I used to worry a lot.
It sounds silly now, but I used to worry that one day, I’d wake up and realize that I wouldn’t be able to support my parents. I worried that I was going to have to work till I was 70 just to feed my family. I was probably the most worried 25-year old Singaporean ever.
Until I discovered index investing.
Now, hold on. I’m not about to launch into one of those sleazy get-rich-quick ads where I’m sitting by the pool and bragging about how my strategy made me millions of dollars in HIGH SPEED WEALTH!!!
Stay with me here. It’s not as cheesy as you think.
The Psychological Advantage of Index Investing
I’m not saying that index investing will take away all your problems overnight. It won’t. You’ll still have to go to work and save money and do all the stuff that normal people do.
But index investing will give you one huge psychological advantage over everyone else: The assurance that everything is going to be fine.
How do I know? Because when you invest in the stock market, you’re binding yourself to the fortunes of the rich. Think about it: The rich own the same stocks as you and I. Temasek Holdings wants the STI to succeed as much as we do. When we follow what the rich invest in, we get to enjoy the same fortunes as they do.
And as history tells us, if we invest in the market and hold on for long enough, we’ll eventually come out on top.
Today, I can wake up in the morning and tell myself “Everything’s going to be okay.” And then I’d get up, get dressed, and go through my day knowing that in 20 years, I’m going to retire comfortably.
That’s the true benefit of index investing: Assurance. Yes, you may not get rich overnight. But if you stick to the path, you’ll eventually get to where you want to go.
And that’s an amazing feeling.
Imagine smiling knowingly to yourself while your colleagues are complaining about money. Imagine splurging a little at a restaurant and reminding yourself that it’s okay because you already contributed to your portfolio this month.
So if you ask me, investing isn’t really about the money. Not directly, anyway.
Sure, it’s pretty cool to check your portfolio and realize that you made $2,000 last month. But the true benefit is in knowing that you don’t have to worry about being poor anymore. Things are going to turn out fine.
I love that feeling. And I want to share that experience with you.
Which is why I’m launching a brand new guide for index investors.
Automatic Investing: Launching 30th March
If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, you’d probably have heard of Automatic Investing. But I’ve been purposely tight-lipped about it till now.
You see, it’s not just some regular ebook filled with generic investing “tips.”
It’s not a scammy stock-picking formula with empty promises.
No. Instead, I’ve spent nearly 6 months crafting the BEST resource on index investing in Singapore. I’m immensely proud of it – it’s my best and most comprehensive work yet.
It lays out the entire end-to-end process of how to create, execute and scale up your own personal index investing strategy. Unlike most other investing books, I spend very little time on the high-level theory. Instead, I drill down into the tangible, specific, ACTION STEPS to take, like:
- How do you invest even if you don’t have much money?
- How do you research your investments?
- Which websites do you visit?
- How do you pick a broker?
- Which buttons do you click?
You can follow these steps, and in 3-4 weeks you’ll build a solid, robust portfolio that will make you rich in the long-run.
If the above steps sound intimidating, don’t worry. I wrote Automatic Investing specifically for beginners – you won’t find complex formulae or abstract concepts here. Just simple, practical advice.
If you’ve been thinking about investing for awhile now but have no idea where to start, I’m absolutely certain that this is going to help you.
I’m crazily excited about Automatic Investing, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Lots of you have been as excited about it as I am. Over the past few weeks, I’ve received emails from dozens of readers telling me that they want to download it like NOW.
But I’ve spent the past 6 months pouring my heart and soul into this guide, and I want to make sure that it’s absolutely perfect before releasing it.
So I’ve set the launch date to be on the morning of 30th March. That’s this Sunday.
In short…
Investing is more than just about the money. Yes – it could truly grow your wealth in the long run. But the biggest benefit of all is that you get to live life less worried, more optimistic, and with the quiet confidence that everything is going to be fine.
So save the date for 30th March. I can’t wait to share that feeling with you.
Image credit: Josef Grunig
I’m sure you have done more research than many of us. I will see what I can contribute if I can get hold of a copy. 🙂
Hi Lionel,
I see that you are also a follower of Andrew Hallam’s investment theory. Would like to find out your views on buying Singapore bond indexes as recommended by Andrew?
In his book, his general recommendation is to buy home country bond indexes to ensure a safer portfolio. However, if you follow his blog, he also recommended some Singaporeans to keep their CPF as their bond component (meaning since we have CPF, we can afford to have higher percentage of equity index in our portfolio).
Would like to find out your thoughts about this. Personally, I don’t think it’s enough to depend on CPF, cos of the age restriction for CPF withdrawal? I am currently keeping my SG bond index to be the same percentage as my age, as per his model portfolio.
Appreciate your thoughts 🙂
Hey Fern, great question. I think it all depends on what you view your portfolio is for. If it’s for retirement (i.e: you’re not planning on touching it until retirement age) then investing your CPF might be a good idea. Having said that, many young Singaporeans (like myself) use CPF as a means to save up for our first home, so investing it may not be a priority. Instead, I choose to make my investments outside CPF and I do agree with his recommendation to keep the bond allocation as the same percentage as your age. However I think it’s worth diversifying to overseas bond markets as the Singapore bond market is pretty small and not very liquid. Hope this helps!
Can’t wait for the launch!