Is it just me, or do most people get the order of money decisions wrong?

Not sure if anyone else notices this, but a lot of discussions here focus on what to invest in first.

Recently came across a few cases where people were encouraged to put large sums into funds or investments straight away.

Personally, I tend to look at it slightly differently:

– liquidity (how accessible your money is)
– protection (what happens if income stops)
– then investing

Not saying one way is right or wrong, but I’m curious —

how do you guys usually prioritise this?

Do you start with investing first, or structure first?

Discussion (8)

What are your thoughts?

Learn how to style your text

yaqian zhang

2h ago

I usually get bored of driving games quickly, but this one surprised me. The mechanics force you to think before you hit the gas, and every level introduces something new. If you haven’t tried Drive Mad , it’s a solid way to kill a few minutes.

Save

R€nd

13h ago

Start from saving

Save

Kent Toh

1d ago

Consultant at Sprinklr

Savings comes first.

And then both protection and investing can happen concurrently.

Earlier you protect, locks in cheaper premium.

Earlier you invest, accelerates your retirement.

Save

Kenny Tan

Edited 1d ago

As you said no way is right or wrong, and your perspective certainly has merit.

I come from poverty, so I see value in investing before any prerequisites.

Liquidity - especially when young, there's no merit in having instantly accessible money even if something suddenly happens to you. Most medical situations give you some time to make the payment, enough to trigger withdrawals from MMF or liquidate your longs.

Protection - overthinking. In Singapore, your income doesn't stop unless you choose not to accept work in most cases, barring medical reasons.

When you are dirt poor, you lose out even more the longer you "prepare" for investing. You want to get out of the endless hole as soon as possible before you start thinking of setting a stable base for yourself.

It is the same reason why it is so expensive to be poor, while the rich has such an easy time getting richer. That is how the system is built to be.

Save