Cory Diary : Net Worth Update

Net Worth

As I just hit 55, CPF FRS is Max. Currently in the process to increasing beyond from idle cash in small step. The amount into ERS is dependent on idle fund availability that I can safely inject as it will be locked for 10 years. Another alternative which I may use is VC3AC. The idea is to ensure some minimum base of monthly income at 65. So alternative is not in the card. 

The big gap in the chart that i deliberately left out is the free cash portion. This doesn't mean I don't care. Getting triple or double returns in equity investment is meaningless if the equity allocation is small relative to your Net Worth. So we need to see things in perspective when someone reported 500% stocks gains when the cost amount is like one month of his salary as an extreme example. What make it even worst is over a decade and not a year. Therefore, Net Worth Tracking will give us a better picture in overall.

So 2 things to remember. Scale and Time.

Cory Diary

2025-10-12

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Disclaimer: The articles presented in this blog reflect personal opinions and are intended for informational and sharing purposes only. Not responsible of errors. Readers are advised to seek professional guidance when making financial decisions and should take full responsibility for their choices.

Cory Diary : Net Worth update

Tariffs

Been more than a few months since I last post Net Worth. The current sentiment is Trump Tariffs are taking shape and it appears he has the last laugh. One by one countries bend to his negotiation teams. Unfortunately, I have yet hear news on Singapore side. My concern is the more we delay, the worst it gets as Trump will have a stronger hand the more countries conclude their deals. Sometimes bad deal is better than no deal. Will this be the case ? 1st Aug deadline running near.

Inflation

There aren't obvious inflation which in total opposite expectation of many Economists and Experts. So why they could not even measure up to a so called Clown President ? This is puzzling. Nevertheless, rate should be coming down but is not. I feel the more Fed worry, the worst it gets because it makes the dollar looks useless. Is clear Trump want a weaker dollar but this do not mean a weak dollar. And the higher yield we seen in treasury is likely because people is expecting it to be weaker therefore negating all the interests return.

Portfolio

As the meantime, we achieve ATHs in STI and S&P500. Is the most hatred recovery because it doesn't feel like one economically. Is running on the back of earlier inflation on the rate spike after-effect. What it means to all is that my net worth purchasing power has depreciated in entirety and the only one countering or mitigating it is my Equity Portfolio. And yes, the portfolio hitting ATH as well and I am not celebrating in the sense is more like a relieve. Again Saver who views money in absolute term is the biggest loser relatively because you are buying much lesser goods and services with same amount of money in just few years.

Net Worth

In absolute term, my Net Worth has moved up and run contrary to one who is in retirement and high expenses which is still being managed down. T-Bills have been coming down but appears there aren't good alternative unless I stack further up into the equity portfolio which is something I do not want to do when market keeps hitting ATHs.

What I have done is to take some profits and re-balance into defensive position to secure my current position in Equity side. At the same time looking for opportunity to increase my allocation in US Market by a few percentage more as I feel Big Techs earning power will shield me well or convince me to hold on even if there is correction. There are some cash in idle which will have 2 weeks window to decide where to go.

Property

On property investment front, I just concluded a rental contract with a higher value, This will help to improve my cash flow for year to come. The next thing to watch is my mortgage renewal. I have been enjoying low rate for years and if I have my chance the cost will not increase significantly. When I run through my numbers, after property tax, Income tax, maintenance cost, refurbishment cost and agent cost, the yield aren't that good as Equity dividend returns. However, in name of diversification, and the hope of capital gain.

No Chatgpt this time to help check my grammars and composition. Pardon me.

Cory Diary

2025-0726

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Cory Diary : Recovering Salaried Income Loss from Retirement

As a salaried worker, once our saving/investment pass a certain point, one may realised the monthly income we are getting in exchange for our productive hours relative to our portfolio size through years of saving/investment will get smaller over time.

When this happened, it maybe a good time to start preparation activities for managing one's investment portfolio to generate sufficient additional income to cover the income loss and retirement option may opens up. Depending how large is your portfolio or net worth, the needs of how much is enough is subject to individual situation.

Some may prefer drawdown plan, some want at least maintain portfolio to grow with inflation while there may some who want the portfolio to grow after expenses. This ties to expense needs and  investment risk.

For my situation, if I am to park most of my net worth into saving, is unlikely I will have enough to support my family in retirement. Even drawdown plan of the portfolio can be quite risky. How we adjust our investment is individual. There is no one size fit all model unless we go to the lowest common denominator which requires huge sum of money and therefore unlikely one can retire.

There are a few taps we can consider as a salaried worker. See chart.

The left is asset allocation, and on the right is the cash generated from each asset. The main asset which is Equity, covers much bigger % slices of the cash flow needs. The least productive in the chart is gold which generate no income.

