My Main Regret in my Investing Journey

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I started my first dabble in the Singapore market in 2009.  On hindsight, it was actually a great time to start investing as markets were starting to recover from all time low at that time right after the financial crisis in 2008.  However, being the noobish newbie at that time, I have no idea about the macro-economic environment, and have zero idea in investing at that time.  All I did was “gamble based on gut feel”.  I admit that I am a slow learner in the world of investing and finance, and I only learn to invest with a strategy in mind in the Singapore market by late 2017 (yup, 8 years wasted).  I only started investing in the US market in late 2021 (yup, a total of 12 years wasted).

Looking back at my investing journey now, the main regret I had was I did not invest in the US Growth market earlier, and I attributed it to the following 2 main reasons:


1)    Lack of Knowledge

From 2009 to 2021, the stubbornness in me resulted in inertia.  I just focused on the local SGX market, locally listed companies, and did not study how to enter and invest in the US market.  I believe this immersion in comfort zone is quite detrimental to my finances.

Ignorance became the main cause for me not knowing how to approach the US market.  Not knowing the rules and regulations to buy and sell shares in the US market and not knowing how to deal with withholding tax issues held me back from venturing into US shares.  I held on to the mindset that the limited capital I have in Singapore dollars is not enough to buy US shares with high price (because during that time, the minimum number of shares that can be traded in Singapore is 1000 shares per lot, and later changed to 100 shares per lot, but I did not know that the minimum number of shares that can be traded in US is 1 share per trade all along!).  All these ignorance accumulated to end up as a huge opportunity cost for me in my financial journey.


2)    Lack of Platform

Based on what I know, brokerages with super low fees were not prevalent before 2020 (maybe there were a couple, but I did not know much about them).  Local brokerages and trading platforms do support trading in the US markets, but the commissions were very pricey, which made it quite deterring.  In addition, I feel unsafe when my shares are held in custodian accounts and not in a central area like The Central Depository (CDP) account.

However, this is quite unfounded as the feeling of uneasiness arises from my ignorance of how the system works.  All foreign shares bought will be held under custodian accounts, regardless of which brokerages or trading platforms are used, even via DBS Vickers or OCBC Securities.

After 2020, many low-fee brokerages pop up in the market.  The mass marketing by the brokerages/ trading platforms propped up all over social media.  However, being the “slow and inert” one, I only took action to make my first move in late 2021 (yes, this means I also missed the opportunity in the Covid-19 market crash of March 2020).

The main platform which caught my eye was Moomoo, which is a subsidiary of Futu Holdings Limited.  Through Moomoo, I started my first venture into US market by buying my first share in Microsoft, and got my free Apple share (the promotion available to me during sign-up at November 2021).  Moomoo provided me the opportunity to begin investing in the US market for the very first time as a low-cost platform.  This helped me greatly in my portfolio diversification as for the past 12 years, my portfolio was geographically concentrated in local Singapore market.  Although from November 2021 till now, the performance of the US market has been nothing but devastating, on the positive note, it gives me the time and opportunity to slowly accumulate superb stocks like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, JP Morgan etc.  This period will help me make up for the missed opportunity in March 2020.  How long will this depressed market last, it does not matter, because I believe in the long term, things will turn out fine.


That's it, my main regret in my investing journey, is not starting investing in the US/ World markets earlier, due to personal inertia and lack of choices.  I sincerely hope that current new and young investors do not make the same mistake as I did, only to regret later in life.  If you are ever wondering which trading platform to use, Moomoo is definitely a good option you can have!

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Comments

  1. meyo8 September 2022 at 20:16

    Thanks you for the sharing. It is useful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon9 September 2022 at 20:14

    Will crypto be a next regret for people? Haha not saying that bear market is over :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BFIRE10 September 2022 at 02:50

      Hi Anon
      I believe regrets are made on hindsight, so we will only know whether to feel regrets or not after the particular event has happened. I am not crypto pro, so I do not know... But I believe everything has ups and downs, so just hope for the best and always be prepared for the worst.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous10 September 2022 at 08:22

    Hi Baristafire

    I am sorry you feel that way about your 12 years of investing in the STI.

    My investments are mainly in STI, and in S'pore in general. I have an investment property and the rest are in the CPF.

    Coincindentally I started tracking the passive income generated by my investment vehicles in 2011, 12 years ago.

    Cumulatively I have collected $1.65M over the 12 years from the three investment sources. A significant chunk of it came from dividends from my STI stocks. So while the STI stocks may not be growth stocks, they are good dividend pay master.

    Two things to note when investing in US stocks.
    1. Dividends paid by US stocks are taxed 30%. That is, you will only get 70% of the dividend.

    2. Upon your demise, your beneficiaries will be slapped with 40% estate tax.

    Good luck



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BFIRE10 September 2022 at 15:46

      Hi Anonymous,
      Thank you for sharing! Your returns has been nothing short of impressive! For me, I am personally pleased with my dividends collected from the SGX. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the Singapore listed companies are not good enough, its just that if I had more choices, would things turn out differently? I understand the 30% withholding tax on dividends, thus the priority for starting out in the US market is more for capital gains, not much on dividends. Nonetheless, thank you for sharing! I'm still a noob and still open to learning from everyone!

      Delete

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