Investment Thoughts for 2012

Today is the 10th day into 2012 and I realised that I have not thought out my investment plan, made any resolutions or done anything fruitful in the past 10 days!  And there has been this constant nagging in my head that tells me that I ought to focus my attention on a few things and try not to spread out my efforts too thinly.  So perhaps now is a good time to update on what are some of my thoughts for 2012.  This includes some of my personal reflections and does not constitute any investment advice.

Passive Income - Monthly Dividend Stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

High on my list is perhaps creating a passive flow of income for myself either through stocks that provide monthly dividends or REITs which either provide quarterly or half-yearly distributions. For monthly dividend stocks, one has to turn to the US market.  One of the monthly dividend stocks that I have bought into is Gamco Global Gold (GGN).  REITs on the other hand are easily available on the Singapore Stock Exchange or SGX.  I am looking at diversifying my REITs holding as I am currently heavily invested in Ascott REIT.

Gold is Money and Nothing Else


For those of you who have been following me, you are perhaps aware that I have been looking towards silver both as a means to hedge against inflation as well as just for collecting purposes.  Buying silver in Singapore is still limited to only a few shops but hopefully this certain industry/sector will slowly develop.

Investing in this Site


I have also decided that I ought to invest a bit more time and money on this site.  This includes some facebook advertising as well as my plan to work on a eBook.

These are all still works in progress but I certainly hope that the perfectionist in me does not cause me to procrastinate or be paralysed such that I do nothing at the end of the year.  It has been my longest desire to write a book and an eBook might just serve that purpose.

How to Earn Extra Cash & The Hidden Difficulties

I read with interest a certain article on AsiaOne that gave ten ways on how one could earn extra cash.  The article was well written but I wasn't too sure how helpful it was to people who actually read it.  I mean what was listed down was really ten ways to earn extra cash but I guess the difference really lies in how difficult it is to make extra cash (especially if one holds a full-time job) and also what I would term as the "work-reward" ratio (i.e. how much work you have to put in versus the magnitude of the earnings/reward).

For example, babysitting was listed down as one of the ways to earn extra cash.  Sure, this advice applies well to stay-at-home mums but even if $1000 is paid out for you to babysit a child for all weekdays throughout a month, is it a worthwhile effort?  Likewise, Adsense was listed down as one of the ways but seriously, how long does it take for a newbie to earn $1000 through Adsense?

Why it is probably easier to babysit 

These are difficult questions and will probably require difficult answers.  But looking at it, I can safely tell you that it will be easier for most people to earn $1000/month doing babysitting compared to earning $1000/year from Adsense.  And the context is really important.  And the reason for this apparent difficulty or disparity lies in a really simple answer that probably plagues many of Singapore's local businesses too:  Singapore is too small.

Imagine an American blogger.  With a total resident population in the United States of 300 over million people and a high internet penetration rate, it is fairly easy for this American blogger to reach out to his target group of audience (i.e. customers) in America.  Even if he was only able to capture % of the audience per day, that will amount to 3 million readers per day already.  The same Singaporean blogger has no such luck.  If he managed to reach out to 1% of the residents per day, it only amounts to 50,000 readers.  Of course, the 1% target is really arbitary but it shows that for the same amount of effort, the Singapore blogger (with his/her Singaporean content only interesting to the locals) is placed at a severe disadvantage.

The Solution?

Well, the solution actually seems pretty straightfoward.  Go global!  Blog about things that the global audience can identify with and relate to.  But this is challenging and extremely difficult.  Unless you know what the global audience wants to read, you will probably find it extremely difficult to build up a site that will be visited by visitors.  This is not to mention the language barrier, culture barrier, and other impediments that you face.  And one can safely say that most people who try to eke out a living on the internet will rarely succeed.  But that being said, it is not entirely impossible.  There are good Singaporean bloggers who are making a living through their blogs.

How to Earn Extra Cash Passively

So I will give my own version of what I think is one good way to earn extra cash passively without much effort on your part.  . Well, surprisingly, I have found out that passive income is sometimes much easier to earn than active income (e.g. blogging).  I have earned a lot more from dividends paid out from stocks/shares I own compared to any other area.  Of course, this pre-supposes that one has sufficient capital to invest in stocks that pay out a good yield.  But this method has worked for me and has brought me fairly stable returns without me having to do a single thing.  Talk about earning extra cash without putting in much effort!

