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Dividend Investing is Dangerous

Posted on by careyourpresent

Dividend investing is a very popular strategy, especially in Singapore, but of course people from other countries all over world like it! Who don’t like regular cash posted into your bank account?

However, I am not sure why but this term “Dividend Investing is Dangerous” has been floating around in the investing community recently. I have no idea where this term came from, but since I have been seeing this term, maybe let me share something more about dividend investing?

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

What is Dividend Investing?

The primary goal of dividend investing is to generate income from the dividends received. Dividend investing is like picking stocks from companies that are in the habit of sharing a slice of their earnings with people who own their shares.

These earnings, called dividends, are usually handed out on a regular basis, like every few months or every year, and sometimes even every month. The cool part about dividend investing is that it’s all about getting a steady flow of pocket money from your investments. These regular cash flow if large enough, can replace your monthly paycheck!

Imagine if you have $1 million in dividend stocks/ETFs, that give you 6%, this mean you will get $5000 monthly, which is the pay of average person on the street! That’s why the lure of dividend investing is great, it can replace your work income “one day”.

Of course, investors also find dividend stocks appealing because they have the chance to see their investment grow in value. As the company’s stock price goes up, the value of the dividends they receive also goes up. This combo can result in a notable boost to the overall worth of your investment as the years go by – these are dividend growth stock.

“Dividend Investing is Dangerous”

Why dividend investing in dangerous, let me share some points on why is this so.

1. Dividend cannot cover the Capital loss due to drop in price

Do you think Dividend Investing is dangerous? One very common point that came up is that the dividend that you get can’t cover the capital loss from the share/etfs.

If the share prices keep dropping (lao sai) until you have to go to the toilet/loo/washroom, does dividend investing really work, is it dangerous?

Let’s say you put $100,000 into a share/etf that give you 6% (I put 6% because recent US 10 years treasury yield already give you 4.2%, hence there is risk premium to equity). This mean that you will earn $6000 per year, $500 per month. However, the share price drop 10%, such that your original invested capital is only worth $90,000 now, hence effectively, you lose $10,000 – $ 6000 = $4000. You might as well put in growth stock that grow more?

Let’s repeat this, “Dividend Investing is Dangerous”?

2. Companies that should reinvest their earnings rather than give out dividends

It’s better for a company to reinvest their earnings, to grow the equity/asset of the companies rather than giving the cash out as dividends. Once a company is worth more, the share price of the companies will go up naturally. If the company gives out cash as dividends, the companies will be worth less.

If you’re a shareholder of a company that pays dividends, it’s also important to understand why the company gave out those dividends in the first place. If they did so because they thought it was best for their long-term growth and financial health, then great!

But if they’re only paying out because they need cash flow right now–and will never reinvest those earnings into growing their business–then that’s not so good.

Another possibility is that Companies that pay out large amounts of money as dividends are often doing so because their management teams aren’t confident enough about how much more revenue can be generated through reinvestment opportunities within the business itself (like R&D or new product development). This could be due to:

  • Poor management who don’t know how best use capital wisely
  • Poor capital allocation skills (e.g., poor M&A decisions)
  • Weak demand for goods/services offered by this particular industry segment

3. Investing in Index Funds/ETFs are better, more diversified and safer, gives better total return

Let’s say you invest $10,000 in an S&P 500 index fund.

The index fund is a diversified basket of 500 stocks that mirrors the performance of the entire market. It’s possible for all 500 stocks to decline at once and for your portfolio to fall by 5% or 10% overnight. But if you have $10,000 invested in five different stocks whose price falls by 5% each over a month or two, then your portfolio would have lost just 1%.

You would have lost less because you spread your money around among several companies rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. That’s why diversification is so important when investing in individual stocks or mutual funds as well as when investing in broad indexes like the S&P 500 (SPY).

Invest in Index fund, and get market return is better. Ultimately, most active professional fund manager can’t beat the market index fund return in the long run.

4. Dividends can be stopped anytime

There are many investors that just look at the dividend history and dividend yield rather than the companies itself.

If you are a retiree that rely on dividends for survival, bear in mind that dividends can be stopped anytime. Companies can change their minds, go out of business and cut or raise dividends as they see fit. Hence sustainability of the business is more important than just looking at the dividend yield, history.

