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Tag: Investment

Battle of Enough VS Spending for Financial Bloggers

Posted on by careyourpresent

Recently, there are many “sparring” or “discussion” among many of the financial bloggers for the past few days, especially for those famous bloggers who are financially independent. Let me share some of these posts:

Are Financial Influencers spending too little for their own good? by Christopher who is Financially Independent at age 39 but still conducting courses/part time jobs now.

Gratitude, My Portfolio, and My Qualification to Advice on F.I. by Kyith who is Financially Independent, but still serving in Providend as passion for Financial Adviser.

F.I.R.E. Always have a Plan B! Better and cheaper! by the famous AK who have 200k annual passive income, retired and then enjoying video games.

This also sparkled many discussions on forums.

That results in various comments such as:

If you are spending, you are doing something wrong in this life.

My friend showed me his post of hoarding can food like peanuts, tuna. Eating with bread. He even says $2.50 per meal

$4 cai png is a treat? I fainted

Others find joy in spending excessively, or beyond what they should. Savings is a “burden”, or at least a mere means to an end, delayed gratification for greater reward. But to a man like AK, miserliness is not misery, but ecstasy lol.

Deep down, I genuinely believe this strategic, low-cost, globally diversified, 80-60% equity strategy can give perpetual inflation-adjusted income if we respect the initial income spent relative to the portfolio value (keep it 2.5% or lower)

Adding Oil to Fire

As the sayings goes, 火上加油 (adding oil to fire), this article is not to add oil to fire.

There are people who like to do all sorts of mathematical financial models etc to simulate withdrawal rates, cash-flow, returns based on various assets classes etc, whereas some simply see dividend income > expenses means financial independent etc and can last indefinitely. Previously I have also shared something on this Ultimate Formula for FIRE (Financial Independent, Retire Early). There is one interesting way is passive income > active income.

I won’t be sharing more on this for this article.

I am not going to argue 2.5%, 3%, 4.5% withdrawal rates, and come out with all sorts of financial modelling using past historical data as evidence to substantiate my points. Future is future, past is past. Past work doesn’t means future will work. Past don’t work doesn’t means future will not work. Many try to predict future, but who can? Can you even predict what will happen tonight or even the next 10 minutes?

Different people have different perspectives, even if you argue till the end of the world, nothing will change, especially the views of people who are already 40+ and above, most of their life views, behaviors are already there – fixed based on the past decades of life experiences.

In fact, there is no point to try to change / influence the views of others such that they are same as yours (but apparently, many people are still doing so, don’t know for what purposes), you can of course share, but there is no point of getting into arguments.

“You are so anxious about the future that you do not enjoy the present. You therefore do not live in the present or the future. You live as if you are never going to die, and then die having never really lived.”

Dalai Lama

Your Life is your Life

Your Life is your Life. His Life is his life. Her Life is her life. No two people have the same life experiences, and hence same life perspectives on everything regardless of how similar they are. Learn to let go is important.

Live your own life, share your experiences to help others, not trying to change their life views. It’s ok that others don’t agree with you and you can continue to share, but don’t need to enforce your own views into them. There is no righteous Man that is always right, there is no need to follow others if what you are doing makes you happy.

There are people who are happy with $4 cai png. There are people who are happy with home cook food that cost less than $2 per meal. There are people who eat atas fruits that cost $400 like spending $0.01 daily only. There are people who loves to eat atas restaurant fine dining with $100+ per meal.

So be it, do what you love most? Live your best life with no regrets.

Greatest Regrets in life

https://www.investingnote.com/posts/2698628

Never forget this…

All the money, atas food, lousy cheap food etc, don’t belong to you.

If $10 were stolen from your $86,400 bank account, you wouldn’t throw away the remaining $86,390, right? Similarly, with 86,400 seconds in a day, don’t let 10 seconds of negativity ruin the entire day.

The idea is to focus on the abundance of positive experiences and time rather than dwelling on minor, fleeting negative incidents.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

We are all billionaire

We are all billionaire, you may not be money billionaire, but you are your own time billionaire. Time is the most scare resources in this world.

Unlike Money. Time can only be depleted. You can never earn it back.

