Careyourpresent

Portfolio Update: Feb 2023 and Reflection at half-life (hopefully) mark – 40 Years old

Posted on February 13, 2023September 27, 2023 by careyourpresent

Reflection

Most people (consciously/subconsciously) always think that they are immortal (including the past me), thinking that the last day of their life on Earth will never come, especially while they are in their 10s, 20, 30s or even 40s. However, if you really stop and think, this is not the truth of life.

I have just passed my birthday few days ago – officially at the 40 years old mark. If I am lucky, this is my half-life age (assuming 80 years old life span). If I am not lucky, I am already way passed my half-life mark. Many people think that they can live forever, but the sad truth that it is not.

My mum just passed away three weeks ago (Farewell Mum. You are always in my mind). Suddenly I realized that death is so near. When I visited her ashes at Choa Chu Kang Columbarium, you will really realize that life is short. If you look at the crafting of the words at the Columbarium, you can see that actually there are people who died in their 20s, 30, 40s, or even much younger. Life is short and unpredictable.

We should always stop a while, reflect and be grateful with what life have given us. Treasure what we have now, living in the moment (which I didn’t in the past). I didn’t know how to Let It Go and focus on more important things in life – example, I was always bothered by what other people said (like Friends, Colleagues etc) and reacted negatively sometimes, especially when there are the typical Office Politics involved. Looking back now, does it really matter what they said? Lifespan of human is so short and limited, we should live a fulfilling life full of experiences that we love to have instead.

Anyway, time flies, I am now 40 years old. Half-way mark of life (hopefully) and my mum just passed away. Let me stop to take stock of what I have in life and from now on aim to live to the best of my life EVERY SINGLE DAY, not wasting any time. For the reader of my blogs, I am sharing this personal reflection is because I hoped that you can stop and reflect too, live the best of your life so that you will not regret on your death bed (which might come sooner than you think).

These are the areas that I will cover in this article:

1. Career
2. Money – Portfolio update
3. Family
4. Own Life

1. Career

Times really files, from my graduation from the University in 2008 until today 2023, it has been 15 years with a blink of an eyes. Have I grown in my career?

Career is something very important to most important, especially it make up of almost 8-10 hours of your awake time, given that one is only awake for typically 16 hours out of 24 hours. That mean 1/3 of your time, your time is spent on career. That’s why it is good to be in a career/job that one love. But sadly, most people cannot get a job/career you love right? In the end, it is just a tool to make end meets. If one doesn’t need to drag their feets to work, it is already a big blessing in disguise.

Similar to most other people, I am stuck with the typical 9 to 5 schedule currently. It is not a glamourous job, nor it is high paying, but it is enough to let me have a decent lifestyle with some spare money every month for investment and growing my wealth. 9 to 5 job is still the main income followed by my investment in this wealth generation process. My 15 years of jobs/careers helped me to reach CPF Full Retirement Sum, with decent amount of savings/investment/emergency funds etc while providing a relatively decent lifestyle for my loved one. I am not the lucky one to find a job that I love. But at least I don’t really drag my feets to work. For me, the most negative part of my job is giving up the opportunity time to be with my kids while they need me and is still growing up. Well, that’s life, isn’t it? Life isn’t perfect!

2. Money – Portfolio update

When I first graduated from the University, I knew nothing about personal finance. Like many other people, I went to buy investment-linked policies from friends that are also recent graduates like me (now I know that quite likely they also don’t know anything about personal finances) that promises you great investment returns + protection. What happened few years later? I am so glad that I cut loss and incurred at 4 digits losses early instead of only cut loss today. If you also experienced this before, do feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

Slowly as years goes by in my 1st job, I realized that I should take care of my own finances. I decided that I should start my own learning about personal finance. Time flies and I am here today (You can read about me to find out my investment journey). Do also read Financial Literacy 101 – Art of Managing your Wealth if you are new to Financial Literacy.

As of today, these are my achievements in term of wealth. Not filthy rich but good enough survive in this ever-increasing inflation world.

