Portfolio Returns for Nov 2025

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

Here are the movements for this month. The biggest drop is in my crypto portfolio. As the saying goes, "what goes up must come down".

                             

For the Robo-Advisors, a downward move across all my portfolios. This is the 4th positive month for Syfe Reit+ after a long wait.

                                            

Additionally, I think it will be interesting to see the breakdown of my portfolios in percentages (below). 

                                  

Market trends from the last 30 days: 

• Gaza war was declared over, and surprisingly I think the general consensus is that it is still over. 
• Increasing talks of an AI bubble, which caused the stock market to pull back. This is even after Nvidia announced blockbuster earnings and 5-year backlogs.
• The defining feature of the last 30 days has been a retreat from all-time highs and a notable sell-off in the technology sector, particularly in the mega-cap AI-related stocks
• Rate Cut Hopes vs. Reality: Market sentiment remains highly sensitive to the Federal Reserve's path. Hopes for a December rate cut have fluctuated significantly. Dovish comments from Fed officials (like New York Fed President Williams) in the last few days of the period helped spark a sharp rebound, but the general technical environment remains cautious.
• The Singapore government, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), recently announced a significant upward adjustment to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for the current year, 2025, from 1.5-2.5% to 4.0%.

 

Dividends for Oct 2025 - Towards 5k a Month

Here are my dividends for Oct 2025:

                                    

So I collected a paltry $693.66 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, with Oct typically being the lowest month:

                                 

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

                          

Already surpassed the yearly dividends from 1 year ago.

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

                         

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

By simple projection of the above chart, I will only hit my target of 5k a month in dividends after 2027.

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

                                        

Also, in this month, I made $117.87 from my side hustle - GrabFood delivery. I tried to set a target for myself of earning 83.33 a month, so that in a year, I will make 1k from GrabFood. 

All in, I made $1,496.82 this month from dividends, interest, and food delivery.

Onwards!   

  

 

Wrapping up my 29th Month of Financial Independence [FI]

I just finished my 29th month of FI (Financial Independence) in Oct 2025.

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

Eating

Home-cooked meal. Sweet potato is a new addition.
I find it has one of the highest ratios for tastefulness over effort, which I like.

A new kimbap stall opened, and it was good.

Lei Cha in Kulai over the Deepavali long weekend.
Only recently did I learn Kulai is a haven for Hakka food.

Also in Kulai.

Good Times Cafe at Eko Botani, JB.
There is quite a bit of vibe about this place.

Good Time Cafe at Eko Botani, JB.

Sinful cakes to celebrate a birthday.
Suspect it was these cakes that made me gain 1 KG.

Fun

The highlight of this month was going to Malacca during the Deepavali long weekend.

Went to this resort in Malacca.

Enjoyed the nature and the serene surroundings.

Raffles banded langur?

Flowers of the Cannonball tree.

Health

I have started tracking my fitness levels, and below is what I have so far. I used to be able to do at least one muscle-up back in Mar 2025, but after an illness, I lost it. Now trying to get it back 💪. 

Expenses (Discretionary only)

Burst a few budgets this month. I think I may have to revise the budgets for 2026. For one thing, the children are definitely eating more.

 

Eating Out Target: $650

Eating Out Actual: $761.67

Household Target: $600

Household Actual: $396.17

Travel Target: $100

Travel Actual: $170 (petrol for travel to Malacca)

Entertainment Target: $50

Entertainment Actual: $0

Personal Target: $250

Personal Actual: $404.51 (birthday present, made a donation to Gaza relief, went for dental)

Onwards to the next month of FI! 

  

    

10th Year Anniversary of this Blog and its Returns

I think the earliest form of content creation is writing blogs.

This was during a time when there was no YouTube, no Instagram, no Facebook, etc.

I recall some articles advocating writing blogs for a living in those days.

Inspired by the above, I started this blog in 2015.

Below are my earnings each month versus the number of articles I wrote.

 

Earnings each month versus the number of articles written.

In general, the more articles written each month, the higher the earnings.

In fact, the correlation of articles written each month vs. earnings is 0.63, which can be considered a strong correlation. 

Here's how monetization works in Blogger - every time a visitor clicks on an ad, you make some money. When it accumulates to 150, you can cash out the money.

You can also see from the above chart that my total earnings are much less than the required 150 to cash out, even after 10 years.

However, no regrets writing this blog as it helps me to chronicle my FI journey every step of the way. 

So I will continue documenting my FI journey on this blog!

My learnings:

• The more articles you write, the higher the earnings
• It is tough to make a living by writing blogs
• If you want to jump on a trend, jump in right at the start of it, not at the end - but this is not easy, as everyone is likely preoccupied with one thing at any point in time (kids, work, caregiving, etc.)