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Early Retirement SG

Things we console ourselves with

26/11/2020

1 Comment

 
It's pretty human to console  ourselves with multiple things...
We tell ourselves things to make ourselves feel better. 
Like...

Some one bad will get his just returns... 
Well... maybe he will, maybe he won't. But we tell ourselves that eventually, we hope, that karma catches up to him. 

Or we tell ourselves that... We don't want to work so hard and earn more. Cos even though we can earn more, we correlate working hard to falling sick, getting stressed, having less work life balance.
But that's an assumption. First, many people who are salaried workers won't get more pay by working more hours. So there's not much that working harder will do. It's not like some sales job. 
Then there's the assumption that working harder will take it's toll on the person. Which again might not be true.
The truth is, when people say this, they usually don't have a choice to work harder to earn more. Imagine, you're earning $200 per day, 8am til 6pm... If someone offers an additional $200 per day for this person to continue to work from 6pm to 11pm, most likely many of us would take up the offer. 
The difference is between $4,000 per month, vs $8,000 per month, assuming 20 working days per month. 

Or we could look at someone buying expensive stuff, and assume that they are in debt, or have low savings... But who knows right? We tell ourselves that to make ourselves feel better about our decision not to indulge ourselves? Truth is, we don't know what the financial situation of other people are. There's a probability that they might be in debt, or they might not be. We don't know. 

I don't know. It seems like people like to compare. So when we do something, or don't do something, we look to other people who make the opposite decision and we naturally conclude that it's a bad decision for them. We like to tell ourselves that we made the right decision. 

Or people who don't want to be frugal would say that being frugal is suffering. They don't want to live like a pauper. And yet, many folks are frugal and live very good lives. 

Looking at people and comparing and drawing conclusions is very much part of being human and our culture. 
I think we use it to justify our own decisions, why we make our own decisions, or why we don't make certain decisions. 
We like to tell ourselves we made the right decision and we paint negative stories about people who have made an opposing decision as compared to ourselves. 

And yet, many times, I see people are living pretty good lives. People who have made significantly different decisions from myself. Some work harder, longer, are more successful, some might have less money, some spend more, some spend less. 
But yet in the end, they are living "quite ok", in Singapore, most of us aren't really suffering. Sure, there are consequences to many decisions, but most of the time, things aren't as good or bad as we typically assume would happen. 

I have many friends who have made many different decisions as compare to myself. Some didn't do well in school, some are damn smart, some landed better jobs, some not so good jobs, some had kids early, some had kids late, etc... 
In the end, most people end up quite ok. 

Note, for me, "quite ok" is a very large spectrum. As long as they are healthy, making a good enough salary to make ends meet and have spare money for entertainment, not in debt, to me, that's doing ok. Most people are doing ok in Singapore. Most, not all. 

Most people can afford all they need, most people can afford some of their wants. Most people are healthy enough.
Mathematically, it's easy to fall into the category of "most".
Otherwise, the hospitals would be full, and there would be many homeless. 

The thing is, in life, we all make different decisions, and we make the decisions for benefit, or fear of loss. We tell ourselves certain stories to justify our decisions, and we might look at others as examples of what to do or what not to do. 
But maybe... maybe, those examples that we pick out are really far and few in between. 

How many people who didn't study ended up as cleaners? 
How many people who worked hard ended up multi millionaires?

I think many of us might be cherry picking our examples and patting ourselves on the back thinking we made the right decision, when maybe, our decision might not affect our lives as much as we think it does. 

If you bought a Prada bag every year, would you work significantly less before being able to retire or put you into debt? 
I think many people are able to spend an additional $2k per year as a special bonus to treat themselves without significantly impacting their decision to retire. 
However, a luxurious overall lifestyle would likely case someone to have to delay retirement. 

So I think... we really shouldn't console ourselves too much on decisions that we make. Cos we really don't know the real outcome of many of our decisions vis-à-vis others. We usually see, and conclude and there's usually no follow up or anyway to determine where our decisions lead us, or where their decisions led them. 
Most important of all, we need to be content with our decision and even if it turns out bad, we need to tell ourselves that, at that point in time, with that amount of info and probabilities, we would have made that decision again anyway. 
And if the result is good, it might be sheer luck instead of good decision making capabilities. 



