Portfolio Returns for Feb 2024

I felt it would be good to track the returns on a regular basis since the returns will fluctuate from time to time depending on the stock market.

Here are the movements for this month:

The USA fund is the best performer, one head above the rest. The SPY fund is also on an upward trend, indicating a strong US market.

Cryptocurrency fund is also moving up...hopefully, it will be positive eventually 😓

All other funds unfortunately had little movement. These are mainly in the boring Singapore market. 

I also started tracking my robo-advisor portfolios. As of now Syfe and Stashaway have the highest time-weighted returns. 

The Syfe reit portfolio is unfortunately still negative but with interest rates coming down, I hope it will recover by this year!

Key events in the last 30 days:

• Economic data: US wholesale prices increased more than anticipated, gaining 0.3 percent in January on higher service costs.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/us-stocks-down-inflation-data-dims-hope-early-rate-cut

"While Oxford Economics expects that the wholesale inflation data is unlikely to change the Fed’s planned path for rate cuts this year, it added in a separate report that those calling for a quick drop in rates will probably be disappointed."

• Federal Reserve: The Fed maintained its hawkish stance on interest rates, and a cut in interest rates in Mar is not expected. This caused the market to drop, though for only 1 day. 

• Earnings season: Strong earnings reports from major companies like Apple and Alphabet boosted investor confidence.

• Geopolitical concerns: The ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions with China remained, but did not cause major market disruptions.

• Recessions: UK and Japan entered recessions (but the Japan stock market is at an all-time high!)

• Layoffs: Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, Snap, Zoom, Cisco all announced job cuts

There should be a correction in the US market soon, which is to be expected after such a strong rise. And after the correction, rise again!

I thought I would also put it in clarity here some well-understood principles:

When interest rates go down:

• USD will fall (ie. it takes less SGD to buy USD)
• Stocks will rise (because make more sense to deploy your money into stocks for better returns instead of bank deposits)
• Bond prices will rise (hence bond yields will fall)
• Reits will rise (due to less borrowing costs)
• Returns from money market funds will fall (returns from MMF are dependent on interest rates)

What this means for me: money from my MMF has to be re-deployed soonest. 

Wrapping up my Eighth Month of FIRE

I just finished my eighth month of FIRE in Jan 2024.

How time flies!

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

Eating

Had a meal at one of the more traditional restaurants in Singapore. 

Can anybody guess which restaurant from the below pics?

Fun

This was a busy month, settling both kids into the new school/enrichment classes routine.

Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun flying a kite...or trying to. 

Went kite flying at Marina Barrage. Pic is taken from the internet.

Expenses

In terms of expenses, this was an excellent month as I did not bust any of my budgets. The CDC vouchers helped.

 

Eating Out Target: $650

Eating Out Actual: $541.81

Household Target: $600

Household Actual: $524.67

Travel Target: $100

Travel Actual: $0

Entertainment Target: $50

Entertainment Actual: $0

Personal Target: $250

Personal Actual: $52.65

I only managed to find time to do a few food deliveries this month. All in, I only managed to earn $20.40 this month. 

I also had some revelations about financial freedom that I am taking time to gather my thoughts and will then write a post about it, so stay tuned. 

Onwards to the next month of FIRE!! 

Dividends for Jan 2024 [Financial Independence]

 Here are my dividends for Jan 2024:

So I collected $3241.02 in dividends for Jan 2024.

 
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:

My plan is to first receive $2500, then finally $5000 in dividends every month on average. 

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

So I collected $462.50 in interest payments this month. 

Onwards!