Portfolio Update Mar 2024

Time flies. The first quarter of 2024 has come to an end for me to update my investment portfolios.

My SGX Income Portfolio value rises to $347k from $340k. 

My US/HK Growth Portfolio value inches up to US$17.7k.

My SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio value increases to $159k from $147k mainly due to my contributions and capital appreciation of OCBC.

The US stock markets have attained fresh record highs amidst uncertainties over interest rates, ongoing wars and diminishing fears of global recession. US 10-year and 30-year government yields have rebounded slightly and the Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates high for the short-term before cutting up to 3 times this year.

Despite being clouded by uncertainties, immense noises and fears, it is crucial that long-term investors like us always remain calm, unwavered and focused on our investment objectives. Stick to our own plan and continue deploying our financial resources into high quality income-producing instruments such as government-backed risk-free bonds, property assets, or strong growth businesses tactfully according to our own risk appetite. 

This is a month when I am reaping fruits of my investment labour of planting and sowing seeds in the past as many Reits paid off their dividends.

Portfolio Actions

Nil

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $138 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Mar in SRS.

2. Received $429.55 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Mar.

3. Received $744.10 of dividends from Capitaland Ascendas Reit on 6 Mar.

4. Received $504.84 of dividends from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 7 Mar.

5. Received $149.60 of dividends from Parkway Life Reit on 7 Mar in SRS.

6. Received $346.56 of dividends from Keppel DC Reit on 11 Mar in SRS.

7. Received $330 of dividends from MPACT on 14 Mar in SRS.

8. Received $300.17 of dividends from Keppel Reit on 15 Mar in SRS.

9. Received $463.26 of dividends as 303 shares from Mapletree Log Trust on 20 Mar.

10. Received $299.10 of dividends from IREIT on 21 Mar.

11 Received $819 of dividends from Aims Apac Reit on 22 Mar.

12. Received $164.52 of dividends from Capitaland China Trust as 203 shares on 28 Mar.

13. Received $981 of dividends from CICT as 506 shares on 28 Mar.

SGX Income Portfolio

Portfolio Value = $340k

US/HK Growth Portfolio

Moomoo

US$3.9k

Tiger Broker

US$12.9k

Syfe Trade

US$0.9k

Portfolio Value = US$17k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

Portfolio Value = S$159k

Thanks for reading.

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Applied for Singapore Savings Bonds (SBAPR24 GX24040Z)

  

The Apr 2024 tranche of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) has an average yield of 3.04% over 10 years.

The first 6 years yield a flat 2.95% per annum; 7th year yields 3.04% p.a, 8th year yields 3.19% p.a. and 9th, 10th years yield 3.28% p.a.

Even though such yield is lower than other low to risk-free alternatives such as T Bills, money market funds and bank fixed deposits which easily yield more than 3% currently, it is higher than CPF OA rate of 2.5% p.a.

If we also consider the great flexibility, liquidity of SSB for redemption and long-term lock down at above 3% p.a for the next decade, then this tranche of SSB is fairly enticing for us to park our spare cash at zero risk, capital guaranteed for the mid to long-term. 

We could redeem SSB anytime, earning interest at 2.95% in the short-term while getting back our capital for deployment to other investments or large item purchases unlike T Bills and bank fixed deposits which would incur losses or forfeit of interest with premature withdrawals. Do note that the redemption process of SSB can be up to 1 month of lead time.

I decided to apply for $10k of this Apr 2024 tranche using my idle funds in SRS.

There it goes.

S$900m is up for grabs.

The first payment will be on 1 Oct 2024 and this bond will mature on 1 Apr 2034.

I will still be happy to inject more cash into SSB in the next few months if the yields stay above 3%. My ultimate aim is to max out the personal limit of S$200k soon.

If you are interested in this tranche of SSB, do note that the application dateline is on today, 25 Mar 2024, 9pm for online applications.

Thank you for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Passive Income in 1Q 2024 exceeds S$6k

 

The first quarter of 2024 is on the brink of ending.

