Singapore Financial Influencers Share Their Reflections On 2021 And New Resolutions For 2021
The traditional festive lull after the entire year is great for recuperating, reflection, and planning for 2012 ahead.
If you would like some inspiration and ideas, we've asked Singapore financial influencers to talk about some of their reflections on 2021 plus some of the biggest lessons they learnt, accompanied by their aspirations and resolutions to make 2021 even better.
Kenneth Lou
Co-Founder, Seedly
#1 Looking back, how was the 2021 for you personally – in terms of personal finance, investment portfolio, and Seedly?
Kenneth: 2021 was a great year within my personal finance journey. For my investment portfolio, I deployed more capital into a mixture of robo-advisors and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and increased my wedding/renovation savings fund with my other half to hit our goal after we get wed next year.
On the business front, we're excited to keep growing and be sure that we're set up for success in 2021, impacting much more lives and hopefully shaking up the personal finance scene, along with you guys at DollarsAndSense!
#2 What are the biggest lessons you learnt from 2021?
Kenneth: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. To me this is applicable to both my personal and professional life.
On the Seedly front, I learnt that while there will always be a ton of challenges, having a great team, you are able to ride through any adversity.
#3 What exactly are your individual resolutions (finance or else) for 2021?
Kenneth: I wish to continue growing within my investing journey and start writing more about REITs and also the global markets. I have faith that if I can perform that, it might make me a much better investor in addition to increase my investment returns.
Other than that, I will be getting married to my mate and fianceé within the last 10 years (since JC) on and on on our honeymoon. It is a big milestone in life and i am really getting excited about it!
Shanison Lin
CEO, InvestingNote
#1 Looking back, how was the 2021 for you personally – in terms of personal finance, investment portfolio, and for InvestingNote?
Shanison: 2021 has been a good year for me.
This is a great year for InvestingNote. We successfully organised two biggest stock competitions in Singapore – the Investor-One stock pitch challenge along with the SG Active Trading Tournament simulation competition, which centered on DLCs. 2021 can also be the entire year we become profitable, after breaking even in 2021.
For my personal investments, I have committed to US, China and Singapore markets. Returns happen to be decent to date.
In particular, I have been actively trading US stocks and made a lot more than 30% returns this year on stocks like Tesla, SEA and JD. 2021 has seen a bull market for the US with the S&P 500 gaining about 30% this season.
For China market, I've been investing more passively, holding ETFs like A50. I was vested in December 2021 when the SSE composite index is around 2,600, which ended up being an excellent entry point for China stocks, most of which have given me returns of more than 50%.
For Singapore side, I've had less luck and made only about 5% in returns, quite low when compared to indices.
#2 What are the biggest lessons you learnt from 2021?
Shanison: It is essential to understand your own weaknesses and strengths and not to follow others blindly.
I have one friend who's a powerful fundamental investor and that he was passionately sharing beside me in regards to a penny stock that listed on SGX 2 year ago. I bought the stock following his advice, despite the fact that I don't remember why he am bullish on this stock. Two years on, the stock was down 50% percent, and rather than cutting my losses, I decided to short sell the stock, however it then started to rally, causing me to get rid of even more.
I know that my costly mistake was blinding following others without even doing my own homework. Value investing might be a great methodology for others, but probably not me, since I don't have the same kind of patience to simply wait for a stock to understand its value, without knowing when that will happen.
#3 What are your personal resolutions (finance or else) for 2021?
Shanison: I have been taking Chartered Market Technician (CMT) program since 2021 and that i just finished my CMT Level 3 exam in December 2021. After making many mistakes in the first few years of trading, I usually desired to take time to study systematically and think about my own trading journey. That was why I made a decision to embark on the CMT programme.
Aside from the technical knowledge I gained out of this journey, Plus i got to know myself better. Like a programmer and trader, my goal for 2021 is to build a bot that can assist me in making trading decisions.
For InvestingNote, we've been planning to expand overseas and we'll be taking important steps in 2021.
He Ruiming
Co-Founder and Writer, The Woke Salaryman
#1 Looking back, how was the 2021 for you – when it comes to personal finance, investment portfolio, and also the Woke Salaryman?
Ruiming: 2021 was a fantastic year. A few of the plays I made in the past in the stock market repaid. I joined a business which has a great culture. I additionally managed to double my emergency fund to serve you for a year rather than 6 months.
Wei Choon and I also started The Woke Salaryman, which became popular much faster than we expected.
#2 What are the biggest lessons you learnt from 2021?
Ruiming: The law of diminishing returns applies to money as well. While money will help you solve some problems, eventually you will see a plateau.
I've seen a number of my friends in their 30s develop serious, irreversible health problems this year. No amount of cash will assist them get their health back.
It's an indication that i can keep my wealth-building endeavours emotionally and physically sustainable.
#3 What are your personal resolutions (finance or otherwise) for 2021?
Ruiming: As being a Woke Salaryman is more about being wealthy, it's about
