Investing

When I'm not working on my office job, I do spend quite a significant amount of my free time watching YouTube videos, reading investment related books and blogs on how to build passive income or wealth.

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I love the process of learning how to build wealth and making the decisions on what to invest in.  It's fun!  I get the satisfaction of seeing returns on my investments, regardless if they are small or significant returns.  As long as it brings me some money, I'm happy 😄

My investments are mainly in bonds, structured deposits, and equities.  I have about 70% in government bonds and T-Bills, 20% in structured deposits, and 10% in equities.  I'm working on increasing the amount of equities I have.  More equities would help grow my wealth through capital gains, and I invest in a S&P500 index fund. 

That index fund doesn't distribute dividends, hence as a non-US citizen I'm not subjected to the US withholding tax of 30% nor 15% (if it's an Ireland domiciled index fund).  I save on not having to pay taxes so it really helps with wealth accumulation.

                             

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So far I've not invested in any of the local stocks of my country Singapore.  It sure is nice to collect dividends (not taxable!) mind you, many of my country's stocks are not growth stocks as they are mainly in the financial industry, real estate, and consumables.  Thought of investing in the STI ETF, thinking it may be safer compared to investing in single stocks, but you would need to start buying that ETF when its share price is low so that you can enjoy the capital gains (not just the dividends).  You can't get much capital gains through STI ETF as the 30 companies that make up the ETF are already matured companies.

The STI ETF has been stuck roughly at around 3.5 to 3.6 points for a long time.  If there's a market crash, it goes as low at 2.4 points, which is an opportune time to buy into the ETF.  As for me, I'll just wait and see.  I'll focus on growing my S&P500 index fund portfolio for now.

My government bonds, T-Bills and structured deposits give me passive income.  I create bond ladders with government bonds and T-Bills so that I can receive income on a monthly basis.  Structured deposits would be half yearly.  

                                             

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Since the time I've invested in the S&P500 index fund in 2022, I'm learning how to manage FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) when the market is rallying and reminding myself not to fret or become disappointed when the index dives.  I remind myself to buy the dips and when the market goes up, just keep investing.  

Dollar Cost Averaging is what I do, but I invest with varying frequencies.  I buy more often when the market is crashing, and buy less when market goes up.  I prefer to invest at different price points rather than invest a big lump sum if the price is not at its lowest.  When the market goes up, I invest once a month, just maintaining the journey of growing my portfolio.  

The process of learning and making informed decisions keeps me motivated, and I look forward to continuing this investment journey in building wealth!

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