While I am grateful to be a wage slave having collected 3 months of salary from work, I am actually not happy because active income is derived from trading time for money, seeing bosses' faces, dealing with crappy work portfolios and worse of all, taking a toil on my mind, soul and body and being taxable.

Real joy emanates from passive income streaming into our bank accounts automatically from doing nothing, other than owning a tiny piece of income-producing cake such as properties, businesses, REITs or stocks.

For Q1 2024. my passive income from Singapore Savings Bonds, stocks and Reits in my investments are as follows:

$123.20 Savings Bond (2 Jan)

$147.50 Savings Bond SRS (2 Jan)

$128.70 Savings Bond (1 Feb)

$93.30 Suntec Reit (28 Feb)

$309.50 Ascott Trust (29 Feb)

$138.00 Savings Bond SRS (1 Mar)

$429.55 Savings Bonds (1 Mar)

$744.10 Ascendas Reit (6 Mar)

$504.84 Mapletree Ind Trust (7 Mar)

$149.60 Parkway Life Reit (7 Mar) SRS

$346.56 Keppel DC Reit (11 Mar) SRS

$330.00 MPACT (14 Mar)

$300.17 Keppel Reit (15 Mar) SRS

$463.26 Mapletree Log Trust (20 Mar) DRP 303 shares

$299.10 IREIT (21 Mar)

$819.00 Aims Apac Reit (22 Mar)

$164.52 Capitaland China Trust (28 Mar) DRP 203 shares

$981.00 CICT (28 Mar) DRP 506 shares

Altogether they amount to $6,471.90.

This is a 21% Year-on-Year increase from my passive income in Q1 2022 of $5,335.98.

Free cashflow is indeed awesome and enjoyable!

I value passive income highly because they do not require much effort nor labour to earn. Furthermore, dividend income is not taxable in Singapore.

I strive to continue living frugally, save up, invest in any bear or bull market conditions, slowly and steadily build up my investments, staying on track towards achieving financial freedom.

My ultimate finacial freedom goal is to own an investment portfolio valued at one million dollars yielding at least $50k of passive income annually, or $12.5k of passive income quarterly. I am barely halfway there.

Nonetheless, I look forward to earning more passive income for the rest of 2024.

Thanks for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

5 Lessons Learnt from a Broken Phone

 

For the past 2 weeks, I have been battling with my mobile phone by twisting the USB-C cable and tilting phone position in order for it to be properly charged.

Since yesterday, I have sent the phone for diagnosis at Xiaomi service centre and 2 reputable mobile phone repair specialists. They all concluded that the issue lies with the motherboard, not charging port nor battery. It is not cost effective to replace the motherboard with a low chance of recovering back the data.

This budget Xiaomi Pocophone M4 Pro finally died today as it could not properly channel electric charges anymore. I have only used it for 13 months and was unlucky to have missed the warranty by just 1 month.

Nonetheless, I have given up hope of using this phone. As an interim solution, I migrated the commonly-used banking and authenticator apps back to my old Huawei phone which has been a trusted and reliable powerhorse even after 6 years. I have also ordered a new Oppo budget phone - A78 4G for under $280 by applying discount vouchers at Shopee today.

This is not the first time I experienced an unexpected death of a mobile phone. Many years ago, my Asus Zenphone could not boot up due to firmware issue. Before the pandemic, my iPhone 7 crashed from selfie stick onto ground while taking selfie in Taiwan.

A broken spoilt phone can be a real pain, but it can also be a surprisingly enlightening experience. Here are 5 lessons I learned from my time with this broken phone:

1. Importance of Backups

The only regret from this incident was not to backup the photos, videos and data in my phone regularly. This resulted in me losing a large part of the photos and videos taken during vacations last year. I have accepted the loss, being part and parcel of life, which itself culminates in death. This experience served as wake-up call to regularly synchronise data into cloud or backup photos and videos to computer or hard disk drive. Backup is a great form of data insurance and security.

2. We Can Live Without Constant Connectivity

In this digital era, being without a phone can feel like being cut off from the world. I experienced this disconnected feeling from the long number of hours being without a working mobile phone. This disconnected experience allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the real world and survive interrupted focus.

