~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This month marks the end of the 4th quarter of 2025.  Thus being the last post of 2025, 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, but I have since liquidated my entire US Growth Portfolio in September 2025 to pay off my Malaysia mortgage loan.  Currently, my equities allocation is 100% in SG Dividend Portfolio. Being a relatively conservative investor, I prefer to dollar cost average (DCA) into the market to slowly build up my portfolio.  The latest FED meeting in December has announced another 25 basis point rate cut, and has further signaled that there will be fewer rate cuts in 2026 (dot plot signale...

In a previous post, I discussed about budgeting and controlling expenses, and one important step in budgeting is savings.  Saving money does not have to feel like a chore.  In fact, with the right methods, it can become surprisingly addictive, just like a personal challenge one can look forward to daily.  Below is a list of 15 creative, practical, and beginner-friendly saving strategies that can suitably cater to students, working professionals, fresh graduates, or someone who always struggles to save.  There is always one method that is suitable for one's lifestyle. Savings can be flexible.  When income is higher, save more.  When money is tight, save less.  What truly matters is developing the habit of consistent, automatic saving, a habit that eventually gives one financial confidence and long-term security for investing and wealth building. 1)      The 30-Day Countdown Challenge A simple daily saving routine: Day 1 save SGD 30, ...

Lately with the volatility in the markets, be it in US stocks, SG stocks and even commodities like gold and silver, I found a different performance in a selective group of stocks, some of which are in my portfolio.  This group refers to the dividend paying stocks with low average trading volume.  Their somewhat stable performance (largely due to low trading liquidity) is a total opposite of the all time highs and corrections the overall markets have been experiencing recently.  This makes me wonder, are dividend-paying stocks with low trading volume good for long-term investors? On the surface, they somewhat appear attractive with steady dividends, conservative management, and valuations that seem cheaper than the popular blue chips.  However beneath the calm surface, the lack of liquidity and market interest can hide some uncomfortable truths. First and foremost, by “low trading activity”, I am referring to stocks that trade below SGD 1 million in average daily tr...

This is my third trip travelling out of ASEAN region, where I have to plan every bit of the itinerary myself (the first was back in May 2024 where me and my mum travelled together to  Japan , and the second was back in November 2024 where me and my mum travelled together to Hangzhou and Suzhou in China ).  With the prior experience from the China trip, I am less concerned and worried about what to plan for our itinerary this time round, as I would have roughly known what my mum would like to experience, and hence what to include and what to exclude in the planning.  In addition, I have learnt how to use Alipay and Amap one year ago, so all in all, this trip is less intimidating for me.  However, as we are going to the mountainous region this time, what worries me more is the weather conditions and the temperature differences between the morning, noon and evening time.  Being unpredictable, I could only overpack, as it is better to be over-prepared than under....

This post is to document my plan for my Barista FIRE journey.  This may not be applicable for everyone, as this plan is drawn up based on my income, my needs, my expenses and my portfolio.  I am splitting my Barista FIRE journey into 4 phases, to enable myself to slowly transit to full retirement in time to come, but with the flexibility of part time active income that will cover any inadequacies in passive income during my journey.  The percentages shown below are just for illustration purposes, and subjected to change at different phases, but for me, it provides a guide on how I intended my Barista FIRE journey to be. Some definition of terms to make my projection clearer: a)     Monthly Total Expense (MTE): Total spending projected monthly, currently standing at SGD 4K. b)     Dividend For Expenses (DFE): The amount of dividends I intend to use for spending monthly, currently targeted at SGD 1.5K per month initially. c)     ...