Transactions in December + hitching

Coming to the end of the year, where did 2016 go to?

Did my regular savings plan of 300 bucks a month, and this month, i decided to get some bonds instead. So i purchased A35 at $1.141. I had left overs from my previous purchases of STI ETFs, so even though the total purchase amount is $343, I had enough to cover the transaction amount.

 Bonds are less volatile... good for people who are getting old like me. I used to be 100% in equities, but some diversity couldn't hurt!

I envisage that as I progress with more savings, I would slowly increase my bond component. At the moment, I'm happy to let it be at around 10-20%.

Also, i am looking forward to collecting more dividends next month. A grand amount of $24.54. Since I restarted my portfolio less than half a year ago, with $300 a month, i am happy that the dividends can last me for a week's lunch. Although that is only hypothetical as I would not be spending it, but going to reinvest it eventually with my regular RSP.

Grabhitch:
From my previous posts, you would know that I sold my flashy 2 door car, and downgraded to a more modest 4 door vehicle. My previous vehicle wasn't approved by Uber because it is a 2 door (and they can only allow 4 door). With my new ride (yes, i know it is still a luxury item), I can sort of monetize the liability a little. Now when i go out and if my company wants to get a taxi, i get him/her to call for a hitch driver (and I will accept the booking). Grab pays incentive for hitch drivers, and i would be the beneficiary of it. :)

And, not forgetting to wish you and your family, a very Merry and Blessed Christmas, and a happy new year ahead!

Transactions, happenings Oct/Nov 2016

Didn't blog for 2 months, was kinda busy. Did my monthly purchase of 100 units of either G3B or ES3.
Guess 100 units work nicely based on savings of $300 a month.

Other significant updates:

(1) Finally secured a tenant for my HDB - market is indeed softening... the house sat empty for 1 month. While logically I know there is definitely a vacancy period, I can't help but feel that every day the house sits empty, I am losing money. All is good now though - the rental deposit is now in my bank account. Ka Ching!
Rates have come down slightly - but still not too bad for a stream of rental income.

(2) Sold my flashy car... after listing it on consignment for 1 year... there is finally a taker. Love that car - especially the cool breeze at night when you drive top down. But after 5 good years, i think it was time to let go... Uber didn't even accept my car as it was a 2 door ride... (back when i was thinking of getting extra cash). In case you think i am being extra financially prudent by selling the car and taking public transport, i have to admit, i am not. I just downgraded to a bread and butter car. It is indeed very tough (i am very pampered) after driving for close to a decade to get back to BMW (bus mrt walk) - doing it for a few weeks now, and actually Uber is quite okay, if there are promotions going on.

So, i guess it is a compromise between wanting to save more money and still have a car around... i know it delays retirement by a couple of years, but it is indeed a conscious decision.a

Transactions for Sept '16 + accidental lifehack

Continued my DCA into the STI index. Another 100 shares for the month. Using the transactions capture from SGXcafe. :)

Incidentally, i chanced upon an accidental life hack from for a small amount of free cash flow. So i signed up for an insurance policy using the OCBC Cashflo card which breaks any purchases into monthly installments. And then because another policy came up which i preferred.... i freelooked the old policy (and got the cash refund from the insurance company in 1 lump sum).

End result - i got interest free installment from the insurance company. It wasn't my intention, but it is indeed an accidental life hack for a small amount of cash flow.

Insurance Review

Been busy recently trying to renovate my house.... costs of renovation is definitely way different from what i remember when i did up my house 8-9 years ago! My curtains and lights are double of what i spent previously. Although regrettably my record keeping the last time has been far from ideal, so wasn't able to do up a very comparison.

Any how.... due to the taking on of additional liabilities (and with getting older), decided to do an insurance review. I guess with age, one feels more afraid, with more things to lose... hence unwilling to take on risks which I can pass off to others.

