First Pile of Investments

Previously I tried buying shares using iOCBC Securities to see how things are like.

And today, I have finally made my first substantial transaction! (actually two).

Based on the advice from an eBook written by a renowned forumer on HWZ, I went to set up a Security Trading Account with Standard Chartered Bank because it's suppose to have the lowest fees for transaction above $1000.
Through this account, I invested in the counter ES3 - STI ETF (for regular investment) and CC3 - Starhub (just because I felt the price was low).

It took me a rather long time before I decided to take the plunge.
I have been monitoring the prices, and the price for ES3 seems rather high at the moment.
I felt like I would be at a disadvantage by going in now.
But the Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) advocates for a regular investment, no matter the price.
So, I just did it.

Another step towards my financial goal~!

Breakdown of fees involved in trading

So I emailed my broker the other day and he promptly called me to say that I will receive a mail on the breakdown of the fees involved. Save the trouble of me figuring it out 😁

Here's the breakdown!

Proceeds	$115.50
(1) Brokerage Amt	$25 (Min.)
(2) Clearing Fee	$0.03 (0.0325%)
(3) Misc Fee	$0
(4) SGX Trading Fee	$0.01 (0.0075%)
GST @ 7% for (1) to (4)	$1.75
Net Amt	$142.29

Jiayou to me on making investments!

My 1st experience of shares trading!

After setting up my SGX account and brokerage account with OCBC for more than half a year, I have finally made my first purchase of shares! >_< Although given by my age (of 29) it seems like a 'meh' kind of event, but I felt that it is quite a big step for me.

Recently I have been wanting to do a purchase as part of the list of things I want to accomplish this year. So on Thursday night I was going into my account and looking at just doing a simple purchase to understand the whole process of buying.

I'm not really literate in this area, but from what I have gathered, buying ETF stocks seemed to be a rather conservative and safe approach to familiarizing myself with the environment. So I went into my account, and took a look at what I think are the 2 prominent ETF stocks in Singapore.

1) SPDR Straits Times Index ETF (ES3.SI) @ 1.15
2) ABF Singapore Bond Index Fund (A35.SI) @ 3.00

I thought for a 1st purchase of trying it out, I would just buy the minimum number of shares at the minimum price. So I placed an order of 100 lots of STI ETF @ 1.15.

Some time on Friday, I received notifications that my purchase went through, and I have officially bought my 1st shares!

The total cost of the purchase was however a question. So today I logged into my OCBC account, and took a look at the amount to pay through the Electronic Payment for Shares (EPS). It was $142.29!

It came as a bit of a shock, but I recalled that there is a minimum sum of transaction fees involved. Determined to do a thorough breakdown of the fees, I did a quick search of all the transaction fees involved and see whether it worked out to be $142.29. But all the processing fees and brokerage commission didn't add up. My calculation showed that I should be paying more than $142.29. haha..

I guess I would just ask my broker for help on this.

It's one of the many first step.

Towards financial independence! Gambatte!

Financial Goals~!

As the date of the July bonus draws nearer, I began to think more about what to do with the extra money that I have. I have almost maxed up my savings account to earn the bonus interest, so I'm thinking of using the excess for investment in stocks. 

And just today, Dearest came to me to ask me to set ...

Yes! Financial goal!

I believe everyone needs to have financial goals for long-term planning.

And to set goals, we need to set some rules also.

As advocated by my company, and also Dearest, we need to set....

SMART goals!

Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

So here's what I aimed to do.

To attain a portfolio of $5,000 worth of stocks that provide dividends 

by the end of year 2016

Specific - It's a rather detailed aim

Measurable - $5,000 can be measured

Attainable - $,5000 is within my ability for investment

Relevant - Aligned with my ultimate financial goal of attaining financial freedom (i.e. retirement)

Time-bound - By the end of 2016

So that's it, I will aim towards this!

On the other hand, Dearest also committed to an aim of starting her first investment by the end of year.

Although not as specific as mine, but she plans to explore other alternatives with a financial advisor, and then perhaps plan from there on.

Jiayou us~!