The Psychological Problem of Waiting

Earlier in the month, I wrote an article (here) about how I was going to utilize my funds in a bear downturn market scenarios. Since then, the market has somewhat presented me with an opportunity to add on some of the great counters at a rather attractive price which I excitedly add on into the portfolio. I'll share some of these buys when I finish consolidating and start to write my October portfolio in a few weeks time.

 

For me, the strategy was simple.

 

I had a strategy in place to how I am going to approach the bear market and focus on it. I had earlier shared some of these strategies which are exclusively mine and could be different from any individuals (disclaimer) but the message was clear. Have a plan, sit back and enjoy the show.

 

In summary, I have appended my strategies as follows:

 

1.) Research on the companies in your watchlist way before hand.

 

2.) Focus on companies which exhibit strong earnings and balance sheet and are trading at attractive valuations.

 

3.) Ensure to phase out the purchase such that liquidity will not remain an issue.

 

4.) Continue to monitor on personal incoming cashflow (monthly salary/bonus/dividends) for additional liquidity buffer.

 

 

 

 

The Psychological Problem of Waiting

 

For some reason, there are always a group of people who are going to wait for a better entry price and play the waiting game. I have no issue if that person has a plan in mind or perhaps are waiting for an even better valuations but for most of the cases these are usually not the case.

 

The problem of sitting in cash and just waiting for a "better" entry is really about the psychological mind games that isn't going to work out well for the investors. We are not assuming a full binary decision of all-in versus all-out in this instance but the problem with mindless waiting is that you as investors are never going to be comfortable in the market for as long as the market rises or falls.

 

Every investors are looking for an opportunity of a market correction so that they can purchase the stock at a cheaper price for the same valuation. But when the market does go down, it usually tempt the investor to change his strategy by shifting the goal post further and further away from the reality. The longer this plays out, the harder it is for the investors to make a decision to enter the market. This happens a lot that when stocks fall, people think that they might as well wait because stocks are going to get cheaper the next day.

 

When we were at the peak of the market not too far away from today the past couple of months, it is easy to look back on the depth of the market crisis and think how we are going to deploy the strategies when opportunities arise. However, when we come to real time, everyone realises it isn't an easy decision and history would prove again that people will chase after stocks only when it moves up and trading at higher valuation.

What about you? Are you one of those who finds it difficult psychologically in the market?

Do You Know Your Reits Well Enough?

I discussed a lot on the Reits sector towards the end of previous year (Click Here) and then updated them again early this year (Click Here), especially on the sensitivity risk towards rising interest rate environment, and thought it is a good time to review the sectors again after some serious correction during the past couple of months.

 

Many people who looked at Reits often do very minimal research on the companies because most of the times they are looking at trailing facts. This includes looking at trailing earnings and dividends yield, current gearing ratio and present price to book value and then they start making decision based on that. The forward looking portion is often ignored, which is what successful investors should be projecting and analysing on, especially with information that are not so apparent to retail investors.

 

 

 

 

Gearing

 

For instance, I wrote an article here in the past regarding how gearing is a function of both the numerator and denominator. Many investors had considered gearing as a single function of liabilities and thought that as long as the company did not take on more debts, the gearing would not be affected. This is obviously not the case as we know that any devaluation of the property assets due to increasing interest rate environment would directly result in a correlation increase in the gearing ratio.

 

Income Support

 

Another information that are often ignored and not so apparent in the financial statement is the utilization of income support. Take Viva Industrial Reit for instance. I had readers who expressed their interests in the Reit because they are offering a double digit yield at 10.5% and decent discount to NAV. What the investor doesn't realize is there are often an expiry with these income support and when it does, the yield would drop massively to the surprise of the investor. A savy investor would usually monitor the NPI yield of the properties and ask question if the dividend yield distributed is higher than what the properties can yield out.

 

IRR

 

When I recently added Accordia Golf Trust and Ireit into the portfolio, one of the consideration was whether the freehold properties they have on their books are generating competitive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) as compared to shorter leasehold properties (such as Industrial Reits) which are generating higher IRR. This is tricky because both have their pros and cons to consider about.

