Portfolio Update Jun 2021

Time flies. Half the year of 2021 has passed. We have come to end of June 2021 and it is time to review my various investment portfolios.

My SGX Income Portfolio value increases to $263k compared to $259.4k in end May 2021. Sembcorp Marine share price has plunged almost 40% after announcing its rights issue plan and potential merger with Keppel O&M. As it is only a small constituent of my portfolio, its plunge has not much impact. Aims Apac Reit has slowly but steadily crawled up to its fair value to prove my faith and patience right. I have also participated in the preferential offering of Mapletree Industrial Trust by subscribing to 3,000 shares but only managed to get 1,500 shares.

I nibbled some stocks to add into my new US Growth Portfolio. I learn to collect premiums by selling put options while waiting to collect decent companies at fair prices. I injected $3.2k of dividends into this portfolio and it has grown astonishingly to $4k (USD$3k) in less than a month.

For my SRS portfolio, I have added Keppel DC Trust to align with my conviction of riding on the waves of technology and cloud computing for the long-term future.

Moving forward, a new round of quarterly and half yearly reporting for the Reits and companies will commence soon and I look forward to a new round of dividends as passive income. I will continue to build up my US growth portfolio too. This Covid pandemic will eventually become an endemic as vaccination rate in Singapore goes up. Eventually, this Covid pandemic will become another historic event in the history of mankind. I am sure the borders will open up gradually, the global economies will recover and life will only get better than worse for humans. Huat ah!

Portfolio Actions

1. Bought 3 shares of Microsoft Corp at US$249.50

2. Sold 4 shares of Twitter Inc. at US$60.51

3. Bought 5 shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. at US$117.20

4. Received 2 shares of Twitter Inc. free from Moomoo referrals

5. Sold 1 unit of HUYA210716 put option with $14 strike price at US$0.28

6. Sold 1 unit of OPEN210917 put option with $15 strike price at $1.10

7. Bought 5,000 shares of Keppel DC Reit at $2.58

8. Allocated 1,500 shares of Mapletree Industrial Trust at $2.64

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $585.20 from Mapletree Commercial Trust on 4 Jun

2. Received $165 from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 8 Jun

3. Received $563 from Ascendas Reit on 9 Jun

4. Received $127.50 from Netlink Trust on 9 Jun

5. Received $172.88 from Mapletree Logistics Trust on 10 Jun

6. Received $684 from Frasers L&C Trust on 18 Jun

7. Received $928 from Aims Apac Reit on 24 Jun

8. Received 9 shares of UOB@$26.31 for $237.12 of dividends on 25 Jun

9. Received $110.50 from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 28 Jun

10. Received 32 shares of OCBC@$11.93 on 29 Jun

SGX Income Portfolio

S$263k

US Growth Portfolio

US$3k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

S$92.5k

Thank you for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always. 

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Final Chance To Get Free Apple Share, Free NIO share and Free Twitter shares from a low cost, secure and robust trading platform!

I have shared in previous posts on my journey of building a new growth portfolio in US stocks using this new online brokerage platform, Moo Moo.

Let me explain the reasons why we should grab hold of this great opportunity to start investing or trading in US, HK and SG stocks using this new platform.

After signing up for a Moo Moo account (Sign Up via this Referral Link or clicking on the image above), funding the account with at least SGD 2,700, USD 2,000 or HKD 16,000 within 30 days of account opening, downloading the Moo Moo trading app from Apple App or Google Play store and completing the simple onboarding tutorial activities, one Apple Inc. (AAPL) share will be credited to your account.

To receive the free share of NIO which will be given out starting 18 June 2021, 8pm SGT, you just need to complete 5 successful trades or unlock the Level 1 Trading Badge within 30 days from account opening

The linkage via DBS/POSB bank account is seamless and after getting the free AAPL share and NIO share, we could even withdraw our monies back into our bank account.

Furthermore, you will enjoy 180 days of unlimited commission-free trades, free Level 2 Market Data for US stocks and free Level 1 Real-Time Market Data.

