2009 is a Dead year?

Is 2009 a dead year for Singapore? Is our goal for this year to just keep our jobs and try to stay afloat?

Got this from a forum:

1) Singapore's trade to decline by 17% to 19% in 2009.
2) Singapore's population could fall by 4% as foreign workers laid off.
3) S'pore fixed asset investments in 2009 to be lower.
4) Economy to shrink by -2% to -5% in 2009.
5) Exports nearly zero.

Hmmm.. time to re-think my job switch perhaps?

I have completed my first book for the month of January "Random Walk Down Wall Street". Will recommend that all DIY investors read it before making any other investments =)

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year to all!

Debts Debts Debts

Recieved a few letters recently.  One is from HDB and the other from DBS.  Basically, my family's debt are as follows:

Car - $29,000.00

House - $253,128.00

Wow.  I have debts of over $280K!  How long will it take me to repay all these debt?

Work for Money or Work for Yourself

Have been too busy to write in any entries lately.

Question of the day: Work for Money or Work for Yourself (Job satisfaction)

First Stock Purchase of 2009

I made my first stock purchase for this year.

Bought 1 lot (1000 shares) of Keppel Land @ $1.97. For the long term investment and part of my bid to increase the number of blue chip companies I am holding in my portfolio.

Over the next few months, I will be mainly buying into the various blue chips in the Singapore stock exchange while looking for opportunities to increase my passive income stock portfolio which comprises of a basket of high dividend paying stocks as well as REITs.

New Year Resolutions

Guess it is time to pen down my new year resolutions for 2009:

1. Run the Standard Chart 42km full marathon.
2. Lose 3 kg.
3. Achieve a $400 per month passive income.
4. Pass CMFAS Module 5,9 and Health Insurance
5. Read at least one book per month:

Jan 09 - A random walk down Wall Street (still reading since Dec 08)
Feb 09 - Globalisation and its discontents
Mar 09 - The age of turbulence
Apr 09 - Capital ideas
May 09 - The World is Flat
Jun 09 - Jewish Antiquities
Jul 09 - The Intelligent Investor (thanks to patlim for the recommendation)
Aug 09 - ???
Sep 09 - ???
Oct 09 - ???
Nov 09 - ???
Dec 09 - ???

6. Send out resumes to at least 10 companies by end Feb 09

Any good books to recommend? Preferably non-fiction books =)

Welcome 2009

So I end off the year 2008 with an estimated monthly passive income of $220.

The next goal that lies ahead for 2009 will be for me to increase my passive income to $400 per month. That will require an increase of $180 per month or $2160 per year. If I am able to find some investment vehicle that gives me a 10% cash payout annually, I will require $21,600 in cold hard cash.

Time to save up for my investments for the coming year!

Drinking and Eating Your Way to Financial Freedom

Eating out is expensive. A meal for 2 at a reasonable restaurant will easily cost you $50. If it is a really nice restaurant, maybe $100 to $150.

So what is the alternative? Well... you can always eat at home of course!

This is what I had for dinner today. It wasn't cheap but compared to eating out, it is much cheaper.

I had a Campbell's Soup. It was a long time since I drank Campbell's soup and now I remember why I like it so much. They just taste so GOOD! Even better than those Soup of the Day at some restaurants. Well, for appetizer, we had Campbell's Country Style Mushroom Chicken Soup. Simply YUMMY. One can of this roughly feeds two. Sprinkle some ground pepper and eat it with bread.

For the main course, honey glazed chicken:
Well, I tore this and sandwiched it between bread, dip it into some tomato sauce and dunked it into my campbell soup. Delicious.


Drinks - Yellow Tail Chardonnay


The cost of the meal (for 2) was less than $35 =)