Experiencing Autumn's Tale in Seoul with 500k KRW

 

After my previous trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in Apr 2023, I am currently on a one week vacation in Seoul, South Korea.

This is actually the first time that Ms Doraemon and I have set foot on South Korean soil after decades of "experiencing" K drama and Kpop on TV and social media.

This is another budget trip with budget flights on TWay Air and 2 star acommodation for less than S$900 for 2 pax.

We only brought 500k KRW worth S$518.50, exchanged from the money changer that offers highest rate in the Arcade at S$1 to 964 KRW as of time of writing.

We also brought credit cards and Youtrip multi-currency cards just in case.

All in below S$1.5k for a week in Seoul.

South Korea is an advanced, developed country with standard of living comparable to Singapore's.

We hope to experience a week of local lifestyle living life carefree while enjoying freedom to the maximum, without splurging like tourists.

An all-stop AREX train from airport to city costs 41.5k KRW for 2 pax or S$4.30 using Tmoney card.

A large bowl of chicken noodles costs 9k KRW or S$9.33  in a simple restaurant which is not cheap but value for money.

A pre-owned jacket ravaged from the ground in the Dongmyo flea market costs only 1k KRW or S$1.03.

Visits to many attractions are free or require only a small fee. I visited the N Seoul Tower for a scenic view of Seoul city and Namsangol Hanol Village for free.

Cosmetic, ginseng products, branded clothes, shoes or assessories are at remarkably lower prices than Singapore, hence bringing shopping to an intimate level in this Kpop land of fashion.

I am merely in the third day of this cultural immersion trip and hope to enjoy more surprises and great experiences in the next few days.

This is a just quick sharing on experience in this  eye-opener escapade.

Thanks for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Largest S-Reit Sponsored my Seoul Holiday!

 

I have been busy packing my luggage and settling work and personal admin matters before jetting off to Seoul for a getaway tomorrow morning.

I am delighted to realise that $954 of dividends have been credited to my bank account by CICT, the largest shopping mall and commercial Reit in Singapore.

These dividends help to cover this budget trip with flight and accomodation all in at $870 for 2 pax only, which was only booked just 3 weeks ago. The flight to Seoul was on Tway and return flight is on Scoot for below $280 only. Accomodation is a $60/night minimalist, no frills 2 star hotel.

Income investing has been at the core of my long-term investing philosophy.

While investing in Reits is a slow and steady race that comes with moderate degree of risks, I still prefer the concept of building up free personal, passive cash flows from income producing assets. Only owning profitable businesses or rental properties can achieve such positive cashflows consistently. Reits give us the short-cut to indirectly own properties without managing them actively.

I do agree that growth investing may be more rewarding in the long-term due to extrapolative  compounding effect, experiencing months and years of volatility or even paper losses without receiving any dividends is not morale boosting. This is learn from my personal experience investing in growth tech stocks such as Microsoft and Alphabet. 

I plan to continue building up my investments on all fronts, accumulating more high quality S-Reits, local bank stocks and low-risk government savings bonds or T-bills.

I will continue living frugally, save up, invest in any bear or bull market conditions, look forward to collecting more dividends in my slow and steady journey towards financial freedom.

Occasionally, I will like to experience freedom and living life by budget travelling.

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always! Huat ah!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Net Worth Update Sep 2023 | SGD1.5m hit!

       

S$1.5m

My net worth hits my target of 1.5 million SGD for 2023!

This will be a quick update before I jet off to Seoul, South Korea for a getaway.

The increase is due to contributions from salary, CPF savings, dividends, together with rebound of Reits' market prices in my investment portfolios after more certainty in the direction of interest rates.

CPF savings form the bulk 37% of my net worth. I have already achieved full retirement sum in CPF SA and topped up my Medisave account to the basic healthcare sum of $68.5k early this year.

Cash and war chest constitute 18% of my net worth. In the current high interest environment, 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 around 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.

Together with 8% of my risk-free Singapore Savings Bonds ($110k) and relatively low-risk Astrea 7A PE bond ($9k), CPF, cash and war chest amount to 63% of my net worth as safe assets. I intend to subscribe to the coming Oct 23 tranche of SSB with average yield of 3.16%.

Stocks and Reits constitute 23% of my net worth. Together with SRS account which forms 8% and are deployed mainly into local stocks and Reits, they are the 32% of riskier assets in my financial portfolio.

Life is exciting in a post pandemic world. Ignore the noises. Remain on track. Be greedy when others are fearful. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be contented when others are hungry. 

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Portfolio Update August 2023

Today is the last day of Aug 2023, eve of presidential election holiday.

Time for some updates of my investment portfolios.

