A DENTIST at smilefocus Cosmetic Dentistry, Australian Bernard Siew has a clear vision of what he wants to do when he retires.

'Retirement does not mean being a bum on a beach. It's being productive without having to think about generating an income,' he said.

'There are at least two things I would love to do when I retire: make films and take up philanthropy work.'

So far, he has made five short films, one of which reached the final rounds at the Canon Digital Video Festival in 2006.

His passion for film has led him to take up some acting roles in local TV series such as Police & Thief, and to play a Tom Cruise look-alike in a trailer shown in Singapore to promote the movie Mission Impossible.

Dr Siew, 30, has offered free dental treatment to the poor and needy in Bintan. He wants to continue this philanthropic work in places such as Indonesia and Borneo.

He hopes to retire by age 40, but 55 might be a more realistic goal, he said.

For a while, his dream of an early retirement seemed very far away as he sought to grow his wealth by himself. He bought an investment-linked insurance plan without knowing how his premium would be allocated and other investments such as a capital-guaranteed product that locked in the principal sum for 20 years.

'I believe every investment I made then was bad because I didn't know what I was doing. I certainly wasn't investing - just putting money in other people's hands and hoping it would grow,' he said.

By conventional standards, Dr Siew is considered a good saver as he saves half his income. But instead of making his money work hard for him, he left a large portion lying idle in savings accounts that offered paltry interest rates.

'I've realised that even if a person is in a good profession and makes good money, the world is changing very rapidly. What you can afford now, you won't be able to afford in two years' time. You've got to stay ahead of the curve,' he said.

To make his retirement dream a reality, he recently engaged ipac financial planning to review his financial status. He had delayed seeking help before because he did not know who to turn to.

He now plans to stay invested for the long haul through a regular savings plan that will feed into an investment portfolio which is reviewed regularly.

Dr Siew came to Singapore in 2001 from Adelaide and is married to childhood sweetheart Christine Lee, 30, who runs The Cupcake Bakery from home.

Q What are your money habits?

A I come from a very modest household. My father was disciplined. He spent a fraction of his income and saved the rest if he could.

I am not into luxuries, so I try to save as much as half my income at the moment. My biggest expenses are the rental for my apartment, food and - recently - transportation as taxi fares have increased.

Q What financial planning have you done for yourself?

A I did very little financial planning until recently.

During my university days, I used my earnings from vacation jobs to buy some Australian shares and the healthy returns from these helped pay for some of my tuition fees.

My father invested in shares and he encouraged me to invest in counters such as Crown Casino and Telstra. I have also dabbled in unit trusts and structured deposits in Singapore, which have seen embarrassing returns.

Before meeting with ipac, I had half of my investments in fixed deposits in Australian dollars, which have seen pretty good returns of 6 to 7 per cent a year. The balance was in savings accounts.

On top of my Australian fixed deposits, I now have a portfolio of global equity funds. I also have three months' worth of emergency cash funds.

Q What about insurance planning?

A I bought an investment-linked insurance plan, which was a mistake. It gave a minimal insurance coverage of $40,000 and measly investment returns. I got out of that after about three years and lost half the initial sum of $5,000.

Now, I have a term life insurance plan with a $2.6 million cover, medical health insurance for my wife and me, and disability income protection. Our annual premiums amount to $10,000.

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

A My parents are Malaysians. My mother was a housewife, while my dad worked as a teacher. Teachers earned very little then, but we lived a very comfortable life.

We were members of a country club and my sister, who is a gifted musician, had the best and most expensive music teachers. All this was possible because of my father's investments in stocks and property.

But the wealth didn't last long after my family decided to emigrate to Australia when I was 13, as my father ploughed all his savings into our education. He wanted me and my sister to have the best schooling.

He bought me my first investment book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

When I graduated from the University of Adelaide, he bought me my second investment book: The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason.

Q Are you interested in investing?

A I don't think that it is an interest of mine per se. Financial investment bores me silly. It is, however, a necessity. I am just starting to plan my finances properly.

Q What has been a bad investment?

A I was investing in bits and pieces as I didn't have a lot of time. I invested $20,000 in a capital-guaranteed product that locked up the principal investment sum for 20 years. The last time I looked at the statement, it was still under water at $16,000.

After this, I learnt that I shouldn't lock money into investments where I have problems taking it out again. In this case, I would have had to pay a penalty. I lost the opportunity to invest that sum elsewhere.

Q Your best investment to date?

A Oddly enough, in foreign currency, only because of the current exchange rate and the interest it draws. I am not a currency trader, by the way. And I do it only with Australian dollars since I might need the currency one day, as I'm Australian.

Q And your home now is...?

A I'm renting a 1,400 sq ft condo unit for $5,500 a month in Holland Village.