Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Invest in the stock market

Dear Mr. Tan,
Should I invest in a capital guaranteed product that pays 2% for 2 years?

REPLY
If you have spare cash, you can invest in shares to earn the following:

a)  STI ETF can earn a dividend yield of around 5%. Even if the dividend drops, you can still earn 3% or more.
b)  REITs (real estate trust) can earn you a dividend yield of 10%.  Even if the rental drop, you can still earn 5% or more.

Do not worry about the share price (ETF or REIT). If it drops, you can still wait and collect the dividend of 3% or 5%. Wait for the stockmarket to recover in 2 or 3 years or longer, in a worse case. You can get a gain of 20% to 50%. Be prepared to take risk and get a better return.

Do not invest in capital guaranteed product that earns 2% and locks you for 2 years.