You could also make referrals and enjoy up to 20 Twitter (TWTR) shares and additional 600 days of unlimited commission-free trades (1 Twitter share and 30 days of commission-free trade for each person)

In addition, for successful positions/shares transfer-in to the trading account, you will be entitled to a $50 cash coupon for the first transfer-in only.

The promotion is until 30 June 2021, 8pm SGT as of time of writing, so act fast whilst it lasts.

Safe, Trusted and Secure

The Moo Moo trading platform is powered by Futu Singapore Pte Ltd. which is a subsidiary of Futu Holdings Limited, a leading Financial Techology company listed on the NASDAQ (NASDAG: FUTU) and backed by Tencent Holdings (SEHK: 700), venture capitalist firm Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners.

Futu Singapore Pte Ltd. is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) License (No. CMS101000). US securities in the account are protected by up to USD 500k and cash in the account by up to USD 250k by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (www.sipc.org). Its local office is located 160 Robinson Road, #25-07, SBF Centre, Singapore 068914.

Very Low Cost

The Moo Moo trading platform charges very low commission and platform fees as follows:

Commission Fees (subjected to 7%  GST)

US Stocks, ETFs & ADRs: USD 0.0049 / share, min USD 0.99 / Order

HK Stocks & ETFs: 0.03% of investment amount or HK$3, whichever is higher 

Singapore Stocks, ETFS & Reits: 0.03% of transaction amount, min. SGD 0.99

Platform Fees (subjected to 7% GST)

US Stocks, ETFs & ADRs: USD 0.005 / share, min USD 1 / Order

HK Stocks & ETFs: HK$15 per order

Singapore Stocks, ETFS & Reits: 0.03% of transaction amount, min. SGD 1.50

Do note that other regulatory fees i.e settlement fee, SEC fee (sell only), ADR custodian fee are waived during the promotional period and may be applicable in future. For futures and options, the fees charged are also higher than the above and listed on https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic143

Good Headstart

With free shares to lay the foundation of building an investment portfolio, low trading costs to maximise gains and minimise losses, the Moo Moo platform also offers an intuitive and robust investment platform, rich in trading analytic tools, access to global financial news and investment community. All these factors sum up to provide a very good headstart to new investors and even veteran investors or traders who are continually improving and honing their games.

User Friendly and Good Customer Service

Moo Moo offers robust, fast and user friendly platforms for trading on all mobile devices and computers. I have tried out the platforms and was impressed at the rich features, quality of interface and speed of executing tasks.

The customer service is responsive and besides using conventional emails to reach them, there is AI chatbot which we can ask all sorts of questions pertaining to the trading platform and even reach out to real customer service agent. I have engaged the customer service and managed to get my queries and doubts answered promptly.

I believe that I have found the right platform to give myself a headstart into US stocks. This new brokerage still has plenty of room for improvement. For eg. access to UK, Europe and other asian markets, robo investment features, FX trading and so on. However, I would recommend beginners and those who have not traded foreign stocks before to just grab the free Apple stock, and learn to trade using paper account or small amount of real money to gain real experience. It all begin with the very first step.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and remain strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post but a post for me to share about my experience and reason behind signing up and using this new low cost trading platform. Investment comes with risks and please dyodd. 

5 Reasons Why I will Subscribe to Sembcorp Marine (SGX:S51) Rights?

 

Formosa 2 Offshore Wind Farm, Miaoli County, Taiwan, in which Sembcorp marine was contracted with Jan De Nul to build 15 jacket foundations.

Sembcorp Marine (SGX:S51) has proposed its plans for a S$1.5 billion rights issue to shore up its financial position and accelerate its pivot towards renewable energy on 24 June 2021.

It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Keppel Corp (SGX:BN4) to explore possibility of a merger between itself and Keppel Offshore & Marine.

The renounceable rights issue is based on up to 18.83 billion new shares on the basis of three new shares for every two existing shares held, at S$0.08 per share. This works out to a 35.7 per cent discount to the theoretical ex-rights price and a bigger 58.1 per cent discount to the counter's close at S$0.191 on June 23.

This rights issue could be completed in 3Q 2021, after a recent S$2.1 billion rights issue in September 2020.

