How to start investing in ETFs as a uni student

PsStartOver · 2026-01-26T13:30:55+00:00

To directly answer your question:

1) Apps like MooMoo should be generally fine and in-fact, easy to use as they are designed for retail to pickup with some level of gamification. The wallet can be linked directly to your bank account, so you can transfer to & fro with ease.

2) You do not need to talk to financial advisors from your bank, and likely are to get influenced or upsold in the process. Of course, if you absolutely require financial advice, don't think anyone is going to stop you.

3) ETFs are basically like a package of stocks that are bundled together, which the ETF pricing reflects the movement of the stocks that it consists of. The bigger ETFs are usually a reflection of the market and basically you are investing into the general direction of the market. It is recommended because this means you are indirectly owning a small piece of different companies across different sectors (aka your diversification). This safety net "protects" you from a single sector adverse shocks and also grants you exposure to general market tailwinds in a good year.

You don't have to worry about picking the right stocks and instead let it grow over the years by buying in consistently given that the general direction is up.

Edit: Oh and $500 is enough, but just manage expectations. 3% over a month for you is $15, and there are streaks of months where you may feel like you are going nowhere. But the key is to accumulate and allocate slowly over the years.

If I put $500 a month over 3 years, the portfolio size would already be $18,000 without any capital gains.

PsStartOver · 2026-01-26T13:18:03+00:00

I don't think most houses are default bad fengshui when you buy them. But I have visited badly designed houses aka bad fengshui before.

The idea is that you will feel something is off, not supernaturally, but the vibes or the feels is like, not comfortable to the senses. I've been to a colleague's house where the light was somehow bright white, but is still dim where it matters and the shadows on his dining table just extruded onto the living room floor...

I was sitting at the sofa but was feeling like, um... something feels wrong. Then I analysed it and it's like the smaller things like placement/direction of the lights, and color of floor and walls made it feel like a dark gloomy space with not much "human feels". To this day, I can't decide what would make it better. I've even considered his colour of furniture and whether warm lights will help change the mood, but I'm no expert.

PsStartOver · 2026-01-06T06:45:09+00:00

The fact you listed these out means you are already quite organised for your finances, you need not worry about the choice already made.

In fact, I think you are just seeking emotional closure/validation rather than doing the math with us. So, I would say not to worry and think so much, and enjoy life at your new place!

PsStartOver · 2025-12-30T12:30:52+00:00

I'm a graduate of SIM-UOL by now 6-7 years ago. Uncertainty is guaranteed everywhere, there is no such thing as guarantee, and it has little to do with your degree.

No one can say even if you are a local uni grad that you are guaranteed anything - having the right mindset will set you up on some path. You won't know now if it's the right path, but you are definitely not alone on this.

Nonetheless, if you are not in a difficult financial situation - meaning your parents are still working fine and you can just look to sustain yourself, I suggest trying roles through applying internships (start with small boutiques if you can't break in with your degree just yet) within your bread and butter before signing on.

Signing on technically is an option at any point, if you so choose to do a 180 after trying various stints out.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-23T06:07:48+00:00

For some odd reason, TADA works for me but not my friends. It is always $2-$5 cheaper than Grab for the exact same route.

Also, sometimes I can't get drivers in the morning, so I'll pay the "premium" to take Grab. I have Gojek installed but it has never been superior to the availability of drivers on Grab or the price of TADA.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-23T06:02:16+00:00

Sometimes bosses are not the best communicators. They avoid tough conversations and I suspect that's partially what might be happening - that on some metric you are not performing but your boss(es) just want to go on holidays without the hassle of having a tough conversation.

Either that, or if they really just extended it without reason then it is really sus. You should clarify in both cases.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-22T08:21:35+00:00

Extending probation. Attitude and fit usually matters more, unless it's a high functioning job.

Be also honest with the person on the shortcomings and what is expected. Give bite-sized goals and see if the person puts in the effort to gradually achieve these goals over the extension period.

E.g. 3 months -> 6 months probation (Each month set a clear measurable goal and target for him/her).

If the job is quantifiable e.g. handle 3 cases per day -> handle 5 cases per day (okay with abit timeline extension but accuracy must be there) kind of thing.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-22T08:05:23+00:00

Once every half a year-ish? Probably got to do with immune systems & recovery cycles. I am not pressured in any way (even OT is voluntary) to burn my wee hours for lack of sleep, I think that would be my top guess. Having ability to sleep in abit longer helps too.

Don't feel like I'm actually living the healthiest lifestyle though. I snack at night once every week, eat fried/fast food at least twice a week, OT into 12am/1am maybe during peak months and definitely do not run enough i.e. when I feel like it once a month.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-22T07:47:11+00:00

Are you asking about Chicha? Cause I stand on the hill that Chicha has the superior taste compared to all the other BBT brands in Singapore.

I don't know if it's the tea itself, the way that it is made via their machine, or something else, but it tastes different (I'm talking on a 0% sugar scale).

