Retire by 35 by investing for passive income??? Fact or Fiction? (2)

Just For Thinking ....

Read? Retire by 35 by investing for passive income??? Fact or Fiction? 

Don't say Uncle8888 so bad. Here to poke Big Dream!

ME & MY MONEY, the sundaytimes June 30, 2013,


This young investor who is at 25 and hopes to have passive income of $10,000 and retire by 45.

This young chap is more realistic than last Sunday Young Investor.




This is how YOUNG thinks ...



Then you read on ...


small change, invest page 33,


This is what Lao Jiao spending 27 years around the financial markets and seen many of his friends attain financial independence thinks and advise ...

"To be financially independent is to be able to maintain your desired standard of living, without ever facing the risk of running out of money."

"Trusting the vagaries of the stock market to try to achieve that goal is really too much like a roll of dice."


Now, let Uncle8888 shares with you one of Uncle8888's Wealth Formula ....


Investment Dream or Truth? = Expectation on Portfolio's Return minus Reality


Are you having a dream that is so big?

High expectation on future portfolio's return and low reality in life.



But, the reality in life:

No 1: Inflation will really bite us hard!

The same passive income at 20 years ago cannot buy the same bowl of beef noodle at Kovan now!

When Uncle8888 first ate his beef noodle at Kovan, it was $2.50 and this morning he paid $4.50

No 2: There will be future Black Swans in our investing horizon. Black Swans may cause minor or major reset in our portfolio's return.

No 3: How to re-invest for growth when we keep eating away our passive income during retirement?



So what should be the right formula?


Investment Truth = Low Expectation on Portfolio's Return minus High Reality???










Reality of inflation rate on passive income!










































After 40 years, you will need $380K passive income and not $120K!!!

Key Household Income Trends, 2012

Median Household Income Grew in 2012

The median monthly household income is now $7,570, up from $7,040 last year.

If your household makes a combined income of more than $7,570, your family is better off than half the households in Sinagpore.

Read? Key Household Income Trends, 2012


*** Household income from work includes employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions.




 

CPL - How badly hit next week?

CPL Weekly ...

Climbing your investing or corporate ladder? (4)

Just for Thinking - Investing


Read? Climbing your investing or corporate ladder? (3)


Read? Earning More Than Your Boss?

 















Mid-Life Crisis @ 40s

By 40s, we should be honest with ourselves are we still the Red Man who is climbing the Corporate Ladder to reach the annual million dollars pay package.


If we can't then how?


Then you may have little choice; but seriously putting in your body and soul into climbing the other ladder -  Investment Ladder.

At 40s, if you are still thinking about it; then you may be in for rude shock later. Because, at 50s, you may be running out of time to ride the next few market cycles to implement Retirement Income For Life investing strategies.


Nowadays, Uncle8888 is more gracious to share his investment strategies even with his colleagues and even conducted Retirement Income For Life seminar at "unofficial" meeting.

But, we all know the fact. In office, colleagues are your worse enemies who may often eat your lunch.

Somehow, Uncle8888 who is at the Edge of Financial Independence now thinks differently.

When Uncle8888 looks at his colleagues who are at 40s; he is looking at his past images while his colleagues who are at their 40s may be looking at him as their future images.









How to climb Investment Ladder?


Many people may have read this book.

But how many people have uncovered the Link of

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to the Secret of Wealth Formula!

 

 

Uncover it!

 

You will be able to uncover your own investing strategies to achieve your Retirement Income for Life Goal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced additional new measures to cool the property market.

• PHOTOS

         

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced additional new measures to cool the property market.

The central bank said in a statement on Friday that the new rules, which will take effect on Saturday, will ensure that a property buyer's monthly payments do not exceed 60 per cent of his income.

"The TDSR (total debt servicing ratio) will apply to loans for the purchase of all types of property, loans secured on property, and the re-financing of all such loans," it said.

MAS said the rules will help strengthen credit underwriting practices of financial institutions and encourage financial prudence among borrowers.