Temasek's subsidiary, Startree, will subscribe for its 42.6 per cent pro-rata entitlement and apply for excess rights shares, such that it subscribes for up to 67 per cent of the rights issue. DBS will underwrite the remaining 33 per cent. 

I was given "free" shares of Sembcorp Marine during last year's demerger of Sembcorp Industries and now own a meagre 11,800 shares.

See related posts: What will I do about Sembcorp Industries?

This news has some impact to me as I would need to fork out around $1.5k for my own entitlement of Sembcorp Marine shares to avoid dilution of my "free" shares.

Let me share on 5 reasons why I decided to go for it.

1. Limited Choices

With the benefit of hindsight, I could have sold off my shares of Sembcorp Marine at more than $0.20 to get back my capital. However, the amount that I could get back is around $2k+, which is barely enough to buy a share of Alphabet Inc. to own a stake of Google.

Now I only have 4 choices: To sell my Sembcorp marine shares at $0.14 or below, to do nothing, to subscribe partial entitlement of the rights, or to subscribe full entitlement of the rights.

Selling away the Sembcorp marine shares will allow me to take back around $1k+ of capital, which is good enough kopi money for me to spend but insignificant to make decent investments. If I wanted to take back the capital, I would have sold long ago.

To do nothing will subject my stakes to massive dilution due to the huge rights ratio of 3 rights shares on the basis of 2 rights shares owned.

To subscribe for partial entitlement of the rights is like a half fu*k decision. I always believe in making digital binary decision, which is all or nothing when it comes to gambling, betting or trading.

To subscribe for full entitlement of the rights may not be the best choice but it is the only realistic and suitable option for me due to my belief in the prospects of renewable energy and increase of oil prices in the long term. Total capital injection for me will be around $1.5k and Sembcorp Marine will merely constitute around 1% of my $260k portfolio after the event.

2. Renewable Energy

The global Renewable Energy Market was estimated to be worth USD 1089 million in 2019 and is expected to hit USD 1911 million by 2026, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.3% according to FNF Research. US Department of Energy has also estimated wind energy to contribute at least 20% of the total energy supply in the US.

Sembcorp Marine has ventured into the offshore wind farm segment since 2015 and has started to establish a track record in the design, engineering, construction and installation of offshore platforms and jackets for the offshore wind products and solutions.

Sembcorp Marine has recently won a contract to supply jointly with GE Renewal Energy to supply an electrical transmission system for Sofia Offshore Wind Farm.

Renewable energy will be a long term bet for Sembcorp Marine to be profitable again. Perhaps 5 to 10 years horizon. Do or break kind of thing, Sembcorp Marine may cease to exist and fold up in future just like the likes of Hyflux, but if they do succeed, the rewards for patience will be immensely fruitful.

I am happy to continue in this roller coaster journey and look forward to the materialisation of Sembcorp Marine's merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine after the rights issue beef up the financials of Sembcorp Marine.

3. Risk and Return

When punters head to Singapore Pools to place their bets on Toto quickpick or 4D, they are prepared to lose all their money in return for a small chance of striking the jackpot. This action is based on belief and faith, rather than probability and statistics.

In this situation, it is either we cut our losses completely on Sembcorp Marine or continue to punt on the belief of overturning its fortune, though the probability is not high.

I did not really invest in Sembcorp Marine in the first place, as my shares were churned from Sembcorp Industries demerger. I invested in Sembcorp Industries based on my particularly liking for utilities and essential waste management business.

If you are a shareholder of Sembcorp Marine, recall why you bought their shares in the first place. Did you really invest based on belief in its business, or merely punting for the sake of quick returns like gambling in the casino?

As we all know, high risks generate high returns. Buying cryptocurrency is akin to participating in this rights issue of Sembcorp Marine. Their difference is that the value of Cryptocurrency is not based on any underlying business while Sembcorp Marie's fundamentals are consistent loss making. All our investments in cryptocurrency or Sembcorp Marine could possibly become zero, but as long as we risk only what we can afford to lose, we will not lose all our fortune overnight.

