Singaporean Talks Money: December 2023

Sunday 31 December 2023

End of Year Portfolio Review | Total Investments hits $100,000, marching towards $150,000 by end of 2024

2023 is almost over and the stock market as well as the world has been on a whirlwind of emotion ride. Wars are happening and yet the stock market has been recovering steadily towards the year end. It is a lot more positive in the market than what I expected.

As we review my financial portfolio, let’s also pray for those suffering and hope that this difficult time will be over for them soon. With my total net worth hitting $100,000 about 1 or 2 months back, with the bull market in stocks and cryptocurrencies, my investment portfolio alone without cash has also hit the $100,000 mark.

With that, it is nice seeing the 6 digit goal being hit before I turn 30 in 2025. Aiming for $150,000 for when I reach 30 years old but not too extreme now as I think I can let off some steam since reaching $100,000. The data on my portfolio below is recorded on 24 December 2023 on Christmas Eve for the record.

Stocks Portfolio (Data recorded on 24 December 2023)

This has been a great recovery year, consistently buying monthly has helped with the portfolio value and happy with where it is although Tesla is still a large portion but trying to bring it down by adding onto index ETFs like QQQ.

Cryptocurrencies Portfolio (Data recorded on 24 December 2023)

Wow, what a great end to cryptocurrencies, I was not adding much positions throughout the year so not crazy gains for this portion of the portfolio but I have been HODL-ing to my positions so it was nice to see the jump in value and it contributed in helping my investment portfolio to hit past $100,000. Crypto has not been back at all time highs but we can see some recovery.

Not really adding positions here although from various opinions online that 2024 is the year of cryptocurrency since multiple huge events are coming up like the Bitcoin spot ETF, Bitcoin halving and institutions wanting/having to allocate a portion into crypto. Maybe will add some ETH but other than that, not much here. Saw some altcoins going crazy like the previous bull market, as people double their portfolios with them but at the moment, not into that.

Syfe REITs (Data recorded on 24 December 2023)

REITs have seen some improvement since Powell mentioned about holding rates and that they are thinking of stopping rate hikes at the moment. The jump was quite substantial as my Syfe REITs portfolio jumped from a loss to profit. Not changing much here, reinvesting dividends since my portfolio is not huge enough to allow dividends to be paid out and a contribution monthly.

Options

Options (mostly covered calls) have been something I picked up at the later half of 2023 and still learning a lot from it. So far, it has been a profit but I did make mistakes a few times when I first started. I did weekly covered calls on Tesla which is a volatile stock so within a week, it can fluctuate huge and hit the strike price. I had 2 occasions where the strike price was hit, I was afraid of missing out on gains and immediately bought back on Monday which was a wrong move as with any huge tick up, a correction would happen and prices would drop so on that 2 occasions I could have waited and bought back with no losses but I FOMO-ed and bought in straight when market open.

However, the difference was not huge since I bought weekly so total premiums would still make it a profit but recently, I have moved to monthly where I can choose a further strike price and get reasonable premiums due to time decay.

Currently only doing it on GOOGL and TSLA, GOOGL is relatively steady so it’s been good so far, premiums are not as high as TSLA but it is a good balance. I am not adding to any individual stocks so the premiums are usually redirected to buying of QQQ. Not much premiums in terms of overall but some nice extra change to build up cash or set some buys. Not focusing huge on options as I just see it as a small supplement.

Total Portfolio (Data recorded on 24 December 2023)

Since hitting $100,000 in investments, can really see the larger fluctuations in that 10% is suddenly a larger number compared to $10,000. Looking forward to growing it to $200,000 but watching out as well on the positions/risk. 2024 will be an exciting year for the markets as Bitcoin spot ETF and Bitcoin halving will lead to volatility and even major adoption of Bitcoin. Even for the stock market, interest rate cuts and inflation will be major indicators but we can also see tensions raising among nations and most recently the Red Sea attacks. All these will bring about huge disruptions and we shall see how things go.

Starting my Youtube channel again

I have always been interested in content creation and recording my journey but laziness got the better of me in recent years so I was not churning out as many articles and videos really require substantial effort. But for 2024, hoping to start releasing some youtube videos although I think focusing on articles are still my main focus.

Interesting to see how different platforms attract different age groups and reach different populations. Wishing that 2024 will be a peaceful year and fruitful year as I enjoy the last year of my twenties!

Affiliate links/Codes:

► Where I Buy my Cryptocurrencies:
►Use my referral link https://crypto.com/app/evwynu4g57 or code: evwynu4g57 to sign up
►Gemini: https://gemini.com/share/558gylyhg use my code and we'll each get $10 USD of Bitcoin.
► Where I store my Cryptocurrencies:
► Ledger: https://shop.ledger.com/?referral_code=980EF358BYAQM (Earn $10 in BTC)
► Where I buy my stocks:
FSMone Referral: P0364886
Tiger Brokers
Interactive Brokers (Open an account today and start earning up to $1000 of IBKR Stock for free!*Terms and Conditions apply)
►Syfe Trade Referral Code: SRPSL8MGX
►Syfe Wealth Referral Link: SRPSL8MGXE

Sunday 24 December 2023

Your investments are not going to be growing linearly | Sharing my experiences investing for the past 6 years

My investment portfolio broke above $100,000 recently and I wanted to share some of my thoughts as a reflection as I reach this milestone. I started investing when I was 22 years old, which was 6 years ago and what a journey it has been.

