I Was Fat! Part 1

The year is 2006. Here I was, a sceptic, standing in front of a HDB flat in Redhill. Beyond the doors is a supposedly accurate fortune teller. A colleague of mine has mentioned about coming to visit and he had asked me to accompany him. During lunch time we have made our way down to Redhill and here we are. I have told myself that whatever the fortune teller told me, I will take it with a pinch of salt. If she says good things, great! If she say bad things, I will take it as rubbish!

I was a team leader in a bank and have done sales and did relatively well for the past 6 years and I will not have somebody dodgy telling me otherwise! We walked into the flat, it was sparse. There was like a waiting room with stools and a curtain separating the living room. There was nobody in line and very quickly we were served.

She sat us down in front of her and mentioned in Mandarin: 'You guys are not happy with work and is coming to ask about your future career.' my sceptic self though 'Abuden! We wearing office attire, any idiot could have decipher that..' She helped my friend read his fortune first and she turned to me after.

She said '你会越老越有钱' .. (loosely translated: you will be richer as you get older) duh! Of course leh..

She continued reading my fortune, which was generally good, though I cannot remember exactly what she has said but there was 2 things she mentioned that stood out. Firstly, she mentioned '你这个人天不怕，地不怕，只怕你爸爸.' (translated literally: you this person, heaven not scared, hell not scared, scared only your father.) Somewhat true...

Second, '你现在的size以后会double' (My size will double in future). We paid like $20 in a red packet and went back to work.

In the following years, my size did double and by 2014 I was weighing in at 106kg. Accurate or what! Actually I would rather think it was something called a self fulfilling prophecy.

Though I have told myself to take what the fortune teller said with a pinch of salt.. I didn't. I was eating like there was no tomorrow, I visited buffets almost weekly. My friends will tell me to control myself but I will always jokingly tell them, never mind la, the fortune teller say my size will double. I use to be athletic in school but when I started working I stopped exercising. I have not as much output but my input has remained the same. With work, meals also tend to become irregular and when opportunity arises to eat, I eat a lot.

Being in sales and a team leader aggravated the situation. I had to meet clients almost daily and when we meet we eat or we drink (usually coffee). On days we weren't meeting clients, I was eating or drinking with my colleagues. I left the bank and started doing training in 2006. And in training, I train people to believe in themselves. I train people to not care what other people think as long as they know they have done their best. And it does not help that I practise what I preach. Yes, I was fat.. so who cares, I still am able to carry out my duties to the best of my abilities. Yes I eat a lot, and I don't care if you are gonna judge me cause I'm fat! I was confidently fat! My self esteem has not been dented even when I am fat, I know I am still handsome . (I apologise if you have just completed a meal and reading this). It did not matter even when my medical report came out to show I have fatty liver, slightly high blood sugar and minute traces of blood in my urine in 2008. Read about why I went for medical check up here.

To be continued. Stay tuned for part 2.

My Genting Horror Story

It's about 3am on a Thursday morning and I just requested for a change of room...

Earlier we had just checked into the hotel in Genting after coming up from Legoland. The kids had a whale of a time and we stayed at this spanking new Condotel in Bukit Indah. It is a 3 bedroom condo unit that is managed by KSL. I love the Bukit Indah area in Johore because of its amenities there and it's relative closeness to Legoland. We even managed to catch Finding Dory after Legoland Water Park!

We arrived Genting on a Wed afternoon and was absolutely impressed by their checking in system. It's all automated! Queues were minimised by the sheer number of check in machines there. Got our rooms in less than 5 mins.

Left our bags in the room and off we go to enjoy the cool air. As you know, Genting is going through a billion RM revamp of their out door theme park so there was nothing much to do but playing the arcade and like 5 kiddy rides... Yawn! With the kids we couldn't visit the casino too. We attempted to watch another movie but there were only 3 cinemas and the movie selection wasn't fantastic. By 11pm we were back in the room to prepare for bed, at least me and my daughter... My wife and her sis were planning to go for some drinks downstairs so I decided I will stay and be guardian to m y daughter.

