Hey folks, apologies for the lack of update the past three weeks because some dreaded things happened and I just had to get them right. Well, all was not bad for there were some other stuffs to divert my attention elsewhere. Okay, before this turns into a personal blog....
Let's start talking about investment. While the topics on this blog have so far focused on getting free money, earning more interest from banks and such, I personally believe that if one wants to go on to the road of riches, he would have to look towards investments.
Investment is quite a broad term - it can range from the commonly-known company shares, properties, commodities, forex, to another spectrum such as collections of art pieces, antiques, numismatics. All these are leveraging of resources, I would say. As I shared with my colleague before, leveraging of resources is probably the only way to multiply your earnings; this would be another topic all together.
Although I have mentioned a few investment vehicles in the previous paragraph, the focus of this post would only be on company shares.Specifically, this post aims to shed some light on how to get started on trading (buy or sell) shares listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). There are two essential accounts which you need in order to start trading - a brokerage account and a Central Depository Pte Ltd (CDP) account.
A. Brokerage account
This is the account you need to trade shares and the broker you choose has to be an SGX member (please refer to http://www.sgx.com/wps/wcm/connect/sgx_en/Misc/regulations/directory+of+members/ for the listing). There is no limit to the number of brokers to open an account with, for example, I have accounts with Philip Securities, UOB Kay Hian, DBS Vickers and Kim Eng Securities. I shall briefly talk about the pros and cons of these brokers in another post.
B. CDP account
A CDP account is where all the shares you bought on the SGX are kept. Conversely, any shares sold on the SGX would be debited from your CDP account. In case you are wondering, SGX is based on a scripless system in which there are no shares certificate moving around like in the past.
C. Good-to-have services
(i) Electronic Payment for Shares (EPS)
Gone are the days you need to send cheques or make a trip to the broker to pay for share purchase, and vice versa. The EPS is a service where you can designate your bank account to receive sales proceeds and pay for shares purchases directly. When this service has been set up, you can make transactions through your bank's ATM or Internet Banking platform.
(ii) Direct Crediting Service (DCS)
Okay, this is quite important - it is for the receiving of dividends ($_$) or other cash entitlements given by the companies which you have shares with. With this service, you will be able to receive the $$$ on the payment date; no need to wait for cheques no more!
(iii) CDP Internet Access
By default, a person would receive half-yearly paper statement on his share holdings in the CDP account; or a monthly statement if there are trading activities made that month. It is kind of inconvenient as you would need to wait till month-end to check on your positions. Good news is that you could apply for CDP Internet Access and with that, you would be able to check your positions anytime, anywhere!
How to get started?
I shall share with you my personal experience of "getting started". When I first started, I chose Philip Securities (http://www.poems.com.sg/) - reason being they are commonly-known. What I did was to walk in to their investor centre and said I want to open a trading account. As I was totally new back then, they gave me the forms to open a trading account and CDP account; the application for EPS and DCS services were also done on the same trip. Well, that's quite hassle-free.
Thereafter, you would need to wait for a few letters to arrive in your mailbox, to name a few: i) welcome package from your broker, ii) phone/internet pin for your trading account, iii) welcome from CDP, iv) confirmation of bank account linkage for EPS and v) confirmation of bank account linkage for DCS.
That's basically all you need to start trading. I guess the process is more or less the same if you go for other brokers. As for the CDP Internet Access, I guess you would need to make a trip to the CDP Customer Service to get the application form and submit it. That's kind of troublesome, but no choice (CDP seems quite strict when it comes to signatures).
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
How about $260 for you?
Update: the promotion period has been extended to 31st December 2011
Yes, it's free money again. This time round, it's from Standard Chartered Bank.
StanChart always have free-cash promotions, just by signing up their credit cards. I had gotten $300+ cash for signing up their cards a couple of months back. :D
So, what are they offering this time? You can get $80 when your online application for a credit card is approved. However, this free-cash promotion is only valid for a maximum two card applications, i.e. you can only receive $160 ($80x2). You may check out http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/personal-banking/cards/en/ for more information on this promotion. Do sign up fast as the promotion is ending on 30th Nov 2011 (Update: the promotion period has been extended to 31st December 2011).
Before you start to think there's something wrong with the title of this post, let me introduce to you another offer by StanChart -- Service Guarantee. When you apply for a card online and submit all the supporting documents before 2pm on a working day, StanChart promises to deliver the card to your doorstep by the next working day. Otherwise, they will give you $50 for not meeting this Service Guarantee. But of course, the card application must be approved first.