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Mr Market

25/11/2020

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As the markets move these days, I have to remind myself of this parable which Warren Buffet wrote about in one of his letters to shareholders. 

Ben Graham, my friend and teacher, long ago described the mental attitude toward market fluctuations that I believe to be most conducive to investment success. He said that you should imagine market quotations as coming from a remarkably accommodating fellow named Mr. Market who is your partner in a private business. Without fail, Mr. Market appears daily and names a price at which he will either buy your interest or sell you his.

Even though the business that the two of you own may have economic characteristics that are stable, Mr. Market’s quotations will be anything but. For, sad to say, the poor fellow has incurable emotional problems. At times he feels euphoric and can see only the favorable factors affecting the business. When in that mood, he names a very high buy-sell price because he fears that you will snap up his interest and rob him of imminent gains. At other times he is depressed and can see nothing but trouble ahead for both the business and the world. On these occasions, he will name a very low price, since he is terrified that you will unload your interest on him.

Mr. Market has another endearing characteristic: He doesn’t mind being ignored. If his quotation is uninteresting to you today, he will be back with a new one tomorrow. Transactions are strictly at your option. Under these conditions, the more manic-depressive his behavior, the better for you.

But, like Cinderella at the ball, you must heed one warning or everything will turn into pumpkins and mice: Mr. Market is there to serve you, not to guide you. It is his pocketbook, not his wisdom, that you will find useful. If he shows up some day in a particularly foolish mood, you are free to either ignore him or to take advantage of him, but it will be disastrous if you fall under his influence. Indeed, if you aren’t certain that you understand and can value your business far better than Mr. Market, you don’t belong in the game. As they say in poker, “If you’ve been in the game 30 minutes and you don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy.”

Ben’s Mr. Market allegory may seem out-of-date in today’s investment world, in which most professionals and academicians talk of efficient markets, dynamic hedging and betas. Their interest in such matters is understandable, since techniques shrouded in mystery clearly have value to the purveyor of investment advice. After all, what witch doctor has ever achieved fame and fortune by simply advising “Take two aspirins”?

The value of market esoterica to the consumer of investment advice is a different story. In my opinion, investment success will not be produced by arcane formulae, computer programs or signals flashed by the price behavior of stocks and markets. Rather an investor will succeed by coupling good business judgment with an ability to insulate his thoughts and behavior from the super-contagious emotions that swirl about the marketplace. In my own efforts to stay insulated, I have found it highly useful to keep Ben’s Mr. Market concept firmly in mind.

Following Ben’s teachings, Charlie and I let our marketable equities tell us by their operating results – not by their daily, or even yearly, price quotations – whether our investments are successful. The market may ignore business success for a while, but eventually will confirm it. As Ben said: “In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run it is a weighing machine.” The speed at which a business’s success is recognized, furthermore, is not that important as long as the company’s intrinsic value is increasing at a satisfactory rate. In fact, delayed recognition can be an advantage: It may give us the chance to buy more of a good thing at a bargain price

-Warren Buttet, in the 1987 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.


Homework is important.
Knowing you did your homework is important.
Having confidence that you did your homework correctly is important. 
News and media is really noisy. They sell a lot of stories of the next big thing. 
Maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong. However, they are not held accountable for any decisions made. They don't need to ensure any of their stories are correct.

Stay focused.



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Another Day Has Passed

24/11/2020

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Recently I've gotten into quite a down mood. Quite similar to what happened in France. 

Weather is getting colder. 
I'm feeling trapped in Houston. Same feelings as in Paris. 
Feeling I have a lack of control of my current life. 
I'd recommend readers read my previous post before continuing reading this post. Cos it's prone to misunderstanding without context. 

Life is as good as it can be in Houston. 
There's nothing exceptionally good that's happening, or exceptionally bad. 
It's just one day at a time. 
Food isn't expensive. Petrol isn't expensive. 
Rent is acceptable, car prices are acceptable... 
Life is just... flowing by. 

And yet, currently, I'm not particularly enjoying myself. 
I think being able to stay overseas in Paris and Houston has been good for me. 
I've learnt that I don't enjoy it. Without the experience, I wouldn't know. 
With the experience, I've learnt that I don't like it. I prefer my life in SG. 