MAS will also refine rules related to the application of the existing Loan-to Value (LTV) limits on housing loans.

The bank said these refinements seek to ensure the effectiveness of the loan limits that were put in place to cool investment demand in the housing market.
In particular, they aim to prevent home buyers from circumventing the tighter loan limits on second and subsequent housing loans.

When working out loans to be granted to home buyers, banks will have to consider the monthly repayment for the property loan that the borrower is applying for, plus all his other outstanding debt obligations.

Banks will also have to apply a specified medium-term interest rate or the prevailing market interest rate, whichever is higher, to the property loan that the borrower is applying for.
The financial institutions will also have to discount at least 30 per cent of the borrower's variable income, such as bonuses, and rental income.

MAS said its inspection of banks showed uneven practices with respect to the application of debt servicing ratios and highlighted areas for improvement in credit underwriting practices

- CNA/al

H1 2013 Investment Performance Report

Read? Q1 2013 Investment Performance Report

A Goal-based Investing Approach

Using a Goal-based Investing Approach by setting a 10-year progressive Goal Targets to achieve for each year from 2012 to 2021.


Year 2: H1 2013 Result

Achieved 12.5% of 2021 Goal Target.

 

Portfolio XIRR
Track, measure and visualise!

Without doing it how to revise investing strategies and improve year-on-year investing performance?

 

My portfolio XIRR includes all investible cash plus the current stocks value at market closing price as on 28 Jun 2013.

Since one year ago: +2.1%
Since 1 Nov 2008: +6.7%
Since 1 Jan 2003: +10.9%
Since 1 Jan 2000: +9.8%

Riding the market cycles of Bull and Bear

 

 

Liquidity and Permanency

Liquidity of Capital for the Next Bear and Permanency of staying Invested for the Next Bull!

Having taken back 100% of Investing Capital as War Chest for the next Bear; it is like Year 2000 all over again; but this time Uncle8888 is armed with Master Degree in Stock Market and going for PhD. in Stock Market.

 

It is going to be more exciting!

 

This time, regular readers will be able to watch "Full Time" actions on how investing lessons for PhD course are conducted here. In the last two courses, readers could only manage to watch "Half Time" actions as Uncle8888 started to blog in 2006.

 

When will Mr Bear come?

 

 

Retirement Income for Life

Current: 60.1% Target: 67%

Work in progress ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deep-water set for big orders splash

Taking the plunge: for newbuilds in deep-water sector

AFP/SCANPIX

           

Steve Marshall

 27 June 2013 10:51 GMT

Yards are set for a deep-water rig orders bonanza with a massive requirement for newbuild units to handle an expected explosion in exploration drilling demand over the next decade, according to a leading UK-based research firm.

 

       

Wall Street rallies for third day as Fed concerns fade

By Alison Griswold

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed for a third straight day on Thursday after comments from several Federal Reserve officials soothed concerns that the central bank would begin to reduce its stimulus efforts in the near future.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed back above 15,000 for the first time since June 19. The Dow scored its third consecutive day of triple-digit point gains for the first time since October 4-6, 2011.

The rally helped the S&P 500 post its best three-day run since January after three Fed policymakers sought to downplay the notion that the central bank would bring an imminent end to its accommodative monetary policy, known as quantitative easing.

"I think the Fed is trying to delicately prepare the markets for an eventual ending of QE3," said David Carter, chief investment officer of Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

"The Fed has bent over backwards to introduce this huge program over the past few years to get the economy going. The last thing the Fed wants to do is pull the plug too fast and have the economy go down the drain."

Thursday's advance was again broad-based. Nine of the 10 S&P 500 industry sectors gained, with financials, industrials and consumer discretionary shares leading the way. Stocks also got a lift from economic data showing a decline in weekly jobless claims and improvements in consumer spending and income.

Volatility erupted in the stock market after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that the central bank could begin to reduce its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases later this year and end the program altogether by mid-2014 if economic conditions improve.