 

Now, we know that based on the theory we learned in school, we need to choose a project that can generate a higher IRR for as long as present value is bigger than 0. Think about it this way. As a Reit manager, you make an acquisition for a 30 year leasehold property that can yield an IRR of 10% per annum. This acquisition is likely to be yield accretive immediately and can boost distribution to shareholders. Another Reit manager make an acquisition for a property that are freehold but only yield an IRR of 5%, which are not immediately yield accretive but can work out to be good long term investment simply because the assets are held to infinity of time.

 

It is hard to argue which is the better acquisitions because the former yield a higher IRR in the beginning and you assume that the manager can make a similar astute call on making another acquisitions that yield the same IRR when the existing leasehold expires. As for the latter, the assumption is since it is a freehold assets, it doesn't matter that it is yielding a lower IRR because time will eventually increase your returns with higher predictability.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

I think Reits still present a good opportunity at present environment if you know how to decipher the code that is not so apparent to many other retail investors.

 

The key is to look out for hidden values and consider the risk reward ratio over the long run since we've seen some of the share price has corrected significantly from the peak. And when market mispriced them once again due to fear factor of weakening global economy, that's when we should be ready to pounce on them.

What about you? Do you know your Reits well enough?

Is The Story of Emergency Funds Overrated?

I recently read an article online about a person who has invested all his funds into the stock market. From his past articles, it appears that he doesn't keep any funds for emergency purpose and I get the impression that neither does he think he requires them at this moment. He is young, single and probably doesn't have any strong commitment to anything other than himself. There were a couple of people who have attacked him with his choice and action being naïve, but I think the overly strong reaction appears pretty strange to me given that these people does not know anything about his background.

 

We have all by now heard the mantra advice that it is advisable to keep 12 months of expenses in your emergency funds in case unexpected things cropped up. There are further discussion about whether it is preferred to keep 3, 6 or 12 months of either expenses or income and the discussion can go on and on. The truth is, these choices are down to each individual preference, objective and circumstances and decisions should be made independent without subject to any comparison made to another individual.

 

 

 

 

Let me give an example that illustrate my own case.

 

Many people would have considered the fear of retrenchment from their job as a subset of factor for consideration when thinking about emergency situation. This will vary differently from one individual to another, depending on the industry or role one is working at. Maybe you are currently working in a cyclical industry, where the likelihood of your company being affected by the economic cycle is pretty high. On the other hand, you can be working for a government sector where the likelihood of a retrenchment is pretty low.

 

For my own case, I consider the probability of this particular factor when deciding on my emergency funds pretty low due to my role that I am engaged in. I won't entirely rule out the possibility but the chances are slim. For instance, my role in the company entails preparing for the budget for the company. When the company exercises its discretion for retrenchment, they are usually projected at least a year in advance and I would be leading the project for this from the finance representative. What this means is that I would have known in advance and be better prepared than the others should I am one of those included in the lists and I can start preparing for it sooner than many other people that were informed at a later stage.

 

My purpose of illustrating this is simply to highlight the difference in individual's circumstances in life and there could be many factors to consider at before one start to think that the 12 months of expenses are the holy grail of emergency funds before you can start doing anything else.

 

We can extend the discussion into how well you are covered for a H&S insurance, how easy you are able to access any liquid funds, how many credit cards you might have, or how many rich godparents you have adopted. Recently in the blogosphere, there has been a rather hotly debated topic about young employee transferring their money over from CPF OA to SA in order to obtain higher returns in the long run. Monkey see monkey do. The point being that every individual is different and I don't think there is a hard and holy grail rule that needs to be followed simply because everyone else is doing the same.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

My very own definition of emergency funds are funds that should come unexpected and is something that I am not able to control. In this case, I have excluded the possibility of retrenchment because this is something my role allows me to have a higher degree of visibility in advance than many others. I can't say the same for things related to permanent disablement which I deemed as unpredictable. The same goes to unexpected illness coming from my family. In any case, my projected emergency funds for myself are estimated at around 8 months of expenses based on my own discretion of what I think emergency should entails.

 

If you are confused about how much to keep for your emergency funds, there are plenty of advise out there you can seek. The general rule of thumb is within 3 to 12 months of expenses and you can take reference from that, assuming everything else equal.