Fixed deposits in percentage wise comparison between the two pie chart only generate half it's allocation. Normal saving account is the worst which only support 0.2% of cash flow despite 4.4% allocation of net worth. So to me I always need to actively manage the minimal amount with buffer to support working cash needs for bills and immediate expenses. Right now 4.4% is still too high. Unless one has  significant wealth this has to be actively managed to low single digit. How low, only you can tell.

We can also optimize allocation in T-bills, SSB and Pension. The hope is that with the extra time in retirement, the additional cash we can generate from the portfolio could cover the income loss by moving them to more cash generative assets. This has to be done safely to ensure liquidity and market risk.

If we can execute this correctly, the return maybe greater. One maybe financially better off retired than continued working. Even if income is lower, it maybe worth our while if we have other priorities for the later half of our life. Do your math. 

Something to think about for fellow retirees. And again always dyodd as this tie to individual risk/needs, and I have to say, don't follow me ! I could be logically in error, mathematically wrong or my portfolio size is large enough for me to do what I wanted.

Cory Diary

2025-0615

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Cory Diary : Net Worth update

Quick check, 4 months since i last updated. Quite an amount of the equity investment recovered. Some of the major expenses are also captured. More to come ... . I thought is a good time to take a good look at where am I on Net Worth specifically since I have retired. In absolute -1.3% YTD. Which is still ok considering the On-going Tariff War. It can be much worst. The strategy to remain focus on dividend returns play a key mental support role I guess. 

Re-balancing

So the good news is from the recent tariff sell down, there is not much worry from my side. I still do sizeable manevour to mitigate and taking opportunity on equity side. As you can see from the chart, a dip and a rebound. On the US market side exposure, peanut butter strategy seems to work well for me and changes are in that direction. Effort wise is minimal.

One point to add is that recent sell-down by Mr Market helps to futher increase my annual dividend return without much new fund allocation. I do this by re-allocation of equity and some funds buying lows from investment accounts. I realised investors for some reason will just keep selling down stocks even when the fundamental of the companies are strong. They could be on margin call, leverage fear, or maybe insitutional actions. God Knows ! Ofcourse we need to have standby Warchest or additional funds to take advantage of it. 

Expenses

Few critical expenses like child private school fee and tax allocation especially are considered. I have also decided to remain about 4 years of family expenses in low yield returns. There is plan to increase my rental income. This is still in work-in-progress. If successful, would help to cover my annual family expenses firmly. Other new expenses are two new term insurance which i feel needed. This is mitigated by paying slightly higher on monthly basis.

Format

For future reporting, I am considering to simplify the Net Worth Chart as I realised stacking line chart seems not as intuitive. I need to find time away from my growing personal allocation to gardening .... . My latest assignment ... or hobby.

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2025-0503

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Disclaimer: The articles presented in this blog reflect personal opinions and are intended for informational and sharing purposes only. Not responsible of errors. Readers are advised to seek professional guidance when making financial decisions and should take full responsibility for their choices.

Cory Diary : Net Worth

Been some time since I last post on Net Worth. The Logic is Net Worth is Net Worth. Don't add buffer, philosophy or personal perference into it. Basically, please call a spade a spade. What this mean is do not have filter lens to reduce or add the definition of it.

Net Worth implies Property Net Value (Sell Price after Outstanding loan), Surrender value of insurance products, the total recorded value of CPF, all Assets should be included and total returns of investment products ( Realised + Unrealised + Dividends ).

Ofcourse one could have their own personal buffer, cash flow view or investible definition but that isn't the True Net Worth. With that clarified, let's proceed with update.

Retirement Year

Year 2024 is retirement year which means there is compassion package. Still in the process of managing the cash. Therefore, the Cash/FD stack has a spike. Cash is still in process of being deployed safely.

Property

There is not much change in the property valuation and so the similar pattern just stack on top of it in Blue as we can see in months ending around of Year 2024. 

Equity

Equity did relatively well again for Year 2024 building on Year 2023 rebound. Large portion remains unrealised profits riding on Banks and US Market waves on long term basis. For new funding, majority will continue to be in fixed income.

Overall

Overall Net Worth achieved 21.4% increase in Year 2024  on average compounded 10.1% Growth Rate as below. This will probably be the last time able to achive such increase due to no more salaried income after.

For a salaried person as me, unless sizeable of networth in market, is not possible to have persistent double digit increase in Net Worth. This is basically Math. Which is why it works against common folks that do not invest generally and we will see increasing wealth gap as time past.

Investment Limits

With Scam abounds in today worlds, is illogical for a person to invest in non-official trading platform, friends private businesses or get-rich schemes. The risk is so high that one may lose their retirement money instead. Never trust our money to strangers. This leaves with only a few safe investment havens that I can do such as CPF, Singapore Saving Bond, T-Bills and Official Equity Trading Platform. They should be enough. After Expenses ...

