First Investment Stories from Personal Finance Experts Episode Four

There are basic personal finance and investment fundamentals that do not change. That means, it transcends geographical boundaries. Here are the first investment stories from some of the personal finance personalities across the Straits of Tebrau, ?who have?on-line?presence and broad influence in the financial blogosphere.

I can tell you one distinct similarity between Calvin, AK and Dave ? Passive Income generated from their investments.

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Calvin Yeo, a self-made millionaire before the age of 30 through investing in stocks, exchange traded funds (ETF), real estate and fixed income. Founder?of Invest In Passive Income?and Managing Director at Calvary Wealth Consultants.

My first real investment was probably the Coca Cola stock back in my?university days in the US around 2003. My average buying price was around?$42, but my investment was not a lot, less than $10k considering that I?was still studying. However, I have held it until today and it is now?worth about $74-$75.

While the capital appreciation may not seem significant, I have been?collecting dividends which increased annually since the day I bought the
stock. At the point of purchase, dividend yield was only about 2.1%,?however, it is around 4.9% now based on my purchase price and still?increasing. With stocks like these, the longer your investment horizon,?the higher your returns.

Without reinvesting the dividends, the Compounded Annual Growth Rate?(CAGR) is already about 7.9%. It would definitely be higher if I had?reinvested the dividends in Coca Cola. Since I invested the dividends?elsewhere, the non compounded returns is actually about 12%.

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AK of A Singaporean Stock Investor, very experienced S-REIT investor

First profitable investment? It must be during my undergraduate days. I really cannot remember.

I would, however, say that my first memorable investment that was and still is profitable today is in ST Engineering. Those were in the early days when I just started life as a working adult and was just learning about fundamental analysis.

I found out that ST Engineering paid good dividends and I went in with my first purchase of only 1 lot at S$1.55 a share. A princely sum of S$1,550. Well, a bit more including all the fees.

I remember I kept adding to my position as and when I had spare cash and was buying even as its share price was on the way up, something some could not understand. My latest purchase was during the global financial crisis a few years ago at S$2+ a share.

I like telling people that my annual holidays to countries like Japan and Korea were fully paid for with the dividends I received from ST Engineering alone for a few years in a row. I never had to utilise my earned income.

I truly believe in how we should have a big part of our porfolio invested for income. Cash flow is very important and cash is always handy, whether it is for that investment opportunity that suddenly comes along or for any kind of emergencies life might throw at us.

The way to financial freedom is really to build a passive income stream that is equal to or greater than our earned income. Then, we work because we want to and not because we have to.

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Dave of SmartPassiveCashFlow.com

Collection of Contract Fees from Commodities and Property Investment

Robert Kiyosaki?s book on ?Guide to Investing? is my first investment book and this leads to opening my mind to the investment world. I was hungry for investment knowledge. I attended previews, seminars and read lots of books to learn about investment.

My initial trades are based on fundamental analysis. That is, buying of stocks with good fundamentals. One stock that I have purchased was China Aviation Oil. Got it at $0.50 and sold off at around $1.70 after 2 years. It was one of my biggest gain at that time.

Investment is a journey. Invest in yourself and the wealth will flow to you.

In my later years, I have continued to upkeep my learning and managed to establish a strong level of understanding on the various asset classes (such as Unit Trusts, Bonds, Stocks, Forex, Commodities, Property).

My current investment style is in Collection of Contract Fees from Commodities and Property Investment. My goal is to achieve a passive cash flow of $100,000 per month.

Dave?s very distinct graphics in his post:

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P/S ? I am getting readers? request regarding Episode 2 of IGB REIT IPO Analysis ? Stay tuned for that as it is in the works. I decided to post this long-delayed episode up first

Source: http://www.howtofinancemoney.com/2012/08/first-investment-personal-finance-experts4-html.html

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