It's not that Paris or Houston is bad. SG is just home to me. 
The people, the way people react to things, the weather, family, the things I can do, the way things work, etc. I'm just used to it. 
Paris and Houston has it's charms. I can see why people would like it. I'm sure many people would love to move overseas to work. Unfortunately, I'm just unable to appreciate what these cities have to offer. 

The thing is... 
I think... There is this life I want to build, the people around me, the activities, environment, etc. 
And all these, I don't feel is found in the US. So for me, life building has been put on hold for the past 1.5 years. 
Could I get used to US and the environment? Yes, of course that's possible. If I really needed to.
But I'd prefer not to.

Not to mention, I'm forever the minority here in US, or in Paris. 
The feeling is the same... in SG, many people don't really like the influx of migrants from China, Philippines, India, etc... People aren't outright racist about it, but I reckon, many Singaporeans don't like it, and would prefer to have less immigrants. 
Similarly, the feelings of the Americans would be the same. I will forever be an Asian. Even Asians born in America, are referred to as Asian Americans. Get it?

Anyway, it's just a passing phase. I'm just feeling grumpy these days cos the days are just dragging by and I'm just hoping that next year comes sooner and hopefully the SHN requirements get lifted from SG so I can visit again in the first half of next year. 

It's quite sad, cos in my mind, I'm hoping that this phase of my life passes faster. Which is quite stupid if I think about it, cos it's like... it would mean that I'm hoping that 1 year of my life flies by, means I'm one year closer to dying. 
And I try not to do such things, cos I believe that every moment of life should be savoured, like eating a nice meal slowly. Else once the meal is over, then it's over. So I shouldn't be hoping to rush thru the next year. 

Oh well, hope the mood improves in the next few days. 



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Greedy & Selfish

19/11/2020

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Picture
Following up with my previous post... 

So based on the above selfish is defined as something like... caring mainly for myself without thinking about others. 

Hey... based on the definition of selfish, most, if not all, of us are selfish. 

Often, we make decisions which are self centered and for our own "personal profit or pleasure".

When we kill an animal to eat... is that not selfish? 
I'm no vegetarian. I recognize that due to my own desire to eat meat, an animal has to die. 
Right or wrong, that is a moral question. The current society that we live in has deemed it to be right. 

If the top 40% of Singaporeans contributed 3% of their income to support the bottom 10%, there would be no poverty in Singapore. 
Of course many would wonder, that with free handouts, would the poor have any willingness to improve for themselves? Or would they just stay where they are and just rely on handouts. 
We're willing to keep people in poverty for the probability that a bunch of folks will be overly reliant on handouts. 
The idea of punishing everyone in class cos a few classmates are naughty. 

Most of us are selfish.
​Let's not deny that.
Most of us, could easily put down $100 on a meal a couple of times a month. 
And yet, how many of us donate that same amount to the less fortunate?

Now, truthfully, I'm not bothered by this.
It is what it is. Society is how it is and I'm not going to try to sugar coat it.
I'm selfish, and probably, you are too. 

Whereas greed incorporates selfishness, having a huge desire for something without considering others. 
Or, I read it as... selfishness on steroids. 
Now... if we're ok with selfishness, then we should be ok with greed. 
Cos... it's the same thing, assuming that everything is done legally. 
As I said. Morals are a different issue, cos morals are decided by the current society. 

If we're ok with selfishness, which would be deemed low level greed. 
Then we should be ok with high level greed. 
Cos levels of greed is subjective. What one person deems greedy might not be greedy to someone else. 
Since, I think we can accept that most of us are selfish and since we are selfish, different degrees of selfishness should be accepted as well. 

Pay day loans or pawnshops are deemed to be exploitive to the low income. But yet, no one forces the low income to use pay day loans or pawnshops. It just offers a service. If there is no demand, then the business will close up. 


Or overfishing or over logging... businesses can continue to fish or cut trees, cos there is demand for the products. 
Cos the people who make up the demand, which is all of us... are also just as greedy/selfish. 
We want more stuff too regardless of the impact on the environment. Actually, most people would like to be ignorant or deny the impact on the environment. Out of sight out of mind, ignorance is bliss. 

Our own greed/selfishness feeds other peoples' greed and selfishness. 
Since many people want products, sellers will fulfill the demand. 

