How I Diversify My Portfolio?

Diversifying your portfolio is an important process as it help you to minimize risk and exposure. This basically means not putting all your eggs in one basket.

It can be pretty confusing for amateur investor as they do not have much space to diversify into due to the size of their capital. Regardless of your capital size, a simple form of diversification which I am going to show below can help you reduce your risk.

How I do it?

First, I allocate the amount of money I will be using to invest. This amount usually come in 10% of my monthly income.

Next, identify the investment vehicle you are going to use. If you are not sure about this, please check out my post on How to start Investing. And allocate percentage of money from your investment capital according to your risk tolerance.

My investment vehicle with percentage are as follow:
1) Reits/Stocks (30%)
2) Mutual funds (60%)
3) Precious Metal (5%)
4) Forex (5%)

My strategy is having higher percentage of my capital in lower risk investment like mutual funds/bonds. I use my precious metal investment as an insurance in an event where the market crash.

Of course this is just an example, you will have to figure out for yourself. If you have a higher risk tolerance you might want to put higher percentage into stocks or properties. Most importantly it must make sense to you and at time you must re-balance it according to how the market is reacting.

Remember you are in control of your capital, so every decision you make will shape your financial future.

Father Figure

If you have ever read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" you will know that Robert Kiyosaki is lucky enough to have 2 fatherly figure. This allow him to compare and contrast how this 2 person think, which in turn affect their physical result.

I feel that I am luckier as I have 3 fatherly figure in my life who teach me how to be a better person.

My first fatherly figure is my biological father. He is the most hardworking man I have ever seen, he often work up to 80 hours a week just so he could provide a better life for our family. He is not rich but he does his best. He show me that a person can make it through life with hard work and respect for other people. His guidance have help me secure many sincere friendship and respect from fellow colleagues.

My second fatherly figure is my father-in-law. He is a photography enthusiast, he often show me pictures he have taken and the thought process before he press the shutter. A humble man with a big heart to share, he thought me the importance of passion and how having something you are passionate about can help you live a happier life.

My third fatherly figure is my mentor. He may not be as successful as the entrepreneur seen in publication, but his perseverance have allowed him to live an above average lifestyle. He pulled me up when my business is in the red and shared his valuable experience so I can apply them to my business.

Although this 3 men lead very different life, their lesson is fairly similar. They all encourage hard work, passion and happiness. I am thankful to have them in my life, for it is their guidance that gave me hope for a better tomorrow.

I strive to provide the same guidance for both my children.

The Darkside of Entrepreneurship

What is the Darkside of entrepreneurship?

It is the side that is often not shared in success story, the true struggle and agony faced by most of the entrepreneur out there.

It is waking up not knowing whether today is your last day in business, but you still dress up and show up for the occasion.

It is watching your employees and contractor make more money than you, but you are putting in twice the amount of hours and work.

It is witnessing your saving slowly dwells away while you scrap together coins to have a proper lunch.

It is not knowing what to say to your children when they needed new stuff but you have no spare cash to provide for them.

It is looking at your spouse working 2 jobs just to make ends meet.

It is not having any idea what to say during a family/friends gathering when they ask you about your business.

It is realising the debt slowly building up and you have absolutely no idea how to keep up.

Despite all this, the worse feeling of all.

You realise you are not far enough to keep trying and you came too far to give up.

So the question remains.

Is all of this worth it?

3 Lessons Business Taught Me About Life

Business is a cruel game, you never know the next day can be your last day in the game and you will have to start over. However the good news is, the skill and knowledge learnt in business can be apply anywhere.

Here I share 3 lesson I learn about life through my business.

1) You don't need much money to survive

We often thought that need a certain amount to live a basic life, the truth is the amount actually varies according to your current situation.

When I just started my business, I drain up almost all my saving and my business is not generating enough money to keep both me and my partner alive. We realize that the only way to keep the business alive is to keep ourselves alive first. So we took a significant pay cut, I end up with $200 pocket money per month and my wife have to help pay for most of the expenses we have.

So I came up with a budget plan where I slowly realize that most of my money is spent on non-necessities and it make me learnt that I actually do not need as much money as I think to survive.

2) Having the right people is imperative

When I hired my first contractor to help me with my business, I did not check whether he is the right man for the job and he ended up screwing up my job. From then on I know I have to choose the right people to help me with my business to push my business forward.

Same things goes in life. 

If you chose the wrong people to have in your life, they will only anchor you don't because they cannot see themselves being at different level as you. They will encourage you to do what is convenient instead of what is right. It is a tough decision as you might know this people for a long time, but you have to cut them loose if you want to change your life.

The right people will empower you to do better and will encourage you to do what is necessary. They want to see you do better than them so you can in turn pull them up from there. 

Choose your surrounding friends wisely.

3) Don't give up when the going get tough

In business and in life, there will always be down time. It will always be 2 step forward and 1 step back until you reach your goal. The important lesson here is to have a distinct goal and not to give up when thing isn't going so well.

Just know that there is always a way out, you might change your approach but always focus on your main goal. Never give up hope!

Daddy's Guide: How to get baby to sleep?

For a Daddy, the greatest fear is to take care of your little ones alone. Especially when it come to getting your infants to sleep.

Let's face it, we dad do not have the luxury of breast feeding the baby to sleep and we also do not possess the gentleness that can sooth baby to sleep. So putting an infant to sleep is challenging but it doesn't mean it cannot be done.

Here is a way I find useful which I used on my 2 kids during infancy and I hope it help you have a better night rest.

