Small capital, am i out for investing in UK Endowment?

[yeesheng]

Hi all,

A small capital is always been defined as a "problem" for amateur or a beginner in investment despite of the lack of spare time they have.

I understand more about UK Endowment after attending Dennis's class.

A big doubt is if i have only a small capital, can i still invest in UK Endowment? What i understand is the UK insurer gives up the long term invested policy and wants to get the cash value back by selling the policy off to another person and he/she will become the new policy holder.

Probably what is the lowest amount (S$) can be invested in UK Endowment?

Besides that, i am interested in French Wine investment also, is anyone can provide more info on that? Thanks.

*It is always too late to realize when something has become too good or too bad, make it earlier!

[zipink]

Hi yeesheng,

The minimum investment sum is S$20,000.

You may like to read more about traded endowment at the official site here and contact them for more information:

http://www.tradedendowment.com

[wemakebread]

Hi yeesheng,

There was some discussion about wine in this forum.
You may want to try the search function at the top.
Below are 2 that I have read before & found for you.

Fundamental Analysis / Andy Xie Predicts Wine Bubble Popping Soon
http://www.masteryourfinance.com/forum/ ... rench+wine

All about Investing / Wine, Land or traded endowment for now?
http://www.masteryourfinance.com/forum/ ... rench+wine

Below are MY opinions:

Basically, go for INVESTMENT GRADE wine only.
MOST, if not ALL investment grade wines come from FRANCE only.
Avoid Australian wine.

If it comes from a country that surprises you, chances are most other people will be similarly skeptical. Expect difficulties when you need to sell off in future.

Personally, I feel that Wine is quite an exotic asset class and one should not even participate in this unless he has at least 100-200k investment portfolio so that it only constitutes 5-10% of the portfolio, assuming each investment is about 10k. I think it is unwise for Wine to form major part of portfolio, as it is not so liquid (what irony!?) and needs longer time (years) to appreciate in value.

There are also storage & insurance costs.
I would suggest in-situ storage (at the chateau it was produced) as moving it around increases the chance the wine will spoil when exposed to temperature fluctuations.

Shop around for a reliable broker, because you probably need to rely on them when you want to sell out. If you are savvy enough, check out their business model and operations to see whether they are sustainable and trustworthy or whether they are just out to fleece clients or earn commissions.

How to know whether wine quality is good?
Check out wine ratings, especially by respected professional critics like Robert Parker. Those rated 95 or higher by him are considered GOOD.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of knowledge involved, I strongly suggest take time to learn more before investing.
But above info is useful to you in some ways.

[Dennis Ng]

Hi all,

A small capital is always been defined as a "problem" for amateur or a beginner in investment despite of the lack of spare time they have.

I understand more about UK Endowment after attending Dennis's class.

A big doubt is if i have only a small capital, can i still invest in UK Endowment? What i understand is the UK insurer gives up the long term invested policy and wants to get the cash value back by selling the policy off to another person and he/she will become the new policy holder.

Probably what is the lowest amount (S$) can be invested in UK Endowment?

Besides that, i am interested in French Wine investment also, is anyone can provide more info on that? Thanks.

*It is always too late to realize when something has become too good or too bad, make it earlier!

Hi yeesheng,
when I first started with little money, I invested mainly in stocks.

[yeesheng]

Hi sifu,

When you have little money you invested mainly in stock.

Is any other investment i can do other than stock or did you do any other investment with your little money?

*It is always too late to realize when something has become too good or too bad, make it earlier!

[Dennis Ng]

Hi sifu,

When you have little money you invested mainly in stock.

Is any other investment i can do other than stock or did you do any other investment with your little money?

*It is always too late to realize when something has become too good or too bad, make it earlier!

nope. During those times, my only other "investments" were the 3 Singapore Endowment Policies I started in 1996, 1997 and 1998 each saving about S$200 (first using Cash, and the other 2 policies using CPF)...

Recently, the policy started in 1996 matured and I got back after saving diligently for 15 years, 2.84% annual returns, less than inflation rate.