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2025-0105

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Disclaimer: The articles presented in this blog reflect personal opinions and are intended for informational and sharing purposes only. Not responsible of errors. Readers are advised to seek professional guidance when making financial decisions and should take full responsibility for their choices.

Cory Diary : Stagflation - Net Worth

Stagflation

When we have high inflation and at the same time stagnation of growth or outright recession, this is Stagflation. This is quite probable in current high inflation scenario where Fed continuously hike rates. There is a risk we may hit stagnant growth or recession but Inflation still stays high.

In such scenario, we want to have some investment protected and reasonable returns secured. Capital gains will be much harder to achieve in Equity. Likely Investment Instruments will be CPF and SSB for long term. T-Bills and Banks Saving promotions for short term. Appreciate the availability and kudos to the government.

However increase in interest rates for CPF so far seems much tougher for the government to do though it can happen. SSB hitting 3.47% currently looks much more attractive. So it maybe feasible to work out a plan again to maximize SSB again that will secure 10 years of strong rate fixed returns issued by Sg Gov. This is assuming the rate will come down mid term.

For short term, high interest rates from Sg T-Bills and Three Local Banks are available right now. This will be the next layer that I could focus on. Banks Promo will be preferred due to liquidity reason. With this plan in mind, and significant annual equity dividends increase achieved, decided to sell Astrea bond. In-addition, did some currency trades selling USD in stages in preparation for local market investment. All this help to release sizeable funds for new opportunity. Couple with funding from my spouse we could ride out stagflation better.

Net Worth

Hits on the economy keeps getting longer. Net Worth seen a reduction of -2.1% YTD.

Stagflation will lower equity portfolio due to poorer earning and rising cost generally. Even property asset can be impacted if this worsen. People who want to retire may want to extend their job over this period as available cash or fund saved is best use for investment for future earnings.

Be Safe. We are in unchartered territory.

Cory

2022-11-20

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Cory Diary : Net Worth Progress - Diversification of Assets Classes

Many have not seen or remember a period of high inflation before. There is not much experience. Our thinking shaped our recent memory or impactful personal event which formed our perception. People who are old enough as me may remember a time where we have 5% Fixed Deposits. I guess there is time for everything, just when ! We are far from the severity we seen in 1980s or 2008 of most recent.

Interestingly, the harder Fed tackle the inflation problem, the stock market seems to react better as this mean the issue will go away faster and not drawn out. What is surprising is that the employment figure still stays good. Hopefully they don't over-do it to bring down the inflation too fast. The economic heart may stop and enter into cardiac arrest.

Looking into Net Worth Portfolio of different asset class, not much has changed in recent months. How to read this chart is to lookout for the word "Stack". This mean it includes other asset class line below it.

For example blue line property stack includes non-productive assets such as cash represented by the green line..

Overall Net Worth

Overall Net worth is tracking back up due to Liquid Asset, Pension and Property Valuation. YTD -0.x%. Specifically investment property because I was expecting a double whammy falling like stocks instead the valuation went up slightly from recent dozen transactions of the market in the condo.

Home Loan Package

With the recent spiking of home loan package, fortunate to lock fixed 1.5% years ago for peace of mind reason. And this exactly happened as we have to pay more from floating package. Nevertheless, once inflation is controlled it may comes down quickly too as historically for the past 40 years rates are on downtrend.

Equity

Equity stack has been reduced due to negative return ytd and because some amount of stocks sold was used to build up CPF and DBS Multipliers.  Right now the portfolio is moving to a state of equilibrium again. The positivity is that Potential dividends moving toward $69k annual same time from constant injections on Bank and Reits Stocks.

NPA

Finally, the Non-Productive Assets (NPA) are trending up slightly. Will be buying back some SSBs in stages as time goes. The hope is still to utilize them into Bank or Reits if there are severe correction.

With current expenses, still couldn't retire .... unfortunately.

Cory

2022-0710

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Cory Diary : Alignment of Net Worth Tracker

Have been thinking lately on how to simplify Net Worth tracker while trying to optimize asset such that they work harder "Passively" the same time. One of the way is to segregate the tracker lines to reflect efficient use of asset. Regroup similar attributes one to same group. See New Chart below.

Non-Productive Assets

Fixed deposits (FD) and Cash Saving should be in a group that formed the lowest base on the tracker. Their interests are small versus some other actively managed assets. This segment is not productive and is for daily working needs, emergency cash, regular bill payment buffers and even money market funds (MMF)  of investment accounts. Having them classify together gives a better view on non-productive assets.

Investment Streams  ( Red )

The recent setup of Multiplier ( DBS High Saving Returns ) with the goal to hit 3% max ( 2.5% on average ) take some planning and significant cash to invest ( 100k fund for $2.5k annual interests ) but  provides a much better returns than FD/Cash. This will be called Investment Streams as new term coined to align with the desire to have multiple streams of income which will have it's own group that includes Equity, Bonds, CDA & Property for productive assets.

