"Ultimately, there's one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself" - Warren Buffett
Getting yourself educated is by far the best investment one can make. However, even for those of us who realize this, the journey to obtaining this education can be perilous. One of the biggest problems in our education system worldwide is that it tends to teach skills that you can use to make money, but it doesn't teach skills that help you to make that money work for you. Most investing education is unregulated and it remains open to unscrupulous sorts who will try to take advantage of would be learners.
Without peer reviews and accreditation, who can we trust to deliver good trustworthy knowledge that will help us grow our wealth?
Getting yourself educated is by far the best investment one can make. However, even for those of us who realize this, the journey to obtaining this education can be perilous. One of the biggest problems in our education system worldwide is that it tends to teach skills that you can use to make money, but it doesn't teach skills that help you to make that money work for you. Most investing education is unregulated and it remains open to unscrupulous sorts who will try to take advantage of would be learners.
Without peer reviews and accreditation, who can we trust to deliver good trustworthy knowledge that will help us grow our wealth?
My approach
Many people would recommend reading the classic investment books like "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham or "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. I personally have never read these, or any investment books. Doesn't mean reading these is a bad idea, I simply do not know.
To me, learning theories and applying them successfully in the real world are very different processes. Most of you would not trust a fresh grad civil engineer to build a sky scrapper without supervision, even though he just spent 4 years of his life learning about building those sky scrappers. This is because subconsciously we all know there is far more to learning than can be compressed into a series of lectures or a book. You can only become really good at something by learning from others who are actively doing it and doing it yourself.
So, my approach is two-fold, first learn from an expert that is already successful at trading/investing and then apply that learning into my own investments.
The problem is, the really successful investors do not need to/bother to teach what they know. They would rather keep their techniques secret, so they can continue to be profitable. For the investors who do come out to teach, it is very likely that they make far more from teaching investing then actually investing.
That does not mean that you should avoid all investment education providers, the good ones can really help you to shortcut your learning process. It does mean that you need to set your expectations right. If you go in with the mindset that the teacher will somehow give you a system that can let you invest successfully without effort on your side, you are going to fail. Once you have paid the admissions fee, they are under no obligation to ensure you succeed in investing. You need to go in with the objective of learning. Learn as much from them as you possibly can within the time allotted to you. Add what you learn to your pool of knowledge. Only then do you have a chance of succeeding.
To me, learning theories and applying them successfully in the real world are very different processes. Most of you would not trust a fresh grad civil engineer to build a sky scrapper without supervision, even though he just spent 4 years of his life learning about building those sky scrappers. This is because subconsciously we all know there is far more to learning than can be compressed into a series of lectures or a book. You can only become really good at something by learning from others who are actively doing it and doing it yourself.
So, my approach is two-fold, first learn from an expert that is already successful at trading/investing and then apply that learning into my own investments.
The problem is, the really successful investors do not need to/bother to teach what they know. They would rather keep their techniques secret, so they can continue to be profitable. For the investors who do come out to teach, it is very likely that they make far more from teaching investing then actually investing.
That does not mean that you should avoid all investment education providers, the good ones can really help you to shortcut your learning process. It does mean that you need to set your expectations right. If you go in with the mindset that the teacher will somehow give you a system that can let you invest successfully without effort on your side, you are going to fail. Once you have paid the admissions fee, they are under no obligation to ensure you succeed in investing. You need to go in with the objective of learning. Learn as much from them as you possibly can within the time allotted to you. Add what you learn to your pool of knowledge. Only then do you have a chance of succeeding.
My reviews
It is difficult to tell if you are going to get your money's worth when signing up for an investing course. I have personally had trouble finding good unbiased reviews for the courses I wanted to attend. To help those of you that wish to get an investment education, I will provide a review of the courses that I have previously attended. Other then being a former student, I am not affiliated with any of these training providers. These are my personal views and others may feel differently.
Online Trading Academy (OTA)
Year attended: 2010
Course attended: Core strategy + Forex
What I learnt: Price action trading, how to identify good supply and demand zones, multi-time frame analysis.
Paid: $8,000
Course attended: Core strategy + Forex
What I learnt: Price action trading, how to identify good supply and demand zones, multi-time frame analysis.
Paid: $8,000
OTA is a very established school for teaching trading techniques. Their core strategy is one of the most useful trading strategies I have ever learnt, as it applies to all asset classes that have a price chart you can look at. My personal technical analysis methodology is still largely based off what I learnt from them. All their instructors are successful traders and they actually have a system in place where if an instructor does not maintain profitability in his personal trading, they are not allowed to teach. This is also the only "free repeat" offering that I find value in, because each time they hold a course, they would fly in a different instructor to deliver it. Each instructor has his own personal style, so you can actually see how different instructors implement their core strategy differently and learn what may work for you. They have a physical office + classroom in Singapore in Aperia Mall.
