Are you in credit debt? You are not alone…

Here is a post of how much debt Singaporeans are in according to MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)

SINGAPORE : As economic growth heads south, debts are going up.

And the combination “will push many individuals into financial difficulties as jobs and income become affected”, Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS) said on Thursday.

Preliminary statistics in August from the Monetary Authority of Singapore show that total debt to individuals stand at S$112 billion – almost 10 per cent up over a period of 12 months.

In particular, credit card rollover debt has ballooned to S$3.3 billion, an increase of S$296 million over the 12 months against a S$94-million increase for the previous 12 months. Housing loans are also up S$6.6 billion.

“Singaporeans have been piling on debt at a fast rate,” said CCS president Kuo How Nam, who cited the statistics in a letter to the media.

There was also a S$2.5-billion (18.4-percent) jump under “other loans” (facilities given for unspecified purposes) to individuals, taking the total amount to almost S$16 billion. The previous year’s increase was only S$584 million for this category.

I believe that there some credit cards out there which will really help you save money with their reward programs but if you find that your credit bill are suffocating you, try to plan out your daily and monthly budget and spend only on the basic needs, leaving the rest to pay for your bills.

Continue to spend your “future money” and there maybe no future left for you to enjoy, only paying your bills.

Your Actions Must be Congruent with your Goals.

1st of all. I would like to thanks those who have left some precious comments on some of my posts and I appreciate your map of thoughts. There is a quote saying:” The Map is not the territory” and how true it is. Through your comments I get to appreciate your maps and boarden mine at the same time.

So my view is that in order to achieve what you want. Your strategy and action must related or congruent to your Goals. You can’t be planning to travel to the East and yet you are driving to the West. Yet majority if the ppl out there neglected this simple logic and even I, sometimes falls into a victim of it.

So one way to solve this problem, is to spent 1 hour every week standing in front of your goals (which you have put it onto a piece of paper and paste it on the wall) and do some self reflecting like:

• What have I done for the past week that is related to my goals and how can I improve further?
• What other activities that I can do to reach my goals faster?

So by investing in 1 hour per week to self reflect on your goals helps you to stay in focus and prevents you from straying off your course.

Education = Scam?

On one of the recent comments left by my friend who thinks that education doesn’t guarantee you job security and education itself is a legalised scam. I respect his views and however, isn’t your diploma of degree that gives you that office 9 to 5 job? Isn’t your Master’s degree or Phd that gives you that high salary? Do you know that some of the employees in Google were already millionaires and do you think that they are not educated?

All I can say is that it all depends on what do you want to become 5 or 10 years down the road and what it takes to become one. Becoming a millionaire does not necessary need to have a degree or Phd but becoming a lawyer or doctor needs to spend years in schools to get their degree and more years of education to get their license in order to fight your court case or perform surgery on someone else.

So lets face it. Singapore is a society based on qualifications and paper and unless you wanted to be your own boss (which is not what I want). You gotta have the necessary experience, skill-sets and qualifications in order to land onto that job which you always wanted. So even if some of you thinks that education is a legalised scam, you still need to depend on that piece of paper to get your paycheck every end of the month. Period…

Should guys date older women?

My Sister is getting married this late Nov and her fiance is 2 years younger than her. I have chased after girls who were older than me but I’ve never actually dated them, but I believe that there are pros and cons in dating older women.

Pros

• They have been working in the society longer than you are thus generally, they should be more understanding of your pressure in work compared to girls who just wanna have fun.
• They probably dated enough man to know what they want in a relationship so you should not have problem in terms of communication of each others needs and wants
• They will sometimes pay for your meals and movie tickets thus saving you some money
• They are more experienced in bed which saves you the trouble of teaching them the ” Standard Procedure”

Cons

• They maybe the last person you wanna be with on earth if your not thinking about marriage
• They can make you felt inferior because of the success of their career or their higher education
• They have dated enough men to know how to make your life like a living hell should you ever offended them
• Women forgive but never forgets, especially older women. So be careful of what you said if you quarrel with her.

So the conclusion that I have is to date both women who are older and younger than you so you will know which mentality is more suitable for you. =)

Why you should have 2 jobs?

I strongly believe that everyone should holding 2 jobs, one for you and the other for your money. Why put your money into ordinary savings account where the interest rates is only about 1% – 1.5% when the inflation of Singapore is currently at around 6% (meaning that you are losing money at 4.5% to 5% right now!)

So why not invest your spare time and cash to create another stream of income like Internet marketing, online trading, eBay selling or other areas whereby you can leverage on your savings more effectively. We are now in the era whereby our main job is no longer stable and safe, neither can we depend solely on our government to spoonfeedus. We need to be more proactive in creating value for ourselves in order to survive in today’s society, where competition from foreign talents is stifling and slowing economy.

So even if we got retrenched from our main job. We still will be able to sustain for the time being because of our other streams of income which is more “stable & safe”. The trick here is to invest time and effort into finding the other “Job” is suitable for you and can keep you moving forward.