On Thursday, William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the Fed's asset purchases would be more aggressive than the timeline Bernanke had outlined if U.S. economic growth and the labor market prove weaker than expected.

Dudley stressed that slowing the pace of the Fed's bond buying would depend not on calendar dates but on the economic outlook, which remained unclear.

While the S&P 500 remains more than 3 percent below its all-time closing high of 1,669.16 reached on May 21, it has rallied 2.6 percent over the past three sessions after numerous Fed officials have sought to calm markets roiled by expectations of tighter monetary policy.

Volume was about average as some 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges. More than 80 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange advanced.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart echoed Dudley's comments, saying the pace of the Fed's purchases remained contingent on evolving economic conditions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 114.35 points or 0.77 percent, to end at 15,024.49. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 9.94 points or 0.62 percent, to finish at 1,613.20. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 25.64 points or 0.76 percent, to close at 3,401.86.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was the Dow's best performer, advancing 3.2 percent to $24.77. Bank of America (BAC) also ranked among the Dow's top gainers, adding 2 percent to $13.01.

A separate report showed consumer spending rose 0.3 percent last month while incomes grew 0.5 percent, the largest gain since February. Pending home sales rose 6.7 percent to their highest since December 2006.

Counterintuitive Advice for Retirement

By David Ning | U.S.News & World Report LP 

 

Our attention span is being attacked from many angles these days. With cell phones beeping constantly, email messages popping up on the screen all the time and a good dose of social media alerts thrown into the mix, it's difficult to focus on the true meaning of many pieces of financial advice. Here are a few financial rules of thumb that seem unreasonable on the surface, but will actually help you achieve a comfortable retirement:

Get used to losing money in the stock market. You might think I was crazy if I just blurted out this sentence as retirement advice without further explanation. But those who are the most successful with making their money work for them are also the most used to losing money.

 

Financial market valuations are volatile. If you check every day, the value of your investments in the stock market will often be less than they were the previous day. And let's not forget the severe market declines that we often hear about. But the picture over the long term improves dramatically, because the economy will continue to grow and equity investors will eventually benefit from taking that risk. Those who are able to stomach the volatility will benefit the most. Can you stomach the short-term pain and reap the long-term rewards?

Appreciate being a loner. No one wants to live a life feeling lonely, but this doesn't mean you have to follow the herd and practice commonly accepted habits. Borrowing money to pay for everything seems to be the norm these days, but it doesn't mean you have to dive deep into debt just like so many others. Keeping up with the Joneses is a common behavior, but if you follow suit you'll have to work many more years to save enough for retirement. Sometimes, being a loner is the best decision you can make.

Practice the art of being oblivious. I used to spend quite a bit of time researching the specifics of everything I buy, because I believed I could save money if I knew what to look for. But as I learned the ins and outs of every product, I ended up paying much more because many of the extra features would suddenly seem useful. Instead of just getting the cheapest one that fit my initial need, the more expensive versions seemed logical because I developed an expert eye to tell the difference in quality.

By all means, be an expert on stuff you truly care about. As for the rest of the products in the world, stay native.

Try working fewer hours than everyone else. Why work forever just to pay for material possessions? So many people work long hours to earn more money, but they don't even have time to enjoy the money they are making. Then they waste it on useless things, and the extra income doesn't even make them happy because they are so stressed out from all the time and energy they are required to put into their work.

Why not spend less time working by buying less stuff? You will get to spend more time with your family and actually get to enjoy the stuff you do own. And if that leads to early retirement because you realize that you don't really need to spend that much to be happy, you'll really cut down on the hours you need to work during your lifetime.

 

Keppel Reit acquires 50% stake in Aussie office building

By

Mindy Tan

         

 

8 Exhibition Street: 100% leased to tenants in the financial, aviation, tax and transaction services sectors - PHOTO: KEPPEL CORPORATION LIMITED

KEPPEL Reit has acquired a 50 per cent stake in a freehold office building, 8 Exhibition Street in Australia, for A$160.2 million (S$192.4 million).

