~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This post is just for personal reference, to record my personal income and expenses in my journey towards Barista FIRE. For the month of June, nothing special happened.  It was just a normal month, with normal expenses.  The only event that will impact my finances partially is the end of lease for my tenant in Johor, and he will be moving to KL for other work opportunities.  This meant that my unit will be empty again, and I will rely on my agent to help me seek another tenant as soon as possible so that healthy cashflow returns for my finances in Malaysia.   In addition, I would like to praise my home country, Malaysia, as quite a few improvements have been implemented recently which made my life easier.  One of them is I am now able to renew my driving license via online app.  So this saves me time and eliminates the need for me to travel back to Johor UTC to queue and renew.  This month will be the Johor State Elections.  I should return...

One of the biggest perks of blogging is I can easily look back at previous posts and compare which are the goals I have successfully achieved and which has fallen behind.  In this first post of 2026, I will like to reflect upon 2025, and compare with what I had written in this  post  one year ago to assess my achievements. 1)     Liquidating My US Growth Portfolio This has been a huge debate with myself this year, whether I should continue investing in US Growth stocks, or liquidate the portfolio to pay off my Malaysia mortgage loan.  In the end, I chose the latter, and enjoy the peace of mind and positive cashflow with my finances in Malaysia.  I know I may miss out the huge upside (and facts has shown that), but I am not regretting what I am missing out, instead I am cherishing and looking forward to a slower pace of life next year, with lesser financial stress from the mortgage debts that I have. Will I restart and rebuild this US Growth P...

This will be a relatively short post, just to update on the transactions for the month. For the month of October, it was a eventful month for my portfolio.  In the first half of the month, attention was on the possible ignition of the US-China trade war as China started imposing more restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals, and implementing new controls on technologies used in rare earth processing.  This news angered Donald Trump temporarily, and he threatened to impose a further 100% tariffs on China.  This caused a short term blip in the markets, because soon after he TACO ("Trump Always Chicken Out") and declared such tariffs are not sustainable and he and President Xi are still on good terms. Another concern will be the frothy valuations in US Technology companies.  Although I no longer own any US stocks at the moment, the performance of the US markets will still have an impact on the performance of the SG market.  I am unsure if US big tech...

Previously, I wrote about how compounding is the 8th wonder of the world.  When used wisely, it is the magic that helps me grow wealth quietly in the background, as long as I give it sufficient time, inject a big enough capital, and manage a sufficiently decent yield.  However what people often ignore, forget or dismiss, is how compounding does not discriminate.  It is just a force, and it can just as easily work against one, as it can work in one's favor. In my own journey, I have seen both sides of compounding. On the positive side, compounding has helped my dividend portfolio grow.  Every reinvested payout plants a seed that continues to bear fruit.  But on the negative side, I have also experienced how a property with negative cashflow quietly chips away at my finances.  Month after month, it drains resources that could have been building my future.  People often say mortgage debt is “good debt”, but I have come to realize that if it does not p...

From time to time, people have asked me how I managed to build up my current portfolio size, especially when I often say I have always had a relatively low active income.  More questions actually popped up after I wrote the post where I decide to liquidate my US Growth Portfolio to pay off my mortgage in Malaysia.  To be very honest, the journey was not glamorous, nor was it the result of overnight success.  It was a combination of discipline, patience, keeping expenses low, and a few key decisions (and saddening privileges) along the way.  This post is written with much emotions, as it openly shares my entire financial journey along the way, filled with ups and downs, and scars in life.  Please be kind towards my financial mistakes, as I know very well I am far from being perfect. Early Days – Humble Beginnings I started working in 2007 at a Japanese engineering firm with a starting pay of SGD 2,400 per month.  It was not much, but it was the reality of ...

For heads up, I am no property expert, in fact, I am more of an amateur.  This is also the main reason why I am rather hesitant to write this post as it discloses my "failed venture", or should I say, an investment decision that did not turn out the way I thought it would.  However I think it is important for me myself to look into my failure and scrutinize it so that I can truly learn and grow from this episode, and thus be in a better financial position to progress into Barista FIRE phase.  Note that this is not financial advice, and it is mainly as a personal record.  As I grow older and gradually refine my financial journey, I often find myself questioning the balance between investing for future retirement and reducing debt for peace of mind.  Recently, this question has become more pressing because of my intention to progress into my next phase of life, Barista FIRE.  The main issue lies with my investment property in Malaysia.  For information,...

