Syfe - November 2020

After investing for slightly more than 6 months in Syfe REIT+, I am pleased with the way they are handling the corporate actions. They are definitely more transparent as compared to a REIT ETF where you will be able to see all the corporate actions such as mergers, rights issues, etc. in your transactions. Let me show you some snippets:

Corporate actions for CMT and CCT merger/combination

Various Rights Issues

This is really a fuss free way to invest in REITs. Simply DCA on a monthly basis and you do not even have to trouble yourself with the corporate actions. The one and only thing about Syfe which really annoys me is the inaccuracy in the units being displayed both in the transactions and the portfolio composition (to 2 decimal places). Having said that, I am aware that behind the scene, they are actually tracking them to 6 decimal places. A simple UI change should fix the issue but I am not sure why is it not in their priority ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Our Syfe Portfolio
Composition: 100% REITs
Dividend: Reinvest
Monthly Investment: $1,000

Composition: 100% Equities
Dividend: Reinvest
Monthly Investment: $500

Account Statement (Lifetime)

Our current tier is Blue (<$20,000). This is determined by the size of the portfolio (currently $11,255.26) which in turn determines the fees to be charged. The statement lifetime return is $1,555.26 which includes a $1,220 referral bonus. The actual lifetime return would be $335.26. Thanks to our readers for using our code!

Account Statement (November 2020)

The return for the month is $725.97 which includes a $20 referral bonus. This means our actual return for the month is $705.97.

As of 19 December 2020, this is our portfolio performance:

Capital: $7,500.00
Current: $8,842.63 (21.09% - return is skewed due to referrals)

Capital: $2,700.00
Current: $3,259.07 (39.90% - return is skewed due to referrals)

Transaction Breakdown

There are too many so I will just share a snippet. Anyway, if you want to extract the transaction information from Syfe, do take a look at this article - Syfe Transactions Parser. Anyway, the parser will not work for the Equity100 and Global ARI portfolio when there are small transactions (<0.01). You can refer to this for more information - Syfe - July 2020. The parser will work if Syfe is willing to change its UI and display more decimal places...

REIT+

Equity100

After parsing them into a csv file, I pivoted the data to get the following view.

Management Fee

The management fee can be obtained by $9,971.44 x 0.65% / 366 * 30 ~ $5.28.

StocksCafe
In my opinion, the return captured by StocksCafe will be a more accurate representation of our portfolio return as the referral bonuses are treated as capital. Having said that, I can also understand why Syfe treats them as a return instead of a deposit too. Just a different perspective. 

Transactions updated till 30 Oct 2020

Anyway, looking at the time-weighted return (17.53%) for this year, we can see that Syfe REIT+ 100% is outperforming STI ETF (including fees) but underperforming when compared against SPY or IWDA. In addition, if we were to look at the projected dividends till the end of the year based on the existing investment, we can expect $141.01 of dividends or $11.75 per month. Since the dividends >> fees, this is a pretty sustainable portfolio assuming if there's no capital loss.

New Syfe customers will have their first $30,000 managed free for 6 months when they use our new referral code (KPOCZM). We will be receiving a $10 cash incentive for our portfolio if you invest $500 or more.

If you are interested in the smart portfolio tracker (StocksCafe) which I am using as shown above, sign up using my link for a longer trial period :) Refer to our Referrals page for more information.

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- Syfe REIT+ (100%) Review
- Syfe - May 2020 - $1,135.43
- Syfe - June 2020 - $2,558.58
- Syfe - July 2020 - $3,872.68
- Syfe - August 2020 - $6,260.30
- Syfe - September 2020 - $8,019.86

- Syfe - October 2020 - $9,029.29

- Syfe - November 2020 - $11,255.26

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 - November 2020

As we approach the last few days of the year, you might want to consider optimizing/reducing your taxes through the following methods which I have blogged about previously:
- SRS (Invest through Endowus and StashAway)
- CPF RSTU (CPF SA)
- Voluntary Contribution (VC) to CPF MA

StashAway did a withholding tax reimbursement for dividends withheld last year. Based on what I have compiled, StashAway's portfolio is pretty sustainable (dividends > fees). You can read more about it here - StashAway Withholding Tax Reimbursement FY 2019. 

