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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
Oct 3, 2010
me & my money
Investing's the key for marketing guru
German channels his money into retirement and education funds
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Like many Singaporeans, German Laurenz Koehler used to think his government would take care of his retirement needs.
But it became clear to him when he started working that his retirement fund, akin to the Central Provident Fund here, would not be sufficient.
'I realised over the last decade that the government is not able to sustain the fund the way it was doing in the past because of an ageing population. There are fewer working people paying into the fund than people withdrawing from it. People started doing their own investing,' he said.
He now believes that investing is the best way to ensure a bright financial future.
Every month, he channels a portion of his savings into his personal retirement fund. He also has a separate education fund for his children. Recently, he bought a few rooms in a hotel in London as an investment.
Mr Koehler, 42, managing partner of marketing and strategy at research consultancy firm Mext (Next Generation Marketing), graduated with an economics degree from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany in 1996. He worked in advertising firm BBDO as its account and business director in Germany and later in J. Walter Thompson as its management supervisor in Germany and the United States, before joining Batey in Singapore in 2006. When he left Batey last year, he was its director of strategic planning.
With more than a decade of advertising and branding experience under his belt, Mr Koehler became a franchisee of Mext for Asia last year, together with business partner Alan Fairnington. Although Mext was founded in Australia in 2004, its Singapore office in Duxton Road is now its global head-quarters.
Mext provides insights into what drives people's buying decisions in different industries and how to deliver them. Among its clients are the Health Promotion Board, M1, Crabtree & Evelyn and Malaysia-based Celcom.
Mr Koehler is married to school administrator Mel Ertas, 41. They have two sons, Lennart, eight, and Luke, seven.
Q: Are you a spender or a saver?
I am a saver or investor rather than a spender. My savings would be around 20 to 30 per cent of my income and the rest is spent on housing and the children.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I pay everything I can with my credit cards. I don't like to carry around loads of cash. Depending on my travel schedule, I use my cards for about 40 per cent of my monthly expenditure. I withdraw money during my weekend supermarket visits. I have only a MasterCard and Visa card from one bank. My average credit card bill is about $5,000 a month.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
About 10 years ago, I set up a private retirement fund each for my wife and me. They are mainly invested in insurance products which guarantee the principal sums. We also have an education fund for the children to pay for their university studies. The latter is meant to generate a solid five-digit sum in euros when they turn 20. The education fund is flexible and allows withdrawals of money when needed.
I pay money to these funds monthly. A third party manages all these funds out of Germany and I review the funds once a year. The target returns are 4 to 6 per cent a year. When Mel and I are 60, our retirement funds should provide a total amount of about $1 million. We also have life insurance, partial disability income insurance and medical coverage. My life coverage is about $500,000.
Q: Money wise, what were your growing-up years like?
I am the youngest of three siblings. My father was an architect who ran his own company. My mother was a housewife. My parents got divorced when I was seven. I lived with my mother in a three-bedroom apartment till I was 16, and with my father in a five-room apartment after that. We lived in Essen, western Germany.
I experienced all the ups and downs of an 'SME family'. We struggled during recessions and downturns, but benefited from the big payback in the golden years. In general, money was rather tight and we did not spend beyond our means.
So taking credit is something I have avoided pretty much throughout my life. I took on vacation jobs during school holidays like being a waiter and working in super-markets.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
When I started working, it became very clear that my retirement fund - made up of contributions from my pay - would be very small. Then, living in the US and subsequently in Singapore, I realised investments are the only way to ensure a bright financial future.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a piece of a hotel in the financial district in London. In July, I bought a few rooms in a 150-room hotel, which is part of an inter-national hotel chain. I paid a six-figure sum for it and the potential yields are between 8 and 10 per cent a year. It will be operational in 2012 and I expect to get a half-yearly dividend from the investment.
Q: What is the most extravagant thing you have bought?
A red dirt bike. Its brand is Husq-varna and it is the biggest joy in my life, apart from my family. I use the bike to zip to my office if I don't have a big client meeting. I bought it here in 2008 for $12,000. I used to own one in Germany.
Q: What is your retirement plan?
No plans as yet. The master plan is to build a big enough company that can be sold in five to 10 years' time. But I am way too excited to build this company that I cannot think of when to sell it or retire. We're not big spenders so we don't need much money.
We will need about $10,000 a month when the children are financially independent.
Q: Home is now....
Having two young boys, we decided to rent an apartment in the Holland Road area, a family paradise. Once the boys are 12 and older, we will consider buying a house.
Q: I ride....
My dirt bike or I commute by taxis.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What's your worst investment to date?
I was one of the victims of the Internet investment bubble in 1999-2000. I had built a very nice portfolio with huge gains in new market companies, but pretty much lost everything in a very short period of time. I invested about $30,000 in six to eight German technology firms, and it grew to $100,000 in a year. But I got back only $15,000 while the rest evaporated in a week. I simply wasn't on top of things and was unclear about the market development. I thought the Internet hype could go on forever. I learnt not to invest in something that is not tangible.
Q: And your best investment to date?
My company Mext. It was profitable within six months. My partner Alan and I invested $10,000 in the firm. The current annual turnover is nearly $1 million. We have five staff members.
Another good investment was growing a nice sum of money when I was with my former employer J. Walter Thompson in the United States. As part of the 401K plan, I invested in a Merrill Lynch fund and the value of my investment doubled during a two-year period.
me & my money
Investing's the key for marketing guru
German channels his money into retirement and education funds
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Like many Singaporeans, German Laurenz Koehler used to think his government would take care of his retirement needs.
