The DollarsAndSense Team Reveal Their Financial Goals for 2021

You’ve been reading our articles and watching our videos, but outside of DollarsAndSense, each DollarsAndSense team member has their own unique challenges and financial goals – as a parent, a newlywed, or young working adults.

With 2021 in full-swing, here are our financial targets for that year. We’ll be striving alongside you, our readers, once we learn how to make smarter financial decisions together.

Timothy: “To Cancel All My Charge cards And Reapply For brand new Ones That Fit My Life Stage”

Rather than the usual “I will invest more” or “I will make an effort to save more in 2021”,my New Year's resolution is a touch unorthodox. I am intending to review the loan cards that I currently have and to possibly cancel most, if not completely of them, and also to apply for brand new ones that serve my current needs better.

I still like the credit cards that I am using today however, I requested most of them after i was at another stage in life where my spending habits were significantly different from what it's today. My grocery shopping expenditure has increased significantly thanks to milk powder, diapers and baby food and my telecommunication bills are higher as I'm paying for my whole family. My monthly business expenditure (running DollarsAndSense isn't free) is pretty substantial as well.

It's beginning to create a lot of sense for me to review my existing cards and to swap all of them with cards that provides me better benefits. Also, my annual income is slightly higher now, so I can qualify for cards which I was once unable to get.

In general, I think it is sensible for individuals to review the credit cards that they're using once every two years. This lets you optimise the advantages that you're getting in line with the changing spending habits that you have.

Dinesh: “In order to save $5,000 For any Visit to The united states And Invest In Overseas Stocks”

# 1 Conserve $5,000 by August for any US trip

While this may seem frivolous, I think you need to have a concrete plan to raise such funds without disrupting processes that I've already set up in my savings needs. As I already have a robust plan for my savings, which will go towards major buckets for example 1) beefing up my emergency cash, 2) purchasing stocks and 3) long-term big-ticket expenses such as a renovation for my BTO in 3 years, I wouldn't want to upset it.

Instead, here's how I plan to raise this $5,000:

– Channelling savings that would go towards growing my emergency cash to my “holiday” fund. I can do that because my emergency cash is already more than six months' price of my expenses, which I think is really a comfortable level for myself.

($300 X 7 months = $2,100)

– Squeeze even more savings every month by reducing unnecessary expenses, especially on eating at restaurants.

($100 X 7 months = $700)

– I also plan to “cheat” by taking some funds from my emergency funds to go towards my US trip. Again, I can do that because of past diligence and I know I'm able to continue rebuilding it after my holiday.

($1,000)

– I've also consistently invested in REITs and blue-chip stocks on the SGX. I'm going to put dividends I recieve towards this trip rather than reinvesting it. ($1,500)

# 2 Invest more in stocks outside Singapore

My second financial goal is not as structured, and can require continuous adjustments.

Today, most of my investments are focused on stocks listed in Singapore. Although many of these companies may derive their revenue outside Singapore, I intend to further diversify my portfolio as well as get to see a wider range of companies, particularly those indexed by the united states. As stated before, I already have a structured savings plan, which allocating funds to investments is a significant component. I can do that either in two ways, 1) put these funds into US-listed stocks or 2) divide it into two components for US-listed stocks and recurring my investments into locally listed stocks.

Kang Heong: “To Track My Spending Habits And employ The Data To create Lifestyle Changes”

Last year, I've managed to remain on surface of my insurance coverage and begin investing. I wish to build on this foundation this year by optimising my spending and savings.

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