My SGX Income Portfolio value drops to $327k from $333k.

My US/HK Growth Portfolio value stagnates at US$15.4k.

My SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio value dips to $140.2k from $141.8k.

The US stock markets have hit new highs on a strong bullish run despite lingering fears of global recession setting and more potential interest rate hikes by end of this year. As a result, local S-Reits tanked and just stabilised slightly in past days.

Despite being immersed by uncertainties, immense noises and fears, it is crucial that long-term investors like us stay calm, unwavered and make the best out of current situation by investing and deploying our financial resources into stable, high quality income-producing assets or growth businesses tactfully.

I plan to continue adding high quality S-Reits or local bank stocks to my SGX income portfolio in the next few months while also growing my cash in cash funds and risk-free Singapore Savings Bonds.

Portfolio Actions

1. Bought 2,000 shares of Capitaland Ascott Trust at $1.01

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $90 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Aug.

2. Received $524.45 of dividends from UOB on 18 Aug.

3. Received $192 of dividends from DBS on 24 Aug.

4. Received $1,800 of dividends from OCBC in SRS on 25 Aug.

5. Received $222.24 of dividends from Ascott Reit on 29 Aug.

6. Received $86.95 of dividends from Suntec Reit on 29 Aug.

7. Received $90 of dividends from Wilmar in SRS on 30 Aug.

8. Received $157.80 of dividends from Ascendas Reit on 31 Aug.

9. Received $145 of dividends from Comfortdelgro in SRS on 31 Aug.

10. Received $188 of dividends from ST Engineering on 31 Aug.

11. Received $298.45 of dividends from IREIT Global on 31 Aug.

SGX Income Portfolio

Portfolio Value = $327k

US/HK Growth Portfolio

Moomoo

US$3.6k

Tiger Broker

US$10.9k

Syfe Trade

US$0.9k

Portfolio Value = US$15.4k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

Portfolio Value = S$140.2k

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Applied for Singapore Savings Bonds (SBSEP23 GX23090F)

The Sep 2023 tranche of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) has an average yield of 3.06% over 10 years.

The first 7 years yield a flat 3.01% per annum; 8th year yields 3.14% p.a. and 9th, 10th years yield 3.2% p.a.

This is not very appealing considering that other low to risk-free alternatives such as T Bills and bank fixed deposits easily yield more than 3.5% currently.

However, if we consider the great flexibility, liquidity of SSB for redemption and long-term lock down at above 3% p.a and above CPF OA yield of 2.5% p.a. for the next decade, then this tranche of SSB is fairly decent for us to park our spare cash at zero risk, capital guaranteed for the long-term. 

We could redeem SSB anytime , earning interest at 3.01% 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.

I decided to apply for $10k of this Sep 2023 tranche using my idle war chest funds.

There it goes.

S$600m is up for grabs. Due to the relatively modest yield, I anticipate mediocre popularity for this tranche and almost guaranteed allotment of at least $20k per person.

The first payment will be on 1 Mar 2024 and this bond will mature on 1 Sep 2033.

If you are interested in this tranche of SSB, do note that the application dateline is on today, 28 Aug 2023, 9pm for online applications.

Both short-term and long-term treasury bond yields have increased recently and these could signal that the yields of SSB will be higher in next few months. I am 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.

Thank you for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Free Public Holiday on 1 Sep 2023 in Singapore!

 

The Elections Department has announced 3 candidates in the upcoming Presidential election held on 1 Sep 2023 which will be a public holiday for all in Singapore.

What does this entail?

For employees, it means one day of free salary for not doing any work.

For employees, it means one day of incurring staff costs for no work.

For the 3 candidates, it means one of them will be elected as the symbolic head of state for the Republic of Singapore, a country strong and free, prosperous and peaceful. The close to SGD 2 million remuneration will be a boost to their financial war chests considering that none of them worked for free in their decades long careers.

The Singapore President holds some executive power over the country's national reserves, revoking or appointing public service appointments or granting pardons to save lives of convicted drug traffickers sentenced with death penalties. Of course, there are other diplomatic work to maintain goodwill and relationships with counterparts of other nations, states or countries. 

As a salaried slave, I am happy to enjoy this free holiday to rest, do nothing and get paid, while having the chance to possible cast a vote in the presidential election though I do not believe my vote will affect the outcome of the election.

I hope everyone is happy to have this free holiday and look forward to 1 Sep.

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Net Worth Update Aug 2023

      

S$1.485m

I have been busy lately as I took a week off to paint my home.

Let me provide a quick update on my net worth which increases slightly from last month.

