Have you invested before? Recently, many people "invested" into New condo launches. Actually, some of them are just gambling, but they think they are investing.

Gambling vs Investing, what's the difference?

When you're gambling, you are just betting on chance, your end-result depends on luck primarily. One common example is people who buy 4D or TOTO, the outcome is entirely dependent on luck.

The other day I went to the Singapore Science Centre with my children. One of the exhbits actually shows that the chance of getting all the 6 numbers RIGHT for TOTO is even slimmer than being struck by lightning.

However, every week I see people queuing up to buy TOTO. Guess they think they are very, very, very lucky. Otherwise, it is simple maths to know that if they do this on a long term basis, they are almost guaranteed to Lose money, not make money.

Similarly, if someone bought a 99 year condo at Ang Mo Kio at S$1,150 psf is also likely to be gambling. For this person to make money, the resale price has to be at least about 10% higher, assuming the person manage to sell off the property within 1 year. Why 10%? Well, the stamp duty on purchase is just slightly below 3%, commission to property agent can range between 1% to 2%, legal fees can be another 0.5%, 1 year bank's interest is another 2% to 3%, so the person just make a little money if the price shoots up by 10% to S$1,265 within 1 year.

Wait a minute, if a 99 year lease condo in Heartland Ang Mo Kio costs S$1,265, it means that a similar unit in District 11 (Novena) would probably have to cost S$1,700 and a condo unit at Orchard should be at least S$3,000 or more....

Gambling is depending on luck, it is a strategy based on Buy and Pray. After buying, you hope someone would offer you a higher price to buy from you.

The buyers of Ang Mo Kio condo probably have not done their comparison. If they have, they would realise that they can buy a condo at say, Bishan (not exactly worse off location, since near good schools such as Catholic High, etc) at just S$900 psf. Or even a brand new condo at Toa Payoh for about S$900 psf.

Have you lost money in investments? Most people have. Some have lost, thousands and thousands of dollars.

If you want to drive a car, you need to learn how to drive and get a driving licence. Similarly, if you want to invest to make money, you should learn how to invest first. Yet, how many people actually pay money to learn how to invest? Very few. No wonder, majority of people lose money in investing.

Investing is about taking Calculated Risks. You have done your homework, you have assessed the upside potential, the downside risks, and you only decide to invest when the Risk/Reward trade-off is in your favour. You don't invest based on emotions, but based on factual analysis. When you invest, you can afford to be wrong 4 out of 10 times and still make money. Because after you have done your homework, it is easy to be at least right 6 out of 10 times. That's how you become Richer and Richer, not based on Luck and Prayers.

On 5, 6 and 7 Sep 2009, you can learn from not only 1 sifu, but 4 sifus on "Creating a business; Making Relationship work; How to have Creativity and Innovation to improve your daily life and income; How to handle and manage stress; and of course, last but not LEAST, I will share on "Investment Clock concept", teaching you to learn What to invest at What time to maximise your gains and minimise your risks. It is how I made my first million through investing.

So, these are knowledge that are worth millions and can make you millions, will you be willing to learn? Well, as one of my sifu said:"talk is cheap, I will know whether you mean what you say, by the action you take or failed to take."

If you're ready to learn how to "Unleash Wealth in Your Life", details are here:

http://www.AsiaSeminarWorkshop.com/101-2.html

Note: above is just my personal opinion. This e-newsletter is not giving you advice.

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Cheers!

Dennis Ng on behalf of

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