~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

**Disclaimer:  This post is written with the help of AI, because as a total technology-noob, I do not have the insights to AI development.  As such, much information in this post is gathered with the help of AI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The AI gold rush has created a strange divide in the investing world. On one side are the American monsters.  Alphabet, NVIDIA, Micron Technology, Microsoft.  These are some of the companies that are leading the AI arms race.  Their revenues are exploding.  Their valuations are astronomical.  Their capital expenditure plans are now measured in hundreds of billions.  Goldman estimates hyperscaler AI capex could hit US$755 billion in 2026 alone, up sharply year-on-year, with much of operating cash flow now redirected toward infrastructure rather than shareholder payouts. On the other side sit traditional dividend investors.  People like myself, buying banks, utilities, ...

Over the years, my Singapore dividend portfolio has slowly evolved into something more structured and intentional.  It is no longer just a random collection of high-yield stocks bought simply because they looked cheap or offered attractive dividends.  Instead, my portfolio today resembles a Qing Dynasty imperial harem ( 后宫 ) hierarchy.  Yes, this link is made because I am an absolute fan of the drama 后宫甄嬛传, even till today. This may sound ridiculous, but surprisingly, this framework actually helps me think clearly about: Conviction levels and portfolio weight Portfolio importance and risk management Dividend reliability and cash flow sustainability Capital allocation priorities (who gets my fresh cash) Promotion and demotion of holdings over time Not every stock deserves to become the Empress ( 皇后 ).  Not every stock deserves permanent favor. Some generate stable heirs (dividends), some stabilize the empire during difficult macro times, some are ...

This post is just for personal reference, to record my personal income and expenses in my journey towards Barista FIRE. For the month of May, nothing special happened.  It was just a normal month, with normal expenses.  I am glad I made time to return to Johor, to treat my mum and aunts to a simple Mother's Day lunch at My KOL cafe, which is quite famous for their curry.  Indeed, it was a great meal, and I personally loved every bit of the curry.  My mum and aunts also gave favorable feedback for this meal.   My KOL Cafe Curry Chicken Kway Teow Back to reality, expenses this month has been normal, with some surplus where I will need to save up for year end insurance payments.  There one additional cost of SGD 200.00 this month, due to the administrative fees for my mortgage repricing.  Starting next month, I get to save about SGD 200.00 per month for my mortgage instalments, so this is definitely good news.  How to spend this SGD 200.00 is still u...

Recently I was watching this video by The Fifth Person , where Victor talked about how modern crises nowadays seem shorter compared to the past, and it got me thinking about how different market crashes feel today compared to something like the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized he actually has a point.  Modern market crashes really do feel different now.  They feel sharper, more emotional, more intense, but at the same time, recoveries also seem to happen much faster compared to the past. Back during the 2008 GFC, the suffering dragged on for years.  According to Google, it took 5 years and 5 months for the S&P 500 to return to pre-crisis levels.  It was not just a temporary panic.  It felt like the entire global financial system itself was slowly collapsing from the inside.  Lehman Brothers collapsed, banks failed, housing prices kept falling, unemployment kept rising.  People genuinely feared th...

In early 2026, the headlines in Singapore and abroad feel like a broken record.  Whether it was tech giants "right-sizing" or traditional industries grappling with high costs, retrenchment has moved from a distant possibility to a local reality.  This is exacerbated with rising oil prices and this creates immense operating pressure for many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  Even in the Prime Minister's May Day speech, Mr Lawrence Wong noted that AI will change jobs, and inevitable make some jobs disappear.   As such, even in Singapore associated with stability, job security no longer feels like a given, especially for a non-citizen like myself.  Yet, in the midst of this uncertainty, I find myself in a position I did not fully appreciate until now.  I am not fearless, but I am far less afraid. The 8-Year Pivot This year marks my transition into Phase 1 of my Barista FIRE journey.  It was not an overnight achievement, ...

