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Working to retire by age 40

(2010-08-19 04:42:20) 下一個

Skin Inc's chief exec calls herself a prudent investor who believes in working hard and smart.

Thu, May 13, 2010
The Straits Times

By Lorna Tan

Ms Sabrina Tan decided to be her own boss after spending a decade with several multinational corporations. So in 2007, she left an American IT firm, EMC Corp, and put up close to $1 million - by pooling her savings and her husband's - to set up skin supplement bar Skin Inc.

Backed by research and development from Japan, the bar provides customised skincare solutions for men and women. Skin Inc now has four outlets.

'I was dissatisfied with the choice of skincare in the market and identified a niche for a skincare brand that provides fuss-free yet visible results at any price range. I realised this was something women everywhere wanted,' said the chief executive of Skin Inc.

It helped that the beauty industry was familiar territory to her. Ms Tan, 35, used to work part-time at cosmetics brand Prescriptives while pursuing her business administration diploma at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Her mother was a beautician who owned a chain of three beauty salons in Bukit Timah and Mount Sophia. She gave up her beauty business 13 years ago.

In terms of personal finances, Ms Tan is a mid-term to long-term investor who looks for steady returns. As her time is spent mostly on her business, she has a financial planner and a personal banker to help manage her investment portfolio. She reviews her portfolio of stocks, unit trusts and land banking with her planner every quarter.

After graduating from the University of London in 1996 with an honours degree in economics and business management, she returned home and worked in several IT firms, starting with IBM. In 1998, she joined Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm Unilever as a key account manager, but left in 2000 to become a marketing manager for Hewlett-Packard. From 2002 to 2006, she was with Symantec before joining EMC.

She is married to a Singaporean who is a country manager at an MNC. They have a daughter, six, and a son, four.

Q: Are you a spender or saver?

I am quite balanced. I save a good amount for retirement and of course for my children's education. I think it's important to have a balanced lifestyle so I spend on family holidays, dining and the occasional shopping.

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

I have four credit cards and charge $3,000 to $11,000 per month. I strongly believe in never spending what you don't have or owing money. Hence all amounts charged to my credit cards are paid off monthly by Giro.

I mostly use my credit cards so I withdraw only about $300 in cash per week.

Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?

My husband and I have a financial planner and personal banker to look through our entire portfolio, from investments to legacy planning.

We have investments in properties, US stocks like Citibank, Symantec and HP, an emerging markets fund, unit trusts focused on Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific, hedge funds, US land banking, and insurance.

In picking stocks, I look at a company's potential, the management team, how innovative it is, brand equity and price-earning ratio.

I'm also a shareholder in my eldest brother's food business and I receive annual dividends from it.

My husband and I are prudent investors who believe in working hard and smart. Putting our business and property investments aside, investment returns on our portfolio have been moderate and steady, averaging 5 to 10 per cent per annum.

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

I have three older brothers, two of whom are entrepreneurs. Our parents taught us from a young age to never be in debt and to never spend what you do not have. My strong Christian beliefs reinforce these values. God's blessings should be put to good use.

My father runs a construction firm and my mum managed a beauty business. We lived in a three-storey terrace house in the East Coast. My eldest brother runs a food business and my second brother runs part of my dad's business. My third brother is in the oil and gas industry.

Q: How did you get interested in investing?

I started off with some passive investment portfolios to build my nest egg. I continued to accumulate wealth by working hard so that I could make further investments that would give me choices in life.

While in school, I managed to save a substantial sum from working part-time, including stints in my eldest brother's food business and investing in his business. Since then, it has been providing steady dividends over the decades. I was an early investor from the employee purchase programme in IBM for share options from my first day of work.

Q: What property do you own?

I wish to keep details of my investment property confidential. My family and I live in a three-storey terrace house in Philips Avenue near Serangoon Gardens, which we bought about five years ago. Its land area is 1,800 sq ft and its built-up space is 3,000 sq ft. The value has since doubled to $1.8 million.

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

Two years ago, for our wedding anniversary, I bought two watches for my husband and me. They were a Jaeger LeCoultre and a Cartier, at a total amount of $25,000.

Q: What's your retirement plan?

I plan for a regular income of $8,000 to $10,000 per month, taking my lifestyle into consideration. I plan to give back to society by doing more missionary work and church ministry work and, of course, travelling round the world.

We are almost debt-free now. However, we hope to be financially ready to retire by age 40.

Q: Home is now....

The house in Philips Avenue near Serangoon Gardens, bought in 2005.

Q: I drive....

A black Mercedes coupe C180.

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