New Kopi Target

 With lower trading cost for both SG and US market, here is a new target. 

2024: Trading P/L = 30% of vacation expenses

Mid 2024 Update

Note taking productivity

Used to have Evernote (and I really loved the platform and features it provided for free, until the changes in policy for non-paid users). Being a self-proclaimed minimalist, I avoid subscriptions as much as possible. With that, I tried other options (Notion, Dropbox Paper, WPS document) but it was short lived.

Recently, I found another one called Obsidian. It is FREE, albeit having to store the notes on the local machine instead of on a cloud. But the cool thing is since the written notes are stored in Markdown format, it has 3 advantages. Firstly, helps me to train in using it. Secondly, it can be ported onto an online repository/folder and we are still able to launch the vault to read from those platform. Thirdly, there are many helpful plugins to elevate the experience for something that is free to make it feel premium.

Book reading

I have been very ill disciplined in reading books. But one recently stood out. Sooley, by John Grisham. It's a story about a South Sudan boy's journey into America with dreams to play in the NBA. I have always been amazed by how the author uses simple words and still captivates the reader. It brought back memories when I read A Painted House (another excellent book) as well.

Trading

Brokerage cost optimization. Use,

Vickers 

• For long term stock purchase to be stored in CDP. Approximately $14

FSMOne 

• For selling from CDP (hardly use it). Approximately $13

Moomoo

• For short term trading. Approximately $5-8 in total

IBKR

• For US market

With Moomoo, I have recently done a short trade and happy with the profit (with minimal effort) and am looking to utilize this method to earn some kopi money.

2023 Update

Time flies, and the last update here was a year ago. 

Dividends

Managed to hit the 5 figure amount for current YTD dividends received and projected to average hit $1k each month. 

It is worrying that there are uncertainties at the global scale that has sent recent share prices plunging. It is important to apply the long term view instead of activating the instant panic mood and hopefully better days will come back soon.

New aim: $1.5k each month (which is very close to the next target - $20k). Let's see when it can happen, given there will likely be a drop in dividends next year as interest rates stay high and eats into company's profits.

New Financial Habit

Will be topping up CPF for the first time this year end to reduce tax as it has reached a stage whereby the amount is getting bothersome. 

New Market

Started venturing into US market in 2nd half of this year after being enticed by the decent run up of the market on a whole. Thesis for this is that these giants will still be around in the next foreseeable decade with no let up on their market dominance. 

Memorable Experience YTD

Stepped into Chiang Mai and instantly loved the vibe of the place. It was so good that I made the trip two times there in a short span of 5 months. It is a peaceful and lovely city with lots of nature that slows time down.

Goals Achieved

1. Yolo-ed and booked a trip next year to UK. Well within the goal set by year 2025

2. 12k dividends this year instead of by 2025

Hope everyone out there has a good last 2 months for year 2023!

2022 Update

Dividends Update

The year has flashed past so quickly and soon we will enter the last quarter of the year.

On financial goals matter, I have restarted my initial dividend play to increase the passive income. It is certainly enticing to see the amount grow. An encouraging note is that the projected total amount for 2022 will cross the 6k mark, which translates into an average of 500 per month. A mini milestone to cross!

This amount is far off the goal set a couple of years back in the 'Goals by end of 2022' (10k). There is still a good 4 months. Most likely, I will miss this goal, but on the bright side I am making stock purchases and expanding the portfolio with the goal in mind to cross the 12k mark by end of next year. 

Fingers crossed, I will hit it within the next 6 months depending on the market conditions!

Current thoughts

Once the 1k per month goal is achieved (depending on how soon it is,) I have every intention to start saving up for a house purchase when I reach my mid 30s.

It will be a bonus to be able to increase the dividends payout amount (depending on how much buffer I have in saving that capital)

Assumptions

Cost of house: 500k

Down payment: 15% which is equal to 75k

Targeted amount to save for purchase: 50k cash (with remaining from CPF to settle the peripheral fees)

Any extra cash beyond this will be channeled into increasing the dividends!