Step 1: Check if the baby have a wet diaper or is hungry

First step is to eliminate anything that will wake your child up unnecessarily, that means to say change your baby diaper and feed your baby if needed.

Step 2: Create a calm sleeping environment

You can achieve this by lowering the curtain, switching off bright light and turning on your side table lamp.

Step 3: Tired your baby out

This step might seem abit cruel but if used conservatively it can be quite effective. I will allow my baby to cry it out for about 5 minutes. This will tired the baby abit to make it slightly easier to put them to sleep.

Step 4: Switch on baby videos with lullaby

This can be done concurrently with step 3. You can on baby videos with some lullaby, the purpose of this is to fixate your baby attention to a single spot.

Step 5: Proceed to hug and sway your baby to sleep

At this point your baby should be crying heavily, proceed to sooth your baby by gently swaying your baby in your arm. After awhile you will realize your baby is attracted by the video playing and will slowly stop crying.

Step 6: Put your baby down slowly

Once your baby start to become dreamy, you can slowly put your baby down and gently pat the little one to sleep with the video and music still playing. You can switch off the video once your baby is fully asleep, but I prefer to leave it on to maintain the environment.

I find this method especially useful if you combine it with pacifier, but it works fine for me both with and without pacifier.

Please note that this method may not work on all babies, so you might want to tweak the method to better suit your little one. Good Luck!

How to start investing?

My interest in investing started when I was just 10, back then I watched a drama regarding stock broker and the things they are talking about intrigue me. The numbers, the way they try to initiate trades and all the wizard talk make them look so cool.

So I started researching on this subject when I was about 18 which is the legal for anyone to do any form of investing in my country. Now I manage my own portfolio with an not so impressive 4% per annum return and I am striving to  learn more in this field to increase my return rate.

My journey as a investor did not start well as back then there wasn't much reliable information and many lesson were through trial and error. So I decided to compile the steps I take in a more chronological ways to help you get started.

1) Take Economics Class

This is the most fundamental step as most of the investment revolve around our economy. Learning economics can help you understand what is going on in the world economy so you can make a more inform decision.

I recommend studying the following:
- Supply & Demand
- Fiscal Policy vs Monetary Policy

2) Learn The Terms Used in Investing

Learning the terms used in investing allow you to communicate with your broker efficiently and it also allow you to understand what is being spoken in the mainstream media.

Example of terms in investing are as follow:
Bull - Market rising
Bear - Market falling
Blue Chip - Shares of big and reputable companies
Initial Public Offering (IPO) - New shares issue from previously private company
For more click here

3) Look at Different Type of Investment Vehicle

There are many type of investment vehicle each carrying different risk and reward. Depending on your personal risk tolerance, you might want to look at investment that is suitable for you.

Types of investment vehicle:
- Stocks
- Mutual Funds/Unit Trust
- Bonds
- Forex
- Precious Metal
- Real Estate

4) Find a Reputable Broker

After deciding on which investment vehicle is more suitable for you, it is time to find a broker. There are many broker flooding the market, it is imperative that you find a reputable one who specialize in the field of your chosen investment vehicle which will provide reliable information and good customer support. Sign up for demo account if possible to test their platform and google reviews about the broker before committing to that broker.

5) Learn About The Different Analysis Type

There are essentially 2 type of analysis:

Fundamental analysis - The study of economy, industry sector and companies to predict price movement. This is where learning about economics come in handy. It basically means reading news and annual report to make informed decision on your investment.

Technical analysis - Making informed decision through the study of past market data like price and volumes.

I find that the easiest way to learn about this 2 type of analysis is to through Forex trading. You can create a free demo account from any broker and play around with different analysis. This way you can safe guard your money while learning a valuable lesson.

Knowing all this basics should allow you to kick start your investment journey. However, no investment is 100% so it is very important that you do your due diligence and invest only with money you can spare.

To learn way to safe guard your capital, read my blog post on 3 Bucket Method to Diversify Your Savings.

Survivor: Young Parent Guide

My journey as a young parent begin when I were 22, back then my wife is only 20 and we just got started working in the corporate world. Needless to say we weren't earning a lot and I have to think of ways to make end meet with less than $3,000 in combine income. Looking back now, I realize I made many money mistake but I manage to pull through with many help and personal sacrifice in order to feed my kids.

So I compile a list of things young parent can do to help them survive financially so you can minimize making the same money mistake I do.

Here we go~

1) Staying with your parents

I know it is tempting for young couple to want to have a place to call your own. But having a place while your kid is still in infancy will not only increase your living expenses by means of rent and utilities, you will also have to make special arrangement to take care of your child. Therefore, staying with your parent can not only minimize your living expense, they act as a caretaker for your child as well.

2) Both you and your spouse must go to work

Once you have manage to convince your parents to act as a caretaker, it is advisable that both of you go to work. Combine income from 2 person can allow you to have more money to save up for the future and working mom usually qualify for many subsidies which will be useful once your child hit toddlers age.

3) Take hand me down from others

Children grow up real fast, so buying things like clothes, toys, pram or even baby cot is not really worth the full price. So as much as possible, take hand me down from other parents whom their children have out grow. Most parent are more than happy to pass them to you, just make sure they are in good condition and safe for your child.

4) Buy only necessities

As much as possible try to buy only necessities, in the market it is fill with baby products that look good but are actually quite useless. You don't need a baby wipe warmer or an overprice blender to make baby food. So stick to the necessities and try to take hand me down or DIY to save money.

So basically, it all come down to how much you are willing to sacrifice to secure a better future for your little family. All the measure mention above are only temporary as when you grow older and your income increase, a better lifestyle will await you and your family. Good Luck.