Hi there, I wrote up a quick handy guide on SPH at https://blog.seedly.sg/singapore-press-holdings-sph-t39-guide. In it, I discussed the business in general, SPH's financial highlights, dividend history, and valuation, among other things. ! For those who are interested in SPH for its dividends, the historical dividend trend doesn't look too good. Extract from the article: "Total dividend (including special dividend) has fallen from S$0.21 per share in 2014 to S$0.13 per share in 2018. For 2019, dividend dipped further to S$0.12 per share."

Hi anon, I'm from Seedly and would like to find out how we can better improve the investment 101 articles. May I know which article(s) in particular are you referring to? I'm wondering if you took a look at this guide too: https://blog.seedly.sg/ultimate-personal-finance-guide-to-investing-singapore?

Hi Anonymous, my quick thoughts on the company are that they have a strong business, generate consistent free cash flow, pay stable dividends, and have a great balance sheet. Are you looking at anything in particular? Disclaimer that I own shares in both iFAST and Straco.

Hi Gabriel, I've used Qanvast's ID service before. It depends on who you choose actually. But I must say Qanvast's service was great. But in the end, we didn't go with the ID from Qanvast as they couldn't meet our schedule over CNY. We went with a contractor instead.

Hi Anonymous, it's advisable to only use money you don't need in the next five years to invest in the stock market. If you need the money in the next five years or so, it might be better to leave them in the bank or in safe instruments such as Singapore Savings Bonds, even though they have low yields. Once you have that sorted out, you can look into investing the money into the stock market. Like Gabriel mentioned, you would need to invest S$240,000 if you like to receive S$12,000 per year, assuming the portfolio dividend yield is 5%. More info here. Hope this helps.

Hi Anonymous, firstly, it would be good to ensure you have adequate insurance coverage and emergency savings (at least 6 months worth of expenses). For the emergency savings, you can consider putting them into the Singapore Savings Bonds as they give higher returns than banks do. After that, you can look into buying ETFs, REITs or stocks with the money you don't need for the at least the next five years. If you need the money in the next five years or so, it would be better not to put it in the stock market as stocks are volatile for the short-term. To get a 5% average yield on your portfolio, you would need to pick stocks or REITs that offer a dividend yield of around 5% (if you invest the exact amount of money into each stock). You can look at Seedly's article on "20 Singapore Shares You Should Watch In 2020" here for some investment ideas. In any case, it would be good to run through your investment plan with a professional financial advisor to ensure all your financial bases are covered.

Firstly, kudos on taking the first step in investing! You can look into dollar-cost averaging (DCA) every few months through a regular savings plan (https://blog.seedly.sg/which-regular-savings-plan-is-the-cheapest/). By doing DCA at a specific date each period, you can take advantage of market falls without emotions affecting you. Investing is a long-term plan so one must not be put off by volatility in the stock market.

Hi Koh Poh Ann, there's no new news. It's still suspended. If you are keen in its 2Q2019 earnings, you can take a look at https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/CES%20-%202Q2019%20FS.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=574672.

An article I wrote that features Micro-Mechanics would have some info on the company (https://blog.seedly.sg/3-strong-singapore-shares-aem-sgx-awx-micro-mechanics-sgx-5dd-vicom-sgx-v01). I like the company for its strong balance sheet, high dividend yield, and growth prospects.