The positive contributions from salary, CPF savings and dividends in the past weeks have been offset by declines in the market values of my investment portfolios due to fears on uncertain interest rate hikes and lingering recession on unwavering inflation news.

CPF savings still form the bulk 37% of my net worth. I have already achieved full retirement sum in CPF SA and topped up my Medisave account to the basic healthcare sum of $68.5k early this year.

My cash and war chest constitute 18% of my net worth. In the current high interest environment, 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 around 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.

Together with 7% of my risk-free Singapore Savings Bonds ($110k) and relatively low-risk Astrea 7A PE bond ($9k), CPF, cash and war chest total to 62% of my net worth as safe assets.

My stocks and Reits constitute 24% of my net worth. Together with SRS account which forms 8% and are deployed mainly into local stocks and Reits, they are the 32% of riskier assets in my financial portfolio.

My target net worth by the end of 2023 is S$1.5m and an annual passive income of S$22k.

Life is exciting in a post pandemic world. Ignore the noises. Remain on track. Be greedy when others are fearful. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be contented when others are hungry. 

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

"Subscribed" to Capitaland Ascott Trust Preferential Offer from the market

 

Capitaland Ascott Trust has recently announced an equity fund raising of approximately S$300 million. This includes a private placement at $1.043 for 191.8 million shares and a preferential offering at $1.025 for 100.5 million shares.

This corporate action is deemed unpopular by shareholders as seen by the issue prices for private placement and preferential offering at the lower tier of range and tanking of its share price by around 10% to lower than $1.02 as of time of writing.

This equity fund raising comes a year after its previous private placement held in Aug 2022 which caused a dilution of shareholdings. 

About $170.2 million, or 56.1 per cent, of proceeds from the overall fund-raising exercise will go into funding the stapled group’s proposed $530.8 million acquisition of assets from its sponsor, which includes The Cavendish London in Britain.

Another $82.8 million, or 27.3 per cent, will be used to finance aplanned extension and renovation of Novotel Sydney Central, its hotel asset in Australia.

Some $19.9 million, or 6.6 per cent, will go into financing the renovation of Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden London, the stapled group’s serviced residence in Britain.

The preferential offering will be on the basis of 29 shares for every 1,000 shares owned.

As I currently hold 8,000 shares of Capitaland Ascott Trust which were converted from previous Ascendas Hospitality Trust, I am entitled to 208 preferential offer shares. 

I hope to get 2,000 shares including excess but not guaranteed in preferential offering.

Now that the share price of Capitaland Ascott Trust is below the preferential offer price of $1.025, I have nibbled 2,000 shares at $1.01 off the market which costs $2,048 instead of $2,052 from if I were to subscribe to preferential offer. Hence I will skip the preferential offer exercise.

There it goes. 

Capitaland Ascott Trust constitutes less than 5% of my SGX income portfolio and is not my most favourite REIT. Though I believe it is the best hospitality REIT for investors to ride on the tourism recovery wave, it is not the most attractive REIT to hold for the long-term considering that there are many better quality REITs offering more attractive yields at lower risks.

Nonetheless, I am happy to round up my investment in Capitaland Ascott Trust at below book value of $1.15 and continue "owning" hotels and serviced residential properties around the globe, while collecting rental for the long-term at a yield of more than 5%.

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

 

Portfolio Update July 2023

Let me provide an update of my investment portfolios on the last day of July 2023.

My SGX Income Portfolio value increases to $333k from $318k mainly due to capital injection for preferential offering of Aims Apac Reit, IREIT and rebound of Reits after more certainty in interest rate hikes and diminishing recession fears stabilising the stock markets.

My US/HK Growth Portfolio value inches up to US$15.4k from US$15k.

My SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio value increases to $141.8k from $135k mainly due to resurgence of OCBC.

The US stock markets have hit new highs on a strong bullish run despite lingering fears of global recession setting and more potential interest rate hikes by end of this year. 

While being clouded by uncertainties, immense noises and fears, we must remain calm and clear-minded as long-term investors and make the best out of current situation by investing and deploying our financial resources into high quality income-producing assets or growth businesses tactfully.

I am monitoring and plan to add high quality S-Reits or local bank stocks to my SGX income portfolio when the opportunity arises. I have no intention to increase exposure to US or HK growth stocks but just dabble with options to collect premiums.

Portfolio Actions

1. Bought 3,000 shares of Aims Apac Reit at $1.189 via preferential offering.

2. Bought 10,000 shares of IREIT Global at $0.408 via preferential offering.

3. $2k T-bill BS23101S in SRS account matures on 25 Jul.

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $122.50 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Jul.