Me: Reach CPF Full Retirement Sum (FRS) in Special Account in Jan 2020 (Current: way exceeded 200k such that will still reach FRS even if not working).
Me: Reach CPF Basic Health Sum (BHS) in Medisave Account in Jan 2020 (Current: at BHS).
Spouse: Reach CPF Full Retirement Sum (FRS) in Special Account in Jan 2021 (Current: way exceeded 200k such that will still reach FRS even if not working).
Spouse: Reach CPF Basic Health Sum (BHS) in Medisave Account in Jan 2021 (Current: at full BHS).
House: Still have outstanding HDB debt of below 80k (But OA from me and my spouse account can cover this easily). 2nd Bto coming soon, both our OAs and the return from selling current flat should be able to cover all loans. I am not rich enough to buy condo but I am debt free forever. Rising interest rate will benefit my idling cash via FSM, FD, Moneyowl etc.
Insurance: Purchased all kind all insurances (except ILP) including whole life for child and have paid off everything (except 1 whole life plan for spouse + our individual term plans + hospital plan)
Emergency Funds: 40 months of emergency funds that cover household expenses for 40 months all locked up in SSB. This gives me at least $500 per month via SSB Bond Ladders.
Daily Funds: 2 months of liquid cash that can cover our monthly expenses for 2 months. This is constantly replenished from monthly cashflow from various income sources.

Fast forward to today, I am more of a dividend/index investor with some dabbling into Crypto/US/Options. Why? I can’t afford the time to do very in-depth research for more active investing/trading. I love crypto but the crypto space is developing too much while I dont have so much time to research. My 24 hours are divided into sleep, kids, spouse, parents, work etc with very little time left for myself (you can refer to the screenshot below that I have taken from my post written early on 25 July 2022).

https://careyourpresent.com/careyourpresent-frozen-let-it-go/

2.1 Portfolio Allocation

A picture speaks a thousand words. The amount stated in this section exclude Emergency funds and Daily funds as of 13 February 2023.

Cash/Cash Equivalents	59.75%
Investment	40.25%

2.2 Transaction for the month

Bought Keppel Reit and then sold for a quick trade with trading profit of $XXX.
Sold half of CLCT that I have owned at $1.27 before xD (Look at the price now =p)
Pending Dividend collection $3999.89 for Mit Mlog Keppel Reit MPac KDC Areit CLCT (already xD so money will be coming in Feb/March).
Traded ETH in Arbitrium and Matic for some kopi money.

2.3 Fixed Income

SSB Bond Ladder as Emergency Funds completed. Currently about S$1600 per month from my idling funds (Investment idling funds + Emergency Funds in Singapore Saving Bonds).

https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/singapore-savings-bonds

This month Singapore Saving Bonds’ yield is only 2.9% (SBMAR23 GX23030A). I am not going to buy SSB anymore. Instead, I have bought some DBS Fixed Deposit at 3.9% for my idling cash the promotion that I have mentioned earlier (SAVERs – Best Options to maximise your interests). However, this promotion has ended, the lastest by DBS is “5FRS” at 3.58% p.a. for 5 months with minimum placement of 20k.

For those who don’t like your idling funds to be locked up. I would recommend the following:

FSM Autosweep. Current rate is 2.71%. I am using this to buy/sell my stocks. Hence it is very convenient to just park my funds here for 2.71%. I have multiple accounts with FSM with my kids/wife as beneficiary members and put in at least 6 digits in these accounts (must have estate planning think out fully). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Do consider using my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.
MoneyOwl WiseIncome. Latest rate is 4.01%. This is liquid and you can take out anytime. MoneyOwl Wisesaver is investing in Fullerton SGD Cash Fund – Class A (SGD) which invested mainly in SGD Fixed Deposit and backed by Temasek. MoneyOwl itself is under NTUC income. It is as safe as you can get! Do consider to use my referral link (or key in 6SHU-93MC) to get free $20-$60 Grab Vouchers when you invest with them.

2.4 Investment Plans

Recession risk is getting higher. Fed is not pivoting. If you look at the recent treasury yield, it is going up. I am still holding to close to 60% cash. I will wait for the best time to strike and will not be stuck into the FOMO mode now. Meanwhile, I will do fast trade to earn some kopi money.

3. Family

This is the most precious things that I have.

Although I have a recent loss, but I would still like to treasure what I have remaining now, especially for my young kids while they still need me. Once you missed this golden period where the kids need you, you can never have it back. There will always be a last time where they hold your hands and walk to school together. There will always be a last time they bug you to play with them. Treasure them because once it is gone it is gone.

