The first Emerge workshop of 2013 kicked off with an introductory course into practicing good financial stewardship through wise investing.
By Sandy Poon
Interest and inflation rates—these are two key variables an investor needs to understand in order to safeguard his investment. These were the words of Eugene Wee, director of an investment holding company at the Money Mind Financial Investment Workshop held on Jan. 26 at The Bible Society of Singapore.
It was the first in a series of workshops organized this year by the Emerge youth ministry at City Harvest Church. The ministry aims to empower young people with academic as well as life skills in order to live out their God-given destiny and calling to the fullest.
“Why a financial workshop? It is to empower our youth to be good stewards of the financial resources entrusted to them, and to inculcate in them good monetary habits from a young age,” says youth zone supervisor Lee Yi Lun.
Wee taught the 140-odd participants, comprising mainly students and young working adults, on the basic concepts of investing, from leverage (a borrowed sum of money used in an attempt to increase one’s rate of return in investment) to principals of compounding interest. The rule of 72, for example, offers an easy shortcut to approximate the effect of compound interest.
“One key thing to building wealth: save, invest and repeat this cycle,” taught Wee.
Besides having an understanding of how interest and inflation rates affect the returns on one’s investment, a responsible investor is one who is aware of the background of the company he is investing in, how it makes money, the rate and time frame of its returns as well as his threshold for risk tolerance. Wee also emphasized the importance of pursuing and applying knowledge. “With the right tools, the right knowledge and attitude, it is possible to be successful in investing,” he said.
“My biggest takeaway is that diligence is key when it comes to investing. We must always plan and research well and set necessary parameters such as investment time frame and amount to set aside to guide and guard our interest, as well as keep greed at bay,” said operations executive Brendan Tam, 25.
“Some of the segments in this workshop got a little technical but I still found it a good workshop which taught me basic financial strategies,” added business executive Bennie Yeo, 33.
Entering into the working world? Register to joycetan@chc.org.sg for these upcoming workshops: Relevant Resumes – Write To Impress! on Mar. 2 (Sat) 1.30 p.m. – 4 p.m. (registration starts 1 p.m.) and Interview Skills Workshop on Mar. 9 (Sat) 1.30 p.m. – 4 p.m. both at The Bible Society of Singapore. Both workshops are free, on a first-come-first-serve basis.