Overall rating - 4/5 - They certainly deliver value, but the cost is also extremely high. Last I heard, they are charging over $20,000 for a comprehensive course.
Other courses - They have what they call XLTs, which are regular webinars where their students can listen to what their trainers think the market will do and also receive specific advise on trades.
Overall rating - 4/5 - They certainly deliver value, but the cost is also extremely high. Last I heard, they are charging over $20,000 for a comprehensive course.
Other courses - They have what they call XLTs, which are regular webinars where their students can listen to what their trainers think the market will do and also receive specific advise on trades.
Property Investment Program (PIP) by Wendy Kwek and Jerome Tan
Year attended: 2010
Course attended: Property Investment Program
What I learnt: Creative techniques to own multiple residential properties
Paid: $3,800
Course attended: Property Investment Program
What I learnt: Creative techniques to own multiple residential properties
Paid: $3,800
The course was mainly a sharing session by Wendy Kwek and Jerome Tan on how they managed to own hundreds of investment properties. I heard the stories and they all sounded great and interesting. The missing part was converting these stories into actionable steps that I could take to replicate their success. These days Wendy and Jerome have split up and both seem to be actively promoting overseas property investments.
Overall rating - 2/5 - The course did open my eyes to how entrepreneurial people can get ahead in property investing, but without a clear way to replicate what they did, there was minimal value for me.
Overall rating - 2/5 - The course did open my eyes to how entrepreneurial people can get ahead in property investing, but without a clear way to replicate what they did, there was minimal value for me.
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Year attended: 2013
Course attended: Master's of Business Analytics
What I learnt: Data analytics techniques
Paid: $40,000
Course attended: Master's of Business Analytics
What I learnt: Data analytics techniques
Paid: $40,000
Including this course here might seem a bit off topic, but a part of my trading involves using data analytics techniques that I learnt during this course. I got a master's degree out of this, so I don't consider the cost as part of what I spent specifically to learn investing techniques. I did have the objective of applying what I learnt to improve my investing. Even my final thesis was the application of an algorithm I wrote to predict volatility movements in the equity markets. You can learn similar things from free websites like Coursera, though self-discipline might be your greatest enemy.
Overall rating - 5/5 - I love NUS, so I might be a bit biased here...
Overall rating - 5/5 - I love NUS, so I might be a bit biased here...
Value Investing College (VIC) by Sean Seah Weiming
Year attended: 2016
Course attended: Value Investing Bootcamp
What I learnt: Value investing, simple options techniques
Paid: $4,500
Course attended: Value Investing Bootcamp
What I learnt: Value investing, simple options techniques
Paid: $4,500
VIC delivers on their promise to teach it's students how to use value investing techniques to invest. I went for their course to learn how to perform valuation on companies, but I left with much more, including an options technique that helps generate cashflow for value investors. I remember that the notes were clear and concise and the teaching was easy to follow. After the course, they place you into their Facebook group which has thousands of ex-students. Because of the positive vibe during the training, many are willing to answer questions put up by newer investors. I would recommend them for anyone who is starting to learn about investing.
Overall rating - 4.5/5 - Great value delivered, docking half a point because Sean only taught a small portion of the actual course, though the other trainers are very competent themselves.
Other courses - They have other affiliate trainers that teach advanced options strategies.
Overall rating - 4.5/5 - Great value delivered, docking half a point because Sean only taught a small portion of the actual course, though the other trainers are very competent themselves.
Other courses - They have other affiliate trainers that teach advanced options strategies.
High Probability Trading (HPT) by Jeff Sun
Year attended: 2017
Course attended: High Probability Trading
What I learnt: Some technical analysis indicators
Paid: $2,500
Course attended: High Probability Trading
What I learnt: Some technical analysis indicators
Paid: $2,500
I attended Jeff's course because he claimed to be a full time trader employed at a hedge fund and he would regularly post trades in his facebook page so that his students can follow. A couple of months after the completion of the course, he claimed that he had some family issues and promptly disappeared. His facebook page has had no activity since. If you ever see Jeff attempting to start another training course, avoid it.
Overall rating - 0/5 - Did not deliver on his promise, bordering on fraud.
Overall rating - 0/5 - Did not deliver on his promise, bordering on fraud.