4. Small stakes 

As I only own a small stake of Sembcorp Marine, what I will be risking by participating in this rights issue is insignificant compared to my net worth. My risk is less than 0.2% of my fortune. Even if Sembcorp Marine were to go bust down the road, I would just need to write off at most $3k from my net worth.

It is important to manage our own risks in any investment. In my investment portfolio heavy with property related Reits, keeping a small slice of Sembcorp Marine dealing with energy business would help to diversify the portfolio slightly.

5. Temasek or Ah-Gong backed

This entire proposal was planned and backed by Temasek. As a government- linked fund manager, they are getting funds from the Ministry of Finance to invest and generate sustainable long-term returns. 

In this project, Temasek will increase their stakes in Sembcorp Marine from 43% to 67%. We do not know exactly why they want to do that. Although not all of their past investments were successful, it would be silly to bet against them.

Even if we do not subscribe to our entitlement of Sembcorp Marine rights, someone will be there to underwrite and take up our forgone stakes. And this someone is none other than Temasek.

Die with Ah-Gong together or die alone? I prefer to die with Ah-Gong, just like how I held my faith in Ah-Gong backed Reits of Mapletreee, Capitaland and Ascendas.

In a nutshell, I will go for the subscription of Sembcorp Marine rights and should own a small stake of 30,000 shares post-rights by the end of 3Q 2021. What I have shared is purely based on my own opinion only and is by no means, any recommendation. Do your own due diligence when managing your own money. 

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and remain strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Passive Income in 2Q and 1H 2021

Half the pandemic-ridden year of 2021 has almost passed and it is now time to stocktake the dividends collected as passive income from my investments.

I collected the interests from Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) from Apr to Jun, and dividends from the companies and Reits in my CDP and SRS portfolios.

The total amount of passive income in Q2 2021 is $5,228.99, a 26% YoY increase from Q2 2020's $4,151.49.

Together with the $2,372.66 passive income in Q1, my passive income in the first half 2021 is

$7,601.65

This amount is not a lot but $633/month on average is at least able to cover all my basic necessities and essential expenditure for 6 months, except for my monthly insurance premiums. 

The following are the dividend streams received or going to be received in cash or shares, and savings bond interests. Shiok man!

$98 Savings Bonds (1 Apr)

$107 Savings Bonds (1 May)

$96 Sembcorp Ind (6 May)

$470 ST Engineering (7 May) SRS

$71.50 Comfortdelgro (20 May) SRS

$175.92 Frasers CTrust (28 May)

$42 OUE (28 May)

$102.25 Suntec Reit (28 May)

$109 Savings Bonds (1 Jun)

$585.20 Mapletree Com Trust (4 Jun)

$165 Mapletree Ind Trust (8 Jun)

$563 Ascendas Reit (9 Jun)

$127.50 Netlink Trust (9 Jun)

$172.88 Mapletree Log Trust (10 Jun)

$684 Frasers L&C Trust (18 Jun)

$928 Aims Apac Reit (24 Jun)

$237.12 UOB (25 Jun) 9 shares @ $26.31

$110.50 Mapletree Ind Trust (28 Jun)

$381.12 OCBC (29 Jun) SRS 32 shares @$11.93

I hope to collect more passive income in 2H 2021 and channel most of them towards my US growth stocks portfolio, letting the combo power of growth and compounding do magic. Practically, my plan is using free money to invest.

I will continue to live frugally, save up, invest in any bear or bull market conditions, slowly and steadily build up my investments. WFH more frequently does help to save more time and money to assist in this cause.

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

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Booked vaccination appointments for Pfizer shots

I finally received an sms to book vaccination appointments from MOH today. This comes 2 weeks after I registered interest.

Without further ado, I booked 2 appointments at the nearest community centre for Pfizer shots. The earliest available appointment is on end Jul 2021 with the second appointment weeks apart on early Sep 2021. 

I was initially hesitant about getting vaccinated due to the risks of unknown side effects and fear of needles.

However, it seemed unlikely that mankind can escape from this pandemic soon.

For the sake of being able to travel freely in future and to minimise effects if got infected with this virus, I decided to go for it.

Furthermore, the Pfizer vaccines are worth USD 19.50 per shot and not everyone in the world has access to it. Who does not like free vaccines? 