 

But more importantly, I think it is even more crucial to consider and look at your own options and truly understand what you might need or do not need (or have) in life in order to advance better. That does not entails you keeping 12 months of expenses in your emergency funds and things will turn out to be fine. It just means that it allows you to react better when unexpected things hit you while your mind is in a blank.

What do you think? Are there any hard rule of thumb to keep as emergency funds? Do people monkey see monkey do for emergency funds as well?

"Sep 15" - SG Transactions & Portfolio Update"

No.	Counters	No. of Shares	Market Price (SGD)	Total Value (SGD) based on market price	Allocation %
1.	Vicom	8,000	5.90	47,200.00	14.0%
2.	China Merchant Pacific	45,000	0.91	40,950.00	12.0%
3.	Kingsmen	37,000	0.79	29,230.00	9.0%
4.	Accordia Golf Trust	22,000	0.64	14,080.00	4.0%
5.	Stamford Land	30,000	0.49	14,700.00	4.0%
6.	Ho Bee Land	6,000	1.95	11,700.00	3.0%
7.	Fraser Centerpoint Trust	6,000	1.86	11,160.00	3.0%
8.	CapitaCommercial Trust	8,000	1.33	10,640.00	3.0%
9.	IReit Global	16,000	0.65	10,400.00	3.0%
10.	Nam Lee Metals	35,000	0.28	9,800.00	3.0%
11.	ST Engineering	3,000	2.96	8,880.00	3.0%
12.	Silverlake Axis	14,400	0.54	7,776.00	2.0%
13.	Dairy Farm*	1,000	0.85	8,591.00	2.0%
14.	MTQ	7,000	0.50	3,500.00	1.0%
15.	Warchest*			100,000.00	30.0%
	Total SGD			328,607.00	100.00%

 

 

September continues to be a very adventurous month after a continued run of purchasing that started in early August.

 

The world seems to be getting gloomy as each day past and we have seen sentiments going the other extreme way to being cautious and nervy. It feels strange that we don’t see these hype of sentiments when the market was charging on and on just the past 2 months or so. These macroeconomic noises are mostly a distraction in my view. I have heard numerous times by now that we will soon be seeing a collapse in the stock market soon due to weakening of the global economy and the tightening of the interest rates. People tend to forget easily that the economic runs in cycle and these are things that should not be a surprise when it comes to you.

 

On a personal note, savings was great in the past month which allows me to have more room for income that can be directed to owning great businesses over the long term. For this month, I have continued my aggressive activities by purchasing (or accumulating) Kingsmen, Dairy Farm, Ireit Global, Ho Bee Land, Stamford Land and FCT. For the details of these purchases, you may refer to “My Recent Transactions”. Some of these purchases remains part of my accumulating strategy over a few batches so the investment thesis remains the same to what I have previously discussed. I have also exited on FEHT and OUE Commercial as part of my short term trading strategy to take advantage of the recent run up, gaining a relatively good 7% and 17% gain but meagre in absolute amount.

The equity networth has gone back up from the previous month low to the current month at $328,607 due to the recent bounce back in the market. It appears that it is still early days so I won’t put too much concentration on where the networth is going to end up at the end of the year but rather focus on where some of the value might be at. In any way, these are investments that are meant to fund my retirement and possibly going into the next generation, so the horizon is much longer than what the economic cycle can threaten. Having said that, it is important to review each investment merits on a constant basis to ensure the thesis does not fade away with the fundamentals.

 

So there it is. They are a step closer to the goal and each month I do look forward to more volatility in the market, especially when people are shunning the market or paying too much attention to the macro news which I deemed as noise, that is when I will continue to look for more value in the market. Janet Yellen having meeting the next 2 days? Really? Do we need to pay too much attention to it? Don't we as investors already know that interest rates can only go up from here?

 

How is September doing for your portfolio? Are you a step closer to your goal?

Recent Action - Ho Bee Land

What a month it has been. Volatility in the market has provided me with significant opportunities to add into the market into some of the great companies I've always wanted to own. This week, I accumulated a position in Ho Bee Land for another 5,000 shares at a price of $1.95. This is on top of the earlier position previously being added last month.

