(Post 80/week 62)TipforThought:5 tips on negotiation and staying in hotels!

Another entry from magazines that I pick up...

This week on TipforThought, here are 5 tips on negotiation and staying in hotels that I think would be useful to know.

Here are 5 tips for the art of negotiation!

• 1. If someone offers a good deal, consider the risk to ask for more. As Harvard business school professor Micheal wheeler write's in 2013 the art of negotiation, "When someone hands you a tasty piece of cake, with rich frosting to boot, think twice about asking sprinkler on top"

• 2.When negotiating for money, such as selling your car or asking for a raise, ask for a range not a fixed number. This approach will make it harder for your partner to counter with a lower sum

• 3. Update your boss regularly on your accomplishments. If you can save them for one session, you may come across as needy

• 4. Don't fall prey to "negotiation myopia" a strategic mistake in which one party fail to see a solution that is mutually beneficial. Look for a resolution, in which both sides can be happy

• 5. The effect of mimicry on negotiation found that 10 out of 15 buyers who subtly copied their partner's mannerisms during the thinking process achieved a deal, only two out of the 16 buyers who didn't mirror did not succeed

and here are 5 tips when staying hotels!

• 1.“Ask and you will receive,” says Hilary Lewis, a housekeeping manager at Hotel Arts in Calgary. Most hotels will be happy to provide extra items, like DVD players, microwaves and even fridges, at no extra charge if they have them on hand.

• 2. The filthiest thing in the room might be lying on your bedside table which is the TV remotes, studies have shown that TV remotes were covered in more bacteria than on public-toilet surfaces.

• 3. For advice on what to do for the itinerary, trust the concierge as a source for local intel. “These highly trained professionals are the eyes and ears of the community,” says Fairmont brand president Jennifer Fox.

• 4. Do not readily believe in the star rating of the hotel as the rating systems vary widely between countries. For example, in Italy, a hotel can earn five stars by simply having a 24-hour reception desk, rooms that start at 16 square meters and receptionists who speak three languages. A single star is awarded for changing the sheets once a week

• 5. Booking late can get you the best deals. For same-day reservations, Peter Yesawich, the vice-chairman of international travel marketing services firm MMGY Global, recommends using Hoteltonight.com, Or do it the old-fashioned way and call the front desk. If the place isn’t full, you’ll often get a discount.

Hope you enjoy reading these tips!

(Post 79/week 61)Learning investing/trading together part 13:A35(ABF SINGAPORE BOND INDEX FUND)

I am currently writing a guide on how to purchase POSB invest saver due to the numerous PM that I have received on Facebook. But before that, I need to explain a little bit about A35. I am sure everyone is pretty familiar with STI ETF(ES3 and G3B). You can refer to this link here if you need more information about the STI ETF. 

But, what about ABF Singapore bond fund index? Without further ado, let's get straight to it!

Overview of the A35

• It is the first exchange-traded ("ETF") bond fund in Singapore, 
• The Fund seeks to track the total return of the iBoxx ABF Singapore Bond Index
• iBoxx ABF Singapore Bond Index tracks a basket of high-quality bonds issued primarily by the Singapore government and quasi-Singapore government entities.

What does iBoxx ABF Singapore Bond Index comprise off?

• It comprised of Singapore dollar bonds issued by the Singapore Government or Singapore Government-linked entities  such as e.g Singapore government bond, Housing Development Board, Temasek, and Land Transport Authority, SP Power
• It also comprised of Singapore dollar bonds issued or guaranteed by other Asian government, a quasi-government or supranational financial institution (e.g. Danga capital Berhad, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Development Bank)
• In short, It contains bond from Singapore, Malaysia and Korea
• The pictures below from the annual report shows what does the iBoxx ABF Singapore Bond Index comprise off

• You can download the annual report of A35 here, it contains the portfolio of the iBoxx ABF Singapore Bond Index

Reasons to invest in A35(ABF SINGAPORE BOND INDEX FUND)

Diversification

• Investors achieve diversification in one single transaction with minimum investment versus having to build a similar portfolio by purchasing individual stock, bonds or commodities which could require a huge investment outlay

Cost-effectiveness

• The cost of investing in ETFs are generally lower than actively managed funds(for example, Units Trusts) in the same markets of assets

Accessibility

• ETFs offer access to a variety of local and global markets, as well as asset classes, both broad and specific, which may be inaccessible to individual investors

Did you know?