Stacks

Within the Investment Streams, Equity ( Orange ) and Property ( Blue ) stacks single out to have a better view on their allocations. As see from the chart, the property segment takes a much smaller proportion to Equity which is a key engine for the dividend income. However the potential income from Rental is not small. More than 50% of current dividends. This is important to mention. In-addition to provide diversification. However, large funds are tided to SSB for emergency buffers due to loan. With 2.3% in SSB ( Low risk ), this means possible loss of 5k annual dividual income has it been use in Reits ( Higher risk ). Net is still worth it as property income from rental is much higher due to inherent leverage.

There is one time change due to underlying definition change from previous chart due to redefine of MMF as Non-Productive Asset. SSB, CDA and Multiplier as Productive ones. 

So how do you like this new methodology ?

Cory

2022-0402

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Cory Diary : Net Worth Trend Updates

Net Worth Chart

The trend continues on polynomial curve upwards on an average rate of 9.8% for the past 14 years compounded. This is despite a large portion of the asset resides in lower returns instruments which implies the needs for annual salary income plus equity returns to supplement. The hope is for property value to match along which just got dashed in the wake of new property curbs. However, is a matter of time inflation has to be reflected into them.

For Year 2021 continued growth, this is happening due to mainly Job Bonus income and better Equity Investment returns. Company also benefited from the Covid situation and we have a better adjustment too. The liquidity curve is slowing down which reflects increasing expense ( daily and housing loan repayment ), allocation of cash into CPF and voluntary housing fund into CPF done last year. The gap will be widen further when we top-up CPF this month.

The Security/MMF ( Orange line ) is on the uptrend due to increasing efficiency of investment. Therefore the space gap makes with Liquidity ( Red line ) is the idle cash and fixed deposits. This are getting smaller till 55 as CPF is top up till Age 55. The known retardation is the coming FCL bond maturing which will release cash and provides some widening.

Last year property value is flat however the blue line is on consistent rise due to the monthly loan repayment. Insurance surrender value has went up a little. Representation between the blue and red lines. Likely the blue path trend will remain so for years to come.

To maintain the current Net Worth trajectory, Job and Equity investment will continue to be depended. As equity returns can continue way beyond retirement, the hope is that we divert sufficient fund over time to reduce salary income dependency. Interestingly, the company do a good job to ensure this do not happen easily by continuing to increase the compensations such that it looks like they will be always the main driver from income unless we have significant contribution from equity investment returns.

Asset Allocation

Introduce CDA for Child Development Account. A segment which did more than enough required top-up last year to match the baby bonus. The scheme is good but CDA can be better if is well supported throughout the growing up period till they are in workforce or army. This will further help relieve the cost of parents and allow the child to have additional safety net on education and living expenses.

Saving Cash at 6.5% seems still quite large especially when there are additional 3.3% FD. Probably 5% will be sufficient for cash level. Inflation will be high but the market likely weak so maybe wise to achieve a balance between them. If there are alternative to overcome both this could be interesting. For now looks like nothing much else to act further.

Plan for 2022

The current macro condition on tapering execution is a done deal. The talk now is on interest rate hikes after. Even with those rolling in, the rate is still low and do not see sufficient interest rate returns in saving banks. Housing loan rate will remain affordable for years to come. And in time, Reits will be back thriving in inflationary world till the the rate overshot which will take a long time to happen unless the Fed trigger happy.

For now, Fed actions could put an end to mindless investment injection into unprofitable growth stocks that do not have good degree of success. The recent years on SPAC deals are symptoms of this happening. A lot of shareholders value is destroyed and this will be reflected when results are materialized. The impact could overflow to other segment of the economy however degree of impact is expect to be much smaller.

For three years in a row the portfolio has robust returns from equity. This year will be good to be flat if not better. However if there is a loss, need to be quick in mitigating them. Growth stock achieved 14% allocation in Equity Chart. Not shown here.

Primary Tasks

1. CPF Top-Up to Max ( VC3AC )

2. Increase Investment in Growth Stocks. Need to explore how much.

3. Dividend Target 60k

4. Sell Vested Stock allocation

5. Put a portion of the emergency cash into Fixed Deposits

6. Use more stroller instead of cab

7. Trip to Tainan for Holiday

8. 8% minimum warchest allocation 

9. 5% - 5.5% cash allocation

10. No major adventure. Look for mitigation investment strategy.

11. Annual Parent allowances - completed

 

Secondary Tasks

1. Children CPF Top Up / CDA Top Up

2. Personal MA Top Up

3. Try S&P500 if there are enough correction

PS. 3 yr old daughter starts to learn to sing on herself today

Cory

2022-0108

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Cory Diary : Financial Report 2021

FINANCIAL GOALS

Financial goal is that in my retirement period, investments can well cover the need of my Family & Emergency Expenses and an Equity Portfolio returns that is diverging long term. I see myself continues to manage the portfolio well into my retirement. Has Will drawn up in my bucket list and experience pass down to my children so that they have better head start.