"Wants", are inherently, selfish.
Most of us own a phone, we want a phone and the other functions of it. 
It is a luxury. It is not needed for survival.
This "want", is selfish, cos it imposes a cost on resources and the environment. 
Multiply it by the thousands of "wants" in our lives.
It is selfish cos we don't think about our children and our children's children. 
And by this train of thought, we are also all greedy, cos we want many "wants". 
Fulfilling just one "want" is not enough.

You see... selfishness and greed, aren't just about money. It's about everything. 
Making decisions for our own personal benefit with little thought about the impact that it has for others, which includes the future generation. 

Well, I've rambled long enough. 
What I want to say is... well, we're probably all greedy and selfish in some way or other. 
How right are we when we judge someone else by our own benchmark of what greed or selfishness is? 
Everyone draws the line differently. 
We're no saints ourselves. 




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Why Should I Share?

17/11/2020

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When we are young, our parents always told us to share.
We have a toy, we are told to share...

Have you ever wondered, why should we share?
Should we share? Is it right to share?
Why is deemed selfish when one does not share? 

Yet somehow, when we grow up, we aren't expected to share. 
Sure, some folks may talk about charity, but... most of the time, in the cases of charity, we are sharing the scraps of what we have. Usually, in the case of charity, we share the stuff we don't want or need. We do charity in our spare time, we donate money that we don't need. 

So as a kid, I'm playing with a toy. And someone else wants it. And I'm still playing with it.
Why would a parent ask the kid to share it? 
When we grow up, no one is going to ask us to share our car when we are still using it, or our house, or money that I still need, or time that I still want to spend, etc. 

So why should kids be expected to behave any differently? 
Why should they learn that they need to share any toy. 

Should the kid be rewarded by the parents for sharing? Or punished by the parent for not sharing? 
Why? 

All these is false when the kid grows up. 
So why do people/parents teach things that aren't expected when they grow up?
Could this end up making them less successful in future? 
Compassion can be taught in other ways. Helping the less fortunate can be taught in other ways.
Why not ask the kid if he's done playing with the item, whether it's ok to lend it to the friend, or the sibling? Why should they share it at the same time that they want to play it?

Personally, I think it encourages wrong behaviour from both sides. The kid being forced to share, and also the kid who gets the freebie.
Cos the kid who gets the freebie learns that he can get something without giving something in return. 

This is the perfect lesson for kids to learn. 
Should they learn to trade instead? 
Should the kid with the toy learn that if he doesn't lend the toy now, he might receive the same treatment the next time when someone else has something he wants. 
And what's wrong with capitalizing on things that the kid owns. 

Many of us grow up without learning how to capitalize on the skills and assets we have. 
We are made to feel guilty of privilege. Why? That should not be the case. 
People should be able to capitalize on whatever privilege they have. That is how the world works. 
Should we help others? That is a moral question. 
Same like asking if we should share as kids. 

BUT... also same as the lessons we learn as kids. 
If we don't help people when we grow up and there's significant homelessness and poverty on the streets, then there becomes social unrest, which goes against the interests of the privileged.
Same as...
If the kid doesn't share, next time others may not want to share with him. 

But yet, the scenario isn't always true. Cos maybe the kid will never meet this other kid again. Maybe the  other kid doesn't have anything to trade. Which is well... truthfully, too bad.
Cos that's what the real world is like. 

It's like people who have asked me to help out social causes cos I'm now in the privileged position of not having to work. 
Huh? Why? 
I "sacrificed" when I was younger to be where I am. I should be allowed to enjoy what I worked for. 
Instead, when I reach here, I'm expected to do something else which I have no interest in? Then, why did I attempt to reach here in the first place? 
(Sacrificed is subjective, cos each person deems sacrifice differently.)

Ok so sharing is very different from building a society. 
Socialism, taxing the wealthy, and distributing wealth and helping others is with the focused objective to build a whole society. 
In this case, everyone is forced to contribute in specific ways to help lift up the less fortunate. Which is absolutely ok. Cos there is an actual objective for the overall good of everyone. 

Whereas, in the case of sharing toys as kids, I find it, truthfully, sharing for sharings' sake. 
Kids are learning life lessons in these instances. 
And for me, such lessons do nothing to help the kid function in the real world. 

I've seen kids expect to get what they ask for, just as long as they "ask nicely". 
And I've also seen kids who are expected by parents to give in to another kid, just cos the other kid "asked nicely". 