Health is Wealth.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and remain strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Free Apple Share, Free NIO share and Free Twitter shares from a low cost, secure and robust trading platform!

I have shared in previous posts on my journey of building a new growth portfolio in US stocks using this new online brokerage platform, Moo Moo.

Let me explain the reasons why we should grab hold of this great opportunity to start investing or trading in US, HK and SG stocks using this new platform.

After signing up for a Moo Moo account (Sign Up via this Referral Link or clicking on the image above), funding the account with at least SGD 2,700, USD 2,000 or HKD 16,000 within 30 days of account opening, downloading the Moo Moo trading app from Apple App or Google Play store and completing the simple onboarding tutorial activities, one Apple Inc. (AAPL) share will be credited to your account.

To receive the free share of NIO which will be given out starting 18 June 2021, 8pm SGT, you just need to complete 5 successful trades or unlock the Level 1 Trading Badge within 30 days from account opening

The linkage via DBS/POSB bank account is seamless and after getting the free AAPL share and NIO share, we could even withdraw our monies back into our bank account.

Furthermore, you will enjoy 180 days of unlimited commission-free trades, free Level 2 Market Data for US stocks and free Level 1 Real-Time Market Data.

You could also make referrals and enjoy up to 20 Twitter (TWTR) shares and additional 600 days of unlimited commission-free trades (1 Twitter share and 30 days of commission-free trade for each person)

In addition, for successful positions/shares transfer-in to the trading account, you will be entitled to a $50 cash coupon for the first transfer-in only.

The promotion is until 30 June 2021, 8pm SGT as of time of writing, so act fast whilst it lasts.

Safe, Trusted and Secure

The Moo Moo trading platform is powered by Futu Singapore Pte Ltd. which is a subsidiary of Futu Holdings Limited, a leading Financial Techology company listed on the NASDAQ (NASDAG: FUTU) and backed by Tencent Holdings (SEHK: 700), venture capitalist firm Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners.

Futu Singapore Pte Ltd. is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) License (No. CMS101000). US securities in the account are protected by up to USD 500k and cash in the account by up to USD 250k by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (www.sipc.org). Its local office is located 160 Robinson Road, #25-07, SBF Centre, Singapore 068914.

Very Low Cost

The Moo Moo trading platform charges very low commission and platform fees as follows:

Commission Fees (subjected to 7%  GST)

US Stocks, ETFs & ADRs: USD 0.0049 / share, min USD 0.99 / Order

HK Stocks & ETFs: 0.03% of investment amount or HK$3, whichever is higher 

Singapore Stocks, ETFS & Reits: 0.03% of transaction amount, min. SGD 0.99

Platform Fees (subjected to 7% GST)

US Stocks, ETFs & ADRs: USD 0.005 / share, min USD 1 / Order

HK Stocks & ETFs: HK$15 per order

Singapore Stocks, ETFS & Reits: 0.03% of transaction amount, min. SGD 1.50

Do note that other regulatory fees i.e settlement fee, SEC fee (sell only), ADR custodian fee are waived during the promotional period and may be applicable in future. For futures and options, the fees charged are also higher than the above and listed on https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic143

Good Headstart

With free shares to lay the foundation of building an investment portfolio, low trading costs to maximise gains and minimise losses, the Moo Moo platform also offers an intuitive and robust investment platform, rich in trading analytic tools, access to global financial news and investment community. All these factors sum up to provide a very good headstart to new investors and even veteran investors or traders who are continually improving and honing their games.

User Friendly and Good Customer Service

Moo Moo offers robust, fast and user friendly platforms for trading on all mobile devices and computers. I have tried out the platforms and was impressed at the rich features, quality of interface and speed of executing tasks.

The customer service is responsive and besides using conventional emails to reach them, there is AI chatbot which we can ask all sorts of questions pertaining to the trading platform and even reach out to real customer service agent. I have engaged the customer service and managed to get my queries and doubts answered promptly.

