How I Invest: Why I chose property for my first investment – low effort, high potential

Growing up, Nicole Carmen Tan took the well-worn path of the Singaporean Dream. She was raised in a household where material security meant achieving the five Cs: a condo, a car, credit cards, country club memberships, and enough cash to live comfortably.

There were no discussions around money or lessons on financial literacy – Nicole’s only duty was to focus on her studies, and that she did.

The 33-year-old went to a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school with an Integrated programme, and earned a place at the National University of Singapore’s law faculty.

She recalls: “Someone suggested I try law, and it felt like something I could do: study hard, get a training contract, take the Bar, and so on.”

After being called to the Bar, Nicole was in legal practice for approximately seven years, beginning as a general corporate lawyer, before specialising in finance law. It was then that she made her first investment, a property, which kick-started her investing journey. She also found pockets of time to give back to the community.

By chance, she joined the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers in 2017, which led to her taking up various volunteering opportunities around women empowerment. Recently, for her efforts, she received a Top Volunteer Award at the Pro Bono SG Awards 2025.

Today, Nicole has been at Golden Equator Group for close to three years, double-hatting as both its group chief operating officer and general counsel. The Group’s pillars comprise Wealth, a multifamily office; Capital, its fund management arm; and Community, which comprises personal finance platform The Simple Sum, and a robust corporate social responsibility programme that benefits children and youths who are underprivileged with disabilities, or youths at-risk.

She recalls: “I joined Golden Equator as a general counsel by way of recommendation by a senior from my first job, and I worked my way up to management in the group. 

“I don’t like risk, I don’t like uncertainty, and moving out from a very specialised job as a finance lawyer to a generalist role that looks into all areas of the business was quite far away from my comfort zone.”

Despite having a front-row seat to how the ultrawealthy build and preserve wealth, Nicole favours simplicity and structure for her own portfolio. She believes in building systems, not adding stress to her already hectic life.

Here, she shares what guides her investments, why her first investment came with a side of McDonald’s, and her take on all the investment legalese.

What was your first investment?

It was a private property I co-bought with a close friend in 2019 – a building under construction. I put a high five-figure sum into it, that was most of my savings at that point, but I was living very frugally then, and I saved more than I spent.

We were having McDonald’s after a boxing session, and I was considering if I should be doing investments. I was like: “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if I could find someone to do this with.”

And that’s how it happened. Due to delays resulting from the pandemic, the property was only just completed a few months back.

There’s been capital appreciation on the property of course, but at present we’re thinking about what the next steps forward should be (for example, a straight-out sale, rental or a sale with tenancy), given notable macroeconomic developments and the interest rate cycle.

Why did you venture into property?

There’s enough literature online on the pros of property investment as a tangible real asset with generally low volatility.

But personally, I chose property as my first investment when I was only a few years into legal practice, and that was when I did not have the time or capacity to deal with having to consistently monitor an investment portfolio.

I also live with my family, and so was not planning to purchase a property strictly to live in, so the additional stamp duties were not a notable consideration for me at that point.

Tell us more about “Don’t live beyond your means”

It is the key to financial stability. It’s so basic, but my view is that before anyone looks towards investing, they should internalise this concept, because chances are, even the best of investing alone will almost never enable you to be even financially stable, similar to how you can never out-exercise a bad diet.

In the end, just like how both eating well and exercising are key to a healthy lifestyle, saving and investing are both equally important to attaining and maintaining financial stability.

What’s your investment strategy?

I believe that it’s important to have a wholesome life. And when you’re living that kind of life, you don’t have the time to go and look at your finances on a daily basis. I don’t like to spend mental capacity or time doing it. I want to operationalise everything. I put in place a general framework, automated to the greatest extent that I can.

In line with a lot of people from the legal profession, my risk tolerance is notably low, and I try my best to reduce my involvement in each investment to the greatest extent possible. It’s quite telling in the way that I invest – mostly manually dollar-cost averaging about 25 per cent of my earnings into fixed income and equities.

What legalities should investors know before they make their move?

Before you get into anything, always read all the terms. You really need to understand what products you’re buying. You should be fully aware and do your due diligence. So it’s not just law.

When the Monetary Authority of Singapore or another regulatory body puts in place all of these frameworks, they are there for a reason. Every single policy, every single guideline, they’re all done for a purpose. But it also depends.

If this investment is only 0.01 per cent of my portfolio, am I really going to sit down and read every single thing that they have there? No. But if it’s going to take up a big part of your portfolio, a big part of your cash, then put in the amount of time that you need to. 

If it’s something that you’d want to invest in for the long run, then put time into it.

Nicole’s investment journey in numbers

• 2019 The year of her first investment, a property
• High five-figures Her first investment amount
• $30,000 Biggest loss to date on a high-risk pharmaceutical stock in 2020 (“never again”)
• 25% The amount of her earnings she puts into investments