After discussing about how I perceive mini-Retirements in my previous post , and looking at my current circumstances and regrets in my financial journey, I find that time is actually one of the most critical factor in personal finance.  The way one manages financial decisions early in life can significantly impact financial security in later years.  Whether it is leveraging the power of compounding interest, tackling debt before it spirals out of control, or making smart investments, time can either be an ally or an adversary.  Below are some key examples of personal experiences of how time plays a crucial role in financial well-being. 1)      Early Central Provident Fund (CPF) Contributions: The Power Of Compounding Interest One of the best financial moves a young working adult in Singapore can make is to aggressively contribute to their CPF accounts, particularly the Special Account (SA), as early as possible.  I came to realize this only recently ...

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...

So, the time has arrived for me to settle the refinancing of my mortgage loan.  Kindly note that this is not a sponsored post, and the companies and parties mentioned below are involved in assisting me with the application process and completion of the refinancing procedure. My last mortgage loan is with Hong Leong Finance (and yes, I am a shareholder), which started in October 2022.  It was a 2-year fixed rate loan where I enjoy an interest rate of 1.4% in the first year, and 1.5% in the second year.  I was relatively fortunate, because I started looking around for mortgage packages since April 2022, before the crazy propelling of interest rates began, and thankfully, although I was a couple of months too early, Hong Leong Finance was able to lock in the rates for me till my previous lock in period ceased.  As such, I am able to enjoy the lower rates with peace of mind when the interest rates were crazily high in 2023 and most of 2024.  However all good things ...

Do note that this is not a buy or sell recommendation.  This is solely my personal reasons for adding the shares into my portfolio.  Do perform your own due diligence! Recently, share prices of the Singapore-listed REITs are back to their near term lows, and for many REITs, their prices are actually very close, or at their 52-week lows.  To many die-hard fans of REITs, including myself, we are always happy to dollar cost averaging down on the REITs to capture the high dividend yield of quality REITs at rock bottom prices.  However in the past one to two years, I think REITs-investors like myself had borne the brunt of the "low getting lower" share prices for the REITs, so much so that many of us are actually running out of war chest, or some may decide to pause and take a look to see where the price supports actually lies, before continuing to invest. Personally, I am not planning to wait as I do not know where the price supports are, or when the share prices of the ...

After dabbling with investing for more than a decade now, I have the following thought of property versus portfolio, and wonder how things will turn out if I have done things differently.  Before I begin, kindly note that all perspectives below are my personal viewpoints, which may be biased and have limited scope, and caters to my personal circumstances of being a single Singapore Permanent Resident and is unable to purchase HDB flat of any kind, hence only able to consider private property.  Do perform your own due diligence. Is it better to build up a dividend portfolio first and then use dividend income generated to save up for the down-payment for a residential property, and subsequently use the dividends to pay for the monthly instalments of the property, or will it be better to buy the residential property as early as possible before building a dividend portfolio? Personally, I did the latter.  One important thing to note here is that the main purpose of the priva...

Recently I came across a post from Dr Wealth, written by JP, a Malaysian staying and working in Singapore for the past 7 years.  In the post, he shares 7 money advice he would have given to his younger self if he could turn back time.  As a Malaysian myself, who has been her almost my entire life since primary 1, I would like to share my thoughts on this post from my personal perspectives, and hopefully it may be fruitful and helpful to other Malaysians in the same situation. 1)     Know Why You Are Here I am in a very different situation as JP.  Personally I started my education since primary 1 in Singapore, all the way till university education.  As such, I am very much more growing up in a "Singaporean-way" more than the "Malaysian-way".  One prominent difference is the proficiency in Malaysia's national language, Bahasa Melayu.  Many Malaysian Chinese are proficient in English, Mandarin and Malay, but I am not.  Having my education ...