Final closing

Unless there is a special bull run towards the end of the year such that the investment portfolio value goes up, there is every chance I will not hit the 300k mark. A huge part of this reason is that I have been making the effort to prioritize experiences in life ever since the covid restrictions started to loosen up.

At this stage, I am certainly enjoying this liberal lifestyle and certainly have had more adventures! It will likely not stop, especially with visiting the surrounding countries around.

So for budgeting next year, I will make adjustments for the overall final amount targeted for end of the year.

Tempting

Private or HDB?

Recently the idea of purchasing a private property came across my mind. Took the chance to read up and understand the various considerations and websites available to view house prices. 

It is really tempting to pay for the down payment and begin to think I could enjoy the facilities (pool, gym, balcony). Over time, I weighed the pros and cons of the decision and it is slightly tilted to the side of going for a HDB with the aim of keeping costs and loan premiums low. 

It is daunting (at least to me) to have to take up a loan and be stuck with it for the next 20-30 years, with so much uncertainty on what lies ahead even in 3-5 years time. I guess the mind has not been conditioned to think of accepting debt as I have been building up a sizable saving (not alot, but important thing is I am making progress to build a safety buffer for any mishaps).

Therefore, a HDB is less risky and in terms of valuation, it is way more attractive per square feet. 

Will there be a regret as I continue to wait until the right age to finally purchase the home at a more expensive price in the future?

On Finances Goal by end of 2022

I have been tracking and setting up a goal offline on the total net worth (cash + investment portfolio). There is a high chance of hitting the 300K mark and I have set it as a goal.

It is another milestone and something I could not even fathom since the beginnings this journey of personal finance and reading up all the finance blogs with bloggers having 6-7 figure portfolios. 

Fingers crossed on being able to increase the take home pay as my experience grows to build a bigger retirement nest egg :)

Hope everyone out there will have a smooth journey in the remaining months as well!

Reversal of fortunes

7th October 2021. 

It is official. 

Newcastle united has finally changed owners and exciting times lie ahead :)

Updates in life

The transition into a role as a worker with experience is something new. No more are we allowed to have the luxury of asking many questions that might appear as if we lack knowledge, but we are now judged on being able to give accurate answers to the queries posed to us as subject matter experts. The burden gets heavier as the solutions that we have to come up with needs to have that extra longevity (ie, it is not just about solving the issue at this instant moment, but effort has to be catered to think how the impact will be in 5 years time, 10 years time, etc).

It is exciting yet burdensome at the same time. Exciting because it is a new phase of growth, burdensome because of the fear that always lingers.. 'what if I screw this up?' I guess it is a by-product of our education system, whereby we are thought to give perfect 10 year series answers. Any deviation or slight mistakes will make one feel so inadequate as a person.

Part of my jobscope now entails making presentations to the seniors/manager who will critic/give opinions on the solution design. I have been spending a considerable amount of time thinking about how to make the presentation effective, so that the stakeholders can understand it and hopefully agree on it in the short amount of time we have.

Lots of effort are needed to simplify the design as well as think and justify the reason for having that development in place.

It has been a stretch. 

On finances

Crossed the milestone set for year 2022 in terms of savings. A small step :)

Twist

A new learning point. 

People come and go, colleagues change, bosses change, company direction change, so we must always embrace it.

Had a great working relationship with a few colleagues, people whom I know are the real ones working and also did a good job too. Responsible and capable. 

Being a newbie in the company, I had the chance to work with them. We formed a pretty good camaraderie. But sadly, they left. 

New management comes in, the ones who have a reputation of being incapable, but very good at selling themselves, cajoles up to them. 

These people get the opportunity to work again, until the management learns about their true form, and by then it will be too late. They will just leave and say that the situation is hopeless, while the incapable ones get another chance to dupe the new incoming boss. 

The whole cycle repeats. 

This was so different from school. We could have all kind of destructive behaviour, skip class, talk back, disobey, skive. But at the end of the day, everyone was judged by the results. Nothing else mattered. Being the class president but having lousy results is as good as failing. The grades on the final report card made all the talking about who had the ability to go further in learning.

But, the working world is a complete opposite. As long as one develops decent PR skills, their quality of work output does not matter. 

Onto FI I charge, so that I can keep these idiots out of my life for good.