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Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)
Mar 27, 2011
me & my money
Making a living at home
Internet entrepreneur works on own time, imparting wisdom on marketing, investing
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Mr Fabian Lim worked for several years as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting before he decided to become his own boss.
He set up a wedding videography business in 2001, filming weddings in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and New York. In 2006, his friend took over the running of the business and Mr Lim, 39, retained a small share.
Meanwhile, in 2002, a friend who returned from the United States introduced him to Internet marketing. The idea of being able to make a living at home through the Internet so intrigued him that he devoted the next five years to mastering Internet marketing techniques by attending various online courses run by US experts.
In 2005, he had his first breakthrough when he sold market research software online and it generated sales of US$200,000 over 20 months. He set up a blog and built a mailing list consisting mainly of online readers of his weekly newsletter that gave updates on Internet marketing techniques and the latest Web products.
In 2006, he launched his own instructional program that taught users how to utilise Google's paid advertising system effectively. He achieved sales of US$100,000 in five days.
He started providing Internet marketing education - via the Web, and through running courses in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. To date, he has taught more than 4,000 people how to make a living by marketing Web products and services.
Towards the end of 2009, he picked up stock trading, and learnt how to buy and sell stocks over the Internet using a trend-tracking trading system.
Come July, he will launch his proprietary market trend optimiser software SharesXPert globally on his site - http://www.sharesXPert.com
The software helps in selecting stocks that are potentially on a market uptrend and provides buy and sell signals to the user.
Mr Lim graduated with a business degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, administered by the Singapore Institute of Management, in 1995. He worked at Texas Instruments for a year before joining Deloitte.
He is married to Ms Evangeline Lee, 37, who assists him in his business as a director of operations.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I spend about 30 per cent of my money, and invest 50 per cent. The remainder is held in cash. My savings account earns less than 1 per cent per annum. So, rather than save the money, I choose to invest it in my business and in the stock market.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I carry four credit cards in my wallet: Citibank Visa, UOB Visa, POSB MasterCard and American Express.
I charge around $10,000 a month to these cards, the bulk of the charges being business-related, like air tickets and hotel expenses. The rest are charges associated to my hobbies like aviation and personal travel.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My portfolio comprises my businesses, insurance, stocks and cash.
Between 2009 and late last year, I set up three firms - ClickEvents.com.sg, ClickAcademy.com.sg and ClickSystems.com.sg - which focus on events management, online marketing and stock trading education, respectively.
I own several life insurance policies: three term plans, two whole life, two endowment and two investment-linked insurance policies which invest in Europe, Asia, global technology and global equity. I have a life cover of $2.5 million and a critical illness cover of $400,000. I review these policies once a year with my financial advisor Felix Kim from Prudential. Ever since I learnt how to invest in the stock market, I have stopped buying investment-linked insurance policies.
I set aside US$100,000 (S$126,000) for my stock investments, which are mainly US and local stocks that are selected using my system SharesXPert. I do not invest more than 10 per cent of that in a single counter.
I was short on F&N and Genting on March 14 and sold them on Monday. At present, the market is uncertain so I have no positions. My monthly target returns are 5 to 25 per cent.
I'm also planning to invest about $200,000 in a flight chartering business this year-end. A few friends and I are considering buying a Turboprop plane that costs US$3.5 million.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I was fortunate to have grown up in a middle-class environment. I have two brothers, one older and one younger.
My dad was a general manager at a petrochemical firm but he ventured into the business of distributing cookware when I was 10. He was successful and enjoyed living comfortably. My mother helped him in his business.
But I was certainly not spoilt as a kid. I had to work for things that I wanted. For instance, I owned and operated a mobile disco company when I was in Catholic Junior College to earn some pocket money. Then I was the resident pianist at Changi Airport Terminal 2's transit lounge for two years, to pay for my university fees.
We lived in a 3,000 sq ft, three-storey, semi-detached house in the Upper Thomson area and moved to a 1,500 sq ft apartment at Mandarin Gardens when I was 16.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I started getting serious in investing only slightly less than two years ago. I'm a late bloomer in investing because I spent most of my working years focusing on being an entrepreneur.
Now that my businesses are more or less stable, I am able to seriously focus on investing to grow my money.
To this end, my investment strategy involves managing my funds using my own stock trading system, SharesXPert, an activity that takes less than 30 minutes a day.