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

KPO

CZM

Based on the statement (30 November 2020), our total investment is ‭$53,451.62! KPO gains $1,533.56 and CZM gains/lost $35.66 for the month.

As of 18 December 2020, these are our portfolio performance:

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%: $‭36,971.00 (36.33% - Capital: $30,000)

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%: $12,392.68 (38.44% - Capital: $10,410)

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%: $5,793.13 (25.64% - Capital: $5,250)

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

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

3. FEE CALCULATIONS

The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD ($25,000.00 x 0.8% + $21,343.51 x 0.7%) / 366 days * 30 days = $28.64.

The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD $5,521.32 x 0.8% / 366 days * 30 days = $3.62. 

StocksCafe

Evan (founder of StocksCafe) made an improvement where one can now benchmark their portfolio against multiple indexes/ETFs. Looking at the time-weighted return (12.88%) for this year, we can see that StashAway Risk Index 22% is outperforming the STI ETF (including fees). 

If we compare across the years, StashAway's portfolio is winning by a huge margin (36.98%) except losing to SPY (49.09%) and IWDA (40.73%). In addition, it has the lowest volatility and max drawdown. This is what StashAway meant by reducing risk and maximizing the return. 

The annualized return/XIRR of the portfolio is very impressive too at 12.67%. Using the Rule of 72, it means that the StashAway portfolio will double our money in 72 / 12.67 ~ 5.7 years. In comparison, the same money if left in the bank account at 2% interest rate will take 72 / 2 ~ 36 years to double.

Which is the best? Only time will tell :)

Anyway, if you are interested in signing up for StashAway, do use our referral link - KPO and CZM Referral Link. You will get $10,000 free management fees for 6 months and we will get $16!

If you want to extract those transactions information from StashAway, do take a look at this article - StashAway Transactions Parser.

If you are interested in the smart portfolio tracker (StocksCafe) which I am using as shown above, sign up using my link for a longer trial period :) Refer to our Referrals page for more information.

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- StashAway - January 2020 - $31,742.42
- StashAway - February 2020 - $31,499.69‬
- StashAway - March 2020 - $30,934.95‬
- StashAway - April 2020 - ‭$34,830.73‬
- StashAway - May 2020 - $37,298.09‬
- StashAway - June 2020 - $39,931.79
- StashAway - July 2020 - $44,125.18
- StashAway - August 2020 - $46,900.18
- StashAway - September 2020 - $47,850.22

- StashAway - October 2020 - $49,892.40

- StashAway - November 2020 - $53,451.62

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.)

Endowus - November 2020

As we approach the last few days of the year, you might want to consider optimizing/reducing your taxes through the following methods which I have blogged about previously:

- SRS (Invest through Endowus and StashAway)

- CPF RSTU (CPF SA)

- Voluntary Contribution (VC) to CPF MA

Risk Profile

Goal type: General wealth accumulation
Risk tolerance: Maximise returns (loss tolerance -60%)

Monthly investment using SRS: $740

I have modified my monthly investment in order to max out my SRS contribution for the year.

Account Summary

Capital: $10,410.00
Current: $11,324.92 (8.81%)

There are quite a few differences as compared to StashAway. Firstly, all the cash has been invested while StashAway keeps 1% of the portfolio in cash. Secondly, the fees are not deducted on a monthly basis. The Access Fee charged by Endowus will be deducted at the end of each quarter as stated in their FAQ.

As of 17 Decemeber 2020, the portfolio value is $11,618.91 (+11.64%).

