Something that everyone needs to read. It's almost second nature for us to compare ourselves with others, but we have to realise that everyone has different starting points and goals in life.

What matters is we focus on ourselves, set realistic goals to improve our lives and work towards it. That is success.

https://thewokesalaryman.com/2022/04/12/how-much-in-life-is-really-actually-up-to-you/

Very informative article for first time insurance buyers. What are the various kinds of insurance, how much coverage to get, how much should to spend on insurance and some common mistakes. These information is essential to making a more informed decision

go.dbs.com/askinsurance

Be greedy when others are fearful. After having minimal activity in the past two years, Warren Buffet has deployed a third of his war chest in the past quarter.

https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/05/01/buffett-berkshire-hathaway-annual-shareholders-meeting

He continues to preach not to time the market, but to focus on investing in great businesses. In fact, his biggest bets often look bad at first. For instance, he spent most of his net worth buying stocks in 2008, before the market finally bottomed in 2009. This goes to show that even if you don't time the bottom, you can still make a decent return by holding on to excellent businesses.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/01/investing/berkshire-hathaway-meeting-wrapup/index.html

If you j started investing in the last year and a half and missed the market bottom in March 2020, chances are your investments aren't doing so great. Mine too.

While it sucks because this likely forms a great part of your long term savings, I believe in staying the course as long as you follow sound principles.

Moving forward, my plan is to continue DCA-ing into the S&P500 index and not touch it for a minimum of 5 years. I certainly don't have the skills to time the bottom thus I believe DCA-ing is the best strategy for me.

https://thewokesalaryman.com/2022/05/12/an-important-message-if-you-just-got-rekt-by-the-financial-markets/

With so much uncertainty surrounding the markets due to stagflation fears, quality REITs could potentially provide stability to our portfolio.

Singapore REITs have delivered higher yields with less volatility compared to STI, Dow Jones and other Asian indices. Even in the face of mounting cost pressures, REITs will likely continue to provide resilient and steady dividends.

Many will have reservations about REITs given that interest rates are set to rise over the course of the year, which will increase their cost of borrowing. However, with 75% of their debt hedged to fixed interest rates and average debt to equity ratio of 37% (comfortably below MAS guidelines of 50%), Singapore REITs are poised to remain resilient in the face of global uncertainty.

This is not to say that REITs won't be affected by a recession, rising interest rates or geopolitical pressures. Most asset classes will likely be losers in such a scenario. However, REITs can provide stable cash flow and serve as a hedge against inflation, bringing stability to one's portfolio during troubling times.

https://str.sg/wXLr

While we're on the topic of REITs, Ascendas REIT is definitely one to consider. Ascendas REIT is Singapore's largest REIT and owns properties across three key segments:

1) Business spaces and life science
2) Logistics
3) Industrial and Data Centres

With trends such as rising popularity of E-commerce and digitalisation, rental prices of logistics and data centres will likely remain bouyant for the forseeable future. This will allow Ascendas REIT to distribute stable dividends to shareholders.

Share price of Ascendas REIT is now S$2.72, right at the historical average PB ratio of 1.2, making it fairly valued in my opinion. Its dividend yield is almost 5%, which is pretty attractive.

The last time Ascendas REIT was trading at this level was in March 2020 during the Covid crash. Thus, Ascendas REIT is definitely one stock I'll be watching closely as it can help bring stability to my portfolio amidst the uncertainty

Interesting read on whether ESG ratings are an accurate reflection of a company's committment to sustainability.

While I agree that the emphasis placed on sustainability is an absolute necessity, I think that investors should take caution in calling ESG the gold standard for sustainability.

Especially with the attention given to ESG in recent years, I wouldn't be surprised if there are many instances of greenwashing.

Furthermore, investors' definition of ESG may not align with that of the rating agencies. Investors should thus make their own judgement as to whether a company's ESG efforts aligns with their morals.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/news-analysis-maybe-theres-no-such-thing-as-an-esg-stock

I have never used BNPL services and I don't see myself using them in the future either. My reservation with using BNPL services is that it promotes irresponsible spending behaviour and leads to excessive consumer debt.

Of course, if you have the self-discipline to act responsibly, BNPL can help to smoothen out your monthly cashflow. For instance, instead of paying $1,800 upfront for a new laptop, you can pay $600 per month for three months.

However, this is a huge caveat as this survey found that 42% of BNPL Customers borrow money to make repayments. That's not unlike taking on credit card debt.

In my opinion, BNPL has a profound psychological effect. While technically the same, multiple smaller payments make a large expenditure more palatable. This nudges consumers into spending beyond their means. Thus, I would exercise extra caution when making purchases using BNPL services.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-07/42-of-buy-now-pay-later-customers-borrowed-money-to-make-repayments

Frankly my takeaway here is not how much we should aim to save every month. Rather, it is that investing is a must as it makes building our retirement nest egg a whole lot easier.

Based on the calculations done in the article, the median person who starts working from age 23 will have $465,241 in savings by age 60. This is taking into account wage increases and thus increase in annual savings.

Compare this to someone who invests his money to earn 5% return per annum. Even if he doesn't increase his annual savings over the years, his savings would have compounded to $654,383 within the same period. This is 40% more than the average person who doesn't invest.

