REITs 2019

Thinking of plowing more investible funds into my passive income portfolio.

Came across this table on the Business Times on the flight back from Ho Chi Minh.

But the uncertainty in the markets is giving me the creeps.

My Saxo P&L 2019 January

What a terrible start to my year!

I'm already down $1.4K!

I need to stop trading for a while.

Look at how green it was just 3 months ago!

Ikigai

Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being." The word "ikigai" is usually used to indicate the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile.

Read more here.

SIM INC Youth Investment Forum 2019

I had the honour of gracing this investment event organized by the Singapore Institute of Management's (SIM) Investment & Networking Club (INC) as a panelist. Generally I do not like to take speaker slots, but employment in the industry was something very relevant to what I currently do, and I felt that I could contribute somewhat. If all I accomplished was to change at least one person's mind about his career decision making, in a more realistic and positive manner, I felt this Saturday spent would have been worth my while.

The Youth Investment Forum 2019 (YFS2019) was very well organized. As a panelist the organizers in INC did a very good job making sure I was well chaparoned wherever I went, from the moment of my arrival. The program itself was very well structured as well, and relevant.

The format was fairly simple.

First was a Market Outlook panel discussion.

Followed by a Fireside Chat.

And then my session, which was a panel discussion on Employment in the Face of Disruptive Innovation.

I hope my insights were helpful and positive.

The Trading Losses Are Piling Up

Following last weekend's declaration that I would impose a trading ban on myself, I actually violated the ban.

I went to short the S&P500 @ 2,579 on Tuesday.

I went to short the USDJPY @ 108.12 on Wednesday.

Both are bleeding as of weekend close.

S&P500 is currently at 2,596.

USDJPY is currently at 108.56.

:'(

This is bad.

For the coming week, I would like to stay disciplined with my stop orders and not trade anymore for the week if I get stopped out.

My stop for S&P500 is at 2,640.

My stop for USDJPY is at 109.10.

This might really not be a good trading year for me :(

HUAT AH!!!

One Week Trading Ban

Following last week’s disastrous trading losses, I have decided on a self-imposed ban on trading for at least a week.

Let’s see if I can stick to it resolutely.

This might instill better discipline for me.

HUAT AH!

First Berserker Rage Of 2019

OMFG.

Just as I blogged about trying to avoid it.

I ended up in a trance trying to make money on the latest USDJPY spikes.

I hate using IG Markets trading account because it is precisely when I get into these spells that they allow you to put a 10-15pip stop loss and then release more margin for you to open even more positions.

Ended up losing SGD2,500.

I really should make this berserker rage my first and the last of this year.

Stay away from FX, people!!!

Boo hoo.

Stocks In My Dividend Portfolio

Here are the stocks in my dividend portfolio that I blogged about yesterday past midnight.

Not all of them are aligned with my passive income strategy and this will have to change for the better in 2019.

And not forgetting that the portfolio is currently down 15% due to the recent market volatility.

How Much AUM Does One Need To Retire At 45?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about quitting the rat race, the corporate cycle, the employee lifestyle. I want to pursue my own passions, without worry of having to pay my bills, while living a comfortable and even somewhat luxurious life.

One of the key ways is through passive income from dividends.

So how much AUM do I need to retire at 45 and get paid via dividends?

There are a few key variables here.

1) AUM
2) Annual Return

The simplest maths to spit out a number is as follows.

First, how much would I want to live on where I can pay my bills, AND live comfortably? Let's put the figure at $4,000 per month. This is quite a handsome sum.

Secondly, we begin to work backwards using the $4,000, by next assuming a realistic dividend yield. Let's use 5%.

Then if I want 4,000 X 12 = $48,000 annually, and assuming all my investments deliver a 5% dividend yield in total, I would need an AUM of 48,000 X 1/0.05 = $960,000.

Do I have $960,000 in the bank?

That is the tough problem.

I have 5 years to save this amount.

FIRE - Financial Independence, Retire Early

DEFINITION of Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a movement dedicated to a program of extreme savings and investment that allows proponents to retire far earlier than traditional budgets and retirement plans would allow. Oct 15, 2018

This concept has been coming up a lot lately in the last year.

It is enticing, but for me, I actually want to achieve enough passive income from astute investments so that I can retire early, rather than go into extreme savings.

2018 Dividend Accumulator Full Year

And so 2018 ended with a good and tidy sum of what I aimed to do.

Even though I did not achieve my goal of SGD200/mth in dividend income, I felt that considering how I've mismanaged so much of my investments over the last two decades of my life, I've actually managed to achieve something in 2018 that I never did before - maintain a sustainable passive income portfolio for a full year. In fact end 2017 was when I finally cleared all my bad debt, and began developing a portfolio of dividend paying stocks that might hopefully one day be the backbone of my retirement fund.

Here's my December 2018 performance which was the best yet.

Just a quick recap, in 2018, my total portfolio achieved the following:

Total Dividends for 2018: $2,175.12
Average per Month: $181.26
Total number of stock counters owned: 25
- Singapore (5)
- Hong Kong (3)
- US (10)
- Australia (4)
- Japan (1)
- UK (2)

Just $19 shy of my goal.

So here's a pat on the back for myself.

Hopefully I can achieve much more in 2019.

2018 Dividend Accumulator December

A good dividend month yet again! that said, the continued drop in the stock markets have caused my total portfolio value to drop somewhat. Already facing a 15% drawdown on my entire portfolio :(

03 December $41.60
03 December $22.10
03 December $27.68
06 December $76.83
12 December $21.58
17 December $114.80
17 December $79.20
26 December $73.68

Total Dividends for December: $457.47

Total Dividends for 2018: $2,175.12
Average per Month: $181.26