Of course, not all is rosy and one must expect that there could be a possibility of the dividends being cut or the share price dropping.  Nonetheless, dividends probably ranks pretty high up in my list of "How to Earn Extra Cash".

Passive Income Update

In the journey to financial freedom, one of the decisions I made was to rapidly increase my passive income. This was done through the acquisition of REITs, bank deposits as well as online income sources.

My updated portfolio for passive income (end September 2009) is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 3.55 per half) = $71.00 per month
2. 17,000 x First REITs (Annualised DPU = 7.66cents) = $108.51 per month
3. 11000 x Suntec REITs (Annualised DPU = 11.94cents) = $109.45 per month
4. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $8 per month
5. Online Income Sources = $30 per month

Total Estimated Passive Income = $326.96 per month


See Related Articles:
1. I Received over $1000 in Dividends for August 2009
2. Passive Income Sources

Passive Income True Potential

I found this useful article on a blog regarding how to calculate the true potential of passive income online earnings. By calculating the amount of time we have put into writing articles for our blogs, and keeping track of our earnings, we can figure out how much money we are making per hour. Compare that with our active income sources and you can find out which is more "productive". The article is attached below:

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HOW TO CALCULATE THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF PASSIVE INCOME ONLINE

Building passive income online can be a great opportunity to take control of your personal finances. It typically requires a lot of hard work up front to get the income stream created. If you have built a solid income source, then your hard work will pay off down the road. But how can you tell the potential of your time and effort spent? By projecting out your earnings per hour and comparing it to other income sources.

I recently completed a personal challenge that required me to write 100 eHow articles in 1 month. While I did not reach my 100 article goal, I still finished the month with 72 published articles. In order to see the true potential of the time I spent writing these articles, I can project out my earnings for one year.

eHow Dollars per Hour Earnings

In the first month of writing these 72 articles, my eHow Earnings totaled $124.27. I spent 42 hours writing these articles which calculates to ~$2.95 per hour. I will admit that there is nothing special about earning $2.95 per hour. However, if you project these earnings out over the course of 12 months, you may change your mind.

I am in the 2nd month of collecting earnings after creating this passive income online source. The beautiful thing about this income stream is that I will earn a projected ~$128.63 from these same articles this month with no time spent on my part. That pushes my earnings over $6 per hour!

If I were to assume that these articles could continue to earn the same amount each month for 1 year, my earnings jump to $36.13 per hour. I could keep going, but you get the picture. Earning over $30 per hour (and possibly a lot more over time) is absolutely worth my time and effort when compared to my active income earnings.

Active Income Dollars per Hour

My current job that is earning active income is a salary position with a company that comes with health benefits, a 401k match, as well as a steady paycheck. Based on a normal scheduled of working 60 hours per week, I earn around $24.95 per hour (not factoring in any benefits).

Lately, because of staffing cuts and projects, I have been working closer to 70 hours per week. If I were to calculate my earnings per hour rate based on one full year of working at this pace, it would come out to $20.80 per hour.

Comparing the Income Sources

If I were to ask you – Would rather earn $30 per hour or $25 per hour? What option would you pick?

Obviously there are several assumptions in these calculations that I have provided. Health insurance coverage and 401K employer matches are not factored into my active income calculations.

I am also assuming that I can maintain the current earnings rate for my eHow articles. Who knows, the company could go under tomorrow and those dollars would go away. But who is to say that my employer couldn’t do the same?

By projecting out your passive income online earnings, you can easily compare them with other income sources. These calculations can be an excellent motivator to keep pushing you along!

How much is your active income job really paying you?

The original article can be found here: http://www.passivefamilyincome.com/2009/09/18/passive-income-online-earnings/
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See Related Articles:
1. I Received over $1000 in Dividends for August 2009
2. Passive Income Sources

Passive Income Sources

I found this really good article on Ezine which I thought I should share with everyone. It basically describes some of the sources of passive income that anyone can get. Here is the article attached below:

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Cash is king!

