The Unnecessary Job

General Mood Market is expecting interest rates to hold after US CPI data came out on 14 November and pointed to softening prices across the board. Oil has also retreated nearly 20% since its recent peak in Sep 2023.  Are we finally reaching the end of the tunnel for battered REIT assets?  My gut tells me that we are at early stages of recovery although we may possibly still see a couple more rate hikes in 2024.  Nonetheless, barring further escalation of global military conflicts and an unmitigated collapse of the Chinese housing market, both of which seem unlikely but can never be completely ruled out, we may start to see a gradual recovery in DPU for REITs (as rental reversions go up but interest expenses stay constant or go down).    What I did in 2023 (Not to be construed as recommendations or investment advice.) Throughout 2023, I have continued to load up on REITs which (i feel) have:      i. Good sponsors (Capland, Frasers, Maple family) ...

People care way too much about a couple of colleagues fucking each other. The only people who should care this much are the aggrieved spouses and the family members who were hurt and embarrassed.  If you are not one of them, then shut the fuck up already. Who cares? The fact that they fucked or are still fucking doesn't affect you in the least bit. So quit the vomit-inducing moralizing.  But do you know what is detrimental to you, the hardworking taxpayer slogging 10-14 hours a day to make ends meet? 1)      That the Government apparently provides a special class of rental properties, one in which only a TINY TINY group of people may afford, in particular, those who can comfortably pay >20k a month in rent. Suffice to say, a real tiny and privileged bunch including people like, say, K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan. 2)      That the Government is happy to willy-nilly spend close to half a million tax dollars to make these properties "habitab...

Frasers Hospitality Trust shares fell from $0.70 to $0.54 (nearly a 25% drop) on 13 Sep 2022 following a failed privatisation bid by its parent company.  To be fair, it was a close call, with 74.88% of shareholders voting in favor of the deal, falling narrowly short of the 75% approval threshold. Ostensibly, the remaining 25.12% shareholders thought the offer of 70 cents to be undervaluing FHT's assets.  The main complaint here appears to be that privatisation offer was opportunistic and low-balling, especially given that FHT's prospects seem to be improving as more and more countries treat covid as endemic and re-open their borders. Now, one has to wonder whether those who voted against the deal were overly optimistic on FHT's prospects and missed out a chance to cash out at, what i thought was, a fair price for FHT. To be clear, I am invested in Frasers Property Limited, and was indeed quite nonplussed at the privatisation offer, which (in my opinion) was essentially bail...

Most FIRE adherents are familiar with the different tiers of financial independence (FI).   Starting from coast-FIRE, barista-FIRE or Lean-FIRE all the way to the peak that is Financial Freedom (FF), each level is usually characterized by a marked improvement in one's freedom to disengage from paid labor.  FF differs from FI in that it requires more than just having sufficient passive income to cover one's liabilities, the elusive FF tier is only attained when a person has more than enough passive income to lead his/her Ideal Lifestyle without worrying about money.  Consequently, FF differs from person to person.  For a person whose ideal lifestyle is to live in a HDB flat and take public transport, FF is probably easily reachable.  For another, FF may mean GCB, yachts, and opulent cars. This may require one to hit the jackpot with some sort of crypto-scam , multi-bagger investment. That said, I do wonder, for the average Singaporean, what is considered an ...

If the latest TODAY Youth survey by is anything to go by, more young people are placing emphasis on financial independence. FIRE  is not a bad thing.  But speaking from experience, younger people (through no fault of their own) tend to underestimate future expenses. So while it is admirable to aspire to FI, it is just as important to set realistic financial goals. So which are the constantly underestimated expenses? Healthcare This should come as no surprise. When you are 25, good health is almost taken for granted. You look at those old fogeys with their pot bellies, chronic back and joint pains, and you think, nah, this will never be me. I am too active.  Trust me, I was there. 15 years later, you are looking at photos from your first office Christmas party, and it hits you hard: Where did that dude go?  Lamentations aside, when I was a bright-eyed graduate getting sucked into my first Investment-Linked Policy, my annual health premiums were $200+ a year; and this ...

Back in 2015, I never thought I would have to work past 2020.   The idea was that I would have accumulated at least 1.7 M by Jan 2021 and would be comfortably returning 110k a year in passive income based on a 6.5% yield.  How laughably naive. The optimism is commendable but misguided.  Covid struck hard.   Several terrible decisions were made. EHT is bankrupt. A 50k write off.  Ouch is right. First REIT is trading around 20% of my cost price. Never again Riady. Never again. Yields have been severely compressed  with "quality" REITS, e.g., MINT, PLife, Ascendas REIT all returning paltry yields of 3-4% or, gasps, less.   With the view of improving portfolio resilience, I made a conscious decision to rebalance my portfolio to go REIT-lite (well, lighter) and increased my holdings in DBS, UOB, OCBC.  The MAS cap on banks' dividends does mean that these companies are returning 3% or less per annum.   Sigh.  All in all, pr...