STI reached All-Time High

Since my previous posts (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here) on calculating my returns from investing in STI over the last 10 years, the STI continued its good run. In fact, it is has reached all-time high of 4005 as of today 28 Mar 2025, though it didn't close above 4000 today. 

So I decided to write another feel-good post about my returns from investing in STI, which should be higher than the 6.4% CAGR reported in my previous post. 

I have collected $22,909.18 in dividends over the last 10+ years. I started DCA on 24 Apr 2014. 

So how much returns has that netted me?

Without dividends included, I achieved a CAGR of 4.2%. With dividends included, my CAGR increases to 6.8%! This CAGR is computed using the FV() formula in Google Sheets. 

Results are as of 28 Mar 2025. STI has already broken its previous ATH record of 3906 achieved in 2007 before the great recession. 

 I also share an article from Business Times with a statement that probably defied almost all financial influcencers' understanding of the STI:

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapores-sti-crosses-4000-mark-first-time

Noting the index’s new record, SGX said: “Since its inception in 1966, the STI has delivered strong returns to investors, with a total return of 40 per cent over the last three years, (representing a) compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9 per cent.”

The STI has even surpassed the S&P 500, which has a total return of 31 per cent and a CAGR of 9.4 per cent, the bourse operator noted.

STI beat SP500??? It is not clear what time period is taken for SP500, but I assume it is for last 3 years as stated above. If so, then SGX is cherry-picking the time period to show STI better than SP500. There are many other periods I'm sure where SP500 is better than STI. 

Portfolio Returns for Mar 2025

I felt it would be good to track the returns regularly since they fluctuate frequently depending on the stock market.

Here are the movements for this month. The unstoppable run of the cryptocurrency portfolio since Trump was elected as President has finally come to an end. Even so, it is still the fastest horse in my portfolio. 

                                

Same chart as above but converted to column chart.

For the Robo-Advisors, there is a general decline across all 3 of my robo-advisors. This is because there is increasing talk that the impact of Trump's tariffs will drive the US into a recession.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/is-us-heading-recession-2025-03-20/

REITs have recovered a bit but still in negative territory. REITs are down because Trump is re-elected as US President, and his policies are thought to be inflationary. As such, the Fed will likely have to maintain high interest rates for longer period of time, which is bad for REITs. 

Same chat as above but converted to a column chart.

Additionally, I think it will be interesting to see the breakdown of my portfolios in percentages (below). There is a component 'X' which I do not want to disclose for now. The concentration of 'X' is now 5.4% but is still too high. 

U.S. Trade Policies and Economic Concerns

President Donald Trump's announcement of reciprocal and sectoral tariffs, effective April 2, has raised concerns about a potential economic slowdown. These measures have led to increased market volatility, with U.S. stock futures falling and oil prices hitting a two-week high. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged the possibility of a recession, reflecting broader economic uncertainties. ​

https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/bessent-says-there-are-no-guarantees-there-will-not-be-us-recession-2025-03-16/

Singapore's Economic Outlook

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) survey indicates that economists expect Singapore's economy to grow by 2.6% in 2025, aligning with the government's forecast. Despite global challenges, this growth projection remains unchanged from the previous quarter. Additionally, MAS has adjusted its monetary policy stance, introducing measures to support economic stability. 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/economists-see-singapores-2025-growth-26-central-bank-survey-shows-2025-03-19

I have also attached an email from Syfe about the Singapore REITs sector, which I found quite interesting. They sound quite confident of a recovery in REITs this year.

Dividends for Feb 2025 - Towards 5k a month

Here are my dividends for Feb 2025:

                                    

So I collected $3,507.70 in dividends for this month. 

 
In case you are wondering, some stocks are repeated because I have 2 brokerage accounts.

Here are my monthly dividends over the last 6 years:

                                 

Here are the dividends I collected every year until the current day

                                

Here is the progress of my average monthly dividends over the years:

                         

The value for 2025 is just based on two data points though, and it should decline as we get more data points.

I plan to first receive $2500 (achieved), then finally $5000 in dividends every month on average.

Additionally, I share the interest I received from the various banks for the deposits in this month:

                                        

So I collected $704.26 in interest payments this month.

Also, in this month I made $88 from my side hustle - Grabfood delivery. 

All in, I made $4,299.96 this month from dividends, interest, food delivery.

Onwards!   

    

How much I have in Chocolate Finance?

There is some nonsense going on with Chocolate Finance in the last few days.  

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/chocolate-finance-withdrawal-walter-de-oude-axs-miles-4990846

As such, Chocolate stopped its instant withdrawals. 

Withdrawals will now take a few days, which is the industry norm. This is because the money you put inside Chocolate are invested with Bond funds. So when you liquidate, the Bond fund will take a few days to process and return you the money. 

So how did Chocolate provide instant withdrawals previously? It seems they kept a pool of money in order to facilitate this. However, when too many people want to withdraw, the pool ran out. The amount they keep in the pool is key. 

Below are the funds that are still in my Chocolate account, I have not touched it. 

I also attach a mail from Chocolate which I just received today:

Wrapping up my 21st month of Financial Independence

I just finished my 21st month of FI (Financial Independence) in Feb 2025.

Below is what I ate and did for fun, and a record of my expenses.

Eating

Usual home-cooked avocado-egg lunch.

Usual home-cooked avocado-egg lunch.

This is actually not bad.

Usual home-cooked avocado-egg lunch.

The best.

