A: We were comfortable but there wasn't a lot of money for luxuries.
Q: Have you begun investing? Was there a trigger factor which made you start?
A: I started dabbling in listed Singapore stocks when I first started working, wanting to take profit quickly. After a while, I realised that investing as a gamble was stupid and irresponsible. Now I invest in order to provide for the educational needs of my son, to save for retirement, and (very importantly) setting aside a significant portion for charitable donations.
Q: Do you have a target? And does this target move with changes in your circumstances?
A: I don't have a monetary target but saving is, innately, a priority for me. In addition to spare cash, I do some forced savings by GIRO-ing sums into a savings account for my son.
Q: You are a busy career woman, are you able to manage investments?
A: Quite frankly, I think I am abysmal at managing investments. For starters, I spend so much time and energy taking care of my clients' needs and legal transactions, that when it comes to my own, I don't feel like working so hard. Secondly, as an M&A and capital markets lawyer, I am always coming into possession of price-sensitive information from my clients. As a result of this, I don't jump in and out of the market on short-term considerations. My investments are generally those I can hold for the long term (eg Singapore bank shares).
Q: Do you believe in property as an investment?
A: In Singapore, property will obviously continue to be a smart investment for so long as our country continues to attract foreign investments, foreign talent and foreign wealth. For this, we have much to thank our government for. That said, I wouldn't buy property to speculate, as I lived through the property bubble bursting in 1997 and still remember the fallout.
Q: You have one young son who is nine. Does your current investment plan include providing for him until a certain age before you tell him he's on his own?
A: Absolutely. My husband, Shen Yi, and I started saving for Jonathan when he was an infant. We would like to be able to support him through his university education and let him take that as far as he can go, especially if he has any special talents. Unless, of course, he wants to do a PhD in wine-tasting - then he's on his own.
Q: Do you believe in leaving money/property to children?
A: My husband and I agree on most aspects of Jonathan's upbringing (except Shen would have more sympathy for the wine-tasting), but on this issue, we have slightly divergent views. Shen would like to be able to give his son property as a legacy. I, on the other hand, believe that a good education is the best legacy a parent can hand down, and the rest is up to the child to make of his life. Knowing that he has a monetary legacy to fall back on may make him less motivated to make a success of his career.
Q: Do you make your own investment decisions or do you consult your husband?
A: I always consult my husband, not only because he provides another perspective on investing, but also because we operate on the principle that there's no 'his and hers' in terms of our assets. All our assets are jointly owned and we are accountable to each other for our significant spending.
Q: Do you approach money matters differently from him?
A: Shen Yi has a much better grasp of the numbers and how much we will need to support ourselves when we decide we don't want to work full-time. He is therefore better at strategic planning for our financial future.
Q: Do you believe that married women should have their own separate accounts?
A: Yes, but not for the reasons you might think. I don't buy into this 'what's his is mine and what's mine is mine' philosophy. All our assets belong to us jointly. We maintain separate bank accounts for purely practical reasons - if one of us were to die unexpectedly, we wouldn't want all the bank accounts to be frozen pending probate. I also find that having a separate account forces me to be more responsible with what I personally spend on.
Q: What kind of retirement do you envisage? Do you have a date for retiring?
A: We don't think we will ever truly retire. Shen will always want to remain a litigator because his heart is in this and I cannot see myself looking after the grandkids. However, I can imagine us slowing down on the legal practice side and developing new roles for ourselves, whether in managing investments or spending more time in volunteer work. Of course, if Jonathan is the next Michael Chang, we might have to give it all up to follow him on the pro tennis circuit.
Q: What has been your best investment?
A: That's easy - a diamond we bought last year. It appreciated 30 per cent in a week when a jeweller saw it as it was being set and offered me a higher price for it.
Q: And the worst?
A: One of my early investments - stocks in a Clob-listed company that eventually became worthless. I bought on the basis of market sentiment, without understanding the fundamentals of the investment. A costly but valuable lesson.
Q: Do you have a weakness when it comes to spending money?
A: If you don't count the diamond (which, as I mentioned, falls into the category of 'savvy investment'), I would have to confess that we spend most of our splurge capital on family holidays. Some years back, we agreed to set money aside for family holidays. Our best memories as a family are from the bonding on a road trip or screaming down a ski slope. Money can pay for the holiday, but the memories we take with us - those are priceless.
This article was first published in The Business Times on May 28, 2008
