Independent Financial Adviser
No disrespect meant to STUEYXAN. I am absolutely sure that there are some very good and ethical Financial Advisors out there (even in Hong Kong), but it is really hard to differentiate between the crooks and charletons for the uninitiated.
But, please do remember, that the worst mistake you can make is not to invest. It is better to invest and lose rather than not to invest at all. At least, if you invest and lose, you will learn a hell of a lot and be a much smarter investor next time! If you don't invest, the Bank will eat your savings alive.
Please invest some money, even if it is small, and thereby learn the art. Just remember to limit your exposure first up and diversify your investments.
But, please do remember, that the worst mistake you can make is not to invest. It is better to invest and lose rather than not to invest at all. At least, if you invest and lose, you will learn a hell of a lot and be a much smarter investor next time! If you don't invest, the Bank will eat your savings alive.
Please invest some money, even if it is small, and thereby learn the art. Just remember to limit your exposure first up and diversify your investments.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Hong Kong
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Beware the green eyed monster....
...it doth mock the hand that it feeds upon.
OK so maybe that originially was about jealousy but it also applies to quite a few financial advisors.
I have had two expeiences with financial planners wanting my money, both bad. I learned from the first mistake so when I got cold called by Mondial in Hong Kong I decided to have some fun. After they listened to what our priorites were they promised to come up with a sound investment plan. Lo and behold the plan they came up with was the exact opposite of what we had said, but it did involve a lot of front-end loaded schemes that kept us locked in until 60 and gave them the fees to keep them in flash offices downtown. I played along until Mr Walker finished his spiel and then asked questions that revealed what the "plan" really was. Just remember that these people generate no money, they simply use yours. You pay for every facet of thier lifestyle (as well as kickbacks from the fund managers of course).
As has been said, for them it is no risk. It is not thier money and they don't even manage the funds.
Go out and buy 'Financial Planning in Hong Kong- A Fast track Study Guide' by David Choy. Available at Dymocks. Then at least when you go to see one of these guys you will be able to help him draw up your Client Assessment and risk matrix.
I agree with Flexible, investing can be as basic or complex as you want it to be. Stick some money away, don't lead a consumer driven lifestyle and before you know it your options in life are expanded.
Good Luck to you.
OK so maybe that originially was about jealousy but it also applies to quite a few financial advisors.
I have had two expeiences with financial planners wanting my money, both bad. I learned from the first mistake so when I got cold called by Mondial in Hong Kong I decided to have some fun. After they listened to what our priorites were they promised to come up with a sound investment plan. Lo and behold the plan they came up with was the exact opposite of what we had said, but it did involve a lot of front-end loaded schemes that kept us locked in until 60 and gave them the fees to keep them in flash offices downtown. I played along until Mr Walker finished his spiel and then asked questions that revealed what the "plan" really was. Just remember that these people generate no money, they simply use yours. You pay for every facet of thier lifestyle (as well as kickbacks from the fund managers of course).
As has been said, for them it is no risk. It is not thier money and they don't even manage the funds.
Go out and buy 'Financial Planning in Hong Kong- A Fast track Study Guide' by David Choy. Available at Dymocks. Then at least when you go to see one of these guys you will be able to help him draw up your Client Assessment and risk matrix.
I agree with Flexible, investing can be as basic or complex as you want it to be. Stick some money away, don't lead a consumer driven lifestyle and before you know it your options in life are expanded.
Good Luck to you.
Go out and buy 'Financial Planning in Hong Kong- A Fast track Study Guide' by David Choy. Available at Dymocks.
Educate yourself and manage your own fricken' money. Don't give it to these self appointed "financial gurus" to gamble with. Most of them are trumped-up used-car salesmen. For heavens sake you are a pilot, you are intelligent enough to look after yourself!
Learn about investing and do it for your family. It's dead simple.
As pilots we all know the importance of the 1 in 60 rule and its practicable application to aviation
So who can anyone explain the importance of the rule of 72 and its practical application to investment?
So who can anyone explain the importance of the rule of 72 and its practical application to investment?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: 14N
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Divide the interest rate into 72, that will give you the number of years it takes for your principal sum to double. For example: interest rate of 10%, principal of $1000, it will take 7.2 years to double the $1000 to $2000.
Arrrh! The magic of compound interest!
Just invest some money, add a sprinkle of years and poof! You have doubled your money.
But wait, there is more! Just add the same number of years once more and you will again double your money (quadruple), and then once again (eight times) and....OK, you know the drill!
The real secret of wealth creation is time...so, START NOW!
