apply for personal insurance when points 2, 3, or 4 happens, you realize that your health is not insurable anymore due to your deteriorated health (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc), a past illness, injury or hospitalization. So why take the unnecessary risk? The days of relying on a company for employee welfare are long over. Now is the age where companies' main focus is on profits. Ensure your personal insurance is in good shape and don't leave things to chance, cos you might not be able to afford it when chance h...

Tip #1 - Getting Your Asset Allocation Right Many investors over-emphasize the importance of picking the right company or bond or country to invest in. There is an equally large group that thinks the correct timing of the markets is the key factor to making profits. Well, they are wrong. According to research, security selection and market timing are not the key contributors to investment profits. In fact these two combined only accounts to less than 5% of investment performance! No wonder most people lose money investing. The most critical factor that contributes to over 90% of investment performance is Asset Allocation . Placing your money in a diversified portfolio across different asset class in the right proportions is the key to investment profits. We have some backtested results (see chart below) showing the difference in performance between 4 of our company's well-allocated portfolios and relevant benchmarks. You will see that the our portfolios performed be...

I was at the gym last week, going about my normal workout routine when I noticed a lanky guy, skinnier than me, undergoing personal training with the in-house fitness trainer. Looking at the types of exercises that the trainer made the trainee went through, I realized that the trainer was focusing on the core body muscles. The trainee was made to do exercises such as squats, rows, lunges and combination exercises that hits the several major muscle groups at the same time such as the back, the abs, and the quadriceps. This set me thinking... Many D.I.Y. gym-goer only focus on building the 'showy ' muscle groups, such as the arms and the chest. These are the muscles that are most visible, especially for guys who wear tight-fitting tees (yucks!). They are also the stuff that get girls ogling and drooling (Captain America anyone?). And therefore many gym-goers focus only on building their arms and chest, and not the ones that get covered up.

There are so many types of insurance plans and riders in the market. So how do you determine which types are the ones that are most important to your financial protection? Here are 5 of the most essential coverages that one must possess: Death Insurance If you have started your own family, you will definitely know the importance of this. Upon one’s demise, it is important to leave sufficient money behind to ensure that the surviving family members continue to enjoy the same standard of living, to have the future that they were supposed to have, and not to be laden with debts left by the deceased. You can be financially protected against death by purchasing a life insurance policy, and supplementing it with a term insurance policy. One’s assets (cash, investments, CPF funds) will also contribute to the deceased’s estate, which will help in alleviating the family’s financial needs.