Achieving Financial Success: A Story of Determination and Wise Money Management
Anna Vanessa Haotanto, born and raised in a textile business family in Singapore, always had a strong desire to build a financially secure future. Growing up, she witnessed the heavy burden of debt her family had to carry, which became a strong motivation for her. “My parents had a $20,000 credit card debt with high interest rates, and we had to rent a house with increasing rent every year. This made it almost impossible for my parents to save or revive the business,” she shared with CNBC.
Due to her family’s financial difficulties, Anna quickly learned the importance of managing money wisely. “If you are born into privilege, you always worry about losing it. Fortunately, my life wasn’t like that. I always had the mindset to manage my money properly,” she confessed. Anna has always limited her weekly expenses to $100 Singapore dollars (equivalent to over 1.8 million Vietnamese đồng).
Being the eldest in the family, Anna wanted to share the financial burden with her parents. She decided to study finance at the Singapore Management University and took various financial investment courses to enhance her knowledge. “I wanted to learn how to make money. In college, I participated in all finance-related courses, even those not part of my curriculum,” Anna shared. “I set a goal for myself to earn about $600,000 Singapore dollars (over 10 billion Vietnamese đồng) within 9 years.”
During her university years, Anna Vanessa Haotanto worked three jobs simultaneously: as a server, a salesperson, and an intern at several companies. These jobs allowed her to pay for her tuition fees and save a small amount of money.
At the age of 21, Anna set a goal to buy a house before turning 30. “After paying off the debt, the first thing I did was buy a house for my family. I wanted us to have a stable place to live,” she said.
After graduating from university, Anna began her career at Citigroup and China Bank as an analyst. Her journey into the Singapore stock market started here. “I started with small Singaporean stocks and traded to make profits,” Anna recalled.
In 2008, Anna seized the opportunity to invest heavily in the US financial market, realizing the potential recovery of stocks after the financial crisis. This venture brought her significant profits. “I was lucky that most of the stocks I bought during the crisis quickly appreciated in value,” she said.
In 2009, Anna’s family paid off all their debts. A year later, she was offered a high-level position at United Overseas Bank with a six-figure salary. Maintaining her stock market investments, by 2013, Anna had accumulated $1 million USD and turned her dream of buying a house for her parents into reality.
On her 28th birthday, Anna Vanessa Haotanto became one of the youngest self-made millionaires in Singapore. With a desire to apply her knowledge and experience to educate others, especially women, about financial management, she founded a platform called The New Savvy in 2015 to provide financial advice and support. The platform primarily targets Asian women.
“For a long time, women, especially Asian women, have been imposed with the notion that they are not good at handling financial matters. I want to change that mindset,” Anna explained.
Within just over a year since its establishment, The New Savvy has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment capital. By 2019, the platform had amassed over 1.7 million users.
“Understanding what you want and when you can achieve it is a great motivation. It helped me set my first financial goal at the age of 21,” Anna shared.
To learn more about financial success stories and expert advice, visit Business Today.