The Mom Who Is Learning How To Invest, Vanny (@vannytelly) Shares Her Worries As She Starts Her Investment Journey

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Most of us would agree that investing is an important aspect of living a comfortable life, especially for the future. This applies not only to those who work in the financial industry, or have a background in finance, but also individuals from all walks of lives.

In some ways, our investment journey is similar to our health and fitness journey. For example, we don’t need to be a doctor or a professional athlete to know that staying healthy and fit is an ideal state that we ought to work towards. Likewise, we also know that investing today for our financial future is crucial.

Despite the availability of extensive free learning resources, or perhaps it’s the very fact that there is an overloading of information, first-time investors often find themselves at a loss of what to do. Yet, a lack of knowledge should not prevent us from wanting to start investing.

One Singaporean who understands how it’s like to start her investment journey with limited knowledge is Vanessa Tang, also known as Vanny among her friends and followers. A well-followed mommy influencer in Singapore (Instagram: @vannytelly), Vanny regularly posts and shares her experience on Instagram of parenting her three young girls. Besides taking care of her girls, Vanny is also a personal trainer and runs her own e-commerce business.

Vanny working out her with her kids. Image source: @vannytelly

While her Instagram profile typically showcases her journey as a young Singaporean mom and fitness enthusiast, what is unknown to most people is that Vanny has recently started her investment journey.

In this article, we talk to Vanny about what got her interested in wanting to learn about investment, the fears that she has had as a first-time investor, and how she plans to overcome them.

Read Also: Meet Vincent Ha, A FinTech Entrepreneur Who Not Only Spends His Time (And Money) Building Companies, But Also To Invest In The Financial Markets

Timothy: Vanny! From your Instagram profile, it seems that most of the posts revolved around being a mom to your three little girls and working out to keep fit. How do you see financial well-being as a vital and complementary part to being a mom and staying fit?

Vanny: When it comes to investing, I am just a beginner, or if there is a level below beginner, I would take that as well!

However, I do recognise the importance of being somewhat financially savvy. The goal isn’t to be deeply knowledgeable in finance but at least, knowing how to save and grow our money. I think most of us can relate to having the desire to achieve financial freedom for ourselves!

As a mom, wanting to learn how to invest is partially for my kids. Even if it’s just about taking care of our financial health in our older age, this would benefit our kids as they don’t need to worry about us financially when we retire.

Vanny and her three girls. Image source: @vannytelly

It’s like staying healthy. Being healthy has its benefits, not just to us individually, but also for our family. Whether it’s health or wealth, we want to start working on it in our younger days so that we can reap the rewards in our later years.

Timothy: I know from our previous chat that your husband is usually the one who takes the lead when it comes to making financial decisions for the family. Why do you think it’s also important for you to stay involved in making your own personal financial decisions?

Vanny: I find that both parties in a marriage should be involved in having some savings and aiming towards being financially independent. Personally, I contribute less to the household though I still pay for everything that I need to buy on my own. I think it helps us as a couple when I am financially stable as it means that I am less reliant on my husband, who in turn feels less stressed and collectively, we are happier!

Vanny and her husband having a meal on the go. Image source: @vannytelly

Timothy: Was investing something that you have been thinking about for a while?

Vanny: My very first investment was in fixed deposits (if that counts?) at age 16.  But that didn’t last long because my income wasn’t stable as I was only working part-time then. Subsequently, I also invested in some insurance investment plans.

Recently, I opened a brokerage account which would allow me to start investing in stocks. To be honest, I have some reservations as I’m unsure of what stocks to invest in. I think it would take a while before I slowly gain the confidence to start investing in individual stocks. Hoping to gain more knowledge through DollarsAndSense first!

Timothy: Some people feel that we should not invest unless we are familiar and confident about investing. As a new investor, what are your thoughts on this statement?

Vanny: It’s a statement I can personally relate to. My main worry now is what shares to invest in, what are the fees I need to pay and how long I should hold on to my shares.