That's where the missing $100 comes from. If you apply for two cards, you might get an addition of $100 ($50x2) for this Service Guarantee thingy. (p.s. there is a high chance of getting this, especially if you apply on a Monday during lunchtime, since they need to clear the backlogs accumulated over the weekend?) For more information on this Service Guarantee, do check out http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/personal-banking/cards/features/service-guarantee/en/.
If you are eligible for a credit card, why not go apply for two StanChart credit cards? Been there, done that. Free money is better than none!
Update: the promotion period has been extended to 31st December 2011
Yes, it's free money again. This time round, it's from Standard Chartered Bank.
StanChart always have free-cash promotions, just by signing up their credit cards. I had gotten $300+ cash for signing up their cards a couple of months back. :D
So, what are they offering this time? You can get $80 when your online application for a credit card is approved. However, this free-cash promotion is only valid for a maximum two card applications, i.e. you can only receive $160 ($80x2). You may check out http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/personal-banking/cards/en/ for more information on this promotion. Do sign up fast as the promotion is ending on 30th Nov 2011 (Update: the promotion period has been extended to 31st December 2011).
Before you start to think there's something wrong with the title of this post, let me introduce to you another offer by StanChart -- Service Guarantee. When you apply for a card online and submit all the supporting documents before 2pm on a working day, StanChart promises to deliver the card to your doorstep by the next working day. Otherwise, they will give you $50 for not meeting this Service Guarantee. But of course, the card application must be approved first.
That's where the missing $100 comes from. If you apply for two cards, you might get an addition of $100 ($50x2) for this Service Guarantee thingy. (p.s. there is a high chance of getting this, especially if you apply on a Monday during lunchtime, since they need to clear the backlogs accumulated over the weekend?) For more information on this Service Guarantee, do check out http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/personal-banking/cards/features/service-guarantee/en/.
If you are eligible for a credit card, why not go apply for two StanChart credit cards? Been there, done that. Free money is better than none!
Update: the promotion period has been extended to 31st December 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Do you want higher interest rate for savings account?
Savings account interest rate has hit a new low - 0.05% pa. Nope, you didn't see wrongly. That's the interest rate most banks are offering for their savings account. Pathetic isn't it? Can't even fight inflation!
But hey, there's still hope around. Recently, there is this savings account product which caught my eye. Before I noticed this product, I park my money in OCBC (yes, OCBC again) Frank savings account (open in new window). This account is offering 0.3% pa; that's like 6x more than the usual savings account. Other than the higher than usual interest rate, there is another feature this account is offering which I like. Well, I might talk about this another time, since this is not the main point.
So, what is that product which caught my eye? It is the CIMB StarSaver Savings Account (open in new window). What's so special? The interest rate! CIMB is offering 0.5% pa interest for this StarSaver Savings Account. 10x higher than the usual savings accounts from other banks!
What's more, you can get 0.8% pa interest if you make a monthly top-up of $100 to your account. No gimmicks or whatsoever. The only thing to look out for is you need an initial deposit of $1,000 and if you close your account within 6 months, there will be a fee levied (quite standard across the banks).
For me, it is the best place to keep your money (we are not talking about investment or anything, just pure savings). Save $100 per monthy, and you can get 0.8% pa interest. Isn't it good?
And with this account, one can be more disciplined in terms of saving money. You see, CIMB has a very poor network of banking facilities (sorry, CIMB) in Singapore -- only two branches (Raffles Place and Orchard) and I think ATM machines are available at the two branches only (not part of ATM5 network). So, it is quite hard to withdraw money (unless you transfer money using their internet banking).
Look no further, this CIMB StarSaver Savings Account is probably the best, at least in terms of interest rate. Don't even bother looking at Fixed Deposits, I find it a joke that banks are offering lower interest rates for their FDs than this account!
Oh ya, you might ask, "Never heard of CIMB, is it safe?" If you hadn't know, "Deposit accounts held by individuals and charities are insures by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to amounts as may be required under, and subject to the Deposit Insurance Act 2005 (Act 31 of 2005)." If in any case the bank fails, your first $50,000 with that bank will be safe :)
Please visit http://www.cimbbank.com.sg/index.php?ch=sg_per_st&pg=sg_per_st_cur&ac=15&tpt=cimb_sg (open in new window) for more info.
