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 : Family Expenses update

Have been watching more carefully on transportation expenses. In-addition, food take-aways continue to be managed down. On my partner side which i always assume 15% of what i computed for family expenses are not added. Feel maybe 20% additional is better figure as she spend more on "Luxury" to save time.

Overall, the expense continues to trend down. The average of 5 of trailing 12 months expenses are now around $115k for my family. As mentioned i did not add her expenses and feel is ok since she is still working. 

Short note !

Cory Diary

2025-10-05

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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 : Performance Update

Quick update on portfolio performance YTD so far. 

Gold rise is an interesting surprise because it has seen some correction when I bought some on FOMO in last high. China/Russia and probably quite a few countries knew there are not much options against USD, and Gold is one of them that can help mitigate. So my thought process is long term hold even if there is deep correction so the allocation is sized to able to hold. At the same time Gold can be use to mitigate against volatile foreign currencies.

There are two ways I have invested Gold. One is through Gold saving account which is not tracked in equity portfolio, and another through Gold ETF (SGD) which is. SGD denominated means we can avoid the need to pay for currency exchange. Currently, no plan for physical gold.

The big question I have for my portfolio is where do we go from here ? Something I need to think about in coming days,

Cory Diary

2025-0922

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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 : Mistake in Computing Cash Flow for Property

Just realized I made a mistake in computing my cash flow. The mistake is big enough to deserve a mention in today’s post. So, what is it? Property loans. There are two portions of a property loan: interest and principal repayment.

I had correctly computed my rental income and deducted all the estimated expenses — income tax, property tax, agent fees, interest cost, and maintenance cost. What was left became my net return from the property, and I treated that as my cash flow. It seemed logically straightforward.

But here’s where I went wrong: the principal repayment also reduces my cash, even though it builds equity that still belongs to me. From a cash flow perspective, this means my property can be in negative cash flow if the loan is large enough for a reduced tenor.

📊 Waterfall Chart Plan Simulation below

So why I keep thinking it doesn't affects and a positive. Reason being there is is buffer allocated for years. Personal bias. An example of Asset Rich but Cash Poor.

Cory Diary

2025-0921

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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 : Reits Experience

I have been investing in REITs for more than a decade and thought it would be a good time to pen down my personal thoughts.

Generally speaking, people who invest in REITs need to understand the nature of REITs and what they truly want. For me, it is cash flow and stability. Capital gain is a bonus and should not be the primary focus but a supplementary factor. Yields typically will not be very high, but they should not be too low either. REITs are usually priced according to risk, and risk is real. If we misunderstand this, then we will learn from Mr. Market’s temperament. There are many Reits which I personally feel is not of investment materials.

“This serene landscape represents the calm, steady growth and stability that wise REIT investing aims to achieve—focused on reliable cash flow and long-term value rather than quick gains.”

There are a few things to watch in REITs:

Landlord collecting rent – DPU (Distribution Per Unit) and yield.

If the yield is too high, something may be wrong or there is a risk you are taking. If it is too low, are you investing in REITs mainly for capital gain?

Rights Issue

We cannot escape it. Embrace it and take advantage of it, but you don't have to subscribe if the risk or discount is not in your favor. Strong REITs typically perform well for decades with good DPU even after dilution.

DPU growth or stability

The plan is to look for something stable in DPU, and if the REIT is well managed, there will be some DPU growth.

Forex Volatility

The DPU yield is usually in the 4% to 6% range. Forex changes can be larger than that in a year and may wipe out your return in real terms. This is a risk one needs to consider.

Cost of funding

Since we look for stability, the goal is to have stable funding costs. Lower costs help improve DPU. Fixed loans and currency hedges help protect against volatility. We want both with optimal risk considerations.

It is quite rare to have huge capital gains from REITs, assuming all else is equal. The managers cannot perform magic to uplift the REIT to extraordinary levels. Good managers may improve performance and ensure good total returns. However, Mr. Market can have significant mood swings that allow us to buy low and sell high. These swings are not just 5% to 10% fluctuations, which may not be worth the time and risk of churning.

