9 October 2026 - a day to remember

 

This is the allocation of my total net worth (accurate as of 9 October 2026). Majority of my allocation comes from CPF (CPFIS + OA + SA) and investments (stocks and cryptocurrencies). I have a 10% cash allocation but that's for anything emergency related, meaning I will not invest in them unless necessary (like a total stock market crash).

I started this blog on 20 July 2021 with objectives of sharing my plans and thought processes about investing but more importantly for anyone who is in a dilemma about starting to invest. Since then, I have written 32 blog posts, created 100 FB stories (over 3 months) and shared numerous FB posts about investing. Even if one person, just one person took my advise, all these posts would have felt worthy. And because I don't track if anyone has ever take any action from reading my posts, there is no way for me to find out if these posts indeed motivated someone to start investing, so if you are one of them, please drop me a note so that I can feel the justification for my sacrifice time and effort in putting out these posts.

If I were to look back from the time when I decided to start investing, there are certainly many things that I would have had avoided. Avoidance doesn't mean failures because every mistake made is made a learning process but more of avoiding them so that I can save me more time and money in my investment journey. So here's my list of things - "Things that could have been better, if I ..."

1) Start early.

This is still my biggest regret to date. I started thinking about investing at 38 years old but only thinking and not putting thoughts into action... by the time I started my first trading account, I was already 42 years old. Could I have done it earlier? Well... a very resounding yes! I had all the time to start, I had all the time to explore but I didn't, simply because I didn't know where to start. I believe this is the same for most people who has never invested. The not knowing can be very daunting! It is usually the first hurdle to the leap of faith. And usually when one chooses not to take any action, there will be many other reasons that will come along with it.

"I have no time to read up", "I am tight on budget", "I just bought my house", "I just got a new job", "I am busy at work", "I still have time", "Investing is gambling", blar, blar, blar... Honestly, if the reason is "I don't know", it is still better than all the excuses aka reasons.

I say it here again, investing is for everyone, it is not a want, it is a need, investment doesn't have to cost you an arm or a leg, investment needs time to grow. Treat investment similar to a lifestyle habit, when it is time to eat, you eat, when it is time to sleep, you sleep, when you are sick, you rest, when need to exercise, you go work out, when it is time to go to the loo, you shit. There should be no reason why wouldn't eat, sleep, rest, exercise and shit when you need to. You don't give yourself a reason to justify at all. You simply just do it. That's investing. It is a habit.

If you ask me if I had known earlier about investing, would I have started earlier? DAMN BLOODY YES!

2) Don't buy stupid stocks. 

I call these stupid stocks because I either hear about them from internet, YouTube or even at seminars. These are your "non-boyband" stocks like APPL, NVDA, TSLA, AMZN, GOOG, META. I call them non-boyband because nobody knows about them. There are so unpopular that if you going around asking your besties, they too don't know what they are, what business they are in, where is the company located... buying stupid stocks is the way to see your investment go down, down, down the drain in a market crisis. Because if they are non-boyband and the market comes down... guess where everyone is putting their money? I have learnt it the hard way and yes, still holding onto some of these stupid stocks with all the hypes and vibes but nothing to show for. Beware of the Dunning Kruger effect! If unsure, search for it. We often think that we know something but there is a whole lot more that we don't.

3) Just invest and not trade

When I first started, I went straight into options trading. For those who are aware, it is simply learning how to fly when I cannot even walk or run, let alone just standing up! Yup! I was thrown into the deepest ocean with little guidance and the only way to survive, was to grasp the smallest pocket of air and kept swimming to the top. If you ask me why did I even do that, honestly I wasn't sure how treacherous this journey would be. I was simply trading with a simple concept of investing: Buy low Sell high. Yes, most of the time it did work but 50% of the other time, it didn't work very well. Learning how to trade options is like heading for A levels without ever sitting through PSLE or O levels. My advice is to keep it simple, buy consistently, buy regularly. Just don't buy, sell, buy, sell.... life would be so much easier and I would also be profiting so so much more. 

4) Learn about money

Learning about money means financial literacy. Most see it as spending and investing but the most part of it, it is the managing. Managing your money is a whole new different level. It is about how much you need, spend and invest every month. A high income earner who doesn't appreciates money can turn out to be a bigger spender than someone who is earning much lesser but remains prudent in money management. Money management looks into your spending, your retirement and your savings. It digs deeper than just investing but really what you do with your money. Do you use it to create more wealth or do you simply buy the next newer Iphone model. Do you spend your money on that latest EV and high COE or do you buy a vehicle with lower depreciation? Do you buy a bigger property and spend the next 30 years servicing a loan or do you gain time freedom with a lesser retirement pool. Do you top up your CPF? or do you invest into it? Equities? dividend stocks? Unit Trust? Funds? Fixed Income? Bonds? The purpose of work is to earn, providing a service to others with our acquired knowledge so that we can buy the things we want and spend on the things we need but what if we no longer wants to buy anything or need anything? Do we still need to work? What is your relationship with your money? Is it a tool or is it an essential?

5) Have a mentor

We all need a mentor. Your teacher, your parents, your siblings, your friend, your relative, your boss, you get the idea. A guiding star who can give you all the ideas and imaginations about life but who is unable to turn words into action and experience change on your behalf. The ultimate action taker can only be YOU. Yes, only... youuuuu... If I have a mentor who can shorten my hurdles and obstacles, I would have been able to move faster, stronger and wiser to my goals. If I have a coach who can coach me, hold my hands and walk me through difficulties, things would have been so much better. Personally, if I wish to pick up a new skill, a new business idea or even dishing out a new cuisine, I usually don't look very far, I just copy and learn. I copy because there are already thousands if not millions before me who have already taken this path and discovered for themselves want could work and what wouldn't. While exploration magnifies learning, exploring into unchartered waters or lands can spell danger. Besides, I am too lazy to rediscover things all by myself. I will copy and paste. I will copy others and paste their right doings, along the way figure out what could have gone wrong if I didn't copy. In the world of finance, there are no shortages of "gurus".

About The Contributor

Ben is not financially trained. He is not a certified financial planner and he does not sell any insurance or investment plans. He is not financially motivated by any entities to produce this blog. He just want his friends to know more about money management and not have anyone fall between the social cracks.