There were moments in the 6 years journey where I thought building wealth was so difficult and there were times when I felt money was so easy to get, it was indeed a rollercoaster ride and even so in the upcoming years. But all in all, I learned a lot and there were some things that I hoped I started doing earlier.

Times I thought building wealth was so tough and when can I see significant results

When I first started, I only had less than a $100 or to low hundreds per month to invest, this meant that I needed to accumulate for a few months before I could invest. When I started, I only invested in Singapore stocks so my portfolio was not growing as fast as I wanted since Singapore stocks usually do not fluctuate much and is mostly a dividend kinda play.

During my early twenties, there were no neo-brokers like Syfe Trade, moomoo, tiger brokers and Interactive Brokers needed $100,000 in asset minimum otherwise there was a monthly charge so I felt like it was easier to start with Singapore stocks. But if I could start, I would start buying US stocks first as the return would have been much better.

I have to say that my investments only became significant in 2020 when it was closer to $50,000 and we sort of experienced a bull market coupled with a change of job in 2021 with a significant pay raise.

I do believe that increasing your income is one of the main ways to increase and see significant effects in your investments as you would have more disposable cash to invest.

Times I thought I was going to be rich

The crypto boom that happened in 2020–2022 made me increase my net worth although I did lose a significant portion but it exposed me to cryptocurrency and taught me lessons on risk and position allocation. My portfolio was up enormously even reaching close $100,000 which was crazy.

I thought I would be rich and it was because cryptocurrencies rose at a rate that was so much more than traditional assets. To be honest, it was like gambling and it was fun and adrenaline inducing but I remember being so focused on prices at that time that I was stuck on checking prices and finding new things to do. It was pretty unhealthy as I was addicted to the excitement and price actions.

There were some millionaires made during those times but I am not too sure how many managed to retain it, I lost a significant amount too but learned a lot over those few months. The phrase by Warren Buffett, “to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” really strike me after the whole crypto bubble and how it explain the whole situation so well.

Your portfolio is not going to be growing linearly

There are good years and bad years, your portfolio will not go up in a straight line. There were years where I contributed significant amounts in but it still resulted in a loss. There were also times when I did nothing but it grew. There are many factors that can affect the portfolio, as long as overall, your portfolio grows with the broad market index or even manages to beat it then it is all right.

You will be very doubtful in your early years of starting out but over the years of accumulating and compounding, you will see a difference. Of course, this also depends on the things that you invest in and you need to make sure that your portfolio allocation and risk appetite suits you.

Things I would have done differently if I were to start over again

Always take profits especially if the profits prove to be huge and it is a volatile asset

Always take some profits off first especially if it gets too juicy. I know that investing is for the long term especially when you are buying the index ETFs that track S&P or STI but during the crypto boom, I was in a profit on assets that were very new and although there was an ecosystem build for it, it seem very inflated by tokens and leverage as people were able to lend and borrow for larger amounts. There were warning signs and of course, being greedy and in an echo chamber, I thought that it will go up endlessly. If I had just taken back my principal and left my profits there, it would not have affected my portfolio that much.

Take some opinions with a pinch of salt especially those with short term outlook

X (previously twitter) was a huge platform during the crypto boom as many discussed and form their opinions or research. It was interesting to read and follow on all these but do not take all tweets seriously. There were many ridiculous tweet mentioning about 100x bagger when it was just a scam token.

You really have to make sure that you are aware of what you are investing in after all, it is your money and no one cherishes it more than you. I follow many individuals who were pro on a certain cryptocurrency and this form an echo chamber that meant I did not see other opinions and naturally just reinforced what I wanted to know/knew.

Experts may not always be right

We watch the news everyday and there might be a lot of negative or positive news however it doesn’t mean that it will reflect on the market. The economy is not the market and bad news doesn’t mean the market will go down so a consistent investing behaviour is always recommended to eliminate the emotional portion that can affect your investing strategy.

Build up a base first before venturing into speculative assets

It was good that I did not sell all my stocks and leaped fully into crypto although I did sell my SG stocks but split them between US stocks and cryptocurrency. I did came to my mind if I wanted to sell all my stocks and all in on crypto but I felt that I still needed to have the base of stocks and my portfolio was still in the progress of building. Knowing your risk tolerance is a huge part that can help guide your decisions and your portfolio growth. I will be sharing more on my end of year portfolio review in my next video.