The Financially Fear-Less Women — Are you one of them?
When I was 15 my father lost his job and my dreams of attending university were threatened. If I was a girl in many parts of the world, dreams of attending university would not even be entertained. I was a girl growing up in one of the education focused and meritocratic countries in the world, Singapore and my potential was not ignored. My parents were deprived of school by the Japanese Occupation and they sacrificed so much to ensure my brother and I had enough to eat and all the books we wanted. They were constant readers and learners but never schooled. I was a first generation university attendee.
This goes back to when I was 6. I was first student in Kindergarten, that allowed my parents and I to qualify I was actually smart and not simply a smart alec. Also it allowed people to see me as a good investment — this started with teachers, then principals, then university admissions and foundations who wanted to find a worthy investment of their time to mentor or fund me.
I was my first fund-raising project.
At 15, I sat dressed in my school uniform on a Saturday morning embarrassed in a community center in Singapore. My mother was with me. We had asked for some money to help me with school. We had to. I was embarrassed not because we didn’t have money, I was embarrassed because we had to ‘beg’ for money. We had to be assessed, we had to smile and appear pleasing, we had to make the giver of the money feel how much we appreciated it. It was beyond me as a child to understand what actually transpired. Except at the physical level, we walked away with some funds for my school fees; and on the emotional level I felt like I had sold something or had something stolen from me.
I started work part time when I was 17 and I was supported by a foundation through my junior college. So basically, while some of my classmates didn’t have to think about financing school, some like me did. I was made acutely aware of this when as the class monitorI was asked by a classmate to lend him some money once as he was in a dire state at home. He and I among some others in my class took a scholarship for teaching when we graduated. We could dream all we want about university but we could not get the courses we may have wanted because we had to first get someone to pay for us to go. And we had to ride on their ticket.
Asking for Money Again and Again and Again
Riding Life on Scholarships
I entered National University of Singapore on a prestigious funding from the Singapore government called the Public Service Commission. I was given money to study for the 4 years and then I would serve a 6 year bond to repay it. Why choose me out of the many amazing students of that same year. I assumed I was simply just such a compelling case of scholastic ability and leadership and community service work. I played their game of showing the people with money what they wanted. I was worth their investment.
I entered Harvard for my Masters in Education by surrendering my entire bank account of USD$22 000, plus a USD$3000 from the Catholic Church welfare fund for my work with at-risk youth, plus a USD$3000 from a Women’s Fund Shirin Fodzar and a USD$8000 from the same foundation who helped me at 17, Lee Foundation and finally Harvard itself gave me a special needs based USD$5000. I worked 5 jobs and ate 1 meal a day for many days. I returned home to Singapore with some health conditions from that lifestyle that I needed surgery for but I was branded by Harvard. And that was well worth the sacrifice.
“Access to Resource” was a code that popped up strongly in my work in Brandwyne in East Boston. In a community neighborhood program for immigrants, we had set up a Tuesdays and Thursdays with Tutors where Harvard students would go and help the kids with their homework. My Masters program was called Risk and Prevention and I was supposed to be a practitioner as well as to reflect on my practice and see systems and address systemic needs in my delivery as a prevention specialist.
I was so intrigued by one of the teenagers there. She would come by the center on Tuesday or Thursday but only for very special reasons and with ready questions to ask. She always came by for the snacks but she seemed to not need help with homework however she did have questions about how to get into college and SATs. Basically she came when she needed an access to a resource — food, stationery and our academic advice. She never really stayed. She got what she needed and left. She was able to see her own life and what we had to offer and make decisions on what to do and how to leverage our presence at the community program. I can remember her still now. Tall, Hispanic and athletic, very popular with the other kids, always had a kid or two tailing her but she did act mostly alone.
What are young women’s access to resources? Apart from their family of origin?
This is really what this post is about and several more posts after this… to begin a discussion around Women and Wealth Creation.
How do Women access Capital — Social Intellectual Financial to not just move ahead but to accelerate their careers and their creations in the world.
Who taught you about investing?
No one taught me
I learnt how to get a job and be good in a job. I didn’t learn how to invest.
Maybe because my parents barely had enough to survive they never assumed I would need to learn how to invest this extra money I would have. Maybe they assumed, I would have a husband and he would manage my wealth with me or for me. Maybe they thought with the children I would have, I would have to give them my wealth and so I would not have any to put aside. I saw people ask my parents for money and I have seen them donate to charities and to the (wo)man on the streets.
Whatever the case, I was not financially educated and I had to self-educate. This is my journey in self education.
What I did with what I knew — My 20s-30s
I am very open to being asked questions about money and lifestyle. My parents didn’t have that talk with me and I was left clueless and confused. So now I believe in deep discussions about wealth creation and how it helps gives us choices to live differently. So do dialogue here with me, let’s grow our wealth discussions together.
