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Making a mint in currency trading
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Currency trader Yeo Keong Hee concluded quite early in his working life that he was unlikely to achieve financial independence as long as he relied on a salaried job all his life.
Back in 1999, he had just started work as a quantitative analyst at investment agency Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). He held the job for four years from 2000 to 2003.
'Within the first few years of my career as a salaried employee, I quickly realised that learning to invest wisely is an important key to financial success,' said Mr Yeo, 34.
Using his savings, he began by trading in stocks and options but found his forte in foreign exchange (forex) trading. When he managed to generate a consistent trading income that exceeded his pay at GIC, he quit his job to become a full-time forex trader.
By trading in the forex market alone, he now consistently makes profits of US$15,000 (S$22,000) to US$20,000 a month. One of his trading achievements was multiplying a US$10,000 account into more than US$300,000 in just one year, in 2006.
On his preference for trading in currencies instead of stocks and options, he said currencies require less analysis and time and made more money for him.
Besides trading from home, he regularly conducts forex workshops at Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group. And in March, he published his first book, Secrets Of Forex Millionaires, in which he shares his currency trading strategies.
The first print run of 3,000 copies sold out, and the second print run is now available in stores.
Mr Yeo graduated with a first-class honours degree in engineering from the National University of Singapore in 1999.
He is married to homemaker Ida Goh, 34. They have no children.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am rather thrifty. My expenditure generally falls below 30 per cent of my income. Even when my income increases, my lifestyle remains more or less the same.
A large part of my income, about 40 per cent at least, is re-invested into what I do in the financial markets. At the same time, I believe in giving back a certain percentage, at least 10 per cent, of my income to causes that matter to me such as offerings to my church and Christian causes.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I see credit cards as merely for the purpose of convenience. I have only one credit card.
The amount charged to it is paid promptly every month. My credit card bill comes to $1,000 to $2,000 a month. I go to the ATM about twice a month, withdrawing $500 to $1,000 each time.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My financial planning is rather unconventional. Whatever I know best carries the least risk, and for me that's forex. So, much of my funds are in trading the currency markets in a low-risk way.
My portfolio comprises cash, forex and bonds. About 50 to 60 per cent is in forex, 20 to 30 per cent in government securities and the rest, 10 per cent in cash, is parked in money market funds.
I have a forex brokerage account which I trade regularly. The currencies include euro against US dollar, sterling pound against US dollar and US dollar against yen. I may hold my position from a few hours to a few days.
My average returns have been in the range of 10-15 per cent a month for the last three years. I use the stock market to judge the sentiment for the US dollar.
I look at a combination of factors like market sentiment, price charts of forex markets and pre-set my exit points which are set at 1-2 per cent loss per trade.
I have term life cover of $500,000.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I did not grow up in a well-to-do family, and I have always been taught to believe that making money is tough and it is to be spent discriminately. My thrift has a lot to do with my upbringing.
I come from a family of five and I'm the second child. My father was a supervisor in a sawmill firm in Johor and my mother was a homemaker.
We lived in a three-room HDB flat in Woodlands and my father would commute to Singapore every weekend.
Again, my upbringing has motivated me to do well, whether academically or financially. Hardship has a way of bringing out the best in us, provided we take it positively.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
After working for a few years, I quickly realised that learning to invest wisely is an important key to financial success.
Therefore, I made it a point to gradually become less and less dependent on a fixed salary, and worked towards freeing myself from the rat race.
I figured that setting up a business in the traditional way, with all the high costs, was too risky for me.
Learning the ropes of the financial markets in a shrewd, disciplined and systematic way has helped me minimise the risk of investing and free myself from the rat race.
I learnt how to trade stocks through trial and error and from reading books.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a 1,400 sq ft condominium unit in Woodlands. It was bought in late 2007 for $600,000.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
Being thrifty, I don't make extravagant purchases. An exception is the car I currently drive, a Mercedes C-class costing about $140,000. I bought it last year to reward myself.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
To me, financial independence is not measured by how many big houses and cars we have.
My retirement needs are rather modest; hence, I might find myself 'retiring' at a younger age than many expect, although it's hard for me to determine exactly when I will do that. Based on our current lifestyle, my wife and I need about $5,000 a month.
Q: Home is now...
The condominium unit in Woodlands.
Q: I drive...
A champagne-coloured Mercedes C-class.
Q: My worst investment to date...
Early in my investment journey, I invested $50,000 in a few technology stocks which I knew nothing about, and lost about $30,000 within three months. That was when the technology bubble burst in the year 2000.
I had depended on hearsay and failed to do my homework. One important investment principle I learnt is that if we do what everybody else does, we are going to get what everybody else gets.
Most people lose money in the financial markets.
Q: My best investment to date...
Quite ironically, my best investment involved losing money. Quite simply, investment involves the process of learning how to engage the financial markets. The cost of the learning process - inevitably losing some money due to ignorance.
In hindsight, it was those losses that internalised for me the very important principles of investing, which most people know only intellectually but fail to live by.
In late 2003, I pumped US$20,000 into a US broking account to trade stocks and options. I blew the entire sum in three months. But the learning process was certainly well worth it. It made me realise the importance of managing my risks and trading in a more disciplined manner, such as knowing when to get out of losing trades.