2. Received $145.87 of dividends from Savings Bonds in SRS on 1 Jul.

3. Received $372.62 of dividends from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 6 Jul.

4. Received $576 of dividends from Aims Apac Reit on 20 Jul.

SGX Income Portfolio

Portfolio Value = $333k

US/HK Growth Portfolio

Moomoo

US$3.7k

Tiger Broker

US$10.8k

Syfe Trade

US$0.9k

Portfolio Value = US$15.4k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

Portfolio Value = S$141.8k

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Lowering Personal Expenses: 50% Reduction in Mobile bill!

 

My current Starhub $20 sim-only mobile plan is expiring on 31 July 2023 in a few days.

It served me well for the past year offering me 100GB of 4G mobile data, unlimited phone calls, 1000 SMSes, international roaming, caller id and so on.

With the wide spectrum of mobile virtual network operator (MNVO) in the Telco market now offering a multitude of attractive mobile plans, I was spoilt for choices and tempted to switch to one which suits my needs BEST at the LOWEST costs.

I knew that the cheapest 100GB mobile plan is being offered by Simba, former TPG at $10. However due to poor reception and call quality I experienced few years ago during the free trial, I did not consider it.

Despite shortlisting popular MNVO offerings by GIGA, HEYA and GOMO which could offer me savings from $2 to $10 monthly, I was rather firm on renewing my sim-only mobile plan with Starhub for no disruptuon and ease of maintenance of bills as the monthly bill was combined with my broadband.

However until I chanced upon an advert by VIVIFI days ago, I finally decided to take the leap. I signed up for the 4G vibe plan, applying promo code of $20.

Main motivating factors are the reduction of monthly mobile costs by 50% from $20 to $10, reliable network infrastructure by SingTel, free 1GB roaming data in countries I would like to visit and $20 discount with T&C's ($10 after 3 months and $2 every mth from 4th to 8th) meaning an 8 months commitment to enjoy only $20 discount. While the free talktime and SMSes are lesser, I do not mind as I seldom utilise such services.

Other downsides with VIVIFI would be lack of app and physical presence. Hence viewing of mobile usage and bills would be on their website only, and collection of sim card at designated timings at mrt stations is rather troublesome unless we pay 10 odd dollars for home delivery. Customer service support would be via email only. There is also a risk of it collapsing just like some other MVNOs folding up in the past. Nonetheless, the downsides do not deter me from enjoying cost savings.

There are also referral perks from $2 to $4 depending on which mobile plan was signed up.

Here is my referral code for those of you interested:

31294409

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Net Worth Update July 2023

     

S$1.48m

My net worth increases to $1.48m, another all time high!

This is after cash flow from salary, CPF savings, dividends in the past weeks, as well as due to resurgence in the stock market on cooling news of inflation.

CPF savings form 37% of my net worth. I have already achieved full retirement sum in CPF SA and topped up my Medisave account to the basic healthcare sum of $68.5k early this year.

My cash and war chest constitute 18% of my net worth. In the current high interest environment, 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 around 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.

Together with 7% of my risk-free Singapore Savings Bonds ($110k) and relatively low-risk Astrea 7A PE bond ($9k), CPF, cash and war chest total to 62% of my net worth as safe assets.

My stocks and Reits constitute 24% of my net worth. Together with SRS account which forms 8% and are deployed mainly into local stocks and Reits, they are the 32% of riskier assets in my financial portfolio.

My target net worth by the end of 2023 of S$1.45m is already hit and now I target for S$1.5m with an annual passive income of S$22k.

Life is exciting in a post pandemic world. Ignore the noises. Remain on track. Be greedy when others are fearful. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be contented when others are hungry. 

Thank you for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Subscribed to IREIT Global Preferential Offering

 

B&M Claye Souilly, a property acquired by IREIT Global

The preferential offering by IREIT Global to raise proceeds of around $75.9 million to fund the acquisition of 17 retail properties across France is on its last day on 11 July 2023 today.

IREIT Global is offering 186 million shares to existing shareholders at a ratio of 161 preferential offer shares for every 1,000 existing shares at a price of $0.408.

The joint sponsors of the Reit, Tikehau Capital and City Development Limited (CDL) have irrevocably undertaken to subscribe their entitled preferential shares in full. CDL's subsidiary, City Strategic Equity Pte Ltd has further undetaken to subscribe for excess units up to a maximum of $40 million.

I favour IREIT Global for its exposure to niche European income-producing properties which are mostly freehold. While riskier, it helps to diversify my income portfolio which contains quality S-REITS with predominant local presence.

The acquired B&M, a French retail portfolio comprising 17 fully occupied properties have long WALE of 6.8 years. 13 are freehold and 4 are leasehold.