Asset Allocation

This shows that the number of shares for each fund that I owned:
- Dimensional Global Core Equity Fund (167.3100)
- Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund (1,946.3800)
- Dimensional Emerging Markets Large Cap Core Equity Fund (66.7160)
- Dimensional Pacific Basin Small Companies Fund (60.8090)

It will be great if they actually showed my average price vs the current market price.

Transactions

That's all! Overall, I think the statement is pretty straightforward and easy to read. On a side note, StocksCafe does not has the ability to track funds, hence unable to do any form of comparison/benchmark.

Speaking of which, Endowus has finally launched a mobile app:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/endowus-invest-cpf-srs-cash/id1531067679

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.endowus.mobileapp

If you are interested in Endowus, do use our referral link for our readers! You will get S$10,000 managed free for 6 months ($20 equivalent) and we will get $20 too!

You might be interested in previous months update too:

- Endowus CPF/SRS Review
- Endowus - January 2020 - $3,692.02
- Endowus - February 2020 - $3,704.57
- Endowus - March 2020 - $4,153.50
- Endowus - April 2020 - $4,849.67
- Endowus - May 2020 - $5,797.36
- Endowus - June 2020 - $6,471.66
- Endowus - July 2020 - $7,455.96

- Endowus - August 2020 - $8,588.83

- Endowus - September 2020 - $9,124.13

- Endowus - October 2020 - $9,665.59

- Endowus - November 2020 - $11,324.92

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.)

Cosmo Prime Air Purifier 3-in-1 HEPA Filter

This is a collaboration/sponsored article with Best in Singapore, a newly established internet media company that publishes well-researched, tested, and informative articles! 

Since Donald and Piglet cannot travel anymore, their new role shall be to review and unbox products. lol. The product we will be sharing is Cosmo Prime Air Purifier 3-in-1 HEPA Filter which costs SG$399!

Before turning on the filter, one will have to first unwrap/remove the plastic cover for the 3-in-1 HEPA filter. Once that is done, simply reinsert the filter and connect the purifier to a power socket.

Why choose Cosmo over other air purifiers?

They did their own comparison with other air purifiers and you can take a look here. The following few points are why I recommend Cosmo over others:

1. 3-in-1 HEPA Filter

HEPA stands for "High-Efficiency Particulate Air". According to Wikipedia, filters meeting the HEPA standard must satisfy certain levels of efficiency and Cosmo's HEPA filters are able to filter 99.97% of air pollutants in the air through its 3 layers of filters which are medical grade level. This is great for families with children/babies so that they can have cleaner air or pet owners so that fur, dander, and microbes can be filtered. In addition, Cosmo has one of the better specs when you compare it against the other air purifiers. It is capable of purifying up to 80sqm of an area with the lowest noise volume at 20dB.

2. Smart Life App

This is an app with its own home automation ecosystem which I would say is very similar to the Xiaomi Mi Home app. If you are already using Xiaomi products/ecosystem then it is slightly annoying to download this additional app to control the purifier but if you have yet to set up/decide on your smart home setup, the Smart Life/Tuya devices are worth considering given that most of the Xiaomi products required you to set up as though you are in China. This is obviously not the case for the Smart Life app.

Anyway, once you set it up through the app, you will be able to access it remotely through Wifi or even schedule it to turn on/off at a certain period of the day (e.g. turn off from 8am when no one is at home and turn on at 6pm when everyone is back).

3. 20 Day Trial & 5-Year Warranty

This is not a dropshipping site where you will be getting a cheap china product sold at a high margin without any warranty. Cosmo has a physical showroom/store at Mactech Building where one can actually head down in the event of any issue/defect. 

Cosmo offers 20 days trial. If one were to suffer from buyer's remorse, simply return the product to their showroom for a full refund. More information can be found here - https://airpurifiers.sg/returns/.

