Rainbow on FI

Trade opened on 23rd Feb, trade closed on 25th Feb. And I thought only crypto can pull off this feat (+26.5%). This is a stock. No no, it's not GameStop, although it's on fire too.  Looks like the US market is really supercharged. Or it's just pure dumb luck here? For SG stocks, we have to wait neck long long even for a 10% price gain! Just one important thing to bear in mind - crazy spikes may precede equally crazy plunges . We have to beware and stick well to risk management. -- Quick update I have opened an Endowus account. Previously, I wasn't keen on any robo advisor. So what made me changed my mind?  Firstly, I want to put excess cash (rotting in bank account) into a vastly diversified portfolio with exposure to global funds, especially that of the emerging markets. Secondly, it is more time and effort efficient than DIY picking of individual stocks across different markets and pull hair over currencies conversion when purchasing them (aka when rising tide raise ...

It's a tradition that I will blog every CNY. It is "chu er" today, I am still having brain-block and could only offer a light bite here (my brain food still in oven). Rest assure that I have not retired from blogging, just taking a short break.  Inspired by SMOL's recent comment, I would like to ask this question... What's in your Ang Pow? Money of course la! Opps I am afraid not... that's currency. What?  If you don't know, read this  https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/money-vs-currency/  and this  Currency vs Money: Did you know there’s a difference? . Now that you know the difference, next is to ask yourself - am I accumulating currency or money ? The rich sought money in many forms - properties, assets, gold, silver, cryptocurrencies... you get the idea. The rich know very well the difference between good and bad money. They know how to get their hands on the good money too and keep them. In this year, I have a very simple resolution - I want to learn more...

This year has not been kind to many. Who would have predicted that the impact of the Wuhan virus can be more fatal and widespread than SARS? I can only say that we are really fortunate to be living in Singapore, where our government really took good measures against community virus spread and also took good financial care of its citizens hit by this economy seismic. View from the MBS Skypark I was half-joking with my friend, at the beginning of the year when discussing FIRE, that I will be forced into FIRE soon.  As I am drafting my plans, I know very well that I am not ready for full retirement (RE) despite scrapping a financial independence (FI) enough for lean FIRE. Things just happened and I do not have much choice (or motivation) to be working full-time. From 'The Personal MBS' - What's sufficiency? I am confident that with less going out with friends, eating out and no overseas holidays, my expenses would be much reduced this year. I don't do budget down to the c...

Despite US market being in the cloud nine after a V-shaped rebound, the STI is still languishing. I have done a quick snapshot here on the top gainers and losers that I am holding currently so it's easy to recap later on. Top losers % change Top gainers % change Starhill Glb -40% Mapletree Logistics 50% Silverlake axis -32% Prime US Reit 9% First Reit -30% Yangzijiang  8% ComfortDelgro -27% Ascott Residence Trust 7% Singtel -27% Singapore Exchange 4% The losers look damn bad. They are under retail sector, public transport and telcos which are sectors worst hit by the covid, thus the plunge in their share prices and dividends. First REIT's plunge was due to the unsettled  saga with its parent company  Lippo Karawaci.  Gainers are the ones who managed to hold their fort. A misstep post March's crash is that I sold majority of my MLT to take profits but I ...

I know this sounds like an odd topic as most homes in Singapore are already subscribed to broadband service. The cheapest broadband service around that I can find comes at 200mpbs speed  with a 24-month contract and $27.99/mth and $53.50 service installation fee . Not sure why they throw in free home phone line for "value-added service" when almost everybody have our own mobile phones. The next cheapest I can find is 500Mbps at $29.90/mth. Why would I need to find the cheapest short-term internet access for home appliances? Of course it's because my current place is not subscribed to any broadband service. Also because I want to surf the internet comfortably on my laptop (instead of handphone) and I need the WiFi to run my Xiaomi home cam when I am out. As I am not sure if I would be moving out in the next 1-2 years, I don't want to commit myself to a 2-year broadband plan that nobody but myself would utilize. So... I brainstormed a while and came up with the...

"Think and Grow Rich" is a book with many valuable insights on life principles. Yes it is not a technical kind of book that talks about investments of any sort, its focus is more on the soft literary aspects. If you have read one of my old posts  Desire, Effort, Faith & Grit , you would have guessed that its content serves to guide us towards harnessing the power of our thoughts, through which would enable us to grow money. (I know this post is way overdue as I didn't finish this book in one breath from when I started. Glad that I finally published from the draft which has been sitting there for more than 1 year!🤦‍♀️) Here's an online version which you can read at your own pace. But if you want a flash 12-min overview of the book, you can watch this video by The Swedish Investor, although it doesn't quite justify what you can get from reading the book cover-to-cover. I find that these are the 6 most important concepts to me. (It ma...

In my previous posts Calculations on a HDB purchase versus rental Part I and Part II , I have covered what would be the absolute cost of renting versus buying with a hypothetical example, and also the unrecoverable costs consideration when buying a resale HDB flat instead of renting for singles. In this post, I will talk about pros and cons of BTO for singles. BTO for singles Upon reaching the definitive age of 35, eligible SINGLE Singaporeans can apply for BTO  at last! Albeit only two-room flexi flats in non-mature estates. The average cost is assumed to be $100k for 45sqm space (prior to eligible grants).  Available grants under Single Singapore Citizen Scheme are as illustrated on the HDB website here . Do note that Proximity Housing Grant in this case does not apply.