• You can invest in A35 using CPF SRS(supplementary retirement scheme)?
• Read more about using SRS to invest in A35 here

Fund performance of A35

• 1yr performance=2.01%
• 3yr performance=2.85%
• 5 yr performance=2.55%
• I will be honest here, the fund performance return is not very impressive considering that the above performance is taken into account after reinvesting the dividend.
• However, if you look below the chart in yahoo finance, it is pretty stable being that its min is at 1.00(red line) and its max is at 1.30(black line)

Dividend of A35(One of the most exciting parts of investing is the dividend!)

• Dividend yield for 2017:1.89%
• Dividend yield for 2018:2.31%
• Dividend yield for 2019:2.31%
• There is some mistake in the dividend yield for 2019, hence I have edited and replace it with the actual percentage of the dividend that I have received:2.31%
• For more information about the dividend that I have received for 2019, do read more about it at my updates for POSB invest saver Jan 2019 here

Conclusion

• I am pretty surprised that this index contains HDB and LTA, truly AAA rated!
• History has shown that housing market has collapsed before(yes, I am referring to 2008 financial crisis), but Singapore housing market price is controlled by the government hence it is "rather" safe(take note of the word rather)
• The fund performance may not be very impressive but it provides a better interest rate than most saving bank account or Singapore government bond.
• Moreover, it provides the liquidity of selling away anytime should you need the money.
• Ultimately, the decision to invest or not lies with you, remember to dyodd(do your own due diligence!)

The next post on learning investing/trading together will be on how to purchase from POSB invest saver, do look out for it!

(Post 78/week 60)TipforThought:how to mail and selling on carousell tip and tricks

This week tipforthought is about how to post a mail and some carousell tip, tricks, and hacks that I have research and used

Please do visit my carousell page if you would like to purchase any cheap second-hand book
My carousell:carousell.com/eric996

How to post a mail?

Actually posting a mail is quite easy, you need to purchase the envelope and the stamp and off you go!

Step 1.Purchase the envelope

• You can choose to purchase an envelope from either popular bookstore(around $3.50 for 10 pcs of A4 envelope if my memory serves me right) or any stationary shop or even Daiso(Try not to purchase from singpost outlets itself as it is a tad expensive).
• In my case, I purchase A4 envelope from the Tesco supermarket in Malaysia when I make my monthly trip there due to it being cheaper than Singapore envelope price
• Below is an example of the envelope that I have purchased

Step 2: Purchase the stamp

• For purchasing of the stamps, you can easily do it at the nearest sam machine(see pic below)

                                                    

• Here are the postage rates, for more information refer to the singpost website here

• As I am using A4 envelope which also means C4 envelope, I will be purchasing $0.60 stamp from the SAM machine

Step 3:Write the buyer address,your return address and paste the stamp

• Write the buyer address in the red box,e.g Pasir Ris drive 51 Blk 123 #02-01 s600123
• Paste the stamp in the orange box
• At the other side of the envelope,write the return address (your own home address) for return mail just in case, in the orange box,e.g Tampines drive 52 Blk 456 #03-02 s601456

Step 4:Mail it out

• Mail it out at the nearest posting boxes, you can google the location for the nearest posting boxes

In the second part, I will be talking about some tip that I used to sell on carousell...

1. Regularly update your carousell

By regularly updating your carousell with listing, this has enable my carousell to have more sales.

As this article from Sonia point out, this is due to 3 reasons

1. Your followers get your updates in their browse views
2. Your new listing will show up on the homepage for random browsers
3. Newer listings appear higher when one uses the ‘recent’ filter

2.Updates on weekend

The best time to post on carousell is on a weekend as most people would have time to browse through the listing during the weekend

3.Delete and re-update your listing that is old

For those items that you have listed more than 3 month and above, you should delete and re-upload the listing so that it would help to boost your sales more

4. Share your listing on gumtree and facebook group

Gumtree and facebook group selling second-hand book has a lot of potential buyers, some of my buyers come from gumtree.

5.Create a template to handle customers to save time

In my personal experience, I have created a template to reply to customers to save some typing energy(think of it like an answer or an automated chat bot).

If the buyer makes an offer, this is how I will reply...

1. Meetup is at an extra charge of 50 cents and mailing is at an extra charge of 1.50

2. Hi meetup is at xxx MRT only due to the low cost of the item

If the buyer chooses to meet up, this is how I will reply...

1. Hi, I will only be able to meet up on the weekend

and continue to  discuss with him on the arranged timing, however, if the buyer opts for the mailing option

1.Ok sure, pls make payment via paylah at xxx

2.Would I have your address for mailing purpose?

If the buyer does not have pay lah, this is how I will reply...

1. My bank acc is xxx, please let me know when you transfer

2.Would i have your address for mailing purpose?

And last but not least, remember to thanks your buyers...

1.Please notify me when you have received the item and thank you for purchasing from me

That's all for this week tipforthought!