Wednesday 23 November 2022

Passive Income Scams

 





It's fun and refreshing to find some "ang moh" financial YouTubers do play the role of the 2 dots in the Tao symbol!


Those of us who are snake oils (day job working as sales, marketing, advertising, PR; etc...) would cringe with all the hyperbole dished out. 


It's true.


The best way to make money attending all these "get rich" seminars and masterclasses, is to "steal with pride" how they conduct the trainings, "creatively" pour the course materials into new bottles, and then start selling yourself as the next "financial guru" - "If you believe me; follow me!"


Of course, it helps you can speak and do motivational talks in public.


Those who can't, can do YouTube videos. I mean you just have to talk into the camera. No?


As for those who are camera shy, well, there's still blogging. 


You'll be surprised how many people are willing to spend money on courses without knowing the real name of the trainer or how he/she looks in real life.


It's like a blind date! 


I kid you not. 


Then again, these "trainers" with brown paper bags over their heads charge the lowest... Ar ber then?


Those who dare to show face and use real names, of course can and should a charge a lot more! 


Why?


That's because "potential" students can CSI the trainers' background and credentials. 


Think about it for a moment. If you drive a Mercedes or BMW, would you take financial advice from someone taking the Comfort Delgro bus?


If you stay in a condo, would you attend property courses from someone who stays in a HDB flat?





P.S.  That's why "financial gurus" would rent villas, sports cars, take pictures in front of yachts they don't own to project that "success" to "bei kambings".


Those of you in real estate or insurance sales, you know the trick of wearing fake luxury watches, right? Fake it until you make it!




 





5 comments:

  1. Scams are good business with grand profits for scammers . Now we have passive income scams. We love passive income through easy investing; but will never realize that we are scammed. LoL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CW,

      There are the "hard" scams like Gold Trading and failed Crypto exchanges - where it's obvious since the victims lost EVERYTHING. (Sent to the glue factory)

      Then there are the "soft" scams where the victims are not aware since they are only being fleeced or milked.

      In a perverse way, the victims may actually enjoy the fleecing or milking process!?

      For lonely or people seeking to belong, suddenly you are part of a movement, you have a support network with common purpose, your life is no longer meaningless or aimless...

      Some people join cults, some become social justice warriors, then there are those that join the FIRE movement...

      Delete
  2. As a wage slave all my life, the lure of passive income is strong. Cash flow without effort on your part! Whats not to like?

    Intrigued by it, I started to build my own passive income streams in 2011 (comprising dividends, rental and interests from CPF) at the tender of 50. It was good that I started late because the first lesson I learnt was you need capital to generate passive income. Starting late in life meant I have decent capital to play with.

    Year 1 (2011) passive income came in at a grand total of $46K. And it gradually grew to an all time high of $196,800 in 2019. Then Covid struck, and it all came tumbling down... to $182K in 2020. Lesson number 2 - dividend and rental incomes are not reliable. And interest from CPF is.

    2020 was the time I went into the market and bought stocks on discount. With that the following year 2021, the passive income grew back to $196,700. And this year 2022, it hit a new ATH of $226,000.

    This would be the projection of our passive income down the road (to sustain our retirement) :

    What we achieved in 2022:

    Dividend : $88,000 ($7,300 pm)
    Rental : $3,500 pm
    Interest from CPF : $99,000

    From 62 (2023) to 69
    Gold Tap
    1. OA&SA interests : $65,000

    Silver Tap
    1. SRS drawdown : $52,000

    Bonus Taps
    1. Dividend : $80,000
    2. Rental : $40,000

    Annually : $237,000

    From 70 onwards
    Gold Tap
    1. OA&SA interests : $65,000
    2. CPF Life : $60,000

    Bonus Taps
    1. Dividend : $80,000
    2. Rental : $40,000

    Annually : $245,000

    If our bonus taps are doing well, we would most probably not be touching the OA/SA interests and let it compound.

    On the other hand, we are planning on a lifestyle supported by the gold and silver taps only.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mysecretinvestment,

      " I learnt was you need capital to generate passive income. Starting late in life meant I have decent capital to play with."

      We are on the same page.

      Regulars at this watering hole would know the backstory you shared with us - your living on the knife's edge adventures with properties in your youth ;)

      Passive income and dividend investing work better when we are climbing down the mountain.

      Try climbing the mountain with $100K at age 30 with just dividend investing or passive income...

      I've noticed some younger passive income bloggers who started out 10 years ago have slowly pivoted to Growth (Earn More) in recent years.

      It's simple math. If we want $50K per year passive income at "conservative" yield of 5%, we need a capital of $1 million.

      If its $100K per year to be more "comfortable", we need $2 million capital.

      That's assuming inflation is 2%. We got 3% to compound our capital AFTER retirement as "buffer".

      But if inflation is 5% going forward, hello, there's no COMPOUNDING growth whatsoever!

      The alternative is to chase higher yields, but we know how that goes for those not skilled with risk management...


      It's the earning power of our day job that does the heavy lifting.

      If that's not possible, you think why youths are so drawn towards cryptos today?

      In my time it was options - remember Dr Options?

      Every generation will have their own versions of "Tulips" to contend with.





      Delete
  3. Smol,

    If the investment is too complicated to understand, the obvious decision is to avoid such investment.

    Wtk

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...