My wife left the room about 1130 and my daughter was already in her PJs all ready for bed. She hugs her 'ah bu' (a doll which we have affectionately named) and fell asleep almost instantaneously. I took my shower and dressed only in my boxers layed down on the bed.

When you are alone at night in a Genting room, your thoughts automatically will recall all the horror stories you have heard or read others have experienced. I vividly recall my wife telling me about one of her relatives who also visited Genting was in the room in one of the hotels. The son being a kid was using the mom's phone and playing with its camera function. He snapped photos with the phone randomly. After the mom took back the phone wanting to delete all the rubbish photos the son took decides they had to go home that very night, forfeiting the room they have paid for. I brushed the thoughts aside affirming myself , I look too much like Zhong Kui (methodological character who can vanquish ghost and demons) for the supernatural to dare come disturb me. I have always been told I have 杀气 about me so the ghost don't dare come close.

I took out my tablet to catch up on the games I was playing. As I lay there I suddenly have this feeling that I wasn't alone in the bed. I looked over at my daughter, observed her breathing, she has not moved or seems disturbed. I changed position on the bed. For a few minutes it was OK... Then it started again... The same feeling something was in the bed with me. I stood up went to grab some instant 'cham' (new Boh product, with coffee and teh tarik inside!) went out to the dispenser to get some hot water. Went back to lie in bed but almost immediately the feeling came back... I looked at my body and there were marks appearing , this is when I panicked! I quickly looked at all the exposed surface of my daughter to see if there were any marks but there was none. Could it only be me?

My wife returned about 1.30am and I told her about what I felt and suggested we change the room tomorrow depending on the situation. I layed down in bed again feeling relieved that if there was another situation, I had backup. Only after my wife have finished her shower and lay in bed did I also do the same. Tossed and turned in bed and the feeling came back. I sat up on the bed feeling frustrated, stood up and looked at the bed..... then I saw it....... BED BUG!!!! My suspicions were correct! I was not alone in bed!

I ran over to my wife side of the bed told her, we need to change the room now! Called the reception with my fingers and toes crossed that they had another room. They had .. phew! Within 30 mins a segway appeared at my room with my new room key. Scooped up my daughter and 'ah bu' and off we went to the new room.

Did a thorough check of 'ah bu' and my daughter to ensure they ain't carrying anymore bed bugs with them. Showered myself another time just to get rid of the itchy feeling on my back elbows and legs. The new bed never felt better..

Spent one more night in Genting before heading back to Pagoh. Told my mother in law, we had to change room on the first night.. her first reaction ' Why? Ghost ah!?'

I told her honestly if it was a ghost I also not so scared.. you bring a bed bug home in your bag or clothes, your house will be a living hell!

Your Retirement, My Concern

Just completed our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday to start planning for this year. In the meeting, our management invited The New Charis Mission (TNCM) to give a brief introduction into what they do and how we can help.

In the briefing we were shown pictures of apalling conditions some of our old folks are staying in. TNCM collects donations and have volunteers to help refurbish these living quarters so that these beneficiaries will have a better quality of life in the last few years of their lives.

Their mission to help the elderly is to better improve the living environment of the elderly, while benefitting their health and emotional state-of-mind. They have refurbished 1 home per month in 2011 and have increased it to 2 homes per month in 2012. Since then they have refurbished 120 homes!

If you will like to volunteer or donate please go to the link above. Words cannot describe the conditions some of our elderly are staying in. Check out some of the pictures on the website.

Their briefing and introduction also made me think of the job that I do. As a financial planner, my job though insignificant to many, plays a very important role in the lives of individuals and families, be it now or in the future.

Though we may be called financial planners, financial advisers but I will rather be looked as Personal Risk Managers. I deal with risk everyday:

the risk of hospitalisation
the risk of loss of income due to premature death
the risk of loss of income due to critical illness
the risk of loss of income due to disability
the risk of loss of income due to accidents
the risk of loss of value of our monies due to inflation
the risk of not being able to retire
the risk of not being able to send our children to school they want
the risk of investing with the wrong approach
the risk of having to compromise our lifestyle due to any of the above happening
the risk of losing your job with no emergency funds
the risk of having insurance thinking its enough

So if you are to check off all the risk mentioned above, how many of us can comfortably check off everything knowing the risk have been taken care of? What strategies have you employed to mitigate these risk? Who have you spoken to about those risk?

