Wolf Review(Always Have Enough Money by Tan Ooi Boon)

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(Contents)

Always Have Enough Money by Tan Ooi Boon. The author is the editor of the weekly Invest column in The Straits Times. The book had a simple title, but there are many science behind how an individual can achieve their financial goals. There are many real life case studies on mistakes made by borrowers and investors. The main theme of the book revolves around reining the credit hungry monster in ourselves and be money smart.  I will describe the book as an operating manual on how to be a successful human, commonsensically and financially.

As the title suggests, the book offer no get-rich fast scheme. Extensive topics on CPF were discussed. In the writer’s view, CPF life is the closest one can have your cake and eat it. The returns on CPF are superior than having an investment property collecting rental. No tenants issue, no taxes and no other fees payable associated with having a property. CPF life provides retirees with hassle-free and tax-free income for life.

In the author’s opinion, CPF Life is the best annuity in Singapore. It is by far more superior than some private annuities He cited an elderly retiree with full retirement sum($205,800 in 2024 figures) at age 65 can expect a monthly income of $1670 for life. By having chosen the Enhanced Retirement Sum($308,700 in 2024 figures). The retiree can expect $2450 in monthly payout for life or more than $610,000 by age 85. Those figures he shared are hard to beat by private annuity.

The author mentioned the four money sins to avoid, besides over spending.

1.) Indulging in lottery betting. 

A wellness survey done by OCBC. Among the people aged 21 to 65 surveyed, 44% gambled more than they can afford to lose. There is a worrying trend of people trying to meet their retirement by banking on hitting the lottery jackpot.  

2.) Punting the stock market

He attributed to timing the market as the main cause for folks losing their life savings. Sound retirement planning is a long-term affair and people rarely achieve financial security quickly through speculation. Savvy investors grow their wealth by building a diversified portfolio over many years.

3.) Living on credit cards

The 8th wonder of the world is compounding interest. It can have an adverse impact on personal finance if credit card debts are left to compound. In my view, credit card is a good servant but a bad master, just like fire. Use your credit cards responsibly if you want better financial wellbeing.

4.) Trying to keep up with your friend

The flooding of social media is the main cause of this phenomenon. The tendency to compare with someone doing better than oneself is the main cause of unhappiness. One of the Ten Commandments is jealousy. Jealousy puts people in the wrong state of mind by doing stupid things, including putting your financial health in harm’s way. It also doesn’t make sense to spend money on things you don’t need, to impress people you don’t care. The only person needing impressing is yourself.  The happiest people on earth are usually not the richest. They don’t have everything, but they make the best of everything they have.

There are topics on how to identify external allies to help you in your work. It is always true, No Man is An Island. It takes a village to produce a successful individual. There are topics on how to look out for scams, insurance and legacy planning. The book goes onto Lone Wolf Investor’s highly recommended list for its well illustrated case studies. Happy reading.


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Disclaimers 

All investments is highly speculative in nature and involves substantial risk of loss. We encourage our reader to invest very carefully. We also encourage reader to get personal advice from your professional investment advisor and to make independent investigations before acting on information that we publish. Much of our information is derived directly from information published by companies or submitted to governmental agencies on which we believe are reliable but are without our independent verification. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the information is accurate or complete. We do not in any way whatsoever warrant or guarantee the success of any action you take in reliance on our statements. All information provided are for education only. Buyer beware,do you own due diligence.

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