Am I saving enough per month?
How much should I spend?
Roughly at what age should you be looking to get a mortgage?
Rent or buy?
Save or invest?
Cut out the daily coffee or concentrate on the big stuff?
When it comes to money, there is so much guidance out there, it can be difficult to know where to start.
So we’ve come to Money2020 in Singapore, a meeting of some of the world’s leading finance experts,
to put to them some of your questions.
Which is the best investment for now?
Well, actually, I don’t know if there’s one particular way I’d say to start investing your money.
I think the most important thing is to start.
Nowadays there’s so many resources that you can take advantage of.
My thoughts and advice would be, diversify it.
Make sure that you’re investing in things that you believe in,
as opposed to investing in things that other people believe in.
I’d love to find out more about how to best invest my money, whether it’s in, I don’t know, bitcoin?
First of all, I’m not a crypto fan.
But actually my nephew asked me about this.
And I say, it’s a great opportunity for you to learn. Invest as much as you can lose, and have fun with it.
Don’t expect to put in a buck and make a hundred.
I would advise more on tangible property, real estate, those things that seem to, over history,
always have some manner of long-term appreciation.
Roughly at what age should you be looking to get a mortgage?
From my perspective, starting early is a fantastic idea.
That could be indirectly, too.
There’s different investment vehicles, there’s REITS,
there’s other mutual funds that have exposure to real estate that kind of get you started.
It really depends on when do you want to use it.
So if you’re buying a house for yourself and you can afford it, then absolutely go ahead and start buying it.
But I think if it’s just for the sake of parking your money and seeing whether it’s
going to be because everybody else is talking about it, then I would caution against it.
At least setting money aside, preparing to do that, I think is a good habit.
The housing market has also slight ups and downs,
so when the timing’s right at least you have the funds ready.
I bought my first property at age 48.
So my advice is, at the stage that makes sense for you
and not worrying about keeping up with the Joneses.
What percentage of my total income should I be saving every month?
I’m probably the wrong person to ask that question, but here’s my philosophy:
You want to spend as if you’re going to die tomorrow,
and you want to save as if you’re going to live for tomorrow.
Whatever the tax authority allows in terms of the maximum pre-tax investment you can make,
you should be maxing that out.
Everybody has to make their own decisions.
I’d say at least, you know, 10 to 20% of your income.
You’ll thank yourself later on.