Jun 25, 2016

Cory Diary : Britain voted to be out of EU

Could not comprehend why is it so bad about it. In fact I did not even put it as something to watch that can cause another Lehman moment. Some News commentators said is a Black Swan Event which i disagree.

I do not think is hard at all for BreExit vote as below pic but stock market sentiment cannot be under estimated. So I took profit in CDL which has large exposure in GB prior to the vote. I did not anticipate significant impact to others. Dow drops more than 600 pt. My feeling now is there will be more impact coming Monday in SG market. Now my leg is a little shaky because I should have done a little more to mitigate it. Always room for regrets LOL.

BreExit comment











CDL Trades

When Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia Federation, many people think this is the end. LKY cried. The other side was hoping we will failed and down the road we will begged for return at their terms. We didn't. We succeeded beyond the wildest dream.

We need to get back to basic. What's the purpose of a Country ? To have a population that can work together. Policy and government that serve them. Democracy in place. EU takes away all that.

To make it worst, EU immigrants policy alienates the population similar to situation for the Singapore gov when they open the doors too wide that we lose our cultural and togetherness as a nation. They did crawl back and we see the 70% support votes. Unlike Singapore, EU Leaders did not. The British citizen don't even know who they are yet they are the one that decides EU immigrant policies and so i heard.

Leaders today are politically correct to avoid being branded racists and doing the right thing but they forgot about Nation Building. Is not just about Economic. Is about happiness. Is about emotion. Is about togetherness of the Citizens in the country ! And this takes effort and time to integrate and be accepted. Only when we get all this right, then there is value in economy. I am proud of the British people recognising this despite all odds against their parties, institutions and the famous. Just like in America, Trump represents the frustration of Americans. He did not so to speak, "Influence" them. He just represented them. The sooner leaders understands their population and the ground not grass root, they will lead better.

Near term there will be volatility in the market due to sentiments but it also mean opportunity from fear. Cascading effects will only create more opportunities so I need to go slow in my entry.


Cory
20106625




Jun 21, 2016

Cory Diary : What Expenses to cut ?

Expenses have been talked about for some time among bloggers. We know saving is important. Ability to grow our income is even better. Taking care of our owns family cannot be forsaken. Neither can we do away with insurance.

What if I have multiple or huge loans and I got retrenched and I do not want it to be a life style changing event ? Here i will go about it. Total up my lifestyle expenses, work out the cash flow and finally filtered out the options.


EXPENSES

Monthly Expenses
Parent Allowances : 600 ( at minimum )
Hospitalization Insurance : 100 ( Saving/Life $250 )
Housing Loan : $1000 Interest ( $4000 Principal ) (arbitrary)
Utilities/Telco Bills : $200
Clothing : 200
Transport : 220 (Multiple of wife/kid will roughly be a car expense )
Food : 620
Cable TV : 50
Newspaper : 30 ( Prefer to read from paper. To me is quality of life )
Hobby : 50 ( Personal Interests )
Sports : 70 ( Exercise and Meeting with Friends )
Groceries : 180

Annual Expenses
Home Decoration and Appliances : 2000 (arbitrary)
Computer and Home Equipment : 1400 (arbitrary)
Travel : 2000 (arbitrary)
Medical : 500 ( Clinic )
Special Meals : $1200

This works out to  S$3912 monthly expenses after tax to support.


CASH FLOW

Monthly Cash Flow is important because some of our investments takes a longer term return path such as housing loan and "Saving" Insurance which requires monthly payments.

-3912 Expenses
-4250 Housing loan and Insurance
+2100 CPF Deduction to support home loan assuming i have a sizeable sum of cash inside.
+2600 Dividends ( Based on my current Passive Income )

I will need income of minimum $3462 monthly to support the above if I am retrenched. Luckily my dividends and CPF buffered the problem. Can you imagine without ?

What are my other big ticket options.


  1. Find a job/ Part time that can fulfilled the gap at minimum. ie. Potential.
  2. Married a hardworking wife ie. hmmm do i have to wait till retrenched ? Married up shiok right. Not an option since this negate the problem itself even though it is an option if you have options to choose a life partner. LOL
  3. Increase my investment to double my dividends. ie Possible. Required large saving. I should work on it asap.
  4. Get a cheaper home. ie. Down grade lah. Sian man. Move it lower. "Desperate" option. Can last some time.
  5. Divest investment property. ie. Maybe can consider based on market condition. To sell at right time maybe important.
  6. Borrow from Relatives and Friends ie. Not small sum ... Matter of principle not to tap them unless i have gone through desperate measures ie. Cut expenses ... and still not enough
  7. Retrenchment Benefits. ie. Choose companies that values employee. This may mean going to Civil Service and MNC first in my early career. ie. if 1 year service equate to 1 month severance. 15 years is 15 months of salary. This can buffer many years of cash flow.



LIFE STYLE

Why am I not cutting down on expenses ? Back to the top. I want to maintain my lifestyle.
Need to anticipate to avoid this decision altogether in later life because is painful after a life time of work. So it comes to Saving and getting a job options. But I can't get another job if I am still with one now. That's left with me the only Option that is Saving. Obvious enough. :(

These narrowed to a few things I could focus on.

Saving => Increase Dividends
Extravagance must be avoided in my early years. Fewer travel. No car. Take bus. Fewer restaurants. No expensive celebrations. No smoking and drinking. No gambling. No expensive clothing. Don't buy unproductive things that will be kept in the store room.

Cash Flow => Increase Dividends
No wonder there is advise not to pay up our housing loan. Is the cheapest loan we can get to bump up dividends to support it. Cash is King only when we can use it.

CPF => Buffer home payments when needed. Meantime getting good interests and additional insurances.

Retrenchment Benefits => Good benefits is important. Choose your company wisely. And use the benefits to support your dividend income when possible. The last thing we want is to spend on holiday trip unless you have enough.

What others ? Tell me leh.


Cory
20160620






Jun 18, 2016

Cory Diary : FRASERS CENTREPOINT TRUST

Home Work

Noticed a significant drop in FCT yesterday. This caught my eyes as I have been waiting for a good time to re-enter. A check in regular sources have no obvious news. Some retailers attempt to collect. There is a rather large selloff after trading hours at $1.89 which appear to be from a single entity. Do note some time back there is news of CEO change.


Previous Trades

May have to click the picture below to see the details. Recorded rationale on the trades that time.
I like the Mall Business at suburb which rental is not impacted. AEI keeps me a little awake which i blogged earlier.

(updated for privacy)

There is some resistance around 2.00 to 2.02.  I am a poor timer, quite busy recently due to company re-org, fear of losing and no insider. So decided to sell FCT without waiting for the next dividend distribution.


Next Step

Bre-Exit is round the corner. US has another major gun incident. Market quite shaky. Our local economy still in the muddy water. With the FCT AEI still in the midst. Will wait for reports and better opportunity. I really like this Mall counter.


Cory
20160618