Investing.Insurance.Fixed Deposits - where to start?

[carrotpig]

I'd like to start growing my savings, investing and preparing for the future. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea where to start! Random surfing just floods my screen with too much information - it gets hard to differentiate between what is applicable and what isn't.

Understandably, the current bank interest rates aren't sufficient to cover inflation... so simply leave the excess $$ in a savings account isn't gonna work out in the long term.

However, am not earning much. Am taking home slightly less than 1.5k/mth. I don't have much savings (my failed marriage pretty much drained everything that I've built up), and my salary isn't likely to increase much the nxt few years due to the nature of my job & lack of experience - I only started really working earlier this year.

Sooo.... I reckon my options are pretty limited?

It'll be great to hear the opinions of fellow cotters... what should I start looking into and any pointers in the correct direction will be much appreciated ^_^

[chungfr]

In my opinion,investments should come only after you have saved around 6 months worth of your last drawn salary. Prior to that,get some basic insurance such as the shield plan and term policy to cover yourself in case any misfortune happens. CIMB has rather good interest for savings at around 0.5%,you may want to park your savings with them. You should avoid investing in fixed deposit as much as possible,as the returns are unable to beat the inflation rate of 3%.

[LOHAS]

hi ginny

where can i find that book?
Personal Financial Planning (Benedict Koh and W. M. Fong)

[LemonTree]

I think OCBC and UOB recently have some promotions on FD. Check with them. I agree that it is good to have a diverse portfolio. Start from the very basic and take things one step at a time. You do not need to have a very large capital to invest in stock. For e.g. the recent GLP IPO was launched at 1.96 per share. That is a good starting point to invest. Most importantly, don;t be too greedy. Do your homework before taking the plunge.

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[wsw]

carrotpig >> In my opinion, you can start with a saving account with higher interest rate of short time fixed deposit provided that you can confirm that amount of money is untouchable for the 1 or 2 year plus you will be in employment during this period. Look into investments only if you have extra cash on hand after all that.
Just my opinion since i am not an expert

[mangobaby]

lets say i've a lump sum and do not wish to park them in a fixed deposit acct. is there any other good options where i can park the cash to earn interests / profits ?
besides going into stock market and mutual funds, commodities, bonds.

[FinanceGuru]

lets say i've a lump sum and do not wish to park them in a fixed deposit acct. is there any other good options where i can park the cash to earn interests / profits ?
besides going into stock market and mutual funds, commodities, bonds.

You can consider Insurance plans like NTUC Growth Plan where you deposit a lump sum for at least 5 yrs, at the end, NTUC returns you a higher amount. Expected return ranges from 1% to 3% per annum for a 5 yr term. Longer term will have potentially higher returns.

[hwan_1986]

the mkt today is very uncertain, so i think in order to maximise returns to bet inflation, it will be good to look into savings plans where you can get back some amount of money every year with higher interest rate that even fix deposite is not able to beat.

[CozyFinance]

Savings through Insurance savings plan usually net you 3%. The average inflation over the last 20 years in Singapore is 2% annually.

For all of you complain king, Singapore has one of the lowest inflation rate.

Low risk low returns, Law of nature.

[Andre-]

I'd like to start growing my savings, investing and preparing for the future. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea where to start! Random surfing just floods my screen with too much information - it gets hard to differentiate between what is applicable and what isn't.

Understandably, the current bank interest rates aren't sufficient to cover inflation... so simply leave the excess $$ in a savings account isn't gonna work out in the long term.

However, am not earning much. Am taking home slightly less than 1.5k/mth. I don't have much savings (my failed marriage pretty much drained everything that I've built up), and my salary isn't likely to increase much the nxt few years due to the nature of my job & lack of experience - I only started really working earlier this year.

Sooo.... I reckon my options are pretty limited?

It'll be great to hear the opinions of fellow cotters... what should I start looking into and any pointers in the correct direction will be much appreciated ^_^

Given your situation, I would propose you start a monthly savings plan with any bank whereby you save a certain amount each month for a short tenor, lets say 1 year. Interest would not be exactly high compared to other investments but hey, its better than just a normal savings account which gives you the minimal. The good thing about most montly savings plan is that funds are considered liquid, which means withdrawing them for emergencies would most likely mean your principal is still intact at the cost of the interest rates.

Upon maturity of your monthly savings plan, you should have at least a healthy amt to start looking at other financial instruments, preferably those with a 3-5 year tenor but do request for investments which are principal protected only. Whilst waiting for that plan to mature, you can always embark on another monthly savings plans year after year.

After 5 years you will most probably have an amount in your account which you can comfortably call your savings, and I'm sure the economy and your salary would have picked up by then