This is a company that has absolutely top grade assets in cities that are booming in real estate. Other than the development properties they owned in the Sentosa island, they have also recently ventured into the UK building up their investment properties portfolio that has now ballooned to over $2.6 billion. 

 

 

Earnings

As previously mentioned, in view of the poor market sentiments of their development properties in Singapore, Ho Bee Land has in recent times shifted their strategies into building a solid recurring income from its investment properties. The move started off with the purchase of strategic investment in Metropolis at Buona Vista before further venturing into the other investment properties in the UK, a location familiar to Mr. Chua. Given how the UK pans out differently from the other Euro countries in the region, the UK pound has actually gained momentum and strength which could play in their favor. Time will tell if the investment he made can be as astute as what he did with the Sentosa early in those days.

For the development properties in Sentosa they owned in their books, they will not be subject to the penalty unlike developers who had to clear their inventories within 2 years upon TOP. As market sentiments are currently poor, the company have instead turned these developments into recurring income which will continue to contribute to their bottomline while waiting out for the cycle. The company is also unlikely to take an impairment to their development properties in Sentosa because the management has guided that it is still way above their costs.

Trailing Earnings per share (EPS) from the last year investment properties portfolio stands at 7 cents/share for the full year, and with the other few recent acquisitions made in relation to at least 4 properties in the UK, the forecasted forward EPS coming in from the invesment properties alone is expected to increase to 10 cents/year.

 

Since this is not a reit in play, investors should not expect significant payout from the earnings. Last year, the company issued a 5 cents/share dividends to the shareholders and I am expecting this year to be a step better at around 7 cents/share. Do note that this is dividends paid out of their cashflow and they have no income support trick used by most reits.

 

Next year is a big year for them. The company have development properties that will go TOP in countries such as China and Australia, and they will recognize profits which will be booked. Profit margins based on past projects indication are at a high 60%, so we can expect the same contribution this time round.

Recent UK Acquisitions

 

 

Balance Sheet

The company has aggressively leveraged to increase their recurring income strategies by buying many investment properties recently. Their gearing, after their last round of acquisitions stands at 0.56, though interest coverage shows that they can easily cover their interest expense for this.

 

Their cash equivalent in the books remain low so I actually foresee the management to stretch their strategies by recycling capital to an SPC which is an vehicle arm for setting up a Reit. This has never been mentioned from the management itself but I'll be surprised if this is not in their agenda.

The current book value is at $3.90 while the RNAV is at $3.83.

Comparison with Other Developers in Play

 

Amongst all the property developers under my radar, Bukit Sembawang and Wing Tai have the strongest balance sheet with a net gearing of 0 and 0.10x respectively.

 

Wingtai offers a compelling play on its discount to their RNAV though earnings are going to be very weak and slow in the upcoming few quarters.

OUE is another developer that offers a compelling exposure into their commercial and hospitality industries by having two vehicle arms in OUEHT and OUE Commercial that they can easily recycle their capital to. They are also the developer that offers the best play for special dividends, especially with the recent ORP assets being injected into OUE Comm.

 

Final Thoughts

Projecting a 7 cents/share dividends, I am looking this a 3.5% yield return as dividends with a terminal growth of 2% to its NAV every year. The yield may look unenticing to many yield investors out there but this beats many Reits with over valued proposition out there. I am not biased in this statement because I happened to own both CCT and OUE Commercial to know what I am saying and comparing.

 

This remains a slow ride for those who believes in the astuteness of Mr. Chua in repeating what his feats once again.
 

Recent Action - Dairy Farm International

I managed to purchase 1,000 shares of Dairy Farm International at a price of USD 6.05 this morning. I had initially queued for 2,000 shares but it was only partially filled. Oh well, maybe another half the shares for another time perhaps.

 

This was a company with a very resilient earnings and defensive nature of its business in all economic cycles. As it turns out which I will show you later, the slowdown in the emerging market does play a factor in the plunge in the share price this year.

 

 

Business Overview

Dairy Farm is a conglomerate leading pan-Asian retailer which operates in supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health and beauty stores and home furnishing stores under some of the world well known brands that most people would have heard of, Cold Storage, 7-eleven, Ikea, Maxims, etc.