This is my personal choices with money because of my lifestyle choices
I believe in 4 forms of capital.
Intellectual
Social
Financial
Spiritual
Intellectual capital.
I was blessed with intellectual capital. I knew this when I was first in class in kindergarten. I have always used my ability to learn to keep learning and growing and contributing. I started as a teacher and even now as an entrepreneur I am still a teacher. Just I teach leaders in corporations.
Social capital
I do alot of networking because I believe in working in teams and learning from others and having skill sets I can’t get on my own. I am very lazy. I rather find someone who is an expert and get them to help me then do it alone. I of course pay them in kind — so lots of bartering of services here.
When my father lost his job when I was 15, I became very conscious of needing scholarships and so I worked on building social and intellectual capital. Since then I have attended the top schools and programmes in the world because of sponsorships and scholarships. As an investor said to me at the investment festival I helped at, “Your mother raised you well — You are intelligent, helpful and sweet.” This is my brand. Most people want to help me because of the others I help.
Financial capital — was the one I had the least growing up. And now I am trying to grow and manage. Learning to manage the wealth I had accumulated is actually more challenging for me then creating wealth, Creating wealth is when I make money and I know how to offer services and products that help grow my money. However managing money includes what is the best place to keep your money and what are the best policies. This involves the ability to read financial terms and legal conditions and most people would have to hire someone with expertise or would need a more in-depth understanding of finance or law to totally get all the systems that are in place for insurance and banks and other monetary transactions.
Spiritual. God is my CEO. As far as possible I take my orders from him. 10 years ago I started my company and I keep listening to him and my intuition and it has grown and attracts great team members.
Without this capital, I am nothing
— — -
What anyone has to do first
1) Make money
Either through a job or as an entrepreneur
I worked as a tutor outside of my teaching jobs — I always had extra cash and saved it.
I didn’t give up any of my extra cash work of teaching at night in community college until my business became sustainable
So I used to teach 2–3 days and did my company 2 days a week
My back-up plan even now is to become a teacher again if my business fails.
2) Save and put aside a 9 month emergency fund.
This means know how much you need to live for 9 months if you have no job or incoming
3) Insurance policies as early as you can so it is cheaper when you are younger and without illness
4) Stay healthy — HEALTH is WEALTH
I had psycho-somatic illness in my late 20s working for a workacholic leader
I had to leave that workplace. I am now in my 40s and healthy — just finished my last health-checkup.
5) Learn to invest in stocks and shares. As early as you can. Even if you don’t have money to put in yet. You can pretend to invest and watch the trends and know if you can pick good stocks.
Value Investing helped me to understand what I am buying and understand the basics so I can choose a good investment advisor. I have my CPF (401k) handled by GYC. I have some retail investing I do alone too.
(for actual numbers make a session to talk to me — this is too confidential for a public post)
6) Buy a property as soon as you can if you intend to live in one place
I have my HDB in Singapore. Which I rent out to pay for my Santa Monica rent.
I have 2 investment properties in Berlin and am always on the lookout for great property deals. I have a property karma
:) and I know how to see when a second or third tier city is growing and will raise the value of the property.
Berlin properties are financed by bank loans from the German banks and their monthly mortgage paid by the rents. I don’t get a passive income. However I do have my capital in somewhere growing faster than a bank. I don’t need the money now. But when I retire, I can sell them.
7) 2015 the product breakthrough year.
Previously I was selling my time for money.
If I didn’t coach or train, I made no money.
in 2015, I started looking for products to affiliate to — Rick Hanson, 360.me, WBECS, Evolve Enterprises
In 2016, I started to look at startups, I could help accelerate their growth and so benefit from their profits.
I have my book on Amazon and my digital product with Success Vantage.
These products help pay for groceries while I am here in the States.
Hope this helps you get a sense of the multiple streams of income you need in play to create a foundation for your lifestyle dreams.
Those sunsets are free. Dreams are to be lived. Money is merely an enabler.
MAKE - SAVE - MANAGE - INVEST
Ready to be Financially Fear-less (Wo)men?
Start by answering these journal prompts. Write continuously for 2 minutes. Look for themes and interesting ideas you didn’t expect. Or challenges and emotions.
To be wealthier outside we have to face our financial demons and fears inside.
Financial Life
1. I am accountable for my ….
2. When I make a lot of money I feel …
3. Living in wealth is ….
4. For me money is …
5. I deserve …
6. I am the only person that has the power to …
7. If I am not satisfied with my current financial situation I need to start …
Send your responses to me and let’s have some fierce deep money empowering conversations.
