First of all, Happy New Year 2017!
I hope you had an awesome celebration over the festive seasons! :D
Last year was quite a bumpy ride
for the financial markets. Read my Recap on Major Events that Rocked the Global Financial Markets in 2016. As we usher in the New Year, let us be
mindful of how these events will spill over to this year and possibly impact
our investing strategies. Warren Buffet once said “Be fearful when others are
greedy, be greedy when others are fearful.” Hence, I believe opportunities are aplenty in 2017.
In my first blog post in 2017
(huat ah!), I will share some of my achievements to wrap up 2016 and various investment plans for
2017 going forward.
Achievements in 2016
Looking back, 2016 has been a great year for me.
Investment-wise. I am happy to share
that I had achieved a two-fold increase in my returns vis-a-vis 2015 mainly through
collection of dividends and trading of a few stocks. As such, I am inching
closer to my short-term target of $10,000 passive income! To up the
ante, I aim to surpass the figure this year.
Career-wise. I received a promotion
in my full-time job which helped me to harvest a bumper crop in terms of income
earned. This allows me to allocate more spare cash into my
investment portfolio. But this also means I would have to pay more income
taxes. As such, I had done a voluntary cash top-up to my CPF SA to
receive some tax relief. Doing so allows me to set aside some money for
retirement needs and earn the guaranteed 4% interest in SA. It’s a win-win.
I’ve projected to receive about 25-30% in tax reduction.
Relationship-wise. I have also achieved
several breakthroughs. Despite my busy schedule, my girlfriend and I managed to create a truckload of memories in 2016!
As our relationship matures, we delved into deeper issues. While we may not
agree on everything, we are open in our communication and respect each other’s
viewpoints. Our belief is that it is paramount for every couple to share,
discuss and align common goals and priorities. Most notably, we applied for BTO
in the Nov HDB launch and we are eagerly awaiting the results in Jan 2017. I
will keep you updated if there is any good news! If successful, this will be a
significant milestone for us :)
Looking ahead in 2017
As you would have already known, 2017
will not be an easy year.
Singapore’s small, trade-dependent
economy is expected to go through a cyclical downturn. The weak economic
outlook has resulted in a dip in business sentiment and confidence levels. In
the latest annual
National Business Survey conducted by the Singapore Business Federation(SBF), the poll showed that almost half of those companies polled
expected 2017 to be even worse.
In PM Lee’s New Year message, he shared that Singapore would grow one plus
percent amid the global economic uncertainties. He sought to allay concerns by
saying that the Government is watching this closely. He said “Singapore is making good
progress, but the world around us is in flux.” Indeed, the global scene continues to be shrouded in
uncertainties. It is pertinent for you to review your portfolio and tweak
accordingly, where necessary.
Plans for 2017
Nonetheless, I am looking forward to
an exciting and busy 2017!
Investment-wise. I am looking to ramp
up my portfolio to include REITS/Unit Trusts to increase my yield. Despite the
interest rate hikes, I am confident that companies with good fundamentals,
healthy financial statements and astute management will continue to perform
well as long as you do your own due diligence. Currently, I am waiting for a good
entry opportunity for the following counters: Ascendas Reit, First Reit,
Parkway Life Reit and Keppel DC Reit. These companies give relatively stable and good dividends with sound financial management and business prospects.
On the other hand, I’ve subscribed to
The Edge Markets to deepen and gain more industry knowledge. I like the
in-depth news reports, interviews, analysis and investments content. It is
important to always keep yourself abreast of new happenings.
Health-wise. I will be starting an
exercise routine to get back my fitness which includes weekly swimming and gym
workouts. I will also be participating in the Sunrise in the City programme with my girlfriend.
It is a
studio-gym based morning workout programme initiated by the Health Promotion
Board. As the saying goes “health is wealth”, you must be healthy so you can
enjoy your wealth. Otherwise, all your futile efforts will go to pay for medical
bills. Therefore, please also invest in your health!
Relationship-wise. My girlfriend and
I have committed to achieve at least 500 hours of learning together. This
learning hour can include any activity that leads to our personal growth
objective. We have created a spreadsheet so as to update our learning hours and
activity. This will motivate us to grow our knowledge and invest in ourselves. With
my influence, my girlfriend has also made a New Year resolution to track her
expenses and to pay herself first (hooray!). It is essential to get your partner on board
on your journey to financial freedom as having their support would make the
journey much more rewarding and successful!
Lastly, there are a few people I would
like to thank for the support given to me in 2016. I would like to express my
appreciation to my girlfriend who has been very supportive of me. We continue to live simply by having more
home-cooked food (we love it!), occasional restaurant visits to pamper
ourselves, watching movies in the comfort of our homes etc. This is so that we will
have more funds for our dating activities, investments, and rainy days.
Next, I
would like to thank my fellow co-writers, GoHuat and YoloHuat. They are my
source of motivation and inspiration to keep me going. We will continue to
contribute meaningfully to the investment community and inspire people like you
who read our TripleHuat blog!
If you would like to reach out to us,
please don’t hesitate to drop us an email at triplehuat@gmail.com.
Onward to 2017, may you huat huat
huat ah!
New Year greetings, EzHuat
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