Personally, Rebalancing across different market instruments to ensure cash flow stability and growth at the portfolio level. This may not suits everyone. dyodd.

Cory Diary

2025-0905

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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 : Cash Flow 2025-08

Have been cleaning up labels of the blog but I thought Cash Flow topic itself worth a label itself. The post gives a view on how well we managed our assets. A critical step that could help our financials.

A saving of 100k of 0.2% interest is only $200 if left idle whereas in fixed deposits of 3% is $3,000. That's 15 times return difference relatively in annual perspective.

Left is Asset, Right is Cash Flow resulted from it

Unless one go into private business which can be high risk, or property return in capital nature is significant which enlarge the asset base, the yield from our asset basically depends a lot from Equity which theoretically is a business as minority shareholders. The risk is much lesser. In dividend investing perspective, the cash flow from Equity out-size all the others asset class.

Another class of thought is to invest in equity for capital appreciation gains. In this line of thought, the cash flow if needed will have to come from sales of stock itself which probably needs to follow some draw down rules. US Market provides such sizeable gains in perspective but we run the risk of inheritance tax or market swing. Is also not truly a return of investment that can provide constant stream of income of invested capital into a business. Whether is sustainable or not from a business of reducing stake can affects one returns in the future due to uneven return from individual performance on a stock.

Since our plan for investment in US market is smaller for growth and not dividend, there won't be sales for cash flow. Instead when there is capital gain, it put some pressure on entire equity portfolio yield returns at this stage of the game. From the chart, the Equity portfolio still show remarkable outsize cash flow supports. If we are successful in growing our US portfolio, this may loop-side the chart on the asset base enlarged on the left, and negatively show lower proportion of Cash Flow from the Right Chart. Nevertheless, is a good thing to have definitely.

The Charts intent remains unchanged in the sense we still want to keep a look out for poor investment choices or risk management. In this update, I think we have reduced the saving account sufficiently into working capital and some buffers. Fixed Deposits are still sizeable which seems to hold their ground ok as necessary allocation for the time being.

SSB and T-Bills do not change much in absolute amount as net worth shrink or grow at this stage of retirement phase as we have already allocated what's need to be. There is no need to expand, or maybe even reduce if needed on T-bill side as one property loan get smaller over time. The net property segment provided needed diversification and income stability but any additional in this segment could reduce our future cash flow further.

Since yet 65, the CPF segment is a simulated figure. Will have to put some more thought around this segment of retirement support and adjust the numbers accordingly. To obscure the figure, insurance within this segment will also be looked into on future plan.

Cory Diary

2025-0823

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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 : Mapping 2025 Segment Returns

Today a new interesting Chart to view portfolio diversification. As you can see below, the Equity portfolio has 4 main segments namely Banks, Reits, US Big Techs, and others.

Others as in the list currently in the portfolio. Do ignore the yield number in the table as is still in investigation stage.

As usual, the main driver of returns are the Banks. Macro play a good part of their profitability. The US Market which we have been trying to grow, has all the key positions in place except strong returns ... ... . This aren't surprising as they have rebounded mostly in year 2023 and 2024. There's some difficulty to grow through new funding quickly as we have missed the critical timing to add more.

The Reits in the portfolio are now mainly defensive play. Basically a hedge against macro turning bad but also securing some level of baseline dividends. This businesses are robust.

So this leave with the least allocation in Others category. Something we should develop imo but in-steps that we are comfortable with. The risks are much higher so ETF is one consideration however most ETFs have Bank or Reit inclusion. Something to further explore considering many popular stocks have already run-up.

Cory Diary

2025-0821

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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 : Inflation Driven Earnings

Inflation-Driven Earnings: What Do I Mean?

Companies with a strong moat can raise prices as needed to counter various pressures, such as inflation, rising utility costs, manpower expenses, tariffs, taxes, or increased demand for their services due to supply and demand dynamics. Other factors may also apply. The essence of this moat is the ability to maintain or grow earnings, even during challenging economic times.

Who Are These Companies?

Ability to "hum along with inflation" and maintain stable earnings, even in changing economic conditions.

