Short answer to your question is that "HIGH" is relative. Simply looking at D/E ratio doesnt tell much information about a company. It would be good if you can take a look at other financial ratios depending on the industry that you are looking at. For example, if you are looking at an FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company), besides D/E ratios, other ratios such as Inventory Turnover, Quick Ratio, P/E, P/B would be good to consider before investing in a company. Back to my answer on "HIGH" being relative, Identify the industry of the particular company that you are looking at. By doing a peer comparison, it is more meaningful to see if a particular company is high or low in terms of D/E ratio. Even if the D/E ratio is high, it may not necessarily be bad, it could also mean that this particular company is able to get better rates for loans and hence may make more sense by leveraging through debt. In this case, it is also good to look at the financing cost. When breaking down D/E ratio, one can also look at the type of liabilities the company has, whether the majority of its liabilities is long term or short term, and this may bring about different implications.

Definitely. Tightening of foreign worker quota mainly affects 2 things: Expansion Plans and Operational Cost. Especially so for industries that rely on foreign workers, for example, F&B, the impact would be larger. That being said, companies can also boost productivity of their existing workforce or invest into automation to reduce some job roles. However, this is easier said than done!

I am from Manulife. Typically for Insurance, the most important is to have Health Insurane which you already have : Aviva. Next, we look at coverage for Death, Disability, Critical illness. Depending on your life stage, needs and budget, it will determine what kind of plan and coverage suits you best. Looking at what you shared, Both your Manulife and GE plan may be covering the same thing. However, it would be best if you can have a chat with your advisor to review your portfolio. Based on the little information that you shared, there is little we can comment on as we do not know what your needs are. If you would like to, you may reach out to me via the following link to arrange for a portfolio review. https://brandanchen.manulife.sg/

Firstly, your current financial status is pretty impressive! Based on what you have shared, it seems like you are definitely comfortable in affording a car! (unless you are talking about Ferraris, Rolls Royce etc) I guess you are looking for reasons to convince your wife and here are some: 1) No waiting time or dealing with surge. It can be quite tough to get a Grab/Taxi during peak hours or when it is raining. 2) Able to explore places to paktor which may not be convenient with Taxi/Grab 3) Able to ferry your parents and In-laws when required. (family gatherings, makan etc) 4) Supper or weekend outings in JB Even with all the suggestions above, it is more important to first understand why your wife isnt keen on getting one. With that, it is much easier to handle her objections. If cost is a main concern, perhaps you can consider an Off-Peak car, and also offer to send her to work daily so that she doesnt have to deal with the mad rush during rush hours!

I've seen families that are able to cope well with S$3k/mth household income, and also families that are 'struggling' even though their household income is above S$10k/mth. All in all, each family is different. Rather than talking about absolute amount, it is more important to first address a couple of things: 1) How much do you spend a month on Mandatory stuff? (House instalment, Phone bills, Utilities, Food, Insurance etc) 2) How much do you spend on Non-mandatory stuff? (Tuition, Overseas Trip, Entertainment, Visits to Cafes/Restaurants, Car) 3) Are you able to reduce certain expenditure? A good benchmark would be able to set aside around 20% of your income for your retirement, and slightly less than 10% of your income on Insurance. With the remaining 70%, are you able to meet your Mandatory needs? If Yes, perhaps you can look at increasing the amount that you save. If No, perhaps its good to consider if you are living above your means, or perhaps take up additional jobs to have more income. My apologies that the answers above are pretty generic, but it would be tough for anyone to provide any recommendation/suggestion based on your question due to the lack of information. As mentioned above, every family has their individual needs and priorities. If you would like to, feel free to reach out to me via the link below and we can have a deeper discussion on this topic. https://brandanchen.manulife.sg/

There are quite a number of articles contributed by Seedly and other members regarding your question so I would just give a short answer to your question. In terms of risk management, I would suggest the following things: - Having a rainy day fund of at least 6 to 12 months of your income/expenses - Get yourself adequately insured: Health/hospitalisation Insurance, Life Insurance, Disability income Insurance - Keep a diversified portfolio. Diversified over different industries, geographical regions etc As for ETFs, it depends on which ETF you are talking about as there are ETFs that cover specific markets like STI & S&P500 SPY, or even sector/geographic specific ETF. ETFs may be a good source of diversifying your portfolio and may suit your passive/hands-off investment strategy. Depending on your current age and life stage cycle, focussing on dividend/passive income may not be suitable for you at this point in time. If you are in your 20s, 30s, i would suggest that you focus on capital appreciation as a key priority. Feel free to drop me a PM if you would like to have a more detailed chat on this. https://brandanchen.manulife.sg/

Firstly, whats your definition of safe stocks? Secondly, Do you currently have the amount that is sufficient for your housing expense? Or still saving up for it? Suggestion: There are no such thing as safe stocks. Do note that Investment returns are never guaranteed but your housing expense in the future is. If you are able to take up some risk, perhaps apportion about 50% to 70% of the fund is lower risk products such as SSB, Fixed Deposit, Citibank Maxigain, or Single Premium Endowment Plans offered by Insurers from time to time. With the remaining fund, perhaps you can consider placing it in REITS or Defensive Industries to reduce your loss should a crisis occur

Wow, your dad really got it all planned out for you! As for the car, these are some expenses you would have to take note: 1) Fuel 2) ERP 3) Parking 4) Servicing 5) Car Insurance 6) Road Tax 7) Misc stuff like Air Refresheners 8) IM ASSUMING HE WOULD BE PAYING FOR THE LOAN INSTALMENTS Depending on how often you drive, the related cost could come up to about ~$800 but that could be easily subsidised if you diligently do grabhitch everyday (Max of 2 trips) and also start to do some RYDE trips (but not very easy to get matches since lesser people using that platform). Since its a convertible, i guess you can only take one person at a time, so grabhitch x2 can come up to about S$25 of net income for you per day. If you are able to take on more passengers in your car, you can easily double that amount!

MARKET STREET is my fav hahaha... Half a chicken with 2 plates of rice is just S$10 bucks. Comfortable meal for 2 guys hahaha. If not, the chicken rice starts from S$2.50 per plate

I was at the same stage as you about 8 years back. I chose to go into the sales line selling Time Magazine and other educational editorials to schools. The pay was great then about S$3k per month for 3 months considering that I just finished NS. The skills and people that I met during that short stint really taught me some life skills such as Communication, Relationship Management, Sales, Public Speaking etc. As for internships, it would also be beneficial if you know what you intend to pursue later on in the career. Given an option to turn back time, i woud still have gone for the sales job which i took up since the next 4 years in University would easily expose me to internships after internships every summer break