Passed the 2nd test, awaits the finale

Sorry for those who had been reading up my blog regularly. I’ve been busy preparing for my Final Theory (Driving) and once again successfully passed it. But then again, I’ve done thousand over questions just to pass those 45 during the test but it was worth it. Now I’m applying for my PDL and also my Traffic Police Test which hopefully, I’m able to get test date by January.

Irate investors rally in Singapore, demand money back (results of their financial ignorance)

Found this piece of news on Yahoo online so would like to share with you guys.

SINGAPORE, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) – About 600 angry investors who lost their savings because of the global financial turmoil gathered in Singapore on Saturday, urging the central bank to help them recover their money.

Many of the investors who trooped to the city-state’s Speakers’ Corner were retirees who invested their life savings in financial products linked to collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers and other institutions.

Tan Kin Lian, the former chief of a Singapore insurance cooperative who organised the gathering, urged the investors to bond together so that they will have a bigger chance of being heard.

He urged them to make individual affidavits and file their complaints as a group before the financial institution where they invested their money.

“If 20, 30 or 40 people make an affidavit at the same time, it will have a stronger impact,” Tan said.

The crowd included those who invested in “Lehman Minibonds” and “Merrill Lynch Jubilee Notes”. There were also those who invested in “high notes” with Singapore’s DBS Bank and Morgan Stanley “pinnacle notes.”

Lehman Brothers collapsed last month and its counterpart Merrill Lynch was bought out in a Wall Street meltdown that accelerated a global credit crisis.

Investors interviewed by AFP said they felt “cheated” and “betrayed” because the banks did not fully inform them of the risks when they were offered the financial products.

They also urged the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the de facto central bank, to order an independent investigation into the sale of credit-linked securities and to help them recover their money.

A 60-year-old woman said she risked losing 125,000 Singapore dollars (84,000 US) in life savings invested in DBS Bank “high notes”, which promised a higher interest rate than fixed deposits.

“I am a retiree, this is my retirement money,” she told AFP.

“I feel very cheated. I feel beaten up and eaten up. The bank must compensate us to bring back the confidence of investors and restore the image of the bank.”

Now I pity those investors who much of their savings. And also we can learn something from them, which is to do your own research before putting your hard earned money into someone’s hands and expecting them to make make money for you. If there is any banks who offer you attractive returns or rates but didn’t disclose any downside risk then you better be careful. Dun let greed cloud your judgement.

Wake Up Guys! We are now in a technical Recession!

The Saturday Times reports that Singapore is officially in a technical recession after being reporting 2 consecutive quarters of declined GDP (Gross Domestic Product). So what does it means guys? It means that you better have ample savings in you bank account especially if your getting $4000 and above because there is highly a chance that your company will giving you the “Thanks for your service, but we can no longer afford to hire you” letter beginning in December.

For those of you who still thinks that your pay is too low, not enough leave, your boss is a bitch etc, wake up to the idea that most companies were going to down size soon and employees were already being retrenched from MNCs to SMEs. Now is the time which I believed, is to go back to school or take up courses to upgrade yourself to ensure your survive cause no one knows when this global turmoil is going to end.

Now is time of huge storms and giant waves and the best strategy which in my opinion, is to stay in your harbour (your job), stock up your supplies(your savings) and upgrade your skills while trying tough out these tough times. Trying to be funny during these times will most likely turn you into the ship that trys to sail into the Perfect Storm.

Watch the movie “The Perfect Storm” and you will know the ending of that ship.

Stick to the Plan! You are responsible for your own Destiny!

I’m someone who is easily swayed by influence of people. After getting advices from many ppl sort of confused me of my goals that i’ve set to achieved by my next birthday. Should I still take up this course? should I keep change job now or should I bath myself tonight? After digesting all the pros and cons of suggestions and advice, I came to a conclusion and that is… STICK TO THE FUCKING PLAN!

I, myself design my own destiny and only I am responsible for all the choices that I’ve made for myself. I will be open to all suggestion but in the end, the decision is done by me and whatever mistake or failures which I may encounter, I’m responsible for it. If my best buddy can balance out his time between work, studies, part-time business and his girlfriend, so can I!

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and wiser.

I spent about 30 mins reflecting on the wrong moves that I’ve made in the past and Im grateful that I had made them now rather than later. Let me share with you some of the events that didn’t killed me but makes me tougher and wiser.

At age 16, I failed my O levels becausing of too much basketball, which result in repeating another year in my secondary school. Learning from feedback make me realise the importance of time and motivates me to be more disciplined in studying. In the end I passed my O levels and also graduated from my Polytechnic without repeating any of the modules.

At age 23, I thought entering into property would made me big bucks. What  i didn’t know was that you need a good company with good guidance, a capital to last you for at least 6 months, a good network of clients or friends to start with. This ignorance cost me dearly and I was broke for 7 long months. But it is through this period that makes me tougher and wiser in terms of overcoming rejections, negotiation and saving for the rainy day.

So my intention of this post is to let you understand that every down point of your life, whether its financially, emotionally or spiritually, all are lessons that you must go through in order to learn and grow. So the only difference is whether you choose to accept it positively or dwell on it.

 ”it ain’t how hard you can hit but how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.” -Rocky Balboa