An encounter with the lions

Happy Chinese New Year!
 
Well, this year belong to the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rat.

Once again it is one of those years where some of the Chinese Zodiac happens to oppose 'Tai Sui'. As one of those born under the Zodiac sign to oppose "Tai Sui' this year, I went to a temple to pray. A lion dance group turned up while I was there and I get to see the whole affairs.

Pretty lucky I should say.

 

Lion dance was a common affairs during the Lunar Chinese new year, but wait something not common for this one!!!! 

 

WOW! It's Rat beating the drum!!!

Bet you guys don't get to see this rare scene at other places. LOL.  

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!

  

The Little Things around us - A small beauty in unexpected place

This little beauty in full bloom was discovered sitting among an unexpected location.
Is it a garden? 

Nope. It is located along Orchard Road. On the street between Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City.

 

 An unexpected discovery. :). 

Wealth Management Skill - Man of the Match

'会赚钱是好事，会理财是大事' 

Knowing how to earn money is a good thing, knowing how to manage wealth is a big thing.

quotes translated from the book written by Tim Maurer on 'Simple Money'.

Basically, it is not hard to earn money. Whether big or small, as long as you have the right skills or qualifications. But when it comes to manage your wealth, it is a big difference.   

I am sure many people had heard of the story about a man who strike a huge lottery, quit his job and enjoy his new wealth, but within years he is looking for job again. He had spend all his lottery wins money. What went wrong with his life? Luck has nothing to do with it, he did get lucky in winning the lottery, but he did not know how to manage his wealth and lost it all in the end.

Many people had a wrong perception about investing and wealth management. These two are totally two different things. Investing your wealth to make more money is merely just a small part of your wealth management. Wealth management involved a change in mindset and lifestyles. 

Words alone cannot really bring out the actual impact of a person's lifestyles on his financial status. Simple concept like this:

Spending < Income or Spending > Income

It is easy to understand the equation. But if we are to look deeper, there are many components influencing both the spending and income. If an individual's lifestyle involved a lot of spending more than what he is earning, naturally he ended up in this equation:

Spending > Income

Common traits of a Spendthrift

They spend like no tomorrow       - I want to enjoy life

They spend without thinking        - The most expensive is the best!

They spend on unnecessaries       - I don't care! It is beautiful! I want it!

They spend on pride                    - I want a LV handbag

They spend with a habit               - It feel strange when I did not buy anything.

And the Man of the Match is:

'Oh no! Installment, bills and loans! Payday still 3 weeks away! Bank account near zero! I am doom!'

Sound familiar?    

This just sound like a man trying to stop a leaking boat from sinking by bailing out the water every moment. They tend to become rather emotional, especially after the payday. Money comes, within 3 days......boom! Near bottom again. The only time I can see a happier face was the bonus month. I wonder how they could live this kind of lifestyle.

 We are living in a world fill with the lure of material attractions and good food. The convenient platforms of spending through NETS and credit cards lead to the common lifestyle spending habits of 'Pay now, Worry later'. When the payment comes knocking at the door, one wonder where did all the money gone. 

Compare to another individual's lifestyle which involved less spending, one who do not chase after luxuries of life, keep a nice records of his expenses and save the remains of his income into a nice solid bank which pay........xxx interest. He probably would have some in Fixed Deposit or bonds, or an annuity since these require little attention from him and someone else in a form of financial planner will take care of it. He would have met this equation.

Spending < Income

Common traits of a Saver

They save like no tomorrow       - Every penny count!

They save without thinking        - Oh i don't know. One day those money might help.

They save on unnecessaries       - Why need a watch when a hand phone can read time.

They save on pride                     -Pride is hollow

They save with a habit                - NTUC selling at $4.50. Cold Storage at $4.20! Can save 30c!                                         

And the Man of the Match is:

Ah! I save money so that one day when I finally retire, I will have enough money to cover my living expenses.'

Well, financially, he would be in stronger position than the spendthrift. His wealth grows slow, and enjoy lesser quality of life, so he would need to continue working to prepare his eventual retirement. When company pay some bonus, he can enjoy a bit more luxury on himself. Generally, he do not have to chase money waiting for paycheck, and could sleep with a bit better peace of mind. Assuming the inflation do not erode too much of his wealth, he should be able to live off his saving when he retire.     

So, we have our Man of the Match, but wait. Does that make them Champion of the Match? After 90 min of roaring and fighting across the gigantic big green field called the 'rat race', the champion finally emerged:

'I save money and make those money work for me so that I retire anytime I want and still live the life I want'

Well done. So, when will the champion go for World Cup competition? 

'Are you crazy? I'm not Bill Gates, I'm not Warren Buffet, and most certainly not Donald Trump! I am quite content with the local Tiger Cup champion.'

Well, I do not know about others, but personally I think being a Tiger Cup Champion for a humble Mr Average is good enough.

So which category do you think you are in? :)

Monthly Financial Updates and Year 2019 reviews

This monthly sustainability report does not include any of the salaried income. The basis for this monthly financial review is to gauge the sustainability of the status of my financial independence based on the total amount of passive income received.

The month of December was a last harvest month for dividend collection in 2019. Total dividend collected for the period between January-December amounted to $30,285.89, while the rental income was revised down to $1,500 due to moving out of one occupant.

Review for Year 2019

I managed to attain my goal 30k dividend collection for this year. This average to an amount of $2.5k passive income per month from this war machine. (This does not include any profit gains from trading)

This goal was achieved mainly due to the boast from banking sector. As for Reit sector, the industrial Reit did not perform well compare to last year, certain counters saw some cut in dividend payout, but the Reit portfolio was overall compensated by the growth of large caps counters like Mapletree. There was no addition of counter. Only one counter was sold for ESR Reit to reduce my exposure in industrial Reit.

I had just received the payout from the merger between A-HTrust and Ascott Reit in December. Because I had acquired A-HTrust during the period of oil crisis in year 2016, the merger price turns out to be much higher than my entry price. As such, I managed to lock some profits from this merger event. Details can be viewed below:

Merging of A-HTrust with Ascott Reit

Basically I only managed to hold A-HTrust for about 3 years before its value went up and allow me to obtain profit gains. As I mentioned in my investment lore, I look to hold an investment for long term in generating consistent income, at the same time I look to enter the market when the entry price is attractive to acquire. This require a long term deployment of a war chest ready to enter the market when an opportunity comes. 

The growth of war chest for year 2019 was slow due to the divert of resources to pay down housing loan. Nevertheless, I strive to maintain at least 15-20% of war chest ready to grab any window of opportunity offered by the market. 

Rental income for year 2019 overall has been stable. The quality of the tenants were excellent who had given us no trouble and always input the monthly rental without fail. There has been no damage cost incurred, apart from some maintenance cost on the property itself.

Household expenses remained consistent, and for year 2019 there has been surplus of passive income for every month. We are now considering acquiring a 4th Fixed Deposit to divert the surplus income. However, the year 2019 saw a dramatic increase in wellness expenses due to re-occurring illness and overall poor health. For the year 2020, the state of wellness would remain the highest priority.

Moving forward, I will continue to wait for opportunity from market to grow my portfolio and also pay off the housing loan to reduce the debt level. Ahem, and above all!! Try my best not to fall sick more than 3 times this year.  Ok! Ok! I know! No oily food, no fry food, no red meat, lots of water and plenty of rest. I try.😆