Finance Kaya Toast

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

A recent conversation with a fellow colleague in the staff pantry inspired this article. "Hey bro, I'm telling you bond index funds are the worst instrument to hold. I am down more than 10% even though I'm on a monthly regular savings plan (RSP) to purchase a local bond index fund with one of our local banks!" he lamented. Nodding on, I replied, "Hmmm, don't worry, when interest rates eventually start to come down, the price of your index fund will rise back up. But for now, you would do well sticking it out if the fundamentals of your bond index fund is doing all right." He look back at me blankly and asked "What do you mean? Bond index funds have fundamentals too?" Sighing, I gave him a pat on his back, "Yes bro, let me take you through this and also how one can achieve a reliable annualised returns from a seemingly low risk instrument like a bond index fund." So yes, the title of my latest article isn't clickbait. Neither is it...

A recent conversation with a friend gave me a nudging urge to pen this article. It went something like this. "SHIT bro, I am a loser. It seems that everybody around me have easily hit 100k by age 30 in their portfolio. Meanwhile, I recently crossed the age of 30 and am just at the half-way mark of 50k." In response, I chirped "Hey, relax bro. You need to chill-out a little and take this financial milestone with A PINCH OF SALT." He loosened up a little and asked "Wah, how can you be so chill about this?" Giving my friend a pat on his shoulders, I sheepishly said "Well, let me give you the brief context and my thoughts on this 100k by age 30 milestone all right. Hopefully this would give you some perspective to financial milestones." Below would be a few of my honest thoughts, so here goes nothing. 1. Understand how this 100k by Age 30 came about in the very first place To give due credit, the Woke Salaryman can be safely credited with bring this ...

"Just get the market returns. Don't be a smart-Alec and try to beat the market. You can't!" This phrase certainly brought back memories of my polytechnic lecturer who taught me a few modules from my Banking and Financial Services diploma days. Yes, the balding, middle-aged bespectacled gentleman who liked to chide us for being insensible brats certainly spoke words of wisdom.  Ok, just to be clear, when my lecturer spoke of "market returns," he was referring to exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track an underlying index, such as the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P500). In this case, the S&P500 tracks the performance of the top 500 companies listed in the USA. Hence, an ETF which tracks this index would aim to simply replicate its performance, which means that while you may not get astronomical returns, you are more or less guaranteed to get markets returns (minus some tracking error, but lets not go into detail on this). But mind you, the market re...

Okies everyone, the time of the year to dish out those big fat red packets ( Hong Bao ) during Chinese New Year is upon us! (If you're a green advocate who prefer to give E-Hong Bao , that's fine too) A chance encounter with a friend who's also newly married inspired this article. Our conversation went something along the line of him lamenting "WAH BRO! This is damn shag. Giving Hong Bao  to my in-law side who has like a gazillion little kids made me consider going to JB to avoid the new year gathering!" Nodding away, I replied "Yea bro, I feel you man. Hmmm, I have a few thoughts that inform not just the amount that goes into the Hong Bao, but also how to make you feel better in the act of giving away those monies. Wanna hear me out?" He shrugged and sighed "Sure thing man, go ahead." Given that we're both in the same boat of giving Hong Bao for the first time in our lives, rather than receiving it, I thought I'll just give my two-cen...

Well, I can't believe its 2024. All the video-gaming, munching and meet-ups in December certainly transformed me into a SERIAL PROCRASTINATOR. Nevertheless, a late reflection on the financial nuggets learned from 2023 is better than none I guess. Off the couch playing virtual football matches and onto the laptop I come. 2023 has certainly been a rollercoaster ride for many investors. Inflation seem like an untamable beast, resulting in the Federal Reserve Board (FED) raising interest rates to a multi-decade high of 5.25% to 5.5% by the end of the year. You know inflation is a real concern when even Channel News Asia does a documentary titled "Why is my Economic Rice so Expensive? How can I Save Money?" back in November 2023. Meanwhile on the global front, Israel's retaliation against Hamas in October threatened to turn the conflict in the Gaza Strip into a potentially regional one. Meanwhile constant mumbling of a recession kept retail investors on their toes and the ...