The high yield of dividends can mislead investors into thinking that dividend stocks are much safer than other kinds of stocks. The dividend yield is not a good indicator of a company’s profitability, it may not be sustainable.

The best way to evaluate the safety of your investments is by looking at the company’s fundamentals: its balance sheet and cash flow statement–not its dividend yield.

Hence, this goes back to the point that total return is important, not just dividend. Total return is capital gain + dividend.

Just Dividend alone is dangerous as it misguide you thinking that this is the the total return that you get.

Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash

Dividend investing is Dangerous or not?

The above 4 points are points that highlight why dividend investing is dangerous! There are of course others points that argue against or argue for investing investing. One can has mixture of dividend only (reits for examples), or dividend growth stocks/etf, or grow stocks, or index fund etc..

Ultimately, most importantly, whatever method you use, you must be able to sleep well. Know your own risk profile, create your own method that suit you the best such that you can pass sleep test. Otherwise, if your stocks/shares/cryptos/other assets suddenly needs to go to toilet/loo/washroom lao sai (drop in value), one will panic sell instead of rationally cut loss due to change in fundamental or wait for price recovery.

Personally I think dividend investing is not dangerous, I can write a long article on this but shall do this another time. However, dividend investing is often more effective as a long-term strategy. Over time, the power of compounding can lead to significant returns, particularly when dividends are reinvested.

In short, I strongly support dividend investing for those who know what to buy.

For those who don’t, do index investing better using world index funds.

Remember:

Collect dividends -> invest in companies that are fundamentally strong -> companies generate more revenue and thus more dividends -> companies give you dividends -> collect the dividends and reinvest and so on.

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!

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  • FSMOne: P0413007. Good account to keep liquid cash in autosweep and to purchase investment at low fee.
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Cheapest and best way to trade Singapore Stocks with CDP

Posted on by careyourpresent

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?

You will need to store your shares with the brokerages directly instead of CDP.

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?

(Side note: For those who have read the above might have find this similar to an article that I have posted two weeks ago. I realized that the title of that article may not be SEO friendly according to feedback from some of the users but many users thought that these solutions are useful, hence I reposted this article with some edits.)

Solution – Cheap Commissions but keep your shares with CDP

There are two solutions that I am aware of.

Solution 1

Buy your shares with DBS Vickers Cash upfront account. Cheap comms to buy and the shares will be stored in your linked-CDP account after purchase. This is a very popular options with many investors! I used to use this method in my early years of investing, but I did not use this method now. Why?

As part of estate planning, I have moved all my equities to joint account with my spouse. My spouse is a total noob in shares buying/selling, brokerages, wills etc. Hence, I need to plan everything out well, especially I still have two young children. Although Will can cover personal account, one still need to apply for Grant of Probate upon demise, which would take some work. Hence, as far as possible, I try to keep, cash/shares etc in Joint account for the survival ownership clause (the surviving party will take the assets).

As a result, I can’t use Cash Upfront trading anymore as this is for individual account link to individual CDP. Furthermore, the trades are only applicable to Buy Trades.

Solution 2

I use FSMone Account.

Let me shameless do some promotion for my referral first in order to keep my current blog going (need to pay hosting and domain fees). For those are keen to apply FSMone account, can do so via my referral link in my referral page. Of course, there are also other interesting, good platforms that I am using, do consider sign up via my referral too.

Let me share more about FSMone account. What I did was to open up 4 accounts:

  • Account 1: I am the main holder.
  • Account 2: I am the main holder with my son as beneficiary.
  • Account 3: I am the main holder with my daughter as beneficiary.
  • Account 4: I am the main holder with my wife as beneficiary.

Key Things to note about FSMone Beneficiary Account

A Beneficiary Account in FSMOne.com is useful if you are planning a separate portfolio for another person. In the event that any one person in the beneficiary account passes away, the assets of the account will belong to the surviving person.

The main applicant (main account holder) of this beneficiary account must be above 18 years old. Please note that the main applicant is still the key operator of this account and the owner of the assets invested under this account as long as the main applicant is still alive. All correspondence will be notified to the main account holder.