This aphorism from real estate investing perfectly describes the little known method the rich actually use to accumulate millions of dollars. This report reveals 10 sources of passive income. Put any or all of these sources into place and sit back and watch the dollars roll on with no (or very little) further effort on your part.

If you truly want to get rich and live a life of luxury, then you must master the ability of generating cash flow from passive income sources. Without this ability, your income will be limited to traditional ways of making money, such as working. Working will never free you from having to work. You must do something different than working in order to obtain the income you need to live the lifestyle you desire. Passive income is the key.

Before you begin any investment plan, the first rule is to consult with a qualified investment advisor. By talking over your plan and considering possibilities you may not have considered, you will protect your capital to the greatest degree and help protect it from potential loss whiule multiplying your return.

This article will not consider the cost of entry to any investment nor will we look at rates of return. These will fluctuate - possibly every year or even over the course of a year- depending on the economy, conditions set by the SEC and other regulatory bodies and the IRS. This article will consider only the 20 possible sources of passive income; you will need to conduct further research to determine if any investment is appropriate for you.

1. ETF's - Exchange Traded Funds - This is a fund that tracks the performance of an index such as the Dow Jones or Standard and Poor 500, a basket of assets or a commodity. Trading in the same manner as a stock, its price will vary according to the days trading demands. Benefits of owning an ETF include the ability to buy short, buy on margin and to buy as little as one share. Expense ratios are often lower than mutual funds. A common ETF is called a spider - SPDR - and tracks the S&P 500 index. Look for the symbol SPY to research or to purchase.

2. REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust - One of my favorite investments because you own a portion of the real estate (or mortgages) the trust invests in. These also trade like a stock on the exchanges. An Equity REIT buys ownership (equity) in properties while a Mortgage REIT buys the mortgages on properties. Two key advantages to owning an REIT are the tax advantages and the liquidity of the security - you trade it just like a stock.

3. Canadian Oil and Gas Trust - This is an organization that invests in oil and/or gas production and possibly mining in Canada. Several of these are now trading on the American (US) exchanges. Purchase is the same as purchasing a stock in any other company. Tax advantages are similar to those of an REIT and a big advantage - the one I like the most - is that some of these trusts pay ridiculously high dividends - and they pay monthly! My advice: do your research, find a Canadian Oil and Gas Trust you like and then invest as much as you can.

4. MLP - Master Limited Partnership - Want a limited partnership that you can sell or trade as easily as a stock? Enter the Master Limited Partnership. These hybrid organizations feature the limited liability of a partnership while enabling you to trade the partnership units - investment units - just as you would a stock. What could be better? A MLP offers distributable cash flow as well as income and these terms must be mastered and understood before a reasoned decision can be made regarding the purchase of an MLP for your investment portfolio.

5. Annuities - Who has not heard of an annuity? But do you know how they work? Let's keep this simple: an annuity is nothing more than a contract you sign with an insurance company that guarantees to pay you a certain set amount of income over a period of time. You pay for an annuity upon signing and then the insurance company repays you the amount of your investment plus the "profits" (we'll keep this simple and not use the technical term) over a period of several (or many) years. These are generally considered safe stable investments appropriate for a conservative portfolio.

6. TIPS - Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities - Offered by the U.S Treasury, these are securities that are indexed to the rate of inflation meaning your dividend will increase as the rate of inflation increases. A TIPS pays interest every six months and pays the principal upon maturity. Also a conservative investment, you may want to consider these if you are looking to preserve and protect capital from the ravages of inflation while providing a consistent and dependable income, but your money may not grow at the rate you would prefer - but then we aren't looking at capital appreciation anyway.

7. Dividend Paying Stocks - Finally we get to what is perhaps the most familiar method of passive income. Anyone who knows anything about Wall Street knows that companies pay dividends to people who own their stock. Right? Well, most of the time , if it is a well known and established company. Many newer and smaller companies will use their income to grow the company instead of paying dividends and any company that incurs financial trouble may stop paying dividends. So if you are going to buy stock to acquire the income make sure the company has a track record of paying dividends. The best known American companies - commonly referred to as the "Blue Chips" are also the companies that traditionally have paid the best dividends. As with all other investments, research is necessary to capture the best dividends and target those companies with the best potential in future years.