The toy is mine! Why should I lend it or share it? 
Unless I really want to. 
Maybe the toy is precious to the kid? Maybe he's scared the other kid might spoil it? 

And... what's wrong be being selfish anyway? 
That's what life is about most of the time. 
So why not teach a kid lessons that will be relevant when they grow up?



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Study and Practice, Years of It

16/11/2020

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The Ancient One: How did you get to reattach severed nerves and put a human spine back together bone by bone?
Dr. Stephen Strange: Study and practice, years of it.
-MCU Dr Strange


How long did most of us study for? 
6 years primary school, 4-6 years secondary. (JC is considered sec school.)
Then 3-6 years tertiary education. 

Being proficient in a new skill requires years of study and practice. 
Study, learn, practice, make mistakes, repeat, etc... 

Even in games, we train, we go through learning skills, spells, fireball level 1, level 2, level 3... level 10...

So... I think it should be quite normal for people to understand that, these things take time. 
Most things don't happen overnight. 

And yet... in our instant world of "now"... we forget this. 
We want everything now. We want to lose weight now, get rich quick, etc...

So... really if anyone is offering to teach you to get rich quick... I'd really think more about it. 
Or those.... learn to trade with only 15 minutes a day... 
Same as lose weight with 5 minutes everyday. 

Many people took years to become successful at what they do. 
Even people like Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg, Warren Buffet, Joseph Schooling, etc.
It's not an overnight thing. 

We only know it as overnight cos we never heard of them before they became successful. 
So it appears that they are successful overnight. 
But behind this success was years of sacrifice, practice, mistakes, amending those mistakes, etc. 
And we don't see all these. 
Some people manage to do it in shorter time than others. 
But never overnight. (Lottery and inheritance doesn't count.)
​
Sedikit-sedikit lama-lama jadi bukit

And since everything takes time... then better to start early than late right?



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How Well Do You Know Yourself?

10/11/2020

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It's really hard to know and understand yourself AND admit it. 

Who wanna stand up or raise their hands and own up? I'm lazy. 
Or who wanna tell people that they don't like adventure? That they like staying at home in comfort?
Or who ever says, I like weak watered down coffee? Sounds super no standard. Everyone likes a strong robust cup of coffee.
​Some guys like bigger girls, some guys like older girls, some girls like bigger guys, some girls like younger guys, etc...

Can't say things that sound weak. 
Can't say things that sound abnormal.
Can't say things that make people think we no class, no standard. 

We lie to the world. That's normal.
​We lie to ourselves. That's also normal. 
Not optimal, but normal. 

For me, I try to learn more about myself. 
Analyze, think, ponder. 
And I try to admit these observations to myself. 
If it's not me, then it's not me. No point lying to myself. 
Then I can work on things that I like, or things that I'm able to do, etc. 

A lot of times we are pressured to like or answer things that aren't really us. But cos it's the socially accepted response, so we just respond like everyone else.
We say it so much until we believe it to be true. When maybe, maybe it isn't.
But... really... no point trying to be the fish trying to climb a tree. 

For example...
I've learnt that I'm not suitable to be a business owner.
I'm lazy. I don't have the go getter kind of mentality. I've had it easy when I was younger. 
Studied well enough, got into good school, good job, made my money easily. Didn't really need to fight hard for it. 
I'm not good at selling stuff, or selling myself. It's a different life from some other people. 
And yes, potentially, it's a weakness.
So I work around it. 

But when I see many others, maybe they haven't had enough experience trying to start a biz. Maybe they are talking just for entertainment. But generally, it's seen that being a biz owner is like the epitome of success and it's highly unacceptable for someone to say, "No, I don't want to start a biz, I don't mind being a worker all my life."
Who's going to admit they wanna be a worker all their lives?

I've learnt that I'm not good at trading short term. 
Lost money, gave up. 
That's ok. Find another specialization. Not good then not good la. Don't need to try to spot patterns when I can't see it. Other people can see, I cannot see, nevermind. They do lor. 

But, hey, everyone wants to be a trader. How hard can it be?! No secret to it. Buy low sell high.
Any fool can do it. 

I don't like to travel to weird places, where I don't feel safe. And there's a lot of places where I don't feel safe. Cos I define safety in my own terms, and my definition is very narrow. 
I know many places are safe. Unfortunately not safe enough for me. I'm not out to look for adventure. Different people different desires. So, no, I won't be going India unnecessarily, South Africa, South America, etc... Just not my style. It's probably safe enough for many people. Just not safe enough for me. 

