Cory Diary : Read up on Retirement

The whole idea of Investment is so that we have more money. People who say they don't probably already have enough. That's the reality unless we are trying to poke holes into exceptions.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel I should tap on other brains. There are plenty strong logics out there as anonymous I like to share.

Here you are.

Cannot imagine that after working hard for 30 - 35 years, you would want to cut back everything and live like a hermit upon retirement?

Retirement is a time to take back your life and live! Do the things you want to do, travel to places and experience other cultures and pamper yourself.

When planning for retirement, always plan for more. For eg., if you think you would only require $84k pa ($7k pm) in retirement, aim for $100k pa ($8.5k pm).

It is better to continue working now as long as you can, than having to re-enter the job market at 60 when you find that your money runs out!

I think these comments about retiring early at 40 or 50 are coming from middle-class folks stuck with average income in jobs they hate, and they spend their time online dreaming about retiring early cos they can't in real life. 

What's wrong with working until 60 or even 65? The wise are happy to contribute back to society and nurture the younger generation. Some people like me enjoy every day at work.

The irony of working towards retirement: the higher the person's salary, the faster the wealth accumulation process, and the earlier one can retire. But the opportunity cost of retiring is also higher, and it becomes so much harder to retire.

I'm a retired millionaire who've worked very hard for many years. Long hours, frequent travels. It's good to finally stop my rat race. Made millions from my salary, bonuses and investment gains. Time to smell the roses. Also to take better care of my body. I was at a high risk of heart attacks and stroke had I continued my rat race.

Life now is so much more peaceful and serene. No more getting stuck in early morning traffic and late nights. Can spend a lot of time exercising in my condo gym and swimming pool. I can also do ad hoc projects and volunteer at charitable organisations which I choose. 

Life is much more meaningful now. I've never been happier in my life. My passive income from my portfolio of investments gives me more than what my family's needs.

Choosing the right high paying career and being excellent in investments are key ingredients towards financial success and financial independence.

So much Collective Wisdoms and Experiences out there. Hope you enjoy  !

Cory
20160706

Cory Diary : Preference Shares Viability

Preference Shares investment only make senses if the company payment is sustainable. This is an important logic. And the compensation amount varies within this defined scope of risk.

For Bank Preference Shares, dividend payment to common share holder is a norm especially in our local situation and where bank stability is utmost important. Therefore PS holder has much less risk to accept non-cumulative condition. For others, cumulative criteria will be required. Nevertheless we need to understand the risk in both.

In the uneventful situation of corporate bankruptcy, even though PS holders rank higher than common shares, in reality i am doubtful it will be much better off. In such restructure, most likely debts, and bonds if any, would have taken most of the piles in the new entity leaving little or nothing to the rest.

Therefore when we invest in PS, the rationale of why companies issue as such is important. In bank situation they need to meet regulatory requirements. PS to them is a cost.

For some companies that value cashflow due to market dynamic, they like to avoid situation of technical default. Therefore PS instrument will be ideal. I will be wary if is not cumulative for such cases. The company will still be able to pay up later. So a good record of dividend payments to common share holders are important. Even then it will not exceed 5% of my portfolio.

If there is risk in payment in the future, PS price would likely be adjusted along the way to detrimental of PS holders who attempt to get out if listed in SGX for trade. Therefore the only recourse is to cutloss provided there is liquidity or hope uneventful will not happen.

Another situation that i can think of is in REITs due to regulatory debt ratio requirement. Therefore issuing PS may help to bypass it to allow larger profit for distribution. We need to understand in detail why not through placements or rights. In CMT case ( correction: actually a retail bond), the company background can command cheaper cost without facing dilution I believe. Is an exception rather than a norm in my opinion.

Beyond such risk level, I will not easily accept as logicially it does not make sense. The litmus test will be ... is the issuer desperate. If it is, i would avoid. I will need strong justification to part my money where the potential to earn a lot more from common stocks are so much higher and at lower risk relatively.


Cory
20160704

Cory Diary : Portfolio Design Re-Make

Everyone has problems they need to handle regardless big or small. I have my own set of issues too. One of my nudging problem is the shower head. Yes ! Minor things do frustrate the life out of me in a slower ways but they do. The shower head is always slanted at an angle and I have to stand shower at an angle. I could not have it friction locked properly for weeks. Finally one day something strikes me to act on it with a solution. I rotate the shower head providing a counter torgue to the piping attached to the head and the problem solved in seconds.

I should make a laundry list of all my problems down to minute detail and work on it one by one or leave it hanging as future actions. Maybe i would kill all creeps in my life. :P Thanks to the hot Taipei weather recently i have enough spare time generated by staying at home with boredom. And something strike me again.

Have been looking for ways to improve my method to increase my capacity and decision making. I like to do it with realistic perfection and enjoys the process of constant improvement. So i took an hour to revamp my portfolio sheet design on how i like to track my sg stock investments better.


Portfolio Summary Page

This is the summary page of all my Singapore Stocks. It tracks summary of each counter. Portfolio performances of all counters ytd by xirr and actual returns. Support/Resistance level. Exposure/Risk level. Yield. Business sector. Released P/L and unreleased. Dividends and theoretical max.

Counter Trading Page

This track every trades by counter. Including rights, dividends, split etc. It also measure counter level performance over the years and year-to-date (ytd). Expense made and notes. Is a minor tweek this time to support more notes comment to support my decision making and action process.

Everyone has a way to track their trades and I am sharing with my Diary.

Cory
20160703