work for money? forget it
TRANSCRIPT
Lorna TanFinance Correspondent
Mr Aaron Sim, a qualified certifiedpublic accountant (CPA), set upfinancial education firm WealthMentors in 1993 after havingworked in two companies.
At Wealth Mentors, participantslearn how to create additionalincome sources via options trading,forex trading and Internet market-ing.
Set up with a capital of $10,000,the firm now generates revenue ofmore than $6 million a year and has15 employees. It operates in Singa-pore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indone-sia, Brunei and the United States.
Born in Malaysia and now aSingapore permanent resident, MrSim, 49, obtained his CPA qualifica-tion in 1987. At that time, he wasworking in accounting firm Ernst &Young.
Before setting up his own firm,he was finance director at Unisys forseven years, based in Singapore andSydney. He is married to TracyWong, 52, a director at his firm.They have a daughter, Yiwen, whois 18.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?My personal and family expensesare relatively small as I have paid offmy properties and cars. Also, I don’thave expensive tastes in food orclothing.
Q: How much do you charge toyour credit cards every month?I have six credit cards but use just
three. I use one for my business; onefor personal use in Singapore; andthe third in Malaysia to avoid ex-change risks as I travel across theCauseway often.
My personal credit card chargesare less than $3,000 a month and Imake sure I pay them on time eachmonth to avoid late charges. I alsoensure that I don’t pay annual feesfor all my cards. I withdraw $1,000each time from the ATM, twice amonth.
Q: What financial planning haveyou done for yourself?My portfolio comprises private busi-nesses, investments in options andproperty investments.
Depending on opportunitiesavailable, currently 65 per cent ofmy funds are in bank deposits, 20per cent for trading options and the
balance of 15 per cent for charitablecontributions. I have a combinationof whole life insurance and termtotalling $900,000. The premiumsare $3,000 a year. I regard insuranceas a form of protection, not an in-vestment.
Q: Moneywise, what were yourgrowing-up years like?I grew up in Ipoh, Malaysia. I comefrom a family of five. I am the eldestchild. We lived in a rented terracehouse with three rooms. My fatherwas a sewing machine salesmanwho stopped working due to healthreasons when I was nine. My mumbecame the sole breadwinner, sell-ing cookies and clothes from home.
When I was a teenager, I workedas my mum’s cashier during theweekends and earned pocket mon-ey. This is where I might have
picked up my mum’s entrepreneur-ship spirit. She was frugal but likedto splurge on her kids from time totime by buying us clothes. When Iwas 13, I obtained a scholarship soI didn’t have to pay school fees.
Q: How did you get interested ininvesting?After reading the book Rich DadPoor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki overone weekend in October 1999, I de-cided I no longer wanted to “workfor money”. Instead, I would focuson building my own business sothat money could work for me.The problem was I didn’t knowhow. At that time, I was still work-ing in Unisys, based in Sydney.
I started to attend investingtraining courses in Australia be-cause Mr Kiyosaki recommendedinvesting in property, options, andbuilding businesses.
Unisys offered me an Employ-ees Stock Purchase Plan where I gota 15 per cent discount if I boughtits shares. The amount payable wasdeducted from my monthly salary.That was how I got interested inchecking not only Unisys’ shareprice but also those of IBM, Ciscoand Sun Microsystems. I used anonline broker and, for the firsttime, it allowed me to experiencetrading in the US market.
Q: What properties do you own?In 2002, I bought an 8,000 sq ftfreehold bungalow in the GoldCoast in Australia for A$300,000(S$306,000). The value has goneup by 67 per cent and it is generat-ing a rental return of 4.1 per cent ayear.
In 2006, I bought a freehold1,600 sq ft condominium in WestCoast Park for $900,000. It was justcompleted in December last yearand is available for renting.
The following year, I bought afreehold four-storey building inMalaysia for RM3.4 million (S$1.4million). Its rental return is 5.8 percent.
Q: What’s the most extravagantthing you have bought?It is a food and beverage franchisethat I bought in December lastyear. I put in RM600,000 to set upa fast-food vegan restaurant in Ma-laysia called the Loving Hut. Everymonth, we give charity meals toneedy folks from non-profit organi-sations. I aim to break even in 11/2
years.
Q: What’s your retirement plan?I do not plan to retire as I am look-ing to live to 125.
I feel it is fun and fulfilling to
work actively in what I enjoy most.Life needs purpose and direction.
I achieved financial independ-ence in 2005. I would need about$5,000 a month for my wife andmyself in our golden years.
Q: Home is now...My wife, daughter and I live in a1,270 sq ft condo in the SciencePark area. I bought it for $650,000in 1997.
Q: I drive...I drive a gold metallic Nissan Cefi-ro JM 230 and a silver metallic Toy-ota Camry 2.0.
Q: What’s been your worstinvestment to date?In 1993, I got a call from aUnited States companybased in Manila whichconvinced me to buy USpenny stocks. I was greedyand I invested about $20,000despite the fact that I didnot know where to checkthe stock prices. It turnedout to be a scam and I lostall my money within a fewmonths.
From that experience, Irealised financial educationis important and I promisedmyself I would not beconned again.
Q: Your best investment?My best investment isinvesting in my owneducation. It was fundedfrom the sale of my house.
In 1993, I bought a cornerdouble-storey freehold housein Petaling Jaya, Malaysia,for less than RM185,000. Itgenerated rental incomeuntil 2001, when I sold it forover RM400,000 or morethan 116 per cent profit.
I invested the bulk of themoney in my financialeducation, attendingpersonal developmentcourses that involved travelsto Australia, Fiji and the US.They gave me theprerequisite skills and helpedbuild my confidence so thatI could start my owntraining business.
BEST ANDWORST BETS
ST PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Mr Aaron Sim, founder of Wealth Mentors, with his wife Tracy Wong and their daughter Yiwen. They live in a 1,270 sq ft condominium in the Science Park area.
Entrepreneur makesmoney work for him byteaching others how toearn additional income
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Work for money? Forget it
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26 investthesundaytimes April 19, 2009