Fun

Paid a visit to this new hotspot in Singapore. Mandai Broadwalk!

Also, I made a few hiking videos, please check them out and give a thumbs up :D below:

                                    

                                  

Health

Health-wise I decided to keep track of my fitness:

Also decided to do some basic calisthenics (watch youtube) to build strength. 

For cardio I jog at least 2 times a week. 

Let's see whether my cholesterol levels will go down. 

Expenses (Discretionary only)

 

Eating Out Target: $650

Eating Out Actual: $648.58

Household Target: $600

Household Actual: $277.82

Travel Target: $100

Travel Actual: $160.28 (made at least 3 GetGo bookings to go Chestnut Nature Park)

Entertainment Target: $50

Entertainment Actual: $0

Personal Target: $250

Personal Actual: $35.82

Onwards to the next month of FI! 

 

My 10 Pots of Gold for Financial Independence - Completed 4 Pots!

Back in Aug 2024, I explained my strategy for 8 Pots of Gold for Perpetual Income:

https://financeopti.blogspot.com/2024/08/update-on-my-5-pots-of-gold-for.html

Now that it is 6 months since that post, it is timely to provide my progress on this strategy.

Here is how full each pot is back in of Aug 2024:

As of Aug 2024.

Here is what the pots look like now:

As of 25 Feb 2025.

For completeness, I decided to add in my SGP and USA pots too. They simply represent stocks of these countries that I bought and held till now. 

I have made progress on the TLT, S-Reit ETF, ABF Singapore Bond, and SP500 ETF pots. 

In fact, during this low point in S-Reit ETF prices, I topped up quite a bit. I plan to hold for the long-term and collect dividends. Long-term means 20 years or more. 

For the US ETFs pot, you may notice I slashed it by half. This is not because of some smart rebalancing/take profit and run move. Rather it is because I got fed up with my US Brokerage (Robinhood) and decided to pull all money out. For a few days, I was not able to access the account at all! And I called/emailed all the help numbers, all got hit with automated replies, which was ridiculous. If you use this brokerage and you need help at some point, good luck to you. 

The US ETFs pot is something I started in 2017 after reading the classic "A Random Walk down Wall Street". I followed the book's advice and invested in equal proportions of US stock, International stock, and emerging markets. I follow a DCA strategy for this one, but I purchase only once a year. Each year when I purchase, I re-balance the portfolio at the same time. These are the 3 ETFs that make up this fund:

• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
• Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS)
• Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)

What is important is each of these pots provides dividends, ie. perpetual income. Further, by allocating across multiple countries and sectors, I believe it is defensive enough. 

One issue is all these ETFs are all listed on US stock exchange and hence subjected to 30% US withholding tax. I plan to switch them to irish-domiciled funds to save on this tax. 

Will update my progress on these 10 pots of gold six months later.

 

Portfolio Returns for Feb 2025

I felt it would be good to track the returns regularly since they fluctuate occasionally frequently depending on the stock market.

Here are the movements for this month. The unstoppable run of the cryptocurrency portfolio since Trump was elected as President has finally come to an end. Even so, it is still the fastest horse in my portfolio. 

                                

The same chart as above but converted to a column chart.

For the Robo-Advisors, it did go up again this month. However, Syfe Reit+ has dug itself into a hole again. I will employ the same tactic I have been using to get out of these 'holes': Do Nothing. It will recover eventually. After all, the whole ETF can't just go to zero.

REITs are down because Trump is re-elected as US President, and his policies are thought to be inflationary. As such, the Fed will likely have to maintain high interest rates for longer period of time, which is bad for REITs. 

The same chart as above but converted to a column chart.

Additionally, I think it will be interesting to see the breakdown of my portfolios in percentages (below). There is a component 'X' which I do not want to disclose for now. The concentration of 'X' is now 6.4% but is still too high. 

In terms of market events, this is the month of tariffs. Trump launched tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China, set to take effect on February 4, 2025. However, on February 3, 2025, Trump announced that the tariffs on both Canada and Mexico would be paused for one month, following agreements from these countries to enhance border enforcement measures. I guess the next thing to watch is what happens on March 4 2025.

Stock market performance:

February 20, 2025: The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record high, as investors assessed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting and weighed President Donald Trump's tariff threats.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/stock-market-news-feb-20-2025

February 21, 2025: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 700 points, marking its worst day of the year, due to the aforementioned economic data and concerns about a slowing economy. There are concerns about Stagflation. Stagflation is a combination of inflation and stagnant economic growth. 

https://nypost.com/2025/02/21/business/dow-dives-700-points-as-latest-data-hints-at-slowing-economy

On the war front, on February 18, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held extensive discussions in Saudi Arabia, marking a notable shift in U.S.-Russia relations. They agreed to establish a high-level team to support peace negotiations, signaling a move away from previous isolationist policies. However, Zelensky was excluded from the talks and he made a lot of noise. 

As of today, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is ongoing, though it remains fragile. The hostage exchange almost didn't happen. It helped when Trump threatened 'all hell is going to break out' if the hostage exchange didn't happen. This reminded me of Thanos in the Endgame movie with his line "rain fire" when he almost got ripped to pieces by the Scarlett Witch. 

On the local front, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will launch a $5 billion programme through which it will partner with selected fund managers to invest in Singapore stocks. This is an interesting development, let's see the impact on the STI.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/new-5-billion-scheme-by-mas-to-boost-spore-stocks-as-part-of-measures-to-revive-sgx