Just by investing your savings at a modest 5% rate of return, you can enjoy more with less effort.

https://bit.ly/3xUdbJW

I've written before about inflation being a silent killer, we often don't feel the pain until it has begun eroding the purchasing power of our money. This article is a rude shock, highlighting the current inflationary environment has affected spending at the household level.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-had-it-with-inflation-11656840601

An extremely intriguing article about how the iPhone took over the world, in rather unexpected ways...

Brings to mind "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In which he writes about how the unpredictable events have severe impacts that seem obvious in hindsight.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iphones-creators-reveal-the-consequences-they-never-expected-11656667803

An interesting article on the largest luxury good company in the world.

The luxury good industry has always intrugued me because they are the epitome of having a strong brand as an economic moat.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-22/tiffany-and-co-refresh-puts-alexandre-arnault-center-stage

An interesting interview with a partner at a VC firm.

Especially the part on the Pareto Principle, that a small number of events drive the majority of outcomes. Research by Goldman shows that 5 stocks - Microsoft, Google, Apple, Nvidia and Tesla - account for more than a third of the S&P500s 26% return last year. This makes the case for a simple diversified portfolio - if you're unable to choose the top 5 stocks, just buy the index.

Me & My Money: Trust in power of compounding, don't try to time the market: VC partner https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/me-my-money-trust-in-power-of-compounding-dont-try-to-time-the-market-vc-partner

The title is misleading but the pointers raises are valid.

While the media glamorises big bets that make big money in a short period of time, people often forget that most wealth is built by being consistent over the long term.

This is because the longer your time horizon, the higher your odds of a positive return.

Just to be sure, there is no investment that can guarantee a positive return 100% of the time. But there is much to learn about psychology and business from investing. These lessons will last you a life time and can be applied going forward.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/why-it-is-hard-to-lose-when-you-invest-in-stocks

Now that borders are re-opening and travel is picking up, I thought it would be the perfect time to write about why I think a multi-currency account is a must-have when travelling and a review on Revolut - the multi-currency wallet that I have been using.

https://thedollarsapling.com/2022/08/19/multi-currency-accounts/

In today’s technology and innovation age, Intellectual Properties are increasingly an asset to businesses. Gone are the days when physical and financial assets such as real estate, stock and equipment drive the value of a business. Nearly 90% of the value of the S&P500 is represented by intangible assets - software, relationships, contracts and institutional knowledge.

For us individuals, this could mean that your network and relationships may very well be your most valuable asset.

https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/Headlines/Creating-business-value-through-intellectual-property-Opinion

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/yield-6-month-t-bill-hit-419-latest-auction-highest-1988-3028411

For those looking for safe investments to put their spare cash in, the T-bill is an excellent option. For the unitiated, T-bills are short-term government bonds. As such, the risk of default is extremely low. The government issues 6-month and 1-year T-bills.

The last time the T-bill was priced this attractively was about three decades ago. At the current yield, it beats the CPF ordinary account and comes close to the CPF special account. For a short term bond with almost zero risk, this is unheard of.

As these are short-term bonds, they are perfect for cash you'll need in a year or two that you do not wish to invest in equities or lock-up in fixed deposits. Instead of leaving them in the bank to earn measly interest rates, T-bills will effectively help limit the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation.

I personally subscribed to the latest round expecting an interest rate of around 3.7% (which is already extremely attractive). The increase in yield to >4% is a cherry on top.

Latest round of auction for T-bills is open. You can apply for it through any local bank. I personally use DBS.

However, you’ll need a CDP account (SGX). Which you can sign up for here. This will take about a week to approve, so apply asap!

Thereafter, you can log into DBS, go to the Invest Menu Tab > Singapore Government Securities > T-bill.

The current round is closing on 24 Nov 2022, but there are auctions happening in Dec, Jan and Feb as well so no big deal if you miss this one.

Three accounts I personally use and would recommend opening asap for those who haven't already done so.

1) Standard Chartered Jumpstart Account - this is my personal favourite
While interest rates on other savings accounts have risen in recent months, they often come with prerequisites such as minimum balance, salary and monthly spends/investments/bills. As a student, I have immense difficulty hitting these pre-requisites and don't wish to spend for the sake of earning bonus interest. Thus, I personally use the Standard Chartered Jumpstart Account to earn a 2% on my savings fuss-free.
As another benefit, the account also offers a debit card that lets you earn 1% cashback on all spend. That's a very attractive rate for a debit card with no minimum spend or annual fee.

2) Central Depository (CDP) Account
A CDP account basically safeguards the stocks and bonds you purchase through the Singapore stock market. More importantly, it is a prerequisite to buying Singapore Savings Bonds and T-bills which are now offering 30-year high interest rates. Due to the popularity of these securities, the account opening time have increased to 20 days. Even if you don't intend to buy stocks or Singapore Government Securities soon, it is still good to have a CDP account ready for when you do wish to invest your money.

3) Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) Account
I won't delve into detail here because I have written an article on this before. Basically, the main benefit of opening an SRS account now and topping up $1 is that it locks in your retirement age at 63 (the age you can withdraw money from your SRS account tax-fee). The retirement age is set to rise to 65 by 2030 so you will really do your future self a favour by creating the account today.
For more details on the benefits of the SRS account, check out this article I wrote.

For two more bonus accounts, check out this Seedly article

First post in a while, thought it would be apt to do a review and lay out my financial plan for the year.

Hoping to get back into writing and also share about a broader range of topics so stay tuned for more!

https://thedollarsapling.com/2023/02/25/year-in-review-2022/