As a new investor, it’s important to get help from others. I mean, if we don’t get any help at all, we will likely end up at the current stage we are in. Friends (like you, Tim!), financial websites and books are good resources to get started.

It’s like working out. If you are afraid to go the gym and start lifting weights, go with someone who has more experience than you whom you trust. If you want to try rock-climbing for the first time, go with someone who have done it before. This is the easiest way to build up your knowledge and to gain confidence. We all start from somewhere.

Timothy: As a mom who is new to investing, do you think there are common stereotypes that you or others around you have as you embark on your investment journey? For example, it’s seen as normal if a guy (of any age) starts investing with limited knowledge, but for a female, it may appear as taking unnecessary risks?

Vanny: I don’t think so. In fact, there are many female friends of mine who invest, and some even invest more than the men I know. That said, perhaps people at my age, regardless of gender, are investing more compared to our younger days. The older we get, the more important these topics become.

Timothy: What is some advice you will share with fellow moms who are keen to invest on their own, but are unsure of how to start?

Vanny: I don’t think I’m the best person to advise on this as I am still figuring out a lot of things on my own, but I’ll say start with something safe that comes with lower risk. Even though the returns are low, you will earn interest and build up your confidence in at least setting aside money to invest. When your knowledge accumulates and you are more confident, you can think about investing in stocks, ETFs and other asset classes.

To me it’s like working out for the first time in a while. Don’t start with something overly complex that you don’t know. Just go for simple exercises like pushups, squats, planks and jogging first. When you gain more confidence, you can try other more complex workouts.

During her early 20s, Vanny made the decision to keep fit as her part of her life. Now in her 30s, she hopes to also make investing a part of her life journey too. Image source: @vannytelly

Read Also: The Everyday Student Investor: How This Full-Time University Student Finds Time To Study, Work, Invest & Go To The Gym Regularly

A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Step

Whether it’s our investment journey or a workout programme, getting started is often the first, and hardest, we need to take. All too often, many people procrastinate on starting their investment journey by reasoning that they have not enough time, money or knowledge to get started.

That said, getting started in your workout routine could be as simple as getting off the couch and to start running.

Likewise, starting our investment journey doesn’t need to be complex. Through a brokerage firm like Tiger Brokers, we can easily sign up and open a brokerage account from home. Within minutes, our Tiger Brokers account can be opened, providing us with direct access to major financial markets such as US, China, Hong Kong, Australia and of course, Singapore.

With Tiger Brokers, we can buy and sell stocks, ETFs and REITs on these markets at a very low cost. Tiger Brokers only charge a commission fee of just 0.01 USD/share (minimum of USD1.99/order) for the U.S. market, 0.06% of trade value (minimum of HKD 15) for the Hong Kong market, and 0.08% of trade value (no minimum commission currently) for the Singapore market. Investors who are typically on to the go can also access the Tiger Trade mobile app which can be downloaded from the App store or Google Play.

For new investors like Vanny, a trading platform/trading app doesn’t merely serve as a tool for transactions to take place, but also double up as a way to build investment knowledge. For example, under the Discover tab, the Tiger Trade mobile app allows investors to discover information that is relevant to the stocks, sectors or markets that they are interested in. The Discover feature also has a Calendar section that shows major events, dividend dates, earnings and financial report releases and IPO calendar. This is a convenient way to keep track of market-related news. Think of it as your own personal financial news tab.

Similar to keeping fit, being part of a community can help inspire us to get started and keep track of our progress. The Tiger Brokers app allows us to discuss financial news with like-minded traders, share investing strategies and follow stock market-related news. In addition to the in-app community, Tiger Brokers also has an active Telegram chat group and Instagram feed (@tigerbrokerssg) that you can follow and interact with others.

Read Also: Tiger Brokers App: 5 Useful Features To Help First-Time Singapore Investors And Traders Get Started

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