New Year, New Post, New Goals

 

Happy New Year Everyone!
(even though I'm a couple of days late)

What a whirlwind 2021 has been. Singapore went through so many phases of Covid measures that I lost count. Nevertheless, 2021 was an eventful and meaningful year. The LO turned one and she's expected to start Playgroup in a few weeks time. We also started dabbling a little into stablecoins to gain some yield there. I got back into the hobby of collecting shiny cardboard and for those interested you can check out my IG through the link at the bottom. I initially set out to get 1oz of gold and ~30oz of silver last year but i didn't quite hit the mark on gold, so let's see if we can do that this year.

I definitely have been away from this page for awhile. IIRC, my last post was sometime in Aug 2020 and I just did not have the motivation to look at our numbers and crunch out some post. Honestly, everything felt too routine and kind of a drag. Well, I'm back from a break and I hope that I can gather some momentum for this year.

Looking back at 2022, we aimed to get $2400 in dividends/passive income. Based on my last check on stocks.cafe (which I use to track our portfolio), we earned ~$2,500 in dividends in 2021. This excludes our other passive income streams such as bank interests and crypto yields. This kinda exceeded my expectation as I thought we could only hit this target if we included our other streams of passive income. Going forward, I think we will only be tracking our dividends closely or I might go crazy sieving through all our different accounts 😂

So what's next in 2022? 

First off, I would like to write more consistently. Some people say 'Consistency is key' so my target for 2022 is to write at least two posts a month. This should be manageable given our current schedule and work demands and if I'm feeling it, I may write more and if I do that's a bonus.

We are also going to continue our DCA strategy into our current holdings. I think given our background and schedule, we can only do what we can to stay in the market and reduce our risks where possible. So far, this method has been stable enough for us and kinda survived the Covid-19 test.

One thing that we did not execute enough on was entering more positions into growth stocks and some ETFs that we wanted to. We are going to work to try and change this and increase our exposure in these positions.

We are also targeting $3,600 in dividends this year which will translate to ~50% increase from 2021. Currently, all the dividends received are reinvested. Hopefully this will pay off in the long run.

Next, we are going to continue to increase our exposure in crypto and physical precious metals. In my mind, these two are hedges in the bigger picture of growing the value of our portfolio.

Last but not least, it is to make time for more healthy activities like exercise and 'excursions' with the LO. As we are entering our 30s, gotta keep the weight down as our metabolism slows down and get in a couple of sessions of exercise per week to ensure we are healthy enough when we are older to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

If you have read till here, THANK YOU! On a lighter note, I want to collect more Shiny Cardboard and I may post some pictures of what I have in my Personal Collection (PC).

Share with me your New Year's Resolutions and Goals! Remember to stay safe everyone!

On a separate note, I have started a YouTube Channel showcasing my hobbies. If you are interested, you can watch my latest video here! Any feedback, subscriptions or comments is deeply appreciated!

My YouTube Channel: LINK HERE!

My Instagram: LINK HERE!

Check out my other stuff: LINK HERE!

SG FI Dad, out.

FI Dad and the Cryptoverse Part 1: Am I Affected by the Binance Ban in Singapore?

Staring into the Cryptocurrency Universe o.o

So Binance.com has been ordered to stop providing products in Singapore as reported here. The reason for this ‘Ban Hammer’ coming down now is due to Binance.com not being regulated under the Payment Services Act in Singapore. With effect from 9 Sep 2021, Binance.com will not be providing any SGD trading pairs, payment/transfer options and it’s apps will be removed from the Singapore iOS App Store and Google Play Store. 

**Do note that Binance.Sg is a separate entity and they are still operating in Singapore**

I think cryptocurrency in Singapore definitely has gained massive traction.  I think most folks who didn’t know or understand it previously, would have picked up bits of information or knowledge from different sources. When I ask the less informed around me about crypto, typically they still think that it’s a form of currency used for money laundering and has negative connotation. So I cannot blame anyone for thinking that way. 

Personally, I have not used Binance.com much even though it has the largest number of trading pairs and cryptocurrencies available at reasonable fees. In my most recent forays into crypto, I have been using Gemini ActiveTrader (AT) and Coinbase Pro. Gemini AT is definitely easier to use and the fees are incredibly low. The downside is the lack of trading pairs available so you win some, you lose some. But it is sufficient for my ‘yield farming’ and DeFi purposes. 

So to answer the question in the title. No I haven’t been affected in this Binance.com ‘fallout’. For those affected, try exploring the other options available if you are not a crypto trader. If you are, there are also probably available options out there or work arounds that other writers may be more knowledgeable about. 

Share with me your thoughts and comments on this ban and what you think are the future implications! Remember to stay safe everyone!

On a separate note, I have started a YouTube Channel showcasing my hobbies. If you are interested, you can watch my latest video here! Any feedback, subscriptions or comments is deeply appreciated!

My YouTube Channel: LINK HERE!

My Instagram: LINK HERE!

Check out my other stuff: LINK HERE!

