Traditionally, especially in Chinese cultures, fathers are seen as the head of the household and the primary provider. My father became the sole breadwinner after my mother left her job and became a full-time homemaker.
My father started working at 17 and spent a 50-year career as a secondary school English Language and Literature teacher. As the sole source of income for the family, he worked hard to put all his children through university.
With Father’s Day coming up this Sunday, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the financial lessons he taught me over the years, through his words and by his example, and rank them according to how well they hold up.
#1 Education Is Important
Education was always the number one financial priority for my father. He never graduated from university, and he saw firsthand how the lack of a degree cost him many career opportunities. He made it his life’s purpose to ensure that all his children went to university and graduated.
At a low point in life, I wanted to drop out of my university degree course. When I told my father, he became so upset, it was the first time I ever saw him cry. I eventually assured him that I would try my best moving forward. In hindsight, my father was right about the importance of getting a degree, and I have him to thank for all the career opportunities I subsequently had.
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#2 Blue Chips Pay Dividends
In the 1990s, before the internet became popular, my father spent time each day watching stock prices via Teletext. Recognising the value of investing in several well-established companies, his main strategy focused on SGX blue chips.
These investments were relatively low risk, and they paid out regular dividends. Growing up, I helped my father track stock prices for companies like Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), Cycle & Carriage, and Cerebos Pacific, even though I had no idea what these companies did.
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Now, in hindsight, my father’s investment strategy was a precursor to the Straits Times Index (STI) ETF, since the first STI ETF only launched in 2002. Today, I believe that investing in the STI ETF is a great way to start one’s investment journey.
Read Also: Complete Guide To Investing In The Straits Times Index (STI) ETFs In Singapore
#3 Being Brand Agnostic Saves Money
For as long as I can remember, my father has been very budget-conscious, perhaps even to the point of being too frugal. But that focus on sticking to a budget helped me appreciate that not all brands are worth paying a marked-up price.
One day in 2001, my father came home with an Akira brand television. Despite the Japanese name, Akira was a local brand of consumer electronics. I had never heard of the brand before, but my father had found it at an extremely competitive price, and he was willing to take a chance on it.
Though the brand ultimately did not stand the test of time, its value-for-money positioning in consumer electronics made it a household name in Singapore for almost two decades. Yes, there is some truth to the idiom, “good things are not cheap, cheap things are not good”. But thanks to my father’s willingness to look beyond the brand and take a chance on a budget-friendly product, I learnt that there are times when being brand agnostic does save you money in the long run.
Read Also: How Much Can You Save Over A Month When You Buy House Brands At Supermarkets?
#4 All Debt Is Bad Debt
My father had legitimate concerns about borrowing money from others and seeing several family members get into trouble due to their financial liabilities reaffirmed his belief that “all debt is bad debt”. One of his favourite quotes was “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”, which comes from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
True to his beliefs, he would make it a point to make full payment as often as he could, and never used a credit card, saving it only for emergencies. This attitude also applied to property – he was always proud that he had fully paid for my childhood home, even though, as an HDB flat, he would not have been able to leverage it anyway.
As his child, I cannot fault him for his prudence, and all things considered, I’d rather my father be underleveraged than overleveraged. Still, I can’t help but wonder at the opportunities he may have missed out on, such as travelling more often with his family, or enjoying his retirement years, had he just been more willing to take on some secured debt, with its significantly lower interest rates.
#5 What Appreciates Now Will Appreciate Forever
In addition to his heavy investment in the stock market, my father also believed in diversifying his investments. Unfortunately, many of these investment decisions were not ideal in the long run, with the most egregious being overseas country club memberships and timeshare properties.
His intention behind these investments was for us, his children, so obviously I can’t be too harsh with him – he never intended to enrich himself and had an investment horizon beyond his own lifespan, expecting these to increase in value over time.
However, country club memberships and timeshare properties were not investment assets, and they proved to be more costly than he had anticipated. While not outright scams, their value was overshadowed by increasing annual membership and maintenance fees. Furthermore, even when my father was finally persuaded to sell his country club membership and exit his timeshare, the process of doing so was further complicated by the need to deal with overseas agents.
While my father’s intentions were admirable, his choice of long-term investments was poor. If he had invested the same amount into assets like bonds, gold, or even bolstering his existing stock strategy, he might have enjoyed better long-term returns for us. Nonetheless, we knew everything he did was solely out of love for us, and for that, I will always be grateful.
Happy Father’s Day, Pa.