But hey, there's still hope around. Recently, there is this savings account product which caught my eye. Before I noticed this product, I park my money in OCBC (yes, OCBC again) Frank savings account (open in new window). This account is offering 0.3% pa; that's like 6x more than the usual savings account. Other than the higher than usual interest rate, there is another feature this account is offering which I like. Well, I might talk about this another time, since this is not the main point.
So, what is that product which caught my eye? It is the CIMB StarSaver Savings Account (open in new window). What's so special? The interest rate! CIMB is offering 0.5% pa interest for this StarSaver Savings Account. 10x higher than the usual savings accounts from other banks!
What's more, you can get 0.8% pa interest if you make a monthly top-up of $100 to your account. No gimmicks or whatsoever. The only thing to look out for is you need an initial deposit of $1,000 and if you close your account within 6 months, there will be a fee levied (quite standard across the banks).
For me, it is the best place to keep your money (we are not talking about investment or anything, just pure savings). Save $100 per monthy, and you can get 0.8% pa interest. Isn't it good?
And with this account, one can be more disciplined in terms of saving money. You see, CIMB has a very poor network of banking facilities (sorry, CIMB) in Singapore -- only two branches (Raffles Place and Orchard) and I think ATM machines are available at the two branches only (not part of ATM5 network). So, it is quite hard to withdraw money (unless you transfer money using their internet banking).
Look no further, this CIMB StarSaver Savings Account is probably the best, at least in terms of interest rate. Don't even bother looking at Fixed Deposits, I find it a joke that banks are offering lower interest rates for their FDs than this account!
Oh ya, you might ask, "Never heard of CIMB, is it safe?" If you hadn't know, "Deposit accounts held by individuals and charities are insures by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to amounts as may be required under, and subject to the Deposit Insurance Act 2005 (Act 31 of 2005)." If in any case the bank fails, your first $50,000 with that bank will be safe :)
Please visit http://www.cimbbank.com.sg/index.php?ch=sg_per_st&pg=sg_per_st_cur&ac=15&tpt=cimb_sg (open in new window) for more info.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Save Your Loose Change Part Two - Free Money from OCBC
No, you didn't see wrongly. You can get free money from OCBC by saving your loose change!
Introducing to you...
OCBC SmartChange (open in new window)
This is a feature which allows you to save money whenever your charge your purchases to your OCBC credit/debit cards (excluding co-brand cards such as Ikea, Best Denki cards). More specifically, for each purchase charged to your OCBC card, the amount will be rounded up to the next dollar. The difference in amount, known as Spare Change in OCBC terms, will be transferred to your OCBC bank account.
To help us understand better, let's use an example - say you pay for your $10.40 meal at McDonald's using your OCBC card (yes, some MCD outlets accept cards)...
Actual spending - $10.40
Amount which OCBC will bill you - $11.00 (round up to next dollar)
Spare Change - $0.60
As we can see, the Spare Change will be $0.60, and this amount will be transferred to your OCBC bank account. That's the basic concept of this OCBC SmartChange.
At this point, you must be thinking - hey, where's the free money?? Here comes the real deal.. matching DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR for the Spare Change amount. Yes, OCBC will give you money (SmartChange Reward) for using this feature. Let's go back to the example of eating at McDonald's...
Actual spending - $10.40
Amount which OCBC will bill you - $11.00 (round up to next dollar)
Spare Change - $0.60
SmartChange Reward - $0.60
End of the day, $1.20 (60c + 60c) will be transferred to your OCBC bank account. Sounds too good to be true? You are right, there's a catch... the dollar for dollar matching is only valid for the first 3 months of enrollment into this SmartChange program, and the maximum amount free money that will be given is $188. Still, $188 is a good money!
What will happen after 3 months or when you have received $188 already? OCBC will continue to match your Spare Change at 4.88%. Although the amount is going to be peanuts (say, 4.88% of $0.60 = $0.03 LOL), it's still better than nothing.
Over and above the Spare Change or SmartChange Reward, there is also a Spending Rebate of 0.4%. So, for your spending of $10.40 at McDonald's, you will also get $0.41 (0.4% of $10.40).
With all these Spare Changes, SmartChange Rewards and Spending Rebates, you are taking a step in wealth accumulation, albeit a small one :) Better than nothing lah!
All you need to have is an OCBC Credit or Debit card! An bank account (no monthly service fee, fall-below fee and what-not) will be opened for you when you enroll in this program, if you do not have any OCBC bank account at the moment.
Please visit the official website http://www.ocbc.com.sg/personal-banking/smartchange/ (open in new window) for more details.
