Living in JB

If parents are wealthy, they can afford to let kids try out career that fit them nicely but for those who are not, job security would be 1st priority. Unfortunately, I belong to second category ! When I asked my son what he would like to be ? He said to be pay playing computer game everyday and he will truely be happy. I am dumbfounded. I have yet to find any such job for youngster today. Professional gamers , does it pay enough to pay bills ?[/QUOTE]

Hi Aangsc, i actually started in the IT line and got keen by playing computer games and then when new games come out that required more powerful hardware, then learnt to upgrade when i encountered expensive, bad and surly service. Games was actually what led me to my line as i got keen not only in hardware but in networks due to the onset of lan gaming at that time. It fired up the imagination like nothing else. Aside from interest, passion is the other main difference between those who gave up and those who stuck it through and found success.

There are professional gamers in Korea (Korea is one of the most IT connected countries in the world) who do nothing every day but play games. It pays their bills as they have enough sponsors for them. Not sure about SG but so far other than Korea, i know of folks in other countries who are able to live and live reasonably well just by playing games. The world keeps changing, what is seen as actions done by a wastrel son today may turn out to be the main money "engine" of the family in the future.

When the guys first created the game "Pong", everyone of the naysayers said it was a waste of time. When Bill Gates wanted to first build his version of a GUI based OS (of course based on what is already available, people even said it will flop. People even laughed when the first sound card came out. Where are they now???

For every visionary, there are 10,000 naysayers. The naysayers keep society on track, the visionary or the fool improves the world, one foolish step at a time.

Mindsets (not just character) are harder to change than dynasties - Words from my grandfather.

Chillout said:

Not true that condo does not need to be diligent with painting every 5 years. All buildings are required by law to paint every 5 years. Can stretch another year or so if the condition is still good.

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seriously???? then I have to go complain to HDB or town council liao....

Charlie258 said:

Firstly let me just say I agree completely with your comments about the financial advisors/insurance agents/brokers/relationship managers/etc. These guys are a real piece of work, aren't they? No money and struggling along, and yet have the nerve and the gall to give "advice" to people far wiser, far more sophisticated, and far richer than they can ever hope to become in their pathetic lifetimes.

May I ask what you mean when you say DCA? Do you mean dollar cost averaging?

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DCA is very good instrument because it takes the guess work out of the equation. but to see very good returns the best time to start DCA'ing is actually in the worst times and be flexible in making purchases more in bad times, less in good haha my small 2 cents.

ETFs are amazing tools I agree because they trade like stocks and are very low on fees, but SG has very limited ones. Beware some ETFs are actually UTs in disguise with UT's high maintenance fees that financiers are trying to sell.

The US has very broad range of ETFs which are useful if you do sectorial investing. They have shorting ETFs as well which is good allowing you to profit in good and bad times. especially eince it is more difficult to get shorting privileges on the SGX. Short positions have to be closed within the day if you 'accidentally' open them...

toyohon said:

I see quite a number of you guys talking about inheritance. Has anyone done their will? Any lawyers to recommend?

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i first got to my lawyer when i got to know them through property purchase asked them about wills and one thing lead to another. =)

Agreed.

Physical stuff, people can steal from you, rob from you, cheat/fool you.

All physical and material stuff will degrade over time with the only possible
exception of gold(but thats another matter as it can still be taken away)

The only thing people cannot take from you is what you know and who you
are.(know thyself)

euphony said:

i first got to my lawyer when i got to know them through property purchase asked them about wills and one thing lead to another. =)

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Yes, easiest place to start is through the same one handling your purchase. Note that not all handle wills though.

There is actually a growing community of experts here who are big time investors, got introduced to some guys recently
so hoping to learn more from the experts.

wuqi256 said:

If parents are wealthy, they can afford to let kids try out career that fit them nicely but for those who are not, job security would be 1st priority. Unfortunately, I belong to second category ! When I asked my son what he would like to be ? He said to be pay playing computer game everyday and he will truely be happy. I am dumbfounded. I have yet to find any such job for youngster today. Professional gamers , does it pay enough to pay bills ?

Hi Aangsc, i actually started in the IT line and got keen by playing computer games and then when new games come out that required more powerful hardware, then learnt to upgrade when i encountered expensive, bad and surly service. Games was actually what led me to my line as i got keen not only in hardware but in networks due to the onset of lan gaming at that time. It fired up the imagination like nothing else. Aside from interest, passion is the other main difference between those who gave up and those who stuck it through and found success.

