~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

As someone who has spent years building an investment portfolio in Singapore, I finally made an important financial move to open a Malaysian investment account with FSMOne Malaysia.  Starting in the second quarter of 2026, I plan to begin a new investment journey focused on Malaysian dividend stocks.  This decision is not just about diversification, it is also about currency strategy, retirement planning, and income stability. Why I Am Investing in Malaysia Instead of US Market Retirement Plans in Johor Bahru Although I currently work and invest in Singapore, I am Malaysian and intend to retire in Johor Bahru in the future.  As such, my retirement expenses will likely be denominated in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) and building a dividend investment portfolio that generates MYR income makes perfect sense.  Instead of the need to constantly converting Singapore Dollars (SGD) to MYR and inevitably worry about the foreign exchange rate, I can rely on dividends paid by Ma...

This post is just for personal reference, to record my personal income and expenses in my journey towards Barista FIRE. For the month of February, I am pleased that I have survived another month with surplus.  As this month coincides with Chinese New Year, I get some "Ang Bao" money, and I also prepared small "Ang Bao" for the elders in my family, recorded under "Miscellaneous Spending".  This is the time of the year where I am able to gather with my extended family and enjoy meals with them, because tutoring means I am usually busy on weekends and I seldom see my relatives.  It is definitely a blessing that I can have an enjoyable reunion dinner with them.   Great Spread For Reunion Dinner This month I went for a movie treat to watch "镖人", which I thought was a fantastic action movie, but somehow lacking in storyline.  Nonetheless it was an enjoyable movie. Nice Movie! Besides miscellaneous spending, "Fixed Spending" remains my larg...

The recent strengthening of the Malaysian ringgit has once again forced me to pause and rethink something I had once taken for granted in my retirement planning.  Back in August 2024 , I have written a similar post when the Ringgit strengthened against the Singapore Dollar to a high of SGD 1: MYR 3.308.  In that post, I concluded that if the exchange rate stabilized around SGD 1: MYR 3.20, I should be well prepared.  After that period, the exchange rate between the two currencies indeed stabilized around SGD 1: MYR 3.28 to 3.30 for an extended period. However, fast forward to today, the picture looks different.  With the rate closer to SGD 1: MYR 3.09, I got to get out of my comfort zone and rethink and replan my finances if this is not going to be a temporary situation.  Perhaps, it is time for my to relook into the numbers, and plan for a more conservative retirement figure with a stronger Ringgit.  To be safe, I decided to stress-test my plan using a mo...

This post is just for personal reference, to record my personal income and expenses in my journey towards Barista FIRE. For the month of January, which is the first month for the phase 1 of Barista FIRE, I am pleased that I have survived, with surplus at the end of the month.  The main reason for this is because I have "bonus" paid out from my tutoring funds for my work in 2025 (since I am self-employed, it is basically just ownself pay ownself).  As I transition into this phase, my work load has declined and I am no longer working 7 days a week.  However at the same time, I think I also became a little more mindful of my spending, but not to the extent of over-thrifty as I am still meeting friends and dining out sometimes.  However, I am definitely more conscious of where every dollar went. Special mention is necessary for "Miscellaneous Spending".  The amount is exceptionally high this month because I made use of the "bonus" income to pay for hotel booki...

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)     ...

Do you ever feel like your money disappears as soon as it hits your bank account?  You are not alone, because I definitely feel the same way.  In a world of constant advertising and subscription services, it is easy to let spending run on autopilot, pushing our long-term dreams further and further away.  However what if you could turn the situation around?  What if you could tell your money exactly where to go, ensuring that every dollar is working towards the life you truly want?  The secret lies in two powerful steps: creating a realistic budget and strategically trimming your lifestyle expenses.  In the previous post, we discussed why and how to create a personal budget.  In this post, we can look at how to trim down expenses in our journey to financial freedom. I know many people will take the word "cutting expenses" with a negative connotation, as it seems like restricting one's spending till one has no opportunity to enjoy the little luxuries in...

Do you ever feel like your money disappears as soon as it hits your bank account?  You are not alone, because I definitely feel the same way.  In a world of constant advertising and subscription services, it is easy to let spending run on autopilot, pushing our long-term dreams further and further away.  However what if you could turn the situation around?  What if you could tell your money exactly where to go, ensuring that every dollar is working towards the life you truly want?  The secret lies in two powerful steps: creating a realistic budget and strategically trimming your lifestyle expenses. I know many people will take the word "budgeting" with a negative connotation, but it is important to understand that budgeting is not about deprivation.  It is, in the longer term, about empowerment.  It is about aligning your daily habits with your biggest goals. The Foundation - How to Create a Budget That Actually Works A budget is not a financial con...

I have been tracking my income and expenses all the way since 2008.  However, all these while I have only been recording, but did not evaluate and analyse my expenses all these years.  Since I have the intention to begin my first phase of Barista FIRE next year, I think it is time for me to analyse my expenses, so I can estimate the minimum amount of part-time active income I will need to achieve next year in order for my cashflow to be healthy. Looking back at my expenses from 2022 to 2025, I am quite surprised at how my spending pattern evolved over these few years (and probably I have underestimated my expenses all these years).  I have always believed that being mindful about expenses is the foundation of financial independence and not just earning more, but also learning to live well within my means.  However, reality may be a little different from expectations.  Probably it is time for me to be more mindful of my spending. Four Years Of Data: The Story Be...