About the author: David Fergusson is the CEO and co-founder of Hugo. Since the 1990s, he has held various leadership positions within the finance realm. His deep roots in Singapore stretch way back in Singapore’s history; his grandfather, Sir Ewen Fergusson, was a member of the Legislative Council of Singapore. Through Hugo, David hopes to serve Singaporeans and help everyone achieve good Wealthcare. As a staunch family man, David shares his personal tips on achieving Wealthcare for you and your loved ones.
A little about me
I was lucky. Both sides of my family talked about money. My father was an accountant, and he was insistent that we would learn the “value of money”. Everything was a teachable moment when it came to money. Mum’s family were the same—they were Methodists who built an engineering business during the industrial revolution, and their favourite saying was the “value of hard work”. Discussing financial security and planning were perfectly normal topics at the table, and we have benefitted from the habits that they created in us.
I have my own children now and, boy oh boy, do we know how modern living means that people sit down to eat together less often and screens are all-too-present when we do. There is no point trying to change this… It is life.
The Hugo story
We are building Hugo so that we take some of the old-world behaviours and incorporate them into an app-based world. If we don’t sit around the table to discuss and learn about important financial decisions, then we can do it inside the app. Modernising old-fashioned behaviour for the smartphone generation, if you will.
My fellow founders – Ben Davies and Braham Djidjelli – had similar sorts of experiences and this value system toward personal finance has underpinned Hugo. But Hugo is not a vision- or product-centric business, and we are certainly open-minded. So we asked potential customers what their savings experiences were, and how we could improve them.
Key to our customer conversations was that no one, and I mean no one, felt that any of their banks helped them save. And they all knew they needed to, but there was no “good angel” sitting on their shoulder prompting saving, and tons of “little devils” provoking spending and borrowing. So we went back to basics and tried to translate our old-fashioned experiences (phrases) into the smartphone world. And we developed Hugo—a “Wealthcare” solution that promotes Smarter Spending, Better Budgeting, and Sustainable Saving.
We hope to be a force for good in society to alleviate Moneyfear with Wealthcare.
Smarter spending
A penny saved is a penny earned
Forget the fact that pennies don’t exist anymore because they have been inflated out of our lives – see below! – we are all like leaky buckets. Money leaks out and we hardly notice it. Just by keeping track of spending on an app you use daily, you can alert yourself to leaks and plug the holes. This happens in more ways than you can possibly imagine because companies have worked out how to sneak their way into your financial lives and hide their tracks.
Think of the monthly subscription business model. Remember the time you needed to do something and the only way to access it was via a subscription. The 1st month was free. You signed up, comfortable knowing that you would be able to cancel the subscription before the month was up. You completed your task, got side-tracked and thought you would cancel it tomorrow. 2 years later you discover you have spent S$8.99 per month for 24 months on something you looked at once and can’t even remember what it was.
It is testimony to how successful these business models are that you can even buy underwear (!) as a subscription now. They are financial candy – you don’t notice them till you step on the scales!
Top tip: Scrap your debit card and get another once a year, and you will catch this.
Move mountains one stone at a time
“Little things make a big difference”, “Do a little a lot” are among thousands of time-honoured guides to achievement. And it is the basis of our Roundup function. Save every time you spend by rounding up to the nearest dollar and deposit into your savings. You will be astounded by how fast it makes a difference and how you barely notice it.
Top tip: Don’t underestimate the power of small victories.
Caveat emptor – Buyer beware, or know what you are buying
This expression is so old it is in Latin!
Have you ever noticed that shopping malls have nowhere to sit? This is because your friendly neighbourhood coffee chain is not really selling you coffee but a place to sit instead.
Think of your behaviour when it comes to cafes – you spend $6 on a coffee that you can get for free in the office. So why do you head off to the cafe 5 times a week? Because coffee, like smoking, has become a way of getting away from the office for 15 minutes.
Top tip: Have a wander in the sunlight and get a vitamin D boost.
Better Budgeting
A problem shared is a problem halved
Talking through your problems with your trusted friends and family is not only a way of alleviating stress, but it can also throw up surprisingly useful ideas.
Our Money Pots empower people working together – anyone can set up a savings goal and contribute to a collective aim together, bringing people closer together through a shared endeavour (which solves a shared problem).
I have a niece who wants to be a vet and go to university in Australia. The cost of a veterinary science education is enormous, but we are all supportive of the goal and want to help. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, hoping we work out how to fund AU$50,000 in 10 years, we are setting up a Money Pot where her parents (my brother and his wife) can put in SGD50 a week, we will put in SGD10 a week, her other aunts and uncles will put in SGD30 a month, and Sophia will put her summer jobs money in.
When you consider the quantum of in-payments and the likely compounding over 10 years, suddenly a mountain of student debt does not seem so likely! Not only does it make us feel like we are all in it together, but the fear of not being able to meet a future liability has disappeared.
Top tip: Make saving a community project.
The wisdom of crowds
A very old and famous book harked on about the Madness of Crowds, until the Wisdom of Crowds made the case 160 years later that crowds often yield surprisingly sensible ideas. Our community boards and social media involve a ton of user budgeting cases as to how Hugo has helped users meet their life dreams.
Simply sharing an experience can spark an idea in someone else.
Top tip: Surf our community boards and social media
Sustainable Saving
Talk is cheap – beware Greeks carrying gifts
And I mean the saying, not literally the modern people of Greece.
Investment and savings is a subject fraught with and full of jargon. Every savings product is the best in the world, or in its category. Most of these claims are not worth your contempt.
When coming up with a Sustainable Savings approach – we asked ourselves what we could genuinely do to help. Because, if we are honest, the average person will get an average return, ordinarily. And the answer was,
- We can make sure they get a genuinely decent average.
- We can provide that at an extremely low cost.
- People save more at the outset.
The combination of these 3 features is meaningfully more powerful than any spurious claim to investment genius.
Top tip: Play the averages.
Oh and a final point: why gold first?
In the 70’s the cost of everything went up…a lot! I remember going to the supermarket with Granny, who sighed on the way home and said “I wish we had the Gold Standard back. There was never any inflation then.”
This simple comment has sparked a lifetime interest in money, prices and Gold. And the one thing that is eminently clear is that Gold holds its value (or purchasing power) over time.
Top tip: Listen to your Grandmother!