Q: What property do you own?
A 1,378 sq ft three-bedroom freehold condominium at The Suites At Central, Devonshire Road. I bought it in December 2009 for $2.6 million. The current valuation is approximately $3.2 million.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
It was a recent acquisition of a four-seater airplane, Columbia 350. I bought it last December for approximately US$400,000 in cash. Due to the unavailability of aircraft loans in Asia, I had no choice but to pay for the aircraft entirely in cash.
The aircraft is based in the US, and I had the pleasure of flying it there in December and January. I spent about 30 hours in the aircraft and every minute of it has been pure pleasure.
Owning a private aircraft offers me unrivalled convenience not possible with regular commercial air travel. For example, as I travel to Kuala Lumpur very often, getting there via private aircraft can save me approximately one hour door to door. And I won't be subject to liquid, aerosols and gels regulations. Lastly, I can use the plane to provide joy rides to the less fortunate. I plan to have the plane here in June.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I really love what I do. I get up any time I want and work from home. What more can one ask for? I hope to continue to do what I'm doing for a long time.
If I ever retire, I hope to spend my retirement years as a professional poker player. Fly around the world in a private jet and take part in poker competitions!
My wife and I currently need about $20,000 a month, which includes paying our mortgage and income tax.
Q: Home is now....
My condo at Devonshire Road.
Q: I drive....
A gold-colour BMW 7 Series that I bought in July 2009.
[email protected]
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
I set up a business with a partner selling 'silicon bras' in 2005. We were one of the first to bring the product to Singapore, and business was brisk at first. However, other big-time competitors started coming in and the market was soon flooded. The retail price dropped considerably and so did our margins. In the end, my storeroom at home became stocked with silicon bras to the point where I was giving them as birthday presents to my female friends.
My investment was fortunately only $10,000, and I lost half of it when I closed down the business in 2006. I learnt that physical product retailing is tough, especially if you can't differentiate your product from that of your rivals. Now, I don't deal with physical inventory because my business involves software and knowledge.
Q: And your best investment?
My best investment to date, in terms of net dollar gain, is probably my current property in Devonshire Road.
It appreciated by close to $600,000 in just one year.
me & my money
Making a living at home
Internet entrepreneur works on own time, imparting wisdom on marketing, investing
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Mr Fabian Lim worked for several years as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting before he decided to become his own boss.
He set up a wedding videography business in 2001, filming weddings in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and New York. In 2006, his friend took over the running of the business and Mr Lim, 39, retained a small share.
Meanwhile, in 2002, a friend who returned from the United States introduced him to Internet marketing. The idea of being able to make a living at home through the Internet so intrigued him that he devoted the next five years to mastering Internet marketing techniques by attending various online courses run by US experts.
In 2005, he had his first breakthrough when he sold market research software online and it generated sales of US$200,000 over 20 months. He set up a blog and built a mailing list consisting mainly of online readers of his weekly newsletter that gave updates on Internet marketing techniques and the latest Web products.
In 2006, he launched his own instructional program that taught users how to utilise Google's paid advertising system effectively. He achieved sales of US$100,000 in five days.
He started providing Internet marketing education - via the Web, and through running courses in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. To date, he has taught more than 4,000 people how to make a living by marketing Web products and services.
Towards the end of 2009, he picked up stock trading, and learnt how to buy and sell stocks over the Internet using a trend-tracking trading system.
Come July, he will launch his proprietary market trend optimiser software SharesXPert globally on his site - http://www.sharesXPert.com
The software helps in selecting stocks that are potentially on a market uptrend and provides buy and sell signals to the user.
Mr Lim graduated with a business degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, administered by the Singapore Institute of Management, in 1995. He worked at Texas Instruments for a year before joining Deloitte.
He is married to Ms Evangeline Lee, 37, who assists him in his business as a director of operations.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I spend about 30 per cent of my money, and invest 50 per cent. The remainder is held in cash. My savings account earns less than 1 per cent per annum. So, rather than save the money, I choose to invest it in my business and in the stock market.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I carry four credit cards in my wallet: Citibank Visa, UOB Visa, POSB MasterCard and American Express.
I charge around $10,000 a month to these cards, the bulk of the charges being business-related, like air tickets and hotel expenses. The rest are charges associated to my hobbies like aviation and personal travel.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My portfolio comprises my businesses, insurance, stocks and cash.