I believe that I have found the right platform to give myself a headstart into US stocks. This new brokerage still has plenty of room for improvement. For eg. access to UK, Europe and other asian markets, robo investment features, FX trading and so on. However, I would recommend beginners and those who have not traded foreign stocks before to just grab the free Apple stock, and learn to trade using paper account or small amount of real money to gain real experience. It all begin with the very first step.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and remain strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post but a post for me to share about my experience and reason behind signing up and using this new low cost trading platform. Investment comes with risks and please dyodd. 

Net Worth Update Jun 2021 - Breach SGD 1.1m!

My net worth grows a whopping $20k from May 2021 to surpass S$1.1m now!

The increase is attributed to the latest Jun 2021's salary, 2Q dividends, CPF contributions and capital paper gains from stock portfolio.

I have also used $3.2k of dividends collected to build up a new small US growth portfolio which has since grew to almost $3.8k since the account was opened a few weeks ago. The cheat to such fast gains was having collected a free share of Apple and some free shares of Twitter from Moo Moo. For those of you interested in a low cost, secure and robust trading platform and to get a free Apple share, a free NIO share and possibly free Twitter shares, you may sign up through this referral Link and check out the terms and conditions.  

It is another mini milestone attained because my net worth actually increased by $100k in almost 6 months! This seems a far cry compared to the 27 years of living on earth for me to save up my first $100k.

I have also made a down-payment for my first ever property using CPF OA funds but not yet reflected here as it will take days to be processed. I will create another slice of HDB Equity pie from Jul 2021 onwards. 

Someone commented that I am overinflating my net worth to let myself happy, wasting his time to read my blog. I am tracking both liquid and illiquid assets as my net worth based on my own accounting principle as I believe Insurance endowment plans, CPF balances and HDB property are illiquid valuable assets which could be encashed but take a longer time. Of course, that reader is somewhat true because I am boosting my own confidence to boost my morale in the journey towards financial freedom.

In terms of investments, I am still waiting for the results of Mapletree Industrial Trust's preferential offering. I have no plans to add more shares of local stocks or Reits as I am focusing on investment in US growth stocks and collecting premiums through options. I believe and hope that in the later half of the year, there may more opportunities of preferential offering by local Reits, then I will happily participate to grow my local investments.

$1.1m

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

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

HDB BTO Flat Downpayment

Today morning, me and Ms Doraemon went to HDB Hub for an appointment to pay the down-payment for our HDB BTO flat using our CPF OA savings.

Zero cash outlay for the down-payment of a property in District 13 city fringe, beside an MRT station. What more can we ask for?

HDB BTO flat is a property and CPF OA can be used like cash to pay a property. Who says CPF money is not money?

The waiting time was more than 30 mins long but the entire transaction was smooth and took less than 30 mins. We used the Singpass mobile app to login MyHDBPage for submitting the application to use CPF OA funds for the BTO downpayment and signed some documents on joint tenancy agreement and checklist for receiving documents related to agreement of lease. "Lease" is an important word to server as a great reminder that we do not own the land nor the HDB property forever, but merely leasing the space for 99 years, a period of time that most of us could not surpass living on this earth.  

The key collection is expected to be in Dec 2026, another 5 years time.

We aim to pay up this HDB flat purely using our CPF OA monies, without taking up any HDB or bank loan. This will let us propel towards financial freedom.

Currently, our CPF monies are still insufficient to pay off the outstanding amount. However, in the next 5 years, by continuing to work, we should be able to accumulate enough CPF OA savings to pay off the outstanding amount.

We will consider making voluntary housing refund of monies back to our CPF OA accounts because using CPF OA monies is akin to taking a personal loan from our own pockets containing retirement funds, at an accrued interest of 2.5%. However, borrowing money from left pocket to right pocket is much safer than borrowing from banks or loanshark.

To be able to sleep peacefully every night with no liabilities nor debts is a divine gift.

To be able to own a roof over our heads is a feat only easily achievable on this Singapore island with a great public housing system.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Why I Top Up My Mum's CPF Retirement Account instead of giving Cash?

I just topped up $4.5k into my mum's CPF Retirement Account.

Let me share 5 reasons why I did so instead of giving her cash.

