Dec 2020 - Wrapping up a crazy year

As the year comes to an end, and what an unusual year it has been, I find myself feeling pretty refreshed and intrigued by everything that had occurred. 

Investing wise I have learned many useful lessons which will stay with me for long. Breaking traditional wisdom and accepting changes/ truly embracing the meaning of life-long learning. It's like traditional wisdom and lessons / case studies still work but should not be taken as 100% gospel truth to be followed blindly, rather applying the theory and using it nimbly on current market and futures. Aswath Damodaran sums its up perfectly in his blog posts and videos that many "value investors" had become so enamored in their applications of the techniques that they missed out obvious trends. I am thankful to have chanced upon his sharing via internet early this year and learnt a great deal while dealing with the sell-down in March and subsequent challenge of allocating my cash in the mighty upswing that was in July - Nov 2020. 

I hope to apply all I have learnt and experienced in 2021. 

Work has been uneventful thus far (which is good), with a slightly minor note of joy. A slightly larger than usual increment thanks to being promoted help me financially and I felt relieved that I had move past the salary range I was stuck at previously. Nothing much to jump about as it is more of a "your time is up" kind of promotion versus the "we think you are good" which actually pisses me off. Anyway, I have been focused on growing my wealth instead of climbing the ladder since 2016, journey has been great thus far. 

Health and fitness wise this was not the better years, full of minor aliments here and there makes me feel like I am really aging. There were moments which I felt great after a good rest, when I could perform well on the court, but these were followed quickly by post-game aches and soreness. I need to recover from my ankle, shoulder cuff, and thumb injuries soon! 

On the topic of aging, I do feel that with diet, knowledge and better living conditions humans tend to be able to delay aging better compared to previous generations. At the rate I would think I will look younger than my dad did when he was 40. 

Met some interesting people during my social volunteering duties, with the most interesting one resulting from a wrong number call from a random kid. All I can say is life is so unexpected at times and the strangest of occasions will lead you to things you cannot imagine. 

Onward to 2021 ! Floor Level 37

2020 - Year of the Rat and a sad day for all basketball fans

Its the new year of the Rat and right from the beginning we have the situation of the coronavirus that started in the city of Wuhan, few days later news broke that NBA HOFer Kobe Bryant has died in a helicopter crash. Till now it is still very unreal and overall it feels like a bad way to start the lunar year altogether, told my wife that we should look out a little bit more. Just yesterday while crossing the road, I was almost ran over by a taxi who didnt check the blind spot. 

These are signs of a bad year, and although I am not one who makes decision based on myths and superstitions, it would be a wise move to be extra careful of things. 

I am officially 35 last November and I feel the need to set "hard" KPIs in order for myself to achieve certain financial goals. Did some rough planning and noted that i would require doubling my current income in order to achieve my ideal state of FAT FIRE. Assuming the other 100% income comes from investment returns, then at least I will have the option to replace my employment income fully while maintaining current standard of living. 

Goals:
1) achieve 200k income portfolio 
2) set aside 1 year emergency funds (done)
3) research and start on growth portfolio (in progress)
4) kick start business, prototyping of our first products and sale by June 2020!

A reminder to myself to manage the risks as the markets have been on a bull run for such a extended period of time, dry powder will definitely be needed once the correction comes and looking at the macros (trade war, oil game, WH-virus) there is likely situations to get in. 

Am considering divesting CRCT due to its 100% exposure in China and since it has ran up significantly. An alternative strategy would be to amass cash to average down once it happens. 

Good luck to me, today I was reminded to live life to the fullest yet again.

2019 - New Year Resolutions

Its the first week of work and thankfully the pace is not as hectic as I expected to be despite having some stuff going on next week. Think prep work, chasing for invoices and payments and stuff.

I am 35 this year and I guess in Singapore context this means a full grown ass adult. (This is the point in life one could buy a HDB apartment as a single, also the part when your relatives and friends would check if you wanna try out Coffee Meets Bagel).

Review of 2018

Career wise, it was relatively disappointing as I was expecting a promotion a few things occurred here and there and next thing I knew my supervisor resigned and everything was a flux in the department. It affected some operations and it was quite hectic especially during May - Sept. However, compensation wise we received a pleasant surprise as there was a slight increase in the EOY bonus payout by 0.5 months.

I sold my current apartment and it fetched us quite a tidy little sum. We did not expect the amount to double in just 5-6 years of stay. I would look out for a suitable apartment for my mum next year so that she could stay near me next time. Both of us intend to keep the extra profits as emergency funds. SSB for my mum - probably is the best and only idea as she doesn't meet any of the min spending or salary criteria for high interest saving accounts.

On the equities side, I have a rather painful year.. thankfully the absolute amount is relatively small and I have since learn two lessons - to take profit and set stop loss and also to review regularly the finances … busy at work is no excuses to not follow up on investments. This is especially true if you purchase any higher risk items. S -chips for example 

2019 Resolutions

The following shall be my 2019 goals:

Take care of my body more - I feel like physically something is missing ever so often, lack of energy, prolonged soreness after basketball. Its the general weakness. I guess its aging. I shall restart my twice weekly non-ball workout sessions and jog at least once a week.  Gotta eat cleaner too (Brown rice !)

Discipline for investing - keep learning, reading and dedicate time to sift through information. Read books and alternate news such as blogs. Understand more macro stuff and general worldly matters. 2 Hours weekly (sundays now that I do not work on weekends)

Save ! - This is a bit of a stretch but I hope to save $50,000 for this year. This would aid our plans for the wedding in 2020 and potential honeymoon bomb. I should be able to do this if everything goes to plan... fingers crossed.

Mental fortitude - Due to office politics and lack of opportunities both inward and outwards, my strategy is to keep my poise, continue to do my good work. Until the next wise boss comes around I should manage my expectations and bid my time. This should be a wiser move than quitting into unknown territories where I potential could be raking in less. The current situation is not ideal especially for progression but still above average. Based on the statistics I am at 70% of the median income... I guess I cannot complain too much and learn to appreciate what I have. Keep calm and carry on.

Some photos of the lovely view out of my window for the last 6 years:

This is me every Sunday afternoon.