Time Billionaire

The average lifespan of 80 years is equivalent to 2,522,880,000 seconds. Starting with 60 seconds in a minute, multiplied by 60 minutes in an hour, then by 24 hours in a day, followed by 365.25 days in a year to account for leap years, and finally multiplied by the desired 80 years. The result is an estimated total of approximately 2,522,880,000 seconds in an 80-year lifespan

Every second is gone very fast. Days are long but years are short. Within a flash, we are all grown up. Within a flash, your parents will die, your kids will grow up, you will die one day too. Whatever trivia arguments that you have got into doesn’t have meaning in the short span of life. You can be emperor, president of a country or even the world, but one day you will be gone with the wind, buried in the soil, and after a short one, no one will remember you, especially who argue and is unhappy with you.

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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].

Recent Trades

Posted on by careyourpresent

Stock market is weird. When things on sales, people fear and don’t dare to buy.

Wait till things expensive then buy.

Did you buy your groceries while they are on sales or when they are priced at a premium?

Did some shoppings recently

I have did some shopping recently.

Bought two shares – Netlink Trust and Keppel DC Reit.

Netlink Trust is about the same price after I bought but lose heavily in Keppel DC Reit.

Well, be patience, I will add again if it goes down further.

I also did some selling to earn kopi money. Bought and sell CapLand Ascendas Reit within the last two weeks.

Now the current price is lower than my sell price of $2.72. I will buy again but which price? You will see it when I post in twitter in future 🙂

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!

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 🙂

Who say money can’t buy you time?

Posted on by careyourpresent

Money can’t buy you time?

Many people always say that time is finite and is more precious that money where the governments can print them at will. Money is infinite since it’s just something artificial created by the government. As for time, it’s finite, only 24 hours a day, human lifespan is also limited. Hence, money cannot buy time.

But is it true that money really cannot buy time?

Photo by Agê Barros on Unsplash

Future Value of Time

People tend to over-estimate how much time they will have in the future and undervalue their own time. But the truth is no one is immortal. What if tomorrow never come? What if later never come?

Many people are spending all their precious time to work, to earn money because they need money for almost everything in life. But the fact is you are using your time to exchange for a pay check.

Many people don’t realised that they spent majority of their waking hours, s working long hours just so they can afford luxuries like long vacations or new iPhones; while this may be fun in the short term (especially when traveling), over time these activities it’s just a way to escape the grinding days of your 9 to 6. Should you earn more or save more to get your time back?

Time or money more valuable?

Let’s talk about Time VS Money first.

Most people argue this:

  1. Time is more valuable than money because you can’t buy time back, no matter how much money you have. If you lose an hour, it’s gone forever and there’s no way to get it back–even if you wanted to do so (which would be impossible).
  2. Time is also more valuable than money because there are only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week; there’s no way to make more hours or days for yourself.
  3. Money also can’t buy a dead person to be alive again.
  4. Hence, Money can’t buy you time.

However, contrary to most belief, money still can buy you “time”, to buy it more appropriately, money can help you get more time back. Confuse?

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Money can’t buy you time, but it can help you get more of it

Money can’t buy you time, but it can help you get more of it.

Money is a tool that allows us to work less, earn more, and enjoy our lives more once you have lots of it. People with money has more options than people with no money.

The key is knowing how to use this tool properly in order to get what we want out of life.

While it is true that money cannot literally buy time or add more hours to the day, it can certainly provide opportunities and resources that can indirectly save time or enhance one’s quality of life

While it is true that money cannot literally buy you time or add more hours to the day, it can certainly provide opportunities and resources that indirectly save time or enhance one’s quality of life.

Money is a tool to buy time.

For example: if you have enough money to hire someone else to do your laundry, then that frees up more time for yourself (and also helps keep things clean). Alternatively, if you have enough money to purchase a washing machine of your own instead of relying on communal facilities at work or school, then again there will be less waiting around while clothes get cleaned–and maybe even some extra space saved in your apartment!

For example, Money can buy you the following:

  • 1. Private car that save you time from communute
  • 2. Education and learning: Money can be used to invest in educational opportunities or specialized training. By doing so, you can acquire knowledge and skills more efficiently, potentially reducing the time it would have taken to learn through self-study or trial and error.
  • 3. Medical care: Access to quality healthcare services, which often requires financial resources, can facilitate prompt medical attention and treatments. This can potentially save time in terms of waiting for appointments, obtaining specialized care, or undergoing necessary procedures.
  • 4. Buy back time that you have sold to your work to get paycheck.

Use Money to buy back time

While Time is more important than money, Time is limited but Money is not. We should always aim to use your money to buy time when you have lots of money, that’s what a lot of rich people does!

While most has no choice but to exchange time for money (work) instead on spending on things that you love but limited time left (example your young kids and old parents), always aim to reach this level one day where you can use money to buy back time.

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!

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 🙂

The Top 10 Money Habits of Self-Made Millionaires: Learn How They Built Their Wealth and How You Can Too!

Posted on by careyourpresent

We all know that building wealth takes hard work and dedication, but what if we could learn from those who have already achieved financial success? It’s not easy but it’s always good to learn from people who are way advance than you.

Self-made millionaires are a great source of inspiration and insight into how we can improve our own financial habits. After some research, these are the top 10 money habits of self-made millionaires, along with tips on how you can adopt them for yourself.

Personally, I am doing 1 to 8. What about you? 9 and 10 is still beyond me now!

This is generated using https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2

1. Be a Budgeting Ninja

Self-made millionaires know that every penny counts. Become a budgeting ninja and track your expenses like a hawk to ensure you’re maximizing your savings potential. Saving = income – expense. Once you can budget, you can do anything!

2. Invest in Yourself (No, Not That Way)

Investing in yourself doesn’t mean blowing your savings on plastic surgery. It means constantly learning and improving your skills to stay ahead of the game. So take a course, read a book, or seek out a mentor – invest in yourself and watch your wealth grow. Human asset is the best asset

3. Embrace Minimalism

Luxury cars and designer clothes may look cool, but self-made millionaires know that living below your means is key to building wealth over time. So skip the flashy stuff and focus on the bigger picture. Contrary to most belief, most millionaires/billionaires are eating the same things everyday, wearing the same clothes everyday. Do you know why? They are focusing on other more important things!

4. Set Goals and Crush Them

Self-made millionaires set clear goals and work tirelessly to achieve them. So, set specific and achievable goals for yourself, write them down, and create a plan of action to help you crush them. Success is because planning. If you have no plan, it is difficult to success unless you are lucky to win lottery!

5. Get Your Stock Game On

Investing in the stock market is a powerful way to build wealth over time. Educate yourself on the market and invest in companies that align with your values and long-term goals. Of course there are other investment such as Cryptocurrency, Forex, alternative investments like wine, please learn and get your hand dirty in order to win!

6. Be a Passive Income Pro

Self-made millionaires build passive income streams like rental properties, businesses, and dividend-paying stocks. So get creative and find ways to generate passive income that align with your skills and interests. Passive income will get you rich! Buy assets to generate those income! Grow your business!

7. Say Bye-Bye to Debt

Paying off debt should be a priority to reduce interest payments and free up cash flow. So create a debt repayment plan and stick to it. Focus on paying off high-interest debt first and consider consolidating your debt to reduce your interest rate. However, there are good debt if you know how to deploy it correct. Leverage with good debt to increase your wealth faster!

8. Take Risks, But Not Like a Stunt Double

Self-made millionaires aren’t afraid to take calculated risks. But before you jump out of a plane, weigh the risks and rewards of each opportunity and take calculated risks when the potential for reward outweighs the potential for loss.

9. Network Like a Boss

Self-made millionaires surround themselves with successful people who inspire and motivate them. So network with successful people in your industry and seek out mentors who can offer guidance and support.

10. Give Back

Self-made millionaires understand the importance of giving back to their communities and supporting causes they believe in. So find ways to give back and support causes that align with your values – you never know, you might just become the next Bill Gates!

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!

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 🙂

WOW amazing! QYLD with 13% p.a. yield and monthly distribution!

Posted on by careyourpresent

Passive Income

This term is one of the key terms that many people like and hoped to achieve. It simply means having income generated from non-active methods such as your 9 to 5 job. In my last article (How to earn passive income using options), I have covered the basic of using cash secured puts or covered calls as option strategies to generate “passive income”. Do take note of the inverted commas, I would like to reiterate that this is not as passive as one think and the risk level is slightly higher.

For those who still can’t understand options, one of the popular is to buy this counter QYLD.

What is QYLD?

QYLD is Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF.

The Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD) follows a “covered call” or “buy-write” strategy, in which the Fund buys the stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index and “writes” or “sells” corresponding call options on the same index (see QYLD).

In short, this counter will do the job for you by using covered calls to get “passive option” income for you. One just need to buy this counter and collect “monthly passive option income”.

What is Covered Call?

Covered calls are an option strategy that can be used to create a stream of income from the stock you already own, as well as potentially increase your overall profit.

The idea behind this strategy is simple: find stocks that are overvalued and sell call options against them. This allows us to earn premiums from selling call contracts while still retaining full ownership of the shares we hold.

Income from Covered Call

The covered call is based on buying an underlying stock and selling a call option against it at the same time. In other words, if you own 100 shares of Company X and sell one call contract at $10 (at-the-money), then if Company X’s share price rises above $10 per share before expiration date, then whoever owns this particular call option will exercise their right to purchase your 100 shares from you for $10 each–plus any dividends paid out by Company X between now and when their options expire (if any).

Why Covered Call?

Covered calls are an effective way to generate income and potentially increase your overall profit. They can be used as a strategy to:

  • Earn a premium on the stock you already own.
  • Take advantage of the market’s volatility to increase your profits at the same time that it may depress other investments in your portfolio.
  • Protect against losses if the market declines, while still generating income from covered call trades.

While selling covered calls isn’t something I recommend for novice investors or those with limited risk appetite, it can be an effective strategy for seasoned traders looking for a steady stream of income without having to deal with any sort of margin requirements (which most brokers require).

For most other people, QYLD might seems to be a good solution since this is a way to let the professional fund manager to do this strategy for them.

Why QYLD?

There are 3 main reasons stated in the Global X website itself.

  • High income from the covered call option
  • Monthly Distributions as option income
  • Save time and effort

Let’s look at some of the key characteristics of this fund

  • Inception Date: 12/11/13
  • Total Expense Ratio: 0.60%
  • Net Asset: 6.81 Billions
  • Number of Holdings: 102
  • Distribution Yield: 13.03%
  • Distribution Frequency: Monthly
  • Top holdings: Look at the screenshot below, they are all great companies that many love to owned!

Wow, one look at the above, 13% yield with monthly distribution! This is the dream of many “passive income” investor! Where else can you get such good returns from one single counter alone? It’s a must buy without regrets!

Hold on a second… let’s dug further.

Performance

If we look further into the overall returns over the years (see photo below), the annualized return since inception is 5.64% p.a. Not too shabby! But how come it is lesser than the 13% yield mentioned above?

Let’s look at the share price. The share price is actually declining since inception. What does this mean?

CAPITAL LOSS!

Hence it simply means that after discounting the capital loss + dividend return, the actual return is only 5.64% p.a since inception. Hence you don’t really get 13% “passive monthly” income after all but still not that bad after all since there is a 5.64%?

Yahoo Finance

Let’s dig further

I shared some key passive great dividend counters via my past article 4 Dividend ETFs that can let you sleep well even in the scary bear market. Do read again this article if you missed this post earlier. These counters are great for investors (especially for Singapore Investors that worry about withholding tax. London LSE ETF is only 15% tax).

Let’s go back to QYLD and compare the return of this counter with the famous world index fund – Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT). This is one of the famous US ETF by vanguard that track the performance of the FTSE Global All Cap Index, which covers both well-established and still-developing markets. This is equivalent to the VWRD ETF that I have shared in the article 4 Dividend ETFs that can let you sleep well even in the scary bear market.

Vanguard

If we look at the return of Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT), it gives 6.63% p.a. return since inception date of 6 Jun 2008 but give 8.52% p.a. 10 years return from today which mean (Feb 2012). 5 years return is 5.72% p.a.

If we compared to QYLD above, you get 5.62% p.a. since inception date of Nov 2013 and 3% p.a. return for 5 years return.

Given the figures above, judge for yourself if it is worth it to get QYLD for “monthly passive income from covered calls” or simply just buy world index fund like VT?

Alternatively, you can also compare QYLD with these 5 other shares that I have shared before to draw your own conclusion (5 Best Counters for Passive Dividend Investing).

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!

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 🙂

Financial Literacy 101 – Art of Managing your Wealth

Posted on by careyourpresent

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is the ability to effectively manage your money, which can help people make good decisions about their personal finances. It is important for people to understand their financial situation and make decisions about how they will use or manage their money. This includes understanding how much money you have to spend, the interest rates you might earn on savings accounts, what investments are available and how much those investments are worth.

School never teaches me!

Unfortunately, financial literacy is seldom taught in mainstream schools. In schools, we are taught Math, Science, English, Chinese etc but never on the topic of money itself. Topics such as these are never taught in school. But why wasn’t it taught?

How to manage money? How to budget? How to plan your monthly income/saving/expenses? How to grow your wealth?

These are important questions that one should ask before one eventually graduate from school and get the first paycheck. But how many really ask these questions? In the end, we have many people having lots of credit card debts, no savings, no investment etc after years of working. They often asked where did the money goes to?

Financial Products from “Financial Advisors” will help you

When you first graduate from school, suddenly many of your friends, ex-friends etc become guru and came to you to sell financial products. Did you experience this?

They will come to you and tell you that you can invest in this investment linked policy which will be good for you in the long term. Investment linked policy can give you both insurance protection and investment return at the same time. Isn’t this great?

As compared to term insurance where it only gives your protection, but you cannot get back your money. For investment, as you are still new to managing your first paycheck, don’t worry I can help you to investment (suddenly your friend that graduate with you become guru? Isn’t it amazing?).

Just buy xxx Investment Link policy that have both protection and investment features. Best of both world. Isn’t this great? This marvelous investment linked policy can do the job for you – protect you and give you investment return at same time without you to do much. Just regular saving plan and put a small lump sum of maybe $100-$500 monthly from your paycheck. A simple thing from you!

Many of us (including me) fell for it and bought investment linked policy. What happened? Did you really get the return you want? Most of us after a while, will totally regret this decision. This decision didn’t fatten your pockets, most of the time it fattened the salesman’s pocket. Why do I say so?

Most of the time Investment Linked Policy has high commissions. High percentage of your premiums for the first few years will be given to your guru “Financial Adviser” and then slightly lower percentage given to them for the subsequent years. This is great “passive income” for THEM but not for you!

Decipher your monthly investment linked policy statement, the underlying funds for the investment linked policy usually has high first-time sale charges of 3-5% and expense ratio of 2% and above. Long term market return is 5-7%. Minus these, could you tell me how much you are left with, and can you earn from your this “investment” from your kind guru financial adviser? Furthermore, these are only the few charges. Go read this article and find out how many types of charges are there. It will scare you! Did you agent tell you the above when they sell you the product?

Of course, the above apply to most investment linked policy. They are some which are good, rare policy but you have to do your due diligence (provided you know how to do it).

Sadly, most people weren’t taught financial literacy in schools. We have to self-learn and discover. I have been through the hard way and lost a lot in the process. I can talk hours/days about investment and financial literacy. Let me share with you on some of the key things that you should at least know that it existed to shortcut your journey.

What is Financial Literacy?

Financial literacy is the ability to make informed decisions about personal finances. It’s a way to help people learn how to manage their money, protect it and build wealth. It helps people understand what they can do with their money, who they can trust with it and how to make sure that they’re making smart choices throughout their lives.

While most adults think they are financially literate because of the simple fact that they are able to use ATMs and sign checks without assistance, this isn’t necessarily true. There’s even a gap between what we think we know about our finances and the reality of our situation.

There are many components of financial literacy that one should learnt and make sure they are well versed in it.

Ensure Income larger than expenses

This is the first most important step.

Make sure your income is always greater than your expenses. You should try to have a surplus so that you are not living paycheck to paycheck, always worried about money and unable to save for the future.

Having an emergency liquid fund is also important because you never know when an unexpected expense might pop up (like if your car breaks down) or if something like illness or job loss comes out of left field and causes financial distress. Having some savings set aside means that you won’t have to go into debt just to get by until things get better again.

Create a budget.

The next step is to create a budget.

A budget is a plan for your money. It’s a tool that helps you achieve your financial goals, such as saving for retirement or buying a home. A budget can also help you save money by showing where your money is going so that you can make changes to reduce spending on unnecessary items and increase savings.

To create a budget, start with an estimate of your monthly income in each pay period and then subtract the amount of any fixed expenses that aren’t likely to change (child care fees, rent/mortgage). Next add up all other regular monthly expenses (car payment, groceries) and divide by 12 to get an average cost per month. The final step is to set aside some money every month for irregular expenses like car repairs or replacing worn clothes so that they don’t catch you by surprise later on when they pop up unexpectedly

Developing good spending habits.

Next, you can try to develop better spending habits. To do this, it’s important to understand the difference between needs and wants.

A need is something that you must buy in order to survive—food, shelter, health care and clothing are all examples of things that fall into this category. A want is anything else that’s not essential for survival. It may be someone’s preference or desire but it’s not necessary for survival; thus people have no problem living without them.

Once you’ve identified your needs versus wants and established a budget for each category of expenses (such as rent/mortgage payments), spend less than what you budgeted for each month by cutting back on unnecessary expenses such as cable television subscriptions or going out with friends every weekend night (which could add up quickly).

The importance of saving money.

Saving money is a habit that takes time to develop, but it’s something you’ll thank yourself for later in life.

