December 2016 Goal review:
21+ days without alcohol:
failed (only 20 times)
12+ days sport:
achieved (15 times)
In December I spent two weeks in the Philippines and did a free diving course for two days. A very different experience from scuba diving. It requires a lot of focus and switching the mind to a calm state. After some practice it is very easy even for beginners to dive deeper than 10 meters on a single breath. Trained free divers like my instructor can easily do 40 meters or hold their breath for 4-5 minutes, it is impressive.
Beaches like this one can be found all over the Philippines.
I also practiced motorbike riding on a cheaply rented 125 cc bike and enjoyed it tremendously.
Quick December portfolio update
The value of my portfolio increased by
SGD 6,831 or 4.1% to
SGD 174,955 (~USD 121,500). This gain was composed of
SGD 6,408 in fresh investments and capital gains of
SGD 423.
2016 Goal Review
Total saving goal for 2016: SGD 50,080:
Achieved, saved SGD 54,264 (USD 37714)
Target saving rate for 2016: 40.2%:
Missed, saved 39.4%
I had higher than expected income but did not save as much as planned. Overall a very solid year though.
I managed to exceed my monthly investment plan by quite a bit.
Personal life in 2016
Not an easy year for me personally and professionally. From April to December I was really struggling through some old issues. Only now that I am a doing better I realize how difficult it was.
Work was a bit dull to say the least, but I was hardly ever stressed and also had some good times with colleagues.
Full year portfolio update
Couldn’t resist creating a waterfall chart….
I started the year with
SGD 74,950 and over the year invested a total of
SGD 49,641 in fresh funds. Additionally, I received
SGD 3,929 in dividends which I reinvested. This year Mr. Market was very nice to my portfolio and it gained
SGD 12,310. I furthermore divested my old whole life insurance plan which stupid younger me had signed up for since it was sold to me as some type of fund based pension plan.
All in all, my portfolio increased by
SDG 100,005 to
SGD 174,955.
Dividends received in 2016
In 2016
SGD 3,929 were paid out to me by my ETF holdings. A nice increase to the
SGD 1,571 in 2015.
In most countries focusing so much on dividends is not a good strategy, but here in Singapore they are tax free. It is somehow very satisfying to receive these payments and it keeps me on track.
Best investment in 2016
I have long limited investing into individual stocks and have kept picked stocks <10% of the portfolio. Soon this share will be reduced to <5% as the portfolio grows. Having said that, I could not resist the 8% dividend yield of HSBC when the stock fell to HKD 46 in Q1 2016. I have met quite a few HSBC people and feel that it is a very well run and great company, so I bought shares for around SGD 7,000 which have since returned +43% including dividends.
I am not planning to buy any individual stocks this year and will focus on passive index funds as always.
Asset allocation
All on track. In the medium term the share of picked stocks should be reduced. I am quite happy with 25% in bonds and will probably not reduce this much further.
Overall ERE progress 2016
Overall progress would have been better, but I had to buffer
SGD 4,000 to pay taxes earlier, since I might leave Singapore in the near future for a new job with the existing company. Hopefully the contract can be signed this month, but lots of things could still go wrong.
Savings rate of 39.3% is not good and I have to improve this further. A savings rate of 50% should be easily achievable.
Where did the money go?
It seems like I increased discretionary spending in 2016, but only because I had no other category to slot in the SGD 4,000 I saved for a possible early tax payment next year. Without this effect spending would be constant. Still at a far too high level though!
Hypothetical monthly income at 4% WR
SGD 583... Slowly climbing up.
Coast FI age
If I suddenly decided to stop investing, when would I be able to retire based on growth of current portfolio? Assumptions: 6% annual portfolio growth, 2% inflation. December result: I can retire at age 85...
Outlook for 2017
So I got offered the job in my current company. Terms are good but the posting is subject to approval by some committee meeting in a few weeks. Chances are good and I might leave Singapore in a few weeks. This might totally change my route to FI and offer significant advantages.
The minimalist fiancée (she said yes of course) would join me and is excited as well.
Fingers crossed!