8 Days - November 02, 2017

70

8 DAYS

money

The Moneymaker:

WHO WANTS

From growing up in rented flats

to making her first million at 29,

financial maven ANNA HAOTANTO

has tips for the financially clueless.

TO BE A

MILLIONAIRE...

BY 30?

Anna Haotanto, 33, CEO of The New Savvy

(thenewsavvy.com), a website aimed at

educating women in financial literacy. Financial

difficulties at home spurred a then-21-year-old

Anna to figure out how she could afford a home.

“I remember being in one of my classes at SMU

wondering how much property in Singapore

costs. Being young and naïve, I Googled it and

panicked when I found out it costs about $500k.

I thought, how can an average girl like me

afford a flat? For the remainder of the class, I

did an excel sheet and set a goal – to buy a HDB

flat for my family — and did scenario testings

of different interest rates,” recalls the former

banker. Anna achieved her goal at 29, when she

made her first million bucks, and is among the

entrepreneurs featured in the sophomore season

of Channel NewsAsia docu-series Millionaire

Minds.

HOME IS: A flat in Paya Lebar where she lives with her

semi-retired Indonesian dad, Singaporean mum (who

handles the operations in her company) and younger

brother.

HER RIDE IS: A Mercedes SLK.

WHAT’S IN HER WALLET: Credit cards, name cards, IC,

driver’s license, some cash, a Watson’s membership card

and a Singapore Management University (SMU) alumni card.