NETWORTH REPORT

As the net worth gets bigger I find it quite impossible to continue on 10% path but manage to get it done for Year 2021 despite increasing expenses. Year 2021 is best remembered for my juggling act on so many things. 24 hours really not enough as I am the type of person who needs a lot of personal space. Is fortunate that our company do well during this Covid period. With the pace of Omicron is spreading, there is good chance that Covid may end soon so that life can return to a Better Normal.

EQUITY

Achieved XIRR 10.1% for Year 2021. ( Absolute return 10.8% ). Two main stocks drive half the profit. DBS and TESLA.  Remainders mainly from other US Shares, SGX defensive counters and a few Reits which I locked profits. The move to NASDAQ this year helped the portfolio significantly and also provide a more balanced portfolio to SGX counters.

Manage to reduce stock counters to 15. Their dividend will drive around S$65K for year 2022. The growth stocks are relatively new for me and hope to see continue investment there with baseline dividends achieved. Did more than 250 trades this year choking up almost 8k of fees and expense ratio of 0.52%

Based on recent 5Y performance, every year tells a different story. The portfolio constantly needs to keep pace with market changes each year. Year 2022 will in interesting due to anticipated interest rate hike. This is probable but not definite as personally I feel is tied to the strength of US Economy. Fed maybe forced to print again or maintain status quo after tapering. Regardless, the portfolio has to adapt quickly. One thing I need to keep reminding myself is to cut loss on poor performing companies and this is what Index does too basically.

Below is the lifetime return of equity investing. Investing in strong good companies give a significant better result. Frankly, I am not a good stock picker but I am fast in cutting loss. Cannot stress the importance.

CPF

In summary, after refunding all my CPF housing loan and move them to SA. FRS is Max. In addition VC3AC to Max too. I also did some top up for my toddlers just to try out the process. If you are interested, on detail I have a CPF page for it in the blog.

The plan is to max my top up till 55. And if possible, CPF shielding. After RA allocation, I could see a good amount inside CPF generating Interests which I can withdraw as needed. Still deliberating whether to max out MA as it doesn't look like the interests will hit ceiling of MA annual adjustment.

CPF is the baseline safety net protection of returns. Received more than $10k in interests yesterday. Gov gives free money must take which is basically almost risk free and stress free. Obviously people in this game will like to see continuity.

INSURANCE

Have two main insurances that I have been paying monthly for more than 20 years and has been  continuing them. The main issue with saving type of insurance is the bonus portion is not guaranteed. People can find out later ( like after 20 years ) that they may get zero ! and the fear is that there is nothing much they can do about it. This sounds untenable to me even though my current one has bonus that is good enough. So far from calls, the amount confirmed looks reasonable. I will find an optimal time to withdraw it and will be a model learning case for others. For my the other which is Life Insurance it does not seems worth to surrender as the benefits are significantly higher after I passed. Probably will procrastinate this one.

SINGAPORE SAVING BOND

This is held in reserve for bank loan repayment backup which can also double up for family emergency. Is already Max out 200k. As the figure is fixed, over time this 200k will become smaller and smaller in percentage term relative to Net Worth naturally. One do not have to do much and therefore best leave it untouched.

Interests collected is on cascading basis for 10 years. This year will be $4207. By the end of 10 years most of home loan will be paid. We can then decide whether need this reserve amount. Ideally if the gov increase the ceiling further we could do some shuffle to stagger out the bond due dates.

PROPERTY

Have an investment property. Currently the rental supports are not optimized so I foresee room for financial return improvement if needed. The rental is not able to cover the monthly repayment due to the large principal repayment portion as the loan period is short. However considering this is due to larger principal repayment and not the interests itself, in net perspective is still worth the investment as it is positive earning. However there are stress in managing the cashflow as this can limit your choices in life. I am treating it as "Force Saving". This is one item that is driving up expenses.

With the new property curb, it is now much harder for one to own a private property. Chances are young family may need spouse to also be in workforce with reasonable good job for a family to afford staying in one. I am curious how will this affect my property valuation therefore the net property value. Probably flat I guess.

Property is a natural hedge against inflation with added bonus of rental income. Ironically, renting in Singapore is not cheap so is my believe that one should always have a property in their name and using bank loan which is only 1.5% fixed for my case. I could not justify taking a loan from CPF.

Cory

2022-0102

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Cory Diary : Net Worth Nov'21

Asset continues to grow with saving and stronger investment returns in recent weeks. There is no purposeful saving other than a few nagging of food wastage. As chart below there is more focus on making sure money works harder. Year to date, achieved 10% increase in asset for Year 2021. That's not really easy for a family with children. I need to think harder.