In the event that the main applicant has passed away, the beneficiary holder (upon 18 years old) is required to bring the death certificate and his/her own IC to our office. We shall open a personal account for the beneficiary holder and then transfer all the holdings registered under the beneficiary account into the new account. Thereafter the beneficiary will have rights towards the holdings and he/she will be able to purchase, switch or liquidate. The beneficiary can decide to liquidate the funds if wishes to.

If the beneficiary is a minor (below 18 years old), then the surviving parent will automatically become the legal guardian. The legal guardian will be able to give instructions. If the beneficiary wants to keep the investments, then he/she has got to open a new account with existing parent as main applicant and minor as beneficiary and transfer the holdings from old account to the new one.

https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsm/advice-services/faq/8660/
https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsm/advice-services/faq/998/

With Above…

With the above, it totally suits my needs about estate planning. If anything were to happen to me, my wife just needs to do the simple thing below to access the assets!

Hence, I mainly used account 4 to trade the money from my wife and my money. For account 2 and 3, I keep their ang bao money in Autosweep (that earns 3.14%) while waiting for great chance for me to invest their money!

In the event that the main applicant has passed away, the beneficiary holder (upon 18 years old) is required to bring the death certificate and his/her own IC to our office. We shall open a personal account for the beneficiary holder and then transfer all the holdings registered under the beneficiary account into the new account. Thereafter the beneficiary will have rights towards the holdings and he/she will be able to purchase, switch or liquidate. The beneficiary can decide to liquidate the funds if wishes to.

If the beneficiary is a minor (below 18 years old), then the surviving parent will automatically become the legal guardian. The legal guardian will be able to give instructions. If the beneficiary wants to keep the investments, then he/she has got to open a new account with existing parent as main applicant and minor as beneficiary and transfer the holdings from old account to the new one.

CDP and FSMone

Back to the main topic of saving commissions while keeping shares in CDP, FSMone allowed the transfer of shares bought in FSMone to CDP for free!

Taking a step further, if we compared to the commissions to trade SGX listed shares, it cost about $35 to trade S$10k worth of shares with traditional brokerages that are linked to CDP whereas it cost only about S$15 to trade S$10k worth of shares with FSMone. That’s almost $20 differences! A restaurant meal! Don’t forget the additional benefit of estate planning.

Hence, for this account 4, usually I would use it to buy/sell shares for those that I plan to trade short term with cheap commissions, then regularly I would transfer those shares that I want to keep for longer term into CDP. The transfer process is fast and quick! I have done a couple of transfer before. Let me share the latest one!

On 17 Jun, I have sent in request to FSM to request the transfer of three shares – Boustead, MIT and Areit from FSM to CDP. The transfer is done on 21 June 2.41pm with the shares minus from my FSMone account and credited to CDP account.

Let me share more about the Transfer Process

Step 1: Fill up the transfer Form

To transfer out your stocks/ETFs to CDP, please complete FSMOne Security Transfer-In/Out Instruction (Cash) and send it to us via email.

https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsm/advice-services/faq/2195/

How to fill the form:

There are some parts of the forms which I don’t know how to fill until I went to ask FSMone customer service. Since I have the information now, let me share it. See the screenshots below.

Take note of the Counterparty name and Contact No. / Email Address

This part of the form quite easy and just fill accordingly.

Step 2: Download your latest statement of Holdings in FSMone

Download and attach a copy of the latest statement of holdings (dated within 3 months) with this transfer form and follow step 3.

Step 3: Send to FSM and wait!

Email your transfer form (step 1) and latest statement (step 2) to [email protected].

After that just wait for the acknowledgement and the transfer to take places.

I have done the transfer at least 5 times, so far all of them took within a week with only 1 time that took about a month. That’s why FSMone normally will tell you take 1-2 weeks but usually it’s faster than that.

My email to FSM on 17 Jun 2023 02:01 am
FSM acknowledgement email on
Jun 17, 2023, 9:19 AM

Completion of transfer on 21 Jun 2023

The Secret Conclusion

I hope this article will be useful to you.

I have shared the method that I have used to purchase Singapore Shares –

Open beneficiary accounts with spouse and dependents such that estate planning is in place.

Put in the family allocated investment Cash into Autosweep while earning 3.14% interest and waiting for the best time to buy/sell.

Buy/Sell Singapore Shares using FSMone with cheap commissions of about S$15 for minimum S$10k worth of Shares. Sometimes I bought $20k worth, it’s only cost me S$18.

For Shares of other countries such as HK, I use FSMone too since estate planning is in placed.

For US/LSE/AUS shares, I use interactive brokers but I try to keep US shares within 60k because of Estate Tax.

For those Singapore Shares that I plan to keep long term, I would transfer them to CDP for free!

Thanks for reading!

Mastering Dividend Investing: 5 Evergreen Investment Principles

Posted on by careyourpresent

Welcome to the captivating world of dividend investing. Imagine an asset where your investments work tirelessly for you, generating cash flow even as you sleep. Dividend investing has gained reputation as a powerful strategy that offers the best of both worlds – capital appreciation and regular dividend payouts. It’s an enticing option for both seasoned investors and those new to the financial landscape.

Unlike other investment approaches that rely solely on market fluctuations, dividend investing focuses on companies that not only show strong growth potential but also share their profits directly with shareholders. These dividends, often paid out quarterly or annually, provide a steady stream of income that can be reinvested or enjoyed as extra earnings. This unique combination of stability, growth, and financial rewards makes dividend investing an attractive choice for those seeking long-term wealth building.

5 Evergreen Investment Principles

Let me share 5 timeless ever green investment principles for dividend investing.

(I have shared these before in my previous posts, but for new readers, let me share again with some edits).

1. No Dividend No Buy and only buy those that you are willing to keep long term of at least 10 years. Must pass sleep test.

Most people although calling themselves dividend investors, but they don’t really behave like a dividend investor. They buy/sell, buy/sell trade the dividend stocks/Reits instead of keeping for dividend. If the price crash, they would sell and cut loss.

You can see from the recent crash of the US Reits such Manulife US Reit, Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit, Prime US Reit – initially the investors sound so confidence, freehold assets, US assets etc., good rental income etc.. But see what happened now? Many of them cut loss after the price drop 50% or more.

If you have bought MIT at $2.80 instead of Manulife US Reit at $0.70, likely you won’t cut loss for MIT but will cut loss for Manulife, especially if you have put in an amount larger that you are comfortable with (see Rule 3 below).

Hence this first rule is very important. Please only buy reits/stocks that you are willing to keep at least 10 years, no speculation, no FOMO (Fear or Missing Out). Don’t listen to others. Have independent mind. Must pass sleep test.

Take for example, Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Singapore Exchange (SGX), Mapletree Industrial Reit (MIT), Mapletree Logistic Reit (Mlog), Capitaland Ascendas Reit (Areit), Frasers Centre Point Trust (Trust), NikkoAM-STC Asia Reit (CFA) etc. No people will cut loss buying these, they will simply add more. Yes, the yield is low, but on long term basis, it is a 99% sure win. Remember Tortoise and Hare Story, Tortoise wins. Many people are enticed by high yield instead of the fundamental behind the companies which in the end lose their hard-earned money and cut loss when the shares drip in prices.

Just keep buy and collect dividend and reinvest for good stocks/reits. You will get this picture below.

2. GUTS (buy big) and PATIENCE (wait crash/dip) and dare to HOLD VERY LONG, think long term (10 years at least)

Most people are looking at short term. They should look at long term (10 years at least). If they did their shares selection well as per rule 1 above, the next step is to have patience and wait. When the time come, example 2020 March Covid Crash, Reits dip due to interest rates etc, they should be brave and buy! However, many don’t have the guts to buy when come. If even they have, they don’t dare to buy big. even if they dare to buy big, they don’t dare to hold. Additionally, people keep want to wait for lower price and then missed!

Are you behaving the same way as I have described above? I believe most are. Let me share a few rules that I have learnt:

  • Buy only dividend growth companies that I know Fundamental well so that I will not cut loss. Example, companies with yield >5% with net cash, low payout ratio, sustainable business. Or simply buy those big names that could rarely goes wrong in my rule 1 above.
  • Be patience. Do research while waiting.
  • Red buy, green sell. Similar to buy discounted groceries in supermarket.
  • Focus cashflow and certainty.
  • Few cents don’t matter. Can’t always buy at bottom price or sell at top price. Good price just dca buy and keep.
  • Better to put big sum (e.g. 100k) in good companies like MIT MLOG FLCT AREIT PLIFE DBS SGX etc for 10% than 10k in less strong stock for 10% gain.

3. Position size Important and no leverage

Position size important and possibility no leverage if you are not sure what you are doing. You can set for example 5% per counter, then you will have 20 counters. Chances of 20 good shares (if you have followed Rule 1 above) dying at the same time, not paying dividend at the same time is very very low.

This is especially true when portfolio get large, example 1 million and above. One should take less risk and do capital preservation. Why? 1 million at 6% already give you $5k per month (not difficult to get 6% yield with 2% cap gain every year). $5k per month is already a very good salary for most people.

However, people want haste and earn more. In the end, they lose more by putting too much in something which can’t let them sleep well. In the end they cut loss and lose money. Hence, only put the amount that you are comfortable with; that would enable you to sleep well.

4. No earn no sell especially for dividend stock. Keep long term, no stop loss policy because point 1 is followed.

This rule is contrary to what most people would do. No cut loss policy.

If you didn’t do any leverage/plan allocation well (Rule 3) and only buy good stocks that let you sleep well (Rule 1), there is no need for you to cut loss. (However, if fundamental changes, please cut loss unless you are confident of recovery).

Price drop, just hold and collect dividends as “painkillers”. Throughout the years, treat the dividend (or simply use the Trading around Core Strategy – Rule 5 below) to reduce the average cost of your shares. The worst case is stock goes to zero or in most case, your average cost will be reduced over time.

5. Trading around Core with only Good FA Dividend Reit/Stock

Of course, it is very hard to curb itchy hands. People feel that it is very hard to do nothing. You have to keep buy sell buy sell, especially if you keep seeing the shares of the companies that you are holding are going up and down every day. Hence what can we do? We can use Trading around Core Strategy.

This simply means that you allocate for example 100k to buy Share XXX for 5% yield. One can simply keep DCA down to keep and collect dividend (price goes down, dividend yield goes up). As long as the total amount of share XXX that you are holding doesn’t exceed your allocation (in this case 100k), you can do a trade buy/sell buy/sell 1-2 cents for profits to reduce your average cost.

For example, you plan to allocate 100k to Mapletree Logistics Trust (Mlog). Currently you are holding only 50k worth of Mlog. You can strategise and buy 10000 shares of Mlog at $1.58 and sell at $1.61. Every trade will win you few hundred dollars which you can treat it as lowering your average holding cost of the share. In the worst case, if the price drops below $1.58, it doesn’t matter too, you can just keep it and collect dividend. Do note that this only work if you follow Rule 3 (allocation) and Rule 1 – only applicable to those that you are willing to hold long term and passed your sleep test.

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 🙂

Recent Trades: Taking advantage of the Volatility of Mr Market

Posted on by careyourpresent

As mentioned in my last two posts, I was away overseas but found out an excellent Card for Overseas Trip!, then followed by an unfortunate case of A&E Hospitalisation visit. Family is utmost important to me and hence I didn’t write articles as much for these two weeks. Usually I would write about 2-3 articles per week.

Market

Recently, the market is rather volatile, US starts to turn a bit red with SG REITs coming down due to rise in interest rates. Hence, as usual, I took advantage and bought some shares. For those followed by tweets, would have already know about these trades.

For transparency, let me share here.

Besides Market, This strike me MOST!

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 🙂

Capturing Opportunities in Market Fluctuations: Noteworthy Recent Trades

Posted on by careyourpresent

Volatility

There are many news on the recent US debt ceilings. Hence the treasury yields have been raising, people are also worrying about recession risks. At such macro conditions, the best thing to do is to buy assets that are of cheap and decent yields, especially if you are a dividend investors.

See the table below? The last time REITs drop was 10 years yield about 3.9%, but I guess people are used to the talk about interest rates, hence this time didn’t drop much.

This time is different

Many think that this time is different, but it is the same for me. I just buy and slowly dca down when I feel that the price and yield is right. I am aiming about 5-6% yields for good companies.