2016 should be the year you must start thinking more about your risk management. 2016 should be the year you asked yourself what your retirement is going to look like. 2016 should be the year you put in place strategies to get you there.

Planning for your retirement is like sailing a boat. Before the captain sets sail to his destination, he first needs to know where his destination is, to set the fastest course to his destination. He plots on the map so that he can follow the bearings on his compass to his destination, but with the advent of the GPS, the compass is almost obsolete.. BUT that does not mean you will not need the compass as the satellites guiding the GPS may breakdown or be shut down and therefore the GPS should still be treated as a supplement and complement to the compass and not take over completely. On the way to his destination, the captain must still check his GPS or compass to ensure the boat is on the right path, as a 1 degree off its course early in the journey could mean missing the destination completely later.

The same in planning for your retirement, you must first know how much you need at retirement and plan accordingly how to achieve it starting from today. As you move through life towards your retirement, you have to ensure you are still on the right course and make adjustments to be on track to ensure reaching your retirement in future.

I am sure many have done some planning towards your retirement therefore let me be your GPS, let me be the complement and supplement to what you already have done. Lets work together to achieve your retirement goals.

I am also on a mission to do lunch time talks in offices. If you ate interested to have a talk conducted in your office. Please direct the person to this blog or drop me a mail tngjinyau@gmail.com

I know it could be daunting speaking to me one on one, so get your colleagues together! I will visit the office, bring lunch and we can discuss how we can all achieve our retirement!

Wa! Markets like that! Buay tahan.. I want to ……

Unless you have been living in a cave, not read the papers at all, not on social media or don't watch the news.. you will have noticed the economy is in a sea of red, currency is falling, interest rate seems to be increasing and commodities is falling.

So in a situation like this what have happened to you emotionally. If you have monies invested, how do you feel? From the sea of red we have seen, alot of people have panicked and sold off their positions in the markets. Are they really investing or speculatiing

As of last night, markets in the US have rallied and most markets in Asia today rallied once it opened. How do you feel now? Probably sad if you had decided to sell to 'cut loss', because you heard somebody tell you that the crisis is coming...

You probably feel happy if you did not sell, at least now there is a glimmer of hope that your losses can be recovered. You probably be happiest when you saw the past few days as discounted price to invest into the market.

So is the rally sustainable? Is this the calm before the storm? I do not know. But I do know that if you have really decided to invest then these small distractions in the market is just a 'glitch in the matrix'. What I do know is that almost every country in the world, (probably other than Greece, just kidding) wants their economy to be good and growing. Every countrt will try their best to be competitive in the world to boost their economy. They will take measures to ensure the economy will not take a straight line southwards and never come back up.

For example, China, the RMB had to be devalued to ensure their goods become cheaper to drive export. Singapore dollar have to go down too to ensure our currency is not too strong that our goods and services becomes too expensive relative to our neighbours or competitors. China has put in measures to ensure the stock market does not crash too much.

With all that said I do know that in a longer term, your returns on your investments WILL make money but following some simple rules:

- Always stay invested
- Do not let your sentiments get the better of you
- When the market is down, hold your investment or invest more
- Have a proper asset allocation strategy, diversify
- Do a balance sheet for yourself and family (eg. Net worth, cash flow)
- Speak to a reliable adviser

Its always tempting that when you hear someone has made heaps of money in the markets and you want a piece of the pie. When that happens the good times are already over.

Its also tempting when you hear 'inside information' and invest. Hoping to make heaps if money in a short time. That's specualtion and not investing. Speculation is almost gambling.

I has an experience at the turf club once. I am not a gambler and I do not know what horses to buy. We had an event at the turf club and while standing around one of the horse trainer came and told us to buy Flying Stallion (really cannot remember the name but horses names in these races tends to be cheesy) for the last race. Wow! 'Inside information' from the horse trainer! We bought the horse and waited and waited and waited.... finally its the last race!