(you do the flying hours and let your money do the working hours!)
Just invest some money, add a sprinkle of years and poof! You have doubled your money.
But wait, there is more! Just add the same number of years once more and you will again double your money (quadruple), and then once again (eight times) and....OK, you know the drill!
The real secret of wealth creation is time...so, START NOW!
(you do the flying hours and let your money do the working hours!)
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Hong Kong
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The "Rule of Ex-Wives"
'The number of jobs you will need to have had in your career in order to retire is one more than the number of ex wives you have'.
So, if you have no ex wives, you can get by only having had one job. In my case, ex mrs crunchero totally ignored the rule of 72 and went straight for the rule of "I will take 75% of everything and then some of everything you earn for ever", and so now I am on 'wood'. That is, I am on my second job, so I can't afford to have any more ex wives...if I do, I will have to get that asiana job, followed by the emirates job, followed by jetstar etc etc till I die.
'The number of jobs you will need to have had in your career in order to retire is one more than the number of ex wives you have'.
So, if you have no ex wives, you can get by only having had one job. In my case, ex mrs crunchero totally ignored the rule of 72 and went straight for the rule of "I will take 75% of everything and then some of everything you earn for ever", and so now I am on 'wood'. That is, I am on my second job, so I can't afford to have any more ex wives...if I do, I will have to get that asiana job, followed by the emirates job, followed by jetstar etc etc till I die.
LOL!
Ex mrs crunchero need to be introduced to a nice young man to get you off the hook!
Failing that, a new mrs crunchero is the only known remedy to keep an ex mrs crunchero in check.
Playing with volatiles and naked flames can be an explosive business!
Ex mrs crunchero need to be introduced to a nice young man to get you off the hook!
Failing that, a new mrs crunchero is the only known remedy to keep an ex mrs crunchero in check.
Playing with volatiles and naked flames can be an explosive business!
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Here and There
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OK Flex you have convinced me, it is time to give myself a pay increase! I have spent the last few weeks surfing the net for all the info I can get regarding investing. I have started pretty much from scratch. Knew absolutely nothing three weeks ago and now I know just a touch more than nothing. 
Has anybody read any good investing/How to books they can recommend? My eyes are getting criss-crossed staring at the computer screen!
In the meantime my poor pot of savings is sitting in the bank waiting for me to educate myself.
W2
Has anybody read any good investing/How to books they can recommend? My eyes are getting criss-crossed staring at the computer screen!
In the meantime my poor pot of savings is sitting in the bank waiting for me to educate myself.
W2
My mentor told me to read anything about Warren Buffett. But that can be as boring as bat**** for a pilot new-investor (worse than Vol 1 or the FCOM 4 sleeping pill!). It took me some years before I could approach the business pages of the newspapers with anything other than severe distaste. Now I devour business information! (Perhaps I have an undiagnosed phobia?).
I have a small pdf file that I stole from a broking site which seems to encapsulate the essence of investing that I can send to any email address. Your profile doesn't allow emails, so if you just make up a temporary one-use address with hotmail or whoever and I'll send it to you.
I have a small pdf file that I stole from a broking site which seems to encapsulate the essence of investing that I can send to any email address. Your profile doesn't allow emails, so if you just make up a temporary one-use address with hotmail or whoever and I'll send it to you.
Join Date: May 2002
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Education
I came across this outfit while paging through the DB Magazine. www.wealth-mentors.com
Has anybody attended or know of someone who has attended one of these seminars? I am still trying to figure out how to go about earning myself a pay increase.
Thanks
W2
Has anybody attended or know of someone who has attended one of these seminars? I am still trying to figure out how to go about earning myself a pay increase.
Thanks
W2
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: HK
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No. Looks like a standard day trading technique, trading options with a stop-loss. Sure you can make money, but you can gambling too...
Options in HK are expensive, in the long run the trading fees will win, IMHO
Are you trying to invest, or make more money? If the latter, maybe better to find a hobby/ job that you can do around flying (trading on ebay for example, buy stuff cheap in China, sell it expensive in your home country)
Options in HK are expensive, in the long run the trading fees will win, IMHO
Are you trying to invest, or make more money? If the latter, maybe better to find a hobby/ job that you can do around flying (trading on ebay for example, buy stuff cheap in China, sell it expensive in your home country)
whodunnit2,
Your link is all about options trading. Win big or lose big!
This is completely different to the philosophy I am trying to project.
I want pilots to learn about Investing!
Investing is worlds apart from trading or gambling or pissing your money down a black hole!
There is a huge difference between investment and speculation. It is very important that we understand and respect that fundamental difference.