Pictures speak a thousand words. Action speaks louder than words. Please do your due diligence.

For Mapletree Industrial Trust, the Private Placement price is priced at the higher range, this is different from the other recent corporate actions. The yield is about 6% pro forma. Hence I bought some and hope the price will drop lower after xD next week so that I can accumulate more.

Boustead is high netcash company with NAV much higher than the price of $80. Their recent offer for Boustead Project is at $0.955 which is so much lower than the RNAV. Likely it will book good positive goodwill and up EPS after the results coming out tonight.

Netlink post good results with yield at 5.7% why not?

With the above purchases, I am still holding about 55% cash with monthly cashflow still coming in. I am prepared to average down if needed. (hopefully got chance!)

Grab Free Money while still have!

Lastly, don’t forget to Grab the Free Money while you still have (see this article)!

I have shared this before many times.

You only need to put in S$0.01 to earn at least SGD$70+ worth of free money. Why not? I have already received my $75.16 and got my spouse to apply too and get another $70+. In total we get free $150 by using Two Singapore Cents with little efforts, why not?

You can refer to my previous post on how to sign up easily! (Webull New Offer: Use S$0.01 to earn US$50 to US$500 and chance to win Tesla Model 3 Car)

However, for the welcome referral to use S$0.01 to earn US$50 to US$500 will ends on 31 May 2023, 15.59, Singapore Time. Less than 1 week left! I not sure if the free money promotion will extend, but I won’t take my chance to get any free 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 🙂

Cashflow Management Made Easy: How I Simplified my Cashflow Management

Posted on by careyourpresent

Cashflow is king

Have you heard the saying “Cashflow is king”? It’s true. Managing your cashflow effectively is crucial for achieving financial stability and success. As someone who’s experienced the ups and downs of personal finance, I understand the importance of keeping a tight handle on my money. That’s why I want to share with you some practical tips for managing your cashflow by using myself as example.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

How to manage?

There are so many things in life and components in finance management. In fact, managing your finances can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to tracking your cashflow. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is crucial to do so, especially when it comes to monthly cashflow management. However, with the right tools and strategies, it can be a breeze.

As someone who owns several credit cards and bank accounts, I have developed a system to manage my finances effectively. I thought I should share give you and perhaps readers can gain some insights to it.

Personally, it will be good for my kids/spouse, especially who is totally don’t bother with cashflow management or finance management in my household. In case I am suddenly gone (yes, touch wood but life is uncertain), hopefully this could be a good reference for them.

Credit Cards

I currently own several credit cards, but my three main credit cards are UOB One Credit Card, SCB Spree Credit Card, and Unlimited SCB Credit Card. Of course my UOB ONE Card is used with my UOB one account to get the 5% interest every month!

To meet the UOB One account’s 5% interest rate, I would spend $500 starting from the 3rd of every month (my billing cycle starts on the 3rd of every month). I set up recurring charges for my mobile line, broadband, and utilities bill to this card, which amounts to around $100 to $200 each month. The remaining $400 to $500 is spent on household expenses such as SimplyGo for transport, groceries, and of course, I have also passed a UOB ONE subcard to my wife for her to spend on this card. By doing so, it is easier to hit the $500 spending!

Whenever possible, I use credit cards for payments, such as Favepay, Google Pay, Shopee, Qoo10 online spending, etc. This way, I have no problem hitting $500 every month. Usually, I reach $500 around the 20th of the month, and the rest of my spendings on credit cards goes to the SCB credit cards to earn direct cashback rebate from 20th onwards until next month when the UOB spending reset again. My wife always ask me:

How can you remember when to spend which card? I told her is easy, just spend UOB till $500, then use SCB after that. But it’s still seems very difficult to her until today. Well…

https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards/cashback/one-card.page

Credit Card Annual Fees

Managing annual fees can be a hassle, especially when you own multiple credit cards. However, I have developed a system to manage my annual fees effectively.

Firstly, as per what I have mentioned above, I have regularly tally my credit card expenses, and I would know immediately once any annual fees are charged to my card. I would then call in to waive them immediately.

Secondly, I have inputted the annual fee due date into my calendar and set reminders. Lastly, I try to keep cards with no annual fee for those cards that I use less frequently, such as the HSBC Revolution and CIMB cards.