1. Tax Relief

For selfish reason, I would like to enjoy tax relief of up to $7k per calendar year for topping up my parent's CPF Retirement Account under the Retirement Sum Top Up (RSTU) scheme.

Assuming my tax bracket is at 7%, a relief of $7k will save me $490 of taxes in cash, which is enough to eat more than 100 boxes of $3 cai png (vegetables rice) at the coffeeshop.

The tax relief is also applicable to family members such as parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, siblings and spouse.

2. Compounding growth at 4%

In today's low interest environment, the value of cash is eroded by inflation and stifled by poor interest rates offered by banks' savings accounts.

CPF Retirement Account yields at least 4% and up to 6% for senior folks risk-free and guaranteed by the Singapore Government. Monies growing at compounded rate of at least 4% will double in 20 years hence, by leaving cash in CPF RA account, they will grow much faster than inflation rate to preserve and uphold its real value.

3. CPF Life

In order to qualify for CPF Life, one need to have at least $60k in their CPF retirement savings before reaching 65 years old. I am helping my mum to boost her CPF retirement savings to qualify for CPF Life as she does not have active income and CPF contributions.

CPF Life offers payouts perpetually for life but is a debatable subject because its pros and cons varied across individuals' opinions. If one's CPF RA does not have $60k before reaching 65 years old, then he or her will only rely on Retirement Savings scheme to draw down their CPF savings till it is depleted.

Having at least $60k in CPF RA will offer extra choice of being able to qualify for CPF Life scheme to enjoy perpetual monthly payouts.

4. Matched Retirement Savings Scheme

Under the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS), the Government will match every dollar of cash top-ups made to the Retirement Account of eligible members up to a cap of $600, which can amount to $3,000 over 5 years. To be eligible, the person has to be aged between 55 and 70, has a CPF RA of less than the current Basic Retirement Sum of $93k, has average monthly income of less than $4k, live in a property with annual value less than $13k and not own any private property.

By topping up at least $600 to a qualified family member's CPF RA account, we can milk the $600 of free money from the Government every year.

5. CPF is like golden ATM for senior citizens

For senior folks close to reaching the 55 year old and 65 year old milestones of being able to touch their CPF monies, their CPF accounts are like golden ATM that offer high interest rates for "withdrawable" cash with the click of a button. This is unlike younger folks who could only stare at their CPF balances as numbers. Hence, the concept of 1M65 is indeed beneficial and practical to people who could really live beyond 50s or 60s and on the brink of drawing down cash from their CPF balances. People who lived past  50 years old should try to pump more monies into their CPF accounts, by all means, in order to reap the risk-free guaranteed returns on their monies, especially in today's low interest environment.

In conclusion, I top up my parent's CPF RA account with cash instead of giving cash, in order to maximise the value of money. For the $7k topped up, I can enjoy $490 of tax savings myself, let my mum earn at least $280 of CPF interests for 2021 and attract another matched $600 from the Government. In addition, there is compounding effect from future years' interests and being eligible to qualify for CPF Life for perpetual monthly income payouts. Overall, I feel that it is an awesome deal.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always.

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Added more Keppel DC Reit shares in my SRS Ultra-Long Term Portfolio

After applying for more shares of Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX:ME8U) to increase exposure to data center assets in my investments, I decided to add more shares of Keppel DC Trust (SGX:AJBU) in my SRS portfolio.

Orders for 5,000 shares were filled today at 2.58 as I have increased bids from my ideal price of 2.55 which is nearer the short term support.

As this will be an ultra-long term investment in the time frame of 10 to even 20 or 30 years, it is not a difficult decision. I first initiated a small position in Keppel DC Reit in Nov 2020 at a rather high price of 2.88 and now is merely to increase my holdings. If the share price plunged below 2.50 and move closer to 2.00, I will be happy to add even more shares. With this addition of 5,000 shares, I will be holding 8,000 shares. In the upcoming month, it will be results reporting time with an impending DPU of at least 4 cents. In time to come, it is probable there would be more data center acquisitions leading to preferential offering opportunities for me to increase my stakes without buying from the market.