Hospitalization and Surgical:
With the launch of AXA shield plans, i think it is currently one of the best shield plans around, with the highest annual policy limit (1 million per year), and longest pre and post hospitalization benefits. Meaning, one can claim for certain hospitalization visits after 365 days from discharge. I am currently with Aviva, and may be switching to AXA while i am healthy and still able to switch.

Critical illness:
I have Great Eastern's critical illness plan at the moment, but was quoted a similar one for AIA but at close to $1k cheaper per annum. The differences are, to me marketing tactics by GE to charge a premium.
 - For example, a shorter survival period of 7 days compared to 30 days. If one were to come down with a CI and passes away within 7 days... the CI will not pay out, true.

However, the purpose of CI is to help defray the costs of medication/differences in lifestyle after being diagnosed. If one were to die within 7 days, then the purpose of CI payout will not be required. The death benefit from my term life would pay out. The argument is that the premiums paid for CI policy would be 'wasted'. However, that's the purpose of buying insurance - i always treat it as an expense. People don't like to see wastage, and hence the sales of 'life policies' where you get what you paid for your premiums back is always higher. People fail to realize that a life policy is just a bundle of 'wastages + lending the insurance co to invest for you and return it back to you at a low rate of return'.

Death Benefit/TPD:
Increased it quite significantly, given the taking on of additional liabilities. IF something happens to me, i would not want my family to be saddled with a huge mortgage. The term life policy comes with TPD, so I am covered for that as well.

I got this instead of a reducing balance policy as i think the difference in price is not that material, and if i have additional obligations in the future, i would need to top up my coverage next time anyway.

Disability Income:
I added this as this is part of the holistic insurance package review. I feel that we should look at insurance needs as part of a holistic strategy... and this was how i viewed it. If i fall sick and needs to be warded, my H&S would kick in and pay for the bills. But if i cannot work due to the sickness, this disability income will kick in and pay for my monthly expenses (and mortgage).
If it is due to CI, i will be able to use the CI lump sum to pay for whatever bills that the H&S do not cover. This might include new drugs under approval which could prove effective, but not approved by H&S as yet.

I think i'm almost done, except for a personal accident plan.

Transactions for August 2016

Added another 100 ES3 shares. Happy to receive my first dividend payout from ES3 after restarting my portfolio. Even though it's only $4.20, it is actually quite motivating!

Slowly but surely, one minor minor step to more financial independence. :)

Dividends for August

By the way, there is an upcoming event for property, the Smart Expo.

http://www.smartexpos.com/

If you are interested in building up a property portfolio overseas, do check it out if you have time!

Overseas property investment is fraught with lots of risks, including political, foreign exchange risks - but it's always good to get more knowledge anyway. :)

Transactions for July 2016

Going to start tracking my transactions and portfolio value after starting from scratch in June.

Transactions for the months of June and July:

As mentioned earlier, I would be performing monthly 'bites' into ETFs, 300 per month using SCB's low cost trading platform. The portfolio size is really.... 'pitiful'. But i am confident, slowly but steady, it will rise slowly back so that i can rely upon it for my eventual retirement!




On a slightly different note, i started a new blog to chronicle my renovation journey.

Reno Blog

Square 1

Haven't been blogging much, and i actually missed the Brexit drama, as I exited all my holdings prior to that.

I don't profess to have good foresight. I simply needed the money for the down-payment of my new home, so basically I have to sell off everything to come up with the cash requirements.

I got to say, it means i am starting all over again... no retirement portfolio, starting from scratch again. I consoled myself thinking that it's like giving up everything to be an entrepreneur, like Dividend Warrior selling off everything to open a tuition center, and rebuilding his portfolio from scratch.

At this time of uncertainty, why did i enter the property market? A lot of people are still very cautious, am i being foolish to be overweight on property?

