Samsung Pay x SimplyGo x Visa Hack

We have finally moved into our new house! Finally got some time to blog and work on some of the article that has been in the draft for the longest time. Anyway, KPO is sharing another hack! Unfortunately, this is only for Samsung Pay users!

I blogged about something similarly previously - Samsung Pay Rewards - Free Active Fast Charging Wireless Charging Stand! The reward is no longer available but you can read more about Samsung Pay Rewards and how it works. In short, it is a tier-based rewards program that awards points based on the number of transactions regardless of the amount.

This has been tried and tested by us for the last few weeks. By now you should have at least heard of SimplyGo, so I will not go into the details. In my opinion, it is much much better than EZ-Link because you no longer have to top up or worry about having insufficient value in the card. In addition, using SimplyGo with credit cards means that you will be able to get the benefits (miles/cashback) that come with the card.

This hack works only for Visa cards due to the difference in implementation as compared to Mastercard. Interestingly, although Mastercard launched earlier and started the trial/beta first (since last year), Visa decided that they have to be different.

Mastercard consolidates the transactions/fares - up to 5 days, or after every 21 transactions, or after a total of $15 is spent, whichever is earlier. On the other hand, transit fares are accumulated on a daily basis for Visa credit cards.

The Hack
To fully maximize the hack, one should have at least 2 Visa cards registered to your Samsung Pay wallet. A typical person should take at least 2 public transport - one to work and the other back home.

Use one Visa card on your way to work and change the transit card to the other Visa card for the next public transport ride. The next day when the transactions are posted, you will be awarded Samsung Rewards Points for each card. This also allows one to reach the Gold tier easily (requires 30 transactions = 2 per day, about 15 working days). If you have more Visa cards, just keep changing them.

The trade-off is you will get a "messy" statement.

Compare the above with the below Mastercard statement.

So will you be willing to go through the trouble?

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

StashAway - September 2019

Yay, caught up with the portfolio and StashAway update!

Anyway, we have 3 portfolios on 2 accounts now due to our new strategy - New Strategy: StashAway + Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS):
KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

1. PORTFOLIO SUMMARY (as of the last day of the month)

KPO

CZM

Based on the statement (30 Sep 2019), KPO made $‭‭2,405.36‬ and CZM made $‭‭105.33‬. Unfortunately, it seems that StashAway has removed the effect/return of Currency Impact in the statement as well.

As of 14 Oct 2019, these are our portfolio performance (yes, they are the same as August update because I blogged/updated them on the same day):

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%: $‭22,079.85 (+15.34% - Capital: $20,000)

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%: $2,385.40 (+12.49% - Capital: $2,250)

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%: $1,843.59 (+11.28% - Capital: $1,750)

2. PORTFOLIO DETAILS 
Note that these are reported in USD.

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 20%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

3. FEE CALCULATIONS

One of my referrals was not captured previously, contacted their support and was given a goodwill credit of $10. The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets and should have been SGD $23,755.34 x 0.8% / 365 days * 30 days = $15.62.

The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD $1,594.68 x 0.8% / 365 days * 30 days = $1.05.

If you look carefully, you will see some Grab promo code. You will be able to redeem up to 3 x $5 StashAway credits for just 1,200 points each. In comparison, one can redeem $5 grab credit with 2,000 points and $5 CapitaStar$ with 1,900 points so it is definitely one of the best/better value redemptions to make.

StocksCafe

Looking at the time-weighted return (15.74%), we can see that StashAway is "outperforming" the STI ETF (including fees). In addition, it has lower volatility and max drawdown.

On the other hand, StashAway is underperforming the SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) with lower volatility and max drawdown.

Which is the best? Only time will tell :)

This is the link to our spreadsheet - KPO & CZM StashAway Portfolio VS STI ETF which I have also added to Our Portfolio page.

StashAway Referral Link for Our Readers
Here you go: KPO and CZM Referral Link

You might be interested in previous months update too:
StashAway - January 2019 - $16,051.10
StashAway - February 2019 - $17,397.81
StashAway - March 2019 - $18,780.96
StashAway - April 2019 - $19,702.85
StashAway - May 2019 - $20,823.09
StashAway - June 2019 - $22,031.43
StashAway - July 2019 - $‭23,486.36‬
StashAway - August 2019 - $24,776.05
StashAway - September 2019 - $25,510.69‬

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Portfolio - September 2019

With this, our portfolio update will be back on track :) StashAway update has been scheduled to be published tonight and the backlog will be our expenses update and travel posts.

Our portfolio decrease by 0.19% to $420,854 - $2,985.54 of capital withdrawal and $2,195.93 of capital gain. The one in blue is the StashAway portfolio, green is SGX and the total is in black.

If you prefer to look at numbers, this is the raw data used to generate the above bar graph. These numbers are as of the last day of the month.

