Wrapping up my 16th month of Financial Independence

I just finished my 16th month of FI (Financial Independence) in Sep 2024.

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

Eating

Some restaurant in Malacca.

Some restaurant in Malacca.

Avocado, Egg with Pita Bread.

Egg with Pita Bread.

Avocado Egg with Pita Bread again!

Egg Mayo with Pita Bread.

Fun

September school holidays! Went with the kids to Malacca. 

Malacca river.

Kuala Lumpur.

Mid-autumn display at Gardens by the Bay.

Gardens by the Bay.

Went for a weekday jog at Gardens by the Bay one morning.

Expenses

In terms of expenses, did OK this month. 

 

Eating Out Target: $650

Eating Out Actual: $719.77 (Sep school holidays, had to feast a bit)

Household Target: $600

Household Actual: $269.85

Travel Target: $100

Travel Actual: $108.03

Entertainment Target: $50

Entertainment Actual: $45.23 

Personal Target: $250

Personal Actual: $52.41

Onwards to the next month of FI!

Returns of my One-Fourth Fund after 10 Years

Ten years ago (22-Sep-2014 to be exact), I started my One-Fourth fund. 

The One-Fourth fund was started after the big hoo-ha about the 10 million population planning figure for Singapore by 2030. This was back in 2014. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/ge2020-10-million-population-not-a-goal-but-a-planning-parameter-says-liu-thai-ker

After the news came out, a lot of people were upset by the number. However, some investment articles suggested stocks to buy given the supposed huge influx of people. Since there are more people, the investment article suggested stocks in the following industries:

• Telco
• Transport
• Bank
• Finance

After all, when people move into Singapore. They will need these essential services, right?

Based on the above, I selected the below 4 stocks based on Sharpe Ratio:

• Starhub
• ComfortDelGro
• UOB
• SGX

The 4 combinations above gave the highest Sharpe Ratio, which means the highest returns divided by volatility. The plan was that I will dollar-cost average into these stocks twice a year, and I will rebalance the stocks each time such that all 4 stocks hold equal value. 

This fund took a lot of hits along the way, and it was negative for most of the time. For Starhub, it was in overall decline throughout the years. For ComfortDelGro, ride-hailing services like Grab came to prominence, which led to a gradual decline in ComefortDelGro stocks.

I dollar-cost averaged from 2014 till 2020. It is only recently I recouped my losses with the stellar run in STI.

I recently crunched the numbers and found that the CAGR of this fund is 3.50% (see above). Simple returns are 26.46%. Again, this is after 10 years. 

Nothing to shout about, but I just want to share to show that some stocks (ie. blue-chip stocks) are worth holding, just need time to recover. 

Portfolio Returns for Sep 2024 - new All-Time Highs!

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

Here are the movements for this month. Most of my funds reached all-time highs. This is because in the month September, the Fed lowered the interest rates (finally!) by 50 basis points to the range of 4.75%-5%.

                                

For the Robo-Advisors, it did go up but the gains were not as significant as my pure stocks portfolios. What is relieving is that Syfe Reit+ fund is finally positive. 

                                

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 12.4% but is still too high. 

                                            

Market events over the last month: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz04md0zdrno

The Fed lowered interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.75%-5%. This is the first rate cut in 4 years. With this rate cut, Reits and Bonds are expected to rise. However, bank stocks will fall. How much each segment will rise or fall is unclear though, as some say the interest rates will not go to zero.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapore-stocks-rise-2007-level-highs-cheered-us-rate-cut-sti-1-1

On the home front, SG stocks rose to 2007 highs. This is after a whooping 17 years!

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mas-ready-make-bold-changes-revitalise-equities-market-chee-hong-tat

The authorities finally seem willing to do something to revitalize the SGX laggard. 

Examples include building Singapore as a leading real estate investment trusts (Reits) hub by identifying a market need and creating a supportive regulatory ecosystem for such growth. The Republic today holds the largest Reits market in Asia ex-Japan, Chee highlighted.

This is following a barrage of opinion pieces in the media suggesting the authorities to do something to revitalize the stock market, such as this one:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/singapore-exchange-sgx-stock-market-mas-review-group-company-list-ipo-4585451 

Onwards! 

Dividends for Aug 2024 - Biggest Harvest Ever!

The dividends I collected for Aug 2024 were the biggest ever.

Here are my dividends for Aug 2024:

                                    

So I collected $4,605.22 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:

                                 

August has always been the month when I reap the most bountiful harvest. 

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

                            

I have already surpassed my total yearly dividends in the previous year of 2023. 

For the year 2024, my average monthly dividends per month is now $2,754.91. 

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

                         

I plan 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 this month:

                                        

So I collected $1,399.40 in interest payments this month. This is the largest interest I have received thus far. 

All in, I received $6,004.62 passive income this month!

You can see the largest interest was obtained from UOB, where I received both bonus interest as well as Nation of Savers promotion interest of $700. The Nation of Savers promo seemed basic enough, but there were devils in the details, which will require a separate post.  

Onwards!   

 

Wrapping up my 15th month of Financial Independence

I just finished my 15th month of FI (Financial Independence) in Aug 2024.

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

Eating

Nasi Goreng.

First time making quiche. Surprising simple. First, put egg.

Next, add tomatoes and onion.

Add spinach.

Add mozzarella cheese and bake.

Quiche with salad.

Another quiche.

Yumz.

My usual home-cooked egg wrap.

Fun

Nothing much this month. Just went to the National Day carnival and harvested my Kailan. 

Expenses

In terms of expenses, did well this month. 

 

Eating Out Target: $650

Eating Out Actual: $669.30 (some eating)

Household Target: $600

Household Actual: $189.63

Travel Target: $100

Travel Actual: $24

Entertainment Target: $50

Entertainment Actual: $43.53 

Personal Target: $250

Personal Actual: $83.25

Onwards to the next month of FI!     

Portfolio Returns for Aug 2024

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

Here are the movements for this month. USA, SPY, BCIP, and S-Reit ETF reached all-time highs. USA fund shot up not just because of market movements, but because I sold some losing positions to rebalance. 

                                

For the Robo-Advisors, most went back up again after the retracement of the previous month. For Syfe Reit, it has completed its double-dip pattern. 

                                

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 14% but is still too high. 

Market events over the last month: 

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/feds-powell-says-time-has-come-cut-interest-rates-4564871

Interest rates are now at the historic high of 5.5%, which means the Fed has ample room to cut.

"Chair Powell's speech made it clear that there are likely a series of rate cuts on the way, and some could be of the 50-basis-point variety," wrote Omair Sharif, the president of Inflation Insights. "While some Fed officials may want to go in 25-basis-point increments, the Chair retained optionality ... i.e., 'we'll go 50 basis points if we feel like it is needed.'"

Markets are betting the Fed's policy rate will be in the 3.00 - 3.25 per cent range by the end of 2025, more than 2 percentage points below where it is now.

Onwards!

Dividends for Jul 2024 - Towards 5k a month

Here are my dividends for Jul 2024:

So I collected $3,617.16 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:

                                 

July is the month where things are starting to ramp up, with a peak harvest in August. 

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

                            

Interestingly, in 2 years, I have already surpassed my total yearly dividends in 2022. 

For the year 2024, my average monthly dividends per month is now $2,490.58. 

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

                                 

I plan to first receive $2500 (almost there!), 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 $578.71 in interest payments this month. This is the largest interest I have received thus far. 

It was achieved with a bit of fine-tuning:

https://financeopti.blogspot.com/2024/07/financial-fine-turning-unlocking-my.html

Onwards!