There are professional gamers in Korea (Korea is one of the most IT connected countries in the world) who do nothing every day but play games. It pays their bills as they have enough sponsors for them. Not sure about SG but so far other than Korea, i know of folks in other countries who are able to live and live reasonably well just by playing games. The world keeps changing, what is seen as actions done by a wastrel son today may turn out to be the main money "engine" of the family in the future.

When the guys first created the game "Pong", everyone of the naysayers said it was a waste of time. When Bill Gates wanted to first build his version of a GUI based OS (of course based on what is already available, people even said it will flop. People even laughed when the first sound card came out. Where are they now???

For every visionary, there are 10,000 naysayers. The naysayers keep society on track, the visionary or the fool improves the world, one foolish step at a time.

Mindsets (not just character) are harder to change than dynasties - Words from my grandfather.

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Spoken like a true matured man. Go for what you want ultimately in career and you will succeed. Live where you want, even though it is proclaimed to be unsafe or no-hope. You happy, good enough.

aangsc said:

I am dumbfounded. I have yet to find any such job for youngster today. Professional gamers , does it pay enough to pay bills ?

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in certain places quite big actually like south korea, where they 'prolific' gamers battle in front of live TV with screaming fans. they test games and seek endorsements etc... dunno about Sg though. Got a friend's bro who left SG and found himself a job in game development in japan. that's the other side of where gamers eventually end up? i hear there is a big games studio coming to SG or already in SG?? but as in so far nothing big yet in SG unless we come up with localized games where enemies swear at each other in Singlish for example? =p

InformedHH said:

Better faster come out of computer and IT line. You cant beat the cost competitiveness of the IT folks from China, Philippines and India.

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ya... realised that about 10 years back and left...

euphony said:

in certain places quite big actually like south korea, where they 'prolific' gamers battle in front of live TV with screaming fans. they test games and seek endorsements etc... dunno about Sg though. Got a friend's bro who left SG and found himself a job in game development in japan. that's the other side of where gamers eventually end up? i hear there is a big games studio coming to SG or already in SG?? but as in so far nothing big yet in SG unless we come up with localized games where enemies swear at each other in Singlish for example? =p

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I am alright if game testing and development is where the gaming interest lead to but if it only end at gaming everyday , then I worry. I would really like to know what price do a gamer paid to achieve top spot in tournament ? Price as in $ and time spent. My second worry is their thought of living in virtual world. I am no gamer myself as I always think it is a great waste of time playing with a computer esp when it becomes a habit with at least 4 hrs a day. Actually I was happy that my son past thru the 4 hrs gaming but now he is into facebook 4 hrs a day ? :-(

Yes i agree with you that "Shop houses are productive drivers of the economy".

Agreed.

As you have rightly pointed out the developers in their great haste to make loads of cash have just built too many shop houses apart from houses. This has caused the oversupply and therefore has had a dampening effect.

If the developers were not so greedy definitely shop houses would have been a sound investment.

The problem with too many shop houses is that Johor does not have the critical mass to support so many busineses.

Most of the people spend their time at Jusco/Sutera Mall/Tesco/Giant/Carrefour etc. A cursory glance at the carparks would indicate that this is true.

Congrats bro. You make a helluva lot money on your shophouse in Spore.

During the SARS crisis your shophouse was not affected ah? Lucky you. Cause many people i know at that time told me that shophouses had not many takers then and rents had dropped to real lows.

But lucky you dude.

jasonjst said:

Well, " theoretically " shop houses are productive economics drivers, it help create jobs, generate sales which are the real drivers it any economies. But in JB, developer simply built too many shop houses that create an imbalance of supply and demand. Ask any retailers , they will tell you it is good investment for shophouses . My shop in SG can fetch a rental of SGD 6.5K to 8K for the last 15yrs without a single month unoccupy. Sometime can be a real cash -cow , if you managed to hit the right location.

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Aiyo i just told my wife yday that she could take everything.

Cause she also cant take it and go anywhere what? Right? Being the mum surely she would leave it for her kids!

ginfreely said:

may be not to their wife/husband but certainly to their children

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can someone enlighten me about this DCA lah... ETF lah.. UT lah... blurr...

Yes DCA is one of the best methods for ordinary and normal people like us to grow our nest egg.

Most importantly do reasonable research and find a fund that you would wanna invest in. Check out the basket of stocks/index the fund wants to replicate. Do your research well. Painful but productive.

A lot of investors follow herd mentality. Many others follow what people say.

But to me its like this "Invest in a business you understand and believe" Cause when you understand you should not generally make mistakes. One great person mentioned this before.. He does this regularly and is one of "6 SIGMA statistics" a rare occurence in a population.