8. Covered Calls - This is a passive investment instrument that is often considered risky. But it is not. A covered call is selling the option to buy stock that you own. You do not sell the stock, you only sell the option to buy that stock at a future price and time. The person buying the covered call buys the option at the price you agree upon - actually at which the market agrees upon - and you just set back and forget it. Well, not quite. The person who has bought the option has the right to buy your stock at any time between the time you sold the option and the expiration of that option. Writing (selling) a covered call is the only options investment that is considered safe enough by the IRS to be included in a 401K or other retirement plans. But you must do your homework and thoroughly understand the world of options before using this method.

9. Real Estate - Everyone knows what real estate is and everyone knows - or at least is intuitively aware - that big money can be made from real estate. Real estate provides tax advantages as well as the opportunity to highly leverage your investment - leverage being a factor that is limited or absent in many other investments. Many real estate advisors and gurus insist that the one house at a time or the flipper strategy or fixer upper or wholesale method or other flavor of the month is the absolute best way to make money in real estate. Generally speaking, avoid all that. Making big money - meaning massive income - in real estate is possible with highly leveraged deals which are a certainty only in commercial property. Multiple family properties, office buildings, retail facilities and warehouses would all constitute commercial property. Of these, the best strategy is to invest in multiple family properties. The bigger, the better. This requires knowledge and education more than it requires capital. Capital can always be acquired through your network, but knowledge is the one ingredient that will make this passive investment method work. And, with a big property, the income from that one property may be all you need to secure your retirement - today!

10. Business Ownership - No, this isn't what you think. Owning a small business for most people is worse than working 9 to 5. In your own small business you get caught up in the details, trying to make the business go, searching for a market, dealing with customers; it quickly becomes more than a full-time job. That's OK if that's what you love to do. But, what we mean here is starting a business or franchise with the short term goal of handing it off to someone to run. The faster you can do this the better. If you can do it from the very beginning so much the better - the more time you free for yourself, the more time you will have to enjoy and/or create more passive income sources. A book that will help you is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, another is the Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris. Both of these books will help you structure your business ownership in a way that frees you of actually running the business yourself - margaritas on the beach anybody?

As this article is already so long, we will create a Part 2. Passive income source number 11 is Private Lending - a relatively new income source and we will also look at a few others you may not be familiar with.

All of these sources require work to set up, but once established, they can be structured to run hands free. The two books mentioned in item 10 above will help you structure your passive income sources to be truly hands free income.

Perry Jones,millionaire1000.com
results by jpnelson.blogspot.com
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Read Related Articles:
3 Sources of Passive Income

Received Over $1000 in Dividends for August 09

I received over $1000 in dividends for the month of August. Pretty pleased also with the way my portfolio is regaining its value. The month of August was also significant for me as I started a simple 10 part mini series about the Journey to Financial Freedom. You can read all the postings here:

The Road to Financial Freedom
#1 - The Greatest Mistake
#2 - Protect What You Cannot Afford to Lose
#3 - Spend Less Than You Earn
#4 - Spend Less Or Earn More
#5 - Buy Assets Not Liabilities
#6 - Read and Learn More
#7 - The Magic of Part Time
#8 - Health Equals Wealth
#9 - It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
#10 - Congrats! You have Achieved it!

I have also begun to explore using HubPages to increase my Adsense Earnings

Earning Passive Income Online

I have debunked the myth that it is not possible to earn money online!

For those of you who have been following my postings, you should know that I started experimenting with Google's Adsense program around last year. How Google's Adsense works is simple. Advertisements are placed on your website or blogs. You get paid when people click on the advertisements. Of course, you are not allowed to click on the advertisements or to ask readers to click on your advertisements.

So you can think of your website as your very own magazine or e-magazine and Google pays you to put these advertisements on your site. The only thing is that you get paid when someone clicks on the adverts which can take a really long time.

I started off really slow earning a mere few cents from Adsense during the first few months. However, as the weeks and months went by, I began to see a slow but steady increase in my Adsense earnings. Of course it is not alot and the money i earn is really just coffee money. But nevertheless, it gives me great satisfaction that I have been able to pull off something which I thought was impossible - Making Money Online!

I am beginning to brainstorm on new ideas to increase this area of my passive income. I have found that the content I put up might not always be particularly useful at times. This is due to the lack of time to edit my work and stuff.

Just wondering out aloud whether it is worthwhile to invest in a proper domain name and some server while creating some really good content that will be useful to people.

So the Bull (or Bubble) is Here ($1500 to be coming soon)

So it seems that the bull market is back in full force. Or maybe it is simply too early to tell. It could be the greatest Bubble for all we know.

I guess most people have missed the bull run up as share prices of alot of stocks have already risen dramatically over the past few days. Seems like the swine flu and the global financial crisis no longer strikes any fear in people.

It is good to see my portfolio recover some of its paper loss. But of course I am lamenting the fact that I have missed this great opportunity to ride the bull up. I was not too disciplined in doing my dollar cost averaging as you can see.

Anyway, the month of May will be a bountiful month for me in terms of dividends. Below are the list of stocks that I am holding that have declared dividends:

1. ChinaAOil (SGD 0.02 per share)
2. First REIT (SGD 0.0188 per share)
3. Innotek (SGD 0.05 per share)
4. KingBoard (HKD 0.01 per share)
5. NOL (SGD 0.04 per share)
6. ST Eng (SGD 0.128 per share)
7. Suntec REIT (SGD 0.02918 per share)
8. KepLand (SGD0.08 per share)

I estimate that I should be getting about S$1500 plus in dividends for the month of May.

Hmmm.. so maybe its not too bad also..some extra cash in my pocket.

Added PWE into my Portfolio

Added 50 shares of PWE. Also bought 500 shares of Citicorp @2.92

My updated portfolio for passive income for 11 Apr 2009 is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 4.28 per half) = $85.60 per month (decrease in DPU)
2. 17,000 x First REITs (DPU = 1.94 per qtr) = $109.93 per month (increase in DPU)
3. 1000 x Suntec REITs (DPU = 2.858 qtr) = $9.52 per month
4. 3000 x NOL (estimate 8 cents per year*) = $20.00 per month
5. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $8 per month
6. 100 x PenWest Energy Trust = $22.00 per month
7. 100 x Pengrowth Energy Trust = $15.00 per month

Total avg monthly passive income = $270.05 (Mar 09)

Taking one step at a time towards my financial freedom.

3 Sources of Passive Income

Been seeing a lot of advertisements on the newspapers recently advertising how some people are willing to teach you how to make passive income by either joining their seminars and stuff. Well, I will just share mine openly since I believe that knowledge ought to be free for all.

In this post, I will be revealing the 3 sources of passive income that I hope to achieve by the end of this year. For this year, my goal is to achieve a passive income of $400 per month or $4800 per annum. I am looking to 3 areas/ sources to grow my passive income.

Source #1 - Dividends and Distributions from Stocks/REITs

This is currently my main source of passive income. I hope to achieve a minimum of $300 per month or $3600 per annum of passive income from dividends and distributions that I receive from both Singapore and US listed stocks.

Source #2 - Paid Advertisements on Blogs

I am currently relying on Google's Adsense to make some coffee money. It is peanuts really. Hope to achieve a stable $20 per month by the end of this year.

Source #3 - Writing Options

I have opened an OptionsXpress account. Basically, I hope to sell naked puts on fundamentally good stocks. Should the puts be exercised, I won't mind buying the stocks. If not, I will just be happy to make money from these puts. I hope to make this source of passive income operational by May 09.

There you go! My 3 sources of passive income. Feel free to comment or share your sources of passive income with me!

Read Related Articles:
1. My Flat is Worth Half A Million?
2. Passive Income Update for October 2009

Added Pengrowth Energy Trust

Updating my passive income portfolio.
PenWest Energy Trust had a dividend cut to US$0.15 per unit. Also added Pengrowth Energy Trust into my portfolio. It gives US$0.10 per unit.