Examples include CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT), and Big Tech firms. These entities provide essential or lifestyle services. For instance, mall REITs like CICT and FCT can adjust rents in line with inflation, ensuring stable earnings. While their profits may not be exorbitant, they are reliable, as these companies are closely monitored for operational stability. Their performance often aligns with a country’s development and reflects its social standards. These REITs aren’t the cheapest options—HDB shops or alternative local competitors often provide lower-cost alternatives nearby. However, when economic conditions worsen, consumer traffic may shift to more affordable options.

Big Tech companies cater to modern lifestyle needs beyond what malls offer. They typically hold a strong global niche, making it difficult for local governments to regulate them unless, like China, a country is large enough to block them and develop domestic alternatives. Big Tech firms demonstrate robust and consistent earnings growth, often surpassing local banks’ performance by significant margins. Their growth and stability enable them to weather negative foreign exchange impacts over the long term.

Interestingly, local banks also benefit indirectly from high interest rates used to manage inflation. While recent rate reductions may slightly lower their profits, this isn’t necessarily negative. A healthy and profitable local economy supports their lending activities, which form the core of their earnings. When a business is highly profitable, a slight reduction in margins to ensure long-term sustainability can be a smart strategy. Thus, excluding banks from a portfolio simply because their returns drop by 5% to 6% may not be wise, especially when alternatives may not offer comparable overall stability and growth.

For now, I’ll focus on these three segments—mall REITs, Big Tech, and local banks here. Their earnings can rise with inflation, yet they remain resilient even in low-inflation environments. Are these “Goldilocks” investments? Regardless, the stock market is currently experiencing one of its most polarizing bull runs.

Cory Diary

2025-0816

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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 : Performance Expectation

The Why

What started the article is when tripped in recent adventure into Centurion. The earning result was down obviously since YOY there is no earning spike from re-valuation. However, Operational wise there is marked increase in returns. You would thought this is bake into the market price but not exactly and it was down by 5% and returned back my gains on this counter. And this keeps me thinking on market sentiment and euphoria as new players aren't familiar with the stock started to drive the stock price higher.

Past Performance

For past years there have been constant seeking of stocks to focus on. On the process, we sometime fell and sometime portfolio strengthened. So far the portfolio has been working well for the past 3 years since year 2022.

Year 2025 is using end date 31st Dec 2025. So what this mean is if the value maintain till year end, 12.6% is what we will get. The 2 year and 3 Year compounded performance look great since last hit by year 2022 market down which is reflected in 5 Year compounded data.

Can the past few years performance be maintained ? That's not easy imo. So maybe is time to be more relax and less adventurous, and start holding the portfolio steady, and building up warchest for long term wealth.

Portfolio Numbers

and then we are back to portfolio management scenario building. Scenario 1 is what is current at 10k monthly expense. The Portfolio status Perpetual means divergence in another words Portfolio Value Growth > expenses inflation.

In scenario 2, we build in more buffer through higher inflation scenario, the portfolio valuation drops to able to sustain for 50 years with some drawdown. Still ok except we aren't sure the simulation has enough buffer for miscalculation or inheritance.

We build-on the portfolio scenario by increasing monthly expense to 11k which is the more realistic expenses to work on currently. Sametime increasing portfolio returns to 9.5%. This aren't fairytale numbers based on past 3 years performance. This is scenario 4.

The last Scenario 5, we continue to expand our expenses to 12k monthly and expects 11% annual returns. Portfolio can achieve divergence growth. What this tell me to lock-in further risk for the current portfolio which is achieving 14.9% compounded for past 3 years. Let's hold the ship steady instead.

When the market turns or mis-step, the portfolio can fall back to single digit growth if we aren't careful. While we cannot control macro environment, we can be less adventurous on looking things like alpha. 

A Centurion Experience to Share !

What's you think ?

Cory Diary

2025-0810

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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 : Bad Days

To start off, the portfolio was on XIRR 10.8% using 31 Dec 2025 End date about a week ago. Then we have a few news came in.