Making a mint in currency trading
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
Currency trader Yeo Keong Hee concluded quite early in his working life that he was unlikely to achieve financial independence as long as he relied on a salaried job all his life.
Back in 1999, he had just started work as a quantitative analyst at investment agency Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). He held the job for four years from 2000 to 2003.
'Within the first few years of my career as a salaried employee, I quickly realised that learning to invest wisely is an important key to financial success,' said Mr Yeo, 34.
Using his savings, he began by trading in stocks and options but found his forte in foreign exchange (forex) trading. When he managed to generate a consistent trading income that exceeded his pay at GIC, he quit his job to become a full-time forex trader.
By trading in the forex market alone, he now consistently makes profits of US$15,000 (S$22,000) to US$20,000 a month. One of his trading achievements was multiplying a US$10,000 account into more than US$300,000 in just one year, in 2006.
On his preference for trading in currencies instead of stocks and options, he said currencies require less analysis and time and made more money for him.
Besides trading from home, he regularly conducts forex workshops at Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group. And in March, he published his first book, Secrets Of Forex Millionaires, in which he shares his currency trading strategies.
The first print run of 3,000 copies sold out, and the second print run is now available in stores.
Mr Yeo graduated with a first-class honours degree in engineering from the National University of Singapore in 1999.
He is married to homemaker Ida Goh, 34. They have no children.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I am rather thrifty. My expenditure generally falls below 30 per cent of my income. Even when my income increases, my lifestyle remains more or less the same.
A large part of my income, about 40 per cent at least, is re-invested into what I do in the financial markets. At the same time, I believe in giving back a certain percentage, at least 10 per cent, of my income to causes that matter to me such as offerings to my church and Christian causes.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I see credit cards as merely for the purpose of convenience. I have only one credit card.
The amount charged to it is paid promptly every month. My credit card bill comes to $1,000 to $2,000 a month. I go to the ATM about twice a month, withdrawing $500 to $1,000 each time.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
My financial planning is rather unconventional. Whatever I know best carries the least risk, and for me that's forex. So, much of my funds are in trading the currency markets in a low-risk way.
My portfolio comprises cash, forex and bonds. About 50 to 60 per cent is in forex, 20 to 30 per cent in government securities and the rest, 10 per cent in cash, is parked in money market funds.
I have a forex brokerage account which I trade regularly. The currencies include euro against US dollar, sterling pound against US dollar and US dollar against yen. I may hold my position from a few hours to a few days.
My average returns have been in the range of 10-15 per cent a month for the last three years. I use the stock market to judge the sentiment for the US dollar.
I look at a combination of factors like market sentiment, price charts of forex markets and pre-set my exit points which are set at 1-2 per cent loss per trade.
I have term life cover of $500,000.
Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?
I did not grow up in a well-to-do family, and I have always been taught to believe that making money is tough and it is to be spent discriminately. My thrift has a lot to do with my upbringing.
I come from a family of five and I'm the second child. My father was a supervisor in a sawmill firm in Johor and my mother was a homemaker.
We lived in a three-room HDB flat in Woodlands and my father would commute to Singapore every weekend.
Again, my upbringing has motivated me to do well, whether academically or financially. Hardship has a way of bringing out the best in us, provided we take it positively.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
After working for a few years, I quickly realised that learning to invest wisely is an important key to financial success.
Therefore, I made it a point to gradually become less and less dependent on a fixed salary, and worked towards freeing myself from the rat race.
I figured that setting up a business in the traditional way, with all the high costs, was too risky for me.
Learning the ropes of the financial markets in a shrewd, disciplined and systematic way has helped me minimise the risk of investing and free myself from the rat race.
I learnt how to trade stocks through trial and error and from reading books.
Q: What property do you own?
I own a 1,400 sq ft condominium unit in Woodlands. It was bought in late 2007 for $600,000.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?
Being thrifty, I don't make extravagant purchases. An exception is the car I currently drive, a Mercedes C-class costing about $140,000. I bought it last year to reward myself.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
To me, financial independence is not measured by how many big houses and cars we have.
My retirement needs are rather modest; hence, I might find myself 'retiring' at a younger age than many expect, although it's hard for me to determine exactly when I will do that. Based on our current lifestyle, my wife and I need about $5,000 a month.
Q: Home is now...
The condominium unit in Woodlands.
Q: I drive...
A champagne-coloured Mercedes C-class.
Q: My worst investment to date...
Early in my investment journey, I invested $50,000 in a few technology stocks which I knew nothing about, and lost about $30,000 within three months. That was when the technology bubble burst in the year 2000.
I had depended on hearsay and failed to do my homework. One important investment principle I learnt is that if we do what everybody else does, we are going to get what everybody else gets.
Most people lose money in the financial markets.
Q: My best investment to date...
Quite ironically, my best investment involved losing money. Quite simply, investment involves the process of learning how to engage the financial markets. The cost of the learning process - inevitably losing some money due to ignorance.
In hindsight, it was those losses that internalised for me the very important principles of investing, which most people know only intellectually but fail to live by.
In late 2003, I pumped US$20,000 into a US broking account to trade stocks and options. I blew the entire sum in three months. But the learning process was certainly well worth it. It made me realise the importance of managing my risks and trading in a more disciplined manner, such as knowing when to get out of losing trades.
