Inspiration – Page 4 – Greg Fok Advisory

Which is the best product in the market now?

July 27, 2021July 27, 2021
by Gregory Fok

This is a very common question that I get constantly. Most people come to me with a product perspective in mind. However, instead of trying to respond to that question, I will turn it back to them and ask, “What are you trying to achieve for yourself by investing in this ‘product’? What is your real dream you would like to have?”

If I take a few more steps back for them, will what you are trying to achieve with this $200k get you to your eventual goals?

For example, maybe this person wanted to be able to choose to stop working by age 65 and spend his time creating memories, travelling the globe for 2 months every year for the first 5 years. What will you need to put this $200k into, in order to help you get to your dreams and goals in the most sustainable manner without taking excessive risks?

Maybe after working it out, we realized that $200k will get him hardly anywhere near to where he wants to be given his overall financial situation. Then would that really be a goal you want to achieve? It could also mean that either he takes on higher risks or he might have to set aside more than $200k to speed up the process to get there, if that goal is so critical for him.

In some other personal customized circumstance, through the proper process of planning, it could also mean that he might not need to take much risks at all to get there. Maybe he has already arrived at his goal, without realizing it. In fact, for this person, it could even mean that he does not need to wait till age 65, but he could have his dream done earlier at age 55 instead of 65, just by shifting his assets and reallocating it appropriately.

What we do best for clients is to ask a few more questions to understand the dreams, desires of the person and their fears. We want to help them through the process of getting them to get to where they want. And not focus on the products we can sell… That is where dreams can be realized for you and you lead a more meaningful life.

We want to save you time, give you confidence and simplify your life for you so that you get the best out of life!

If this is something meaningful for you and if someone you think will benefit from having an initial chat with us, pls share this and we will be happy to be connected and see if there is a fit.

Is there really a need to plan?

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021
by Gregory Fok

I was speaking to a couple on a meeting a few days ago and they both shared that they are both generally high-income earners and are very comfortable where they are right now. They said that even if they do not invest their money, they assume they would still be fairly comfortable when they retire 20 years from today and have enough money to last their whole lifetime.

So I suggested 3 things…

1. The above scenario totally works out as long as the assumption is that they continue to get their income going for the next 20years and they are kept healthy and they do not lose their job. Can they guarantee that it will not happen? Would a backup plan make sense to buffer that potential loss as life can be filled with uncertainties?

2. The second is more from a stewardship perspective. Doesn’t it make sense to be a little smarter and responsible with what has been gifted to you as resources for your way of planning? For sure, we do not wish to be the steward who buried the only coin given to him under the ground as shared in the bible. And eventually find that the only coin that was tasked to him under stewardship was to be taken away as he was not a responsible steward.

3. And finally, wouldn’t you like to be more confident in knowing where you stand, where you will be heading and if your assumptions you are going to adopt was correct? We used a software programme to allow a one-time keying in of their financial info (all in 20mins or so) and project that into the future and for them to keep and maintain their lifestyle. What they were surprised to find out was that they actually do “run out” of money by age 75 if they want to maintain their lifestyle. All we needed to do is to reallocate some money from the left pocket to the right pocket and they can be able to maintain their lifestyle till 99. And still have some money left over for the children without the need to take significant risks.

What this shows is that we are able to help families save time, build confidence of their future and simplify their lives to get them to where they want to be.

If this story sounds like familiar or you know someone going through the similar experience and asking the same questions, we will be happy to be connected for an initial chat to see if there is a fit.

How high income earners manage their financial risk?

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021
by Gregory Fok

I was speaking to a senior chief executive of a MNC recently. He shared with me that he was so successful at his work that he had no time to look after his personal finance which is a common experience.

Here are some things I noted from the conversation.

1. Senior directors tend to be very busy and alot of their time is devoted to work with limited time for family.

2. They are worried and afraid that their high income ability tend to end earlier than most of their peers and they find it difficult to be rehired at a similar position or pay scale.

