Perhaps we should take a short term view

A thought came to me over the weekend (which I would highly attribute to the books and conversations I had recently):  Most financial advice that is doled out involved careful planning and execution over a long period of time. The period of time is usually over 20 years or more. I start to question if that is even viable, as the rate of change is accelerating at a higher rate than ever.

Think of this: IIRC it took us far shorter time to build the first aircraft than to invent the first light bulb. It took only 10 years for internet to be flooded with all these new social media and big data hype. (some of which I am still struggling to make sense of) In the last couple of years, it seems to be fashionable to sell products that is basically dreams.

Viability

What I am trying to pen down is: Would these financial solutions be viable some 20 years later. If not, why are we working on something that might be doomed to fail? To be clear this is not just accounting for inflation or personal lifestyle situation changes, but more of mega changes that is unthinkable presently and vast technological advancement and change of mindset. All these would ultimately affect how one plans.

Speed

I am starting to believe that anything beyond 15 years is in need of massive review. Unlike companies and institutions which plans for “long term” and “perpetual” you only really live once. You can only do certain activities when you are young (like come on, I can’t hoop that much if I am 50 year old , it is not about training. Same goes for alcohol. Same goes for your fast twitch muscles required for online gaming# ) In short I want to have the resources in the near term, when I can physically enjoy the good my money could buy me.

Planning for old age is fine, but people get so tied up in this that they practically missed out their 30s and 40s. I feel that there is a portion of the folks out there who got the formula but it isn't that easy. To put it simply, to enjoy life while you are still (relatively) young, you need to work super hard to get that high income / high business profit. 7-10% CAGR a year is great until you realize that without a significant base capital and high capital injection each year. The total amount at the end of your journey is a million at most which isn't a lot in most developed cities.

Seed Money

The ultimate solution is still getting that first pot of seed money – which for most people without a silver spoon in their mouths since birth would be a great income or a side gig.  It is important to get that seed and even at modest growth it would lead to great compounding wealth. The difference is, the speed you get the seed.

I have no solutions yet; it is another yet random thought I had over the weekend. I am currently pursuing what could be a boost to my main income and hopefully that works out.

#I am getting my ass kicked by kiddos in CSGO cause’ my fingers can’t seem to react as fast as my eyes anymore.. no more split second scope flicks or headshots.

It has been so long since I am so sick that I don't know what to do. Usually Im pretty healthy and common colds and flu only get me for couple of days. I have more sport related downtime instead.

Since last week I have been down with a flu and its really disturbing my work. As I am typing now, I am dreading for the mess come Monday (tomorrow T_T)

Came across two book titles that was recommended online and I thought I should write this down in case I forget:

1. Inside Rupert’s Brain by Paul R. La Monica
2. The Complete Turtle Trader by Michael W. Covel

Shall add this to goals for the year! Time to hit the library !

February updates

Chinese New Year came and gone just like that and I gained almost 4 kgs. Gotta hit the gym and workout !

Hi-Interest Savings account - OCBC
I was so happy when they announced that step up promotion for Jan 2019 to Mar 2019 for 360 account only to realized that my workplace has "kindly" advanced our salary for the festive season. and because the pay date was 31 Jan, I would not have any salary credit interest for month of Feb. This would result in a lost of $93, talk about first world problems

Mortgage Management
As I did my sums before the big decision to purchase the new apartment, I was confident that my interest would cover the slight excess that the monthly mortgage above my monthly contribution. Indeed when I saw my CPF statement recently, the net interest from my OA covers whatever the excess is required. meaning to say that my OA would at least remain or increase despite me having to service my mortgage. Chances are if  I start to reduce the principal meaningfully, the OA would most likely grow at a pretty decent rate.

CPF - Utilizing it for retirement and tax savings
Saw the revision on MA max amount and was on the fence of using the opportunity to top up. However I am still skeptical over the moving goalpost plus the poor track records of the current management of the monies in CPF. I think I shall observe for a while more, since my tax bracket isn't on the heavy side yet.

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.

Capital preservation vs Capital appreciation.