Monthly Cashflow

Now that we have covered credit cards let’s talk about cashflow. Here’s how I manage it in real life:

1. 1st of every month

  • Tally the expenses of the whole family. This is important if I want to FIRE in future (Financial Independent, Retire Early). Once my cashflow above expenses, I can FIRE (Actually, now my cashflow > expenses but I kiasi).
  • Calculate how much to pay for credit bills for the last month and transfer the amount to be paid to the monthly spending bank account. In my case, it’s the UOB One account to satisfy the condition of 3 GIRO every month.
  • Transfer $600 to OCBC 360 Save Bonus (Increase your average daily balance by at least S$500 monthly.)
OCBC

2. Collect Bank Interest and Investments

  • Collect bank interest from my various banks, including Singapore Saving Bonds. UOB one account interest usually comes in 2nd or 3rd working day of month, OCBC 360 comes in 7th workng day, SSB comes in few working days after the month start, SCB exclusive bonus comes in 20th of the month etc.
  • Transfer these to a higher interest rate bank account or money market funds such as MoneyOwl, WiseSaver or FSM Autosweep.
  • Regularly keep track of my investment portfolio and record everything in my excel file.
  • Record how much I am vested, how much emergency funds I have, how much investible funds I have, how much cashflow (e.g. dividends) that I am getting from my portfolio, all buy and sell transactions, dividend coming in, location of all my funds, and what insurances I have.

3. Card Spending Management

For any card spending, I record it in an app to keep track and make sure I spend within budget and hit the $500 spending for UOB. However, as compared to other people, I do not keep track of the category of spending (This only works for me and I am sure I spend within limit, so I don’t want spend too much time on this). For others that need more tracking and discipline, it is better to record category of spend.

4. Cash Management

As for my cash spending, I prefer to withdraw a fixed amount from the ATM, typically around $40 each time, and record it as cash spending in my expense excel file. While I don’t track what I spend on as I am confident that I won’t overspend, it’s always good to have a record for reference. For those who are less discipline, always to keep track category of spend too.

5. A Master Excel file to keep track

Finally, I also regularly keep track of my investment portfolio and record everything in my excel file.

This includes how much I am vested, my emergency funds, my investible funds, and the cashflow (such as dividends) that I am getting from my portfolio. I also track all my buy and sell transactions, dividend income, the location of all my funds, and what insurances I have.

Of course all of the card and cash spending, annual fee etc are all recorded. I share the password of this file with my spouse so that in case of anything, she can refer to it without. Although I tried to keep it as simple as possible, but it may not be easy for her to understand.

Summary of what I did

DateAction
1st of every monthTally family expenses, calculate credit card bills and transfer the amount due to monthly spending bank account for payment.

Transfer $600 to OCBC 360 Save Bonus account for Save Bonus.
RegularlyRecord all card spending in an app for tracking purposes.

Record cash spendings in an expense excel file.

Both of the above I did not break down into detail categories unlike some of my friends as I know that I won’t exceed budget, but it is good to break down for most people.
RegularlyKeep track of investment portfolio and record all transactions, including buy/sell and dividend income.
Credit cardsMainly use UOB One Credit Card for household expenses and recurring charges, ensuring to hit the $500 spend minimum by around 20th of the month.

For the remaining days of the month, use other cards for direct cashback rebates.
Annual feesRegularly check and call to waive any annual fees charged to cards. Input annual fee due dates into google calendar and set reminders.

Also always aim to keep cash with no annual fees to avoid the hassle.
Bank accountsTransfer interest earned from various accounts to higher interest rate accounts or money market funds.

It’s not easy but it is important

Managing your cashflow may seem like a daunting task, but it is essential to stay on top of your finances and achieve your financial goals. With the practical tips and strategies I have shared based on my personal experience, I hope to have made it easier for you to manage your own cashflow.

Take action today and start tracking your expenses, optimizing your credit cards, and finding ways to increase your savings.

Remember, small changes can make a big difference over time. I also urge you to share your own cashflow management plans with others and join the community of people committed to achieving financial freedom. Together, let’s take control of our finances and build a brighter financial future for ourselves and our loved ones.

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 🙂