3. Their stress level is very high which makes them unable to continue the hectic pace for their careers over a long period of time.

4. The stakes are high to get to that position so they may not have many close friends they can share their real struggles with within the organization or even outside.

What can they do?

Find a trusted advisor who understands you and appreciates the situation you are in when planning for you.

Structure an investment plan to build a nest egg for themselves as quickly as possible in shorter periods and as early as they can. Time and automation becomes your friend.

Protect your income ability against unexpected health risks of critical illness as you have a strong earning ability over a 5 year period.

The investments should be automatically deducted from your income account and it should be a self rebalancing portfolio. This minimizes decision making which reduces mistakes and risks along the investment journey as well.

Build skillsets and close relationships with clients, staff and peers around you so that you become more difficult to replace as relationships and networks are an integral part of building any business.

Take time once or twice a year to focus on the important but not urgent things in life and you will live a much more fulfilled and balanced life.

Urgent vs Important

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021
by Gregory Fok

Can you please complete this by tomorrow? I need it urgently!

There are many urgent tasks on our plate.. and we are waylaid most of the time due to other people’s priorities and schedules especially our bosses or colleagues.

There are only a few things in our lives that are important. But these are seldom urgent.

We live in a life of rat race because we do the many urgent thigs. But we do not have time left to do the important things.

Let us try to live our lives the other way. We prioritize and work on the few important things in life that makes our life more meaningful and more impactful.

Having a conversation with us in building your dreams allows you to focus on the BIG important goals of your lives which you hardly have time to think about.

Goals – What do I really want?

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021
by Gregory Fok

What do you really want to achieve in taking this particular action or buying a certain product? It is usually not about the cheapest products or lowest fees. That will create a different set of problems in financial planning down the road. Unknowing to most consumers, we make decisions emotionally without understanding why we do it. Most of it is highly motivated by fear and greed in the short term. That is where the problem lies – where there is impatience and no discipline to keep us aligned to our objectives.

So what is our end goal objective? For most people, it will be to help you achieve the extremely big goals in life like retirement, education for kids and ensure that you have peace of mind of cashflow when health or unexpected turn of events in life fails on you. On top of that, you would also want to be generous to the people around you when you have surplus due to a well thought out, methodical plan with a financial artist. You would like to reduce risks and taxes legally. You would also like to improve your higher expected returns predictably over the long term with increased peace of mind knowing there is a scientific evidenced-based approach to growing wealth systemically.

The more intangible objectives will be to be able to spend more time with yourself, your family and personal goals whatever that might be and to take away the strong emotions of greed and fear away from you.

With the above in place, you can spend your time fruitfully with the people you love, and on the passions that are close to your heart, led with a meaningful life.

Have you spent some time to have a chat to share your personal goals and what kind of experience you would like to achieve for yourself. We can start by having an initial complimentary conversation to see if there is a good fit between an experienced financial artist and yourself to understand you better.

Is there a reliable way to invest?

March 29, 2021March 29, 2021
by Gregory Fok

Investments and reliability hardly go hand in hand, I used to think. And investments are filled with ups and downs in the markets.

When I first started investing in 2005, I got excited. When I made that 10-20% return, I thought I should sell out before the markets go down. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am not. And some of the time, that one wrong move will erase all gains made over the past few years.

Well, I had one objective – I needed to plan well for retirement for the long term which will be a few decades down the road. Is there a reliable way to get there especially since it is many years down the road?

My worries

What if I had invested and when I needed the money for retirement, the company I had invested into went out of business or is no longer a relevant business or unable to make the same profits? A few such companies may have been the recent SIA, Hyflux, Blackberry, Kodak etc.

Being able to predict accurately might have been due to skill or even luck at times. But to be able to do it right 100% of the time is almost impossible. Even Warren Buffet does not get it right all the time.

