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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
OK, this guy is a little strange. Some observations:-
1) He got embroiled in some seriously dubious scams like Sunshine Empire. If he understood risk/returns, he would not have been taken in by those Ponzi Schemes. And he has written a book about "Winning The Money Game"?
2) He is a "trainer" at several "academies". Just wondering aloud if this interview is also to help promote both the courses there and also his upcoming book?
3) Not very sure why he is buying into USA property which is so far away instead of investing in local property. Seriously, has he even SEEN the property which he is supposedly investing in? And I noted that he is also into Land Banking with Edgeworth.
4) He bought a new car for $57,000 after 15 minutes of sales pitch from a car salesman? And they are interviewing him for financial planning and prudence on how to grow wealth? Sorry if I find it a tad impetuous - after all $57,000 is a large sum of money and one should have made a more careful evaluation and assessment before blowing it on a depreciating asset.
5) I wonder why his friends gave him money to trade for them? He should not have been so over-eager to "get rich quick", because he is trading with OPM after all. I feel his US Options "Investment" gain was more of speculation and probably cannot be repeated, thus it should NOT qualify as his best "investment".
Hope I am not being too harsh!
Jun 26, 2011
Being active in creating passive income
Nanyang Business School grad now gets enough from his businesses and investments to cover his expenses
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Growing up in a middle-income family, Mr Sean Seah believed that studying hard, finding a safe, secure job and climbing the corporate ladder was the way to go in life.
So when he graduated from Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School with a first-class honours degree in business studies in 2005, he thought he was set for life. Following in his father's footsteps, he became an army officer and now holds the rank of major.
But as his desire to achieve financial success grew, Mr Seah, now 29, began to invest in a few schemes in 2007 that turned out to be scams.
He also started trading big sums without ensuring a consistent track record first, resulting in losses of about $50,000 within three months - half from friends who had trusted him to make money for them.
But he chose not to give up and started seeking the right mentors and proper education to invest in the stock market.
He began to see results in his investments from 2008 and his passion for financial education grew.
He also volunteered to teach stock trading at financial training institutes such as Moneytree, AKLTG's Wealth Academy and Value Investing Academy.
Believing that American properties were at a huge discount, Mr Seah bought a three-bedroom house in Rochester, New York, last November.
He visited San Antonio, Texas, in April and bought seven houses, paying cash. All are rented out.
Last year, he wrote a book, Winning The Money Game, to share his experience in creating passive income for his family. It has sold more than 1,000 copies.
He expects to launch his second book, Gone Fishing With Buffett, soon.
Mr Seah is married to housewife Ong Kai Ling, 29, and they have two sons, Tian Le, four, and Wen Le, two.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am an investor. Most of my money goes into buying assets. I spend on undervalued stocks, undervalued properties, gold and, most importantly, education. I save about 60 per cent of my income. I reinvest most of my monthly investments and business income. I also give 10 per cent of my income to my church monthly.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge an average of $2,000 to $3,000 every month and half of this is for business expenses. Charging to a credit card enables easy tracking of my expenses and helps me to accumulate reward points. I don't hold much money in my wallet and I withdraw money from the ATM when I run out of cash.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My main strategy is to create passive income to cover all my expenses. But even before that, the basics need to be settled.
I have term and hospital insurance coverage for the family and six months of living expenses as emergency funds.
The bulk of my investments is in US stocks, including Wells Fargo and Usana. I enhance the value of the portfolio with the use of options.
I am looking to purchase more US rental income properties, which are at a huge discount in current conditions. I will be beefing up to 60 per cent of my portfolio because I think it is a great opportunity.
I still have about 5 per cent of my investments in a piece of Canadian raw land which is managed by Edgeworth.
Q: Money-wise, what were your growing-up years like?
I come from a family of four and we lived in an HDB maisonette in Tampines.
My mother, a housewife, used to say: 'Study hard and you will be like the bank manager sitting in the air-con room, otherwise you may end up as a garbage collector.'
Interestingly, my father, a former army officer, has a different mantra: 'Even if you end up sweeping the floor, it is okay as long as it is an honest living.'
One focused on the importance of academic achievement while the other focused on values and character.
So I guess my younger brother Samuel and I had the best of both worlds. I remember learning a lot from my mother, who has strong principles about money and is extremely thrifty and shrewd with money.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I was influenced by a former colleague who was making huge profits in the stock market. I attended a stock trading course in early 2007 and this was followed by other programmes as my interest grew.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a 1,518 sq ft HDB executive flat in Sengkang. I bought it in 2005 for $321,000. It is worth about $550,000 now. I rented it out for $1,650 a month till early this year when my family decided to move in.
I also own a three-bedroom house in New York's Rochester city which is giving me a monthly rental income of US$750 (S$925). I bought it in November last year at US$36,500. After expenses and taxes, the return is around 15 per cent and, at worst, 10 per cent. It was paid for in full.
