Liquid Assets as at 17 May 2013

I have increased my bond holdings in 30 year Singapore Government Securities recently. Still have about 1/3 of my investible assets in cash and cash equivalents. Equities prices have run up quite a fair bit and we are seeing the equity market at five year high levels.

Friends who are fundamental investors think a lot of the blue chips are over-valued at current prices. There’s still a lot of liquidity floating around and with the Central Bankers globally easing in one form or another, it looks like this equities rally or run-up or whatever you call is is still present.

I am comfortable with my current holdings. There is room to invest about 10-15% more into equities but I think current prices are a bit high to go in. No-one can predict how markets will turn out. In the meantime, I am brushing up my Thai as I will be going for a short trip to Bangkok for a conference and will aim to pick up some Thai language resources there. Should be the first of more trips to brathep Thai.

Khorp khun, sawat dee khrap.

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Liquid Net Assets as at 8 April 2013

My cash holding went up a little due to bonuses from earned income. As a result, my liquid assets portfolio now comprises fixed income: 15%, equities: 37% and cash and cash equivalents: 48%. The equities market continues to be firm despite signs that economic growth for 2013 will be lower as compared to 2012. However, Japan’s quantitative easing coupled with the US Fed’s continued easing means there is still much liquidity sloshing around in world markets.

I bought a bit more fixed income 30 year Singapore Government Securities to provide some balance to my portfolio. Currently am overweight in cash and am seeking opportunities to deploy it safely and meaningfully. Equities have run up a bit so downside risks are higher relative to upside potential. Even SGS has moved a bit recently so am waiting to see if prices move nearer to par (100) to consider buying a few lots.

I am not so afraid of losing out even if the markets move as I’m half-invested. But the low interest paid for cash balances on half my portfolio will drag down the performance this year if I do not look for more productive assets.

On a positive note, I believe I am still on track of the target set a few years back on achieving $1m in investible assets by age 45. This surprises even myself as some time back I thought it was more a stretch target and I would more likely achieve it when I was nearer to 50 than 45. The irony is that I live my life normally in following my principles of living within my means and to save and invest but do let myself drink the occasional over-priced <insert the big name coffee chain> coffee and cheesecake.

The key is to continue with the habits that have seen my walk the path towards financial freedom and more importantly to enjoy the process and not get overly fixated with the outcome.

Be well and prosper.

Liquid Net Assets as 11 March 2013

Liquid_Net_Assets_11_March_2013

It’s been a while since I’ve updated FiveCentsTenCents with new content. Just a routine update on my net liquid assets position. As you can see, it’s still pretty much at Equities: 46%, Fixed Income: 14% and cash/cash equivalents: 40%.

The great equity sale has not materialised and despite risks to the US and China economic recovery, equity markets especially have risen to new highs since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Some of my core holdings in SPH have become more valuable given the intention of SPH in setting up a REIT to house its retail mall properties as stated in the SGX filing. I still have some room to manoeuvre with 40% to be deployed. Currently, may increase more bond holdings as I’m looking to increase my recurrent income base with virtually risk-free Singapore Government Securities.

I am not in a rush as I still intend to continue as a salaryman for the next 8-10 years at least so am accumulating earned income and savings from earned income for investing.

Wishing one and all a great year for 2013.

Be well and prosper.

The Future of Five Cents Ten Cents

This blog has served me well since it started. Besides bringing in a small bit of blogging income, it allowed me to document my journey towards financial freedom. In the process, I learnt more about myself in terms of my thoughts, feelings and actions that bring me closer towards (or further from) my goal of achieving financial freedom.

In the many articles I have written about financial freedom, I’ve come to realise that the only thing predictable is the unpredictability and fragility of life. I now come to enjoy the occasional can of beer, bottle of soju or sake now and then. I take things less personal and try to practice mindfulness in what I do.

It helps that time has flown and my daughter is already in kindergarten 1. 5 years has come and gone since the day I held her in my arms. Now I struggle to carry her longer than a couple of minutes as her weight is closer to that of a big sack of rice +++!

In terms of net worth, I am moving steadily towards my goal of $1,000,000 in investible net worth (excluding owner-occupied property). I haven’t reached there but it is achievable in my lifetime. The interesting thing is that I’m less obssessed with the goal now than 5 years ago.

I realise that spending some of windfall gains, bonuses or interest and dividends on the small luxuries of life makes me happy. Spending on my loved ones makes me happy. Taking one day at a time makes me happy.

I have discovered a new hobby which is language learning. It is a very scalable hobby in that you can progress as fast or slow as your own abilities, time and passion drives you. It is a useful hobby. I can make use of the language abilities to travel to countries in that language. I can communicate and understand the culture of the target language. I could use them in my workplace and I use them for leisure in listening to cultural television, video or music in that language.

I will continue with Five Cents Ten Cents but I will move from a tactical (how to achieve financial freedom) to a more strategic perspective (how I change in my quest for financial freedom). The insights that I’ve gained from exploring financial freedom in my life and documentating the journey has been both fascinating and enriching.

I wish all my readers a Happy New Year 2013 and also a Happy Lunar New Year 2013!

Be well and prosper.

Lookback at 2012

The year 2012 is ending soon and 2013 awaits us. Investing-wise this has been a good year in that I managed to achieve about 4.4% realised returns on my investible portfolio, it also represented the highest amount of total realised capital gains, dividends received and interest since I started tracking my investment performance in 2003.

In terms of personal growth, my daughter is getting older and is now 4+ going on to 5 years in 2013. Time flies and she is quite a handful physically and mentally as she has learnt the art of talking back and trying to get her own way.

I have started learning some basic Korean and am building up my basic Thai learnt 2 years back. I am getting interested in foreign language learning as a hobby that I think is helpful as a leisure activity and as a way to build more useful skills going forward.

My blog posts have been less frequent as I’ve matured in my thinking about financial freedom. There are only some many ways one can reiterate the core principles of (1) living within your means, (2) saving and investing, (3) growing and protecting one’s means.

I’ve learnt to enjoy life a bit more. As the December bonus and dividends are credited into my accounts, I set aside slightly more than 10% of those as a fund to spend as I wish. Gelato ice-creams, nice coffees and a good Kindle ebook are ways that I utilise this investment and windfall gains.

I would like to wish all readers who still follow my blog a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with health, happiness and financial freedom!

Be well and prosper.