New Year Resolution 2016

As we are heading toward the end of 2015, it is also the time to pen down my thoughts on what is the new year resolution for the coming year.

For 2016, these are the action items that I hope to achieve.

1) I want to be more actively writing my blog.
I had not been writing actively for 2015 so for 2016, I hope to clock at least 52 posts which equate to 1 post per week.

2) I want to save more than S$10k for 2016.
I did not manage to save S$10k for 2015 due to commitment for raising my children, paying of car loan, holidays and etc. Relying on my primary job income is not enough, hence I need to source for passive income to improve my savings. This can be through writing of blog and earn income online from advertisement. Another possibility I can think of is to be an Uber driver. I am still considering this option and would like to research more before I act on it.

3) I want to exercise regularly and eat healthy to maintain my weight.
My BMI is 25.33 which belongs to the overweight category. As age is catching up, I need to eat healthy and also exercise regularly. Gone are the days whereby I can eat anything I want and not getting fat when I'm young. So the target I set for myself is to have BMI below 25.

6 Singapore satellites successfully launched

We had launched 6 Singapore satellites on 16 Dec 2015 20:30pm local time successfully. You can find the news here. This is a great celebration to mark an end to our Singapore Golden Jubilee 50th year birthday. And also earmark the future for our Singapore Space Industry. This is not the Singapore first satellite launch. The first Singapore satellite launched was X-Sat. It was built as a experimental and also allowed us to gain an experience in building and operating a remote sensing satellite.

Yes, I am part of the team in contributing this effort to launch our satellite to celebrate SG50 birthday. That's explain why I had not been writing much for the past 1 week plus. We are busy preparing for the launch, and now it had successfully launched. The next phase for us is to ensure the health of the satellite is maintained, then followed by carrying out it's main space mission objective. The objective of the satellite is meant for disaster monitoring, haze monitoring, maritime security and surveillance monitoring, urban planning etc. There are many applications that can be used from the satellite. This is not the typical kind of satellite that we had known such as the telecommunication satellite for live broadcasting, broadband usage and handphone reception. This satellite is meant for surveillance purposes.

I am very proud to be in the team and also in this Singapore Space Industry. It is a very niche industry but is sun-rise industry. I believe we will get more well known few years down the road and who knows next time we might be another IPO company listed in the SGX stock exchange.

Net Worth

As the year is going to draw an end soon in a couple of weeks, I had seen quite a few bloggers blog about their latest net worth in The Tale of Azrael, Bully The Bear and Turtle Investor. It was really amazing to see some of them having a positive net worth when their housing loan is not fully paid off yet. It mean to say, they can use their current asset to pay off their remaining housing loan if they want to. Why they did not do so? The only reason I can think of is the interest rate is still below the CPF housing loan rate of 2.6%. They can use their spare cash to invest for better return and also make use of the money in CPF to pay for the housing loan.

So now, what is my net worth? Initially I also feel like calculating my net worth to see how I fare. But after much consideration, I think there is no need for me to calculate as it is definitely a negative net worth. We had bought an Executive Condominium (EC) in 2012 and recently it announced Temporary Occupation Period (TOP) somewhere in mid of this year. Yes, we just moved into our new home for three months. We took a 80% housing loan from the bank and now we paid our installment monthly using our CPF. So with 80% housing loan liabilities, my net worth is certainly a negative one.

Our housing loan interest rate keep going up since last year from an initial rate of 1.05% to now 1.711%. We could pay off 30% of the loan by using our CPF monies. But we didn't do so. Reason being, the interest is still below the 2.5% CPF is giving us annually. As long as the interest rate is still below 3% after the announcement from the Fed on 16 Dec 2015, we will continue to pay off monthly using our CPF. Otherwise, we will consider making a lump sum payment to pay off 30% of the housing loan.   

Although, I have a negative net worth now but I am not upset about it. We are slowly building our asset and one day I believe we will be positive. It's a matter of time. If we can provide a better housing environment for our children, we feel we had done our part as a parent to nurture our children in their upbringing. 

Route to Financial Freedom

Everyone's route to Financial Freedom is different from one another. Some may achieve Financial Freedom earlier and some may achieve later. It does not matter when you achieve it but of course one will be happier if he or she achieve it earlier. What's more important is you achieve it and you can choose to lead the life you want after that.

Why I say everyone's route is different? One who is single is able to live his life simple and frugal if he wants it. One who is married and with children is unable to live his life so straightforward. He got to save up for marriage, housing, renovation, children and etc whereas one who is single the most only cares about housing and renovation. It is easier to achieve Financial Freedom if you are single as you decide what's life you want to lead. There is no right or wrong which route you take.

Of course there is pros and cons to be single or married with children. Being single, you can save majority of your salary and invest. Being married with children, you got to set aside a small portion of your salary for saving if you can. Sometime even no savings as circumstances do not allow you to do so. Example children fall sick suddenly, bring them out for dinner over the weekend, buy toys for them during festive season or their birthday and bring them for holiday. There are simply too many.

 

For me, I am married with 2 children. There is alot of commitment. To bring food on the table for the family. Pay for the child care fee and tutor fee, insurance coverage and medical bills, utility bills and the list goes on. But no matter how hard it is to save money, you still have to save up for rainy days and also for your retirement. Fortunately my wife is also working, so we can cover the expenses together. It will be very tough for the husband if the wife is not working in this era as inflation keep on going up, expenses also going up.

Eventually we can be Financial Freedom. But it will be later as compare with someone who is single. So we should not compare or envy someone who had achieve it earlier. There is more joy in life than to be Financial Freedom. Watching your children grow up, the fun and laughter together with them is priceless. Achieving Financial Freedom ultimately is to share the love and joy together as a family. Most importantly is to live life to the fullness and leave this place without regret. 

So what's your route to Financial Freedom? Can you share with me especially if you are married and with children? How can you cope with the rising living cost and still able to save money?

New Outlook

Today I spent the whole morning reventing my blog to include a short summary of myself and also create a tab to show my portfolio at one glance. Now I feel that my blog looks better and more pro now haha. *giving myself a pat*.

I had not been actively blogging for awhile. So now I shall try to blog more frequently if times permit. But most importantly family bonding still come first. So what do you think of my new blog outlook? Leave some comments for me if you happen to see my blog. Thank.

December 2015 Portfolio Update

Stock Name	No of Shares	Average Price	Total Value
NeraTel	14000	$0.64	$8,960
Accordia Golf Trust	9000	$0.63	$5,670

Total Invested Capital	$14,630.00
Total Dividend Collected 2015	$692.80
Total Capital Gain 2015	$326.70
Total Investment Gain 2015	$1019.50

I had added another 5000 shares of Accordia Golf Trust into my portfolio last month to increase my exposure on this trust before exercise XD. This bring in another additional $208.80 of dividend collected for the Year 2015. Total dividend and capital gain for 2015 increases to $1,019.50 which translated into 6.97%. Still not a bad result after all. This should conclude my total earnings for this year. My resolution for 2015 is to have a portfolio return of at least 7% annual yield which comprises of capital gain and dividend. Looking at the result, I just barely make it. So I hope next year I will be able to achieve this 7% or even higher.

Although total earning for 2015 stands at 6.97%, however both of my holdings are suffering unrealized losses due to poor results on their financial statements. I had faith in them and I trust they will do well in the next 1-2 years. My investment philosophy is to invest for income so I am not bother about their price fluctuation as long as the business prospect outlook is still looking good.

I will update in my next post on the total savings for Year 2015 and whether I am on track on my goal toward financial freedom when I reached 55.