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Portfolio After Property Sales Proceeds

This is how the porfolio looks like in 2017 after rebuilding it in 2016 with the sales proceeds from property sales of our previous flat. 

The main aim of this portfolio is to target dividends so that it will help to offset the new higher housing loan that we have. We hope to eventually have enough dividends to help cover more than 50% of the monthly housing loan payment each month.

At the same time, I am using a small part of the salary to divert to the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) for tax-savings and use it for the monthly dollar cost averaging into the STI ETF, a unit trust- Schroder Asian Equity Yield and a REI- Capita Mall Trust. Hopefully, this will help build up to another substantial part of the portfolio. 

The bulk of the portfolio is leaning to bank stocks, with DBS and OCBC taking up 25.3% of the total. The other key part is REITs, with the total REITS in the portfolio at 21%. Index funds on S&P500 and Singapore ETFs takes up another major part with 13.6%. Bonds offered on the STI take up another 8.56%. The rest of the portfolio are a mix of industrial, telco, consumer, grocery, electronics, financial, medical etc.

Within it are some that don't pay dividends out like the Infinity S&P 500 (dividends are reinvested) and of course Berkshire Hathaway. We are building our war chest slowly again using bonuses, dividends gained while using dollar averaging of $700 each month while my wife does about half of that I think. I strongly feel that it is important to invest first so this is automated mostly while I have been channeling part of that to the SRS account every half yearly (seems that you can only automate maximum 6 months using OCBC, after which you have to remember to set it up again).

Meanwhile, costs are up as we have to pay income taxes again after all the tax benefits a new child brings are all used up. At the same time, we have to pay the management fees that condos have which are much higher than those from HDB conservancy fees. Then you have the higher tariffs that water and electricity will charge soon. So it shows even more that it is essential to invest if you want to stay ahead of inflation.

Looking at a few interesting counters which can invest into, one of which is Thai Beverage. But maybe I have to start to trim off some of the existing stocks in the portfolio first. Starting to look like a unit trust fund already :)


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Rebuilding Portfolio After Partial Sell-off For Property Purchase

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Portfolio pie chart image
Took a while to rebuild my portfolio of stocks and shares after selling a big chunk of it to finance my property purchase nearly two years ago.

It currently looks something like the pie chart you see on your left.
I took the opportunity to take profit for the index stock that I have been buying for a few years and also sell off stocks which made some money and those with losses.

So the ones left were mostly money making. Right now after almost two years, Elec & Eltek and Hyflux are the loss making counters while the rest show gains.

The portfolio as a whole, including the loss making counters, is showing a profit of more than 30%, excluding dividends earned, which isn’t too shabby but nothing to shout from the rooftops either.

The strategy going forward for me is to continue with the monthly dollar cost averaging into the STI ETF and the Infinity US 500. I’d be looking at stocks specifically when there is a bonus or when funds materialises. There should be a sum coming when we sell off our current flat which will be invested back to stocks and shares. This will help earn dividends which can be reinvested or used to pay the housing loan for the new property. The focus for new stocks purchases will be on dividend paying stocks which will be in the local telcos, REITs or bank stocks.

When the new funds comes after the sale of our current property, I’d probably sell off the loss making counters and look to add one or two company/ETF/index fund to the portfolio while keeping the list at about 10 different positions.

In a way, my portfolio is a aggressive because we don’t have bonds in there, but my focus is very much to build up the portfolio without the drag of bonds which I’d only add later when I’m about 10 years from retirement. The only worry is I am over invested in one counter, OCBC, as more than 1/3 of my portfolio is there. Once additional funds come in, I’d probably rebalance the mix by investing more in other counters or the newer counters.


Nothing much else has been going on as I’ve not been monitoring the investments very closely, except adding to the OCBC position when there was a rights issue last year which has since appreciated.


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When the Government Intervenes Too Much….

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DSC_1743[1]I saw a HDB infographic at the MRT station at Boon Keng today and thought about whether the change in policy was thought through thoroughly enough by the policy makers.

I refer to the change in rules governing purchases of HDB flats from maximum 30 years to 25 years loan tenure.

On one hand the government seemed to have taken some of the messages of the last election in 2011 to heart and communicate its policies more, witness the infographics, the ads of the pioneer generation package in the form of TV advertisement using soccer analogy instead of its usual mailer with cartoons.

However, when policies are rammed through without consultation, feedback and proper studies, their overall effect is to make the ordinary Singaporean less well off.

If you refer to the two scenarios below, you will understand why:

 

Scenario A  
housing loan int 2.60%
index funds 5%
term 25
no. of mths 300
loan amount 420,000
   
   
housing loan payment each month -1,905.41
Investment term no. of months

60

Investment from 25-30 years 129,579.60

Scenario B  
housing loan int 2.60%
index funds 5%
term 30
no. of mths 360
loan amount 420,000
   
   
housing loan payment each month -1,681.43
Use difference for investment -223.99
Investment from 1 to 30 years 186,413.57

 

Scenario A is the one the government has changed to, where the tenure of loans cannot exceed 25 years. The rationale is to force people to buy flats within their means and then use the money that they will have saved from year 25 to 30 years into their retirement.

If we assume that,

1. The people taking the loan are rational and does what the government wants and will not use it for other purposes like fund their children’s education etc instead of funding their retirement.

2. The rate of return for investment is conservatively estimated at 5% with the assumption that the people will chose an index fund or exchange traded fund like the STI ETF which has yielded above 9% as at 16 Jul 2014.

In Scenario A, the family who finished their loan at year 25 and immediately invested the same housing loan amount to an index fund yielding 5% will have gotten about $129,579.

Which is not too bad.

What about Scenario B?

The folks who was under the old policy of a housing loan tenure of 30 years will have fared better by getting $56,833 more, if they had invested the difference of $223.99 each month to the same index fund earning 5% per annum.

The folks who was under the old policy will have fare better. Anyone who studies economics or finance will understand the effect of compounding interest.

So when the government forces the loan tenure to be shorter, it is in effect reducing the incomes of couples starting their families and reducing their ability to invest and finance their own retirements at the very start, when it matters THE MOST as early compounding means that the money pile at the end is much bigger,

 

Source:

1. http://www.spdrs.com.sg/etf/fund/fund_detail_STTF.html as at 16 Jul 2014 at 9.05%


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Disclaimer

The information contained in this blog is prepared from data believed to be correct and reliable at the time of publication of this report. The authors do not make any guarantee or representation as to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness, reliability of the information contained herein. Neither the authors or any affiliates or related persons shall be liable for any consequences (direct or indirect losses, loss of profits and damages) of any
reliance placed on information provided in the blog.

Shares and financial instruments illustrated in this blog can go down sharply or in certain instruments suffer total loss on the initial investments. Investors are advised to make their own judgment on the information provided and consult their own financial advisors or consultants as to the suitability of the products illustrated to their particular financial needs and objectives before acting on any information contained herein in this blog.