MFs are painful cause fund managers may make mistakes apart from having high expenses. Again i repeat financial advisers sell what makes their profits swell.

So for us its best to read up well and invest.

Larry Haverkamp writes reasonably well on Money and so does Tan Kin Lian for the uninitiated.

ginfreely said:

My friend working in fund management company also said DCA is the best, she follows it herself and made very good gains over the last few years. I never follow her advice though. Now I stick to dividend stocks only, no more unit trust after the painful technology unit trust experience, am still holding to it...now half price only :(

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hangyong said:

can someone enlighten me about this DCA lah... ETF lah.. UT lah... blurr...

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one thing to make it a bit clearer.

DCA is an investment strategy

ETF is an investment instrument/tool

Even Condos not marked for en-bloc are not very well maintained. A look at Condos at Tanjhong Rhu/Orchard Road belt/Bukit Timah/Upper Bukit Timah will reveal that. Your condo maybe different though.

Yes ofcourse there are those few that are in pristine condition. But those are amongst the few.

I have seen the condos there having tiles popping out, lifts taking ages to be maintained, toilets not in great shape with lots of unwanted visitors running around the toilets.

"I did not venture out of singland to the same crap here". So why are you complaining now? Signed with your eyes closed? OR do you think if you make a lot of noise the Township authorities will care?

Singaporeans are complaint kings and queens. Everyone knows that.

My argument = Opening bank book.

Where from does this logic initiate?

In the same coin as you called a comment "Cheap" can i also then effectively say your logic My argument = opening bank book cheap? Worse still your posts are cheap? What is Rm 546? About S$ 200 in a private township. You dun wan lights/nice roads etc? They have clearly indicated what the increase is for. And you know the cost of raw materials has been going up.

People pay upwards of Rm 1000 for condo maintenance in KL. Condo is a much smaller area compared to a large private township spread over acres and acres.

Maybe ur right... If they reveal their book to you ..... you would be wiser.

Chillout said:

I may have signed up to paying maintenance fee regularly (which I paid a lump sum annually), but that does not mean I am willing to pay whatever fee increase developer asked for. Developer does not equal government. I didn't venture out of singland to the same crap here. Might as well open my bank book to developer based on your argument.

Of course the MD of UEM wouldn't like complaint coz that means more work for him. Therefore cheap comment like 'Singaporean likes to complain'. My personal take is if feedback, suggestions, accountability & responsibility are interpreted as complaints, then I welcome it. Call me complain queen.

Why shouldn't I compare condo in Singapore with landed in Malaysia. Cost of running a condo is much higher than running landed property as there are no pools, facilities and painting of buildings every 5 years. I had run my condo for a couple of years, so i know. Labour cost, utilities, motor vehicle, fuel etc are much lower than Singapore.

I have seen many condos too and I do agree a few are not well run (mainly those put for enbloc) but mine is not one of them.

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Thank you so much Charlie258. I feel vindicated.

I have had couple of these FMs looking down on me just because i challenged their knowledgebase. I am not going to be another chicken on the chopping board ready for their picking right?

So i had to challenge them. And when i did that they gave me the "You got no money" to invest in attitude...

Yes Dollar Cost Averaging .

Another method is called systematic investing. Both are the same.

Charlie258 said:

Firstly let me just say I agree completely with your comments about the financial advisors/insurance agents/brokers/relationship managers/etc. These guys are a real piece of work, aren't they? No money and struggling along, and yet have the nerve and the gall to give "advice" to people far wiser, far more sophisticated, and far richer than they can ever hope to become in their pathetic lifetimes.

May I ask what you mean when you say DCA? Do you mean dollar cost averaging?

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In time to come they may allow CPF to be used in NUSAJAYA.

But remember Singapore admission is very difficult. But Nusajaya admission easy. So for those who dun wanna stress their kids NJ is the way to go

cathylmg said:

Wow! Its about S$20K difference. And also can use our CPF if study in Singapore. I wonder if they will allow us to use our CPF for University education over that. If it comes true, it will be great!

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euphony said:

one thing to make it a bit clearer.

DCA is an investment strategy

ETF is an investment instrument/tool

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not your language problem... its just that layman like me dun understand nuts about all these investment thing...

searching Wikipedia:

DCA is DOllar Cost Averaging
basically find a fund you like, invest fixed amount monthly.
This way, when price is low, you buy more parts of the fund, and when expensive, you buy less part of the fund, and the total investment is the average of everything.

This one, can find easily in Singapore... and on your own easily...

ETF is Exchange Traded Fund
How does this work? Where can I buy such Funds in Singapore?
Or is this totally different from what you guys are talking about (since its mentioned that its a tool)...