Bonus Season Confessions: From “Money Well Spent” To Making My Money Work

The first time I got a bonus, I watched it disappear in just 2 weeks. New clothes. Good meals. PC upgrades. Rounds of drinks where I’d grin and say ‘this one’s on me.’ When my account hit zero again, I didn’t even flinch. Money well spent, I thought. Younger me had no regrets.

For the past ten years, I’ve worked in advertising agencies. And for those who are in the same field, you’d know that it’s not easy to get a bonus let alone an increment. Like you’d need to perform exceptionally well to earn it. 

That First Bonus Miracle In My Career

So that one year, after 4 or 5 years of being in the industry, I received the first bonus in my entire career. My friend who worked in the banking industry was shocked. Because to him, getting a bonus is a yearly routine.

Fast forward a couple of years later, I joined an agency that practices giving bonuses and increments every year. I was shocked – couldn’t believe it when they first told me. But after my first year, they actually lived up to their promise.

One thing about bonuses… the more I receive it, the more I value it – the more I start to think what to do with it. While I was on a spending flurry on my first bonus, I spent the next ones I received on experiences – every year I would travel to a new country or go on a trip with my friends to just enjoy life.

During one of my travels, however, that perception completely changed…

A Conversation That Changed My Perception

One year, as my friends and I went snorkeling around Perhentian, I met this Brazilian lady on the boat. We exchanged our stories – travel, experiences, and as much as we could about life within the span of the few hours we had in between snorkeling from one island to the next. One thing that stood out to me – she had been traveling around the world for the past two years – with Malaysia her current destination at the time. The avid traveler in me was amazed, happy to hear that someone was able to achieve such a feat. 

Naturally, I asked her how she managed to do it. Most people whom I’ve met on my travels would say “I’m a digital nomad” or “I saved my money so that I can do this once in a lifetime experience”. But this Brazilian lady said something that I’ve never heard before. She said, “I started investing from a young age, so now I have passive income every month.”

I was baffled. I knew about investing, but never really considered doing it because I didn’t really know where to start. But to see this lady, sit in front of me, saying it with a smile so wide, that to me was true happiness. She was only 40 years old. And she’s been travelling for 2 years straight just enjoying life, meeting different people, while bearing witness to the beauty of the world.

At the time, I was probably six or seven years younger than her. And I thought… If I could achieve that the moment I hit 40… that would be a dream come true. The following year, the moment I got my bonus, I put every single cent that I got into investment. 

I was relatively new to it so I didn’t really know how to go about it. I asked my friends what I should do. Some said to invest in gold, some said unit trust, some even asked me to invest in stocks. Some were even more specific and asked me to invest in things like precious metals and green energy.

I didn’t know where to put them so I put a little bit into everything. Was it the wisest decision? I can tell you now, no it wasn’t. I was a first timer. Yeah, I should’ve listened to those who has done it before. But everyone has to start somewhere. And only by making mistakes can someone truly learn. 

My rationale at the time was to see which is good while monitoring them over months to see how they’re performing. Because let’s be real, sometimes it takes a while to see that money grow. And one of my friends even suggested to me that if you see it losing money, put some money in to balance it out, so you won’t lose too much. I’m not the best at explaining this. But if a finance person were to read this, they would probably (hopefully) understand what I’m trying to say.

Learning From My Mistakes

Do I wish I started investing at 25 instead of 32? Maybe. But I also know that younger me needed those experiences first. You can’t force financial maturity. You have to arrive at it. 

Now my life goal has changed. I want to see all the marvels of the world without the worry of how I am going to gain income next month. And in order to do that, I need to make my money grow for me. 

I started exploring the various investment apps to see their benefits. I even checked what I can do with my bank, TNG ewallet, and Stashaway – the easiest that I knew about and had access to. I also started to actively listen to my friends who have experience in investing. 

Now when bonus season comes, I already know where it’s going – straight into growing that passive income dream. Not because spending was wrong, but because my dream changed. I want to be that Brazilian lady someday, sitting on a boat somewhere, telling a younger traveler: “It’s possible. And here’s how I did it.”

And you know what, if you were like young me, happy to spend every single sen on the things that make you happy, it’s ok. Everyone needs their own time to realise what they truly want so that they would know where to prioritise their money.

Whether you’re young-me (spending it all) or current-me (investing it all), there’s no wrong answer – only the answer that fits where you are now. If you’re ready to start investing, we’ve got guides to help you figure out which platform works for your goals and a few online investment platforms that you can compare to see which is most beneficial for you to start with.