March 8, 2009
me & money
Consultant has all bases covered
Her entire family is insured and she makes investments only after doing her homework
By Lorna Tan
A believer in insurance protection, Ms Regina Chua, 43, has been faithfully increasing her insurance coverage as her family size grew.
Over the last 18 years, the founder of sales and service training consultancy Discipline Dynamics and her husband Peter Yeo, 46, have bought various policies. They range from term insurance and critical illness insurance to hospitalisation policies for the two of them.
When the children came, they added endowment plans for the purpose of providing for their education.
As part of their retirement planning, they are now considering annuity options, which should complete their insurance portfolio.
When it comes to investment products, Ms Chua enlists the help of financial planners but she shops around for the best deals and takes time to study the products before investing in them.
She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1988 with a degree in business administration. In 2004, she obtained an MBA in strategic marketing from the University of Hull, Britain.
After 15 years in the corporate world working for multinationals like marketing agency Ogilvy Direct and IT firm Schlumberger International, she decided to set up her own firm in 2003.
Her husband joined Discipline Dynamics two years later as a managing partner. Prior to that, he was regional marketing manager at DHL for five years.
The couple have three children, Nicolette, 16, Reuben, 14, and Russell, 10.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
A prudent spender, as we've got three children. While we do not have a structured savings programme, we have an annual budget plan and stick fairly close to that.
On average, 20 per cent is saved, another 20 per cent is invested while the remaining 60 per cent is spent.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
It varies but on average I charge about $400 monthly between two main credit cards so that I can benefit from the bonus points.
All the cards' bills are fully paid, as it's a personal discipline to spend within one's means.
We have a joint savings account and we draw an average of $200 weekly as we dislike carrying cash. Most of our routine transactions are settled via Giro, Nets and Internet banking. It is convenient and easier to keep track of our expenditure in this way.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
We have cash liquidity of around 30 per cent, especially at this point to ensure that we have the capacity to weather the economic storm and to keep an eye out for good investments.
The balance is in an investment portfolio which is roughly split into 40 per cent high-risk, comprising stocks such DBS Bank and Cosco, and 60 per cent into longer- term, safer instruments like hedge funds, although it's tough to tell the difference now!
For funds, we generally have a long-term view, so while it is tough looking at the returns now, we did get good returns of around 10 per cent before the current economic crisis occurred.
For insurance, we have critical illness, hospitalisation and term insurance for us and endowment plans for our kids.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I'm the eldest child in a family of six.
We lived in a three-room flat in Commonwealth Crescent and I still wonder now how my siblings and I managed to squeeze into one bedroom together.
My dad was a resourceful man. When his home decor business was wound up due to bad debts from a major debtor, he humbled himself by becoming a woodwork contractor. Not once did I ever hear him complain despite the challenges he faced.
He always gave his family the top priority and would spoil us with candy. Dad's motto was 'Family comes first'. This is something that I practise today.
His untimely death from a sudden heart attack in his mid-40s was a shock to the family, especially my mother, a housewife.
Being the eldest of four siblings, I realised that I was the sole breadwinner at 22.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I worked in companies that provided stock options and that was a neat windfall though it was not much.
Being risk-averse, I focused on critical illness and term insurance. Subsequently, we began to explore investment funds to diversify our portfolio as recommended by relationship managers.
We have since moved on to buying shares directly from the open market as we gained more confidence in making our investment decisions.
Q: What property do you own?
My husband and I own a 1,560 sq ft executive maisonette at Sunset Way.
We bought it in 2001 for about $450,000. It's wonderful to have a roof over our head that is fully paid for.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
My Franck Muller watch which cost $5,000. I hardly splurge on myself so I have no regrets. Besides, it was a reward for myself after five years of running my consultancy business.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I don't think I'll ever stop working as I enjoy my work tremendously. But if I do retire, it will be when I'm around 60.
My hubby and I would probably get by with $4,000 a month when we retire and perhaps contemplate living in Cambodia or Vietnam to teach English!
Q: Home is now...
The executive maisonette.
Q: I drive...
A black Honda Odyssey.
BEST AND WORST BETS
Q: What's your worst investment?
It was my membership at Fort Canning Country Club. It was bought at about $19,000 and it became zero a few years later when the club fell into debt. This was in the late 1990s.
Q: Your best investment?
Our first three-room HDB flat in Ghim Moh Road. We bought it for $42,000 in 1991. After the mandatory holding period of 21/2 years for resale flats, we sold it at double the original price.
Sticking to a budget
'(I am) a prudent spender, as we've got three children. While we do not have a structured savings programme, we have an annual budget plan and stick fairly close to that. On average, 20 per cent is saved, another 20 per cent is invested while the remaining 60 per cent is spent.'
MS REGINA CHUA, corporate sales training consultant
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