Success due to adoptive dad

Descendant of Lim Bo Seng was given away to an aunt, whose husband taught him money smarts.

Mon, Mar 22, 2010
The Straits Times

By Lorna Tan

When Mr Freddy Lim was two, his parents - who had nine children - gave him away to his mother's sister. His aunt's husband was Mr Teo Thye Hong, who set up property developer Tong Eng Brothers with his brother Teo Thye Chor in 1960. His uncle and aunt had two sons and five daughters of their own.

It was his maternal grandmother who initiated the adoption process as her only son had died. She lived with the Teo family, and because she wanted direct supervision of him, she got him adopted by the Teos.

Mr Lim also took the surname of his maternal grandfather, whose brother was war hero Lim Bo Seng, because his grandmother wanted a male to carry on the lineage.

'My natural father was an accountant, a salaried man who didn't know how to invest and make money,' Mr Lim, 52, recalled. His adoptive father, on the other hand, taught him how he should manage his money.

Tong Eng started as a steel trading firm and went into property development later. Its residential projects include Tong Eng Heights in Tampines, Green Mea-dows in Yio Chu Kang and Serenade in Sembawang.

Mr Lim enrolled at New York University in 1979 to study bioscience but returned after one year because he wanted to join the family business early. He was 23 then. He worked as an administrative executive at Tong Eng until 1994, when his adoptive father died and he left to manage his own investments.

His brother Daniel Teo took over as chairman from 1994.

Mr Lim has been a shareholder in the firm since 1979 and still receives passive income from company dividends.

From 1994 till 2007, he took a break from work and attended finance-related seminars and personal improvement talks. They included empowerment talks by Mr Anthony Robbins and Mr Jay Abraham, and seminars on stock investing, time management and personal financial management.

In 2007, he ventured into multi-level marketing and became a business executive at Melaleuca, which markets tea tree oil as an antiseptic. Last year, while still working at Melaleuca, he became a business executive at network marketing firm Unicity, which promotes slimming and cholesterol controlling supplements.

He is married to Shao Qun, 38, who is Shanghai-born and now a permanent resident. They have a daughter Cherry Marianne, 12.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I'm a saver as well as a spender. I earn an average of $10,000 a month and I can spend half of it and save the other half, depending on the situation. I'm a shareholder of Tong Eng, and the main part of my income comes from its ongoing projects. I also have passive income from rentals of commercial properties that Tong Eng owns. For instance, it partially owns Tong Eng Building in Cecil Street and all of Serangoon Plaza.

Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I have five credit cards. I charge up to $4,000 to my credit cards every month. Depending on my cash flow, I may roll over and pay the minimum amount for some of my bills.

I withdraw about $1,000 from the ATM each month. Usually I withdraw $500 each time.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

My current portfolio comprises properties, stocks and insurance. I had some China-listed shares but sold them all late last year when they appreciated 13 per cent in the seven months from March to September and made some profit. When my savings accumulate, I'll invest again in the Chinese shares.

My stock investing experience has not always been good. From 2001 to 2004, I lost about $40,000 through share trading because of the economic downturn. I had invested in property stocks and real estate investment trusts.

I've a whole life insurance cover of about $200,000, a medical policy and personal accident coverage of about $1 million.

Q: Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

My adoptive family had three sons and five daughters. I was the seventh child. We lived in a bungalow in Katong with my grandmother. My adoptive mother was a housewife.

My biological family lived in a terrace house in Jalan Taman, which was given to them by my grandmother.

My adoptive father was strict with his children and me. For example, when we were given our pocket money, we were supposed to record how we spent it. I would get $10 if I scored an A in school and $5 for a B grade. I would also get $2 each time I drove his car out of the garage for him. That was how I learnt my driving even in my early teens. He also took me to visit Tong Eng's land bank and properties in Yio Chu Kang Road and Tampines Road. My adoptive parents didn't treat me any differently from their own children.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I learnt quite a bit from my father and from reading books by Robert Kiyosaki, Brian Tracy, Jay Abraham and an autobiography of the late tycoon Tan Chin Tuan.

My adoptive father got me interested in stock investing. My first investment was in Far East Levingston when I was in Primary 6 in Catholic High. My adoptive father invested on my behalf. I made a few hundred dollars over the next few months. That was in 1969.

Q: What property do you own?

I own a 1,100 sq ft, three-bedroom condo unit in Nathan Road. I bought it for about $830 per sq ft or $910,000 in 2005. Now it's worth between $1.5 million and $2 million.

I met my wife when I was in Shanghai on a business cum pleasure trip in 1995. She was my personal tour guide. When I got married in 1997, I bought a 1,600 sq ft three-bedroom apartment in Shanghai for $200,000 for my wife. Now the value has more than doubled to $500,000. The property prices in Shanghai are at their peak now. We're hoping to sell it soon.

Q: What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?

The most extravagant thing I have bought is my car, a Mercedes-Benz B200, for about $100,000. I bought it in 2006.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I suppose my wife and I would probably need about $15,000 a month in our old age. I'll invest my savings in bonds and equities, and in properties. It would probably take me another 10 to 15 years before I'm financially free.

Q: Home is now...

The Nathan Road condo.

Q: I drive...

I drive a dark blue Mercedes-Benz B200.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.