SG FI Dad, out.

Alternate Income: June 2021

And June has ended already! What!? Honestly the year is really flying by. We have gone into P3HA for awhile now and I hope with all the plans and measures in place, we will see further progress as we enter the last quarter of the year. The Euros 20/21 has been equally interesting and exciting to watch. There has been plenty of upsets and my predicted winners are already no longer in the running. Will football really be coming home now? Now to see who wins the entire thing. Anyone has their favourites? About one more month till EPL is back and I can't wait. Okay, with that little recap out of the way, we can get back into how our portfolio performed this month. 

For June 2021, we received $253.86 from interests and dividend returns. Its not the first month that we surpassed our target of $200 per month and it feels good to have reached this target again. Seeing the chart below also gives us some confidence in achieving our target for this year. Viewing our stocks.cafe report, we tend to receive more towards the middle part of the year. Hopefully this will make up the shortfall which we experienced earlier in the year.

As we are going past the halfway mark of 2021, we continue to remain disciplined in our investment efforts.  By my rough estimates, I am confident that we will reach our goal of $200 per month in alternate income for 2021 with our continuous DCA entry into the market. Hopefully I did not compute anything wrongly and the data will back me up come December.

Share with me your thoughts and comments on dividend investing! Remember to stay safe everyone!

On a separate note, I have started a YouTube Channel showcasing my hobbies. If you are interested, you can watch my latest video here! Any feedback, subscriptions or comments is deeply appreciated!

My YouTube Channel: LINK HERE!

My Instagram: LINK HERE!

Check out my other stuff: LINK HERE!

SG FI Dad, out.

Alternate Income: May 2021

Wow, May has already ended and we are halfway into 2021. Time really passes quickly and everyday, the situation around the world is constantly evolving. We went back in Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) and I sincerely hope that everyone has been doing fine and staying safe. I got my vaccination jabs done in May and even though I experienced some side effects, I think it is definitely better than the alternative. Now we can only hope that the situation improves here in Singapore and we return back to the new normal, sooner rather than later. In other less serious news. football season is over and now we have to content with the long wait until EPL starts again in August. Luckily, we should have some Euros action to tide us over. I just hope that all these international sporting events do not become a catalyst for the next wave of the pandemic. Okay, with that little recap out of the way, we can get back into how our portfolio performed this month. 

For May 2021, we received $441.09 from interests and dividend returns. Its not the first month that we surpassed our target of $200 per month and it feels good to have reached this target again. Viewing our stocks.cafe report, we tend to receive more towards the middle of the year. Hopefully this will make up the shortfall which we experienced earlier in the year.

As we are going past the halfway mark of 2021, we continue to remain disciplined in our investment efforts.  By my rough estimates, I am confident that we will reach our goal of $200 per month in alternate income for 2021 with our continuous DCA entry into the market. Hopefully I did not compute anything wrongly and the data will back me up come December.

Share with me your thoughts and comments on such apps you guys are using! Remember to stay safe everyone!

On a separate note, I have started a YouTube Channel showcasing my hobbies. If you are interested, you can watch my latest video here! Any feedback, subscriptions or comments is deeply appreciated!

My YouTube Channel: LINK HERE!

My Instagram: LINK HERE!

Check out my other stuff: LINK HERE!

SG FI Dad, out.

StashAway Report April 2021

Wow, it is already May!? Been seeing a lot of 'Sell in May and go away' memes recently. How much truth is there in these, I am not so sure, you tell me! Nevertheless, April was eventful and there is a lot to be thankful for. Even though COVID-19 seems to be flashing its fangs again with some 'active clusters' appearing, I am hopeful that we can overcome this eventually. Just grateful that everyone at home is safe and sound. Hopefully, you guys have been doing well too and staying safe!

We have diligently continued our DCA strategy with StashAway as it continues to provide us with better returns than just parking this money in our savings account. We have also been DIY on some US ETFs and counters but I will update that in another post some other time. StashAway continues to have decent returns for us albeit unrealised as we have not cashed out anything. 

I have been using StashAway since 2017 but the contribution has been on and off then. More recently, we have made it a critical component of our portfolio as it provides us exposure to the overseas market. We have 5 portfolios across 2 accounts as we like to set different goals with different timelines.

Statement as of 30 Apr 2021:

Our portfolio thus far is valued at $17,411.18. Hopefully, our StashAway portfolio remains in the green and continues performing. 

If you are interested in getting started with StashAway, you can check out my link here to sign up. We both get up to $10,000 SGD managed for free for 6 months. Win-win! 

Share with me your thoughts and comments on if you have robo-advisors as part of your portfolio! Stay safe everyone!

On a separate note, I have started a YouTube Channel showcasing my hobbies. If you are interested, you can watch my latest video here! Any feedback, subscriptions or comments is deeply appreciated!

My YouTube Channel: LINK HERE!

My Instagram: LINK HERE!

Check out my other stuff: LINK HERE!

SG FI Dad, out.