In fact, Cosmo has so much confidence in their product that they are offering a 5-year warranty. So if we were to depreciate the cost ($399) over 5 years, it is just $79.80 per year. Compare that to one of the cheaper air purifiers (Xiaomi 3H) ~$160 with 1-year warranty. I think one will get more value from the Cosmo purifier. Not forgetting the specs (CADR, area, etc.) are better for the Cosmo purifier too. Anyway, more information on the warranty can be found here - https://airpurifiers.sg/warranty/.

Unfortunately, we do not have any promo code to share. Head over and check it out if it interests you - Cosmo Prime Air Purifier 3-in-1 HEPA Filter :)

You can also refer to the following website/social media for more information:
Best in Singapore
Website | Facebook | Instagram

Air Purifier
Website | Facebook | Instagram

Payment is brought to you by Liquid Gateway and if you are interested to find out more, you can read this article on Best 10 Online Payment Getways in Singapore for more information.

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.)

Baby Ong is Out!

Baby Ong was delivered on the 8th December 2020! Isn't she so cute?! She has inherited her mother's double eyelid eyes <3 Baby Ong EDD was supposed to be on the 4th December 2020 and we were past due. Our gynae (Dr Goh SL) said there's no need to induce immediately and we were told to monitor her for another 6 days before inducing her on the 10th. However, during our appointment on the 7th, Dr Goh said that CZM's placenta is getting old (one of the overdue pregnancy risk) and recommended the induction of labour on the 8th (midnight). Although it was just a few days difference, we were still pretty surprised!

At midnight, we cabbed down to Mount Alvernia and headed to the delivery suite. The nurse was helping CZM to set up and I had to head down to the reception to do the admission. 

During the admission, I paid a deposit $3,812.41 for their single room (NORMAL DELIVERY WITH EPIDURAL (2 DAYS)) and asked for one that is further away from the construction site (Our Lady Ward). I also opt for express checkout so that we do not have to wait/queue again on the day of discharge. Hence, I am still not sure how much is the total damage as of now. Shall blog about it separately.

Given that we are still in Phase 2 of the Circuit Breaker, there can only be 5 visitors per day (including the husband, technically just 4 visitors) which is very unfortunate since our siblings, relatives, and friends all can't visit.

CZM in the delivery suite in pain :(  Yes, she had to wear her mask. There's a reclining sofa/armchair at the corner of the room for the hubby and it's not very comfortable. Do bring a jacket and wear long pants as it gets pretty cold in the middle of the night. CZM could only administer epidural around 7am+ after she was 3 cm dilated. Not sure if it was due to the effects of induction, CZM was already screaming away right before the epidural was administered and her eyes were bloodshot. Once the epidural was administered, she could finally rest as there was zero contraction pain. 

Heart rate (above) and rate of contraction (below)

Around 8am+, there was a huge scare! One of the nurses entered the delivery suite because the baby's heart rate had dropped and asked me to wait outside the room. While I was waiting, another 3 nurses rushed in! Imagine my horror! I felt so helpless and could only google about what's happening.

Anyway, a baby’s heart rate during labour should be between 110 and 160 beats per minute. As you can see from the photo above, her heart rate went as low as 50/60+. Not sure what the nurses did but they probably gave CZM some drug to stop her contraction totally (for a period of time ~30min to an hour) and the baby heart rate returned to normal. We asked both the gynae and PD about what happened and they said it is normal for heart rate to drop. Oh well, all that matters is both CZM and the baby are safe and healthy now.

At 2pm+, Baby Ong came out! It was such a touching moment and I am not shy to admit that I actually cried. To all the father-to-be, if your wife is asking for whatever "push" present, just get it for them. It is actually the least we can do. We can never imagine the pain they have to go through during labour. 

The "staycation" in the single room was over before we know it. The real challenge begins at home. lol. We could always send the baby back to the nursery whenever we could not coax her to stop crying. The nurses would always tell us that the baby is crying because she wants more milk. Unfortunately, CZM did not have sufficient milk supply then and we got the nurses to feed her formula milk instead. Anyway, the nurses in Mount Alvernia were all very approachable and encouraging. We did not encounter anyone that was fierce/impatient unlike what our mothers went through.