Emerging Market Slowdown

The steep plunge in the share price this year can be attributed to the slowdown seen in the emerging markets, specifically the Asian region as we will see later.

 

In its latest half yearly results, the group reported modest like sales growth year on year in all major markets in all divisions, though margin pressures across the supermarket chains and convenience stores remain a drag on their bottomline.

 

The key growth in their divisions are clearly the home furnishing area, when they just opened an Ikea stores in Jakarta. Most of the other divisions have seen single digit growth year on year, which indicates that they might find some difficulties in either trying to grow organically because of competition or they might find difficulties in opening up more stores across pan-Asia.

From the below table, we can see immediately why the company is struggling in recent times.

 

3 out of the 4 divisions are all registering negative growth margins in the EBIT. There are a few mixed reasons for this. While some divisions such as the supermarkets in Malaysia and Hongkong retaining healthy topline margins, EBIT margins were being squeezed due to cost rationalization because of labour cost pressures. The GST implementation in Malaysia also does not help the company in trying to rationalize attracting more consumers in spending more.

 

The clear growth is in their home furnishing division, Ikea and they are trying to grow this by setting up a few more stores in the Asia region to help lessen the gap left by the other divisions.

 

The weakening in the exchange rate notably in Malaysia and Indonesia also affected the bottomline as the reporting is done in USD.

Capital Allocator - Leveraging

What I particularly like about the management is they are always on the constant lookout for growth by using internal debt to fund their acquisitions. As we all know, a high return on equity heaped on the faith that one of the factors is to use leverage in boosting their capital return. The management obviously has not failed to use that to their best advantage as and when is necessary.

 

Recently for instance, the Group completed the purchase of a 19.99% interest in Yonghui Superstores Company in China which deals with end to end supply chain that will boost their earnings under the JV/Associates line in their P&L. The company has also recently started boosting their e-commerce presence, which will bear fruits over time.

Valuations

This is a company with over 30+% return on equity for the past few years.

 

The current price has a trailing PER of 17.6x, which is almost 2.5x SD below the 5- year average mean of 27.6x. Forward trailing earnings are expected to modest at about 1 SD below the 5-year average mean, which I thought was still very much reasonable within the margin of safety I am expecting it to be. That is almost a GFC sort of valuation we are seeing here.

 

I think the more reasonable question to ask is if the squeeze in margins are temporary or permanent. If it is the latter, then the drop in the share price is warranted and valuations will marginalize moving into the next 5 years. However, if the management managed to turn this around, this could be a huge risk reward play as it will marginalized back into its average valuation and the upside could be massive. For the information, Shengsiong is currently trading at a valuation of PER 24x, who has most of their operations in Singapore.

 

Attractive or not, well it depends on one's vision to see how the future is going to unfold.

CIMB Reports back then in Jun 15

My Strategy During This Market Downturn

With the recent volatility in the market, it is a good time to review our strategies of how we are going to approach the market downturn which is part and parcel of investing. During the past few weeks, I have also received a few inquiries asking how I am going to approach the correction or potentially a bear market so I thought I will share it in this post. Please do note though that the strategy aforementioned is exclusively based on my preference and circumstances so it will differ from each person to the next.

 

 

 

 

I have previously mentioned in my post that having cash as part of the overall portfolio is a crucial part of investing. Even though they have relatively returned very poor returns in the past few years, it definitely beats using them to buy companies which are overvalued. Those who are guilty of doing so are probably realizing the pain of negative returns right now and have to wait for the next cycle to kick in to break even. Cash, in my view, offers a call option for investors to purchase companies at a compelling valuation when Mr. Market prices them incorrectly as they easily get moody at times. These are times when investors want to be greedy as the potential returns might come in double digit when market eventually recovers. Many are able to survive the downturn even with a fully invested portfolio but the opportunity loss will always be a miss.

 

With the latest STI currently at the 2,863 mark, we can finally say that the market is inexpensive relative to the long term average, though we can never discount the fact that cheap can always be cheaper. This is where you want to optimize your strategy to ensure that you opportune the most during these period of time when market presents you with an opportunity to realize these gains later on. For those who remains very conservative on the other end, it's a matter of opportunity loss if you miss the downturn and it recovers later on as well. So it goes both ways.

