My personal financial resolutions for 2019: - Finish reading the finance book I bought earlier in 2018. ("Talk Money" by Lorna Tan) - Be proactive in keeping track of the stock prices I brought (possibly starting on a weekly review)

Hi there, I have to say great job at saving that $10k! At that age, I think I only came close to saving around 10% of that figure. My take for this will come through on the know how to fund your degree portion. The portion of investing you might have to do your own research, because I am still trying to figure that out for myself. :) This was how I funded my school fees, which totaled up to $40k not including interest or admin fees. Although I wasn't able to pay my school fees before school finished, I would have to say there were a few things that helped. I hope to share my story so you can also have a feel of the possible scenarios you can try or not try for your own journey. So some of the things which I felt helped: - Due to my family's financial situation at that time, I had to pay off most of my loan. Or I had the perception that I would need to pay off most of it by myself. Therefore I considered help from the school as I wasn't confident of being able to do it alone. Hence I took it on myself to do a check through on the possible financial assistance the school provides. Once I checked that I fit the eligibility criteria, I did up my application and also spent time writing why I needed the bursary and how it will help me and my family's financial situation. I did this on the second year and third year of my degree. Both times I was fortunate to secure a different bursary to help fund some of my school fees. The total bursary amount came up to $7,000 which helped fund 10% of my school loans. - Being determined to pay off most of my school loan before school finished and being focused on paying up my school loan within a year of working. I felt this helped minimize the amount of interest I had to pay, I could also start earlier on putting most of that money into my savings and building my emergency funds, etc. For my case, I managed to pay for up to 70% - 80% of my loan before I graduated. To ensure I can pay within a year or less, I took $500 of my salary every month to pay my loans. It was a high percentage of my salary then, however I could get by as I didn't go for any major holidays during that year and my cost of living at that time was pretty low. It is important to know that there will always be opportunity cost to how you use cash - whether to put it into investing or to fund your education. I hope this helps you see better the opportunity costs of not paying your school fees before graduation (haha that there are implications post graduation). Also wishing you the best in your investment journey. :)

Hi there, my advice would be not to inform your boss first. The reason is because there are many things that would change in the span of two years. This includes: your job, your boss and your perception of what you are doing now. In the span of two years or twenty four months, there is a probability your company will go through restructuring, your boss might be promoted or move to another department, your role might change, your perception of your role might also improve. Rather another way to think through it would be to find people you can talk to that are doing jobs you perceive are meaningful and not soul-sucking. Hear what they have to say, and consider what it is about the job that is soul-sucking. Then keep moving in that positive direction. :)

1) Let them have their own piggy bank :) 2) Ask them daily questions related to money - when taking them out to a place, get them to remember the bus fare to and fro. I think it helps them be mindful about the small things. :) 3) Talk to them about your own lessons about finances to help them learn simple concepts. (Comparing prices of a product in one store as compared to another is a good start!)

I took my first steps in managing my personal finance perhaps a little late I felt. It was only after I graduated I started to get serious about managing my finances. I started with recording my monthly expenses, going through my current insurance plans, talking to insurance agents and getting another bank account besides POSB to help improve my savings. There are times managing it alone can get quite tough, especially when I don't have a lot of friends to talk to about managing finances. Fortunately a year ago, my cousin introduced me to Seedly, and now I am starting to write and read more about personal finance here! :)