The Unnecessary Job

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...

I have been holding MNACT since HK thugs set ablaze the Christmas tree erected within Festival Walk in November 2019.  Then MNACT was trading at around S$1.20 a piece. Now, it is $1 a share.  Shortly thereafter, Covid reared its ugly head.  As the Chinese saying goes, Covid is akin to dumping a stone onto a person who has fallen into a well.  Another apt saying might be that when your roof leaks, rain falls every night.  Considering that it bore the brunt of two severe shocks one after the other, and one of which remains very much in progress, it is probably fair to say, its $1 share price isn't exactly an unmitigated disaster.  Indeed, all things considered, I dare say it is actually pretty decent.   As many would know, MNACT has the unfortunate distinction of being the only unloved child in the Mapletree family.  Why do I say that? Just look at the price-to-NAV ratios:  MIT  - 1.7 MCT - 1.27 MLT - 1.68 MNACT - 0.75 Basically, the ...

Rude awakening is how I will describe 2020.  At one point, my REIT-heavy portfolio was down nearly 600k and the only way I could deal with it emotionally was to disconnect entirely.  No checking. No reading. And clearly no writing. All in all, i thought i handled it fairly well (no i didn't).  Some months back, I joked to a friend that my unrealised losses were sufficient to fully pay off a 5-RM HDB in a mature estate, and then laughed hysterically in a concoction of horror and self-pity. Which only led to questions as to whether Covid was affecting my sanity. Alas, it is too early to call recovery. And some of my "investments" (hahahaha, assuming one could still call them that) are mostly likely gonna be write-offs.  In this regard, I would like to extend my greatest of fuck-yous to:  Eagle HTrust and First REIT.  Other notable nominees in this category may include Singtel and Starhill.  Thank you guys, has been a great ride, mostly at my expense....

You are on the verge.  So close your ears are tingling with anticipation.  Your fingertips rattle across the keyboard. Your lips purse into a wry smile. You can barely contain the pent-up ecstasy as the words appear on your computer screen: "... I would like to resign my position with effect from.... " WAIT A MINUTE.  I know you have literally waited a decade to type this letter.  But hold your horses first.  Have you done the FI checklist? The FI Checklist 1.  Have you set aside a cash buffer for income tax payments, which will persist for at least one more year in your unemployed life?   Since you would no longer have an active income, it is pertinent that you have set aside sufficient cash reserves to meet your tax obligations. If your passive income level is high enough to cover your expenses plus taxes, good on you. If not, prudence dictates that you ring fence some money for Singapore's most powerful debt collector. ...

If you have not watched the Netflix Original Downsizing starring Matt Damon, I would not recommend it unless you really have nothing better to do on a (very) slow weekend afternoon. SPOILER WARNING NO REALLY. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. The story's premise starts off interesting enough. To address the global crisis of depleting resources and overpopulation, scientists have invented a technique to shrink a person down to about 3% of their original mass (or something like that). Companies start selling residency memberships in small communities for the shrunken people, touting sudden amplification of wealth (due to reduction of cost) as a major benefit.  In one scene, Neil Patrick Harris cameos as a salesman for one of these communities, wherein his "wife" buys herself a full set of diamond jewellery for $83. Matt Damon plays a struggling physiotherapist who did not manage to complete med school due to financial difficult...

MNACT's share price was pummelled after months of HK protests, which saw parts of Festival Walk (MNACT's largest rent generator) set on fire and vandalized.   Some quick notes: Festival walk contributed 62% of total Net Property Income for MNACT based on their 1H FY2019/20 results. Festival Walk has been closed since 13 Nov.  Festival Walk is slated to reopen 16 Jan 2020, prior to Lunar New Year.  Assuming rent collection will only resume after 16 Jan, the expected loss of rental income would be for about two months plus a bit.  The Manager will rely on external borrowings to  partially  top up FW's distributable income while waiting for insurance to pay out ( assuming there would be any ).  This top up is expected to be about 40% of the lost rental income.  Hence, it is inevitable that distributable income for 2H FY19/20 will drop.  Share price of MNACT has dropped from a peak of $1.44 (July 2019) to $1.12 ...