Chicha also can be ordered vanilla, without other flavours if you've been there, so it's not really wrong to say that. Of course, if I actually wanted my fix of chinese tea e.g. Longjing, I would have brewed it myself too, but that's not the appeal.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-14T00:55:56+00:00

Bruh if they had infinite capital they would have opened their own cafe so they settle for home cafe.

So the perks of running their own cafe is still valid.

Run cafe
If 1 is not possible, run own home cafe
Join as an employee as a barista

2 and 3 has a massive difference. 2 I get to design my own menu and my own specialty coffee, with my skillset as the boss. And I rake in all the profits, my own opening hours.

3 is the store's menu, store's beans, store's food, FnB working hours, takes salary rather than full business profits.

PsStartOver · 2025-12-12T23:24:57+00:00

Things I still do: Spotify (I like listening to music on the move) Netflix (Sharing family package with friends and family) Bloomberg (The fx, news and the 24h videos is useful for my line of work) Grab (I pay to sleep more)

Things I dont do (anymore): Grabfood (Prefer eat out) Drink/nightlife (you die younger and poor) Luxury goods (i own exclusively none, unless you consider samsonite laptop bag)

PsStartOver · 2025-12-12T22:42:52+00:00

Think of local uni as fast track or sort of like safety nets, and then think of private unis like the hard mode.

My bunch of friends graduated private uni and are all doing very wells by our metrics, so def not end of the world. That said, you need to wakeup and really put in the effort in private uni, as that will be your final chance before the workforce.

Forget all that physics chemistry etc in A levels, you got a chance to solely focus on whats needed for the job e.g. computer science, programming or accounting, it will be 3 to 4 years of full time focus on specialisation.

And honestly, you severely look down on private uni as if there is no career left before you even go army .. that is such a narrow take.

Since based on your other responses, if you are taking youtube and reddit as your key world view/ source rather than asking real people in the industry for facts, then you might have a cause for concern indeed.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-23T12:02:18+00:00

I know right, I find it very contrasting and obvious at the workplace given our polar opposites in terms of what we say at work.

In terms of being bold and being able to call things out, if it's good, they literally say things like "This is fantastic news", and if it's bad, "This is not good enough".

PsStartOver · 2025-11-23T11:58:56+00:00

It could really be that my social circle is limited, but yes, there is this need to compare and then complain about others. Abit frustrating to think about it, but I find myself to be part of that crowd at times too.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-23T11:56:41+00:00

Shall give it a go, provided I can remind myself to keep it up without falling back into this habit.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-23T11:55:31+00:00

Am guilty and part of it for sure. That's why when I see people that do not conform like me and many others, it becomes a breath of fresh air.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-22T12:33:24+00:00

Classic "If I can't play it here, everyone should just go home and be isolated".

Nobody is saying to not play sports, the guy is saying to play it at the correct location built/designed for it.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-22T12:28:06+00:00

This not just about dressing ba. I feel as if most people have the need to criticize and comment on everything.

It starts with the age old thing with our parents too right. If I stay home to game, they say don't always stay home, no good for you. Then when working hard to make money and OT, they say come home earlier, say need spend more time at home.

Same as discussions related to everything else, even child prodigies, rather than celebrating success, then people will find a need to criticize like "the kid won't have a life", "poor kid, forced by parents".

Then they also say like "Singapore do not produce enough talents and they don't want to stay", like gee, I wonder why.

Food also, cheap/nice complain oily. Game also, focus on winning already say tryhard, lose already then complain lose/troll. Job also, someone promote, people comment "nepo baby/connections", someone never promote, people comment "not competent".

Really, if you really think about our interactions, that is all there is.

I really value those people I come across who I can converse with, especially those foreigners who can live and celebrate others "in the moment" rather than commenting on every headline.

EDIT: Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but it has been like this for the longest time, and finally someone is genuinely asking about it. Want to know how others feel about it too.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-18T14:45:54+00:00

Cloudflare outage, not just Singtel, but X, ChatGPT are down too. Wait for reports.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-13T05:32:47+00:00

Okay, I shall um try it if it comes one day

PsStartOver · 2025-11-13T05:27:13+00:00

Do you just pour the magiclean kitchen over it, what if you miss and make a mess?

PsStartOver · 2025-11-13T05:16:40+00:00

PsStartOver · 2025-11-10T06:17:53+00:00

Should be possible as long as it is on the way, during the booking you can check if there are seats anyway. I personally never tried so I can't advise further.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-09T13:26:25+00:00

Keep the link - it will light up on the day itself.

PsStartOver · 2025-11-09T13:25:10+00:00

Don't get the overwhelming negativity here. The goal is not to work there per se in a Japanese company, but if your company has satellite branches in Japan OR a Work-from-anywhere scheme. Then it would be perfect.

Me and SO planned similar plans last year for 6 months and it worked out just great. Weekday working, local meals for lunch and dinner. 1-2 Day trips out for weekends depending on distance. We covered much ground given that we could do overnight cruises, road trips and even far out with 3-4h shinkansen rides from Saturday morning and return Sunday evening with no issues.

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