To all our OFWs in Singapore, we are excited to be there on November 2, 2013 for iCon 2013!

Joining me for this event are my friends Marvin Germo and Jess Uy. Marvin is known as Mr. Stock Smarts and he is one of today’s most sought after speaker and trainer on the stock market. He authored the book Stock Smarts (Investing Made Easy) and is already an international speaker and trainer. Marvin successfully demystifies the myths and legends in stock market investing by discussing basic and fundamental principles that you can apply. There is a reason why Marvin is one of today’s most visible stock market advocate which will be a treat for the participants of the iCon 2013.

Jess Uy is a Filipino investment expert based in Singapore. He is investment adviser not only to Filipino but for many expatriates in Singapore. He is considered as foremost expert in the arena of investing  – ranging from banking, fund management, mutual funds, etc.  His topic will delve on a proper process that you need before you invest and will give the participant an objective and yet insightful understanding on the do, don’ts, how’s and what’s of investing.

Date: November 2, 2013
Session 1: 830am – 12noon (Steps to investing and Where the market is right now)
Session 2: 1pm – 5pm (Stocks, Funds, Investment Planning)

Venue: 9 Penang Road, Park Mall, Singapore 238459

For registration and payments email: info@oasiswealth.com.sg or call: +65 9677 5522

An emergency fund is a complete must for everybody. I’ve written a few articles on emergency funds already and it is a whole chapter in my book, No Nonsense Personal Finance: A Step by Step Guide. 3 to 6 months worth of expenses is a good size for the emergency fund.

For those who already have their emergency funds or on the way to completing it, congratulations! You are on your way to achieving real financial peace. Now that you have one or already building it, here are some tips for you:

1)      Don’t invest your emergency funds. Yes, you read it right! Keep your emergency fund in cash or near cash placements like savings, current or time deposits. Do not invest your emergency funds as these are intended to be a buffer or a margin for your finances. Make sure that the deposits can be withdrawn quickly and without huge penalties. Investing in volatile instruments like mutual funds or Unit Investment Trust Funds, even the less volatile ones like Bond Funds, may not be wise as these are normally sensitive to market changes, and you might experience some losses if you keep your money in the short term.

2)      Keep some of those emergency funds in cash; maybe one to two weeks’ worth as you may have difficulty in accessing your bank in sudden emergencies. During calamities, ATM machines may not be working so you’d want to have access to some cash. Just a reminder that cash allocated for emergency will not be touched unless it’s really an emergency, otherwise you will deplete those funds faster than you should. Keep a portion of your emergency fund in an ATM account, say two weeks’ to one month’s worth. Emergencies do not necessarily occur during banking hours and you may need more cash.

3)      While I don’t recommend you invest your emergency funds, it might be a good idea to put them in some placements that will give you better yields than savings accounts. Time Deposits or Money Market Accounts are ideal instruments for you to park your emergency funds while still realize some earnings.

4)      Keep your emergency funds to a maximum of six months’ worth of expenses only, in excess of which you should invest—a topic for a later chapter.

5)      If you are comfortable with managing multiple accounts, a separate savings account for your emergency funds is a good idea and one I recommend.

“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 27:12, NLT

Sharing with you my interview with Ron Cruz at Mornings at ANC where I talked about my conference, my book and what No Nonsense Personal Finance is all about.

Click HERE