(edit: and just nice one of my long time friend just posted about property http://investmentmoats.com/wealth-building-2/singapore-home-condo-landed-and-hdb-property-prices-grow-over-time/ and i quote "I came out of this exercise reinforced why wealth building through properties will always be a better option for many because of the low probability of people losing money.")

Prices have slightly cooled (though definitely nowhere near a crash have happened). It is a brand-new unit as it was unsold by the developer when it TOP 2 years back. To push sales this year, discount was given to buyers this year for them (or us) to bite. Effectively, I got it cheaper than those who purchased it earlier.

Also, I did not view it purely from an investment perspective as I am buying a home to live in. It really does check the boxes we are looking for for a home, being near good schools, quiet residential environment and being near MRT.

On the positive side, I am glad for this chance to clean up my portfolio as well. Going forward, i will be building up a pure ETF portfolio.

Starting from last month, I placed $300 into STI ETF (100 shares, with some leftover), and would be doing that every time I get my pay.
I did not choose to pay off the loan with the extra 300 as it would really not reduce it all that much, and building up some portfolio provides me with flexibility for liquidation next time.

In any case, it's back to square 1 from now on! After being debt free for some time, it's back to having a mountain of debt on my buttocks!

Up, up, up and away

Been a furry of news these 2 weeks:

Singapore car park rates up $0.10 to $0.20, season parking up $15 to $25

Malls, office buildings set to charge higher parking fees

Cab firms hit by higher operating licence fees

Electricity tariffs to rise by 4.3%

Found a picture that adequately describes this:

I guess the most direct impact would be those driving cars (3 of the news pertains to car park charges). However, there would definitely knock-on effect to businesses - transportation costs etc. Rising costs would eventually be passed on back to the end-consumers.

There's a limit to how much expenses we can save (short of being a hermit) - look to ways to increase income to cope with the rising costs.

(1) Increase salary (easier stated than done sometimes)

(2) Start a 2nd line of income (part-time tuition maybe?)

(3) Passive income (what I am trying to do) - dividends, rental etc

Investors are speculating on Brexit

Did you get the oxymoron on my title?

I was engaged in a conversation recently with a financial advisor, and was asked if I am making bets on Brexit. The advisor said that a lot of investors are speculating on Brexit, and hoping to make a quick win over it.
I was scratching my head. Investors speculate?
Benjamin Graham in his book, 'The Intelligent Investor' defines an investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative. Betting on Brexit does not promise safety of principal. It's like going to casino, betting big or small. Same logic.

The financial advisor goes on to say, all the investors talked to also make decisions the same way. After doing research, the decisions are also made on gut-feel.

By definition, investors invest, and speculators speculate. It is worrying when people start listening to speculators thinking that they are investors. How can it be? The decisions made are based on 'gut-feel' - to me it is like gambling. How can we say someone who makes decision based on gut-feel as an investor, or a speculator as an investor?

Calling a speculator an investor is misleading, and if we listen to speculators thinking they are investors, I think we will be in for a surprise.

Lend me money?

So recently I managed to get a free copy of my credit bureau report. (if you don't know, if you apply for a new credit card, or have your credit limit re-assessed by your bank, you have a 30 days window period to log in and retrieve a free copy of your report)

So what does mine says?

So I was rated AA, with a 0.15% probability for default and a score of 1953. I was thinking, why was I not rated the maximum score of 2000?

So I read on, looks like one of the factors is that frequent/recent enquiries (in addition to default or slow payment) will affect the credit score.

I was never late on payment (always on Giro) so I wonder if it's the case if I applied for too many credit cards. I admit, I have a lot of cards, mostly for freebies + various discounts at various establishments. So let's see

23 enquiries, and 17 accounts. I guess that must be why.

With a good credit bureau rating, would you be willing to lend me money? Remember, there is only a 0.15% of me not paying you back :)

In any case, the Bureau also helpfully added that 1 way to improve credit score is to reduce unnecessary new credit card application. If you don't need, then don't apply, although I DO still keep apply for shiny new cards.