And yet, it is admirable for someone to go backpacking to the unknown places of the world. It's a challenge, one is deemed to be exciting and adventurous to have gone to the less developed parts of the world. 
But yet, for me, no thanks. I like to stay in my comfort zone. I'm ok with that. 

I don't like to chiong to see many places when I travel. I like to move around slowly, see the people, see the normal lives of people, notice the similarities of their lives vs our lives. 
I used to go many places when I travel. As in many places of attraction. Maybe I hit 7 places in one day when I used to travel when I was younger. Then I realized, I didn't enjoy it. It's nice to say I've visited all these places. But it's no fun rushing around. I'm tired, I'm not rested, it's not the kinda trip I enjoy. 
I enjoy hanging around, seeing their lives, maybe in a city, maybe smaller city, etc. I don't particularly enjoy the countryside. 

Hahah... when I went to Paris and told people I haven't been to the outlet malls, they look at me incredulously. 
AFTER I went to Paris 5 times and 5 months into my stay there, eventually, I went to the outlet malls when I was about to leave Paris, to meet another Singaporean friend for a meal. He was transiting in Paris during a biz trip. 

I used to go to Taiwan annually. Taipei or KaoHsiung, and I do the same thing. Go the same places. I enjoy it. I feel rested and it's fun and stress free. I just do the things I enjoy. 

I learnt that dreams are not reality. I can talk about going to a quiet corner of the world where no one disturbs me, and I can live quietly and with nature with a big plot of land. It's a nice story, and that's just what it is. A story. 
After COVID and having to stay at home with my wife 99% of the time, I realized, I can't just live with her  in the same place 24/7. We need to go out, hang outside, go out and eat sometimes, walk around sometimes, interact with people, things, etc. 
I'm more social than I thought I was. I just need the right balance. 
The environment gets boring real quick when it's just 2 people without any other external interaction. 

The thing is... we gotta know what we like. 
Experiment a bit, then decide and focus. Don't need to tell anyone, but at least don't lie to yourself. 

We see it often, people don't learn from their past, don't know themselves.
We can see it in sales tactics often. Selling ideas, and dreams. They paint a story and sell things to you. It's compelling to buy, cos the dream sound nice. 
But more often than not, the item won't be used often. Cos it's not something you enjoy enough to do it regularly enough to use all the time. 
How often have people fallen for the same sales tactics? Inducing you to buy something, and eventually that item sits in the storeroom unused?

My wife got a $100 voucher to buy wine. Minimum purchase $160. 
So potentially we can get 12 bottles of wine for $60. Woah cheap right? 
Then I told her, free is cheaper. 
We don't usually buy wine, we don't drink wine much. 
We do drink. Just not regularly enough to justify buying in bulk. 
No point changing our habits just to consume the wine that we induced ourselves to buy just cos it's "cheaper".

My friend wanted to buy me an expensive meal last time. I think $40+ per pax. I told him. Nevermind, we go eat Korean BBQ buffet at $20 per pax. I know I'll enjoy it more. 

It's that kinda thing. 
For me, I believe I need to know what I want, and do what I want, and not lie to myself. 
I'm probably never going to go for a holiday in Europe or US ever again after I return to SG. 
I just don't enjoy it enough. The length of the flight, the things to do there. It's not what I enjoy.
Compared to going to Thailand or Taiwan or Penang. I enjoy travelling to those places. 
Maybe I'll go Korea again, cos I've a bit of a phobia going to Korea cos I ended up in hospital when I last went there. 

Somedays I feel like having a strong coffee, somedays I like a weak and watery coffee. 
We all like different things. 
And we should learn to accept that of ourselves and for others. 
I tend to find that people like to try to fit in too much and try to "be like the cool kids", and they MUST like what the general population is PERCEIVED to like. Else... no class you know. 



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You're Playing Against Yourself!

6/11/2020

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I was thinking. 
When I was younger, I did some posts about studying during my NS days. 
(Too long ago, don't remember when I posted it.)
Hey, last time can get an ACCA by the time NS is over and zoom right into working world. 
Skip 3 years of Uni.