Mapletree Industrial Trust performs below expectation, this is despite the CEO gives a credible AGM which shareholders reacted positively. The only thing is that I do not think they have the DCs Hyperscale blood in them. Don't get me wrong, is still a very large and stable reit but long term assuming no macro tide, the reit seems on a long term slope. It still provide a strong stability to the portfolio but allocation wise we may need to tweet a little to prevent long term drag. Who knows she may perform surprise turnaround.

And then Fed decided to continue to delay the cut further. This make Trump angry. Personally, I am quite neutral. Fed mandate is 2% so we aren't there yet. There is stull some way to go. US economy is still strong and S&P500 still on the upper brink. Unemployment is not bad either. So he aren't wrong not to cut. BUT at this high rate, property loan is quite expensive. This will put a large dent on home owners and a cost on national debts and many SME businesses. 

I am not a fan that we should lower rate so as to pay investors lesser for treasury. This going to destroy the market mechanism. Strength of the USD should not be manipulated in a way to purposely lower investor returns who may vote with their pocket. It should be based on factors that are built-in to the system today which is inflation, employment and strength of the USD. Maybe more, I aren't Expert.

The decision has ramification on Singapore Reits. Another blow on recovery. And gain my decision to focus on Reits with moat that able to raise prices to combat cost of business.

Meta, Msft and Aapl report great results. Amazon too except there are other concerns. In net, US segment bring the portfolio value up another level. I like my peanut butter strategy on Big Techs because I do away with a lot of deep inside knowledge or industry to make investment decision. As long I hold long enough, they will ride through the waves. Well, this also mean market will find a reason for broad based sell down like yesterday for reason like employment number is not high enough. What a lousy reason but market has to find a reason to manage the recent run up.

Job Data

The Job Data is down significantly again give a wrong picture on how rates are to be managed. US data collection method needs to improve or maybe more integrity needed before the market totally ignore it in the future. Is better to have roughly good data than wild data which then got revised significantly months later. I would say they need a total revamp. Due to the revision, the US Market has been driven down now. I wonder what will Powell says now being data centric driven. Trump won't happy at all even though this help his cause for lower rate.

As of today XIRR 9.5%. The portfolio has more defensive position, lower bank allocation, higher big tech positions, more other category expansion, and some cash. Feeling ready for any crash or correction if it comes.

Interesting Time ! National Day Coming.

Cory Diary

2025-0804

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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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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 : S&P 500 Gains in 2025: Why Forex Matters

Why Your S&P 500 Investment in SGD Feels Less Rewarding Despite All-Time Highs in 2025

Introduction

If you invested 100,000 SGD in the S&P 500 at the start of 2025, you might expect a solid return by mid-year given the U.S. stock market’s strong performance and record highs. However, when you check your portfolio in Singapore dollars, the gains might feel surprisingly modest. Why is that?

This article unpacks how currency fluctuations can impact your investment returns and why, despite the S&P 500 hitting all-time highs, your SGD-denominated returns may seem disheartening.

The S&P 500’s Strong Performance in 2025

The S&P 500, a benchmark for U.S. equities, has delivered a total return (including dividends) of approximately 7.18% year-to-date (YTD) as of early July 2025. This reflects solid price appreciation and dividend income, driven by strong corporate earnings and positive economic data.

For a USD-based investor, this is an attractive return in just over half a year.

The Forex Factor: SGD vs. USD

However, as a Singapore-based investor, you need to consider the currency exchange rate because the S&P 500 is traded in U.S. dollars.

At the start of 2025, 1 SGD was worth about 0.7572 USD.

By mid-July 2025, the SGD strengthened to around 0.7808 USD.

This means the Singapore dollar appreciated roughly 3.13% against the U.S. dollar during this period.

How Forex Affects Your Returns

When your SGD strengthens against USD, your USD investments are worth less when converted back to SGD — even if the USD investment itself has gained value.

To calculate your effective return in SGD:

Start with the S&P 500’s 7.18% USD return.

Adjust for the 3.13% appreciation of SGD against USD.

The net result is an approximate 3.9% YTD return in SGD terms.