As I own 12,000 shares of IREIT Global, I am entitled to 1,932 preferential offer shares at $0.408.

As this is a yield accretive fund raising project and at a yield of more than 8%, I intend to subscribe to 10,000 preferential offer shares, including excess and hope to get as much as possible.

I decide to use Paynow on the CDP portal instead of using the ATM.

There it goes.

My investment in IREIT Global is positioned for the long-term, at least the next decade, for passive income.

I acknowledged the higher risks from this investment in "European properties" and expect the share price of IREIT Global to remain weak and feeble in the short term. However, higher risks deliver potential higher returns and I feel comfortable and confident with the prospects of this Reit.

In the coming months, years and decade, I look forward to enjoy more dividends in Euros from IREIT Reit perpetually effortlessly.

Thank you all for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Portfolio Update June 2023

Half the year of 2023 has whizzed by.

Let me provide an update of my investment portfolios for June.

My SGX Income Portfolio value increases to $318k mainly due to capital injection for increasing investment in Mapletree Logistics Trust.

My US/HK Growth Portfolio value remains fairly stagnant at US$15k.

My SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio value stagnates at $135k.

The US stock markets has undergone retracement while remaining on a bullish uptrend while local Reits remain weak due to hawkish possibility of further interest rate hikes by end of this year. There are also lingering fears of global recession setting in despite fading hopes interest rate tapering next year. 

While being clouded by uncertainties, immense noises and fears, we must becalm and clear-minded as long-term investors and make the best out of current situation by investing and deploying our financial resources into high quality income-producing assets or growth businesses tactfully.

I am monitoring and plan to add high quality S-Reits or local bank stocks to my SGX income portfolio when the opportunity arises. I have no intention to increase exposure to US or HK growth stocks but just dabble with options to collect premiums.

Portfolio Actions

1. Sold 2,400 shares of Sembcorp Industries at $5.38.

2. Bought 400 shares of DBS at $30.80.

3. Bought 10,000 shares of Mapletree Logistics Trust at $1.63.

4. Rollup 1 unit of Alphabet, GOOGL230616 call option with $100 strike price by buying back at US$23.30 and selling 1 unit of GOOGL231117 call option with $105 strike price at US$23.60.

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $296 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Jun.

2. Received $188 of dividends from ST Engineering in SRS on 6 Jun.

3. Received $285.61 of dividends from Mapletree Industrial Trust on 7 Jun.

4. Received $131 of dividends from Netlink Trust on 13 Jun.

5. Received $337.50 of dividends from MPACT in SRS on 15 Jun.

6. Received $880 of dividends from Frasers L&C Trust on 15 Jun.

7. Received $614.10 of dividends from Ascendas Reit on 26 Jun.

8. Received $849.28 of dividends from Aims Apac Reit on 28 Jun.

9. Received $230.92 of dividends as 224 shares from Far East Orchard on 28 Jun.

SGX Income Portfolio

Portfolio Value = $318k

US/HK Growth Portfolio

Moomoo

US$3.7k

Tiger Broker

US$10.5k

Syfe Trade

US$0.8k

Portfolio Value = US$15k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

Portfolio Value = S$135k

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Passive Income in 2Q and 1H 2023

 

From 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2023, I collected or going to collect the following dividends.

$102.50 SSB (3 Apr)

$121 SSB (2 May)

$192 Sembcorp Ind (8 May)

$188 ST Eng (9 May) SRS

$462.75 UOB (12 May)

$165 Wilmar (12 May) SRS

$211 Comfortdelgro (18 May) SRS

$1,800 OCBC (19 May) SRS

$250.20 Mapletree Log Trust (22 May)

$185.10 Astrea 7 A-1 PE Bond (29 May)

$490.40 Frasers Centrepoint Trust (30 May)

$86.85 Suntec Reit (30 May)

$63.00 OUE Limited (31 May)

$296 SSB (1 Jun)

$188.00 ST Engineering (6 Jun) SRS

$285.61 Mapletree Ind Trust (7 Jun)

$131.00 Netlink Trust (13 Jun)

$337.50 MPACT (15 Jun)

$880.00 Frasers L&C Trust (15 Jun)

$614.10 Ascendas Reit (26 Jun)

$849.28 Aims Apac Reit (28 Jun)

$230.92 Far East Orchard (28 Jun)

The SGX income portfolio is like a money printing machine, churning out cash days and weeks for fun.

My passive income in Q2 2023 is $8,130.21, an 40% YoY increase from Q2 2022's $5,827.83.

Together with the $5,335.98 passive income in Q1, my passive income in the first half 2023 is

$13,466.19

This amount is not a lot but $2,244/month on average is at least able to cover most if not all of my basic necessities and essential expenditure.