Your old parents. I have already lost one parent. The other one I will also lose one day. Hence treasure time to be with them. You will never know when it is the last day.

Your spouse. Many do not treasure their spouse but I am grateful and have it. Spouse walked with you for most part of your life. If you don’t treasure your spouse, one day you will regret. To be very blunt, spouse will leave you one day, hopefully it will be during the period where he or she is very old, but like is unpredictable. Who know?

4. Own Life

Times really flies. I always thought I am very far from death. Yet I just experienced my mum death recently (Farewell Mum. You are always in my mind). But life still has to goes on (Do you know what will happen few hours after you die?). Through this experience, I realized my mistake now and Truly understand Living in the Moment now – my objective in life now is to lead a fulfilling life that is true to myself and generate the best experiences that I will have for the remaining of my life.

Coincidentally, I am at the half point mark life – 40 years old (hopefully this is at least halfway). Time really flies and there is no reset button.

Days seems long but years are really short. With a blind of an eye, I am already 40 years old. Do you really need to care what other people or other society say about you? I used to be like that but now I don’t. I like to listen to advice, good one I will listen, bad one we should learn to let go and don’t keep to your heart. Don’t waste your precious time/life on unimportant thing.

Final Thoughts

I am grateful and happy to what I have in life now and I hope that you are too. I will strive to make every day meaningful and living in the moment. I hope my readers will do so that we won’t regret in future.

Life and time have no reset button and is the most important commodity in life. Care Your Present, Live in the Moment, don’t regret past or worry too much about the future, be happy and build a meaning life. Love money, but it is a tool to the end not the end itself.

You don’t need a lot of money to be happy but you need the mindset and time to be happy.

Hope that you will truly understand the above.

Good articles that you should read!

People are drawn to dividend investing.

Why? Firstly, dividends provide a regular stream of income, allowing investors to receive a portion of the company’s profits on a periodic basis. This can be particularly attractive for individuals seeking consistent cash flow or looking to supplement their existing income. Additionally, dividend investing is often viewed as a more stable and predictable investment strategy compared to relying solely on capital appreciation.

I always write and share articles, especially on dividends which many people love them. Do read them!

Alternatively, you can go the right side of my page, there is a search bar where you can simply search “dividend” to see all my articles related to dividends!

Of course, you can search for other things that would interest you such as “Careyourpresent”, “Reits”, “Side Hustles”, “Fixed Incomes”, “Savings” etc.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom.

When you are young and working, you exchange time for money. When you are old, you can have lots of money but you can’t buy time back, especially the things that you have missed while busying striking out in career. Of course, if you love your career, and consciously know that you are missing out the first time your child walk or talk, that’s ok, but if you are the other spectrum, please do something about it.

Your kids grew up and they no longer need you to accompany them. They no longer want to sit on your lap to share/do things with you…all these time you spent in your 9 to 6 or even longer cubicles…can the money that you have earned by you back these?

We always thought we have more time with our old parents, but we are wrong. Time with them is ticking away every day. One day it will suddenly be gone. There is no regret medicine, no reset in time. Gone is gone and cannot come back. No matter you are billionaires or millionaires, you cannot reset this.

We always thought that we have more time with our spouse every day, but we are wrong. One day they will be gone too. When you read this, please go tell your spouse that you love him/her and he or she is the best thing that you ever had in your life.

I have picked out some of the more life reflecting articles of the CAREYOURPRESENT series. Do read them:

You can read more about my articles on Careyourpresent via the Category “Careyourpresent” or simply click “Careyourpresent” via the main menu bar.

REMEMBER:

Love your life daily.

You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself.

Time is ticking away.

For each passing day,

Enjoy and Treasure your Life!

For those who are interested in regular updates of my articles, please join the others to sign up for my free newsletter to has my newest blogposts sent to your mailbox for free!

For real time exclusive updates on market news/life (especially Crypto markets where the news move fast, important news will be shared directly via tweets or telegrams), do also join the platforms below and engage with other like-minded people!

Telegram Group (Chat with me and other like minded people!)
Telegram Channel (Get the latest updates on the markets/life!)
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed

You may also contact me via [email protected].

If you’re looking referral codes, do check out my referral and ebook page. Give it a try and who knows? You might end up loving these platforms! To be absolutely fair to all the readers, I am definitely using all these companies and they are useful to me! Likely will be useful to you too!