This month marked the end of a position that had quietly sat in my portfolio for about 7 years - Hong Leong Finance (HLF).  This was not a reactive sale, nor an emotional one.  In fact, it was something I had been observing, tolerating, and reassessing for quite a while. Back in 2022, I wrote about why I chose to accumulate HLF  within my portfolio.  The reasoning was simple and aligned with my dividend investing philosophy at that time- stable income, reasonable yield, and a business model that, while not exciting, was dependable.  I was never expecting explosive growth.  In fact, I explicitly acknowledged that the share price would likely remain range-bound, and it did exactly that. In the recent few years, while bank stocks were hitting new highs again and again, HLF stayed within its familiar price range.  This, by itself, was not a problem, as it was within expectations.  A range-bound stock with stable dividends could still serve a purpose...

There are some journeys in life that feel extra special, not just because of the destination, but because of the experience along the way.  This upcoming trip to South Korea with my mum is exactly that.  Not only are we looking forward to the beautiful scenery (praying hard for cherry blossom views), food, and moments together, but this trip also marks our very first time (and quite possibly our last one) flying Singapore Airlines Business Class. What makes it even more meaningful is that this was not something I casually booked.  It took careful planning, miles accumulation , and a bit of strategy.  I got to say I am not a great miles player, as my miles accumulation journey was far from optimized, and thus resulted quite a bit in lifestyle inflation.  Thus I decided to end the accumulation phase earlier, and in the end, I only managed to accumulate and hence redeem enough miles for a one-way Business Class flight from Singapore to Seoul for both of us.  ...

The past couple of weeks had been a sobering reminder that the path to financial independence is rarely a straight line.  When the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran escalated at the end of February, markets reacted immediately.  Energy prices surged, volatility returned, and the calm and optimism that had slowly built up in the markets earlier this year in January was suddenly replaced by uncertainty.  For someone like me who has been planning for Barista FIRE, moments like this force a pause for reflection, fearing the negative sequence of returns. Higher energy prices do not only impact price of oil and oil related industries.  They eventually seep into everything.  Transportation costs rise, logistics becomes more expensive, and businesses pass those costs down to consumers.  In other words, inflation has a way of resurfacing quietly but persistently.  When inflation creeps back into the system, the biggest challenge for someone pursuing FIR...

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...

The recent market turbulence has prompted me to make a gradual shift in my portfolio strategy.  Over the past month, I have started reallocating part of my holdings away from individual securities and into exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Specifically, I sold part of my holdings in Hong Leong Finance (HLF), Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLCT).  The proceeds were redeployed into two Singapore listed ETFs, namely Amova StraitsTrading Asia ex Japan REIT ETF (CFA) and the UOBAM Ping An FTSE ASEAN Dividend Index ETF (UPD). One key reason for this shift is diversification.  An ETF holds a basket of securities, which helps reduce company-specific risks that come with holding individual stocks or REITs.  In the case of the CFA ETF, it invests across multiple REITs in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan), thus, its price movements tend to be less volatile compared to holding a single REIT.  UPD ETF also allows me expos...

The market has a way of humbling me. In mid February, my portfolio was hitting all time high in value, and I got over-confident.  In fact, I was ignoring the greedy sentiments on the ground, and I chased Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Aims Apac REIT (AAR) and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust at above SGD 57.50, SGD 1.50 and SGD 2.45 respectively.  At that point, prices were running, sentiment was strong, and the urge to “just get in before ex-dividend date” felt rational.  After all, as a dividend investor, being able to get more dividend income in the next payout seemed to have more pros than cons?  However, the fact is ex-dividend date is 2 months away, and I could have waited for price to correct and valuations to be more reasonable before dipping my toes into buying the shares. Lo and behold, then the Middle East war headlines hit.  Risk sentiment turned immediately and the classic “dog and owner” analogy returned, where prices (the dog) runnin...

“Penny wise, pound foolish” is a phrase I have heard since I was young, usually used to describe people who focus too much on small savings while missing the bigger picture.  Over time, I have realised that this saying applies surprisingly well to investing, and more uncomfortably, to my own behaviour as an investor. There have been many occasions where I wanted to buy a particular share, but instead of relying on valuation, fundamentals, or any form of structured analysis, I fixated on a price that simply felt right.  That number was not derived from spreadsheets or charts.  It was just a number that I felt nice to own the stock at, such as whole numbers or seemingly auspicious numbers ending with '8', and I told myself I would only buy if the price came down to that level.  If I am lucky, sometimes it did.  When it did, I felt delusionally clever, disciplined, and patient.  It reinforced the belief that waiting was the right thing to do. However more of...

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...