I hope to collect more passive income in 2H 2023 and channel most of them towards adding battered quality Reits in my SGX Income portfolio, letting the compounding effect do its magic.

I will continue to live frugally, save up, invest in any bear or bull market conditions, slowly and steadily build up my investments. Ignore the fears, noises, distractions. Remain focused and stay on track in the journey towards financial freedom.

Thanks for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Subscribed to Aims Apac Reit Preferential Offering

 

After sharing my plan for Aims Apac Reit Preferential Offering, I did not manage to add any shares of AA Reit before Ex-Dividend and Ex-Right date.

Even though the share price of AA Reit continue to weaken and even hit a low of $1.16 before rebounding to above $1.20, I missed the opportunity as I procrastinated for too long.

AA Reit is the largest constituent at 12% of my SGX Income Portfolio. I currently own 32,000 units of AA Reit at a net cost of $0.80 after factoring in all the cumulative dividends collected. 

I have been waiting for a good opportunity to increase investment in this Reit since my last addition at $1.18 in Sep 2020 and the time could not be any better than now. 

Now that the preferential offering (PO) is ongoing, I subscribed for 3,000 shares (inclusive of excess) of AA Reit at PO price of $1.189 today, hoping to get all.

I tried Paynow via scanning QR code in CDP website but hit by Paynow limit of $1k and requires 12 hours for adjustment to take place, so I went to press in ATM. $2 admin fee applies for both means but it is more convenient to use Paynow.

There it goes.

My investment in AA Reit is positioned for the long-term, at least the next decade. It is hard to believe that I have collected more than $13k of dividends from AA Reit alone in the past 7 years.

In the coming months, years and decade to come, I hope to enjoy more dividends from AA Reit perpetually effortlessly.

Thank you all for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Net Worth Update June 2023

    

S$1.47m

My net worth increases to $1.47m mainly due to a rebound in my investment portfolios and cash flow from salary, CPF savings and dividends in the past weeks.

The Fed has calmed down market nerves by holding off on rate hike but hinted at 2 potential hikes by end of 2023 but I believe the stock markets will remain volatile and choppy for the coming months.

CPF savings form one-third bulk of my wealth. I have already achieved full retirement sum in CPF SA and topped up my Medisave account to the basic healthcare sum of $68.5k early this year.

My stocks and Reits constitute around a quarter of my net worth after I injected another $16k into Mapletree Logistics Trust and rotated Sembcorp Industries into DBS this month. I plan to continue adding high quality S-Reits or local bank stocks to my SGX income portfolio when the opportunity arises. For US or HK stocks, I will not increase exposure but just dabble with options to collect premiums.

My cash and war chest drops to 18% of my net worth. In the current high interest environment, 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 around 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.

SRS forms 8% of my wealth and I have already completed the top up of $15.3k annual limit for 2023. I have also deployed the new SRS funds to increase my investment in OCBC amidst fear and uncertainty in bank stocks after the collapse of several US banks since Mar 2023. After emptying my SRS funds in Mar 2023, it self replenished to around $3k due to dividends collected from ST Engineering, OCBC, Wilmar, Keppel DC Reit, Keppel Reit and Comfortdelgro in the SRS ultra long-term portfolio.

7% of my net worth is in risk-free Singapore Savings Bonds ($110k) and relatively low-risk Astrea 7A PE bond ($9k). I have redeemed an old tranche (SBAPR19 GX19040X) yielding 2.12% last month and the funds which came in early this month were injected into MLT. I have also abandoned the plan to continue subscribing to Singapore Savings Bonds for the rest of the year as they yield below 3% for the recent 2 tranches and I forsee the yield shall stay below 3% for the coming months.

I deployed my financial assets conservatively and allocated almost 62% to low-to-no risk assets:

a. CPF (37%)

b. Cash (18%)

c. Risk-free bonds (7%)

The higher-risk assets are at 38% and given a long time frame to generate passive income or grow.

d. Equities (24%) 

e. SRS (deployed largely into equities) (8%) 

This provides a huge defensive safety net but the opportunity cost is that my net worth will not grow as fast and furious but slow and steadily. I may reduce my low-to-no risk ratio to 60% as I decided to my risk appetite.

My target net worth by the end of 2023 of at least S$1.45m is already hit so now I target for S$1.5m with an annual passive income of S$22k.

Life is exciting in a post pandemic world. Ignore the noises. Remain on track. Be greedy when others are fearful. Be hungry when others are contented. Live everyday to the maximum! En route to financial freedom!