There are several reasons why saving money is important: you never know when an emergency will happen, saving for the future helps ensure that you have enough money to enjoy it when you’re older, retirement savings can help fund your golden years, rainy day funds can help take care of unexpected expenses and provide some financial security if an emergency strikes, children’s education and other expenses should be planned for well ahead of time so there aren’t any surprises down the road when it comes time to pay those bills; finally having enough saved up for emergencies means that even if something happens unexpectedly (like losing your job or getting sick) then at least part of your finances won’t be affected by this change in circumstances.

Creating a realistic plan for paying off debt.

If you have any debt, do consider using the debt snowball method, you pay off your debts in order of smallest balance to largest balance. This is because paying off one account frees up more money to use on the next larger account, which means you’re able to pay down your debt faster.

The first thing you should do is set up a budget. It’s important that you know how much money comes in each month (your income) and how much money goes out each month (your expenses). This can help you make decisions about how to prioritize paying off your debts based on what’s most important or financially feasible for now.

When setting up a budget, remember: The best way for anyone who has trouble sticking with budgets is by keeping track of every dollar spent via an app or simply just excel/notion template (which also have features like tracking investments and net worth) so there’s no guesswork involved when it comes time to make spending choices later on down the road!

After sharing so many things above, do you know what is the most basic thing in Financial Literacy that one should know? See picture below.

Build emergency funds before investing

The next most important step for a beginner investor is to build an emergency fund. You need enough cash in your bank account to cover 6-12 months of living expenses in case you lose your job or have an unexpected health issue.

The best way to build an emergency fund is by saving regularly and consistently, rather than trying to save up large sums all at once. Once you’ve saved the money you need, invest it in low-risk investments such as savings accounts or fixed income until you’re ready for something more advanced.

The amount of cash that should be saved depends on how much debt you have and what your income looks like. For example, if someone has significant student loan debt (i.e., $50k+) with a high monthly payment ($600+), then they should aim for 10-12 months’ worth of living expenses before investing any money away from their savings account(s).

If someone has no debt at all but doesn’t make much money either (less than $30k/year), then it would still be wise for them not to invest too much into risky assets just yet because they could run into problems if they hit hard times without any savings available on hand! It’s always good practice when starting out as early as possible though—just don’t go overboard!

Wealth management strategies

Once you have enough emergency funds, you can cut out some funds for investment. Make sure you will not need the investment funds for at least 5-10 years.

After which, plan your wealth management – diversify and invest in a portfolio of assets. This can be done through mutual funds, individual stocks and bonds, or real estate investments.

Investments should be diversified across different asset classes (e.g., stock market, bond market). Diversification reduces risk and enables investors to maximize returns when markets are increasing at the same time they protect against losses when markets decrease. Investors are also encouraged to monitor performance regularly as well as develop cash flow management skills so they can ensure that their finances remain healthy despite market fluctuations

Investment to grow wealth and build cashflow

An investment is a commitment of money or capital to an asset with the expectation of earning financial return. For example, if you buy a stock for $10 and sell it for $15, then you have made an investment and earned a profit (i.e., $5) on your initial purchase. Do check out this timeless free investment guidelines.

Investing is different from speculation because it involves putting money into something that has intrinsic value – like real estate or gold jewelry – as opposed to just betting on something that may or may not happen in the future (such as buying lottery tickets).

Investing can also be used as a tool for building cash flow: when assets generate income streams such as interest payments or dividend (do check out this free checklist) or simply rental income, this is known as “passive income” because the investor doesn’t necessarily have any active role in generating these revenues from his/her investments; rather they are generated automatically due to ownership rights over specific pieces of property (or contractual relationships with tenants).

Retirement planning for the future.

After one has built sufficient wealth, the next step is planning your retirement is to look at your current situation and identify the changes you need to make. The following questions will help you get started:

  • What is my current financial situation?
  • How much money do I need to save for a comfortable retirement?
  • How much do I already have saved for retirement, and how much more do I need to save?
  • Should I top up my government aided retirement scheme such as CPF scheme in Singapore?

One way to check if you have enough for retirement is to use the typical 4% withdrawal rule as a guideline for how much of your retirement fund can be withdrawn each year without depleting it entirely. As long as you keep enough in the account, this will ensure that there will still be money available for when you do retire.

Conclusion

The topic of financial literacy is a big one. In this article, I have covered everything from setting up your budget to managing debt and planning for retirement. I hope that you now feel more confident in your financial knowledge and can use it to make smart decisions about your money.

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!

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 🙂