Waiting for my next pay (muses while showering)

No, it's not my pay day yet, although in all honesty, I AM indeed waiting for it. My current company bought out my notice period with my previous company - and in such cases, I need to pay my previous company compensation first (of 1 month + of my salary), and wait for the next payroll cycle in my current company before I get reimbursed.

In practical terms, it would mean I am out of 2 months of salary until this month end. So I do need to give myself a pat on my back that I managed to set aside emergency cash (as part of my resolution to get my finances back on track earlier) to sustain me for 2 months.

This also means I would get a bumper amount at the end of this month, definitely something to look forward to.

What about you? Do you look forward to pay day every month?

Any thoughts on how long you can sustain if you are without pay for 2 months?

New job, new beginning

So I started with another company at the start of the month. Given the uncertainty surrounding my previous company, I decided to take the plunge and hunt around for a more secure job for my career. I did not wait for a severance package, because I think I would not be asked to go anytime soon, and I wasn't there for very long in the first place - hence my package (if any) won't be that large.

In any case, it gave me a good story to hop out, and I took the opportunity for an increment in base pay (I think it would take a few years in my ex-company for my pay to rise to my current now - I guess that's why they say if employees stay in the same company for too long, their pay would be below market value).

In all, it was pretty good, and I do hope I can stay sometime in my current company. I do not like unfamiliar environments, getting to know new people and trying to establish myself all over again.

A few things that struck me:
1. It's not good to be a job hopper, and there are certainly risks involved in changing jobs. On the flip side, there are opportunities involved. Always have a good story/rationale for what you do, and why a job switched is needed..
I was always told at my ex-company which was undergoing down-sizing to focus on what you can control. (I think they meant to focus on your work - but I took it to mean focus on getting another job which is within my control!) I rather be employed at my own terms, than be asked to leave at another's term!

2. I got my current job through my network (of course, I did go through interviews), so this highlights the importance of networking. Never burn bridges - you do not know when you will need to leverage on connections.

3. Have an adequate back-up cash reserves. I saw a few colleagues being let go over the past couple of months. Not too sure about their financial reserves - but I know some have a young family, some with mortgage commitments. It's important to have a buffer in case the severance package is not sufficient to tide over till the next job comes around.

So, with this new job and company, I hope to be here for good with them. :)

Prestige Life Rewards

I was introduced to this new and wonderful product by a Great Eastern Agent. Don't invest in property, invest in Prestige Life Rewards (PLR) by Great Eastern. This works like property investment, only better!

Wow - is it true?



Because this agent is a friend, I am open to hearing more, and I was promised an analysis between property investment and PLR. As I have a HDB, the comparison will be between the 2.

As I receive the analysis, I opened it up, and was immediately sold by the great benefits of this product. Let me share it with you.

Actually I was being sarcastic. These kind of "analysis" actually pisses me off more than anything.

The analysis is quite biased and did not present a balanced view of both products. There is only the supposedly good points of the product and the cons of property investment – to me, this is more a sales pitch than any fair analysis

For example, and just to name a few:

(1) There was mention of an upcoming oversupply of HDB flats. This failed to mention the governments intent of increasing population in Singapore.

(2) Failure to mention that we are in a rising interest rate environment, which would adversely affect the product (given the element of premium financing).

(3) ABSD was mentioned that is incurred in purchasing a property – a noticeable omission was the mention the equivalent distribution cost associated with purchasing the PLR?
This to me gives a very indication of where the 'advisor's' interest lies - whether in providing an unbiased comparison of 2 products, or only interested in talking up 1 particular tied product. I think the answer is very obvious.

Fortunately, I also received the Benefits Illustration. This is a product that has an element of premium financing. That is, I put in an initial $800,000 (based on my property value) for a total premium paid to Great Eastern of $2,392,912

So I compared the cash bonus (or passive income goes the sales pitch) vs the net rental

It is obvious to me that rental income from the HDB yields overall better passive income. And I need to remind myself that the passive income from PLR has the added advantage of leveraging, and the indicative rate is the higher end rate with 2% borrowing cost constant. How true is that? I will leave you to judge.

