Eyes On Retirement

I started building my child's college fund when she was 6 months old. All her 红包's are channeled straight into this OCBC account, and I registered for their Blue Chip Investment Plan (BCIP). It's a monthly investment scheme into a blue chip stock of choice. Both Ms EOR and myself contribute monthly to this BCIP account, which is an excellent way to force us to invest. The rule is, do not sell anything from this account. In a rising interest rate environment, defensive stocks and REITs are to be de-prioritized. In such an environment, the spread between interest rates and dividend yields narrows, causing selling pressure on such asset classes. Banking stocks do well in rising interest rate environments, so now is the time double down and load up. Current sector allocation. It's time to add financials in. DBS The biggest and strongest bank in Singapore. They are leading the pack in digitization and building a digital bank presence. Just read their recent earnings...

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. I forgot to take photos, so i've taken some of them from their website http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/photos/index.html?propertyID=1846. Location: Near Ploenchit BTS station downtown, about a 5min unsheltered walk away. Room: New and plush room, although the decor makes the room abit dim. The bed is soft and comfortable, although i prefer the Westin bed. Gym: The treadmills and ellipticals overlook a beautiful pool. There are so many weight machines here, upper and lower and core. Free weights as well. The perfect gym. Breakfast: This has the widest spread and has got to be one of the best hotel breakfasts I've ever had.They have a local spin on omelettes, hot soy milk (oh yes!), pancakes/waffles, local flair and Chinese food, a wide selection of cheeses, fresh...

As I travel quite often for work, I'm going to keep a record of all the hotels I've stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn't.  It'll make future bookings much easier.  Forgot to take photos of the place, so I took them from their website. http://www.aloftkualalumpursentral.com/en/gallery/guest Location:   Connected right to the KL Sentral main station, with easy access to the KLIA. There's a NU Sentral mall also connected with the hotel. Room:   Deluxe room is a very basic room with a small work desk.  There's a cool walk in waredrobe that's integrated with the shower and sink area. The decor is hip but I find the overall ambiance abit too dim.  I'd prefer something brighter.  Although faint, you can hear the road noise through the windows.  The bed is so so, although I didn't have a very good sleep here. Gym: Small but functional, like a condo gym.  Freeweights, treadmills, ellipticals, limited weight m...

We have a spare apartment in Punggol for my parents to stay when they visited, and it's empty about 90% of the time.  Decided to rent out the room that they aren't staying in for extra income. I entrusted an agent to handle the process for me, gave him a 2 key requirements, no pets, no smokers, and began my travels.  He found a tenant quickly at $1250/month, and I agreed for her to commence the contract in 2 days (while I was still away).  I only returned 2 weeks after she moved in. Lesson #1: Get involved in the tenant selection process. The agent's job is to find the tenant. As the owner, you have to meet the prospective tenant and judge suitability and rent payment reliability. When i returned and visited the apartment, I realize the tenant smokes, keeps 2 small dogs and she installed items in the living room which was outside of the contract's stipulated room rental.  The agent clearly didn't check for my 2 key requirements and was only keen on securing his...

I started building my child's college fund when she was 6 months old.  All her 红包's are channeled straight into this OCBC account, and I registered for their Blue Chip Investment Plan (BCIP).  It's a monthly investment scheme into a blue chip stock of choice.  Both Ms EOR and myself contribute monthly to this BCIP account, which is an excellent way to force us to invest. I invest in 2 stocks at any given month, with Singtel being the base investment and the other being a cyclical. Singtel Telco's are considered a defensive sector, with a relatively stable income stream.  What I like about Singtel is that they are the market leader in Singapore, and also derive 50% of their profits from investments in other country telcos, thereby reducing the country risk.  They are trading at around their 52 week lows in 1H 2018, hence the dividend rate is 5+%, but I see the sustainable rate to be about 4+%.  I'm doing dollar cost averaging, so it doesn't matter that...

Astrea IV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Azalea Asset Management Pte. Ltd, which is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings. They are issuing bonds for their private equity funds, so this is the first time the retail market has access to the private equity space.  BOND DETAILS Name: Class A-1 Bonds 10NC5 Interest: 4.35% pa, semi annual payment. If not redeemed after 5 yrs on Jun 2023, will step up to 5.35% pa Maturity: 10 yrs, on 14th Jun 2028 with scheduled call date on 14th Jun 2023. "Scheduled" is not "optional". If there is sufficient cash set aside for the class A bond to be redeemed, it must be redeemed. It's not an option. Application for IPO: Min $2k, with integral multiples of $1k thereafter Period of application for IPO: 6th Jun 2018 9am to 12 Jun 2018 12 pm Rating:  A by Fitch, and A by S&P Extra features: There is a bonus redemption premium of an amount not exceeding 0.5% of the principal amount. This means that if the par value if $1.000, the ...

Many bankers and insurance agents tried to sell me endowment policies.  I have never believed in this type of policy. It has got to be the worst payback vehicle ever, i think worse than Singapore savings bonds!  They sell it on the basis of fear, what if this you're dead, who will take care of your kids education, blablabla bullshit. Lets put the numbers to the test, i think it's pretty straightforward.  Assuming i'm still around to send my kids to college after 18 years.  I've done 2 scenarios based on $200/month and $800/month contributions. Endowment policy: Guaranteed payback at 2% p.a.  It's what they sell you. Investing it with OCBC BCIP (i'll do a separate post on this): Target interest 4% p.a with dividends, and i still own the shares. The difference between the 2 plans is astounding! With DIY investing (OCBC BCIP) I'm about $11k ahead based on the $200 scenario, $45k ahead based on the $800 scenario, and I still own the shares and will be...