How much money will you take for investment a month?
Nothing. I earn about the same as a Starbucks operative in my own country. I’m hoping I die young.
Me too. But I’m taking a second job after CNY and at that point the idea is to sock away about 40% of my income right off the bat, before even paying rent or bills. 20% would be okay if it came down to it.
I know some of you investing for your retirement.
I am new in managing my finance.
I really hope you can give me some advices which I can learn from.
There IS no magic number. Save and invest as much as you can. Once upon a time we were investing 50-60% of our takehome pay. That was nice.
Now? Much less. But we have a house mortgage now, so it evens out, I guess.
Brendon wrote:
The rule is “Pay yourself first” so I guess you’re doing what you should. Living in Taiwan, it is entirely possible to save a large percentage of what you earn. You CAN live cheaply here.
Just don’t forget quality of life. All work and no play makes Jack axe his family to death.
HEY! You outed me! And I’m a girl, dammit.
I think that the first thing you need to invest in is yourself. Start reading a book a week on investment.
My strategy right now is to limit my spending to a set “wage” each month. I give myself an amount of money that is comfortable to live and also have a bit of fun and put the rest into an account where I invest it. I think you also need to examine yourself to see if you’re a good saver or not. Historically I wasn’t, so I’ve had to work on that.
At the moment I have a large chunk of cash just sitting in an account gaining 6% interest (depends on the country…this is in Australia), and if I see a good opportunity on the stock market I’ll buy. Generally though, I’ve been selling down my stocks rather than buying because I think the market is a little overpriced.
Nice! WHere is the money sitting if I may ask?
Nice! WHere is the money sitting if I may ask?[/quote]
ingdirect.com.au/personal/savings_max.htm
commbank.com.au/rightdecision/
Of course if foreigners choose to invest here then they expose themselves to currency risk.
[quote=“Tyc00n”]I think that the first thing you need to invest in is yourself. Start reading a book a week on investment.
My strategy right now is to limit my spending to a set “wage” each month. I give myself an amount of money that is comfortable to live and also have a bit of fun and put the rest into an account where I invest it. I think you also need to examine yourself to see if you’re a good saver or not. Historically I wasn’t, so I’ve had to work on that.
At the moment I have a large chunk of cash just sitting in an account gaining 6% interest (depends on the country…this is in Australia), and if I see a good opportunity on the stock market I’ll buy. Generally though, I’ve been selling down my stocks rather than buying because I think the market is a little overpriced.[/quote]
Thanks for your suggestion.
I have an foreign currency account.
I have GBP , US dollar and EUR.
I gain the 4.10% interest from GBP.
Actually,I earn the exchange rate and interest from GBP.
Now I have four stocks which I bought last year.
Most of them are about the Vista and IC.
Since the index dropped almost 300 last week.
Some stocks are in the lowest price since last year.
Best buy is the stocks with low PER.
Well be careful wisher. I don’t think the pound can continue to remain so strong…and it could easily fluctuate by more than the 4% return you are receiving.
Well you can’t just look at stocks with a low P/E ratio. These stocks could be highly cyclical. (e.g. mining stocks).
Also, Earnings aren’t everything. What if the company can’t translate earnings into profit because of high capital expenditure or R&D, which could be the case for many Taiwanese high tech companies.
I’ve seen many companies with a low P/E ratio that are up to the hilt in debt. As interest rates are rising worldwide, you’ll see these companies fall over like a house of cards.
So take out the annual report (or equivalent), and check the companies level of Debt, then check its cashflow and profit margins. How are the profit margins compared to its competitors? Where does the company stand with its competitors? Is it the market leader? How will emerging technolgies affect its position? Are its products / services highly susceptible to economic conditions? (e.g. marketing companies / unnecessary widget companies).
Also, you can’t use previous prices as a very good indication of future prices.
That’s a good suggestion for me.
Thanks Tycoon.
I have a lot to learn and study which may help me a lot.
The suggestion about stocks is very useful to me.
You have good points there.
I am new may make mistakes.I should be careful.
I appreciate your suggestions.
Wisher
When I started saving (which was not natural for me) I just put away about 5% and then each year I increased it a little. I now put 10% into my pension on top of the 10% that the company pays in, I have some business interests and I pay into share option schemes (SAYE) and some other regular investments on top plus my annual bonus gets saved. I guess on balance I am saving about 30% but it took time to build up to that level so that I was comfortable with it.
As Tyc00n says be careful with investing when you start. Read up on the fundamentals and maybe start with something safe like a UK tracker. As you have your money in Sterling I am assuming that you are British and intend to return to the UK? If this is the case then ignore Tyc00n’s point about currency risk. If not then think carefully about where you intend to use your money.
Good luck.