For transparency, I am using a monthly rental of $2,500 - given a 5 room HDB in Bukit Merah, rental increasing at 2% p.a, y.o.y. In URA's website, we can see that the rental at 2007 is approximate $2,000 vs $3,000 in 2016. Instead of the 4% increase, I used a more conservative rate of 2%.

The surrender value of the HDB (sale in this case), vs the PLR is quite different though as there is an element of leverage. If all goes well at the end of 40 years (at 4.75% rate by Great Eastern), the surrender value is $2,615,066. Would my HDB be worth the same 40 years later? Probably not. However, this is not an apple to apple comparison, given the leverage involved.

What would be more comparable is if I sold my HDB and purchased 2 properties with leverage. In that case, I am sure the pay-off changes again.

Is it a good product? Did I bite?

No - qualitatively, I doubt that the motivation of the 'advisor' is for my well-being. Quantitatively, PLR takes a higher risk profile as an asset and still fail to beat the passive income element.

I did not thank the agent for introducing this product as I felt like I wasted time analysing on an inferior product. Thinking back - perhaps I should thank the agent, because it gave me a topic to write upon.

It really drives home the point of how no one cares for your money more than yourself.

Drinks and Party - what's your indulgence?

So it was TGIF yesterday, and after a hard and gruelling work at week, I think all of us can related to letting our hair down once the weekend rolls around.

However, due to time-table clashes, I was not able to join my friends for a Friday night of drinks yesterday, and from the group chat that I saw this morning, the bill per pax averages out to between $150 to $200. I do hang out with them sometimes, and I would say that's the average amount each shells out for a night of 'catching-up'.

As I started my trip back to financial independence last year, I have used YNAB, and my monthly allocation to personal dining out is only around 200-400 per month. I would say 1 night out with them would blow my entire month's budget. So in that sense, I have now preferred to have cheaper alternatives like house parties etc, where you can still drink (if you want to), but at a much cheaper rate. [I hope they do not read this entry!]

I think everyone have their own indulgence of choice. I use to have more indulgences I think, but I have learnt to cut down some to get my budget in order.

Café-hopping - those Instagram worthy moments with oh-so-lovely food. I know there are some people who do café-hopping every weekend

Fancy restaurants - A friend of mine don't drink tap water at restaurants, and always order sparkling. That's at least $6 just for plain water at meals.

Transport - There are some who swears by taxi every where they travel. Each trip could be around $20 - 1 month? around $1,000 I guess.

Shopping - enough said.

Hobbies - Some folks travel once every two months.

Of course, I have the largest indulgence to support, my car. I guess that's why some things have to go!

I won't call it a sacrifice - some things I do not really enjoy. I like hawker food over cafes anyway, kopitiam kopi to fancy Americano. I do not think my quality of life suffered, and I do feel that my money is spent on more meaningful things (like my retirement fund)

I guess, as long as 1 has the budget, and has a well worked out resource allocation plan, one should feel free to indulge in whatever they want to. After all, life is short. If you do not have an interest or two to indulge in - what's the point in living?

Spend on yourself in the present, but don't forget to spend on yourself for the future. :)

Update Feb 2016

In addition to recording my transactions, I also decided to track down on a monthly basis, how much passive income i receive from dividends

Total of $815 for the month of February. Given that i only hold 15,000 STI ETF shares, seems like February is a good income month for me.
The yield of the ETF is around 3.5% to 4% at this current price now.

Also elected to receive dividends in the form of scrips for Frasers Commercial Trust since i do not need cash at the moment, so might as well reinvest it back in.

Added 500 shares to my STI ETF for this month, at a price of $2.65. A lot of people are avoiding the markets given the volatility, but my thinking is that if i am comfortable buying in at $3.30, i should be even more comfortable buying in at a lower price.