Before we left/discharged, we went to the chapel to bless the baby although we are not Catholic. It is free and no harm trying :) We have been pretty sleep deprived since then but every time we look at Baby Ong and her little movement, it is all worthwhile. I can stare at her all day! No wonder there is this Chinese saying about the daughter being the father's lover in his previous life (前世情人). lol.

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 - November 2020

We have achieved another of our goal last month - 1 Million Combined Net Worth By Age 30 when the market recovered/shot up once news of the vaccine came out. Another thing to look forward to this month - Baby Ong will be coming out anytime soon!

Our portfolio has reached another new high! It increased by 12.73% to $639,606 - $3,915.78 of capital injection and $68,315.98 of capital gain. This includes $52,574 of leverage/debt (gearing ~8.96%).

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
- iShares Hang Seng Tech ETF (300 units) @ HK$16.78

We did not buy anything for a couple of reasons. The main one is we need to save up for CZM and Baby Ong hospitalization/delivery fees this month. The stocks didn't look as attractive after the market went up so much. We did not buy IWDA because it is at an all-time high. Yes, I am timing the market but I just couldn't help it. Maybe buy $2,000 worth this month?

Another interesting new addition to our portfolio is the iShares Hang Seng Tech ETF (3067). There are a couple of ETFs that is tracking the Hang Seng Tech Index and we chose iShares simply because it has the lowest fee/expense ratio. You can take a look at this article for more information - Hang Seng Tech Index ETF - Which one to buy?

I have also decided to increase my SRS contribution to $1,480 per month with the intention of maxing it by year-end.

Our Monthly DCA for October - $4,230
$1,000 Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

$740  KPO's SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

$250 CZM's SRS - StashAway Risk Index 14%

$740 KPO's SRS - Endowus Loss Tolerance -60%
$1,000 Cash - Syfe REIT+ (100% REIT)
$500 Cash - Syfe Equity100 (100% Equities)

Dividends
The total dividends collected this month is $1,996.30. The breakdown is as follows:

Company                                                     PayDate          Shares         Total

ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust              27-Nov-20     101.677 $2.14

Mapletree Commercial Trust                      27-Nov-20     2836.997 $118.30

Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust           25-Nov-20     11237.969 $207.67

Soilbuild Business Space REIT              20-Nov-20     30000         $330.00

SPH REIT                                              20-Nov-20     73.37         $0.39

GuocoLand Ltd.                                      19-Nov-20     9000         $540.00

CapitaLand Commercial Trust              19-Nov-20     2911.87 $74.54

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust   19-Nov-20     18126.851 $723.26

Total dividends collected for 2020: $19,322.53
Average dividends per month for 2020: $1,756.59

StashAway

KPO

CZM

Capital: $45,160‬.00
Current: $‭‭‭‭53,451.58

If you are interested in StashAway, do use our referral link. You get $10,000 free management fees for 6 months and we will get $16!

If you want to extract those transactions information from StashAway, do take a look at this article - StashAway Transactions Parser.

Endowus

Capital: $10,410.00
Current: $11,324.92

If you are interested in Endowus, do use our referral link for our readers! You will get S$10,000 managed free for 6 months ($20 equivalent) and we will get $20 too!

Syfe

Capital: $9,700.00
Current: $‭‭‭11,227.63

New Syfe customers will have their first $30,000 managed free for 6 months when they use our new referral code (KPOCZM). We will be receiving a $10 cash incentive for our portfolio if you invest $500 or more.

If you want to extract those transactions information from Syfe, do take a look at this article - Syfe Transactions Parser.

