I’d been putting this off but I think March is a good time for it. To finally learn how to invest. Why now, or at all? A few things:

Why now?

Money habits

Investing is powerful money habit when done right. In January this year, I wrote about starting keystone money habits. My broad strategy was: 

Earn more, invest more, spend less, save more - in this order of priority, for me.

I’d spent considerable efforts in the all but the second priority – investing. There was always a perception that investing is ‘dirty’, overly-complex, needs large upfront capital and suspect of ethics, full of shady charlatans and conmen. But I’d been reading up broadly and come around to things, that it doesn’t have to be so. And I’m open to experimenting and learning more now. Ultimately, I still very much want to reach my million dollar goal!

Market timing

I was just reminded by my insurance agent that the down market due to the global pandemic might actually be a good time to invest. Which makes sense. It made me feel uncomfortable initially that I’m leveraging on a crisis, and made me ponder the ethical implications of doing so. But that’s how markets go. It’s always a good opportunity to invest when prices are low, and that’s usually when something bad happens. It doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily profiteering from bad things.

Availability of tools and content

A lot more investment-focused content, blogs, Facebook pages, roboadvisor apps, had appeared on my social media horizon recently. The Woke Salaryman is an accessible Facebook page about money and investing through comics, for Singaporeans. There’s a growing local grassroots movement called 1M65, which basically means 1 million dollars by age 65. And many more. Basically it’s influence by availability and accessibility. What used to be something that you had to intentionally seek out, find experts to speak to, are now widely, easily, cheaply available on the internet, for free, and often entertaining even (comics, what?)! The barrier to entry is lowered, and all these content creates wider awareness. After enough saturation, I feel curious and interested enough to try.

How to invest: broad principles

A few principles I want to follow when it comes to investing, based on my preliminary research, especially from The Millionaire Next Door:

• Spend more hours planning and studying investments than buying/trading. Don’t understand the risks? Don’t. Invest.
• No day trading, and not have to follow the ups and downs of the day to day market. Be an ‘inactive’ investor who just needs to check in on a yearly basis.
• Focused investing: Fewer investments over many.
• Favour mastery and depth of understanding of the industry/market of an investment over spreading out too thin.
• Invest in companies that I truly know and understand – it could be industry I am already in, or actively work with. 
• No stockbrokers or financial advisors. Pay zero dollars in management fees and financial advice. Do my own research, buy my own investments.
• If I do hire advisors (for whatever good reason), ask for their net worth, as proof of their credentials.
• Investing doesn’t have to mean huge upfront capital. Invest what I can afford, even as small as $100.
• Ideally, start young (20s). If not, start as early as you can. I’m in my 40s already - late bloomer, as always. But better now than never.

What to do

• Go f**king read up on investment 101 basics. I can’t even tell the difference between a bond, share, stock and equity.
• Go speak to people/friends who had success investing and know what they are doing. Buy them coffee, learn but discern. 
• Start off by researching about investing using my funds in the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a mandatory social pension contribution fund for employed persons in Singapore. The money is locked in anyway till my retirement age (65), so might as well try to make it work harder.

Goal for Moolah March 

• Start one investment plan in CPF. Just one. 
• Small amount. 
• Buy it myself. 
• Build up slowly.