[Moonraker]

We as seafarers often come home with stash of money. How do we manage them other than just stashing them in our Bank. To begin with,why do we even bother, the answer is inflation. Money worth today is worth less in future. In 2019, inflation rate was 0.57%. Having all our money in bank doesn’t makes much sense,The interest is ~0.5 -1% basic. Banks offers higher % for involving in more categories. (Salary,home loans, investments etc)

There are various modes of methods but heres my suggestions.

First off, we should have a higher interest bank account. This doesnt make much difference, but its better off than a posb kids account.

Secondly Emergency funds, typically 6-12 months of your expenses. This fund is for emergency purposes so as not to touch into your investment in future, ( could be family emergencies, prolong time waiting for ship etc)

Insurance. Hospitalization integrated plan being the basic, followed by critical illness, whole life/ term insurance.

Finally your preferred common choice of investment to explore,

1)Fix deposits
2)Singapore saving bonds
3)Investment linked policies/ Endowment plans / unit trusts
4)Robo-advisers
4)Exchange traded funds ( ETF)
5)Stocks/ REITS (Real estate investment trust)
6)Peer to peer lending ( PTP) < High risk of defaults.
7)Crytocurrency/ Forex < Mainly for traders and be warned of high volatility.

In this modern world and age, we are much more tech savvy and more informed then our parents. Options 1,2,3 are safer options with less risk, but less rewards. There are platforms for improving your financial illiteracy, to make better finance decisions. Seedly is a platform where you can start with.

Personally i feel there are few misconceptions on investments. Investment is a marathon and not a sprint. Do not expect fast cash in investment.
When people brag on how much they earn in a few days or months in an “investment”, this is usually a warning. Its not investment but trading. When money comes fast and easy, it goes fast and easy too. Investments are boring, and it only work in a very long time, and it is because of compounding effect.

Thus being young gives us an advantage to sow the fruits that we are reaping. And that is where Seafarers have the advantage. We are able to achieve higher savings rates than our other peers in other industry & we are able to start with a higher capital for investments. So, be wise and start early.

[Shipmare]

Not sure if people here are familiar with FIRE ( Financial Independence, Retire early) movement. Basically its accumulation of the assets which in turns generate us passive incomes. And when passive incomes exceeds our expenses, we no longer slave to survive to pay bills and day to day expenses. Faster leave the rat’s race do what we enjoy.

From Moon’s options of assets above i especially lean towards Reits.

[cat60y]

Its very common to see such ads on facebook. “How to gain good profits from investment”, “How to be a millionaire in a year”, “How to own properties without cash”, Etc kind of advertisements, often bragging their profits. But are legit, and some are just wanting to earn course fee from you. These people are selling courses ( and making money through you of course).

However ive personally attended their free previews, and some are legitimate methods, they can cut short your learning curve instead of self studying / experience ( prevent you from making wrong decisions resulting in big losses)
Anyone personally attended such paid course?

[Author]

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