So, your initial 100,000 SGD investment would have grown to about 103,900 SGD by mid-July 2025, less than the 107,180 SGD you might expect if you ignored forex.

Why Does This Matter?

Currency movements can significantly impact international investments. Even when markets perform well, a stronger home currency can reduce your returns when converted back.

For Singapore investors, the SGD’s appreciation against the USD in 2025 has offset nearly half of the S&P 500’s gains.

Conclusion

While the U.S. stock market has hit record highs and delivered solid returns in 2025, your SGD-denominated investment’s performance is tempered by currency effects. This highlights the importance of considering forex risk in global investing.

If you’re investing internationally, it’s wise to monitor currency trends or consider hedging strategies to protect your returns.

Cory Diary

2025-0714

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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 : How to use XIRR (Excel )

What is XIRR?

XIRR stands for **Extended Internal Rate of Return**. It is a financial function widely used to calculate the annualized return of a series of irregular cash flows over time. Unlike the regular IRR, which assumes all cash flows are spaced equally (like monthly or annually), XIRR handles actual dates for each cash flow — making it ideal for real-world scenarios such as investments with multiple deposits and withdrawals at different points in time.

Why is it useful?

XIRR gives investors and analysts a precise way to measure the true annualized performance of an investment when contributions and redemptions do not occur at regular intervals. For example, if you invest different amounts at different dates and withdraw parts of your investment later, XIRR calculates the single annual rate of return that equates your total inflows and outflows over time.

How is it used for single and multiple stocks?

When calculating the XIRR for a **single stock**, it is common and more intuitive to **extend the end date to the end of the calendar year**. This projects the unrealized value forward to provide a comparable annualized return figure for the full year, even if you haven’t sold the stock yet.

Similarly, for a **portfolio with multiple stocks**, you track all cash flows — buys, sells, dividends — with their actual dates, then extend the final balance to a common end date, usually the year-end. This gives you an annualized return for the entire portfolio that you can compare against benchmarks or other investments.

Strong for tracking multi-year performance

One of XIRR’s biggest strengths is its ability to **combine performance across multiple years** into a single **compound annual growth rate (CAGR)**. This means that even if you hold stocks for many years with varying purchases, dividends, or partial sales along the way, XIRR shows your true annualized return over the whole period, factoring in the exact timing of every cash flow. This makes it far more realistic than simply looking at average yearly returns.

Where is it used?

XIRR is commonly used in personal investing, portfolio performance tracking, private equity, venture capital, and fund management. It is a standard function in spreadsheet tools like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, where you simply provide the actual cash flow dates and amounts to calculate your annualized return.

Example of a Single Stock

Even today is not last day 31st Dec 2025, when computing XIRR YTD, use 31st Dec 2025. In that way you will get return of more logical 1% instead of 5.3%.

Example of using Year End Date.

Cory Diary

2025-0713

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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 : A Portfolio Chat Turned Reflection

STI, Banks, and the Psychology of Profit: A Portfolio Chat Turned Reflection

Over the weekend, our Telegram chat lit up with reflections on the market's recent push toward the 4,000 mark — largely powered by non-banks — and the strategic return of banks to lead the charge. Some joked: “Is this the big boys’ plan? Push with non-banks first, then let banks take the wheel again?”

Behind the humor, a few truths emerged.

Banks: Bedrock of Stability

Banks remain the cornerstone of Singapore's market — net profit leaders and closely aligned with government policy. As one member put it, "Nothing will be allowed to rock them." Even amidst inflation and market jitters, they remain resilient — and attractively valued.

The Case for Regional Growth

One interesting idea floated: to really grow, SGX needs to integrate more deeply with other Southeast Asian exchanges — and allow more access to our listed giants from neighboring investors. The logic: We already have the region’s largest net income earners; let others buy in too.

Valuation, Rebalancing & Portfolio Philosophy

As portfolios hit all-time highs (ATH), some members talked about trimming exposure. One shared being over 50% allocated to DBS — not out of fear, but for balance and mental peace. “You wait until stress to rebalance? Too late liao.”

