~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This month marks the end of the 4th quarter of 2024.  Thus being the last post of 2024, it is definitely a good time for me to record the performance of my portfolio to track how it has been. To recap, I started my SG Dividends Portfolio in late 2017, and I began tracking the dividends and all reinvestment done starting 2018.  To date, my SG Dividends Portfolio consist of banks, REITs and defense technology.  On the other hand, I only started the US Growth Portfolio in late December 2021.  Currently, my US Growth Portfolio consist of mainly big tech names, bank and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Being a relatively conservative investor, I prefer to dollar cost average (DCA) into the market to slowly build up my portfolio.  The advantages of using Interactive Brokers to buy the US shares via DCA are undoubtedly the low fees and ability to buy fractional shares of mega-cap technology shares like Alphabet and Tesla.  The latest FED meeting in December has ann...

In the world of personal finance, the journey to achieving one's Financial Independence (FI) number is as unique as one's fingerprint.  Yet, it is easy to find ourselves caught in the web of comparison, measuring our progress against others who seem to have it all figured out.  This is especially the case when we are now near the New Year, where on 1st January, a wave of "amount of Central Provident Fund (CPF) interest collected" post will flood the finance community such as Seedly Personal Finance Community. On other days, in Dividend Investment Telegram Group, we will have members showing the amount of dividends they have collected over the year(s).  Do not get me wrong.  Personally, I do not view these postings negatively.  Once a while, it is natural to feel a twinge of envy or self-doubt, whether I will be able to accomplish something similar, but more often than not, I enjoy participating in all these discussions and chats with all the members in the Tele...

Barista FIRE is one of the 4 financial independence strategies where an individual chose to semi-retire early but continue working part-time for additional income.  Recently, Barista FIRE is also gaining popularity, becoming an appealing option for many FIRE practitioners.  If one is planning to adopt this lifestyle in a few years, choosing the right part-time job is also crucial.  It should align with the individual's interests, offer flexible hours, and allow one to enjoy a balance lifestyle between work and leisure. Here are some suggestions for possible part-time job options that could fit perfectly into one's Barista FIRE journey (and I am seriously considering some of them): Part-Time Jobs That I May Consider 1)      Private Tutoring As I am currently already a full-time private tutor, continuing this role could be a natural choice, but with fewer students and continuing on a part-time basis.  Tutoring is also a popular option as a part-time j...

This post is written based on personal opinion and circumstances, and it is definitely not applicable nor suitable for everyone.  It is just to record my personal thoughts and actions moving forward, and it is definitely not any form of financial advise. The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is Singapore’s most well-structured social security system.  Besides providing Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PR) a reliable way to save for retirement, CPF also offers attractive benefits like guaranteed returns of between 2.5% to as high as 6% (depending on the account and age band of individual) and tax relief.  Personally, I love how the CPF system works, but being a self-employed person since 2015, I did not benefit from employer's contribution of 17% to my CPF account in the past 9 years.  However, as I believe the CPF system is a reliable and a technically risk-free system that works like a guaranteed-bond, I religiously contribute 37% of my annual net trade income to al...

This is a reflective post following my previous post on whether to liquidate my portfolio to pay down my mortgage loan.  As per my conclusion in the previous post, I decided not to go ahead with that move.  One of the main reason is because it will lead to over-concentration of my overall portfolio into one single asset class- property.  If a large part of my asset is parked in brick-and-mortar property, it may cause me to end up being asset rich (after I fully paid up my mortgage) and cash poor.  I think this may a scenario that is important for me to avoid if I want to remain flexible in my financial decisions moving forward, as having some degree of liquidity is crucial for all investors.  This is especially the case if one is retired without any form of active income. To avoid becoming asset-rich but cash-poor in retirement years, one can take the following steps to ensure a balanced financial situation.  1)      Diversify Your Investme...