Gonna be adding positions on a regular basis going forward!

Windfall

Well, sad to say, i did not turn into an instant millionaire following my previous post - 12-million Hong Bao draw.

I did have a consolation 'prize', as my company announced the year end incentive award (or bonus). So with the windfall (well, being able to keep my job is already good enough for me!), any bonus award can really be considered a bonus.

As with any windfall received, adequate planning is required, otherwise it will all be squandered away. Many stories on the net about people spending their inheritance within a month!

So i took the opportunity to plan out what to do with the excess amount that i will receive, and came to the conclusion - money will never be enough. No matter how much i have, i will be able to find ways to fill it up.

I will sock away 40% to my household account, and build up my emergency cash. 

The emergency cash is in line with my resolution for 2016. See Goals 2016. Given the current economic climate recently, i guess it is better to be conservative on my part to increase my buffer.

I will also take the opportunity to replace my fixed assets, namely my laptop, which has been with me for the past 6 years. 

Other non-savings expenses include allocating the bonus to my annual travel plans, as well as other expenses like giving a bonus to my family as well.

My regrets in coming up with this budget? I did not manage to allocate to 2 categories:

(1) Increasing my personal war-chest. I guess that would come with my monthly salary instead.

(2) Accruing for the tax on this bonus. Again, it would have to come from my regular budget.

What about you? I hope you have had a windfall recently as well. :) and please do share with me how you intend to allocate them.

12 million Hong bao draw

Would you be buying a dream by 'investing' in a lottery ticket for the $12 million Hong bao draw?

*correction - should be $13.9 million instead!

Some financially savvy folks are saying that they might as well save the money and invest it for the long term, since that is a more sure-win bet.

Me? I won't hesitate to admit that i would be one of those buying a hope and a dream. To me, that amount won't cost me my financial freedom, at the most, it's only the cost of a lunch.

And are the odds really stacked against me? 

We can say it is 50/50, since there is only 2 outcome - either we strike, or we don't. [Just kidding!]

Singapore pools kindly disclaimed that  the odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 13,983,816.

Odds of winning Toto 

Given the winning prize is $13.9 million, what's the payoff? 

The payoff for a $1 dollar bet would be is [1/13986,816]*13,900,000, which is approximately close to 1!

Why wouldn't i buy a dream with $1?

Of course, assumption is that there is a sole winner (although in such cases, there are usually multiple winners, and the prize money are split a couple ways)

This is a post made in jest - no way am i encouraging people to gamble!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a prosperous new year!

May the year of the Monkey bring great health and wealth to you.

What is the monkey's abilities?

Monkeys are agile, quick and very nimble. My wishes for us is to be as agile and nimble as the monkey. When the opportunity comes (or we are already in a time of opportunity), be agile and nimble to take advantage of it to have many prosperous years ahead.

And of course, stay healthy! For health is indeed wealth.

Consolidating bank accounts

One more step in organizing my personal finances. I closed my UOB savings account and consolidated it with my UOB One Account to earn higher interest rates.

Why did i open up the savings account in the first place?

(1) I have the concept of 'paying myself first'. Instead of the formula. 'Income - Expenses = Savings', i try to adhere to the formula of 'Income - Savings = Expenses'. Having that separate account allowed me to transfer money from 1 bank account to the savings, so that i wouldn't touch it.

(2) I'm also quite compartmentalized. So if i designate 1 account for savings/investments, it feels much more neater to me from an accounting perspective. Dividends from investments goes into that account, and EPS to the various brokerage accounts i have are also directed into it.

Why did i have it closed now?

(1) I don't really need it now. All i actually needed was a way to keep and budget the money away, even if it's in a single bank account. As you may know, i use YNAB, and YNAB allowed me to budget my savings/investment money (as well as other expenses categories) so i wouldn't accidentally used it.