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Earn Miles from Nation Building

 

It is the heart wrenching time of the year when typical wage slaves receive Notice of Assessment from Taxman IRAS in Singapore.

I received an SMS days ago notifying me on the due date for my liable taxes.

In the past, I would use CitiPayall to clear my taxes using Citibank Premiermiles card to earn miles. 

However for this year, the admin fee is higher at 2.2% for a higher earn rate of 2.2miles per dollar with a minimum spend of $8k.

As my taxes are below $8k, I decided to explore alternative platform such as ipaymy to pay my taxes and earn miles at the same time. Its admin fee is lower than Citibank at 1.75% for me to earn miles albeit at lower rate of 1.2miles per dollar.

I am prepared to forgo most of my next month's income for these taxes.

There it goes!

While feeling heartache, the consolation is to be able to accumulate some miles towards my future trip to London and contribute to nation building at the same time!

This is not a sponsored post but merely some ranting for me to share how I deal with one type of certainty in life - tax. The other certainty is death.

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace, 

Qiongster

Doubled Up on Mapletree Logistics Trust

I spent the past weekend pondering whether to increase investments in Capitaland Ascendas REIT or Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT). 

Both are high quality income producing assets and have about the same yield at more than 5.5% per annum.

I decided to go for the latter and today my order for MLT was filled at $1.63 for 10,000 shares. I will now own 20,000 shares, doubling up on my current holdings.

MLT has launched a private placement recently in Apr 2023 at $1.649 per unit to raise S$200m to acquire 8 logistics properties in Japan, Australia and South Korea for S$913.6m, while keeping its gearing below 40%. This is a yield accretive acquisition amidst higher interest costs

I am happy that my purchase cost is slightly below the private placement price of $1.649 paid by the big boys and at 16% above its book value of $1.43. Projecting an annual dividend of $0.09 per unit, the dividend yield is around 5.5%, which is rather decent for a top quality logistics REIT.

This price is also much lower than the $1.69 paid by Blackrock in Feb 2023 to add 1.8m shares for S$3m.

I believe MLT is a resilient, robust REIT which thrives on the booming and growth of e-commerce and logistics demands in the APAC regions. It is a long-term investment for me to generate steady and consistent passive income for many years to come.

See related posts:

Added Mapletree Logistics Trust in first investment of 2021

Applied for Mapletree Logistics Trust Preferential Offering Shares (2020)

Nibbled Mapletree Logistics Trust and Sembcorp Marine

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Initiated Position in World's Best Bank

 

Today I decided to initiate a small position in DBS (SGX:D05).

This is to recycle the capital I received from divestment of Sembcorp Industries yesterday.

DBS is the world's best bank and currently it yields around 5% despite at more than 40% above book value at $21.

Ideally I would like to get DBS at below $30 per share however my fingers are itchy and getting impatient. It is also very difficult to time the market.

Besides, the looming dividends in Aug 2023 are almost certainly guaranteed. I am also eager to replace the great business I disposed yesterday with another great business and I believe DBS is the best candidate to replace Sembcorp Industries in my SGX income portfolio for the long-term.

DBS has a great track record of rewarding shareholders consistently and steadily with growing dividends and capital gains over the past decades. It should continue to do well in this sustained high interest rate environment clouded by noises and uncertainties.

Should the share price of DBS plummet below $30 or $28 in the short future, I shall add more shares to increase investment in this world's best bank.

Thank you all for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Sold Sembcorp Industries after 8 years! For whopping 100% Profit!?

 

The love-hate relationship between me and Sembcorp Industries (SGX:U96) officially ends today. 

I sold off my paltry 2,400 shares of Sembcorp Industries at $5.38.

In 2015, after switching from a trader to become a novice investor, the first stock on SGX I picked and nibbled was Sembcorp Industries (SCI).

My purchases were 800 shares at $4.18 on 24 Feb 2015, 700 shares at $4.77 on 22 Apr 2015 and 900 shares at $3.15 on 2 Dec 2015. The average holding cost was around $4.00. I made full use of the $10 odd lot (<1000 shares) brokerage promotion after I opened my POEMS account with Philips Securities.

That decision was made after attending many seminars, read many books on value investing, fundamental analysis and so on.

At that time, I believed in the long term prospects of SCI as a global leading energy provision, utilities supply, waste management and urban solutions conglomerate. I thought the regional demands for the services provided by SCI will remain strong and grow perpetually, without taking into consideration that such business is actually cyclical in nature and pose great challenges with high risks.

All my savings for half a year were channeled into SCI due to my strong belief.

It was heartbreaking and disappointing to see the share price of SCI plummet through various levels of supports, reaching lower lows and breaking records every year. It even hit $1.18 during the pandemic in 2020.