My updated portfolio for passive income for 31 Mar 2009 is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 4.28 per half) = $85.60 per month (decrease in DPU)
2. 17,000 x First REITs (DPU = 1.94 per qtr) = $109.93 per month (increase in DPU)
3. 1000 x Suntec REITs (DPU = 2.858 qtr) = $9.52 per month
4. 3000 x NOL (estimate 8 cents per year*) = $20.00 per month
5. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $8 per month
6. 50 x PenWest Energy Trust = $11.00 per month
7. 100 x Pengrowth Energy Trust = $15.00 per month

Total avg monthly passive income = $259.05 (Mar 09)

First US Stock for my Dividends Portfolio

Updating my passive income portfolio

My updated portfolio for passive income for Mar 2009 is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 4.28 per half) = $85.60 per month (decrease in DPU)
2. 17,000 x First REITs (DPU = 1.94 per qtr) = $109.93 per month (increase in DPU)
3. 1000 x Suntec REITs (DPU = 2.858 qtr) = $9.52 per month
4. 3000 x NOL (estimate 8 cents per year*) = $20.00 per month
5. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $8 per month
6. 50 x PenWest Energy Trust = $13.50 per month

Total avg monthly passive income = $246.55 (Mar 09) versus $224.59 (Oct 08)

$1071.98 in Passive Income for February 2009

Looked at my bank account today and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I have received quite a bit of passive income for the month of Feb 09.

Total amount was $1071.98 and comprised dividends from First REITs, Ascott REITs and SUNTEC REITs as well as the $200 Goods and Services Tax Credits that I received. Details as follows:

27 Feb 2009 GC S$200.00

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-FIRST RE S$266.90

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-FIRST RE S$30.60

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-FIRST RE S$32.30

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-ASCOTTRE S$313.20

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-ASCOTTRE S$51.60

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-ASCOTTRE S$148.80

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-SUNTECRE S$0.81

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-SUNTECRE S$19.17

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-SUNTECRE S$6.13

27 Feb 2009 CDP CDP-SUNTECRE S$2.47

In my blogging efforts, I managed a paltry US$8.29 from Google's Adsense. But I am not including that into my passive income yet since it is money I will not receive for sometime.

Busy now with filling my tax returns and trying to see what are the tax reliefs and tax rebates I can get.

In these depressive and uncertain times, I have posted some funny videos here to cheer everyone up =)

Bank Account is Fat

Monday:

Bank Account is Fat from the year end bonus.. Looking for stocks to increase my passive income again.

Tuesday :

I put a queue of 3 lots of Ascott REITs to add to my income portfolio. I shall not engage in trading. This will be kept as part of my passive income portfolio/
I might put the remainder of my cash into my Maybank iSaavy account or simply buy more stocks. I actually put a queue earlier today but did not manage to buy it. Hopefully the market tomorrow will allow me to purchase this 3 additional lots of Ascott REITs

Wednesday:

Still did not manage to get Ascott REITs. Queued again 3 lots at same price.

Friday:

Still did not manage to get any Ascott REITs. Makes me wonder whether I should have just bought the stocks at whatever price the market was selling. Updated my networth (current @$467,372)

Trader or Investor

I bought 2 lots of NOL at $1.15 yesterday. Today, the price of NOL shot up to $1.34 and I sold it.

Was it right for me to sell? Only time will tell. But it seemed like too good a deal to miss. More than 10% gains in a single day.

So I guess you can call me a trader - investor. Investor because I keep some stocks for the long term. Trader because I do keep some stocks for the short term.

These are my current list of stocks:

1. First REIT
2. Ascott REIT
3. Suntec REIT
4. Pac Andes
5. Kingboard
6. Innotek
7. Unifood
8. NOL
9. China Aviation Oil
10. Hongguo

My Monthly Passive Income has hardly budged over the past month as I have not bought any income stocks. The $300 plus that I got in dividends for the Month of November will go to my Maybank iSaavy Account.

During this financial turmoil, I also have rebalanced my portfolio under my investment linked policy.