(2) The savings account i have generates next to nothing in terms of interest. By consolidating the money into a higher yielding bank account, the money is 'working' harder in generating extra returns.

It really is quite troublesome, changing bank accounts. Sending hard copy forms for the closure and linkage forms for, and changing bank account for the CDP direct crediting services.

I went through the process once for changing GIRO for my recurring bills, and thankfully, this process is much easier and less troublesome.

Happy to take one more baby steps to organizing my finances. Organised my credit card to get more rebates, and now bank accounts for higher interest.

More steps to come!

If you have any ideas, please do share with me :)

Save more for a rainy day

Had a lot of uncertainty as my company was finalizing the corporate strategy over the last few months, and it was finalized a few days back.

The result? A retrenchment exercise a few days earlier. It's my first experience of seeing colleagues just disappearing from office. A call from a conference room, a chat with the line manager and HR, and off you go. Sounds cold and harsh but that's the way it is. Office appears colder and quieter in the aftermath.

Supposedly the package offered is reasonable. Not very sure, as the 'chopped' workers did not return to their desk to speak with us after the conversation with HR.

Had a couple of thoughts going through that day.

(1) Wonder how those foreigners on employment pass cope - without a job, they need to leave the country in a month's time.
(2) Grateful that I wasn't on the redundant list
(3) If i was made redundant, how long would i need to get another job in these economic climate?

Guess it was at thought (3) that it really strikes home that you really need to have a buffer of emergency cash in case an unfortunate incident happens (even though there's a redundancy package). Also, multiple source of income is crucial. We should not be overly reliant on 1 source of income, or an employer, and having adequate reserves is most important.

Ultimately, my wealth is my business. No one cares about my personal finances more than myself.

Who let the bears out?

With the market tumbling at the start of 2016, it is well within possibility that we are entering the bear phase of the market. While the bulls take a long time incoming, bears appearance tend to be swift and decisive. Within half a year, the market has dropped by around 800 points from 2015 to now.

Feelings:
This is my second bear, if i recall correctly. The first time was around 2008 (that was when i worked for just a couple of years maybe), and the STI dropped to 1800 levels. My portfolio went down quite a bit in terms of %, but then given that my base was probably low then, the quantum impact wasn't that much. I continued to DCA in then, and reaped the benefits a couple of years later.

Now my portfolio base is slightly higher, and the loss is definitely larger. While i believe that market goes in cycles, and what goes down must come up (and vice versa), I do have 2 defined set of feelings:
(1) I think one cannot help but feel a bit nervous looking at your networth disappearing day by day.
(2) A bit of regret that if i held on to my warchest a bit longer and went in at a later date, i would have been a much better investor.

However, that is speaking with the benefit of hindsight which is always 20/20. Even though i feel nervous looking at my portfolio, i am comforted with my portfolio mix, which is heavily weighted with the STI ETF. When the market recovers (which it definitely will eventually), the STI ETF will recover along with it. The rest of my portfolio of individual companies may or may not bear out, but so far, i am pretty comfortable with the fundamentals.

Game plan:
With prices at a low, the challenge for me is to obtain more funds to invest in the market. My mistake was being too greedy when the market dropped significantly the first time. I went in too much at the initial drop and didn't leave enough warchest at the subsequent drops. I did not anticipate that the market would drop like it did.

The next time it did, i would develop a better plan, and go in at a pre-determined  % tranche of my warchest. The only thing i can do is to DCA in with my monthly salary now.

Stay calm, invest on and reap the benefits eventually.

Passive Income Review 2015

Finally received all the information i needed to do a review of the passive income for 2015.

Currently i have 3 streams of income, and hopefully i can eventually grow it to a stage where it can support my daily expenses. Currently the target is $4,000, a figure which i derived from my average expenditures tracked in 2015.

