Journey to financial freedom needs preparation.

Often, I get emails from readers asking for advice and I would remind them that I am not allowed to give advice. I am just thinking aloud here in my blog and if my soliloquies have proven inspiring or even helpful, I guess that is a good thing.

A recurring theme in a number of emails from readers is whether having a smallish capital is good enough to start investing in stocks. So, over the last few years of blogging, I have thought aloud to myself as I looked at bits and pieces of the puzzle and more recently consolidated some of these thoughts into an "e-book" which is found in the right side bar of my blog.

I believe that getting our basics right first is more important in helping ourselves to be financially secure than investing in stocks. Of course, investing has an important part in the grand scheme of things on the journey to financial freedom but the basics will ensure a strong foundation. All in good time, as the saying goes.

To help put this point across, I had a blog post which generated quite a bit of controversy last year when it was published. I believe that the blog post's message was misconstrued by some when I questioned whether investing in stocks was suitable for everybody. For anyone who might be interested to read it or to read it again, please pay special attention to the concluding paragraph of the blog post: Is investing in stocks suitable for you?


My reply to J who wrote to me recently:

Hi J,

Welcome to my blog. :)

Firstly, I have to tell you that I am not allowed to give financial advice. I can share some knowledge and experience but you will have to decide what to do from there.

Before you start, you might want to go to my blog's right sidebar and read my "e-book" which should help lay some groundwork for you. If we do not have a large capital to invest with, just getting the basics right to give us financial security without investing in stocks would be a big step forward.

Once we have gotten the basics right, we could think of putting excess cash to work.

Not all of us are good with financial numbers. So, not all of us are good at picking stocks. Warren Buffett who is probably the most successful investor of all time makes mistakes too. So, if we don't think we are strong in this department, we might want to do some index investing. OCBC and POSB have plans to help people do this. Go to my blog and use the "search" box at the top of the blog and search for "blue chip investing". Read the related posts and comments too.

Of course, we could read up to upgrade our knowledge and skills. When we feel that we are comfortable enough to invest in individual stocks, we might want to give it a go. To this end, there are good books which could help us better ourselves. "Food for thought" in my blog's right sidebar has some recommended books.

 .... don't be discouraged. All of us have to start somewhere. :)

Best wishes,
AK

In the email to me, J said, "I would appreciate if you can give me some advice so I can finally start my journey." I am sure all of us here want to journey towards financial freedom. 

However, we must remember that before every journey, there should be adequate preparation. Embarking on a journey without adequate preparation would be to leave too much to chance.

When we are well prepared, we will be able to embark on the journey with more confidence as we will be in a better position to handle any unforeseen circumstances along the way.

Related posts:
1. Free e-book by AK.
2. The Millionaire Next Door.
3. Take steps towards financial security.
4. Journey to financial freedom is not a race.
5. When to BUY, HOLD or SELL?

25% discount offered by Hock Lian Seng.

I have been receiving quite a number of emails recently offering discounts on asking prices for condominiums in Singapore. It would seem that local developers are feeling the heat and the decline in asking prices could persist for some time to come.

I received another email today and it is for Skywoods condominium which is being jointly developed by Hock Lian Seng, King Wan and TA Corp.

I said in an earlier blog post that the break even price for Skywoods is estimated to be $1,100 psf. So, if you would like to buy a unit in the project, getting a price that is very close to $1,100 psf would be like getting a home built for you at cost with almost no profit for the developer. This is hardly fair to the developer but this is life.

Source: www.stproperty.sg

 

For those who have been waiting to buy a condominium in Singapore, it is probably time to start looking around as it is now a buyers' market and it looks to be increasingly more so.

Related posts:
1. Hock Lian Seng: Won $221.8 million contract.
2. Buying an apartment: Some considerations.
3. Buying a private property as an owner occupier?
4. Buying a property: Affordability and value for money.