Equity markets (US, China, Europe, Emerging Markets) - 60%
Bonds, Fixed Income - 20%
Global Resources/Commodities - 20%

Hopefully this rebalancing of my portfolio will aid me in my financial freedom journey as my ILP now has over $20k in it.

Wanted to end one of my life policies but decided against it as its current surrender value is lower than all the installments I (and my parents) have paid for. My parents bought it for me when I was young and handed it over to me when I started work. While the current surrender value is very low (13k), the bonuses accumulated is close to 18k. By paying it off for another few more years, I should be able to break even and maybe surpass the installments that I have been paying for it. It is a life policy anyway so I will just treat it as part of my retirement plan.

During this period, I also increased my life insurance coverage and critical illness coverage.

Bonus Bonus Bonus!

Yup. The year end bonus is coming and I am expecting a nice yummy sum of money.

Have bought an additional 2 lots of NOL at $1.15 today to average down on my previous position.

Dividends for the Month of November and the meaning of investment

Collected a small sum of dividends for November:

$326.40 from First REITs
$28.54 from Suntec REITs

Yup, that is all I am reporting for my dividends for the month of November. For December, I will probably be making some small investments into the stock market again. Both to increase my passive income as well as to buy stocks that are currently undervalued.

Just some thought about investments. Nothing educational really. Perhaps more philosophical.

What is investment really about? If someone (e.g. a layman without much knowledge about investment) was to ask me that question, I think my reply would go something along this line:

Investment is basically just delayed gratification. If I have $50,000 in cold hard cash today, I could buy a car straightaway. On the other hand, I can choose to delay this gratification, invest the money, and hope to earn some returns from it that would justify the length of delay in my gratification.

For example, I could take this $50,000 today and buy a normal 1.6L Mitsubishi Lancer (no sports rim, etc). So if somebody asks me to delay my gratification say for 1 year, I will have to ask myself.... "If I can only buy a car one year later, what do I expect?"

Some might expect the exact same car model perhaps with sports rim. Some might say... "Huh??? You want me delay one year?? Then I will have to rely on public transport for one whole year... no way!! If you want me to delay by one year, I want a BMW 3 series..

This then defines the "reward" that the person is looking for in turn for the delay in their gratification. The person who only wants the additional sports rim is looking for a smaller reward versus the one who wants the BMW 3 series.

As reward is tied to risk... I could then tell the first person to simply put the $50,000 into a bank deposit account that gives 1-2% interest per annum and assuming that there is no inflation for the year and prices remain the same... he could easily afford the exact same model of car he wants with sports rim. This is basically a low risk investment.

For the other person who is expecting a BMW 3 series, I would tell him to invest it in the stock market now.. only problem is that there is no way I can guarantee that in 1 year's time, his $50,000 will turn to $150,000. Instead of becoming $150,000 , it might become $10,000 or worse still...nothing.

On hearing this, he might have to fine tune the reward that he expects based on the risk level that he is able to accept. Basically, the higher the reward from the investment, the higher the risk.

Portfolio for Passive Income

My updated portfolio for passive income for October is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 4.52 per half) = $90.40 per month
2. 17,000 x First REITs (DPU = 1.91 per qtr) = $108.23 per month
3. 1000 x Suntec REITs (DPU = 2.79 qtr) = $9.30 per month
4. 1000 x NOL (estimate 8 cents per year*) = $6.66 per month
5. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $10 per month

Total avg monthly passive income = $224.59 (this month) versus $218.23 (previous month)

Passive Income for Sept 08

This is a breakdown of my passive income for Sept 08

1. Growth Dividends : $225
2. Pac Andes Dividends: $765
3. Kingboard Dividends: $141

Total passive income for Sept 08 = $1131

Of course, the growth dividends is just a one time payout.

Dividends Recieved from Pac Andes

Received a total of $765.90 of dividends from holding Pac Andes last week.

Will be looking to invest this money to boost my passive income stocks portfolio.

The following are the stocks which I can choose to buy from to increase my passive income:
1. MacArthur Cook PSF
2. SingFood
3. First REIT
4. Ascott REIT
5. K1 Ventures

Which one should I buy? With $765.90, it does not provide me with a lot of options.