In April, I bought seven more homes, this time in San Antonio. They ranged from US$40,000 to US$66,000 each.
The rents per month are between US$595 and US$1,400. This works out to rental yields of 10 to 15 per cent after expenses and taxes.
I paid for them in full so I do not need to worry about monthly instalments. To me, it is a low-risk, high cash-flow return investment.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
My second car, a Honda Airwave. I had merely wanted to change the suspension of my first car, a Kia Picanto, and ended up buying the Airwave in 2007 after the salesman made a good pitch. The car was about $57,000 and I bought it after looking at it for 15 minutes.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
When I decided to start financial planning, I used to think I needed $10 million to retire.
After I understood the concept of financial freedom, I began to create passive income streams through my investments and businesses.
Currently, my passive income of more than $5,000 a month is more than enough for my family and me to live comfortably.
But I will continue to work as my mission is to help others achieve financial freedom.
I also aim to build my passive income to more than $20,000 a month by the end of next year so that I can give my parents and parents-in-law a great lifestyle.
Q: Home is now....
In Sengkang, in my executive flat.
Q: I drive....
A red Ferrari... in my dreams.
I drive a dark grey Kia Cerato which Kai Ling and I bought for less than $30,000 when it was two years old in August 2009.
Changing from the Honda Airwave to the Kia Cerato reduced our monthly expenses by about $400 a month.
lorna@sph.com.sg
----------------------------------------------------
Worst and Best Bets
Q: What's your worst investment to date?
That was from January to March 2007 when I lost nearly $50,000 to a number of scams.
I lost about $7,000 in two months in an Internet scam called UT Funds and another $11,000 in a Ponzi scheme offered by Sunshine Empire. I was also cheated of a sum of about $20,000 by a con man who introduced us to a property investment opportunity, but subsequently took off with our money.
During the same period, I attended a stock trading course and became so confident in the trading system that I volunteered to trade for my friends. I personally lost about $10,000 in the second month of trading. All of this happened because I wanted to get rich quick but wasn't willing to put in the effort to acquire a proper education.
Q: And your best investment?
My wife Kai Ling. She is so supportive and has so much faith in me. She never once blamed me for losing any money in investments and stood by me.
My best financial investment was when I sold options on US-based financial services firm Wells Fargo in 2008, making 62.12 per cent that year through monthly sales of options. I made $12,424 from an initial capital of $20,000. That year was an exceptionally great year for selling options because of so much uncertainty, which results in high volatility and high options premium.
1) He got embroiled in some seriously dubious scams like Sunshine Empire. If he understood risk/returns, he would not have been taken in by those Ponzi Schemes. And he has written a book about "Winning The Money Game"?
2) He is a "trainer" at several "academies". Just wondering aloud if this interview is also to help promote both the courses there and also his upcoming book?
3) Not very sure why he is buying into USA property which is so far away instead of investing in local property. Seriously, has he even SEEN the property which he is supposedly investing in? And I noted that he is also into Land Banking with Edgeworth.
4) He bought a new car for $57,000 after 15 minutes of sales pitch from a car salesman? And they are interviewing him for financial planning and prudence on how to grow wealth? Sorry if I find it a tad impetuous - after all $57,000 is a large sum of money and one should have made a more careful evaluation and assessment before blowing it on a depreciating asset.
5) I wonder why his friends gave him money to trade for them? He should not have been so over-eager to "get rich quick", because he is trading with OPM after all. I feel his US Options "Investment" gain was more of speculation and probably cannot be repeated, thus it should NOT qualify as his best "investment".
Hope I am not being too harsh!
Jun 26, 2011
Being active in creating passive income
Nanyang Business School grad now gets enough from his businesses and investments to cover his expenses
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Growing up in a middle-income family, Mr Sean Seah believed that studying hard, finding a safe, secure job and climbing the corporate ladder was the way to go in life.
So when he graduated from Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School with a first-class honours degree in business studies in 2005, he thought he was set for life. Following in his father's footsteps, he became an army officer and now holds the rank of major.
But as his desire to achieve financial success grew, Mr Seah, now 29, began to invest in a few schemes in 2007 that turned out to be scams.
He also started trading big sums without ensuring a consistent track record first, resulting in losses of about $50,000 within three months - half from friends who had trusted him to make money for them.
But he chose not to give up and started seeking the right mentors and proper education to invest in the stock market.
He began to see results in his investments from 2008 and his passion for financial education grew.
He also volunteered to teach stock trading at financial training institutes such as Moneytree, AKLTG's Wealth Academy and Value Investing Academy.
Believing that American properties were at a huge discount, Mr Seah bought a three-bedroom house in Rochester, New York, last November.
He visited San Antonio, Texas, in April and bought seven houses, paying cash. All are rented out.
Last year, he wrote a book, Winning The Money Game, to share his experience in creating passive income for his family. It has sold more than 1,000 copies.
