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Last
weekend I watched Avenue Q with my college friends. It
is a modern and humorous musical, poking fun at people
trying to find their purpose in the world. Its clever
use of puppets to portray modern everyday problems made
me feel like it was almost
Sesame Street
on steroids.
I am not
about to critique the play, but a lot of what I will say
allude to it. It is just worth mentioning, for me at
least, because I think it has a strong connection to
those in their early to late 20s, or what is known as
the quarter-life crisis.
I used
to work for a multinational company. Yet, after four
years of working, nay, toiling, I felt the need to
explore myself. I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but due
to more pressing financial needs, I tried my luck in the
stock market. I traded some of my savings in the stock
market. So from January to July of this year, it was
“Thank God for the stock market,” but from then on, it
was “Oh my God. . . the stock market!”
I got
exposed to the stock market in 2004, so it was really
nothing new to me. What was new, though, was my approach
to the stock market. I used to just read the newspapers,
and then bought the stock that was on the actively
traded and top-gainers list of the day. But then, this
meant I was always one day late in terms of stock
picking.
So by
watching CNBC and Bloomberg and reading more online
resources, I came to know that there are essentially two
approaches to the stock market—a fundamental approach
and a technical approach. Instead of knocking my brains
silly, I ventured toward the technical approach. I
studied technical analysis through a group called
Absolute Traders.
After
trading the stock market for the better half of this
year, I realized I wanted to be in the field of
investments. It is a complete turnaround from the work I
was in, much more the course I took. So to build new
skills, I went around shopping for seminars. It was then
that I stumbled upon this course called Registered
Financial Planner. The practice is still in its infancy.
With the growing interest in investments, though, I
would not be surprised that the need for financial
planners will grow with it.
So is
this the purpose I was looking for? I still can’t say.
The irony of life is that you spend so much time doing
something, only to know its value after the fact. The
cliché, “Hindsight is 20/20,” comes to mind. All I know
is that I am passionate about what I am doing right now.
I think I would not be putting up a blog about
investing, joining an e-group, studying and reading
about investments, if I was not.
I have
been blessed with many good mentors throughout my life.
I am here where I am now because of the choices I have
made. More important, these choices were not just borne
out of my own thinking. These were choices that were
formed as a consequence of having conversations with
them.
These
are people who coach you along the way. This is similar
to when we were in school. Our teachers, professors and
thesis advisers were the persons that guided us toward a
goal. In the school of hard knocks, we have to look for
that mentor, too. Most often, this mentor can be found
in the workplace. The mentor has to have extensive
experience and knowledge. Then, never be afraid to ask
questions. Knowledge does not fall from a tree.
A lot of
people are still trying to search for their purpose.
They are searching for what they are passionate the
most. And these people are going through the motions,
working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are complaining about
their measly salary. They try to force themselves out of
bed. Everything is just a set of repetitive moments.
We all
have a choice, dear 20-somethings. The main reason why
people stick to where they are is due to financial
reasons. The idea of finding our passion sounds more
like a romantic ideal than an achievable dream.
If we
really want to find our passion, we cannot do that by
staying still. We need to go out and explore. We have to
try new things. I think opportunities are always out
there. We just have to know where to look.
From the
financial-planning perspective, I offer this
solution—put up an emergency fund. Some people say you
base it on three to six months’ worth of your salary. I
think it would be better if you base it on your three to
six months’ worth of fixed expenses (water, electricity)
and your future liabilities (credit-card debt, insurance
premiums). This pool of money should be placed in a
conservative instrument, preferably something like a
30-day time deposit.
I am
amazed that saving is almost alien to most. We complain
that we do not have enough because we have to pay so
many bills. I would not be surprised if these so-called
bills were actually a long list of credit-card expenses.
In US financial parlance, there is this statement called
“pay yourself first.”
In my
previous life as an employee, I joined our company
cooperative. The monthly contribution to the cooperative
was deducted from my salary first. So the amount I got
was net of taxes and contribution. This way, I am forced
to save.
Another
thing is, get insured! I do not believe that the best
time to get an insurance policy is when you are married
or you have children. By that time, your monthly
expenses would have almost overtaken your monthly
salary. How can you afford to spend for insurance?
I find
it interesting that people load up on all sorts of
expenses after they get married. It is almost as if we
suddenly become rich when we tie the knot. What happened
to us when we were still single? What happened to
planning? In business, executives worry about execution.
In life, people forget planning. Wonderful, right?
You may
not believe this, but getting an insurance policy will
be your first step to financial freedom. When you are
insured, you have peace of mind. When you have peace of
mind, certainly, you can do other things more
confidently. It is no different from having your regular
annual checkups. When you get a clean bill of health,
you would probably resort to risky behavior again (by
risky I mean smoking, drinking).
When you
are financially confident and sound, you can afford to
take calculated risks. That is also the time you can go
out and reach for that dream. Let me end by trying my
hand at inspiring you.
Four
years ago I would not have thought that I would be
writing for public consumption. During my high-school
days (and it was not that long ago) I wrote short,
uncompleted novels. I had a writing buddy before, and we
would read each other’s work. And like all those
childhood stuff you do, it just stopped. My passion
though, was always there. I grabbed every opportunity
there was to write. This piece you are reading is a
testament to that.
We can
all be achievers if we never stop dreaming. Man reached
the moon, then the stars, because we never stopped
dreaming of that. Like what I always tell a friend, a
dream is worth having if it is worth achieving. What’s
yours?
Sherwin Chan is a member of Sun Life and offers
protection and investment needs. He dabbles in the stock
market and is a member of Absolute Traders. He attended
the Seventh RFP Program. He maintains a blog at
http://guerillainvesting.blogspot.com. You
may reach him at
guerillainvesting@yahoo.com.
Join the Seventh RFP Program (January 19 to March 8,
2008). Visit
www.rfp-philippines.com
or inquire at
info@rfp-philippines.com/Tel.
No. 6342204. |