At the same referral and ebook page, you can also download my free ebooks and other free resources.

For quick references to these resources, you can see below.

Ebooks and other useful resources on enhancing productivity (Investment, Excel, Notion etc). Currently most of it are free at this moment (subject to change).
WeBull: A powerful brokerage with nice free welcome gift. You can refer to my guide here on how to signup! 4 Simple step only! Click here to register a new account!
MoneyOwl: You can use this 6SHU-93MC to get free grab vouchers and highly safe liquid cash fund account.
Trust Bank – You will enjoy free FairPrice E-Voucher referral if you sign up via my referral code KNDBPEPT. Simply download the Trust Bank SG App on the App Store or Google Play Store. Tap on “Use referral code” immediately after you start the app and key in: KNDBPEPT
FSMOne: P0413007. Good account to keep liquid cash in autosweep and to purchase investment at low fee.
Hostinger: You can use this link for hosting your new website. 20% off hosting!
Crypto.com: Use my referral link https://crypto.com/app/h92xdfarkq to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD 🙂

Side Hustle Review on how much I have earned – Rakuten Insight Surveys

Posted on February 10, 2023September 27, 2023 by careyourpresent

Introduction

I have been sharing on earning income other than your typical 9 to 5 income. One of the ways that I have shared before is doing online surveys. I shall keep this post short and sweet and share with people how much they could earn with surveys.

With the rise of the gig economy, it’s never been easier to earn extra income from the comfort of your own home. One popular option is completing online surveys, which can be a great way to supplement your main source of income. With a little effort, you can start earning money simply by sharing your opinions. I’m going to share my experiences with you, explain what I’ve seen and how much I have earned so far from using Rakuten Insight Surveys.

I’ve been using Rakuten Insight Survey for a few months now, and I love it!

Rakuten Insight Surveys is a survey website that pays you to complete surveys. You can earn money by completing surveys on your phone or computer, and there are plenty of them available! I started this survey side gig few months ago around Nov 2023. There are a couple of surveys every few days after you have created your profile.

I’ve been using Rakuten Insight Survey for a few months now, and I love it!

It’s easy to use and I have never had any problems with it. You can set up your account in just a few minutes, and then they send you surveys through email that you answer within 24 hours (or they will send you another one). The surveys take only 5-10 minutes of your time, but do they pay well?

About Rakuten Insight Surveys – How much I have earned?

I started this side gig around Nov 2023, hence it has been around 3 months. There are a couple of surveys every few days. How much I have earned? You can see the screenshots below – total $35 for 3 months. I have been changing the points for eCapitaVoucher (S$5 with 75 points). For each survey that you do, you will get between 1 to 25 points. Of couse you can exchange it with groceries/grab vouchers if you like. I use eCapitaVoucher because I can simply add it to my Capitastar App with 1 year expiry. I like to keep things simple 🙂

Worth it? Yes! I think so, the efforts are minimal and extra money why not? I always do these surveys leisurely when I am free. Some money from minimal efforts!

A Few Things You Should Know Before You Get Started

Before you get started, there are a few things you should know:

You need to be 18 years old to participate in this survey.
You will need a Rakuten account (if you don’t already have one) and an internet connection. If you don’t have a smartphone, no worries! The surveys can be completed on the desktop version of Rakuten Insight Surveys as well.
The surveys are conducted via text message or email depending on which option is available for each survey. You’ll receive instructions about how much time is required for each survey after logging into your account.

Conclusion

I love Rakuten Insight Surveys! It’s a great way to earn extra money on the side, and it only takes about 10 minutes per day. I highly recommend this app if you’re looking for something new or just want to make some extra cash every month.

Do sign up Rakuten Insight Surveys if you are keen to earn some money on the side! It’s not tremendous amount of money, but in this world with high inflation, every small money helps!

Farewell Mum. You are always in my mind

Posted on February 7, 2023September 27, 2023 by careyourpresent

Memories always haunt you

This morning I read this article (Farewell Dad. I will miss you.) by Keith and it has reminded myself about recent passing of my mum few weeks agao.

Before you read on, please note that this is a personal article to myself with no component of investments, financial independents topics etc. I just want to share my feelings and remind myself and everyone to CARE YOUR PRESENT before it is too late.

For those who have been reading my articles, I have subtly wrote about my mum passing away in one of my article (Truly understand Living in the Moment now) few weeks ago. I thought this was a private affair of mine, hence I don’t want to put up the full details to the internet for all to see. Perhaps subconsciously, I still want to deny this as a truth/fact of life and just want to hide it somewhere in the deep memories of mine. However, I want to remind everyone including myself to Care Your Present/Live in the Moment, hence I wrote that article.

However, memories come back to haunt me. I am writing this article now with tears rolling my eyes and heart bleeding. I tried to act strong since the passing of my mum on 19 Jan 2023 Thursday afternoon. In front of people I don’t cry, but nowadays I would cry at night after everyone in my family sleep. In the past I used to sleep late, nowadays I tried to sleep early with my wife and kids so that I won’t feel alone at night.

Tomorrow is the San Qi (三七) day for the Chinese’s ceremony for the dead. Coincidentally, it is my birthday and I won’t be celebrating birthday this year. There is nothing to celebrate when the woman who give birth to you has just passed away.

Her conditions

14 January 2023 (Saturday). This is the day of where my mum was admitted to hospital. She was suffering from long term renal disease and was diagnosed as full renal failure (thus need dialysis) 4 years ago. She was a frequent visitor to the hospital since then.

The worse case was in 2020/2021, she was actually admitted to the hospital for an entire year due to a leak in her intestines and many other medical conditions. Cutting the story short, she went through numerous operations (heart, ribs due to fracture after the doctors ditch to save her using CPR etc). She was in breathing tubes, ICU etc. That time we thought she would be gone after the Doctors told us that it is very likely she will be gone given her multiple failures in the major organs. Luckily she survived but she was hospitalized for an entire year – March 2020 to March 2021. After her discharge in March 2021, she was bedridden fully with no ability to do her own Activities of Daily Living (ADL).

As all of her kids are working and it is difficult for us to fully take care of her 24 hours, we luckily managed to get a caregiver helper for her and she did well to help us take care for. My sincere thank you to you if you are reading this. My father was also badly ill with cancer but luckily the Chemotherapy works as of now.

Since that long year of hospital, her health has become weaker and weaker. She still can walk a bit with some help from to other people. We would call taxi to bring her to her weekly Mon, Wed and Friday dialysis. But who knows she also get COVID. Due to Covid, she was hospitalized for 3 weeks, after that she can’t walk at all. We change to getting those wheelchair services (Dexerity, Silver Fleet) etc to bring her for her weekly dialysis and hospitals visit.

Since this episode, she been in and out of hospital very frequently. We are worried but nothing we can do. What I did was to visit her weekly (we didn’t live with them similar to many other married people) and talked to her. Of course bring her to the doctors etc.

The day ambulance come

On 14 January 2023 (Saturday), the week before Chinese New Year, she was not feeling well. Hence we called ambulance to bring her to hospital. I was actually planning to visit her on 15 January 2023 (Sunday) while the caregiver helper on off day. We thought it was her usually in/out of hospital like many past time, but this time is not.

The next few days was horrible. Hospital told us that she was under some kind of infection. Her blood pressure become too low (below 100), hence they can’t do dialysis for her. For those who are unaware, during dialysis, blood pressure usually will drop. Hence for patient with too low blood pressure, they can’t do dialysis because of the risk of cardiac arrest. As time goes by, we were informed that her situation is in a loop – her blood pressure too low for dialysis, but without dialysis, the toxic level in her blood would become too high. Hence they can’t let her eat because this would increase her body load to clear toxins. To push back the blood pressure, they would need to cure the bacteria infection. No food, only drips would make her weak. As times goes by, she went on without dialysis for days.

The day came

It was a thunderstorm day for the whole family. The bad news came on Tuesday 17 January 2023 or Wed 17 January 2023. The doctors told us to be prepared. Everyone can visit her and standby her bed 24/7. She might not make it.

We wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year with her and she was looking forward to it but now we have no chance.

We were with her standby beside the hospital beds, hoping for a miracle similar to 2020/2021 but it didn’t came. Her vital sign suddenly came back on 19 January 2023 3pm plus and we thought got hope. But then suddenly she was gone on 4.44pm. She might be waiting for her grand kids to come before she leave this world (my kids reach below hospital around 4pm plus but can’t go up due to rules).

What’s Next

After which, I can’t believe this is the truth, we went through the usual funeral etc, trying to heal our wounds. It was hard, but have to. Until today, I still can’t fully healed from it but I have grown out from it.

As mentioned in my last article (Truly understand Living in the Moment now) – In the past, I know that I should live in the moment/Care the Present and not to be too worry about future/worry pasts. But to truly know and practice it to the deepest of my soul, I didn’t manage to do it. It was after my passing then I truly understood.

Since then, I vowed to live everyday to my fullness, do things that I love, treasure my love ones around me – to put it bluntly, you will never know when that day that you leave this world will come. Time has no reset button.

Below are was I have posted in that my last article (Truly understand Living in the Moment now), hope everyone really remember to live in the moment, Care Your Present. Time has no reset button, it will be too late to regret in life.

Life and Careers

For those who have been following my article, you might have remember this post (A real life case of Financial Independent but don’t dare to retire early). Let me put it straight to the point. The person that I have mentioned in this article is me.

I have promised my kids that I will be house dad to spend time with them hence I quit my job three months ago.

However, in the past three months, I become worry about money/cashflow, especially if I will have sufficient money to support my mum should something like 2020/2021 year long hospitalization occurred. Rationally I should have enough with cash/CPF, medical insurance coverage, but I still worry. I have also did an analysis previously (You will likely never run out of money with 1 million: Expectation vs Reality) which mathematically prove my points of having enough (of course I have more than 1M).

The three month notice period wasn’t what I had imagined. I was living in constant worry about future and regretting about queuing a decent job with nice cashflow etc. In the end, I wasn’t able to give my fullest to the kids. I became emotionally unstable and not being able to live in the present.

I don’t know if this was fate or my mum’s wishes, about 1-2 days before her last day on Earth, I was in discussion in my company to continue with my role instead of leaving since they can’t find replacement. That time I was too worried about my mum, hence I said yes to continue to get one thing out of my mind. At this moment, I am not sure if I am right or not.

Fast Forward to Today

Now then I know I was wrong then for that 3 months period.

After my mum passing, I realized that time is the most important. Something once you missed it, it won’t come back. My kids everyday was hoping me to bring them out to play after their school around 5pm plus, but I can’t due to work commitment. Last week, her teacher told me that my kid told her that she most look forward to her daddy to bring her out to play (not look forward to daddy buy her new toys).

Let’s fast forward a bit, imagine years from now I am on death bed or after my kids grow up to secondary/JC/Poly/UNI…

Would I regretting missing my monthly paycheck that give me stability of monthly cash flow despite having enough cash flow from dividends/other investments?
Would I regretting missing the time where my kids keep call me daddy daddy, ask me to accompany them and bring them to play? Do you think by the time I have lots lots of money and they have grown up, they still want me to bring them out to play or they rather go out with friends?

Conclusion

Anyway, let me get back to life today. I have promised myself to live a fulfilling life, Care My Present, with or without my 9 to 5 job that give me monthly paycheck. Live everyday to the best and see how it goes.

Don’t worry too much about the past or regret the future. Time has no reset button.

Please treasure every single second of your life – CARE YOUR PRESENT!

Good articles that you should read!

People are drawn to dividend investing.

Why? Firstly, dividends provide a regular stream of income, allowing investors to receive a portion of the company’s profits on a periodic basis. This can be particularly attractive for individuals seeking consistent cash flow or looking to supplement their existing income. Additionally, dividend investing is often viewed as a more stable and predictable investment strategy compared to relying solely on capital appreciation.

I always write and share articles, especially on dividends which many people love them. Do read them!

Alternatively, you can go the right side of my page, there is a search bar where you can simply search “dividend” to see all my articles related to dividends!

Of course, you can search for other things that would interest you such as “Careyourpresent”, “Reits”, “Side Hustles”, “Fixed Incomes”, “Savings” etc.

CAREYOURPRESENT

Money just buy you the chance of freedom.

When you are young and working, you exchange time for money. When you are old, you can have lots of money but you can’t buy time back, especially the things that you have missed while busying striking out in career. Of course, if you love your career, and consciously know that you are missing out the first time your child walk or talk, that’s ok, but if you are the other spectrum, please do something about it.

Your kids grew up and they no longer need you to accompany them. They no longer want to sit on your lap to share/do things with you…all these time you spent in your 9 to 6 or even longer cubicles…can the money that you have earned by you back these?

We always thought we have more time with our old parents, but we are wrong. Time with them is ticking away every day. One day it will suddenly be gone. There is no regret medicine, no reset in time. Gone is gone and cannot come back. No matter you are billionaires or millionaires, you cannot reset this.

We always thought that we have more time with our spouse every day, but we are wrong. One day they will be gone too. When you read this, please go tell your spouse that you love him/her and he or she is the best thing that you ever had in your life.

I have picked out some of the more life reflecting articles of the CAREYOURPRESENT series. Do read them:

You can read more about my articles on Careyourpresent via the Category “Careyourpresent” or simply click “Careyourpresent” via the main menu bar.

REMEMBER:

Love your life daily.

You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself.

Time is ticking away.

For each passing day,

Enjoy and Treasure your Life!

For those who are interested in regular updates of my articles, please join the others to sign up for my free newsletter to has my newest blogposts sent to your mailbox for free!

For real time exclusive updates on market news/life (especially Crypto markets where the news move fast, important news will be shared directly via tweets or telegrams), do also join the platforms below and engage with other like-minded people!

Telegram Group (Chat with me and other like minded people!)
Telegram Channel (Get the latest updates on the markets/life!)
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed

You may also contact me via [email protected].

If you’re looking referral codes, do check out my referral and ebook page. Give it a try and who knows? You might end up loving these platforms! To be absolutely fair to all the readers, I am definitely using all these companies and they are useful to me! Likely will be useful to you too!

At the same referral and ebook page, you can also download my free ebooks and other free resources.

For quick references to these resources, you can see below.

Ebooks and other useful resources on enhancing productivity (Investment, Excel, Notion etc). Currently most of it are free at this moment (subject to change).
WeBull: A powerful brokerage with nice free welcome gift. You can refer to my guide here on how to signup! 4 Simple step only! Click here to register a new account!
MoneyOwl: You can use this 6SHU-93MC to get free grab vouchers and highly safe liquid cash fund account.
Trust Bank – You will enjoy free FairPrice E-Voucher referral if you sign up via my referral code KNDBPEPT. Simply download the Trust Bank SG App on the App Store or Google Play Store. Tap on “Use referral code” immediately after you start the app and key in: KNDBPEPT
FSMOne: P0413007. Good account to keep liquid cash in autosweep and to purchase investment at low fee.
Hostinger: You can use this link for hosting your new website. 20% off hosting!
Crypto.com: Use my referral link https://crypto.com/app/h92xdfarkq to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD 🙂

How to earn passive income using options

Posted on February 6, 2023September 27, 2023 by careyourpresent

Introduction to Options

When it comes to earning passive income, options are one of the best ways to get started. But before you dive in and start buying and selling stocks and other assets, there are a few things you should know.

Options in short are like insurance where an investor buy/sell call/put options while paying/receiving the option premium.

Many people have heard of options from YouTube, social media etc that options allow you to generate “passive income”. One just need to learn and join their courses to get passive income etc.

This article will cover two popular methods for earning passive income using options trades: covered calls and covered puts.

Selling Covered Calls

Selling covered calls is a way to generate income from your portfolio, but only if you use them correctly. Let’s start with the basics: what are covered calls?

A covered call is when you sell an option(s) that would covers owns an equivalent amount of the underlying security that the investor already owned. In the process, the seller will earn a premium from the buying.

The investor for example holds 100 shares of XXX, he or she can sell 1 call option (=100 shares) of XXX which will expired at a specific expiry date with a strike price. In the process, the investor earn an income premium (some sort like insurance writing).

At the expiry date, if the price of the underlying security is above the option’s strike price, the seller of the option has to sell the 100 shares at the strike price if the buyer of the option chooses to exercise the option. The seller will have to forgo the price gain of the security above the strike price. Conversely, if the price drop below the strike price at the expiry date, the buyer likely will not exercise the option, the seller will thus profit and gain free premium (“passive income” while holding the security).

It sounds like an easy way to make money, but the execution is really not that easy. It is not that “passive” at all.

