KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

What can people invest in if they have between $10,000 to $40,000? Appreciate suggestions for those under $10,000 and those within $40,000.

Well, it depends on what you want to achieve in your investment. At the very least you should target to beat inflation so that your cash does not buy less things in the years to come. And then you want to think about whether you are going to be actively monitoring your portfolio or are you going to "buy and forget".

Hi UncleLim

You seem to be rather knowledgeable in the area of finance. Do you know of any good financial consultants who can help advise us about investment. I want to invest but not sure what and so money is just in bank collecting very little interest.

ccgoh wrote:Hi UncleLim

You seem to be rather knowledgeable in the area of finance. Do you know of any good financial consultants who can help advise us about investment. I want to invest but not sure what and so money is just in bank collecting very little interest.

Hi ccgoh, thank you for the flattering remark but the fact is I have little background or education in financial matters. I manage only my own money and like you, I started out just to beat what is offered by banks.

About financial consultants. A word of caution here (and I may offend some of you who are in this trade) as many of them work for a company of sorts and the main objective is to sell you financial "products". Depending on what they succeed in selling to you, they make a kickback from some bank or investment company. The incentive for them is alway to sell you the ones that reward them most, and not the ones most beneficial to you. These consultants can be working for a bank, or an insurance company or even boast that they are independent brokers. Most of them will not charge you a fee for "helping" you.

Then there are consultants whom you have to pay a fee to manage your money. I hear that there are not too many of them in our local market and I have not in a position to assess their capabilities. Some of them will require you to have a minimum sum to be considered to be worth their effort. If you net worth is sizeable, I am sure they will want to talk to you.

Sorry for the unhelpful answer.

Hi UncleLim,

No your answers are helpful. I guess I need to do some homework before I approach any financial consultant. But I am rather clueless when it comes to this so I am also not sure which consultants are good. Guess I need to probe about in the dark for a while.

Beware of those financial advisors. They have vested interest as they also need to earn commission for their living and to feed their family

Those good protection and investment plans out in the market typically earn them very little commission and thus not widely recommended.

Maybe I am unlucky? I have encountered with 2 dozens of these people and the outcomes are typically very disappointing. If you are unluckly, you will only find out after many years and $ spent

Nobody cares about your money and financial well-being other than yourself. So it helps if you are equip with financial literacy too. Use those financial advisors as tools to help yourself rather you been as a tool to feed them

ccgoh wrote:Do you know of any good financial consultants who can help advise us about investment.

Bet you are going to recieve alot of Private Messages that vested people offering their service to you

Just to offer my 2 cents of view. Not comprehensive though


Depending on who you speak to, you will be introduced to different types of investment vehicle

If you approached financial advisors from insurance companies, they will probably sell you endownment policy or ILP (to invest in Unit Trust)

If you approached those "independent" financial advisors, they will be selling their platform and get you to invest in Unit Trusts. Their charging model will be either through a annual "consultation" fee or wrap fee whereby they will deduct certain amouont (typically 1%) off your investment portfolio

If you want to take charge of your investment, you can do it DIY via some traditional investment vehicles. There are pros & cons in using all these vehicles

1. You can invest in Unit Trusts which can be purchased from those online platform such as Fundsupermart or DollarDex.

2. You can invest in broad market indexes. Currently there are ETFs offered from the various Stock Exchanges

3. You can invest in shares say in local market. Either investing in those blue chip companies (e.g SPH, DBS, SIA etc) or those SME shares. Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is also getting popular whereby you get to own offices, commercial buildings or shopping malls and get regular divdends as income


There are several things to consider

Do you prefer Passive or Active Investment/Management

Are you prepare to hold your investment (a.k.a investing) or if you likes to trade (buy/sell) frequently (when you think you have the time, talent or an edge over other people)

If investing in shares, what stategy you want to adopt? Go for fundamentals to study the company balance sheets or go for technical analysis whereby using indicators to determine when to buy/sell shares

You have to also decide if you want to invest for capital appreciation or to get passive income

There is also this school of thought of how to construct one's portfolio (a.k.a Modern Portfolio Theory) whereby one will allocate certain portion of bonds and certain portion on equities

But before you start investing, it is good to know your risk profile. Whether you are conservative (those cannot stand losing capital), moderate (willing to take some losses) or aggressive (willing to take higher risk for higher gain). Basically it is about risk-adjusted returns

Don't be surprised that you think you belongs to certain profile and when the crunch time comes (e.g massive market selloff), you cannot tolerate it

Basically investing is about Risk Management. Based on one's risk profile, how to protect one's capital and how/when to cut lost

Don’t invest to beat the markets, get rich, or earn the highest possible return. Invest to meet our goals, whether it’s buying a home, putting the kid through tertiary education, or paying for our own retirement

It is very important to know your investment costs and keep them low

ppnqq wrote:What can people invest in if they have between $10,000 to $40,000? Appreciate suggestions for those under $10,000 and those within $40,000.

Hi ppnqq,

Frankly I cannot think of where to invest $10k. If I were you, I will still leave it in the bank as emergency money.

$40k can be downpayment for a small industrial property costing around $200k maybe ?

If you are thinking about the stock market and other retail financial products, I am sure there are lots out there. Just make sure you know the risks and read the fine prints (and there are lots of fine prints !! ).

On the other hand, the surest way to lose the money... lend it to a friend or relative to start a business that you do not understand.

Thank you Uncle Lim for your advises and suggestions.

Yes, I also feel that $10k is almost impossible but not sure with $40k especially when it is not intended on papers investments such as stocks but more on like what you had suggested, property, but that amount is way too low to buy one as investment too?