But it became clear to him when he started working that his retirement fund, akin to the Central Provident Fund here, would not be sufficient.
'I realised over the last decade that the government is not able to sustain the fund the way it was doing in the past because of an ageing population. There are fewer working people paying into the fund than people withdrawing from it. People started doing their own investing,' he said.
He now believes that investing is the best way to ensure a bright financial future.
Every month, he channels a portion of his savings into his personal retirement fund. He also has a separate education fund for his children. Recently, he bought a few rooms in a hotel in London as an investment.
Mr Koehler, 42, managing partner of marketing and strategy at research consultancy firm Mext (Next Generation Marketing), graduated with an economics degree from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany in 1996. He worked in advertising firm BBDO as its account and business director in Germany and later in J. Walter Thompson as its management supervisor in Germany and the United States, before joining Batey in Singapore in 2006. When he left Batey last year, he was its director of strategic planning.
With more than a decade of advertising and branding experience under his belt, Mr Koehler became a franchisee of Mext for Asia last year, together with business partner Alan Fairnington. Although Mext was founded in Australia in 2004, its Singapore office in Duxton Road is now its global head-quarters.
Mext provides insights into what drives people's buying decisions in different industries and how to deliver them. Among its clients are the Health Promotion Board, M1, Crabtree & Evelyn and Malaysia-based Celcom.
Mr Koehler is married to school administrator Mel Ertas, 41. They have two sons, Lennart, eight, and Luke, seven.
Q: Are you a spender or a saver?
I am a saver or investor rather than a spender. My savings would be around 20 to 30 per cent of my income and the rest is spent on housing and the children.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I pay everything I can with my credit cards. I don't like to carry around loads of cash. Depending on my travel schedule, I use my cards for about 40 per cent of my monthly expenditure. I withdraw money during my weekend supermarket visits. I have only a MasterCard and Visa card from one bank. My average credit card bill is about $5,000 a month.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
About 10 years ago, I set up a private retirement fund each for my wife and me. They are mainly invested in insurance products which guarantee the principal sums. We also have an education fund for the children to pay for their university studies. The latter is meant to generate a solid five-digit sum in euros when they turn 20. The education fund is flexible and allows withdrawals of money when needed.
I pay money to these funds monthly. A third party manages all these funds out of Germany and I review the funds once a year. The target returns are 4 to 6 per cent a year. When Mel and I are 60, our retirement funds should provide a total amount of about $1 million. We also have life insurance, partial disability income insurance and medical coverage. My life coverage is about $500,000.
Q: Money wise, what were your growing-up years like?
I am the youngest of three siblings. My father was an architect who ran his own company. My mother was a housewife. My parents got divorced when I was seven. I lived with my mother in a three-bedroom apartment till I was 16, and with my father in a five-room apartment after that. We lived in Essen, western Germany.
I experienced all the ups and downs of an 'SME family'. We struggled during recessions and downturns, but benefited from the big payback in the golden years. In general, money was rather tight and we did not spend beyond our means.
So taking credit is something I have avoided pretty much throughout my life. I took on vacation jobs during school holidays like being a waiter and working in super-markets.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
When I started working, it became very clear that my retirement fund - made up of contributions from my pay - would be very small. Then, living in the US and subsequently in Singapore, I realised investments are the only way to ensure a bright financial future.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a piece of a hotel in the financial district in London. In July, I bought a few rooms in a 150-room hotel, which is part of an inter-national hotel chain. I paid a six-figure sum for it and the potential yields are between 8 and 10 per cent a year. It will be operational in 2012 and I expect to get a half-yearly dividend from the investment.
Q: What is the most extravagant thing you have bought?
A red dirt bike. Its brand is Husq-varna and it is the biggest joy in my life, apart from my family. I use the bike to zip to my office if I don't have a big client meeting. I bought it here in 2008 for $12,000. I used to own one in Germany.
Q: What is your retirement plan?
No plans as yet. The master plan is to build a big enough company that can be sold in five to 10 years' time. But I am way too excited to build this company that I cannot think of when to sell it or retire. We're not big spenders so we don't need much money.
We will need about $10,000 a month when the children are financially independent.
Q: Home is now....
Having two young boys, we decided to rent an apartment in the Holland Road area, a family paradise. Once the boys are 12 and older, we will consider buying a house.
Q: I ride....
My dirt bike or I commute by taxis.
lorna@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What's your worst investment to date?
I was one of the victims of the Internet investment bubble in 1999-2000. I had built a very nice portfolio with huge gains in new market companies, but pretty much lost everything in a very short period of time. I invested about $30,000 in six to eight German technology firms, and it grew to $100,000 in a year. But I got back only $15,000 while the rest evaporated in a week. I simply wasn't on top of things and was unclear about the market development. I thought the Internet hype could go on forever. I learnt not to invest in something that is not tangible.
Q: And your best investment to date?
My company Mext. It was profitable within six months. My partner Alan and I invested $10,000 in the firm. The current annual turnover is nearly $1 million. We have five staff members.
Another good investment was growing a nice sum of money when I was with my former employer J. Walter Thompson in the United States. As part of the 401K plan, I invested in a Merrill Lynch fund and the value of my investment doubled during a two-year period.
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