A few days ago, I achieved an SGD 2 million milestone portfolio just a few days prior to my 41st birthday.
This number is a major personal milestone in my own situation because it is a round number that I have set my eyes on since starting this blog almost decades ago.
It is the “FI” number of being able to achieve a financial independence status living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The Journey to SGD 2m
The journey to achieving this SGD 2 million portfolio wasn’t an easy one.
Many people would have thought each milestone came in easier as years go past but I think I was one of the exceptions.
I struggled a lot over the past couple of years as there were multiple incidents, including enduring many years of the Chinese tech stock market, which dragged down returns.
I asked AI to summarize my milestone journey in terms of numbers, and it pretty much looks like this.
The first $1m milestone took a consideration of roughly about ~8 years at the age of 35.
Since then, I’ve taken ~6 years to achieve the next milestone at $2m at the age of 41.
The majority bulk of my portfolio theme remain largely the same, with exception that I have dipped my toes more into the US market these days.
I also added quite a good bit of UNH previously when they were hated, as well as Software stocks such as ServiceNow, Adobe, and Constellation Software when they were equally as hated earlier this year. The rebound back to the mean means that the return has been quite decent over the last couple of months.
What is Next Target?
Given my current middle age status and situation, I would think that the growth of my portfolio would definitely slowdown from here.
My career trajectory, for one, is definitely on its way down, as I do expect to transition into a more casual path over the next couple of years while spending more to create banks of memory dividends.
I’ve also been wary of the market given its extensive bull run situation over the last couple of years, and I definitely no longer have the appetite to take on bigger risks in the market with drawdowns. As such, I have also taken some equity’s profits （or losses） off the table so that I could have more buffer at hands. I am currently placing around 40% of my entire portfolio in MMF/bonds alike to earn somewhere between 3.6%-4% interest.
Still, over the years, it’s been an uphill of a journey to $2m, one which I do not take for granted as it comes.
