How a game creator is balancing bold moves and boring investing: Money diaries #6

In this week’s Money Diaries, we speak to Dexter Tiah. Dexter is in his 30s, which he describes as “old enough to have learned a few financial lessons, young enough to still aim high!” He runs Tembusu Games, working at the exciting intersection of Gaming and Education, where fun meets serious learning. In his current phase of life, as he foregoes drawing a traditional salary, he is balancing investing in his business while thinking long term and making steady progress towards his financial goals. 

The following is a deep dive into his personal finance habits and investment approach.

Money Diaries #6 - How a Game Creator is Balancing Big Bets and Boring Investing

How would you describe the life stage you are in at the moment?

Happily married, no kids yet. Enjoying the freedom to be adventurous—both personally and financially.

Living situation: are you renting, staying with your parents, or do you own a home, etc? 

Currently 'occupying' a home and undergoing renovation—a masterclass in adaptability and project management, daily!

Breakdown of typical weekly expenses:

My largest expenses are project-driven—specifically, creating immersive heritage workshops. 

The heritage workshop projects serve a dual purpose; firstly it introduces to more people to my recently published board game, NEXT STATION: The Singapore MRT Game, which is a family-friendly board game that introduces players to various iconic landmarks across our Singapore MRT stations. Secondly, it brings families young and old together through educational and immersive activities and encompasses bonding time over a sumptuous lunch prepared by the folks from Project Dignity. These workshops are partially funded by government grants. I really wanted to have a win-win outcome for this initiative.

Otherwise, when it comes to my expenses: think investing in unique experiences, plus the usual suspects and, of course, the ongoing 'extreme home makeover' expenses.

Estimate of how much you save every month? 

With a variable freelance income, I still manage to save a disciplined 30-40% monthly, excluding my project investments.

What are your financial/investment goals? 

Conquer the mortgage with my wife, and build an investment portfolio robust enough to fund our living expenses, plus plenty of travel and concerts. Financial freedom is the goal! 

How close/far would you say you are from your financial goals? 

It's a marathon, not a sprint! Variable income means I'm currently focused on smart liquidity management, rather than just gazing at the distant finish line.

To me, ‘smart liquidity’ means prioritising my income and savings to meet near term obligations and optimising expenses with credit card rewards, over my past habits of excessively scrimping and saving and investing all of my savings. 

Did you know that contrary to popular financial habits, I never had a 3-6 month rainy day fund? 

Describe your investment approach? What steps have you taken or are taking towards achieving these goals? 

I'm largely a Warren Buffett 'buy-and-hold forever' type, re-evaluating during major market shifts. I keep a small 'adventure fund' for speculative picks, but the bulk is sensibly diversified.

I invest across several asset classes such as equities, fixed income, and alternative investments, with the bulk of my investments in global equities. 

Read also: 

• Best Singapore REIT Screener

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• Guide to Bond Funds in Singapore 

• Guide to Private Equity

What are some challenges you’ve faced? 

Early on, I got a 'masterclass in humility' via a spectacular margin call. 

This is a story several years ago when I made leveraged investments via futures. I was not familiar with this instrument, and I took a long position in US S&P500 futures. As the market steadily went up, I purchased more and more of these futures contracts, and naively believed that I was diversifying by purchasing Japanese and European index futures. At my peak, I had $1million in exposure! One fine day, the markets tanked spectacular because Credit Suisse's inverse Vix ETF strategies blew up. I received a margin call in short order and with no ability to fund it, my position got liquidated by the trading platform's stop loss rules. On hindsight, I should have implemented a tighter handle on risk management, given that I had such a large exposure.

Painful, but it taught me invaluable lessons about managing risk and avoiding hubris. My portfolio's smaller, but my wisdom's much larger!   

How would you describe your mindset with regards to money?

Money's hard to earn, easy to spend. True wealth comes from disciplined, long-term compounding, or smart contrarian bets. Crucially, knowing when 'enough is enough'  and cutting risk appropriately is wiser than chasing endless gains.

Is there an experience(s) that has shaped your relationship with money? How has it influenced your decisions? 

Learning to 'spend less, save more' was key, but it created an interesting side effect: sometimes I over-prioritize cost over quality. It's a constant recalibration, balancing frugality with genuine value

By the way, I also share about such stories in my personal finance book Laughs, Losses & Lessons. If you haven't read it, go get a copy ;) 

But here’s one of the stories I wrote about:

I once went on a solo trip in a foreign country and my mobile phone was unable to charge. Reluctantly, I went to buy a new phone from a vendor because I had already committed to a a tour. As I didnt expect to shell out money for this temporary phone, I decided not to get a mobile sim card or enable any roaming services (these were the days before e-sim cards) in order to save money for the rest of my trip. But here I was, travelling in a foreign land on a random driver's vehicle, with no idea whether I was being kidnapped! I genuinely feared for my life because my Google Maps wasn’t loading (i didnt have mobile data remember?). I could only rely on the GPS giving me a general direction update and whenever I started veering off course from my destination, I chatted with the driver, hoping that he knew I was still awake and that he should not try anything funny.

This experience led me to believe that I shouldn't scrimp on expenses when the downside risk (being kidnapped!) is huge.

What is one money habit you struggle with the most? 

My 'aspirational/project expenses' are my delightful struggle. When I have high conviction, I invest wholeheartedly, sometimes with a 'disregard for outcome'—it's a passion that costs money, but fuels me!

Sometimes I also spend money on personal development or aspirational projects which I will take the hit on. For example, I commissioned a game developer in 2024 to help code one of my board game projects into a mobile app. After about 8 months and several thousand dollars later, I did end up with a working prototype. But I also knew that to really polish this game up for the end consumer, it needs a lot more work and money. Nevertheless, I'm super proud of the outcome, because this mobile game is proof of my effort, that I follow through to bring my ideas and concepts to reality.

Is there a financial decision you wish you could do over? 

I wish I didn't have to learn about margin calls the hard way! Proper risk management in trading would have saved me a lot of money.

What are you most concerned about when it comes to personal finances? 

My main concern is maintaining financial flexibility and liquidity to seize new opportunities, especially with a variable income. It's about being nimble.

If you won S$1m in the lottery tomorrow, what would you do with the money and why? How would your spending/lifestyle change? 

First, pay down the mortgage! Then, significantly bolster investments for more freedom. I will spend my money doubling down on interesting projects, hopefully seeing them take off after some incubation period!

What is one practical financial tip that has been useful in your own financial journey? 

Practise delayed gratification. Sometimes, we just get tempted by the moment but we don't really need much to survive. 

What is a personal finance related lesson you’ve learned that you think others might benefit from? 

Building wealth is about consistent, often 'boring,' discipline. And knowing when 'enough is enough' to protect what you've built—it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Want to share your financial journey? Reach out to us to be featured in our Money Diaries series!

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