Hello everyone! 😃 It's been a long time.
My last post was dated February 15, 2021, and many things have happened in between:
- I got my resale flat.
- I got married and am now having much more responsibilities as a new family head.
- I also had to put on hold my investment (injection of cash) as I had to pay for the wedding.
- I hosted a wedding ceremony and banquet.
- I went on a honeymoon.
- I got passed over for promotion.
- I am now able to get back to where I left off in terms of portfolio.
This was a very busy phase of life and I must say that I kind of lost myself in the busyness of the season. It is only recently that I'm able to take a break, take a step back and appreciate/ be thankful for what has happened as well as to try to process some of the events and thoughts as I pick myself up again. Hopefully, this means that I will have some time to look at stocks again.
I got my resale flat.
Following my last post in 2021, after discussion with my wife, we decided that a BTO wait was too long. And we are still proven right as we've now stayed in our resale HDB for almost 2 years, while many BTO projects are still facing delays etc.
It would have been unimaginable and would be a stressful situation for us not to have a place of our own to call home. Some of my peers shuffle between renting a place (which obviously costs money), or to stay over parents' place.
I haven't been following the recent housing market, but have heard of some recent changes such as the HLE to HFE, and cooling measures aimed at private property downgraders. There is also another change that the housing grants have increased (the aim is to help young couples afford resale HDBs, but in my opinion just adds to the increasing prices..)
I got married and am now having much more responsibilities as a new family head.
We Chinese have a saying "成家立业", which translates to starting a family and establishing a career. This was true for folks in the past, that they regard adulthood as stepping up into the phase of starting a family. In the modern world, most of us do the reverse of 立业 (Starting our careers) then 成家 (Starting a family). Nonetheless, this was truly a phase where elders in my family started to treat me as an adult. And, with great "power" now comes responsibilities. There are now tangible bills to pay and people who depend on you ever more. Your spouse, each others' ageing parents. Life after all is quite short and it is important to spend time with them.
I also had to put on hold my investment (injection of cash) as I had to pay for the wedding.
The wedding and banquet costs totalled around $80,000. If you followed my blog you would know that I planned and set aside $50,000 for the wedding. This meant my investment portfolio took a hit as I could not afford to inject any cash. Indeed, cash injections suffered in 2021, and 2022.
House renovations was minimal as we bought a resale flat and I did some basic re-painting and focused on furnitures mostly.
| Road to Financial Independence | | | | |
| PROJECTION | | | ACTUAL FIGURES | |
| Year | Age | Portfolio
Projected 2%/yr | Current capital
injection Rate/yr | Estimated
Dividend 3% | Actual Portfolio
at end of yr | Actual Capital
Injection/yr | Actual
Dividends |
| 2018 | 31 | $12,000.00 | $12,000.00 | $360.00 | $15,941.59 | $16,928.40 | $513.25 |
| 2019 | 32 | $24,600.00 | $12,000.00 | $738.00 | $42,318.06 | $23,670.94 | $815.30 |
| 2020 | 33 | $37,830.00 | $12,000.00 | $1,134.90 | $73,116.93
(Set aside $29,600 for
wedding by end 2020)
Therefore actual = $43,516.93 | $27,272.78 | $916.05 |
| 2021 | 34 | $51,721.50 | $12,000.00 | $1,551.65 | 79694.64
(Set aside $39,200 for
wedding by end 2021) | $4,288.83 | $1,481.79 |
| 2022 | 35 | $66,307.58 | $12,000.00 | $1,989.23 | $79,428.16 | -$266.48 | $2,028.56 |
| 2023 | 36 | $81,622.95 | $12,000.00 | $2,448.69 | $89,895.15 till date (July 2023) | | |
I hosted a wedding ceremony and banquet. (2022)
Our parents really wanted a banquet, and we did what we could to help fulfill this expectation. (This could be a topic for another day: Whether an expensive banquet still makes sense today). My personal take is that this could be a huge financial burden for the sandwiched generation who could put the money better to other areas such as housing.
However, it is a once in a lifetime event, and personally, there are intangible "benefits" for hosting a banquet. Firstly, it is a form of respect for elders (The way I see it, banquets are really for them). Secondly, it is a form of saying to the brides' family: "Don't worry, your daughter is in good hands." Lastly, it is also a good rallying point to gather the whole extended family that we otherwise would seldom see.
I went on a honeymoon. (2023)
Work commitments actually boiled over and I was only able to go on a personal trip during mid 2023. I think it was only during this trip that I truly had time to slow down, and think about what was going on with my life.
I do think I got quite burnt out from work. Burnt some money here as well to create some good memories.
I got passed over for promotion.
I do think I was truly disappointed at not getting the promotion I was gunning for, after putting in effort and hard work only to see it go to someone else.
As I reflected on it, I reconciled that there are many things beyond my control. Speaking to some seniors helped to put things back to perspective: "It's only a job." While I am disappointed, life still needs to go on and I wouldn't need to be so hung up on it. Life, and work career is a marathon and I do need to develop resilience.
Otherwise, I don't think I'm doing too bad as a salaryman as the current pay vs. workload is manageable.
I am now able to get back to where I left off in terms of portfolio.
Recently, I had time to look back into my old portfolio and seek to put things back on track. Obviously, I missed out on the COVID crash where many counters were on discount, but I had to keep cash for the wedding. It was really tough to shut out the news to prevent myself from deploying the cash at that time. Currently, am now sitting on some cash again which I will keep a lookout for opportunities. The gameplan is still to look for investing for income.
Share with me and fellow readers!
Feel free to re-connect with me by saying hi, or leaving a comment!
K.C.
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