Rewarded myself when I chance upon a small drawing tablet for about S$140. Is the cheapest model I could find that allows me to do some basic writing and drawing abilities. Kind of fun and some learning curve to get use to it. Can be classify as invest in oneself ?

( Wife asked for an Apple Mobile phone .... )

Facebook has a name change to Meta Platform. In non-physical world, imagination is unlimited. I thought the direction they are going is excellent and decide to start invest a little. And if I like their progress it could be a build up. 

( Maybe I can give a Meta iphone  ? ) Ha.

Cory

2021-1106

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Cory Diary : Annual Net Worth Growth Rate

FINANCIAL AWAKENING started right before Year 2008 GFC during an oversea posting. It soon STARLED on me if to return home for good, whether there will be opportunities and what are the available options. Being in well protected environment in Singapore, we often take things for granted from education to work to medical to CPF. That everything layout appropriately. Any "mispricing" is someone fault. Being there alone, I have only MYSELF to BLAME.

When Year 2008 Global Market Crash came, one good lesson is how irrational market was then and still is when comes to pricing of stock values and the fear of the market mispricing it again. The only sure thing is the salary income and saving resulted. Property price then is dirt cheap and so are many stocks. Therefore if one is not greedy, familiar with the business they invested and able to hold stocks that they value appropriately as a business, the stock price will just return after market crashes. So is a good option to be paid while we wait therefore dividend stocks are attractive for investors.

DIVERSIFICATION is still key for most investors since we aren't Warren Buffett. There is a good chance we will pick a wrong stock and one should quickly terminate the cancer as soon as possible and not wait for full price recovery. It soon occur later that the Guru himself said that Index ETF is probably the way to go for most of us. Well it has becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in that aspect as new savings will be ploughed into it consistently. Unfortunately for local investors there are withholding tax on dividends and currency risk because our government do a good job in keeping inflation in checks SO FAR. Will this Index ETF theme comes to an end ? Never say never. So putting all our eggs in an ETF is not diversification imo.

As the net worth grows throughout the years, there will be a point where we will have to retire. To keep this up, there need to be gradual transition into investible asset to stock, property or whatever incoming producing that can protect and grow what we have Safely. They key word is Safely. Not Fixed Deposits or Get-Rich Scheme. Unless our gold pot is huge, we need to invest. And we must learn how to invest. Letting someone invests for us is not investing. Is waiting for something BAD to happen.

By the way, 9.5% Growth Rate at Net Worth Level currently doesn't seem easy to continue.

Cory

2021-0918

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Cory Diary : Net Worth Updates

Seems a long time that I last did my Net Worth report. Some time ago I do some revamp on my Chart to make it even more easier to manage with lesser time. During this period I learned how to use macro in Excel to do VBA. Quite excited about it as this add a layer of automation to my learning. It is much simpler than I thought it would be. Maybe I can start to learn to do some tool for my colleagues as automation is sorely lacking even though we have some power tools using VBA, BI and Power BI.

I added a trend line in my chart just for fun. Though it might gives the impression of exponential type of feel into my net worth growth, seriously I doubt it can last. I am going 52 and looking forward to age 55 as a milestone which I could ask for retirement. Frankly I am not sure I would when time arrives. Nevertheless is something I look forward to in the aging process as an option which is favorable by then.

Back of my mind is I could be "retired" before 55 but this seems less likely for now as the company business is doing well. They even give a special bonus to boost Work-From-Home Morale. When you are at my age, we are earning a much higher salary that is near the peak of our career. The cost of retirement would be costly. So there is always the motivation or to some fear factor in play.

I am thinking should I do a comparison against my previous net worth report but is quite a hassle when I want to go sleep asap. I am nodding off.... . Instead I would focus on a particular highlight in the chart and talk about it which is the securities + MMF line in the chart. Is getting more steeper which basically is the result of my action to optimize wealth generation. Therefore channeling idle fund to more active use. There is still some gap to fill except that sizeable amounts allocated for War Chest needs. So the easy picking is reduced.

Cory

2021-0603

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.

Cory Diary : Historical Milestone - Net Worth

Asset Class diversification is important for peace of mind. It can be Equity, Bonds, Property, Cash, FD and diversification within like for example recently I expanded to Euro and Pound denominated Reits in Europe properties. I also developed a plan entering into US market by mini portfolio even though timing could be better. Bonds wise I have SSB Max and in the work to reduce Company Bonds for CPF.

One of the challenge will be how to Simplify my operation while achieving the Diversification needed. This means reducing errors, market volatility with poor quality assets and getting better in my investments. And therefore more time for family and work.

To combat inflation, having investment returns and also a shelter over my head when needed, I decided to invest in Property. This allows me to sold off all my gold position which serve inflation purposes. In my earlier article I have worked out the Math on why property investment is attractive due to Rental income and leverage. TDSR and ABSD have also limited over speculation so one is unlikely impacted by installment arrears. Even if one got their timing wrong, over the long term the return from rental or own stay which avoid paying rents, will likely gives property buyer a high chance in the black and probably good returns on average. 