Let's start saving our loose change, and earn money at the same time!
Introducing to you...
OCBC SmartChange (open in new window)
This is a feature which allows you to save money whenever your charge your purchases to your OCBC credit/debit cards (excluding co-brand cards such as Ikea, Best Denki cards). More specifically, for each purchase charged to your OCBC card, the amount will be rounded up to the next dollar. The difference in amount, known as Spare Change in OCBC terms, will be transferred to your OCBC bank account.
To help us understand better, let's use an example - say you pay for your $10.40 meal at McDonald's using your OCBC card (yes, some MCD outlets accept cards)...
Actual spending - $10.40
Amount which OCBC will bill you - $11.00 (round up to next dollar)
Spare Change - $0.60
As we can see, the Spare Change will be $0.60, and this amount will be transferred to your OCBC bank account. That's the basic concept of this OCBC SmartChange.
At this point, you must be thinking - hey, where's the free money?? Here comes the real deal.. matching DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR for the Spare Change amount. Yes, OCBC will give you money (SmartChange Reward) for using this feature. Let's go back to the example of eating at McDonald's...
Actual spending - $10.40
Amount which OCBC will bill you - $11.00 (round up to next dollar)
Spare Change - $0.60
SmartChange Reward - $0.60
End of the day, $1.20 (60c + 60c) will be transferred to your OCBC bank account. Sounds too good to be true? You are right, there's a catch... the dollar for dollar matching is only valid for the first 3 months of enrollment into this SmartChange program, and the maximum amount free money that will be given is $188. Still, $188 is a good money!
What will happen after 3 months or when you have received $188 already? OCBC will continue to match your Spare Change at 4.88%. Although the amount is going to be peanuts (say, 4.88% of $0.60 = $0.03 LOL), it's still better than nothing.
Over and above the Spare Change or SmartChange Reward, there is also a Spending Rebate of 0.4%. So, for your spending of $10.40 at McDonald's, you will also get $0.41 (0.4% of $10.40).
With all these Spare Changes, SmartChange Rewards and Spending Rebates, you are taking a step in wealth accumulation, albeit a small one :) Better than nothing lah!
All you need to have is an OCBC Credit or Debit card! An bank account (no monthly service fee, fall-below fee and what-not) will be opened for you when you enroll in this program, if you do not have any OCBC bank account at the moment.
Please visit the official website http://www.ocbc.com.sg/personal-banking/smartchange/ (open in new window) for more details.
Let's start saving our loose change, and earn money at the same time!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Save Your Loose Change Part One - The Basics
The first topic of sharing would be - saving your loose change! I feel very compelled to write on this first because I am a strong believer in it.
There are basically two ways people save money; either pay yourself first or save whatever that is left. I will discuss more on these two techniques in another blog post.
"Saving your loose change" could be seen as "save whatever that is left", but that may not be the case. The latter is usually saving at the end of the month, while in the case of the former, I see it as at the end of the day (or perhaps for some people, week).
Let us delve into the details of saving your loose change. You might argue that it doesn't make sense to save the change, thinking "how much can I save from all these pennies". But we must never forget there is this Chinese saying 积少成多, or the power of accumulation. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.
I personally do not like to carry coins around - they are just unnecessary weights! So, at the end of each day, I will just keep at home whatever coins I am left with. Save them up, leave them alone, and you would be surprised how much they would accumulate to after months!
Go ahead and give it a try!
In the next part of this topic, I will be sharing with you a "loose change" banking feature offered by OCBC Bank which allows you to get free cash! Cool yea? Stay tuned!
There are basically two ways people save money; either pay yourself first or save whatever that is left. I will discuss more on these two techniques in another blog post.
"Saving your loose change" could be seen as "save whatever that is left", but that may not be the case. The latter is usually saving at the end of the month, while in the case of the former, I see it as at the end of the day (or perhaps for some people, week).
Let us delve into the details of saving your loose change. You might argue that it doesn't make sense to save the change, thinking "how much can I save from all these pennies". But we must never forget there is this Chinese saying 积少成多, or the power of accumulation. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.
I personally do not like to carry coins around - they are just unnecessary weights! So, at the end of each day, I will just keep at home whatever coins I am left with. Save them up, leave them alone, and you would be surprised how much they would accumulate to after months!
Go ahead and give it a try!
In the next part of this topic, I will be sharing with you a "loose change" banking feature offered by OCBC Bank which allows you to get free cash! Cool yea? Stay tuned!
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