"Cash Flow" is the amount of money being injected/withdrawn from the portfolio (buying stocks = +ve cash flow while selling stocks and collecting dividends = -ve cash flow)

SOLD
- APAC Realty (12,000 units) @ $0.51

After holding for an average of 391 days and collecting $870 of dividends, we have sold all our shares at a loss of -$2,631.95 which is about -17.6% and annualized -16.6%.

You can be right one moment and wrong the next. We first entered bought the stock (12,000 units @ $0.86) around 2 years ago (Oct 2017) - APAC Realty. Within 2/3 months, we were on 25% capital gain when the price went up to $1.08. Then came the cooling measure and it became a horror show (one of my top 5 worst investments) by the end of 2018 - Portfolio Performance in 2018. Along the way, we bought more 8,000 units @ $0.57 and sold them shortly @ $0.665.

Their latest quarterly result was simply too bad. Although revenue was just 28% lower, the profit had shrunk by 63%! The increase of 154% in marketing and promotion expenses wasn't translated to an increase in revenue shows a lot about the current property market sentiment... In addition, the depreciation of assets and finance costs due to the acquisition of a new property last year (wrong move) will be recurring, hence "eating" into the revenue. You can read more about it here in TTI's analysis - APAC REALTY – ACQUISITION OF ERA CENTRE IS CASHFLOW NEGATIVE.

It is no surprise that their EPS has also decreased by 62.4%. This meant that the previous dividends they had payout will no longer be sustainable and they have already reduced the latest dividends. I believe they will be cutting more, hence the decision to sell them now.

BOUGHT
- Soilbuild REIT (6,000 units) @ $0.53

Nothing new, I blogged about this previously - Soilbuild Business Space REIT (Not) Bad Preferential Offering. We were given 2,700 rights which I exercised all of them, applied in excess another 3,300 and were given full allocation.

There were 2 other companies that had issued rights and I shall give a quick update on the actions we took:
Keppel DC REIT - Exercised and oversubscribed
Chip Eng Seng - Letting it expire because of issues in corporate governance. You can read more about it here - Corporate governance: More teeth and substance needed. In addition, the exercise price >= market price which makes it pretty unattractive and the rights worthless. I could not even sell it in the market.

Dividends
The total dividends collected this month is $164.29. The breakdown is as follows:

Company	Symbol	ExDate	Shares	Total
Keppel DC REIT	AJBU	23-Sep-19	3,000	$54.29
OUE Limited	LJ3	11-Sep-19	11,000	$110.00

Total dividends collected for 2019: $15,744.85
Average dividends per month for 2019: $1,749.43

StashAway

KPO

CZM

Capital: $23,000.00
Current: $‭25,510.69‬

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- Portfolio Performance in 2018 - $354,145
- Portfolio - January 2019 - $376,381
- Portfolio - February 2019 - $379,814
- Portfolio - March 2019 - $400,263
- Portfolio - April 2019 - $400,263
- Portfolio - May 2019 - $392,934
- Portfolio - June 2019 - $415,611
- Portfolio - July 2019 - $420,798
- Portfolio - August 2019 - $421,644
- Portfolio - September 2019 - $420,854

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

StashAway - August 2019

StashAway recently made some changes and even introduce a new SGD income portfolio. I have blogged about them here:
- StashAway - Exciting Changes
- StashAway - SGD Income Portfolio

On a side note, CZM is back to work and we will resume her SRS's contribution/portfolio.

Anyway, we have 3 portfolios on 2 accounts now due to our new strategy - New Strategy: StashAway + Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS):
KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

1. PORTFOLIO SUMMARY (as of the last day of the month)

KPO

CZM

Based on the statement (31 Aug 2019), KPO made $‭2,405.23‬ and CZM made $‭120.82‬. Unfortunately, it seems that StashAway has removed the effect/return of Currency Impact in the statement as well.

As of 14 Oct 2019, these are our portfolio performance:

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%: $‭22,079.85 (+15.34% - Capital: $20,000)

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%: $2,385.40 (+12.49% - Capital: $2,250)

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%: $1,843.59 (+11.28% - Capital: $1,750)

2. PORTFOLIO DETAILS 
Note that these are reported in USD. In addition, you can see the closed positions as well due to the reoptimization/switching of risk level for the portfolios.

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

3. FEE CALCULATIONS

One of my referrals was not captured last month, contacted their support and was given a goodwill credit of $10. The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets and should have been SGD $22,701.84 x 0.8% / 365 days * 31 days = $15.42.

The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD $1,353.57 x 0.8% / 365 days * 31 days = $0.92. 

StocksCafe

Looking at the time-weighted return (15.74%), we can see that StashAway is "outperforming" the STI ETF (including fees). In addition, it has lower volatility and max drawdown.

On the other hand, StashAway is underperforming the SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) with lower volatility and max drawdown.