I did not bother to average down nor add on to the investment of SCI for the past 8 years, which I collected more than $2.7k worth of dividends including the "free" Sembcorp Marine shares. 

However, I also did not cut my losses nor rebalance my portfolio by swapping SCI for other high quality Reit. I executed such portfolio rebalancing moves for my disappointment SingTel, Starhub and SATS.

After factoring in the dividends collected, my net cost for SCI is $2.67. Selling at $5.38 gives a return of slightly more than 100% over 8 years. This is the reward for conviction and loyalty in a great cyclical business.

The fundamentals and main business of SCI have not really changed over the years. Just that it's value was unlocked and the shift in focus towards green renewable energy, together with recent positive catalyst news from capital recycling actions such as divestment of Indian energy division and waste management business SembWaste, propelled the share price of SCI like a rocket for the past year.

I believe it is time for me to recycle my capital and locked in the profits from SCI as nothing goes up forever in this world due to gravity. The funds will go into my warchest for potential reinvestment into local banks or high quality Reits in the coming weeks.

Thank you all for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

My Plan for Aims Apac Reit Preferential Offering

 

Optus Centre, Australia owned by Aims Apac Reit

Happy Vesak Day!

I spent this holiday morning strategizing my June 2023 cashflow and thinking about how to deal with the Aims Apac Reit's preferential offering.

On 31 May 2023, Aims Apac Reit (O5RU.SI) announced an equity fund raising of about S$100m, consisting of S$70m in private placements to institutional investors and a non-renounceable preferential offering to existing shareholders for S$30m, at a ratio of 35 units for every 1,000 units owned at $1.189 per unit.

Following the news, the share price of AA Reit tumbled from $1.31 to $1.22 after halt of trading was lifted. This is unthinkable as its share price recently hit $1.43 in May after announcing a strong set of quarterly results and a near-term record quarterly dividend of more than $0.026.

As of 1 June 2023, the private placement has closed at S$1.214 per unit, which is a 6.7% discount to the adjusted volume-weighted average price at $1.30 per unit, after subtracting an advanced distribution of around $0.018 per unit.

The purpose of this fund raising exercise serves to partially or wholly fund asset enhancement initiatives of 2 existing properties in Singapore, redevelopments of properties, potential future acquisitions of properties and to pare down debt to keep its aggregate leverage within the desired range. 

I believe the management has considered alternatives such as taking on additional bank loans or issuing bonds in current high interest rate environments and that having an equity fund raising is the most optimal solution in the present landscape. This equity fund raising allows AA Reit to grow its portfolio organically, enhance financial flexibility and strengths, and most importantly, it is an yield accretive action to benefit shareholders.

The sponsor of AA Reit, Aims Apac Capital holdings limited has provided an irrovacable undertaking to the Manager, joint Bookrunners and the Underwriters to showcase their strong support and conviction in AA Reit for the long-term. Excess units not subscribed by existing shareholders will be absorbed by them.

I fully support this equity fund raising even though I am disappointed to see its share price tumble so much in such a short span of time. Amidst fear and uncertainty, I sensed opportunity.

I currently own 32,000 units of AA Reit at a net cost of $0.80 after factoring in all the cumulative dividends collected. I have been waiting for a good opportunity to add on investment in this Reit since my last addition at $1.18 in Sep 2020 and the time could not be any better than now. 

In fact since 2016, this Reit has already paid me more than S$13k of dividends!!! This is a greatly managed small industrial Reit which provides consistent and steady passive income to reward loyal shareholders.

Let me briefly share my action plans in the upcoming weeks.

1. Increase investment amidst fear and uncertainty

I will place order queues to buy more than 10,000 shares of AA Reit at below $1.23 next week. At a yield of more than 7% and more than 10% discount off its book value of around $1.35, I believe that this is a great opportunity to increase holdings in AA Reit.

2. Subscribe entitled and excess PO shares

With more holdings, I should be entitled to more Preferential Offering shares. Say if I own 43,000 shares of AA Reit before its ex-Rights date of 8 June 2023, Thurs, I should be entitled to 1,505 shares. Hopefully, with priority given for rounding of odd units, I should be able to get at least 2,000 shares at PO price of $1.189.

3. Sit back, relax, collect the advanced distributions and future dividends

Whether I am successful in increasing my investment in AA Reit or not, I will still be entitled to advanced distributions of between $0.017 and $0.019 per unit after its ex-Dividend date on 8 June 2023 based on my current holdings. These dividends are payable on 20 July 2023. In the coming months, years and decade to come, I hope to enjoy more dividends from AA Reit perpetually effortlessly.

Thank you all for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster