Net Worth Update Apr 2021

My net worth increases $10k from Mar 2021 to $1.072m.

This is despite not receiving a single cent of salary in Apr 2021 as I have just changed job and the payroll system in the new organization has not been updated on time to pay me. I still received the last CPF contributions from previous organization for the month of Mar 2021 though.

The increase in net worth is mainly due to strengthening of share prices of stocks in my portfolio. Battered property developers such as OUE, Guocoland, Far East Orchard as well as marine and energy players such as Sembcorp Marine and Sembcorp Industries have seen their share prices creeping up steadily. My largest REIT holdings, Aims Apac Reit and Ascendas Reit have also demonstrated their true powers and repaid my faith and loyalty to them.

As I did not receive any cash from salary income this month, cashflow is tight as most of my cash and war chest are stuck in fixed deposits and trading accounts, leaving barely a few hundred bucks in my savings account for daily expenses. A millionaire is living a beggar lifestyle now.

I look forward to receiving my next month's salary from the new organization, as well as encashment of leave from previous organization, and the upcoming streams of dividends from stocks and Reits to be announced soon. Then my cash levels and war chest can boosted for my daily expenditures and new investments.

While being tempted to take some profits off the table, I am still convinced of being patient and long in the stock market by doing nothing. In recent weeks, I have not really monitored the financial markets as I am putting my attention and focus on my new work, dealing with an overload of new information, processes, people and technology. I am also trying to find some time to exercise more. A three-pronged approach in managing financial, intellectual and physical health is key to sustaining a rich life!

Life is beginning to return slowly back to normality with more measures for more staff to return back to office, relaxed regulations for travelling and more people getting vaccinated against the virus. In time to come, we will gradually revert back to pre-Covid lifestyles and by then, the economy will recover and we shall see better days ahead!

$1.072m

Thanks for reading.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Portfolio Update Mar 2021 - Hitting new highs

 

I have seen my portfolio value swing wildly this month and on the first day of Apr 2021 (for late Mar 2021 update), it has increased $16k to $256k compared to Feb 2021. This includes a capital injection of $5.3k for adding Mapletree Logistics Trust. $256k is the highest ever portfolio value achieved and is a stark contrast in fortune compared to the onslaught one year ago.

It has been a roller coaster ride in the stock markets but in overall, there were more green days than red days. I believe the stock market is still at the beginning of a bull run given the humongous amount of stimulus funds injected into the system, interest rates kept at ultra low levels and the global economic recoveries have not fully kickstart yet.

Portfolio Actions

1. Bought 3,000 shares of Mapletree Logistics Trust at $1.78

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $143.85 from Keppel DC Reit on 8 Mar in SRS account

2. Received $164 from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 8 Mar

3. Received $167.80 from Ascendas Reit on 9 Mar

4. Received $278.40 from Capitaland Integrated Com Trust on 9 Mar

5. Received $72.10 from Mapletree Logistics Trust on 15 Mar

6. Received $656 from Aims Apac Reit on 19 Mar

7. Received $97.30 from Keppel Reit on 31 Mar in SRS account

My Ultra Long-Term SRS portfolio increases to $93k from $84k last month and this includes a top up of $4.5k to my SRS account. OCBC is the top performer after announcing its latest Q4 earnings which beat expectations and a dividend of 15.9 cents. ST Engineering expectedly will be paying a 10 cent dividend and Comfortdelgro which is heavily impacted by the health pandemic also managed to announce a payment of 1.43 cents which is better than nothing. Generally I am happy with these 5 counters in the portfolio and confident to rely on them for consistent passive income for the next few decades.

Thanks for reading. Stay strong and be safe!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Passive Income in Q1 2021

In the first quarter of Year 2021, I received interests from Singapore Savings Bonds and dividends from Reits in my investment portfolio as passive income.

My passive income in Q1 2021 is $2,372.66 from the following streams of dividends and interests. Not a great feat but they certainly cover all my essential expenditures such as food, groceries, telco bills and transport. Even though I did not keep track of my expenses, I am certain that I spend less than $1000 every month.

$107 Savings Bonds (4 Jan)

$158.88 Ascott Reit (26 Feb)

$113.05 Suntec Reit (26 Feb)

$303.28 Keppel Reit (1 Mar) SRS

$111 Savings Bonds (1 Mar)

$143.85 Keppel DC Reit (8 Mar) SRS

$164 Mapletree Ind Trust (8 Mar)

$167.80 Ascendas Reit (9 Mar)

$278.40 CICT (9 Mar)

$72.10 Mapletree Log (15 Mar)

$656 Aims Apac Reit (19 Mar)

$97.30 Keppel Reit (31 Mar) SRS

Cashflow is king! 

Even though I have achieved the psychological milestone of one million dollars net worth, I am still a work-in-progress towards financial freedom. 

My ultimate goal is to own an investment portfolio valued at one million dollars yielding at least $50k of passive income annually. 

My motto is to live frugally, save up, invest in any bear or bull market conditions, slowly and steadily build up my investments.

I look forward to collecting more dividends as passive income in the next quarter of Year 2021.

Thanks for reading. Stay calm and remain strong as always! Huat ah!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

My Free Hotel Stay in Singapore | Hotel G

 

Source: Hotel G website

After my first time staying in a local hotel in YotelAir, Changi Airport Jewel in Feb, I am redeeming SingapoRediscover $100 vouchers for another free stay in a local hotel.

This time it is at Hotel G situated at 200 Middle Road, which is near Rochor, Bugis and Bencoolen MRT. It is a 3.5 to 4 stars Boutique hotel sporting an unorthodox mashup of industrial, vintage and Bohemian elements.

The hotel is quite unique as its ground level has Ginette Restaurant & Wine bar and the 25 Degree Burger eatery. 

I managed to book a room on Sat for exactly $100 so no further cash outlay is required. 

Check-in time is at 3pm but there was a long queue at the restaurant & bar area when we reach there. Since it is a free staycation sponsored by the government for Singaporeans to bailout the tourism industry, I am not surprised by the queue.

The hotel lobby is located at level 2 where there is another queue. 

After 1 hour of queuing, we managed to get the card key to our room. No complaints since this is a purely free staycation. 

Upon opening the door, we were greeted by a small cosy room, with dream catchers above a queen bed.

From the window view, Fortune centre, Bugis+ and NAFA are within sight.

After settling down and lazing around in the room, time for a tour around Jalan Besar area, getting to appreciate those pre-war colonial times buildings. 

Spotted many dim sum restaurants in that area but the frugal self in me prompted me to go find hawker food. So we checked out Berseh hawker, one that I have never been to before. Found many local delicacies but did not manage to find any cheap food though.

In the end, we decided to go back to Bugis area for Albert Food Centre to takeaway cheap cai png back to hotel. 

My humble $2.80 vegetarian dinner.

The following day, woke up late at 10am and missed the booked gym session at 7am.

Headed to Rochor Original Beancurd shop nearby to pack some beancurd and soya drink for breakfast.

That sums up the 20 hour staycation as checkout time is at 12pm. After having WFH for the past few weeks, it is a great experience to live out of a bag for 20 hours in another room in the city. Most importantly, for free!

This is not a sponsored post but merely documenting my experience of a free staycation during a health pandemic period.

Thanks for reading. As always, stay safe and remain positive. 

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Net Worth Update Mar 2021 | SGD 1.05m surpassed!

My net worth increases $14k from Feb 2021 to hit $1.062m!!!

This is after the latest salary savings, CPF contributions and due to strengthening of the share price of Reits and stocks in my portfolio.

I have topped up $7k to my CPF Special Account under the Retirement Sum Top Up (RSTU) scheme and have started to top up my Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account.

I have also started my first investment of 2021 by adding Mapletree Logistics Trust.

I have tendered my resignation and is currently serving notice. I have reflected and shared the 10 reasons why I quit my job. I am looking forward to embark on a clean slate in my new job soon.

As shared in previous posts, I will adopt a passive approach in managing my financial health this year. I intend to live frugally as always, save up and slowly build up my cash positions in the war chest while staying on the sidelines. I will consider adding shares whenever there is any dip or correction. There is no best or ideal time to invest. It is either now or never. I will slowly and steadily build up my investment portfolio and let compounding takes its powerful effect.

Meanwhile, I will also invest in myself by continually up skilling and picking up knowledge and technical expertise in cloud computing. Also, I am trying hard to exercise consistently. A three-pronged approach in managing financial, intellectual and physical health is key to sustaining a rich life!

SGD 1.062m

Thanks for reading. Huat ah!

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

2nd Top up to SRS in 2021

In my Portfolio Update Feb 2021, I shared about my first deposit of a meagre $300 into my SRS account.

After collected my pay cheque for Mar 2021, I allocated and channelled another $4,500 into my SRS account, making small steps towards fulfilling the maximum annual contribution amount of $15,300.

$10,500 more to go!

The benefits of contributing to SRS account are enjoyment of tax relief, having an alternative war chest for long term investments and psychologically making yourself "poor" by making your money out of touch as a form of disciplined saving for retirement.

Thanks for reading. As always, stay safe and remain strong! 

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Added Mapletree Logistics Trust in first investment of 2021

I last nibbled 600 shares of Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) at $1.92 in Dec 2020 and gotten 2400 shares of MLT through application for the preferential offering shares of Mapletree Logistics Trust in Nov 2020 at $1.99 in Nov 2020.

In total, I only owned 5,000 shares of MLT.

The share price of MLT has weakened in recent weeks due to interest rate hikes speculation and more possibly cashing out of funds by institutional hedge funds into growth industries stocks which offer higher value.

I am not too bothered by all the noises from the news and analysts. I believe that every crisis or dip present opportunities for building up passive income. Fundamentally, there is no change in the industrial Reits on my radar list i.e. Mapletree Industrial Trust, Ascendas Reit, Keppel DC Reit. 

MLT needs no further introduction as a resilient, high quality Logistics Reit thriving on the booming and growth of e-commerce and logistics needs in the APAC regions

Hence, I decided to add 3,000 shares of MLT at $1.78 today. I will own 8,000 shares of MLT. 

I would be more than happy to add more shares of MLT in the future should its price drop further. 

Meanwhile, sit back and relax, conserve cash and be prepared to watch the Industrial Reits crash and fire next round of bullets. 

Thanks for reading. Stay strong and be safe!

With love & peace,

Qiongster