See Expenses Review 2015

(1) Options Strategy
This is a bad year for my options-strategy due primarily to the huge market fluctuation in July/August 2015. 1 bad trade nearly wiped off my whole year's profit. In actual fact though, i would not have suffered such a hit if i have done set a cut-loss when the swing is more than 10%. However, i did not expect the swing to be of such magnitude, and i closed off the position at a huge loss. To be honest, i think i panicked a little with this options trade. The lesson learn would be for me to have better risk management.

Even though the money i put in here for options trading is my 'play money', i still do feel heart pain to the loss suffered. I think the concept of loss aversion is very true here. I hope to do better utilizing options for passive income in 2016. Compared to 2014's passive income, 2015 is a disaster.

(2) Dividends
Dividend income for 2015 almost doubled from 2014 as the market tumbled a little in the later part of 2015. I took the opportunity to load up a little on STI ETF. That contributed to the increase in dividends from 2nd half 2015 onwards. In 2015, i'm looking forward to a full year's contribution from dividend income from those new positions entered, and hopefully as more funds come in, i can take advantage of the further weakening of equities prices in 2015.

On a whole, while dividends doubled, the total amount is still quite minuscule, just 2.1k for the whole year. Definitely need to build this up.

(3) Rental
Slight improvement from last year. Although this is relatively stable. The major contribution to the improvement comes mainly from the strengthening of USD over SGD. For a same amount of USD rental income, i get more SGD (not that i actually FX it back to SGD for me to use)

What i did with the income is using the income generated from this rental to add to the investment monies i hold with my wife. Hopefully, it can grow again to a substantial amount.

Summary:
Total passive income for 2015 is $7,008, which works out to be $584 per month. A far cry from the target of $4,000.
I guess that's why i need this blog - to serve as a tracker and to motivate myself to keep up the journey to work towards financial independence.

Before you know it....

Went running over the weekend and decided to give it a go at the pull-up bar. My NS status is that i am 'excused' for pull-ups so never needed to complete that for IPPT since i fractured my wrist many years back.

Since then i got a bit rounder at the waist, and was a 'zero-fighter' for some time. However, since focusing a little bit more on my health last year in 2015, I had been doing adhering to the habit of doing 20 diamond push-ups every morning before work.

Lo and behold! At the pull-up bar, i managed to do 5 and believe that i can do a few more if i wanted to.

I think there's an inflection point in everything we do. I can't do a pull-up for the longest time ever, and when i DID managed to do 1 pull-up, i managed to do 5 at the same time. To me that is a breakthrough point. The lesson for me is things in life is not linear.... we may be stagnant for a while, but once the breakthrough has been made, growth can be exponential.

0 to 1 pull-up is difficult, but 1 to 5 pull-ups is comparatively easier.

I believe it is the same as my financial journey... while i have not made my pot of gold, the 2nd and 3rd pot of gold will come easier once the first pot has been made. It could be the magic of compounding, could be greater access to other investments, but yea, looking forward.

Note to self to carry on saving/investing in the year 2016 for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! One step at a time.

Financial Resolution 2016

As with all new years, resolutions are always made. I set out to cut expenses and increase revenue last year, and i shall have similar goals this year. However, i will be more specific this time round.

As they say, targets should be a little of a stretch, so i shall try to streeetch it a little.

(1) Save $12,000 in 2016 for myself. I didn't managed to achieve this in 2015, and i shall aim to accomplish this. This amount shall be invested when good opportunities arises. That is $1,000 a month, and hopefully if i do get SOME bonus and tightening of my belt in some ways, i should be able to achieve this.

(2) Continue to build up buffer in each of my expenditure category in YNAB.

(3) Increase my annual passive income by $500 by the end of 2016. Have deployed some of my savings a.k.a war-chest in Q3 of 2015 when the markets took a tumble. Hopefully the full year contribution of the deployed cash (and additional returns from deployed savings into investments) would be able to come into play and help me achieve this increase.

Have you made any goals?