Nice! WHere is the money sitting if I may ask?[/quote]
ingdirect.com.au/personal/savings_max.htm
commbank.com.au/rightdecision/
Of course if foreigners choose to invest here then they expose themselves to currency risk.[/quote]
Thanks for the tip. But these types of offers are only available for AU residents/citizens, no?
I don’t think so, although there maybe issues with tax…
[quote=“Edgar Allen”]Wisher
When I started saving (which was not natural for me) I just put away about 5% and then each year I increased it a little. I now put 10% into my pension on top of the 10% that the company pays in, I have some business interests and I pay into share option schemes (SAYE) and some other regular investments on top plus my annual bonus gets saved. I guess on balance I am saving about 30% but it took time to build up to that level so that I was comfortable with it.
As Tyc00n says be careful with investing when you start. Read up on the fundamentals and maybe start with something safe like a UK tracker. As you have your money in Sterling I am assuming that you are British and intend to return to the UK? If this is the case then ignore Tyc00n’s point about currency risk. If not then think carefully about where you intend to use your money.
Good luck.[/quote]
Thanks Edgar Allen!!
I planned to study in UK so I have my money in Sterling.
But for some reason I have to delay my plan.
The exchange rate was 61-62 to NT at that time.Now It was 64.34 yesterday.
Should I get my money back or continue to save it in the bank?
Since the Tycoon mentioned this:it could easily fluctuate by more than the 4% return you are receiving.
And It may happen.
IMHO, generally the principle is to keep most of your assets where most of your debt is. If you’re debt free, then you tend to keep your assets where you live or plan to retire (if you’re a bit older).
If you become wise at currency trading then you can enjoy a greater tolerance of risk…
[quote=“wisher”]
Thanks Edgar Allen!!
I planned to study in UK so I have my money in Sterling.
But for some reason I have to delay my plan.
The exchange rate was 61-62 to NT at that time.Now It was 64.34 yesterday.
Should I get my money back or continue to save it in the bank?
Since the Tycoon mentioned this:it could easily fluctuate by more than the 4% return you are receiving.
And It may happen.[/quote]
I keep most of my money in UK and Taiwan based GBP accounts, simply because a) NTD is unstable and offers crap credit interest, and b) I’m British. I get 7.1% fixed from my main UK (NatWest) account and 4.5% floating on my main (CitiBank) Taiwan account. I tend to keep as little as possible in the Taiwan account mainly because Taiwan’s consumer protections for banking are virtually non existent. At least I know that if someone runs off with the money in my UK account the bank is legally bound to cover the loss. Taiwanese banking is about as safe as putting your nuts in a blender. I tend to just transfer a largeish chunk every year when the GBP-NTD rate is looking decent and that covers my living expenses.
As for investment, I don’t touch the stock market and plough all my cash back into my business. I make a lot more that way than I ever would gambling with other companies’ stock and I have a vested interest in making sure my own company doesn’t go down the toilet.
.[quote]I tend to keep as little as possible in the Taiwan account mainly because Taiwan’s consumer protections for banking are virtually non existent. At least I know that if someone runs off with the money in my UK account the bank is legally bound to cover the loss.
[/quote]
If it is bank teller’s fault or carelessness,you still can get the coverage of your loss
[quote=“Tyc00n”]Well be careful wisher. I don’t think the pound can continue to remain so strong…and it could easily fluctuate by more than the 4% return you are receiving.
Well you can’t just look at stocks with a low P/E ratio. These stocks could be highly cyclical. (e.g. mining stocks).
Also, Earnings aren’t everything. What if the company can’t translate earnings into profit because of high capital expenditure or R&D, which could be the case for many Taiwanese high tech companies.
I’ve seen many companies with a low P/E ratio that are up to the hilt in debt. As interest rates are rising worldwide, you’ll see these companies fall over like a house of cards.
So take out the annual report (or equivalent), and check the companies level of Debt, then check its cashflow and profit margins. How are the profit margins compared to its competitors? Where does the company stand with its competitors? Is it the market leader? How will emerging technolgies affect its position? Are its products / services highly susceptible to economic conditions? (e.g. marketing companies / unnecessary widget companies).
Also, you can’t use previous prices as a very good indication of future prices.[/quote]
I’d like to make a correction to the above:
Earnings per share actually represents net profit after tax, however you need to look at how earnings are calculated.
historic headline PER (often from the newspapers), this PER is calculated based on today’s price but last years earnings.
historic adjusted PER will adjust for one off write-downs or profits (e.g. sale of a division or capital expenditure)
forward PER is based on future predicted earnings.
So you need to work out what kind of PER you are dealing with. The other thing thats its important to realise is that PER isn’t value, its a guide to value and all other things still need to be considered.