Keppel DC Reit is a resilient and strong growth Reit with revenues growing exponentially and has been rewarding shareholders with increasing annual DPU. In the next few years, its DPU should increase at  least 5% annually with more acquisitions in the pipeline. However, current yield at around 3.5% is relatively low to other Reits. This is compensated by its lower risk and nature of Data centre assets whereby tenants usually sign a longer lease of 5 to 10 years compared to retail or commercial tenants.

I believe that our great future will be in technology and computing. Mobile applications, social media, data engineering, artificial intelligence and cloud computing will drive the world. Data centers provide the bedrock upon which server infrastructure and data platforms can enable the trillions of transactions and data to flow and be stored securely so that the businesses and operations in the digital world can function. I place my bet on data centers and believe in reaping huge returns in the long run.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always. 

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Portfolio Rebalancing - Sold TWTR to Nibble the Largest Semiconductor Foundry Coy in the World, TSM

I have rebalanced my new US growth stock portfolio for the very first time.

I have not been in favour of social media stocks such as Facebook, Twitter and Netflix as I am always remembering the burst of dot com bubble in late 1990s. I am also not an avid user of social media, other than watching a lot of YouTube videos.

Upon seeing the share price of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) go above $60, I placed a sell order of $60.51 on 9 Jun 2021 and got filled.

Today, I decided to nibble some shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSMC) to initiate a first position in the world's largest semiconductor fountry which boasts Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD and Intel as its customers. It will be a long term position as TSM dominates more than 90% of the market share in manufacturing <10nm advanced chip technology. I also believe in its immense 7nm chip (potentially down to 3nn and even 2nm) making capabilites to supply the pipeline of demand for chips to fuel the continual explosive growth of computing era. TSM duopolised the mobile CPU processor market with Samsung as Apple, MediaTek and Qualcomm all outsourced their CPU production to TSM. 

This is merely the beginning. I will continue to build up my US growth portfolio regardless of market conditions.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always. 

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Applied for Mapletree Industrial Trust Preferential Offering Shares

I have just went to the ATM to subscribe for 3,000 shares (inclusive of excess) of Mapletree Industrial Trust's Preferential offering.

As shared previously, the strategic and shrewd move by Mapletree Industrial Trust to acquire 29 data centers situated across 18 states in US on freehold land and riding on the waves of cloud computing, e-commerce, e-payments, big data analytics, online gaming, video streaming, social networking, the rollout of 5G networks, proliferation of Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence will be funded through private placements to institutional investors and preferential offering to existing shareholders.

I am happy to seize the opportunity to increase my investment exposure to data center property assets, with long WALE, and under a well managed Reit with ever-growing DPU. Assuming a 12 cents DPU, based on PO price of $2.64 per share, the yield is 4.9% which is relatively attractive in such low yield environment. 

Below are the important dates. Do note that the PO shares will be able to start trading on 21 Jun 2021, 9am so they should be credited into our CDP accounts by then.

Related posts:

1. Order not filled for Mapletree Industrial Trust but... 

2. Added Mapletree Industrial Trust

3. Portfolio Rebalancing: Cut StarHub to buy Mapletree Industrial Trust

4. A Reit that I do not dare to sell again

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and be strong as always. 

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Building A New US Portfolio For Free

This is my new growth portfolio consisting of US stocks, 1 week after I opened a MooMoo trading account.

What's amazing is, this portfolio is free! Why is this so? How is it possible?

I funded the account with SGD2,700 to earn a free Apple Inc. (AAPL) share and used the SGD2,700 to buy 10 more AAPL shares and 3 Microsoft shares (MSFT). I received 4 free Twitter (TWTR) shares from referrals. 

This SGD2,700 is entirely funded by dividends from my SGX portfolio. Hence, I did not fork out any real money for this new portfolio.

I always believe that there is no best time to start investing. Time in the market beats timing the market. By planting seeds now for investment, the fruits will bear in the future for us to have more seeds to plant and in the long-term, we will have an orchard of trees.

For those of you interested to trade or invest in US stocks using a low cost brokerage platform, here is the referral link to MooMoo. The condition to get the free Apple share is tougher now as 5 trades are required after topping up the newly registered account with SGD2,700.

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

With love & peace,

Qiongster