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Originally Posted by Unregistered_101
Hi Uncle MK,
Thanks for taking the time to post, your perspective on life and respect for other's own decision is very refreshing.
Do you mind me asking would you say you're more comfortable with stock investment or property investment for networth building? And what would you look for on your prefer approach?
If you have the time and don't mind would really appreciate if you could share the loses you took in your old days (financially or otherwise). Personally I think one could learn a thing or two especially with experiences from the real world of business.
Regards
101
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To the post by 101,
Uncle (personally) prefers investing in stocks mainly; lower initial outlay, easy access to diversification, higher liquidity and low negative equity valuation. However, opportunity cost to faster capital appreciation and status quo are inevitable.
In property investment, unless you're a tycoon or reit manager, diversification seems almost impossible. To make matter worst, negative valuations attracted margin calls even out of recessionary phases. This is definitely heart-stopping for uncle especially above age 50. In stocks, uncle may buy/sell/hold for extended periods without leverage - dividends are a bonus and capital appreciation is nice. The main objective is to combat inflationary pressures.
Uncle suggests young (aspiring) millionaires to adopt investing so as to secure a foothold in retirement; common (blue-chip and mid-cap) stocks, long-term bonds (no perpertual), (almost) guaranteed T-bills, index funds mainly vanguard or s&p and insurance. If an individual wants to start a family, service finished the mortgage within 6-8 years before investing.
In uncle's era, businessmen are more like swindlers where who gets the contract signed wins. It's unevitable to see unscrupulous dealers overpromising but under-delivering and not much can be done. In today's context, global uncertainty and intense (global) competitors wiped out SMEs in Singapore, not to mention third-world nations emerging victorious. Uncle warns aspiring entrepreneurs not to be laid-back and innovate quarterly. Else, pardon to say day-jobs are in better positioning per se.
As I remembered those days, many businessmen and entrepreneurs seek investments involving tens of millions to be the next big 'thing'. Uncle lost closed few millions in earlier ventures but the final one before giving up succeeded. The rest is history. When I wrote down my variable package, what isn't included is my annual dividends declaration of which isn't taxable. You see, sometimes it's about persevering while others attributed to luck.
Okay, uncle rattled quite a bit..