Financial life after Cancer

Dear all,  My Nikko AM fund had been approved almost immediately after my appointment with my wealth manager. A week past since then, I am surprise to learn in the afternoon that the amount I started my investment rise by 10%.  Last Saturday I received my SYFE dividend from Pimco. It went down from $97 in July to $89 in August 2025. It was a drop of close to 10% of the fund. Wasted no time, I emailed the platform. I did not expect an answer from SYFE as it was Singapore National Day holiday. The staff on the other end did a check and told me that the difference was due to 1 of the Pimco fund which only pay on a quarterly basis. It paid in July. Hence, there was a decline in the dividend payment in the month of Aug. Credit to the staff for the patient explanation. I will need to observe this trend going forward in order not to ask the same question.  For my Trust Bank Income Fund managed from Aberdeen, the dividend continue to go up over the past few months. As I placed mo...

Dear all, The bank had assigned a wealth manager to me many months back. I am not wealth but the bank decided to assign one to all who has an account with the bank. No big deal really. it was till two weeks ago when the wealth manager called me out to have an appointment with me so that he can put up the high yield saving account for me.   I agreed to meet at the nearest bank branch. After a courtesy introduction, I had told me what I wanted and immediately I was introduced to one of the income fund almost immediately much to my surprise. It seems that he had done his homework and know where my interest is. I would be happy to go for a minimum amount each month and do ad-hoc top up as much as possible. However due to the bonus involved, I am to be commit to $300 per month investment over at least the next 10 years. I took up the offer and build up my fifth income fund. Depending on how things goes, off hand, my SYFE Pimco fund is still a priority build up to at least till $100...

 Dear all, On the last post, I stated that I was pleased that my scenario stimulation of my income to retire in 10 years time are in my favour. As I add in more variables, I realised that it was actually much harder than I first thought. I can retire with a slightly lower amount in term of the monthly income through.  The question now will be, with the additional variables in place resulted in lower income, will I be discouraged or stop my exploration towards the financial freedom journey?  In reality, our incomes and expenses could be up or down depending on what we are facing at some points in our life. For an example, if I get retrenched at the age of 53, it could derail my journey a little. If my other investments which I had put up somewhere turned out to be well, I could uses the amount earned from the investments to have additional investment into the fixed income fund. If I have a rich aunt or uncle who I did not know passed (the chance is almost slim at this poin...

 Dear all,   Last week, Econhealth was privatized and all shareholders are given the option between cash redemption  (default option) and the parent company + cash redemption. I am vested in the share. In the end, I choose the default cash option.  The money was already into my bank account. I am thinking what I should do with the money. It is not a lot but it help me to improve my fixed income dividends by investing into income funds.  I remember there is a Malay saying that goes" Accumulate little by little, eventually you will have a mountain."    I spend a few hours yesterday trying to project my investment return with a few possible scenarios. I am truly pleased that no matter which scenario I placed myself in, I would still be able to retire with a comfortable amount of passive income at the age of 55 if the fixed income continue to do well in the next 10 years. The scenario set may not be perfect but that is the best I would be able to...

Dear all,  It was a boring week in term of investment. No investment into anything nor any dividends were coming in. While the Trump Tariff Saga continued and Singapore continued to be inflicted with 10% tariff, life still goes on. Many panic market activities with panic buying and selling due to the renewal of the tariff war saga.    From the market reactions, the share prices did not fell as much as what a major event would have been during a major event. It could be due to the fact that there are more educated investors out there. They would know that for the effect of most of the president's actions (some president's actions can be longer lasting.) may last no more than one term from the next president's appointment. Many of the long term investors would have held on anyway knowing that Trump's actions will most likely to be reversed by the next president (be it whether it is democrat or republican).   For me, it is just another week. It is a composed reacti...

Dear all,  The first half of 2025 had passed. I hope that everyone is doing well in all aspects of your life. Do you still remember the financial goals that you set and if you are on the track to achieve these goals? I still remember that in my financial goal setting which was done in Dec 2024 when I decided to aim for earlier retirement in 10 years time at the age of 55. I worked out all the necessary details including the total amount ($6,000 a month or $72,000 annually) that I will need to live in comfort plus a bit more for future investment and inflation. (Everyone will need a different amount due to different lifestyle and planning.)  To achieve this, I will need to break the $6,000 a month target into yearly short term, medium term (3 years) , and long term (5 years) targets. Once, I completed my setting of the targets, I would set up the actions (how much to save, how to reduce spending to increase saving, how to invest the saving, and when to invest etc)   Yearly...