The group revisited the ever-relevant tension between max returns and quality of life. “If I wanted max returns, I wouldn’t have retired early,” said another. “Family, siblings, parents — then me.”

Rebalancing wasn’t about fear. It was about discipline and maintaining the ability to act when others panic. Or as someone quoted Buffett: “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

Volatility: Friend or Foe?

We all love our winners. But what happens when markets fall 30–50% like during the GFC? Even Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dropped 50% — three times. It’s not just about knowing, it’s about surviving. Having the mental stamina to click “Buy” when others are fleeing.

As one put it:

“Everyone can have education, knowledge, and experience. But without mental strength, you won’t click the button.”

Closing Thought: Leave Some on the Table

Taking profit isn’t weakness — it’s strategic. You leave some shares for others to buy. Let the stock rise further. After all, "Elon never shared much of his profits, so he gets a lot of green eyes. Google, Microsoft, Meta — their founders hold much less now."

Let others win too. It keeps the market moving forward.

Cory Diary

2025-0707

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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 : Portfolio Updates

The strategy for 2025 has more or less stabilized. There are a few key segments in tracked portfolio:

1. Income-Earning Stocks (Primarily Banks)

The first segment consists of income-earning stocks, mainly banks. These stocks have strong earnings and pay attractive dividends, making up more than half of the portfolio’s allocation. Currently, they are relatively cheap given the present risk levels. Whether this will change in the future depends on technological or regulatory impacts, if any.

The main position here is DBS, which has performed well so far this year. OCBC has been somewhat muted but remains a reliable dividend payer. Both positions may be reduced during rebalancing. Each time this happens, the overall dividend yield is affected, as replacements typically offer lower yields. There is a cost to this approach.

2. REITs

The second segment is REITs. While there are several REITs in the portfolio, only two have core allocations: FCT and MIT. Both are defensive and strong dividend payers. Interestingly, MIT has been offering high yields for some time. In recent rebalancing, some bank stocks were sold to increase FCT holdings, primarily to mitigate risk. While their earnings can't compete with banks, their businesses are much more stable.

3. US Big Tech

The third segment focuses primarily on US Big Tech. These companies generate substantial earnings, and I expect their stocks to consistently outperform the SGX market over the mid to long term. As mentioned earlier, this is a "peanut butter" strategy, with the latest acquisition being Apple (AAPL). Allocation to this segment has increased to over 13%, with a 15% target in mind, depending on available funding.

Within this segment, weightings vary based on the probability of success. For example, Microsoft offers consistent growth expectations, while Nvidia offers explosive, but less predictable, returns. With six stocks in this category now, I have built a solid US Tech foundation. Now, it's a matter of seeing which "horse" will race towards the inner circle!

4. Other Opportunities

The final segment is the "Other" category, which is more opportunistic and focused on trading income. Among all segments, this one will see more rebalancing and churns whenever opportunities arise. From past experience, the Big Tech segment doesn’t perform well in this trading strategy, which has driven my cost structure relatively high. Biggest winner in this category is Keppel. Poor decision is Sheng Siong which i sold off too early.

The Gold ETF is in a bottom-building phase. BABA SDR is another holding I like, as it avoids the need for currency exchange, though returns have been disappointing. Both positions are small and mainly serve diversification purposes. I am still exploring or waiting for the return of iBit.

Performance and Lessons Learned

Year-to-date, the portfolio has achieved an XIRR of 5.3%, using December 31, 2025, as the end date. The income segment remains strong, and I hope the market will be kind enough to allow additional funding for US Big Tech.

One key lesson learned is that it is not meaningful to keep large amounts of USD in the account due to currency exposure. The USD has been weakening for the past few months and is unlikely to strengthen in the near term. Therefore, it’s important to invest available funds in stocks whose price appreciation can offset currency depreciation. As a result, US Treasury and US income stocks are less logical for this portfolio. As of today, US Tech stocks, even after accounting for currency weakening, are showing solid five-digit profits.

Hope you enjoyed my sharing!