Now that I have purchased my own home, both my wife and I are deeply in debt (hahaha)

It's in a nice location really near our workplace and is considered really near town, think walking distance. According to the widely practiced financial calculations it is within range of the 3: 3: 5 calculations. (although is more to the higher end) We opt to kept our downpayments low to hoard cash and max out borrowings at 1.95% for two years. This gives us both arbitrage of 0.55% via our CPF and with the amount of money we have there is overall savings.

Some friends asked and I thought i should pen down my thought process. Why Bank Loans?
Reason is simple, if the USA raises the interest rates in the long term the CPF board will adjust accordingly. Just because the interest is stuck at 2.6% for the last 10 plus years doesnt mean it wouldnt happen. I did a bit of historical checks and thought that might be the case. Also with the current rates we saved around 0.55% for two years.

I have also sold my current flat and the proceeds should be in by end of this year. based on what I have now i am inclined to have 50% locked up in some low risk bonds (AAA if possible) but non of the options I have could give me near 3%. You need at least 250k a pop for the really good products.

How poor management leads to spiraling decline

When we talk about poor management most of the time we refer to the guys sitting at the top giving directions to the organization. But from what I see unique in my kind of workplace is the middle management. The guys at the middle who typically lead small teams (relative to organization size) .
One common trait is to hide all bad news and attribute painful decisions to top management but simple truth may be it doesn't affect them and hence they did.nothing to fight against it.  A smaller work station? Good idea, but I have my own private office  , type of stuff. They do not take much ownership of projects in their team, preferring to manage remotely due to either a lack of interest or technical expertise (which they should have! ). Thirdly, they do not know how to manage people. That can manifest in many ways but the common one would be making the guys who work without complaining work more  And leaving trouble makers alone .Over time, good staff who realise the inequalities will leave. This is similar to the doves and hawks theory of large multinational organizations.

I came to a point where I felt my efforts only amounts to probably 25%of my success, and the rest is putting on a show, staying out of trouble, and years of services, and luck .  Shall leave my efforts to focus on other endeavors in life

September updates and a new perspective

Investment
The bad sentiment for the local market has led to poor performance by the index as well as my own portfolio. In a hurry to liquidate or establish better ratios from the heavy Singtel / Jumbo / DS I had bought into MLT FLT and added position in UMS.

I felt that I was kind of in a forced situation, wait out the bad tide or do something. In the end I tried to do something that is out of my usual habit and thus it reflected poorly in my portfolio performance.

Work

Work wise, it was a rather disappointing year. My team went through several manpower changes and with each shuffle and reappointment I seem to get the bulk of the duties with no recognition. There is also a culture of sweeping past mistakes under the carpet as long as we can point all mistakes to the last person who quit. I have just completed my annual review and this time round I sense its not going to be positive. It was to be expected, as I was literally set up to failed.

I was loaded with my almost two persons portfolio and all they could comment was minor inconsequential errors. with the resignation of my section head, I was taking over majority of her portfolio plus my own and a previously transferred manager's work. on the other side of the room I have people leaving at 5pm daily. One can only be "positive" for so long before he snaps. The last two years I came to understand and experience for myself how true top performers would eventually leave a poorly managed organisation 

Burnt weekends, midnight reports and political badmouthing by people within the same team.  It makes me wonder if all was worth that illusionary jump in grade, the difference is probably $1,000 while the workload is unjustly high (unless you are one of those who jiak liao bee). R passed away last Wednesday and it struck me how meaningless to feel upset over an organisation that sees us as numbers, and focus on selected few … truly 3rd tier and substandard. The biggest joke that happened that day was our office was busy verifying the staff survey completion percentage.... when someone had passed away !!!

I have decided to take a step back and just do the bare minimum. My renewed focus and drive should be on external income for early FIRE.  I shall work hard for myself. I shall OT and work on weekends for myself. I shall upgrade myself and achieve my personal goals


Life
I also advanced to the next stage in life, having met someone wonderful. We have decided to purchase our home. This marks the next big responsibility and I wonder if it has to do with my recent urgency / stress at work. Maybe I wouldn't care so much if I wasn't taking a bank loan?

Its a cosy place with everything I wished for as a kid.