cheerful.egg

hatch a rich life

cheerfulegg on the Sunday Times

Misc ·

Credit: http://techfate.blogspot.sg/2013/02/newspapers-might-become-thing-of-past.htmlHappy Sunday! I’m pretty psyched because I’m featured in today’s edition of the Sunday Times, in an article about young investors. 🙂

First, a funny story about the article: I knew it was going to be published today, but I had absolutely no freakin’ idea how it was gonna turn out because I hadn’t seen the full text. Last night, I dreamt that the newspaper folks lost my photo, so they had to dig through my old Facebook photos to find a replacement one. I dreamt that they took an old photo from when I was in the army, publishing my skinny-ass face with my bald head and thick, black framed glasses on the front page.

I woke up at 6am in a cold sweat, ran to check out the article, saw that it was a relatively “normal” photo, and collapsed back into bed in relief.

Anyways, if you’re in Singapore, check out the Invest section of the Sunday Times on page 30. There’s a profile of 4 young investors, and I was blessed enough to be one of ’em. If you’ve got an ST subscription, you can check it out online here.

You’ll be able to read about my strategy for investing in ETFs, how I started investing, and some personal finance books I recommend. You’ll also be able to make fun of the fact that I was wearing the EXACT SAME SHIRT as another guy in the article. I don’t know how that happened.

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Lionel, I came to your blog from the Straits Time. Good strategy you have there which is the exact same I’m doing. Will spread my word about your blog, because I feel that this is the best no-fuss strategy!

  2. Hello, this isn’t quite relevant to your blog content – but were you once a boy scout from SJI? I read the article and thought your name sounded familiar.

  4. Hi Lionel,

    Saw you on ST. I’m in the same passive investing boat. Just wish to say, US ETFs are not good for “aliens” due to dividend withholding tax and estate tax.

    Check out Vanguard UK’s FTSE World ETF instead. No dividend withholding tax, and estate tax only applies to assets above the nil-rate band (google for this). Ok the benchmark is the standard (large and mid) cap FTSE World Index, which is what VT started out with. Today, VT’s benchmark is the FTSE Global All Cap Index. But hey, the “cost” of the taxes involved far outweighs the (very little) small-cap exposure.

    An alternative is the recently launched FTSE World High Dividend Yield. Check it out at Vanguard UK’s website.

    Regarding ABF SG Bond, I’m invested too but I’m really disappointed in its spread and liquidity (after 7+ years!). The market maker is really doing a poor job. I’m contemplating switching to a short duration bond unit trust instead.

    Good to hear more people in the same boat! I’ll check back to see if you reply. 🙂

    • Hey momo, good point! I didn’t know about tax advantages of Vanguard UK vs Vanguard US. I’ll be sure to check it out. Totally agree on the ABF SG Bond fund, though I haven’t yet found an alternative that didn’t have a crazy expense ratio. (I’m certainly not going to pay a 1% ER on a bond fund that only pays a couple of basis points in interest!)

      • Hi Lionel,

        Just wish to add on something. The SPDR STI ETF’s past 1 year performance is poor (>1% underperformance relative to STI Total Return). Could you email them and query why? My past emails to them have gotten nowhere.

        Thanks.

      • My goodness. Someone reminded me of my post here. Haha!

        Hope you are doing well Lionel. Have you switched to Vanguard UK?

        • Hey momo! Yes I’m doing well. You have someone to remind you of your posts? hahaah
          Since we last spoke, I’ve accumulated a nice stash of VWRL ETFs, though I haven’t completely switched to Vanguard UK. I prefer to have a good mix of ETFs in different currencies and in different countries, in order to diversify 🙂