3. There is More to Life Than a Phone Screen

I realised that I spent too much time fiddling with phone everyday. I believe it is the same for most digital warriors out there. A broken phone forces us to live and rediscover the real world around us. I found myself simply living in the moment and having no distraction. I used the PC more for work and updating personal spreadsheets properly. I was also able to greatly reduce Youtube and Tiktok video watching time on phone. 

4. The Value of Minimalist Digital Life

A temporary switch to a legacy slower phone made me realise how many unnecessary apps I have installed and hoarded. I have also stored too many years of data, photos and videos in my phone. This experience prompted me to declutter my digital life and prioritise apps which add value. It also gives me an opportunity to start off from a clean slate in accumulating new life experiences in the form of new photos and videos.

5. It is just a Phone

A phone is very important in our lives but actually it is a lifeless object which can be easily replaced. What has sentimental values are the stored photos which collect memories of our past life experiences. This realisation enlightened me to detach from material possessions and focus on what truly matters in life.

I hope all of you take care of your phones well and not end up in a situation like mine. 

Thanks for reading. 

Update: I sent my phone for motherboard repair at CitriMobile at 101 Upper Cross Street, #01-47, People's Park Centre, 058357 and managed to restore it back intact for me to recover my photos and data.

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Net Worth Update Mar 2024

    

S$1.587m

My net worth stagnates at S$1.587m as my Reits-heavy investment portfolios took a beating due to market expectation of prolonged high interest rate environment.

CPF still forms the bulk 37% of my net worth. I have already achieved full retirement sum (FRS) in CPF SA.

Cash and war chest constitute 16% of my wealth. My cash is being stashed away in bank fixed deposits yielding more than 3% p.a., in Fullerton cash funds under custody of Moomoo and Tiger Broker, and in Money Market Funds held by Phillips Capital yielding more than 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.

My bonds consist of Singapore Savings Bonds ($140k) and Astrea 7A PE bond ($9k) which are low-risk bonds contributing to 10% of my wealth. 

CPF, cash and war chest, and bonds amount to 63% of my net worth as relatively safe assets. 

In recent weeks, I have completed the $15.3k annual contribution limit to my SRS account which forms 8% of my wealth. I plan to subscribe to the coming Apr 24 tranche of SSB with average yield of 3.04% using my SRS idle funds. 

Currently, 23% of my net worth is in stocks and Reits. This, combined with the local holdings in SRS, brings my exposure to riskier assets up to 31%. For the sake of diversification and reducing portfolio risk, I am happy to increase exposure to risk-free SSB in my SRS portfolio.

I resolve to remain steadfast on the track towards financial freedom, remaining disciplined and focused. I will not let the noises and distractions influence my decisions. As Warren Buffett said, 'Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.' By staying content with my long-term plan, I won't be swayed by emotional decisions.

Thank you for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Completed $15.3k SRS Contribution Cap for 2024

I have completed the annual contribution of $15,300 to my Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account today.

This feat is achieved before end of 1Q 2024 and now I can focus on building up war chest and long-term investment for the rest of the year.

The main benefit of SRS is to save taxes aka cash outlay to the taxman next year.

Another benefit is to build up a cannot-touch ultra-long term portfolio using SRS funds.

There are also other options of endowment or insurance plans, annuity plans, bonds, funds or robo-advisor investment portfolios that we could invest with SRS funds.

However, SRS savings may not be for everyone because of the long lock-down period. We can only withdraw up to $40k from SRS tax-free for 10 years from the first penalty-free withdrawal, upon reaching the statutory retirement age (63 w.e.f 1 Jul 2022). There is a penalty incurred for withdrawing funds from SRS prior to retirement age, on top of being slapped with tax on the withdrawn amount.

I believe SRS will be beneficial for people who are earning income qualifying at least in the 7% tax bracket.

I have already contributed $8.4k to SRS earlier.

There it goes. $6.8k to complete the quota for 2024!

Thank you for reading.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster