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Tag: Investment

Earning your 1st dollar from the Internet

Posted on by careyourpresent

It’s been a month since my last update

Well before I share about earning the 1st dollar from the internet, Let’s me provide some update about my site first.

It’s been a month since my last blog post. I was busy with many things in life which result in lesser time to write anything on my blog.

For the past month, I am busy with many things.

Usually, I slept at 1am and work at 6.30am daily.

I have to squeeze my time into the various items below:

  • Peak Period for Work with struggle of daily life with two kids. Woke up at 6.30am, prepare them to go school, then 830am start work, non-stop (no time for breakfast, then about 10minute lunch) before picking my primary school kid at 1.30pm, then rush back to work again, then pick the other kid at around 5pm, then work while prepare dinner, spent time with family till 11pm after they sleep, then finally some me time till 1am.
  • New House Renovation. I just got the key from my BTO. Yes, the recent CCS Tengah BTO and result in so much news and stories. I am also one of them who took up CCS, well so far, no issue after stress test for a day. Cross finger. Renovation is not cheap; shall I share something about renovation in future article?
  • Investment – Reits are dying (based on what many people said), heavy paper loss but with dividend Panadol. My portfolio also down but isn’t the interest rate uncertainty that makes the shares goes down and makes it lesser risk. Isn’t this the best time to buy when people are fearful? Didn’t many hope for Areit to be $2.50 as they have missed the COVID crash? It’s here now. Stock market is weird, people like to buy when it goes up, many are rushing to buy banks now while it is high. Anyway, I leave this for another update post on investment later.
  • Trading – Crypto. Airdrop. Recently I got two airdrops but quickly sold them off as the Crypto Market undergo a bear correction within bull. Earned about 2k usd+ in progress.
  • Harvested 1st MacDonald SBT with Free Nuggets
  • Medical issue – See Health is Your Most Valuable Asset – But human only regret after they lost it

https://x.com/careyourpresent/status/1805135872700084579
https://x.com/careyourpresent/status/1800486049690611990
https://x.com/careyourpresent/status/1803329812385374272

Earning Your First Dollar Online: Turning Dreams into Reality

Well back to the real part of this article…

Making your initial dollar online is a major achievement for many individuals as it signifies the transformation of virtual potential into real success.

By freelancing, selling goods, producing content, or providing services, the internet provides various ways to capitalize on abilities and concepts. The process usually begins by pinpointing a specialized area, establishing a presence, and actively seeking out opportunities.

Receiving that first payment is an exciting occasion, confirming that the online world can serve as a profitable avenue for generating revenue.

Do you dream of this every day? I don’t know about you, and I did.

How and why pursue this?

Earning your first dollar online is a thrilling moment, filled with more than just financial gain—it’s a profound sense of achievement and joy. In today’s digital age, the internet opens doors for turning passions and skills into viable income sources, making dreams tangible realities.

The Excitement of Pursuit

For many, it all starts with a dream—a desire to break free from conventional paths and explore the boundless opportunities online. Whether it’s freelancing, selling handmade crafts, teaching courses, or offering services, the internet empowers individuals to pursue their passions on their own terms. The journey may begin with uncertainty, but the thrill of starting something new and meaningful drives them forward.

Transforming Passion into Profit

Central to this journey is the ability to share passions and expertise. Picture a writer crafting captivating content for clients worldwide or an artist selling their unique creations to a global audience. Online platforms provide a stage to showcase talents and connect directly with those who appreciate their work. This direct interaction not only fuels creativity but also nurtures a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Validation in the First Dollar

Earning that initial dollar online goes beyond a financial transaction; it validates effort and commitment. It signifies overcoming doubts and believing in oneself despite challenges. When that notification arrives—confirming payment for services rendered or a product sold—it sparks an indescribable rush of happiness and pride. It’s a moment where dreams take shape, proving that pursuing passions can lead to tangible rewards.

Embracing the Journey

Beyond financial gains, the emotional journey of earning online enriches life experiences. There are lessons learned and skills refined, as individuals adapt to market demands and discover their strengths. There are also connections made and communities formed, as online platforms foster collaboration among like-minded individuals. These experiences not only contribute to professional success but also promote personal growth, resilience, and determination.

THE JOY of first dollar.

Yes! It came today.

As usual, I would like to be transparent to all.

I just got my first payout of $20+ after running Ezoic since Nov 2023 last year. 6 months efforts for writing 2-3 articles per week?

I started this site using wordpress.com on 5 April 2022 with the main objective to share about cryptocurrency (you can refer to my first post).

Slowly as my site grows further, I have moved from wordpress.com to wordpress.org on 28 November 2022.

To run site, I need to pay for hosting fee, domain fee etc and of course with the efforts of writing articles.

Before this I am also running Google Adsense (so far only has around $100 sgd earnings, not yet cashout, treshold is $150. This value has not been going up since I added Ezoic. Not sure why). I have shared something on Google Adsense earlier.

Side Hustle: Google AdSense’s earnings for 1 week and is it worth to start a blog?

Too many efforts and too little return

WRITING and running a site with the Aim of earning money is not easy. Many efforts and perhaps with much little returns.

An article could take hours to write, but if no one read and not much ad income, quite sad right?

Hence, slowly for 2nd Q year I started to be lazy, instead of keep writing non-stop for 2-3 articles weekly, I will write only when I have inspiration, treat it more like a hobby and a journal for my future kids to read when they grow up.

To my surprise, actually I got $20+ today. Lol.

Anyway, this is my first DOllar online! Of course, this is way too little amount, but it’s worth celebration!

(Note, online income from interest and dividends I don’t count it in!)

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].

Save 50% of your brokerage fee and store your shares for FREE at CDP

Posted on by careyourpresent

Custodian VS CDP

There were many interesting discussions in Investingnote on using FSMOne buy shares and then transfer to CDP for free.

I always thought many people know about this hack long ago.

I guess I was wrong.

In simple summary, just buy shares using FSMone, pay 50% less in commissions as traditional brokerages (for both Joint with Beneficiary account or personal account in FSMone) and then fill a form to transfer the shares to CDP for free or until FSMone remove this “free”. But this has been there for years! Hope they don’t remove. If FSMone saw this, please continue to have this feature 🙂

For the benefits of everyone, let me repost the articles that I have posted before.

—–I took this part from my old article —–

Background

Many people love to trade Singapore Stocks and for the safety of your stocks, many would prefer to keep their shares in the Central Depository (Pte) Limited (CDP) instead of Custodian with the brokerages. However, the commissions are not cheap if you trade with traditional brokerages that are linked to your CDP. Hence, the most natural question that came to most people mind would be:

What would be the cheapest and best way to trade Singapore Stocks while still keeping your shares in CDP?

What is Central Depository (Pte) Limited (CDP)

The Central Depository (Pte) Limited (CDP) was established in 1987 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of SGX. CDP provides integrated clearing, settlement and depository services for a wide range of products in the Singapore Securities Market. In the realm of securities trading, the Central Depository (CDP) of Singapore plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth functioning, efficiency, and security of the market.

The Central Depository (CDP) serves as a trusted custodian and clearinghouse for securities traded on the Singapore Exchange. It acts as a central registry, holding and safeguarding securities such as stocks, bonds, and treasury bills, in an electronic form. Through its infrastructure, the CDP facilitates the settlement, transfer, and safekeeping of securities, providing investors with a reliable and efficient platform to buy, sell, and hold their investments.

How it work?

Before one can buy/sell any shares/bonds that listed through Singapore Exchange, investors need to open a personal CDP account or joint CDP account with someone.

If you buy/sell any Singapore shares through traditional brokerages (such as Poems, Lim & Tan, DBS Vickers, iOCBC etc that is link to your CDP accounts), the brokerages will become the middleman in the selling/buying process, but your shares would be transferred/stored via your personal/joint CDP. You can buy using brokerage A, store shares in CDP, then sell your shares using brokerage B.

This is something very unique in Singapore Context because overseas shares are stored via custodian accounts with the brokerages such as Interactive Brokers, Saxo, Moomoo, Webull etc. One can only buy/sell through the custodian brokerages that your shares are with.

CDP is something very unique in Singapore Context. For oversea shares, definitely, the shares will be stored with the custodian brokerages.

