~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This will be a relatively short post, just to update on the transactions for the month. For the month of October, volatility continues to be the main theme in the world markets.  In the first three weeks of the month, markets was submerged in a pessimistic note.  The news of persistently sticky inflation data (especially the rising core inflation) definitely helped to punch the markets right in the face, causing the markets to plummet.  This is made worst by the rising strength of US dollar and the plunging Japanese Yen.  Currently good news are also interpreted as bad news.  Tight labour market is concerning as it may mean that the FED still has room to further raise interest rates to fight inflation, spooking the markets even further. For the month, my portfolio is totally wiped out.  This month marks the first time since March 2020 that my portfolio's value goes below my capital injected (including reinvested dividends).  It occurred on the back of the especially fierce fall i

To start off this post, I would like to share the outcome of a discussion I had with a close friend regarding work-life.  We concluded that there's possibly 5 types of people (this is just our opinion and perspective, may not apply to everyone or every scenario).   1)    Someone who puts work in the highest priority, and has always been working hard throughout his/her life with minimal play. 2)     Someone who puts play in the highest priority, and has always been enjoying life and playing throughout his/her life with minimal work. 3)     Someone who works hard in his/her initial years without much play, and after a threshold level, converts to mostly play with minimal work in later years.  4)     Someone who plays hard in his/her initial years without much work, and after a sudden change in perspective, converts to mostly work with minimal play in later years. 5)     Someone who values work-life balance all the time, and has consistently toggle his/her time well between work and p

By now, I am sad to announce that my portfolio is in the doldrums, not just red, but deep, dark red.  I hope that not many are in similar situation as me, but I believe if you had continuously dollar-cost averaging into the market (be it US or SG market) in the past 2 years, there is a high chance your portfolio is not doing too well either.  If we look at the S&P 500, the peak was at 29th December 2021, and by mid October 2022, S&P 500 has fallen by 25.24% in 289 days.  Closer to home, the peak for STI was at 5th April 2022, and by mid October, STI has fallen by 11.76% in 192 days. So, how long further is this bear market going to last?  First and foremost, I definitely do not have any crystal ball (if I have any slightest foresight, my portfolio will not be in the state it is in now), so I am not able to give any prediction.  However, if we take a look at history, that may give us a hint on how long further this bear is going to last, and possibly how much further the decline

For the whole of 2022, terms like "correction", "bear market" and "market crash" hogged the headlines.  By this time, I believe I am not alone, with a portfolio that is deep in the red.  As the volatility continues to the end of the year, and with a limited cash, how do I plan to navigate moving forward? First and foremost, I am planning to split my cash on hand to 2 parts, one for the Dividend Portfolio, one for the Growth Portfolio.  Most likely I will split the cash equally, as both portfolios has been badly beaten down.   For the Dividend Portfolio, I will combine the cash on hand with the dividends collected to continue to buy into the individual shares and REITs.  However, I will be strict with myself this time round, as my buying power is very limited.  For the non-REITs, I plan to only activate my cash (and reinvest dividends) when the yield of my shares is at 5% minimally, while for REITs, I plan to only activate my cash (and reinvest dividends) w

In late August, based on the "all-in" action of a Singaporean into one stock (singpost), I wrote a post regarding which one stock I have full conviction in for me to "show-hand" into the one and only stock (if I ever would want to do that, but I believe that day will not come, especially after today's post).  A quick recap to that post, I gave myself 4 choices, an ETF, a REIT, a SGX stock and a US stock.  Let's review their performances to date since then, and see how having a one-ETF/ REIT/ stock impacts one's portfolio, compared to a diversified portfolio. VOO ETF Over the past month, VOO ETF has declined by 9.35%.  In absolute perspective, an investment portfolio of SGD 400K will be left with SGD 362.6K.  Although VOO is an ETF, by itself it should be diversified.  However, it has geographical risk, as it measures the performance of the top 500 companies in the US.  As the high inflation and rising interest rates are directly impacting US technology