Your link is all about options trading. Win big or lose big!
This is completely different to the philosophy I am trying to project.
I want pilots to learn about Investing!
Investing is worlds apart from trading or gambling or pissing your money down a black hole!
There is a huge difference between investment and speculation. It is very important that we understand and respect that fundamental difference.
In the interests of demonstrating more about investments, I have created a theoretical portfolio of what I consider to be 10 investment-grade Australian stocks.
In each stock I have invested a theoretical AU$10,000 at the closing price of each stock on 31 Jul 2007, for a total investment of AU$100,000.
The stocks I selected are listed on the Aus stock exchange and the codes are ANZ, BBI, BHP, BNB, LEI, NHC, QGC, SUN, WDC and WOR. This choice represents my personal dumb pilot's opinion.
The total value at 31 Jul 2007 is of course AU$100,000. I will give updates from time to time on how this investment goes in terms of value and dividends returned.
You can build a copy of this theoretical portfolio on one of the many free internet trading sites, and follow its' progress, or you can try and beat this mix with your own personal selections!
Even better, you might even select some stocks yourself and invest some of your real money and really ride the train! Go on, you can do it!
In each stock I have invested a theoretical AU$10,000 at the closing price of each stock on 31 Jul 2007, for a total investment of AU$100,000.
The stocks I selected are listed on the Aus stock exchange and the codes are ANZ, BBI, BHP, BNB, LEI, NHC, QGC, SUN, WDC and WOR. This choice represents my personal dumb pilot's opinion.
The total value at 31 Jul 2007 is of course AU$100,000. I will give updates from time to time on how this investment goes in terms of value and dividends returned.
You can build a copy of this theoretical portfolio on one of the many free internet trading sites, and follow its' progress, or you can try and beat this mix with your own personal selections!
Even better, you might even select some stocks yourself and invest some of your real money and really ride the train! Go on, you can do it!
Last edited by FlexibleResponse; 31st Jul 2007 at 13:53.
Well that was a very exciting month on the market!
After all the pain and grief, at the end of trading on Friday 1 Sep 2007, our initial investment of $100,000 of shares were worth:
$100,528 (Just over 0.5% gain for the month or about 6.3% gain on an annual basis).
Plus Dividends of $991.75 announced to be paid as follows:
BHP announced a 33.63 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($90.80).
BNB announced a 21.40 cents per share dividend to be paid in October ($75.97).
LEI announced a 65.00 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($165.75).
SUN announced a 55.00 cents per share dividend to be paid in October ($283.80).
WDC announced a 53.25 cents per share dividend to be paid in August ($279.56).
WOR announced a 32.50 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($95.87).
After all the pain and grief, at the end of trading on Friday 1 Sep 2007, our initial investment of $100,000 of shares were worth:
$100,528 (Just over 0.5% gain for the month or about 6.3% gain on an annual basis).
Plus Dividends of $991.75 announced to be paid as follows:
BHP announced a 33.63 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($90.80).
BNB announced a 21.40 cents per share dividend to be paid in October ($75.97).
LEI announced a 65.00 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($165.75).
SUN announced a 55.00 cents per share dividend to be paid in October ($283.80).
WDC announced a 53.25 cents per share dividend to be paid in August ($279.56).
WOR announced a 32.50 cents per share dividend to be paid in September ($95.87).
Join Date: May 2002
Location: up here, everyone looks like ants!
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Told to me when I joined CX by an Old China Hand:
THREE RULES FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS IN HONG KONG
Beware of a certain B744 Captain (LAX based) who peddles an "investment" in the Isle Of Man. Read the fine print, you're in it for a lot longer than you think.
If you do get into the stock market, invest in stocks in an industry in which you have a fundamental interest. Ghost the investment at first, see how you would do without the risk of being burned.
Rule three above negates most of what I have said, but if you solicit advice here, that's what you're going to get.
THREE RULES FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS IN HONG KONG
- Never Buy A Car In Hong Kong
- Leave With The Same Woman You Arrived With
- NEVER (repeat) NEVER Take Financial Advice From A Pilot
Beware of a certain B744 Captain (LAX based) who peddles an "investment" in the Isle Of Man. Read the fine print, you're in it for a lot longer than you think.
If you do get into the stock market, invest in stocks in an industry in which you have a fundamental interest. Ghost the investment at first, see how you would do without the risk of being burned.
Rule three above negates most of what I have said, but if you solicit advice here, that's what you're going to get.
Last edited by Cpt. Underpants; 1st Sep 2007 at 16:58.