To add for residential property, I feel is very unlikely to have EHT or Noble events that we see in stock market as long we can hold our property. Being in equity market over decades, property is certainly the easier path to go and imo for most people who can afford, within the current regulatory constraints that interesting help largely minimize the risk of default. The stock market is not a level playing field even though over the years we are getting better. Is much tougher to profit from it with many learnings needed to stay in the game even though I have profited some amount. 

Why all the write up above with the subject line. I just checked URA transactions, and PSF wise there is another increase on recent month. Is a surprise. Covid ? What Covid ? This bring my Net Worth to another magical milestone level. Interesting just yesterday, I told my wife that if I hit the Net Worth milestone, we can afford to buy another larger de-humidifier. It was a passing remark as it will be our 3rd in the home. So if we going to get it, and the stock market doesn't look like will push it that far in the next month or so, it could be far fetched. Looks like is not far enough ....

Cheers

Cory

2021-0331

Articles in this Blog is personal take and educational purposes only. Reader should seek their own professional help when making financial decision and be responsible for their decision.

Cory Diary : Net Worth - Fighting Mode

Generally Year 2020 has been quite trying for people who try to increase their net worth. 

I would expect many people pay reduced, on unpaid leave, retrenched, mute property and likely poor equity investment returns, 

This is particularly true for me because we have added expenses for additional member in the team. In Year 2019 I have estimated at least 140K expense which includes Home Loan that is well supported by investment returns.

For Year 2020 I don't think we deviate much expense wise however I am glad that she has chip in to help support baby clothing, shoes, Nappies, Toys, books, baby powders and food supplies. Dual income is so cool in bad times.

Here's the Net Worth chart. I won't go through the details.

Looks like the expense has not damaged the lines and able to hold-off so far. Rumor has it that we may not have increment and bonus this year so if that's the case we won't see a slight spike later on. Frankly speaking 2nd half could see better market condition.

There are a few new expenses this year.

The hot weather did add one addiction which is ice dessert. And I am getting a kick out of it recently. Hopefully this aren't permanent .... ... ... before the sweetness get my health.

$2 Serving

Have been using hotspot for a long time. With WFH in great play this year, Home Internet connection will be better serve but nevertheless an added expense.

Cory

2020-0822

Cory Diary : Net Worth - Just looking at the Chart

This update shows the impact of Covid-19 to Net Worth. The top green and white lines include property net value but won't be reflective in current scenario due to much reduced transaction for reference. If the crisis deepened, we should see the Property net value to reduce and therefore lower level lines.

The Cyan line is the liquid line and current YTD is roughly the same as start of year. Basically recovery of the stock market and some saving from the first half year. At personal level there is V-shaped recovery in asset.

The Yellow line is the investment in Stock market and Gov securities which in total maintained. Showing some similar story of nearly a V-shaped recovery. However, equity dividend expectation has increased to $62k at current invested amount.

With major items like Tax, Parental allowances, Confinement costs and most of normal cost for 2nd daughter delivery already paid, 2nd half should see higher net worth unless the stock market has 2nd dip. This is mitigated with sizable FD, SSB and cash. Investment wise,  retaining dividends, saving and 75% of warchest amount remaining for it.


Cory
2020-0628

Cory Diary : Investment Income

Start with saying the obvious. Main source of living expenses for most people comes from salary income . Even for those who are so called FIRE or Financially Independence, the seeds has to large enough, comes from salary income. Even then they may not completely retire. This statements are generally acceptable with the exceptions few.

As one grow older, various income source comes into play. What best to represent it is to show the Net Worth chart and the allocation within. Financially few things Cory did or don't.

1. Move most OA funds to CPF SA
2. Continue to leave some amount of CPF in Property Loan for another year
3. Continue to have SSB Max Out
4. Have at least 3 years buffers to support housing loan in FD
5. Transferred Allowances to parents. Happy New Year !
6. Annual Bonus to Nanny. Very Professional Nanny.

Cory long term goal is to have salaried income replaced by equity income that is more passive. This seems quite illusive with annual adjustment !  LOL ! Like many people who come from humble background, and has no business acumen, we just have to learn to save or we have to learn through business failures of which most of us could not afford without safety net. How long it takes to save and build up do depends on how much delay gratification we want. This amount becomes very handy once a door open. 

One main door open is Stocks Market. While Cory cannot run business, he can find good managers who can do this for him. So this is rather passive income. The trick is how to stay profitable in this business. This is especially make possible when the information gap is narrowed between institutions and retailers. And technology allows cheaper trading and more sophisticated products. Of-course experience in the market matters a lot. And then the saving slowly move in.