You might be interested in these blog posts too:
- Portfolio Performance in 2019
- 2019 Net Worth
- Portfolio - December 2019 - $463,297
- Portfolio - January 2020 - $455,071
- Portfolio - February 2020 - $442,216
- Portfolio - March 2020 - $415,071
- Portfolio - April 2020 - $459,037
- Portfolio - May 2020 - $470,665
- Portfolio - June 2020 - $502,313

- Portfolio - July 2020 - $487,135
- Portfolio - August 2020 - $525,857
- Portfolio - September 2020 - $566,705

- Portfolio - October 2020 - $567,374 
- Portfolio - November 2020 - $639,606

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.)

1 Million Combined Net Worth By Age 30

We have achieved another one of our goals - $1,000,000 net worth by age 30! We ended 2019 with a net worth of ~$886,000 and was hoping to achieve the goal this year. When covid happened and the stock market crashed in March, I told CZM that it's not happening this year since the majority of our wealth is in the market. Surprise surprise, the market has recovered even before the pandemic is over (technically the vaccine isn't out yet, the economy is still bad and we still can't travel).

Let me introduce the concept of net worth and its importance once again for the new readers.

Net worth can be calculated by taking all the assets and subtracting away all the debts/liabilities. This is the classic comic where everyone is actually poorer than the beggar who has a net worth of $2.73. Your friends/colleagues may be living in a huge condominium, driving some fancy car but it could all be financed by debts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as their income allows so but anything can happen! Do not be the The "Poor" Pilot With Multiple Properties. You can refer to the following article on the importance of net worth by InvestmentMoats - Don’t Track Your Expenses or Budget First. Plot Your Net Worth Instead. 

In our previous net worth update, I simply share the numbers but since this is a special occasion, shall share some screenshot too :)

Cash
This is all the money we have in our savings accounts.

KPO DBS Accounts

CZM DBS Accounts

I have blogged about how we used the Multiplier as our main savings account and the use of a joint account to achieve higher interest previously. The last/latest article can be found here - DBS Multiplier Upcoming Changes. 

KPO UOB Account

The UOB account was created when we refinance our HDB housing loan/mortgage to UOB. I usually keep this around $1k to avoid the fall below fee and it just went below $1k after the giro deduction for my credit card bills. I also have multiple SCB accounts that have $0 balance (no fall below fee for priority customer) which I will show later for a different reason.

Regular readers will know we are investing aggressively that we hardly keep/hold onto cash. No emergency fund as well which I do not recommend since it is personal finance 101. We felt that there's no need for it at the moment, will probably work start saving when we get older.

Our Cash: ~$16,000

CPF
Every month, I will try to show CZM her net worth in order to motivate her to work harder towards financial freedom. However, she would always say I inflate her net worth because I included CPF. lol. I am sure some of you may have the same mentality but like I always tell her, CPF is our money and should be included as part of our retirement planning.

KPO CPF

CZM CPF

At the start of our career and before we got our BTO, we transferred everything in OA to SA to take advantage of the higher interest in SA. However, the plan now is to leave more money in OA to act as a buffer for our mortgage. As of now, we can become jobless for ~3.6 years without worrying about the mortgage. Another reason why I stopped transferring to SA is for tax optimization purposes. The option to top up SA up to $7k yearly will disappear once FRS is met. You can how I reduce our taxes by performing Voluntary Contribution (VC) to CPF Medisave and RSTU (Retirement Sum Topping-Up to SA).

Our CPF: ~$308,000 (OA + SA + MA) 

Investment

Our portfolio has grown to >$600,000 (another record high!) after the news of the vaccine came out and since our last update (Portfolio - October 2020 - $567,374).

All our investments are tracked using StocksCafe (including StashAway and Syfe) except for the Endowus portfolio.

Hence, our total portfolio is ~$625,000 currently (including leverage).

