By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent

Driven by an ambition to be the No. 1 online tyre retailer in Asia, Mr Ler Hwee Tiong left his $250,000 job in July last year to set up his own business - tyre portal Tyrepac - with two partners. His initial investment was about $600,000 and he expects to break even by next year.

When it comes to financial planning, Mr Ler, 39, considers himself a conservative investor. He believes in saving via insurance plans. He and his wife have a total of 11 plans and their annual premiums are $20,000 a year.

Mr Ler joined the tyre industry after graduating from National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) in 1995.

Prior to venturing out on his own, he was sales director at US-based firm Cooper Tire for which he was stationed in Shanghai for two years. Before that, he had stints in Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad, and Singapore-listed Stamford Tyres which based him in Hong Kong for five years.

Visitors to Mr Ler's portal can buy from a wide selection of tyres which his firm sources worldwide. Prices are stated openly and one can find tyre reviews too. Once tyres are bought, Tyrepac's mobile fitters will deliver and put them on the vehicles. Another option is for customers to visit one of 16 tyre dealers appointed by the firm.

Tyrepac also provides automotive servicing at your doorstep, a service that is popular with women customers, Mr Ler said. Since it started early this year, his portal www.tyrepac.com has been ranked among the six most popular sites by research firm Hitwise, drawing 25,000 hits a month.

He is married to Shirley Lee, 35, who is a housewife. They have two daughters, Kate, nine, and Gail, seven.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I'm definitely a saver. I guess it is a habit from the past given my humble background. I give 40 per cent of my income to my family for expenses and put away the rest.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

My expenses are simple, just fuel for my car and the occasional meals out. My monthly credit card bills are about $300 to $500, which I pay in full each month. I don't believe in borrowing, so credit cards are just for convenience. I go to the ATM once a week and I withdraw about $200 to $300 each time.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

My investments are mainly in my businesses and insurance.

Besides Tyrepac, I am the majority shareholder of a China-based product packaging and design/branding firm Adboxx Design, which I set up with another partner two years ago. I invested $50,000 and the business is profitable and self-funding. My stake is now worth $80,000. I am hopeful that in five to 10 years, the returns would go up many times.

Between my wife and me, we have a total of 11 whole life and endowment plans, with an insurance maturity amount of about $500,000 at age 60 to 65. I plan to put it aside for medical expenses in our old age. Our annual premium costs about $20,000.

I really cannot afford to take additional risk beyond my business, especially if it affects the cash flow.

I used to trade shares like Singapore Airlines and Sembcorp Marine, and I invested about $60,000 in the stock market over the years. But I liquidated most of my trades about three years ago and exited with $80,000.

Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

I grew up in a kampung in Upper Bukit Timah. I lived in a one bedroom house with a zinc roof.

I'm the second child in my family of five. Life was simple but amazingly memorable. My father was an SBS bus driver and my mother was a housewife until I was in my teens when she worked as a production worker.

My mother taught us simple values like working hard, thrift and respect for elders. I used my older brother's books, uniforms and shoes. It was a 30-minute walk to my primary school.

I started working when I was 14 during the school holidays. I sold furniture and worked at construction firms, drilling pipes for wiring.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

During my university days, it was trendy to be dabbling in shares. Everyone was buying little but talking much. And contra trading was the way, especially when you made a few bucks and could brag about it.

One of my first share transactions was in initial public offering (IPO) shares. During the boom in the early 1990s, it was a given that IPO shares were profitable. I made my first gain of $1,000 then. I thought I would never again have to break a sweat to make money but of course I was wrong. I'm still hanging on to some really bad paper losses in shares.

I'm pretty conservative and I would go for blue chips. I had several friends in the banking industry so I got tips from them and read annual reports.

Q: What property do you own?

Nothing beyond my home which is a five-room HDB flat in Bukit Panjang. I bought it about 10 years ago for $250,000.

Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?

A $16,000 Cartier watch for my wife. It's a rose gold trimmed watch with a leather strap. I bought it for her birthday last year.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

My wife and I estimated $2 million in cash equivalent will be enough for our retirement, so that we will have an average of $8,000 a month at today's value for about 20 years should we decide to do absolutely nothing but eat, sleep and be merry.

We don't borrow, so that we sleep well at night. It also means that we can kick it down a notch when we want.

Q: Home is now...

My five-room flat in Bukit Panjang.

Q: I drive...

A grey Toyota Camry.

WORST AND BEST BETS

Q: My worst investment to date...

My worst realised investment loss to date would have to be the $6,000 I put into commodity trading, more precisely, in sugar. This was recommended by a friend when I was in the National University of Singapore in 1993. It became totally worthless in a week, so I lost all my investment. I had borrowed the sum from my mother and had to work for two vacations to pay off my debt to her. The moral of the story for me: Don't just listen to your friends' recommendations when it comes to investments - do your own research.

Q: My best investment to date...

I'm very passionate about this 'silly' product, tyres. It has given me a career for many years, and is now a business I can sing and dance about. My biggest investment is my present business Tyrepac. I hope to see profits by next year, and if things go according to plan, my share in this business should be enough to retire on.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.