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2 Financial Milestones: Are you on Track to Financial Freedom?

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Amidst the noise about the energy crisis caused by the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, and doomsday preachers saying a massive stock market crash is around the corner, lets focus on what truly matters. Well, what matters are just 2 financial milestones. For starters, they are not an absolute number like 100k or 1 million, but these 2 financial milestones show you if you will have the option to say "f*** you boss and chill at home." 1. Your Cross-Over Point There is a certain point when your returns from your portfolio = your active contribution. That is known as the cross-over point and a confidence indicator that you have reached the first meaningful milestone where compounding will start to feel real. (Don't get me wrong, compounding has always been there even when your portfolio is 10k, but this is the point where it starts to feel tangible) Personally for me, I invest about $3,000 per month. Hence, my cross-over point amount = Annual Contribution Amount / Annual Por...
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Financial New Year Resolution for 2026: Galloping Ahead in the Year of the Horse!

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Holy shit, I'm already 35. Time sure pass quickly when you're in your 30s. Hence, as 2026 just started, its time to review my new year resolutions and set a few clear and measurable financial goals. This post is written in reference to my previous year's post "Financial New Year Resolutions for 2025," as this allows me to see my progress in achieving what I set out previously and to see if my "financial goalpost has shifted." 1. Gun for $1,000 per month passive income. Previously I didn't review my month passive income, but given that some visible numbers make for a richer discussion, here we go. Once again, disclaimer that everyone's financial situation is different, hence whether $1,000 monthly passive income is "enough" for you really depends on your personalized situation.  Why $1,000 per month? 2 simple reasons. Firstly, $1,000 per month represents a sizeable enough amount that allows you to off-load some bigger ticket expenses li...
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Here's why I bought an additional 1,500 shares of Mapletree Industrial Trust at $2.03 per share

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All right, as we approach the end of 2025 with the year-end bonus in our pockets, we might be feeling rich AF. Hence, I thought its apt for me to revisit my value investing strategy, and take a look at which stocks are at "good value." (I'll cover more of what good value means in this post) Remember my previous post, which states that one of my goal for 2025 was to hit a $10,000 annual passive income and achieve a $1,000 monthly passive income? This jolted me to review my existing income portfolio and revisit which stock may be at "good value," that makes investing my year-end bonus worth the while. And yes, Mapletree Industrial Trust (ME8U.SI) caught my eye. Here's why this blue-chip REIT is "good value" to me. 1. The Price to Book ratio of Mapletree Industrial Trust at 1.2X is the same as it was back in 2017. Holy cow, it doesn't make sense. 2017 was before this stock acquired its data-center assets. Yes, I know that Mapletree Industrial Trus...
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Here's why Reits/ Reit ETFs are still a Buy

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All right, let's get down and dirty. EVERYTHING has risen both in price and valuations in the past few months. By everything, I am referring mainly to the traditional investment asset classes of equities and bonds. What this simply means is that you'll stay a high chance to lose money if you blindly buy now. Smart money (this refers to institutional investors like your sovereign wealth fund managers and financial institutions like your banks and insurance firms) has entered the markets, although I personally believe that the stock/ bond market has some more room to go up, as the FOMO retail investors who have been waiting for the "right opportunity to enter," will eventually lose patience and enter blindly. But that's another story for another day, I digress. Well, nonetheless if you really have to buy something cause your money is mostly still in the bank doing shit. Here's what I would personally do and why. I'll either buy the local blue-chip Reits that...
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Amidst the Current Sentiments of an Impending Stock Market Crash, Here's What I'm Doing

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Fear seems to be the main message one's getting everywhere. Like literally everywhere. From the casual conversations about the stock market in my staffroom pantry to the traditional print media to whatever content these 'finfluencers' are putting out across the various social media platforms. 'Just chill and have a game plan bro.' That's what I always share with my peers and colleagues. Here's my personal game plan amidst the sea of rising fear or FOMO towards the stock market. 1. Get paid while you await opportunities to accumulate. Yes, personally, since the start of 2025, I have added 30,000 shares of the Nikko AM Straits Trading Asia ex Japan Reit ETF (CFA.SI). Reason is plain and simple. At my average price of $0.762 per share, its a steal at about 20% discount from its fair book value, while giving me a dividend yield of slightly above 6%. Singapore's Consumer Price Index (CPI) is expected to average between 1.5% to 2.5% (Monetary Authority of Sing...
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Financial New Year Resolutions for 2025

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Happy 2025! All right good people, I'm gonna skip the generic suggestions, as one can probably chat GPT 'financial new year resolutions' and get pointers such as build an emergency fund, pay down one's debts, start investing etc. Rather given that this blog acts as sort of a personal financial diary for myself, I'm gonna spin some suggestions to myself on what I aim to achieve financially in 2025. Hence, the disclaimer that none of this should be taken as financial advise, as I'm literally 'writing to myself.' 1. Yes boring works. For 2025, I'll Aim to maintain an 80:20 equity-bond portfolio. Critics will either argue that I'm taking too much risk (As the more conservative proponents will argue that my age should be the proportion I hold in bonds. Hence, 33 years old = 33% in bonds) or that I'm taking too little risk, given the relatively long run-way of about 3 decades I have till retirement (assuming I choose the traditional retire age of 6...
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Buying DBS shares at above $40? Reasons why FOMO probably isn't a good idea!

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Hi good people, yes I am back as teachers get some respite during this year end season. Hooray, we have made it to the end of another tedious and grindy year. A recent conversation with a friend went along the line of "Hey bro, DBS shares recently went up to above $40. I'm thinking of whether I should buy now?" Knowing that this friend of mine has all his investments in ultra safe assets like T-bills and Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB), I replied "Why do you want to buy DBS shares when it has rallied to an all time high since 2005?" He replied eagerly "DBS confirm won't die one. Besides, it has risen to above $40 and the momentum in its share rally seems strong. I think it will continue to go up. Its seems like a sure win, as the people around me seem to keep talking about DBS and everyone seem to be super excited over the juicy dividend and capital gain leh." Sighing, I replied "Bro, here's a few things to take note of before you FOMO. Pers...
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