Between 2009 and late last year, I set up three firms - ClickEvents.com.sg, ClickAcademy.com.sg and ClickSystems.com.sg - which focus on events management, online marketing and stock trading education, respectively.
I own several life insurance policies: three term plans, two whole life, two endowment and two investment-linked insurance policies which invest in Europe, Asia, global technology and global equity. I have a life cover of $2.5 million and a critical illness cover of $400,000. I review these policies once a year with my financial advisor Felix Kim from Prudential. Ever since I learnt how to invest in the stock market, I have stopped buying investment-linked insurance policies.
I set aside US$100,000 (S$126,000) for my stock investments, which are mainly US and local stocks that are selected using my system SharesXPert. I do not invest more than 10 per cent of that in a single counter.
I was short on F&N and Genting on March 14 and sold them on Monday. At present, the market is uncertain so I have no positions. My monthly target returns are 5 to 25 per cent.
I'm also planning to invest about $200,000 in a flight chartering business this year-end. A few friends and I are considering buying a Turboprop plane that costs US$3.5 million.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I was fortunate to have grown up in a middle-class environment. I have two brothers, one older and one younger.
My dad was a general manager at a petrochemical firm but he ventured into the business of distributing cookware when I was 10. He was successful and enjoyed living comfortably. My mother helped him in his business.
But I was certainly not spoilt as a kid. I had to work for things that I wanted. For instance, I owned and operated a mobile disco company when I was in Catholic Junior College to earn some pocket money. Then I was the resident pianist at Changi Airport Terminal 2's transit lounge for two years, to pay for my university fees.
We lived in a 3,000 sq ft, three-storey, semi-detached house in the Upper Thomson area and moved to a 1,500 sq ft apartment at Mandarin Gardens when I was 16.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I started getting serious in investing only slightly less than two years ago. I'm a late bloomer in investing because I spent most of my working years focusing on being an entrepreneur.
Now that my businesses are more or less stable, I am able to seriously focus on investing to grow my money.
To this end, my investment strategy involves managing my funds using my own stock trading system, SharesXPert, an activity that takes less than 30 minutes a day.
Q: What property do you own?
A 1,378 sq ft three-bedroom freehold condominium at The Suites At Central, Devonshire Road. I bought it in December 2009 for $2.6 million. The current valuation is approximately $3.2 million.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
It was a recent acquisition of a four-seater airplane, Columbia 350. I bought it last December for approximately US$400,000 in cash. Due to the unavailability of aircraft loans in Asia, I had no choice but to pay for the aircraft entirely in cash.
The aircraft is based in the US, and I had the pleasure of flying it there in December and January. I spent about 30 hours in the aircraft and every minute of it has been pure pleasure.
Owning a private aircraft offers me unrivalled convenience not possible with regular commercial air travel. For example, as I travel to Kuala Lumpur very often, getting there via private aircraft can save me approximately one hour door to door. And I won't be subject to liquid, aerosols and gels regulations. Lastly, I can use the plane to provide joy rides to the less fortunate. I plan to have the plane here in June.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
I really love what I do. I get up any time I want and work from home. What more can one ask for? I hope to continue to do what I'm doing for a long time.
If I ever retire, I hope to spend my retirement years as a professional poker player. Fly around the world in a private jet and take part in poker competitions!
My wife and I currently need about $20,000 a month, which includes paying our mortgage and income tax.
Q: Home is now....
My condo at Devonshire Road.
Q: I drive....
A gold-colour BMW 7 Series that I bought in July 2009.
[email protected]
WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What has been your worst investment to date?
I set up a business with a partner selling 'silicon bras' in 2005. We were one of the first to bring the product to Singapore, and business was brisk at first. However, other big-time competitors started coming in and the market was soon flooded. The retail price dropped considerably and so did our margins. In the end, my storeroom at home became stocked with silicon bras to the point where I was giving them as birthday presents to my female friends.
My investment was fortunately only $10,000, and I lost half of it when I closed down the business in 2006. I learnt that physical product retailing is tough, especially if you can't differentiate your product from that of your rivals. Now, I don't deal with physical inventory because my business involves software and knowledge.
Q: And your best investment?
My best investment to date, in terms of net dollar gain, is probably my current property in Devonshire Road.
It appreciated by close to $600,000 in just one year.
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