The next door opened when he starts to invest in property. This hurdle is harder to cross due to property curbs and needs for cash-flow to sustain. This is different from buying a property for one stay. The mindset is for investment gains and rental components. So why explore this ?
Like to mentioned Cory is not an expert and needs more buffers but the logic seems clear as below.

Cory is no longer young. Getting a loan will be harder. And it will be tough when one is without work one day. So if one want to invest in property, time is an essence too.

20% down for single property is like 5x leverage of a big sum of money. The mindset is quite different from stock investment where Cory do not leverage at all. 

Loan is relatively cheap with low rates. Even after all the misc costs, and even so rental unable to cover all the loans, as long the interests part (not the principal) of the loan is well covered into good portion of the principal payment, theoretically one is making good money.

The rates may go up but by then the loan would have been serviced for some period of time and there will be more options. Ideally we like it to be in as long as possible, and as much as possible with comfortable buffer as property loan is one of cheapest to tap on.

Capital appreciation factor for those with good location. Is more pricey logically. With land limited Singapore, unless we are seeing something like no future for Singapore, with inflation the price general trend is upwards with fluctuation in-between that can be quite volatile.

As long one is able to service, after rental, is quite hard to lose money after all the costs. The main risk is cash-flow which is why Cory put this as top priority to mitigate and not to assume Rental Income is sufficient. 


What will be the next door ?


Cory
2020-0113

Cory Diary : Income and Expense 2019

Year 2019 is special because Cory becomes a father to a baby girl. Unlike most parents, financially Cory is much more ready. The thing lacking is experience which Wife will always take care or be ready to remind Uncle Cory ..... . Nevertheless, raising baby is really not easy. The good thing is we have Baby Bonus supports and this do help some. Fortunately, company is also supportive and provide as much work from home time and leaves as needed.

Expenses wise, as previously blogged ( link ), kind of exploded and will not come down significantly for years. Good problem to have. How to fix it is to ensure that we have higher saving prior, predictable income, investments or saving to mitigate which the last option is not a viable plan for wife 😂.

For 2019 Income, Cory has a good bonus. This helps to pay for Income Tax and Parents Allowances. A nice surprise is that some of the Company Stock has also come into vesting period and this help to add into the year end 2nd Bonus. Hmm, why has this becomes a so look forward thing ...

For 2019 Expenses, the value expects to cross $140, 000. This is inclusive of home loan which is a major ticket item. However, Net worth and Income Returns looks able to match the increase in spending ( above chart ).

As Cory has stake in lower levels investment returns such as SSB and FDs, all additional savings could go into higher equity returns in Year 2020 to build higher dividend income plan. Investment returns wise, returns has been quite significant which will be blogged later once year ended. Touch-wood it will not change negatively by then.

Before signing off. Two wishes from Birthday Boy.

1. To do : Things that we could change. ie. Continue working. 
2.  Not to do : Focus on things that we could not change. Negative thoughts.


Cory

2019-1220

Cory Diary : Leapfrog your wealth

There are ways to leapfrog our wealth. Coming from below middle income family, and choosing a down-to-earth wife ( hee hee ), marriage do helps but inheritance from our families are out. Neither do our families have business acumen. So I would say today my siblings and we are above middle income. Hey, that's what makes Singapore incredible isn't it ? As long we work hard and smart, with a little luck and opportunity, we are contented.

As previously blogged, I am a "Value Saver" but I aren't frugal. I can spurt a dinner that cost few hundreds, and renovation in good 5 digits. As a value/dividend stock investor, this bring me quite a good sum to my net-worth. Of-course this won't happen fast enough if I do not have monthly salary and saving, and then equity investment.

Now, I can add that Property Investment as another option to propel. See chart below. With the mark-to-market valuation based on recent residential transactions of surrounding properties on the same development. Of-course some friends would say as long I don't sell, is only paper gain. This actually applies to my dividend stocks too. Nevertheless, Net-worth is the market value you have. 

My thinking is whether we sell it or not is subjective. Holding cash in an inflationary environment is losing money too so I rather put my money to work continuously. Unless we are doing short term speculative trade, taking profit to realize the gain is cutting our game short as a good hedge against inflation.

Property provides a strong underlying asset base so I am in the mentality of "Never Sell". It can be also be an insurance that if needed, I could use it for downgrade therefore the more I would like to hold it for long term appreciation to be meaningful.

What I find amazing from this experience is how fast the pace of  property appreciation and loan leverage can do to one's net-worth. No wonder our government needs to introduce curbs to rein them in to ensure more stable market.  As for another sharing based on my limited experience, I realised the surrounding properties about few hundred meters away do not appreciate much at all for the same period. A real example of location of property matters in value appreciation.


In summary, the list of Wealth Accumulation. 

1. Monthly Salary - Yes
2. Property Investment - Yes
3. Stock Investment - Yes
4. Marriage
5. Saving - Yes
6. Inheritance
7. Business


Cory
2019-0602