Which is the best? Only time will tell :)

This is the link to our spreadsheet - KPO & CZM StashAway Portfolio VS STI ETF which I have also added to Our Portfolio page.

StashAway Referral Link for Our Readers
Here you go: KPO and CZM Referral Link

You might be interested in previous months update too:
StashAway - January 2019 - $16,051.10
StashAway - February 2019 - $17,397.81
StashAway - March 2019 - $18,780.96
StashAway - April 2019 - $19,702.85
StashAway - May 2019 - $20,823.09
StashAway - June 2019 - $22,031.43
StashAway - July 2019 - $‭23,486.36‬
StashAway - August 2019 - $24,776.05

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Portfolio - August 2019

Hi everyone! It has been a long time (about slightly more than a month)! We just came back from Canada recently and it was so pretty!

We flew to the USA on Cathay Pacific First Class due to the error fare

Visited the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

Niagara Falls from the Canada side

We rented a campervan to travel around

Moraine Lake in Banff National Park (Our favorite!)

Keep a lookout for CZM's travel posts! They will take a while though because we are still pretty busy with our house renovation (there were some complications/miscommunication between the ID and carpenter -.-) and planning for our next trip (RTW). You can read more about the RTW trip here - Quick Update - Too Busy to Blog.

Our portfolio increase by 0.20% to a new high $421,644 - $7,939.82 of capital injection and $7,093.64 of capital loss. The one in blue is the StashAway portfolio, green is SGX and the total is in black.

If you prefer to look at numbers, this is the raw data used to generate the above bar graph. These numbers are as of the last day of the month.

"Cash Flow" is the amount of money being injected/withdrawn from the portfolio (buying stocks = +ve cash flow while selling stocks and collecting dividends = -ve cash flow)

SOLD
None

BOUGHT
- HKEX:3988 - Bank of China (10,000 units) @ HK$3.00
- HKEX:939 - CCB (10,000 units) @ HK$5.68

We decided to take a look at Hong Kong after months of rioting and started with the Hang Seng Index components. Similar to Singapore, there is no dividend withholding tax in Hong Kong (as corrected by both Evilbdboi and maru in the comments - there is a 10% withholding tax on H shares), so we filter by looking at companies >5% dividend yield that will be sustainable. Soon we were left with a few big names and interestingly, we realized the valuation of the banks was more attractive as compared to Singapore's banks (lower PB, higher yield, etc.).

As you can see, the payout ratio is at a low 30%+. Comparing other metrics, CCB's and BOC's non-performing loan is at 4.4% and 5.1% vs DBS at 6.9%.

We eliminated HSBC because their payout ratio was much higher. Anyway, these are H shares (China stocks listed in Hong Kong) and when you compare it with the A shares (listed in either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges), it seems to be "discounted/cheaper" too. You can read more about it here - Investopedia - H-Shares vs. A-Shares: What's the Difference?

Dividends
The total dividends collected this month is $3,033.52 (shiok!). The breakdown is as follows:

Company	Symbol	ExDate	Shares	Total
APAC Realty Limited	CLN	28-Aug-19	12,000	$90.00
City Developments Limited	C09	23-Aug-19	700	$84.00
Wilmar International Limited	F34	21-Aug-19	2,000	$60.00
Raffles Medical Group Ltd	BSL	19-Aug-19	14,000	$70.00
First Real Estate Investment Trust	AW9U	14-Aug-19	11,009	$236.67
Sheng Siong Group Ltd	OV8	14-Aug-19	18,000	$315.00
Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust	C2PU	7-Aug-19	2,000	$65.40
Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust	BUOU	6-Aug-19	10,200	$249.90
Far East Hospitality Trust - Stapled Units	Q5T	6-Aug-19	10,316	$93.87
Ascott Residence Trust	A68U	6-Aug-19	11,000	$377.40
Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust	P40U	6-Aug-19	12,000	$132.00
Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust	RW0U	5-Aug-19	5,000	$97.49
SPDR STI ETF	ES3	5-Aug-19	13,000	$831.99
DBS Group Holdings Ltd	D05	5-Aug-19	800	$240.00
Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust	T82U	2-Aug-19	5,000	$78.25
Mapletree Commercial Trust	N2IU	1-Aug-19	500	$11.55

Total dividends collected for 2019: $15,580.56
Average dividends per month for 2019: $1,947.57

StashAway

KPO

CZM

Capital: $22,250.00
Current: $24,776.00

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- Portfolio Performance in 2018 - $354,145
- Portfolio - January 2019 - $376,381
- Portfolio - February 2019 - $379,814
- Portfolio - March 2019 - $400,263
- Portfolio - April 2019 - $400,263
- Portfolio - May 2019 - $392,934
- Portfolio - June 2019 - $415,611
- Portfolio - July 2019 - $420,798
- Portfolio - August 2019 - $421,644

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)