 

 

My Strategy Approach

 

The below table is simply a quick rough guideline of how I am going to approach the market downturn specifically to using the warchest available.

 

This does not mean that I need the index to be fixed at 2800 before I am ready to use 20% of my warchest but they serve as a quick guide to remind myself not to get overly exposed when the index is consolidating. As always, my current strategy does not entail buying the STI ETF as I prefer to buy companies which are more compelling to suit my needs, so the focus will be on individual companies which met my criteria.

 

 

 

One more thing about the strategy (if you had noticed) will be that my funds will most likely be exhausted should the index breached the 2200 points and lower. This is a purposefully designated strategy for me as first I believe that the market already represents a compelling situation to take full advantage in regards to my long term strategy and secondly should the bear market plays out to be longer, my current active income and dividends received from investments should be able to provide a 1-2% funds available to further take advantage of the situation. Again, this is based on my assumption (and belief) that my job will continue to be secure and that none of these funds are money that are used for any emergency use.

 

You can see that it is no rocket and science here and this is how I will play out my strategy depending on how the market reacts, which is similar to what I have done successfully for the recent market correction in the past. The most important thing is to know your own comfort zone level, how much research you have done on the companies and how well you know about them.

 

Ultimately, it is your money, it is your decision. Try to stay away from the many "noises" from the public which deviates strongly from your strategy. They are as clueless as you are in trying to predict the market movement in the short run. So why trust them instead of your own ability?

 

What about you? How are you going to approach the market with your warchest should this plays out to be a bear market?

 

Understanding the Costs of Singapore Home Ownership

So you’ve come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to own a home in Singapore, and why not? It’s a great country though it is a bit on the expensive side. It will be up to you to navigate the housing market and find the perfect place to live, but fortunately, you don’t have to go alone. Let’s just say that we have done this a time or two, and we are more than ready to use our expertise to aid you in landing the perfect Singapore Housing Loan. So what is this loan exactly? Why do you need it? Can’t you simply purchase your home outright? The answer is absolute yes, but do you have the money? Many good homes in Singapore cost quite a bit, and your ability to buy them depends upon your ability to obtain a loan from one of the many popular lending institutions out there.

 

 

 

 

How do Loans Work?

 

These loans are without a doubt some of the most complicated that you will come across; however they can also be the most rewarding if you allow them to work their magic. So what is the cost exactly? What will it take for you to get the loan you need? How do you go about it? Most importantly, how do loans work? With a loan from a bank or other lending institution, you will be given a certain amount that you can borrow in a letter of offer. Keep in mind that while the letter of offer is not cash, it can be used as cash when you are attempting to buy a home. That being the case, you will want to make sure that your credit is clean, and that you obtain as much of an offer as you possibly can. Once the loan goes through, and you have your home, you will be responsible for paying the amount borrowed, and this will be done via an interest rate placed upon the principal that you’ve purchased. The size of the loan determines the interest rate, and once you have paid it off, the home will be yours. Keep in mind, however, that taking out a home loan in Singapore is a multi-year commitment, and most people take up to twenty years to pay it off in full.

 

Choosing the Right Loan

 

Along with getting a loan, you need to make sure that you get the RIGHT loan for your needs. For example, you could choose a loan with a fixed rate repayment, which is an excellent idea simply because the interest rate will never change, and you can predict your payment each and every month. An adjustable rate mortgage, on the other hand, also known as a floating mortgage, will serve you well. Because you will be able to take advantage of the changing, and possibly lowering rates of the Singapore housing loan market. It all depends upon what you can afford, and you must operate on the understanding that you can always refinance through property portals such as PropertyGuru.com who have a plethora of offers from top tier banks across the country.

 

Considering Property Expenses

 

Buying your home and paying your mortgage is not the end of the story when it comes to your expenses. There are many things that you may not have considered yet, for example, you still have property tax that is payable the same day that you take ownership of the property. This tax is paid to the IRAS, and owner-occupied homes cost less than investment properties. You must also consider the cost of utilities which will have to be paid monthly, and will depend highly upon you use. In other words, the more you use, the more you are going to pay. Finally, you have your insurance to consider.

