0.25% interest/ Update on life
I had a lengthy discussion with two insurance personnel today and I decided to invest in one of their unit trust scheme.
It's pretty exciting stuff of course, not least because the act of investing in unit trusts-- hitherto a term restricted to a bourgeois class of people, at least from my point of view-- marks one as a young adult truly responsible for one's own present and future well-being. It's made even more exciting because I pushed for it. What the insurance people initially recommanded was a low-risk investment with a rate of return of 3%, but I told them hey no, if you want to do things then do things all the way. So they presented me a high-risk investment scheme with a 5-9% rate of return, but I told them hey no, if you want to do things then do things effectively, so I got myself that scheme with a 1:9 ratio of insurance and investment, which was the highest investment ratio they had. Personally I wanted to put 100% of my funds on investment but they didnt offer such a scheme, which is a pity because I dont care much about insurance. Maybe my funds would be put to better use in an investment firm but the costs of sourcing and researching into those is overbearing; besides, Im only investing a portion of my er assests, so there'd be other chances to look into those in the future.
That being said I cannot help but feel insecure for myself. My monthly premium is $100 (you can increase it, of course, and you can dump in lump sums of money as and when you like) and thats $1200 a year. I dont expect to be working over the course of uni, which could take 3-4 years, which means a deduction of $3600-$4800 over that period of studies, and that is, I believe, a large sum of money to any of us non-working 18-24 year-old. This is over and on top of other bill payments I have to my name, namely a magazine subscription as well as aviva insurance. Essentially this means Im going to have to update my bank book more frequently as well as keep some spare cash as spare cash.
***
I met up with a friend earlier on and we went into mos burger for a milkshake. Two jc kids were studying and when they went to get a drink my friend suggested taking down the no-studying sign on the wall and placing it on their table. I got up to do it but sat down again when I saw them coming. Something stopped me, and Im not sure if it's them or my age.
***
Well, so what are my plans for the near future. I've applied for NUS as well as 2 overseas universities and zero scholarships. Corporate scholarships dont work for me you see, so if my application to the overseas unis get in it's going to be a waste. I've got two backup options though: SPH or their scholarship/financial aid plans. SPH is fine in general but it's going to delay my end-goal of being a researcher by 6 years, and I dont fancy journalistic writing anyway, and the 2nd option is rather an impossible one; nor would it be a holistic one, and I would have to cough up a neat sum myself.
So most likely it's going to be NUS, sweet and easy. Maybe not so sweet because I detest their decor but I guess you get used to that kind of things after time. There's still going to be the problem of funding my masters though. It wouldnt be advisable to do it at NUS for reasons of diversity and exposure, so I've got to somehow find the money to make it overseas. Money's always the issue.
USP would be a nice bonus but after a friend told me it would be a waste of time I gave it some thought and decided not to bother even trying for it. Perhaps it is army life that influenced my decision-- i miss my free time alot-- or perhaps the decision was the result of a year of accumulated desire to rest. Whatever it is, I am determined to make my uni experience as simple as possible. Im going to plan my classes as late in the morning as possible so that I can stay late into the night before, or better still, plan them such that I dont need to go school on thursday and/or friday so that I can stay later into the night. Alternatively, I can opt for a simpler lifestyle and sleep early every night so that I can read the papers over breakfast the morning after, but something tells me things can never be as simple as before.
It's pretty exciting stuff of course, not least because the act of investing in unit trusts-- hitherto a term restricted to a bourgeois class of people, at least from my point of view-- marks one as a young adult truly responsible for one's own present and future well-being. It's made even more exciting because I pushed for it. What the insurance people initially recommanded was a low-risk investment with a rate of return of 3%, but I told them hey no, if you want to do things then do things all the way. So they presented me a high-risk investment scheme with a 5-9% rate of return, but I told them hey no, if you want to do things then do things effectively, so I got myself that scheme with a 1:9 ratio of insurance and investment, which was the highest investment ratio they had. Personally I wanted to put 100% of my funds on investment but they didnt offer such a scheme, which is a pity because I dont care much about insurance. Maybe my funds would be put to better use in an investment firm but the costs of sourcing and researching into those is overbearing; besides, Im only investing a portion of my er assests, so there'd be other chances to look into those in the future.
That being said I cannot help but feel insecure for myself. My monthly premium is $100 (you can increase it, of course, and you can dump in lump sums of money as and when you like) and thats $1200 a year. I dont expect to be working over the course of uni, which could take 3-4 years, which means a deduction of $3600-$4800 over that period of studies, and that is, I believe, a large sum of money to any of us non-working 18-24 year-old. This is over and on top of other bill payments I have to my name, namely a magazine subscription as well as aviva insurance. Essentially this means Im going to have to update my bank book more frequently as well as keep some spare cash as spare cash.
***
I met up with a friend earlier on and we went into mos burger for a milkshake. Two jc kids were studying and when they went to get a drink my friend suggested taking down the no-studying sign on the wall and placing it on their table. I got up to do it but sat down again when I saw them coming. Something stopped me, and Im not sure if it's them or my age.
***
Well, so what are my plans for the near future. I've applied for NUS as well as 2 overseas universities and zero scholarships. Corporate scholarships dont work for me you see, so if my application to the overseas unis get in it's going to be a waste. I've got two backup options though: SPH or their scholarship/financial aid plans. SPH is fine in general but it's going to delay my end-goal of being a researcher by 6 years, and I dont fancy journalistic writing anyway, and the 2nd option is rather an impossible one; nor would it be a holistic one, and I would have to cough up a neat sum myself.
So most likely it's going to be NUS, sweet and easy. Maybe not so sweet because I detest their decor but I guess you get used to that kind of things after time. There's still going to be the problem of funding my masters though. It wouldnt be advisable to do it at NUS for reasons of diversity and exposure, so I've got to somehow find the money to make it overseas. Money's always the issue.
USP would be a nice bonus but after a friend told me it would be a waste of time I gave it some thought and decided not to bother even trying for it. Perhaps it is army life that influenced my decision-- i miss my free time alot-- or perhaps the decision was the result of a year of accumulated desire to rest. Whatever it is, I am determined to make my uni experience as simple as possible. Im going to plan my classes as late in the morning as possible so that I can stay late into the night before, or better still, plan them such that I dont need to go school on thursday and/or friday so that I can stay later into the night. Alternatively, I can opt for a simpler lifestyle and sleep early every night so that I can read the papers over breakfast the morning after, but something tells me things can never be as simple as before.
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