Selling Covered Puts

Selling covered puts are a way to make money when you think the stock price will go down. A covered put is an option that gives the holder permission to buy shares of a stock at a certain price, with the obligation of paying for them if they’re exercised.

To give you an idea of how this works, let’s say that YYY stock is trading at $100 per share and someone sells one month out from expiration (1 pull option) 100 shares of YYY with a strike price set at $95 per share. If the expiry price is below $95 (e.g. $90), the seller of the option get to purchase the 100 shares at $95 even though the market price is $90. If the expiry price is above $95 (e.g. $100), the buyer of the option will likely not exercise the option, hence the seller of the option will pocket the premium.

This is like a good to cancel order that most investors are aware of – just put the queue at the price you want to buy but there are other risks involved.

You might be wondering how you can get started with options trading. Here are some tips:

Understand the basics of options trading.
Options are traded on many different exchanges around the world, but they all work pretty much the same way.
For example, there are call and put options that allow you to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain price within a specified amount of time (usually 30 days). The key difference between these two types of trades is whether the seller pays up front for their option—which means they’re assuming risk—or if they do so later in exchange for compensation from whoever buys their contract first.
Be aware of fees associated with each type of trade before making any decisions about whether it makes sense for your portfolio.
Know which brokers offer lower commissions than others when buying/selling into/out, this will help keep your costs down while still providing access to markets anywhere in world!

Conclusion

As you can see from the above, there are many options available to investors looking for passive income using options trades. It is important that you fully understand them before you begin trading and have a sound plan in place to ensure that your risk is minimal while still generating the expected return on investment (ROI).

In real application, it is not as simple as it seems. I would not recommend any investor especially newbie to use options to generate passive income, moreover attend course and pay people to learn options (you are making them rich, not yourself). This is just an article so share some basic about using options to generate “passive income”.

There are many other considerations that one need to know before doing options. Most people should do better with index Etf investing. Those more adventurous can try dividend investing, growth investing, value investing or the Cryptocurrency if one is even more adventurous.

The two options methods discussed above are popular, but they aren’t the only methods available to investors seeking passive income using options trades. As with any investment strategy, it is important to fully understand how all the various options work and have a sound trading plan in place before you put any money on the line.

5 Best Counters for Passive Dividend Investing

Posted on February 3, 2023September 27, 2023 by careyourpresent

Busy Schedule Busy Life

We are always very busy with work, life, hobbies, families, friends etc and many other things. With so much going on, it can be difficult to prioritize and find the time to invest in one’s financial future. Despite the importance of saving and investing, many individuals put it off, thinking they will have more time and resources later on. Hence, one of the good way is to take a more passive approach for many busy people.

Before i go on to talk about investing, I would like to reiterate that one should never forget to live a real fulfilling life. Live in present, don’t regret past or keep worrying about the future.

I only Truly understand Living in the Moment now after the passing of my mum.

I made the mistake last time and hope no one will do the same like me. Please live a fulfilling life – the final objective with Time as the most precious asset. Tools such as money, investing, planning etc are just the tools to reach your final target goal – LIFE.

What is passive investing?

Passive investing is an investment strategy in which a portfolio is constructed to mirror the performance of a market index, such as the S&P 500 or world index, rather than actively seeking to outperform it by buying individual stocks. This is achieved through low-cost index funds or ETFs, with the goal of matching market returns at a lower cost than active management.

Passive Dividend ETF investing

Passive dividend ETF investing involves investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. The ETFs aim to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the performance of high dividend yielding stocks. This approach provides passive investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks with the goal of generating a steady stream of income.

In Singapore contexts, people like to buy Singapore Reits/Stocks because there is no withholding taxes. Some buy Hong Kong Stocks which most has no withholding taxes. Of course, there is an options to buy US dividend counters but usually these are less ideal due to withholding taxes.

Despite this fact, if one still want to buy US dividend counters with a more passive approach. I would recommend these 5 counters with low expense ratio.

Expense Ratio is important

Expense ratios are important to passive investors because they directly affect the net return on their investment. A high expense ratio means a higher portion of the investment is being taken as fees, reducing the overall returns. Low expense ratio funds allow passive investors to keep more of their returns, potentially leading to higher returns over time.

Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF – SCHY

The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of high dividend yielding stocks issued by companies outside the United States.