The only 2 stocks in my CDP were from an IPO (Just Another Netlink Trust IPO Analysis) and the one time when DBS/Vickers thought I was an accredited investor and offered a private placement (Keppel DC REIT Private Placement). Probably applied too little and the banker found it suspicious. Stopped receiving all those HDB bonds/private placement emails shortly. Oh well.

The majority of our investments are with SCB in 2 different accounts and one of them is a lien account where I pledge shares in order to borrow money from the bank at a lower interest. You can read more about it here - Leverage - A Double-Edged Sword.

The account highlighted in yellow is the leverage/amount I am borrowing from the bank to invest. $15k Euro was used to invest in Cromwell European REITs. Although you see $51k, $20k were used on Singlife for 2.5% interest (ignore it since I did not include it in the cash section) and $31k were invested - Biggest Losses in a Day + Start of Leverage.

Total Leverage: ~$56,000

Our Investment: ~$569,000

Property

I believe that property should be included in the computation of net worth. If one excludes the value of the property, the money (cash/CPF) you use to pay for the loan/mortgage will be no different as disappearing into the thin air or throwing it into the sea. Hence, I will be valuing the property based on the total payment (interest + renovation cost) till date. This ensures that our money will not "disappear" and act as a floor/minimum amount (total payment + remaining loan + markup/profit) to sell in the future.

I can imagine people selling their house at market value + markup, thinking that they made money from the sale but it is totally possible that market price + markup < total payment + remaining loan. Does this make sense or is it too confusing? lol.

Property value based on total payment (including interest + renovation cost): ~$514,000

Valuing at cost + total payment is pretty conservative as the market valuation is ~$635,000!

Our Housing Loan: $365,000

Our Property: ~$149,000

Total

Our Net Worth: ~$1,042,000

The question is how to achieve something similar? Honestly, there's no get rich quick scheme. In my opinion, it always boils down to the followings:

1. Work hard to increase your salary/career/business

Unfortunately, this will always be your main source of income, not from dropshipping or owning multiple properties. I have blogged about this previously - >100% "Return" on Salary and your salary growth should not be linear especially at the early stage of your career. If you are below median income, work towards it. After that work towards getting $6k for maximum CPF contribution rate and towards the next tax bracket and so on. Work for your promotion, if there's no growth or you are getting too comfortable, change a company. The best way to differentiate yourself is to learn programming and automate some manual tasks e.g. Python to automate the boring stuff.

2. High Savings Rate

Our savings rate is around 60-70%. Ignore the last 3 months as I have not tabulated our expenses and they are after deducting those fixed expenses only (e.g. housing loan, parents' allowance, insurance, etc.). To do that, cut down on your expenses. Determine what are your needs (e.g. food) and wants (e.g. new shirt/bag). In addition, we made a decision that we will not get a car (even after Baby Ong is born).

Anyway, multiple bloggers have blogged about this previously. One of the more popular ones would be from Mr. Money Mustache - The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement. If you are only saving 10% and leading a YOLO life, good luck to you!

3. Invest and do not time the market

We continued to invest regardless of the market movement. We have a monthly investment plan through StashAway, Syfe, and Endowus and we stick to it. If you are constantly holding on to cash waiting for the next big crash that may/may not happen, you are losing money - the opportunity cost to invest and grow your money. 

In the past, to invest/DCA, one will have to either purchase ILP or do it through a unit trust/fund sold by the banks. All these have a very high cost/expense ratio. However, with the various robo-advisors currently in the market, there is really no excuse not to invest your money when they make it so hassle-free and cost-effective. In addition, remember that you are investing for the long term, there's no need to think about selling/withdrawing them when you see a little profit. Sharing this old article again - Never Ever Buy Investment-Linked Policy (ILP). 

At the end of the day, everyone's journey towards financial freedom is different. Let's work hard towards them! Start by tracking your net worth :)

You might be interested in these blog posts too:
- 2017 Net Worth: ~$510,000
- 2018 Net Worth: ~$640,000
- 2019 Net Worth: ~$886,000

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