Now I think back about such an idea, I think... Siao ar!
​As age and life catches up with me, a lot of my old ideas... I think, are really thoughts from a youngster. 
Some ideas from my youth, I still like, some ideas... not so much. 

The idea of... chiong, study hard, time is money, rush to earn money... this has gone out the window. 
It's really not that important anymore. 
What's another one year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? 
What's important is really to try to enjoy the journey. 
​Relax la. 

Now, of course, I'm saying this from a position of privilege. I am where I am now, because of what I did previously. And yet, when I look back, I would probably tell my younger self. 
Hey, bro, chill la. All this study hard, finish your Uni credits in 2.5 years, find a good job, save hard, retire young... Really, just relax and enjoy the ride, don't so stress over the whole idea of success. 

That's not to say I didn't have fun when I was younger. Life was good. 
Except I realized that there was a part of me which was overly focused on the traditional idea of success. 
Study hard is important. But don't need to stress over it, cram Uni credits and such. 
Work hard, save hard is important, but don't need to rush it. 

There's a big difference between absolutely not studying, don't work, don't save, anyhow spend. 
Versus, all these are important, but don't stress too much, don't put too much pressure on yourself on these things. 
Don't beat yourself/myself up over failures when objectives aren't met. 

Don't stress, life goes on. The world keeps turning, I'll wake up and it's another day. 
Failures will happen, mistakes will happen. But in the whole scheme of life, it's usually a small mistake. 
Unless you drink and drive and kill someone. 
But most of the time, we beat ourselves over small issues which just blow by in a month or so, or even a year. 

It's the idea of market trends, vs daily market movements. 
If markets trend up, then you're doing well. Daily market movements should be ignored. 
Like life, if it's trending up, then everything is good. Keep it up. Don't sweat the daily stuff. 

When we're 50 years old. 
Most of us would have our own lives. 
We'll likely have an HDB, or condo. 
We may have a car, or not, maybe kids, maybe no kids. 
And life goes on. 
That's it what. 
Unless we make major mistakes along the way, which most of us don't. 

We could probably move to a condo when we return to SG. It's likely that we won't. 
I've friends who've moved to condo. They have made their sacrifices, more loan, etc. 
They have kids. 
That's their choice. 
We probably won't be walking that road. Almost no loan, no kids. 
We're pretty much cruising along. Flexible, can do whatever we want to do. 
I've lived in a condo before, my parents still live in one. I've found no significant difference. 

In the end, we all die. 
Hey did Mahathir win or lose? 
Everything depends on perspective. Which do you value more? Then you will ownself decide whether he won or lost. 
At 30 years old, you may think and decide who won or lost.
Talk to someone 85 years old... his answer might be different. 
At 30, what would one be doing? What would his thoughts be? What does one value at 30?
At 85, what do most people think about regularly? 
Did anyone win?

Humans are humans. We aren't machines. 
When you buy a machine for business reasons. You don't want the machine to sit idle. 
You want the machine to keep working. 
You know... like airplanes. Carriers buy airplanes, and they fly, everyday, all the time. Unless down for maintenance. But besides that, airplanes need to fly, so that they can get a return on their investment. 

Humans aren't like that. We shouldn't look at ourselves as mere machines. 
Heck governments probably looks at humans as machines, as a cog in the country economy. 
But we shouldn't think of ourselves as just... keep moving, gotta keep moving just to upgrade or earn money. 
We are humans. There's life to live as well. A life to enjoy. 
Don't need to rush through life, it's not a competition.
​You're playing against yourself!

Money is to live life. 
Not, life is to earn money. 
Wake up your idea hor. 



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How Globally Secure Are You?

4/11/2020

6 Comments

 
When I was living in Singapore, life was stable. 
It's hard to see the challenges of other countries. 
Cos we are coddled in our ivory tower. Singapore is pretty cushy for most of us. 

Ever wonder why HK-ers have dual passports? 
Why many rich people have multiple bank accounts and properties overseas? AND a couple of citizenships?

Someone may have a lot of properties in SG, people may deem him wealthy. 
But IF, there's any big issues with our border neighbours, he's going to have a hard time running with his wealth. Furthermore, if there's any big issue, then SGD is probably worth less as well. 
Worth less, may not be worthless. 