Investing on my own creates anxieties. Whenever I read the papers or look at my portfolio, I am tempted to make a trade. It is either to sell or buy and that creates additional stress for me that very day as I always hope to sell the highest or buy the lowest.

About 5 years ago, I have finally found a more reliable way to achieve my long goals with less emotions, less risk and yet higher expected returns, while building a large CORRE^TM portfolio. If you would like to find out more, you can send me a question.

When was the last time you gave yourself permission…

March 10, 2021March 10, 2021
by Gregory Fok

As we grew up along the years, we were told by our parents to study hard, get a good job, work hard, progress and retire. And when we started working, we worked so hard that we have so little time left for anything else.

I love to have DREAM conversations with my clients, so sometimes I pause them in their track to ask, “What is your dream and what exactly are you trying to achieve in your lifetime?” We hardly stop at our own rat race, just to give ourselves some time to dream.

Maybe it is to spend more time with your loved ones. Maybe it is to be able to help someone in need. Maybe it is to be more giving in time and energy to something you are passionate about. Maybe it is to make a difference in one particular person’s life. Maybe it is to create an experience for your whole family. Maybe it is to live your life meaningfully as a legacy for others. Whatever it will be, it all starts with a Dream Conversation.

Just doing that once every year can change the trajectory of your lives for a more meaningful path. Share with us your dreams and we value add to plan with you financially to make your dreams come true so that you have freedom in time, wealth and live life fully!

Do you know the cost of delay?

March 1, 2021March 1, 2021
by Gregory Fok

Have you thought of letting your money work harder for you? Many people wished they had let their money work harder earlier but never got round to doing it due to the many distractions in life and the distractions will keep coming at you constantly if you do not keep a disciplined approach to start.

So how much does it really impact you as an individual?

Let us imagine 2 persons who are of the same age wanted to have the money available 25 years down the road, with an assumption of annualized returns of 7%pa.

Person A starts investing $1,000 a month for 25years, he would have achieved a projected $758,000.

Person B delays that by 2 years.

So person B starts investing $1,000 a month for 23years, he would have achieved a projected $641,000.

That difference of 2 years of delay would have cost him $117,000 which can be the equivalent to a downpayment of a HDB house! Can you imagine the significant difference over 30-40 years?

Should you not plan early so that you can ensure continued success without the need to worry in the future? Every paycheck counts!

Gun and Shield

February 4, 2021February 4, 2021
by Gregory Fok

When a person goes to battle, he needs to be able to plan and fight strategically and efficiently.

If a person brings only a gun, all it takes it for the enemy to find a small spot of loose entry, the person will be killed.

If a person brings only a shield, he can protect himself well, but he will not be able to advance past the enemy line.

A smart soldier will need to have both – the gun and the shield. What similarities does it have with financial planning? In financial planning, we need both the gun and shield too. That is what all wealthy people do, by being smart.

The gun is there to help us advance in terms of getting to our long goals in a more efficient manner so that we do not need to work as hard on our part. Let time and patience be our best friend.

The shield is there to protect our income ability and existing assets. In case of an unexpected death, accident or critical illness, your income can be protected and any existing assets will still be intact without the urgent need to liquidate at a loss.

Have your fine-tuned your gun and beefed up your shield recently so that you put in the least effort to get to your dreams in life with the best achievable results?

9 new year financial resolutions 2021

January 8, 2021January 8, 2021
by Gregory Fok

1. Save more money.

2. Start a proper CORRE investment strategy by reallocating your assets to reduce risks while getting similar returns.

3. Review your insurance especially for critical illness, personal accident and loss of income due to the above.

4. Pay off your debts.

5. Find ways to reduce your tax.

6. Review your existing investments to find a way to reduce risk whilst achieve similar or higher returns.

7. Review your mid and long term goals to see if you are on track.

8. Find a charity of your choice or family to give to.

9. Plan your estate and wills.