The gates flew open the horses came out of the starting line. My heart was pounding, the crowd was going wild! I looked for the horse I have placed my bets on. Its in second place! Yes its a good chance now!

Then 3rd place.. it ain't over to the fat lady sings! Come on you can do it! 4th.... 5th... crap.. inside information my ass! I can't believe I have waited for the last race just to see my horse lose..

In summary, its about time in the market and not timing the market that will ensure that you will be profitable in investments. So relax, have faith in the markets and invest.

Sabah 2015 Earthquake. Singapore?

So when did we last hear of an earthquake happening in Sabah, Malaysia? Never! At least not in my life time. This morning a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit Sabah neat Mt Kinabalu leaving some climbers still stranded on the mountain.

It also peaked my interest to actually find out why will Sabah be hit by an earthquake. Earthquake hapens when rocks underground breaks suddenly and the sudden release of energy creates earthquakes.

But as I googled it dawned on me that even though Singapore has been relatively earthquake free, it does not mean its not going to happen. If you look at the photo attached, we sit very close to the Eurasian plate and Australian plate that caused the 2004 Tsunami... and Sabah is still quite a distant from the Ring of Fire. So yes there are many types of earthquakes and my fears maybe unfounded, but hearing earthquakes happening around us is unsettling.

Hope everybody in Sabah is alright..

Tze Wei Growing Up

Its been an amazing 3 years already since my daughter has been brought into our world.

She has made me laugh, made me cry.

I can still remember when she first started teething. She has a fever and must have felt terrible. She was lying on my lap and she looked up at me with a 'help me' look on her face. She made me feel helpless. I had to go to the balcony just so I can shed a few tears for not being to help. Well, phases of a new parent..

But now looking at this video, you cannot help but agree that all was worth it.. the tears, the sleepless nights.

And I am sure this is just the beginning tp more tears and sleepless nights... but moments like these, priceless!

https://youtu.be/tTJPJtCZ5L4

Meritocracy

So the past week what have we learnt? I know I have learnt much more of the man that is so respected around the world. I learnt how he and his team built this mud flats to what it is today. Many may argue that it is not just him who have built Singapore, but it was his ideology, vision and foresight to make what Singapore what it is today. It took careful planning, meticulous execution and constant monitoring to ensure the peace and freedom we have today. Its having a purpose in life! And Mr Lee dedicated his whole life to that purpose.

But more importantly, it is about meritocracy. Its about efforts put in by individuals to ensure their own success. It is about creating equal opportunities for all gender, race and religion. It is creating these opportunities so that efforts can be rewarded. And its understanding that education is so important in a country like ours that does not have natural resources. 

But that also have a downside, with education the entrepreneurial spirit is lost. In the beginning when having a degree is something to look up upon, the few roles in upper management are taken by these degree holders. But when more and more people graduate with a degree, the few roles are now being competed by many. And with few supply for the higher demand of higher paying jobs and roles, it boils down to much frustration. And too many Singaporeans have also been indoctrinated by the Poor Dad syndrome that we fail to see other opportunities. 

For those who ain't familiar with Robert Kiosaki's 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' book, let me just briefly explain it as best as I can. Robert Kiosaki had his own dad who believes that as long as you study hard, you will get a good job and good pay and you will stay employed for the rest of your life. He is poor dad. Robert Kiosaki also has a Rich Dad who is actually a friend's dad that is a business man who taught him the way with money and to let money work for you. Robert Kiosaki learnt a lot from his rich dad and the rest is history.

Many have also complained about how things are getting more expensive, about how difficult its going to retire in Singapore. Economics 101 tells us that inflation is an indicator of the health of an economy (Naysayers will say it is something we are all led into believing, then read my Conspiracy Theory post) and so if we know that fact then don't we all know things WILL be more expensive in future? So instead of complaining, ask yourself what have you done to your best capabilities to ensure your retirement is safe guarded? Is your best capabilities enough? What other positive actions can you do to ensure it is enough? There are things you can do today to ensure your retirement is secure. 

Please speak to me and we can explore all the things that can be done today. Do something today so that yourself tomorrow will thank.

So meritocracy, the effort you are going to take today to speak to me will ensure your succeeful retirement in future.