Actor Kuo Ya-tang shares financial strategies for would-be homebuyers

Actor Kuo Ya-tang shares financial strategies for would-be homebuyers

2023-08-10

How do you think about finances? Are you a keen stock market dabbler, a careful saver, or does thinking about money give you a headache? In Taiwan, finances, savings and investments are a huge interest for many people. But how do normal working people really manage their money? Today we meet actor and performer Kuo Ya-tang. You might know her face from soap operas or dance shows. She shared with us her financial strategies. Everything she does is working towards her goal of buying property, and maybe some of her strategies could be useful for other would-be homebuyers.

Kuo Ya-tang has become well known as a soap opera star, but that’s far from the extent of her talent.

She can also tear up the ballroom floor in a dance show.

And she’s a proficient event emcee. Alongside her many performing skills, she’s recently gotten into backstage work, planning events. Always the hard-working pro, she has one goal in mind: buying a house.

Kuo Ya-tang
Actor and performer
Maybe it’s because I’m a Taurus, and my grandparents brought me up. So I’ve always thought that a house is a feeling of stability and security, like you have a base there. I want to buy a small three-bedroom or large two-bedroom house.

Kuo wants to buy a house to support her family. She has gradually built up her savings through gold passbooks and U.S. dollar time deposits.

Kuo Ya-tang
Actor and performer
The bigger-picture principle is that if the greenback falls then gold will rise, and vice versa. At the time, I simply thought that no matter what happens, gold and U.S. dollars can’t possibly see their value wiped out.

Her goal is to save up a NT$4 million deposit in three years. She also has high-dividend stocks and regularly picks up dividends and allotments.

Kuo Ya-tang
Actor and performer
I started buying stocks in the last two years. I looked for some stocks with high dividends. You buy them regularly every month, as a form of savings, and then you don’t need to think about them again or look at them again. I invest about 15-20% of my monthly income.

Kuo recommends her financial management strategies as a good way to build up wealth for oneself and one’s family.

郭亞棠衝事業為圓買房夢　理財要讓家人過好生活

2023-08-10

全方位藝人郭亞棠，不管是戲劇、舞蹈，還是活動主持等，通通可以看到她的足跡，金牛座的她，努力衝刺事業，為的就是一圓買房夢，讓家人過上更好的生活，而為了存到自備款，她除了透過黃金存摺，搭配美金避險，也會固定投入高股息股票，一起聽聽她的理財經。

在八點檔中軋一角，藝人郭亞棠以戲劇打開知名度，不過她的才藝可不只如此。

在舞蹈節目上，郭亞棠大跳國標舞。

除了戲劇和舞蹈，活動主持也難不倒她。除了發展幕前演藝事業，最近她還跨足幕後活動規劃，一路卯足全力衝刺，為了就是要一圓買房夢。

[[藝人郭亞棠]]
"可能因為我是金牛座，然後我是爺爺奶奶帶的，所以我就是會覺得說，那個是一個穩定跟安定的感覺，就是你好像有一個根基在那邊。我會想要買3房，小3房或是大2房。"

為了照顧家人，郭亞棠力拚買房，並靠著黃金存摺和美金定存，一步步累積存款。

[[藝人郭亞棠]]
"比較大方向原則就是，美金跌黃金就會漲，然後黃金跌美金就會漲，我那時候只是覺得說，反正不管怎麼樣，黃金跟美金這兩個東西，它是不可能歸零的。"

目標3年內存到400萬自備款，郭亞棠還搭配高股息股票，定期領取配股配息。

[[藝人郭亞棠]]
"這2年開始我有買股票，就是我有找幾支那種高股息的，你每個月固定就把它買，買在那邊當存錢，然後你就不要再想它，你也不要再去看。我自己就是差不多，(投入月薪)15%到20%。"

郭亞棠認真規劃理財，要讓家人和自己過上更舒適的生活。

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We have more experience now, and we’ve designed the exhibition more carefully. There’s a greater range of associated events. I think it will attract larger crowds to participate.

More than 1,000 valuable, award-winning stamp collections will be on show at the exhibition, giving stamp collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lose themselves in stamp Shangri-La.

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Taipei reports first domestic case of dengue fever since 2020

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Disinfection crew sprays the pavement, as Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an inspects the operation and chats with locals. On Thursday morning, Chiang appeared in the alleys of Datong District, where Taipei’s first dengue fever case of the year had emerged.

Chiang Wan-an
Taipei mayor
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Chiang Wan-an
Taipei mayor
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Taipei Department of Health
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Wu Sheng-chung
Taipei Department of Environmental Protection
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Metro riders grip their fans. It’s oppressively hot as they enter the platform to board their trains. This Wednesday in greater Taipei, the mercury soared to 38.4 degrees Celsius, the second-highest temperature in the country. Passengers stepping into the MRT expected relief, but were greeted with air that wasn’t much cooler.

Passenger
This summer feels especially hot. I got to the MRT – it was so hot outside, and it didn’t feel that cool inside. It used to be that once the MRT gates opened, you would feel very cool.

Passenger
Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed it being very hot when I board the trains, as if the air conditioning weren’t turned on at all. That makes the entire car smell quite unpleasant inside.

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This is Sonny Torreflores Simera, who has lived and worked in Taiwan for 12 years. On weekends, he’s not one for company lunches. He prefers to go out on a solo outing to a new part of Hsinchu, and find a quiet, overlooked spot where he can sit down.

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Sonny Torreflores Simera
Artist and Filipino immigrant
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Sonny Torreflores Simera
Artist and Filipino immigrant
Taiwan is like my second home. I’ve learned so much here, and received a lot of help. I think that my professional skills have reached a new level.

Before coming to Taiwan, Sonny always thought he would go back to settle in the Philippines, and open a small art gallery. But now, he prefers the lifestyle in Taiwan. He’s been able to spread his artistic wings over the last 12 years. If he gets a chance to use that paintbrush to create more beauty and inspiration for Taiwan – well, he won’t say no.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

2023-08-10