The Unnecessary Job

Luck plays a huge role in successful investing. Don't let any one tell you otherwise. In my last post, I had identified Lippo Malls Reit as a potential addition to my portfolio in view of its recent correction to 40 cents and its attractive trailing yield of close to 9%. Ultimately I did not go with Lippo, and instead opted to increase my holdings in Ascendas htrust. My reasoning was mainly that I did not fancy the IDR-based income and felt that the share remain overvalued compared to its NAV. This proved to be a close shave. Just days after my purchase, the Indonesian Government announced a new 10% tax on rental income obtained from land leases. This is expected to reduce DPU by 7.2%.   By the reit manager's own estimate , the DPU per share for 2017 would have dropped to 3.19 cents had these regulations been put in place at the start of 2017.  Did not see that coming. The market's reaction appears to be severe. The share price has corrected from 39 cents to 32....

In a previous post, I alluded to the surrender of an investment linked life policy which i have held since i started working. The cheque came in last week. A respectable S$31,076  after 10 years of servicing my monthly premiums. To be honest, I do not recommend investment-linked policies to anyone. Sub-par returns after management fees. If I had invested all those premiums with a blue chip like DBS/Singtel since 2007, the returns would have been far more erm... substantial. I also do not recommend life policies for anyone unless their (untimely) demise would somehow bring their immediate family to the brink of financial ruin - hard to imagine this would be "most Singaporeans". Hence, life policies are really for a fractional minority, whose circumstances fall into the above described category.  For everyone else, they are just acting as ultra low yield, capital-non-guaranteed, bondholders to the financial juggernauts. Short, short end of the stick. This fresh injection ...

When I told a colleague that I was prepared to work all weekends in March as long as the firm was paying for them, she shot me a look of pity. "That's sad," she said, judgmentally. "Such a sell out," she then followed, derisively. I must say I do not quite understand. I mean sure, the firm is not paying us double (or even 1.5 times) our usual day rates for working weekends and public holidays. But honestly, extra income is extra income is extra income. There is no reason not to do it, especially if you were a high income earner and commanded a reasonably lucrative day rate. I worked it out; the additional income I expect to receive for basically working four weeks straight without a rest day was sufficient to pay three months rent.  To me, this is a no brainer. If the opportunity arises to do it again the next end-of-quarter, you can bet your last dollar that I'll do it. If that is selling out, then so be it.  I am a sell-out. But then again, are...

Being the browser equivalent of the Internet Explorer (sorry Bill),  I have only started reading the Tree of Prosperity blog by Chris. I highly encourage it for those who have not yet read his work. Very entertaining and, of course, insightful. Chris recently got a JD from SMU (post-retirement) at a not-paltry cost of S$70,000. Not something I would do when I attain FI - hits much too close to what I am currently doing.  But see that's the fucking beauty of FI. You got all the time in the world to do whatever shit you fancy. Chances are, plans will change, goals will shift, interests will wane, and new hobbies will arise.  Fluidity and flexibility is the essence of FI. Which is my standard reply to those who constantly ask "what are you going to do after retirement?" Yes, because finding something to do purely out of your own volition is the worst thing that could happen. Really. Surprisingly, it seems difficult for the average Singaporean to fathom an existence tha...

According to my FUMS, 2018 is a critical year for me. I termed it "the Litmus Year".  In particular, 2018 may (or may not) be the year in which I finally breach the 7-digit mark net worth.  *Fingers crossed* Since my RI days, I had always dreamed of making my first million bucks at age 35.  I am a bit behind schedule clearly. I have another 7 months before I say bye bye to my 35-year-old self.  And I certainly hope, whether by sheer hard work or insane luck, I am able to fulfill the promise I made to myself when I was still a naive secondary school kid. PORTFOLIO Mar 2018 No. of shares Last Traded Value AIMSAMP Cap Reit 81000 1.37 $110,970.00 Ascendas-hTrust 170000 0.855 $145,350.00 Cache Log Trust 13600 0.845 $11,492.00 Ezion 19500 0.197 $3,841.50 Frasers L&I Tr 170000 1.1 $187,000.00 SingTel 36000 3.49 $125,640.00 StarhillGbl Reit 20000 0.725 $14,500.00 (Co whom shall not be named) 14620 3.48 $52,403.93 Warchest $16,595.00 Visioncrest equi...

For about three years now, I have been tracking the total dividends received annually. The idea is that once I manage to hit a "magic" six-figure sum as passive income, it would be time to hang up the gloves, so to speak. The first year of doing so was utterly demoralizing. It was the January of 2015, and I was in a bad shape financially. I had emptied most of my savings on a down-payment for a condominium and burnt through another 30k on a wedding (which did not materialize by the way, don't ask). It was at this ultra low point of my life when I decided I needed a formalized plan for financial freedom. Merely talking about it is not enough. Taking haphazard steps towards it is not enough. Making some progress without a benchmark is not enough. I needed a real, solid plan. One with valid assumptions, credible modelling, and multiple checkpoints to properly monitor my progress. Enter the FUM Spreadsheet (FUMS). Or known as the Fuck-You-Money Spreads...

Anyone who is remotely interested in FIRE would have come across this so-called Rule of 25. In short, it is alleged that, in order to retire comfortably, one will need a nest egg amounting to 25 times annual liabilities. E.g., if you require $4k a month to meet all your liabilities including mortgage, parent maintenance, health insurance, bills, transport and personal spend; for you to even contemplate hanging up your gloves, you will require a nest-egg of: $4k x 12 x 25 = 1.2 million bucks. But because I am Asian and Asians scoff at being average, we should raise our monthly liabilities by 50%.  Basically, if you want to retire comfortably, you will require 6k x 12 months x Rule of 25 =  1.8 million. 1.8  million? meh Is 1.8 million a pipe dream? Probably yes for the vast majority of Singaporeans. The median income in Singapore is roughly 4k. Assuming one is able to save 50% of that (which is a massive assumption), the annual savings would be around $2...