WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE?

We enlisted the help of nancial experts and millionaires to nd out how to invest smart and make money in your sleep.

1. Invest in what you know

A self-confessed traditional investor, founder and CEO of property firm Manor Group, John Lim, devotes a significant part of his investment portfolio to tangible assets like real estate. To date, his best investments have largely been hospitality-related. He started out by renovating his father’s properties with his savings before renting them out. Discovering he had a knack for it, he then expanded into the design, construction and logistics business.

He encourages investing beyond Singapore and is himself investing in two new projects overseas – in Chiang Mai and Japan – with plans to develop more machiya (traditional wooden town houses) in Kyoto.

Ray Tan, who became a millionaire at 26, is the youngest and fastest-promoted executive director at life insurance company Great Eastern Life Singapore. He says: “I invest in things I know and spend time on. I like the nancial sector and it helps that my line of work falls within it, so I’m attuned to market movements.”

Ray relies on wealthmanagement tools such as endowment plans and fund investments. “I’ve bought some endowments because I like the predictability of the amount and the timing of the maturity of funds. I also regularly channel my savings into the market through exchangetraded funds (open-ended investment funds traded on a real-time stock exchange) to grow my money.”

2. Find a mentor

“Your actions, not birthright, are what make you rich,” stresses Fabian Lim, self-made millionaire, founder and Group CEO

of tech start-up Page Advisor, and author of The Science of Getting Rich

Decoded. His tip for success: “Find someone whose skills you can mirror, whether in digital marketing or other areas, and leverage on your strengths.”

In the words of Chinese business magnate Jack Ma: “Before you turn 30 years old, follow somebody… it’s not which company you go to, it’s which boss you follow. A good boss teaches you differently.”

3. Network, network, network

There’s a saying that network equals net worth. “Networking shouldn’t just be about swopping name cards and expanding your social circle. The question

“Find someone whose skills you can mirror, whether in digital marketing or other areas, and leverage on your strengths.”

is, why would a wealthy person want to mingle with you?” Fabian asks.

“To get someone’s attention, you must be able to add value to their lives.” Think barter trade. “Millionaires are not interested in trading purely in cash. The director of a top property agency in Malaysia ew to Singapore to meet me as he wanted to tap on my digital marketing experience. In return for my help in developing a digital marketing strategy for his rm, he helped me secure investors for Page Advisor.”

4. Think of ways to grow your business

“When it comes to jobs, a company determines your fate. A job was never designed to make you rich,” says Fabian. “As an entrepreneur, you are in control. Say you’re an Uber driver. You can only ‘singletask’ – drive one car at a time. On the other hand, as the founder of Uber, you’re beneting from so many cars on the road.” So, scalability, or the potential for growth, matters.

Chih Ching concurs. “Scalability is the only way to make millions. When you want to make millions, numbers are important. I personally don’t like businesses with a ceiling that limits the amount you can make, like artisanal or bespoke products.”

5. The pay-off of passive income

Rhonda Wong, founder of online property marketplace platform Ohmyhome, made her rst million at 25 from trading, but recommends investing in property as a source of passive income that you don’t have to constantly monitor.

Stocks rise and fall but “property won’t hit zero”, assuming the unit is in a liveable condition. “Even if a property in a less ideal location depreciates by 10 to 20 per cent or 50 per cent, it can still be rented out.”

To achieve a return that exceeds your initial investment, Rhonda suggests looking out for certain factors when buying: location, scarcity of the property type (for instance, exclusive units in a condo might feature a squarish living room or sea view) and future developments in the area, such as shopping malls or MRT stations, all of which may increase the value of your investment. Fengshui is also a key consideration for some buyers, who may prefer unit number eight over four.”

“When buying your rst property for investment, considerations like a sea view are not as crucial. If that gives you a higher monetary return, go ahead, but don’t choose it because it’s something you would want in your dream home,” says Rhonda. “If you live in your rst home instead of using it as an investment, you’ll be paying it off for years before you see any return. It would be wiser to rent it out for, say, $4,000 and rent a place elsewhere for $800.”

“An HDB at is more of a shelter than an investment

Stocks rise and fall but “property won’t hit zero”… “Even if a property in a less ideal location depreciates by 10 to 20 per cent or 50 per cent, it can still be rented out.”

product,” says Rhonda. To invest, she suggests looking beyond Singapore to places like the UK, where you might be able to get higher returns. Australia is also affordable and, like the UK, its policies are similar to those of Singapore as contracts are governed by Commonwealth law, so it’ll be easier when it comes time to sell.

6. Focus your energy on things that matter

Spending too much time in the morning picking out what to wear? Learn from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who wears a grey T-shirt every day so he can channel his focus and energy to more important decisions. The same goes for Rhonda. “In my office wardrobe are items that I can easily pick to get ready quickly. It’s a waste of time thinking of what to wear.”