Counting My Money

I can't sleep. I am worried about my finances.

So I am up now counting my money in all the places that I have. Sometimes I forget that I even have such money lying around.

Cash:
1. POSB Savings : $6200
2. Maybank : $17,000
3. Citibank: $6300

Stocks
1. Singapore: $72,000
2. US Stocks: $8000
3. Unit Trusts: $4000

Semi-liquid Funds:
1. Investment Linked Plan 1 = $37500
2. Whole Life = $15,000

Okay...now I feel so much better..Can sleep again =)
at
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15 comments:

  1. JWDecember 14, 2009 at 8:23 AM

    Excluding Whole-life plan, you have $135700! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Createwealth8888December 14, 2009 at 10:48 AM

    You have plenty of fire power to hoot at the next stock market crash. Keep your powder dry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MusicwhizDecember 14, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    I note you have about S$29,500 in bank accounts (liquid cash). The important question is how many months can this sustain you based on your current lifestyle? The standard should be at least 6 months.

    Assuming you set aside this 6 months of expenses, will you have any ammunition for invest in equities for the long-term?

    Cheers,
    Musicwhiz

    ReplyDelete
  4. JWDecember 14, 2009 at 2:43 PM

    MusicWhiz... For me... I have only about 1 month worth based on my lifestyle...

    Reason being:
    1) I know I'm guaranteed employment for at least 1.5 years as I'm under bond.
    2) I can easily sustain my cashflow with tuition at the moment.
    3) My parents are still young. I could still look for help should anything happens. Thus I can afford to take on higher risks.
    4) With the above 3 points, I'm slowly building my cashflow with more and more dividend/income stocks. This will eventually contribute to another steady and more defensive income source, which to me will help in reducing the emergency funds required...

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 14, 2009 at 5:33 PM

    Thanks for sharing. It's pretty good to have accumulated $135,700 at your age. It is good progress at your age now. One question, do you think this amount is enough for financial independence?

    If you need $2,800 per month, you need to generate consistently 25% nett return every year. On the more conservative side, with say 6% nett return every year, you will need a capital base of $560K.

    That's why the question on how are you going to expand your base capital now? What's your plan?

    T

    ReplyDelete
  6. dreamDecember 14, 2009 at 6:12 PM

    Thanks for sharing and I think T made a very valid point. The other thing to look at is whether you're adding to your $135,700 or slowly drawing down from it. If you are slowly depleting your stockpile, then you need a plan B. The other thing to note is that expenses will very likely to go up, not down in the future. For young families with kids, it is always better to buffer more just in case.

    ReplyDelete
  7. JWDecember 14, 2009 at 7:03 PM

    dream made a valid point...

    I just wrote a post on cutting expenses.
    http://wealthbuch.blogspot.com/2009/12/4-ways-to-cut-expenses.html


    Annoymous also made a valid point on expanding base capital. I remember you were looking for a tuition job earlier. Have you found it yet?

    ReplyDelete
  8. GohsipDecember 15, 2009 at 12:09 AM

    Hi FF,

    I have been worrying about retrenchment the past one and half years. I Slog hard and long hours just just to make sure I still draw an income every month. The road is always tough, whether its working for others, running your own business, or even giving tuition.

    You won't be having this worry if you didn't quit your $5,000/mth job. Sounds harsh, but you should have had a plan in hand before you made that move.

    ReplyDelete
  9. financialfreedomDecember 15, 2009 at 4:55 PM

    Thanks for all the frank comments =)

    Yep, I should have done a whole host of things before worrying. Worrying brings one nowhere.

    I want to make sure that my networth goes up and not down and I do not want to tap into my funds to fund my current lifestyle.

    I am looking for tuition opportunities but I am still preparing myself for it before I embark on it.

    hopefully everything works out!

    My plan now is to increase my earned income and passive income. That I guess will be one of my main goals for 2010

    ReplyDelete
  10. everycentscountDecember 16, 2009 at 3:35 PM

    Hi Financial Freedom,

    Your blog reminded me of myself when I was at the same crossroad a few years back. I was in a job that I don't enjoy any more and was practically dragging my feet to work everyday. I quitted without a job, wanting to take a break and subsequently decided to go into private tuition.

    It lasted me only about 4-5 months. I had concerns over continuation of income source (as students graduate after a few yrs and i'll need to find new students), no contribution to CPF (esp important if you are paying housing loans thru CPF), erratic income (such as holidays and parents cancelling tuition), possibility of no yearly increment / promotion. I also missed the social interactions that I have with colleagues. Ultimately, I decided to go back to the workforce. I guess I wasn’t ready and I really hated the financial instability aspect.

    Looking back, that was a good break for me to relook at what I really want / don’t want in life. Now back to the workforce, I’m more contented and appreciative of what I have now. The incident made me realized that while we always talk about what we want, sometimes it is just as important to think about what we don’t want as well. Just my personal thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Createwealth8888December 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM

    Agreed. Not everybody can take financial instability. As a paid employee, you also get paid while in the toilet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. GohsipDecember 16, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    Hi FF,

    Evercentcounts made a very good point.

    It is hard to replace the benefits of being an employee

    1. CPF (Which has Employer's contribution)
    I have been fully utilizing my CPF-OA and don't need to cough out a cent for my home loan.

    2. Personal Medical benefits of a company
    I had an operation on my knee early this year.
    In addition, I had to go for treatment at the Physio. This cost me a total of $20,000.
    Adding on the dental visit, normal doctor visits and my yearly medical check up. This adds in a further $2,000. I managed to claim everything 100% and not cough out a single cent. If I did not have my job, I'd probably won't have gone for my operation.

    3. Child/Spouse Benefits
    I have an allowance if my Spouse gives birth in future for a sum of $X,xxx amount.
    My kids and Spouse are entitled a further $1,500 each for medical claims.

    4. Gym Membership
    I have free corporate gym membership which i fully utilize every week.

    5. Bonus
    Bonus for performing well in a company
    Assuming an average of 2-3 months. a person who earns $3k/mth will get about 6 to 9k. That is a lot of money.



    The List can go on....
    These are just some of the things you need to think about. Its more than just the monthly salary you draw.

    Cheers

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  13. JWDecember 17, 2009 at 10:39 PM

    For myself... I'm actually actively teaching tuition while having a full time job...

    I realised one thing after a while.... Income instability is something to get used to if you want to come out to be your own boss...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Createwealth8888December 18, 2009 at 9:06 PM

    JW is right. That is the reason why there are few bosses and plenty of paid employees. Many still prefer a steady income.

    ReplyDelete
  15. financialfreedomDecember 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM

    Yep,

    Some people are more suited to being employees versuses bosses no matter what others say.

    You might be at greater peace being an employee than being a boss.

    Thanks for all the personal sharing. It really encourages me!

    ReplyDelete

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