Cory Diary

2025-0705

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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 : Family Expenses update

To see past family expense tracking, make sure you click the expense label in Desktop mode to see all related articles. The monthly expense fluctuation can varied widely so i thought this is a better tracking measure.

The trend seems to stabilize around $120k on trailing annual basis which meet our expectation. If we could continue this same level of budget control, the trend will go towards $110k. The key controls are lesser food delivery, reduce air-con use and transportation cost.

The cost structure has potential to go back to 2 years ago level but if we are not careful it can spiral out of control again.

Cory Diary

2025-0704

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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 : Portfolio Expenses YTD

Trading Expenses

A quick peek into trading expenses — it has hit slightly more than $3K, which marks the half-year point. Some people may find it excessive. Some traders probably think it’s not that much. Personally, unless it is way out of line, it’s just part of managing my portfolio business. A business.

In the early part of the year, I made some major shifts or continued efforts from last year. I sold down Ascendas REIT, which had been a core part of my portfolio, and switched most of it into banks.

In April, the portfolio underwent another large rebalancing — raising more cash from REITs to buy more banks and Keppel. I then ring-fenced most of the REITs into FCT and MIT as a defensive play. These actions basically accounted for half of the expenses.

The other half mainly went into exploring the US markets, which currently make up only 13% of the portfolio. I experimented with Vanguard ETFs, US Treasuries ETFs, ASML, and TSMC before settling on a US Big Tech peanut butter strategy. My latest silly move was to trade some NVDA, META, and MSFT — only to regret it and buy them back. This kind of approach doesn’t work well in the US market during the build-up phase. Another factor was using a non-custodian account, which probably cost me $500 or more.

What does the second half look like?

Most likely, there won’t be much increase in the US market allocation since the strategy has been finalized. As for the SGX side, it’s still uncertain — but any impact will be less of a concern since it will be done under a custodian account.

That’s all for today’s sharing.

Cory Diary

2025-06-28

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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 for any errors. Readers are advised to seek professional guidance when making financial decisions and should take full responsibility for their choices.

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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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 : Dividend updates

Did a slight revamp on how I track Rental Income to align to dividend received which is after cost. Which is net of maintenance, interest portion of monthly instalment, refurbishment, property tax and income tax.  In this way, the personal cashflow is clean ( WYSIWYG ).

To keep information more private, excluded the annual returns. Instead I would want to reflect the total dividend exceeded 700k on cumulatively basis.

What is surprising to me is that remainder of income in relative proportion to dividend is a subset after I adjust the data on rental to remove expected cost in total. This different stream of incomes are for reference purposes against dividend amount.

Not in table is CPF RA which will only be available at Age 65. Also not in table is capital gain/loss from equity. Theoretically, the latest update mean I am financially independent. ( Returns > Family Expense )

I am not resting here, and the hope is that on US Market can do some magic for me long term with some fund apportioned to it.

Cory Diary

2025-0608

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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 : DrawDowns

Year 2025 is interesting year because it was beset with risks and shocks to our Portfolio. People who left the field may find it hard to come back if they sell out earlier. The volatility was man-made unlike GFC 2008. There are no fundamental hit on the broader economy, and employment is still in good territory. This form a baseline of how fast the stock market can recover from fear each time shock hits the market.

After several emotional shake-up, the equity market continues to be supported back-up. There are 5 drawdowns during Corydorus lifetime investment portfolio and it won't be the last. How we manage our emotions could be the key on hanging on to the market with the needed size and resolve. Year 2022 on annual basis looks to be a deep drawdown than others but that is because it ended on year end. In fact the portfolio faces quite a few deep drawdowns during some of the years too except it closes higher by year end. The devil in the detail and not look at the chart plainly. The effort into keep the performance afloat every year not seen as is hidden away from most viewers.

How do you manage emotion maybe the key. Getting into the right business, diversification, right price, feel of probability, macro view and managing our cashflow are few of my styles which touches my vines, and passion. This works for me so far to stay in Business and like many businesses we may have to be on constant moves to manage it. Nothing is free.

Cory Diary

2025-0528

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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.