 

Rather than letting your insurance go, as you might have considered with a house bought and paid for with cash. You will need to pay for home contents insurance as well as other types including mortgage insurance, fire insurance, etc. This will help to ensure that your home remains intact and that you can address any damages that occur with confidence. Without insurance, you would be hard pressed to do any of that and let’s face it, the last thing you want is to see your mortgage go up in flames without any available recourse.

 

These expenses, unfortunately, are not optional, especially if you plan to have a comfortable standard of living for yourself in Singapore; while it is the most expensive country in the world. It is also one of the finest, and you will undoubtedly find that you are proud to own a home here, in one of the world’s greatest cities. Check out the website for more information.

 

Thanks for reading.

Life Events From Surviving The 20s‏

It has been a bittersweet ending approaching the end of my 20s as I look back at the past decade and saw many things in life that made me who I am today and beyond.

 

As I move towards a brand new modern theory age of the 30s, I tried to look back at the things I have done, failed and accomplished in my 20s and the lessons learned on the self-reflection which could help many young readers approaching the 20s in their life journey, if it helps.

 

 

 

 

For the purpose of this self-reflection, I will draw reference to my very own experience, which may or may not be exclusive and/or different from anyone reading this.

 

1.) Time Is Your Best Assets

Time is essence and aplenty when you are in your 20s that at times there could be many dull moments just looking at it going pass you each day.

 

I completed my studies and started working at the age of 22, accumulating savings to pledge them into a system I had in my mind. It was clear right from the start that I needed to build some sort of system that would best maximized my time on a compounding return and the option back then was many, though most didn’t really work out at the end of the day.

 

I started investing properly in the market only at the age of 25 and I can immediately see the benefits of how time plays a big factor when you are in your 20s and there was simply plenty of head start to compound your returns over time.

 

2.) Experimenting Failures

 

On top of experimenting failures in the stock market, I also experienced many job experiences and stretched my human assets potential that best reward me in terms of career progression and enhancement.

 

While some of my colleagues are shying away from asking for raises or trying out other jobs which could lead to a better outcome, I was constantly looking to aggressively move up the ladder and working in a smart manner. While some of the career move did not result in a successful tenure than what I had imagined, it proves to be a fruitful lessons as I attained both experiences and an unexpected pay rise from the company I was at. Again, the idea is to experiment and push yourself to a limit when you are in your 20s because that’s the time you had little commitment on your plate than if you are in your 30s. For example, I would hardly experiment on something like that right now because of my commitment at this stage in life.

 

3.) Upgrading Yourself

 

Even though one may argue that constant upgrading and education is a lifelong learning, but I would prefer if it was done when I am in my 20s, especially when my career is still taking off from the ground approaching the top.

 

I decided to pursue my MBA about 2 years ago when I had to work full time in the day, classes in the evening, and bottle milking in the dawn. I can tell you that those moments were so tiring that for most of the time I had almost given up hope. Thankfully, the energy level was still at the peak when I somehow managed to combine all the activities together and most importantly it was over by now. I wouldn’t be so sure if I would have done the same if I am 35, though some of my classmates were in their 30s.

 

4.) Embrace Relationship

 

You probably will get to know most of your lifelong friends when you are in your 20s, either through a party night event, evening classes or dinner gathering.

 

You probably will also get to meet your other half during this period, where romance embraces spiciest during these puppy love period.

 

I decided to form a family in my late 20s, ensuring financial and mental stability prior to the decision so that things are better taken care of in the later stage. There are probably some who feel that it's better to form a family as you grow older, but delayed gratification will even out the game for those who started young.

 

It is never the importance of the age in this regards that matters but rather the importance of embracing relationship when the right time arrives.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

This is probably 4 of my biggest life events that mark the most part of my 20s, which I also thought form the majority part of my entire life events, if any.

 

Looking back, there are plenty of fond memories to be remembered, and mistakes to be learned.

 

Starting a new decade of 30s, this will be an important life events as I will attempt to survive the next decade.