By right, these brokerages would provide separate account for the investor, segregated from the company’s accounts. Hence, in the unlikely scenario of any bankruptcy of the custodian brokerage, your shares would still be safe. However, in real life, it may or may not happened.

However, as a more conservative investor, most would prefer to store their shares via CDP. However, with new brokerages operating in Singapore, one has another option to opt and use these brokerages instead of through CDP.

Why so?

The main reason(s) would be the commissions.

If one use traditional brokerages, one would need to pay about $35 commissions for a trade of around S$1 to S$9000. Yes, you didn’t see wrongly, $1. Hence, minimally one would need to make each buy around $9k to make the commissions worth it.

With the new companies such a WellbullSG, Moomoo, Tiger on board, one can buy very little Singapore shares with little commissions, but what is the catch?

I am not sure about you, personally, I prefer to keep my shares that I want to keep very long term with CDP such that buy/sell the shares with any CDP link brokerages. However, I also want to have my cake and eat it too! Hence, what is the solution?

—–I took this part from my old article —–

The Hack!

Everyone knows that many of the brokerages offering buy shares and kept in their custodian. But for many investors, many would prefer to put them to CDP.

For all the normal brokerages that link to CDP (means the buying and selling will be in CDP), every normal transaction of 10k worth of shares would cost about $30+ per transaction. However, if one use other brokerages like Tiger, Webull, Moomoo etc, the shares would be stored at their custodian account although the fees are much cheaper.

Best of Both Worlds

Is there the best of both world? Cheaper fees but shares still stored in CDP?

There are two options:

  • Method 1: Use DBS Vickers Upfront account. But this method can only be use for personsal CDP account. For those with Joint account CDP, this doesn’t work.
  • Method 2: Use FSMone to buy the shares. Then transfer to CDP for free (until FSMone change the rule). You will get cheaper commission of around $12-15+ per $10k purchase. Of course, the comms is $8.80, thus if you buy more, it would still be very cheap.

How to get this?

You can read some of my previous posts on this:

You can read the full write up here:

Cheapest and best way to trade Singapore Stocks with CDP

And the follow up posts here!

$0 Free of Charge Transfer of SGX Shares from FSM to CDP and updates! – Done in less than 3 days!

$0 Free of Charge Transfer of SGX Shares from FSM to CDP and updates!

Simplified Guide to the Key Gist of Grant of Probate and Estate Planning

Hope this hack has helped you save Money!

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].

Market Update + Saver UOB One Account 4% starting from 1 May 2024

Posted on by careyourpresent

There was a revision of the UOB One account Interest announced in early April. Well, it was effective rate of 5% (highest in market) for many months for 100k.

With the new update, it would become 4% with 150k! Wah I need to take up another 50k to maintain lesser interest.

Well, such is life, some anticipate Fed cut rate, some anticipate it rises.

Current Rate
Compare the rates.

Calculated effective new rates

Effective interest rates (from 1st May 2024) are:
$100,000 3.375%
$125,000 3.60%
$150,000 4.00%

This is where we are now.

Treasury Rate

Yen Carry Trade + Yen Slide

Don’t forget Yen Carry Trade. Yen sliding.

Read more in this recent article.

This might mean the possibility of GLOBAL MARGIN Call.

Other Options for savers

Next month likely the SSB rate will be higher too!

Should be 3.2% to 3.3% for 10 years average rate! I might be adding more provided I still have funds left after taking advantages of the market!

Let’s Recap First!

Let’s us recap the advantages of SSB first:

  • Very safe – backed by Singapore Government
  • Locked down decent rates of around 3% for 10 years.
  • Easy to redeem and can redeem partial
  • Liquidity needs maximum of 1 month where you can get your money back. Hence suitable as emergency fund.
  • Limit of 200k should be good enough for most people.
  • Can build Bond Ladder to get monthly income (which I have already did)

Let’s us recap the disadvantages of SSB:

  • Short term rates are lower than banks’ fixed deposits, money market funds such of around 3.5% and above.
  • Risk Free 6 month treasury yield is close to 4% which is higher
  • Low returns
  • 1 month liquidity to redeem your funds may be too long for people who need the funds immediately.

Market will be volatile in early part of May. Mark my words.

Collect Money First

Anyway, collect money first.

As of now, based on those already declared.
Think if including those haven’t announced, I should get about 10k in May/June.

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].

Market indeed coming down

Posted on by careyourpresent

As seen in my previous article,

Black Swan Ahead: Strategic Insights and Preparations for Uncertain Times

The fun is indeed coming!

Crypto

Crypto down a lot and I got liquidated.

But I am happy to be liquidated. Means time to buy in fear!

US Down last friday

US markets are also down last week, VIX also increases.

Exciting Times ahead! What’s my action?

I have already shared this in my previous article.

Black Swan Ahead: Strategic Insights and Preparations for Uncertain Times

Seems like I missed out one thing – War and Gold.

Shopping Time is coming soon!

Time to start shopping.

Financial Market is a weird place, people like to crowd, FOMO and buy when the market is high (higher risk). When the market is down (lower risk), people scared and don’t dare to buy, thinking it may drop lower. When the chance missed out and market up again, then they FOMO buy!

Isn’t this weird?

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].

Dream of Financial Independence with a Safe Withdrawal Rate

Posted on by careyourpresent

Financial independence is a dream for many people, where one can retire comfortably without worrying about the need to earn a steady income. But achieving financial independence requires careful planning and disciplined saving strategies.

One key aspect of retirement planning is determining a safe withdrawal rate that will ensure your savings last a lifetime.

There are many discussions about Safe Withdrawal Rate if one retires earlier. What exactly is safe withdrawal rate?

Photo by Manish Upadhyay on Unsplash

Defining Financial Independence

Financial independence is the state of having enough savings and investment portfolio to sustain your lifestyle through your retirement years without having to work for an income.

Achieving financial independence requires a clear understanding of your expenses, savings, and goals.

It’s also essential to have a well-diversified investment portfolio that can generate a steady income stream in retirement.

Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash

What is a Safe Withdrawal Rate?

A safe withdrawal rate is a percentage of your investment portfolio that you withdraw annually during retirement to meet your expenses.

The safe withdrawal rate is calculated based on a variety of factors, such as life expectancy, inflation, investment returns, and expenses, to ensure you don’t outlive your retirement funds.

Many “Experts” online suggest using a safe withdrawal rate of 4%, which means withdrawing 4% of your portfolio’s value yearly.

How does it work?

A safe withdrawal rate of 4% means that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio’s value each year in retirement to meet your expenses without significantly reducing your savings.

For a $1 million portfolio, a safe withdrawal rate of 4% would allow you to withdraw $40,000 annually ($1,000,000 * 0.04 = $40,000).

Photo by Matthew Waring on Unsplash

Safer option? 4% really safe?

There may be many uncertainties such as increased longevity, higher than expected expenses, and lower-than-expected investment returns.

Is 4% really safe?

Many has seen through many bears, 2008 financial crisis, covid drawn down etc. This will make people not feeling safe.

Personally, I think 2.5% safe withdrawal rate would be considered a more conservative approach to retirement income planning than using a 4% safe withdrawal rate.

A 2.5% safe withdrawal rate can provide an added degree of insulation against a retirement plan’s failure.

A calculated example

Let’s calculate the safe withdrawal rate of 2.5% for a $2 million portfolio:

Annual Withdrawal = Portfolio Value * Safe Withdrawal Rate

Using a 2.5% safe withdrawal rate for a $2 million portfolio:

Annual Withdrawal = $2,000,000 * 0.025
Annual Withdrawal = $50,000

With a 2.5% safe withdrawal rate, you would be able to withdraw $50,000 annually from a $2 million portfolio to support your retirement expenses while aiming to sustain the portfolio over a longer period of time.

$50,000 annually mean $4167 per month. Is this enough for you?

Don’t forget that this is based on 2.5% return per annum which is not difficult to attain if one is conversative ETF investor instead of those trade in/out investors. Hence, the actual income is likely more than $4167.

For a family of four with mortgaged fully paid and don’t anyhow spend + CPF or other social security as backup, this should be a sufficient amount with good buffer.

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].

I am the God of Investing!

Posted on by careyourpresent

Many people think that they are God of Investing.

I am the God of Investing!

To do so, I can simply do stock picks of individual stocks, in distress or great potential to goes up in future. Then I can get 100% or 1000% gain within a year, then can just compound and be super rich! I can easily buy the next Amazon and Apple while they are very low market CAP and earn to the max!

Many people think they that they are the God of Investing!

They would beat the market return and most often, they really do for some times, and they really do. They beat the market, use a rod to beat up the market.

They laugh and think they can beat the index return, beating those who are satisfied with low return of 4-7% return in “safe” Singapore dividend stocks.

Then laugh at others with low 4-7% annual return. Have Fun Staying Power!

Yes, they are the God of Investing…

But Karma will come by one day. One bad trade and one lose all!

Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash

Truth

The truth is often otherwise.

One maybe has newbie luck to win the markets over a few trades, but could one do it in the long run? |
If yes, everyone in the world will be already Warren Buffett.

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

I can safely say that majority of the investors (90%) would be better with either of these two approaches.

  • Those who prefer regular cashflow: Invest in super “safe SG stocks“ that give 3-7% dividends stock with very minimal risk of capital. Of course this has country risk. But one can just collect dividends and chill every year. Better for your mental with regular cashflow. After dividends come in, go back and invest more to compound further. Of simply do ETF investing that given some dividend returns for those who are not sure how to pick “safe” stocks. （Can go read this post by Dr Tii).
  • Those who believe in the regular improvement of the world: Invest in world index fund like VWRA using DCA method and hope that the end of the world will not come and things always goes higher eventually given the human nature of keep improving things.
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Learn investing from courses? Unpopular Opinion.

One more thing, more those who think they can become great investors after attending courses for few hours or days, think again.

Many of us attended decades of school from Primary, Secondary, JC, Poly, University. Dig your memories: For a simple academic knowledge that we need to learn like Mathematics (e.g. Calculus), how long did you learn it? Did you learn and Master it within just a few lessons? really?

Likewise, attending classes for investing for few hours, or few days would not make you a super better investor.

If this really so, why there are so many lousy investors around? Attending Courses simply make your course instructor rich! If they are so good in the first place, they would rather spend time doing their own investing/trading instead, why waste time teaching you?

The reason is simple: You are their consistent cash cow.

Anyway, if you still wish attend courses, you can join my course for free via

Ultimate Free 2 Days Reit MasterClass: Exclusive at Careyourpresent.com

(Of course, no harm spending some amount doing some trading, pick stocks etc. I did for Crypto too!)

Deal 1:

Interest rates are getting lower everywhere and there are usually many hoops to jump to get higher rate such as OCBC 360 and UOB ONE!
Consider Maribank, one of the fuss free and give you 1.28% daily without any conditions! Interest is credited daily!

Sign up for MariBank using my referral code: 2KGZ29UL.
https://www.maribank.sg/product/mari-savings-account/

Insured up to S$100k by SDIC.

Deal 2:

Best Items that I have bought from Shopee.

ONLY the best useful worthy items

Many people I realised that they have only shared things that give them the most commissions. I am different. I will only share things that I have bought, used and found it to be good.

Deal 3:

Webull – Get free money!

Good deal! Do not miss this! Sign up here now for free money!!

Deal 4:

Trust Bank New Clients

Deal 5:

FSMone – Cheap Comms and can transfer your shares to Personal/Joint CDP for Free

I am using FSMOne.com to invest in funds & ETFs (including money market funds). FSM is good due to the low comms and the free transfer from FSMOne to CDP (typically takes less than a week to transfer). If you do not have an account, you can sign up here. Please use my FSMOne referral code: P0413007.

Deal 6:

Eskimo – Best Option for Roaming!

For now, you can get 500MB for free just by signing up with my referral link, no purchase required (I get 500MB only too, but only if you buy a paid plan). Referral code: CHING104915

You can read my review here.

Money just buy you the chance of freedom but can’t buy back time. In life, there is no reset button. Time is limited but money is not.

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 (your strong health, time with young child) while busying striking out in career.

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.

Love your life daily. You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself. Time is ticking away.

Focusing Careyourpresent & living a fulfilling life by supercharging your mind & investment/online income. Careyourpresent Series focus on things that one MUST know in their Life.

More articles can be found here.

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!

You may also contact me via [email protected].