As we draws down the rest of the days in 2013, most of us will take this time to reflect back on the things that has happened in 2013 and set a goal for the upcoming new year of 2014.
An overlook back of my investing journey in 2013 would see that I started off the year with about S$ 128,210 worth of shares. Based on the market value as of 13 Dec 2013, the portfolio value stands at S$219,130. That is an overall 71% year on year increase to my delight. Some of the major contributor to this significant increase includes:
- Active income from job (Proportion of savings rate were in the 80% range for 2013)
- Realised profits from capital gain
- Dividend income reinvested
- Other trading income from soccer betting
While 2013 was great personally, 2014 will be a different field altogether as I plan to focus on a few new things that was never present in my life previously.
1.) Life Insurance
I've decided to enhance the protection for my insurance coverage to cover life. The coverage that I have decided is S$500,000. In order to do this, I will have to fork out S$543/month for the 20 years ahead, for which I will then be covered until 100 years old. The breakeven price for the surrender value is around 25 years, by which I would have become financially freedom (hopefully, finger crossed). But I am not too concerned with this as the main objective is to provide enough coverage in case things doesn't go as planned.
2.) Child's Expense
My finally awaited long dream is about to come true. Yes, my wife is currently expecting and my child is expected to born in the mid of April 2014. While many parents are stressed over the financial issues they will have when they have kids, people who have planned well should have no issue dealing with it. For me, I am planning to accrue S$1K/month for a start for my kids expense. That will bring down my savings rate down by about 20% based on my current pay. Again, I am not too overly concerned with this. I am ready to be a father and am ready financially to give the best for my child.
3.) SMU - MBA Graduation
This has been tough for me to juggle between working and studying at the same time. I have about a year to go before I will graduate (hopefully) in Dec 2014. With the born of my child to come in 2014, I will now have to juggle even harder among the three. But I am optimistic. If people can do it, then B can do it too.
4.) Betfair $20K endowment
Let's call it an endowment shall we :D
For those who are in the same groundfield as myself, we will know what is this. This so called "endowment" will mature in May 2014 giving me a very good returns on investment. But with high returns comes high risk. Let's hope everything goes to plan.
5.) Dividend Investing purchase
My main objective is still on finding good value stocks which yields good returns for my long term portfolio. With many funds manager dumping their dividend shares and going for more growth shares in 2014, dividend investors could have opportunities to add on to their portfolios. My goal is to increase the total dividend income for 2014 to $16K/year. Let's see if the market presents any opportunity to add on to some value stocks.
Projected dividends for 2014 (based on latest holdings)
| Companies | lots | Dividends ($)/lot | Total Dividends ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FraserCenterpoint Trust | 30 | 109 | 3,270 |
| SPH | 7 | 220 | 1,540 |
| Vicom | 6 | 187 | 1,122 |
| Ascott | 15 | 89 | 1,335 |
| FraserCommercial Trust | 14 | 78 | 1,092 |
| Neratel | 20 | 40 | 800 |
| First Reit | 13 | 63 | 819 |
| Sembcorp Ind | 2 | 150 | 300 |
| ST Engineering | 3 | 168 | 504 |
| China Merchant Pacific | 8 | 55 | 440 |
| ParkwayLife Reit | 3 | 106 | 318 |
| Second Chance | 13 | 34 | 442 |
| Ascendas Hospitality Trust | 7 | 64 | 448 |
| Mapletree Log Trust | 1 | 71 | 71 |
| 12,501 |
Last but not least, I would like to wish readers and each and everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New year ahead in 2014.