He expects to launch his second book, Gone Fishing With Buffett, soon.
Mr Seah is married to housewife Ong Kai Ling, 29, and they have two sons, Tian Le, four, and Wen Le, two.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am an investor. Most of my money goes into buying assets. I spend on undervalued stocks, undervalued properties, gold and, most importantly, education. I save about 60 per cent of my income. I reinvest most of my monthly investments and business income. I also give 10 per cent of my income to my church monthly.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I charge an average of $2,000 to $3,000 every month and half of this is for business expenses. Charging to a credit card enables easy tracking of my expenses and helps me to accumulate reward points. I don't hold much money in my wallet and I withdraw money from the ATM when I run out of cash.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My main strategy is to create passive income to cover all my expenses. But even before that, the basics need to be settled.
I have term and hospital insurance coverage for the family and six months of living expenses as emergency funds.
The bulk of my investments is in US stocks, including Wells Fargo and Usana. I enhance the value of the portfolio with the use of options.
I am looking to purchase more US rental income properties, which are at a huge discount in current conditions. I will be beefing up to 60 per cent of my portfolio because I think it is a great opportunity.
I still have about 5 per cent of my investments in a piece of Canadian raw land which is managed by Edgeworth.
Q: Money-wise, what were your growing-up years like?
I come from a family of four and we lived in an HDB maisonette in Tampines.
My mother, a housewife, used to say: 'Study hard and you will be like the bank manager sitting in the air-con room, otherwise you may end up as a garbage collector.'
Interestingly, my father, a former army officer, has a different mantra: 'Even if you end up sweeping the floor, it is okay as long as it is an honest living.'
One focused on the importance of academic achievement while the other focused on values and character.
So I guess my younger brother Samuel and I had the best of both worlds. I remember learning a lot from my mother, who has strong principles about money and is extremely thrifty and shrewd with money.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I was influenced by a former colleague who was making huge profits in the stock market. I attended a stock trading course in early 2007 and this was followed by other programmes as my interest grew.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a 1,518 sq ft HDB executive flat in Sengkang. I bought it in 2005 for $321,000. It is worth about $550,000 now. I rented it out for $1,650 a month till early this year when my family decided to move in.
I also own a three-bedroom house in New York's Rochester city which is giving me a monthly rental income of US$750 (S$925). I bought it in November last year at US$36,500. After expenses and taxes, the return is around 15 per cent and, at worst, 10 per cent. It was paid for in full.
In April, I bought seven more homes, this time in San Antonio. They ranged from US$40,000 to US$66,000 each.
The rents per month are between US$595 and US$1,400. This works out to rental yields of 10 to 15 per cent after expenses and taxes.
I paid for them in full so I do not need to worry about monthly instalments. To me, it is a low-risk, high cash-flow return investment.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
My second car, a Honda Airwave. I had merely wanted to change the suspension of my first car, a Kia Picanto, and ended up buying the Airwave in 2007 after the salesman made a good pitch. The car was about $57,000 and I bought it after looking at it for 15 minutes.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
When I decided to start financial planning, I used to think I needed $10 million to retire.
After I understood the concept of financial freedom, I began to create passive income streams through my investments and businesses.
Currently, my passive income of more than $5,000 a month is more than enough for my family and me to live comfortably.
But I will continue to work as my mission is to help others achieve financial freedom.
I also aim to build my passive income to more than $20,000 a month by the end of next year so that I can give my parents and parents-in-law a great lifestyle.
Q: Home is now....
In Sengkang, in my executive flat.
Q: I drive....
A red Ferrari... in my dreams.
I drive a dark grey Kia Cerato which Kai Ling and I bought for less than $30,000 when it was two years old in August 2009.
Changing from the Honda Airwave to the Kia Cerato reduced our monthly expenses by about $400 a month.
lorna@sph.com.sg
----------------------------------------------------
Worst and Best Bets
Q: What's your worst investment to date?
That was from January to March 2007 when I lost nearly $50,000 to a number of scams.
I lost about $7,000 in two months in an Internet scam called UT Funds and another $11,000 in a Ponzi scheme offered by Sunshine Empire. I was also cheated of a sum of about $20,000 by a con man who introduced us to a property investment opportunity, but subsequently took off with our money.
During the same period, I attended a stock trading course and became so confident in the trading system that I volunteered to trade for my friends. I personally lost about $10,000 in the second month of trading. All of this happened because I wanted to get rich quick but wasn't willing to put in the effort to acquire a proper education.
Q: And your best investment?
My wife Kai Ling. She is so supportive and has so much faith in me. She never once blamed me for losing any money in investments and stood by me.
My best financial investment was when I sold options on US-based financial services firm Wells Fargo in 2008, making 62.12 per cent that year through monthly sales of options. I made $12,424 from an initial capital of $20,000. That year was an exceptionally great year for selling options because of so much uncertainty, which results in high volatility and high options premium.
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