Option Pundit by Manoj Kumar
Year attended: 2018
Course attended: Profit Path Intensive
What I learnt: Some options trading techniques
Paid: $2,500 - $3,000 (somewhere in that range, can't remember specifically)
Course attended: Profit Path Intensive
What I learnt: Some options trading techniques
Paid: $2,500 - $3,000 (somewhere in that range, can't remember specifically)
Manoj is an extremely good salesman, but a mediocre teacher. If you attend his free introduction seminar, you will be surprised by how he runs it. It delivers quite a bit of value, with the hint that his paid course would deliver even more. Unfortunately, the things he teaches in the paid course are quite basic. The notes he provides are thread bare. The options trading techniques he teaches are stuff that you can easily learn from a free website. He has a few special trades using those techniques that are based off his own personal back-testing, but he does not tell you what is the logic/basis behind those trades. So you are supposed to follow blindly. Having some options trading experience myself, I know these are not consistently profitable in all market situations. When you point this out to him, he would say that you will need to learn more or gain more experience in the market to understand which techniques to apply, but he doesn't actually proceed to teach you. He does a lot of things that leave a bad taste in your mouth, like
Overall rating - 2/5 - If you can look past his constant focus on making money off you, he does have some basic options trading techniques he can teach you. Full disclosure, I have not fully tested the special trades that he teaches, so cannot state clearly whether they are profitable. I do not trade what I do not understand and since he doesn't teach the basis behind those trades, I am not about to risk my capital on his statements. Since I approached his course with an expectation to learn something and improve my own trading techniques, I was disappointed.
Other courses - A more advanced course teaching options techniques like iron condors. He also has a personalized trading program where he will trade side by side with you.
- selling you a course which he says will help you be profitable in options trading, but then during that paid course, attempt to sell another course for more advanced options techniques that he says are actually what would help you to be profitable.
- asking you to give reviews on his Facebook page in return for "gifts" - I think I am the only one that dared to leave a negative review, and from what I hear from students in later batches, he has since asked students to leave positive reviews only, and if they have negative reviews, to go directly to him instead.
- only publicizing good trades that made money on his Facebook page, never mentioning losing trades.
- using the exclusive Facebook page that he sets up for graduates to sell you additional courses and trumpeting those selective good trades, instead of delivering more value by teaching other stuff.
Overall rating - 2/5 - If you can look past his constant focus on making money off you, he does have some basic options trading techniques he can teach you. Full disclosure, I have not fully tested the special trades that he teaches, so cannot state clearly whether they are profitable. I do not trade what I do not understand and since he doesn't teach the basis behind those trades, I am not about to risk my capital on his statements. Since I approached his course with an expectation to learn something and improve my own trading techniques, I was disappointed.
Other courses - A more advanced course teaching options techniques like iron condors. He also has a personalized trading program where he will trade side by side with you.
Amazon Lifestyle Academy by Benjamin Tan
Year attended: 2018
Course attended: Amazon Lifestyle Academy
What I learnt: How to sell stuff in Amazon US
Paid: $2,136 (Price was in USD)
Course attended: Amazon Lifestyle Academy
What I learnt: How to sell stuff in Amazon US
Paid: $2,136 (Price was in USD)
Benjamin's course was very well structured and his delivery was clear and concise. He kept our attention focused on individual parts and then brought everything together at the end, which allowed us to learn each part completely and also have a clear overview at the end. His notes are detailed and clear and I find myself flipping through them to revise what I learnt. There were many things taught during the course that I would never had even thought were possible and would have certainly missed if I was setting up an Amazon based business by myself. If you want to learn about how to generate an additional stream of income via selling stuff in Amazon US, I would highly recommend attending Benjamin's course.
Overall rating - 5/5 - Taught us everything we needed to setup a small business selling items on Amazon US, with many clever tips and tools. Full disclosure, I have not yet tried to setup the business, so there might be parts missing, but I can see a clear, logical path to setting up a profitable business.
Other courses - he offers a guided trip to China where he would show you where best to source products from. He also has a program where they would setup the entire infrastructure of the business for you, so you have an operational business to start off with.
Overall rating - 5/5 - Taught us everything we needed to setup a small business selling items on Amazon US, with many clever tips and tools. Full disclosure, I have not yet tried to setup the business, so there might be parts missing, but I can see a clear, logical path to setting up a profitable business.
Other courses - he offers a guided trip to China where he would show you where best to source products from. He also has a program where they would setup the entire infrastructure of the business for you, so you have an operational business to start off with.