I suppose a lot of us aren't bothered by many things that happen in the world. 
Not in our backyard right? 
We live in sunny Singapore. Always stable and happy. 
And yet, we are just barely 55 years young. ​

Folks who believe in long term passive investments, might buy S&P regularly. 
Which is fine, if stocks are always above the average purchase price. 
But what if there is a significant extended downturn?
Sure, it will likely eventually recover, but what if before it recovers, money is urgently required? 

Where are your stocks custodied? CDP? DBS?
I mean, sure we are comfortable in SG. 
I'm comfortable in SG. 
And yet I wonder, I ask myself. Is that safe? 

We won't know what's going to happen to SG in the next 60 years. 
Would it be more prudent to have assets in multiple places. Not just diversify the investments. 
But also diversify, the custody of the investments. 

The more peace we have, the more complacent we are. 
We don't think anything can go wrong. 
And maybe it won't. 
But hey?! That's what insurance is about right?

Of course most of us don't have enough assets to make this worth it. 
I mean, think about opening multiple bank accounts and investment accounts overseas and maintaining and managing them. The hassle itself is a turn off. 
Not to mention most overseas banks aren't as efficient as SG banks. 

But I do think about it. 
Being globally secure. 
Having assets available in a couple of countries just in case. 
The question is which country/countries, and the tax implications and how to manage them easily and efficiently. 



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Is Trump Tough on China?

2/11/2020

0 Comments

 
This question is quite interesting.

On the surface, most people say and think that Trump is tough on China. 
Trump has big words, says he's gonna do a lot of things, AND he has a trade war going with China.
Seems like not a bad thing. 

So a lot of people think, "OK Trump is good at reining in China."

Personally, I look at this differently. 
Personally, I think it is due to how Trump handled the China relationship, that China was able to impose it's controversial law on Hong Kong. 
And this law will never be removed. 
Trade wars will come and go with different US Presidents. 
But HK will now have a law which allows China to arrest people. 

Think about it as... 
Let's say I am working and I have a colleague. I don't really like him, he doesn't really like me. 
BUT, we have to work on projects together for the good of both of us. 
So we try to keep things cordial. I don't do anything to offend him, he doesn't do anything to offend me, we just try to put aside our differences and work on the things we agree with. Things which will advance the progress of the project. 

In this sense... everything is ok...

BUT... one day, he starts to play punk. Try to backstab me by carrying tales to the boss, or tries to hinder the process of the project just cos he doesn't like me. Never mind that the failure of the project also hurts him. He doesn't care.
So what do I do? I also don't need to care anymore. 
Since the project is gonna fail anyway, then I also might as well focus on other things. Don't need to work on the project. I should focus on projects which I don't need his input. 
I also don't need to put up a façade anymore. I don't need to act nice to him. 

And I think this is how China is viewing the relationship with Trump. 
Since China doesn't need to be friendly with the US anymore, what more can US do to China? 
Oh well might as well impose a law on HK, the relationship with US is so bad already anyway, so might as well do it now. 
Eventually, they will handle the trade war issue 4 years down, 8 years down, 12 years, down... sooner or later the trade war will be settled. But the HK issue... well too bad for HK... 

So yes... Economically, China might have had a set back. US did a suicide mission with the trade war. 
However, politically, China has gained better positioning. Which is more important in the long run. 
Or how China is showing itself to be a more cooperative partner with other countries, when the US is picking fights with countries in the UK or EU region.

Well... at least that's how I view it...



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0 Comments
    This is the link to my first post... how it all started...
    ​

    Mindset changes
    throughout the years


    How I make use of my wife

    An Interesting Email

    Author

    Male, born in 1982. 
    INTP
    Graduated with a degree majoring in Banking & Finance, Financial Adviser for a period of time resulting in in-depth knowledge of insurance products and marketing techniques of the industry.

    Inspired by MMM and ERE.

    Decided to embark on a mission to retire early in Singapore, a place where such an idea is considered impossible. As I believe that life has a lot more to offer instead of just a working career. I've decided to start a blog to note down my journey to achieve this mission and help others along the way who are willing to listen and try doing things differently from everyone else.

    I have decided to remain anonymous until I finally am able to actually retire, reason being that this idea might not gel well with the company which I am working for currently and also to avoid real life flaming from people who say that such ideas are impossible and that an individual is lazy for choosing early retirement instead of contributing to society in the form of labour.

    More about me.
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