Located in the prime part of the Melbourne central business district, the 35-storey freehold commercial building has a total net lettable area of about 480,309 sq ft with 3,304 sq ft of ancillary retail space on the ground floor.

The building has a 4.5 star NABERS energy rating.

"This is a rare opportunity to acquire a freehold premium grade office building in the most prime part of Melbourne's CBD and will add to Keppel Reit's sterling portfolio of commercial assets in Singapore and in the key cities of Australia," said Ng Hsueh Ling, chief executive officer of Keppel Reit Management, the manager of the real estate investment trust.

Lian Beng order book hits $1.4b

Lian Beng order book hits $1.4b

By

ong chor hao

         

Mr Ong: Delighted that the records were set just six months into the year - BT PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE

CONSTRUCTION company Lian Beng Group continues to upsize its record order book, which now stands at $1.4 billion.

In a regulatory filing yesterday, it announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Lian Beng Construction (1988) had been awarded a contract worth $115 million to build a condominium along Flora Drive in Pasir Ris.

The contract period is from this month to October 2015.

Under the agreement, Lian Beng will build nine eight-storey residential blocks and other amenities such as a clubhouse, a basement carpark, tennis courts and a swimming pool for the condo's developer, Tripartite Developments.

Why Gold fell so much???

Read? The Bandwagon Theory: A Glimpse At How The Market Really Works?

Stocks Close Up 1%, Dow Soars 150

By: JeeYeon Park | CNBC.com Writer

                

Stocks closed sharply higher for a second session Wednesday after the weaker-than-expected final read on first-quarter gross domestic product diminished worries that the Fed would rein in its stimulus measures in the immediate future.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 149.83 points, or 1.02 percent, to end at 14,910.14, led by Boeing and Home Depot, after logging a triple-digit gain in the previous session. The blue-chip index posted its 14th triple-digit move of the month.

The S&P 500 jumped 15.23 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 1,603.26. And the Nasdaq bounced 28.34 points, or 0.85 percent, to finish at 3,376.22.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, declined near 17.

 

Dow Ends Up 100, S&P Rallies 1%; All S&P Sectors End Higher

SPH : Calling off REIT IPO due to lack of interest from BBs???

 

  

 

By P.R. VENKAT And CHUN HAN WONG

SINGAPORE—Singapore Press Holdings Ltd., T39.SG -0.96% the city-state's largest publishing company, has delayed a planned initial public offering of a real-estate investment trust due to weak global markets, people with knowledge of the deal said Monday.

The offering was expected to raise as much as 540 million Singapore dollars (US$423 million).

SPH's decision comes as other companies in Asia either scrap or scale back planned offerings due to falling markets that have pushed share prices of some new trust listings sharply lower.

Jittery global investors have dumped emerging market stocks and currencies in recent weeks due to indications that the U.S. Federal Reserve may being winding down its monetary stimulus later this year. A liquidity crisis China's financial system and the country's slowing economic growth have also darkened investors' moods.

SPH had planned to start taking orders from institutional investors this week, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said. It still plans to proceed with the offering when the time is right but the delay to order-taking means the REIT isn't likely to list in early July as originally planned, another person said.

A company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the company is "monitoring market conditions and will make an announcement at the appropriate time."

The company last week secured shareholders' approval for the REIT, which would own two of the company's Singapore shopping malls, the Paragon and Clementi Mall.

SPH had hoped to benefit from investors' strong interest in trusts. Dividend-paying investments such as REITs had been in demand in recent years as monetary stimulus from central banks in developed markets kept interest rates low.

Daewoo cuts steel on Petronas FLNG vessel

CW8888's comment: Keppel better catches up with its FLNG

           

Josh Lewis

             

 

25 June 2013 08:14 GMT

The first steel has been cut on what Petronas claims will be the world's first operational floating liquefied natural gas vessel.

Petronas revealed on Tuesday that construction of the unit had started at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's shipyard in Okpo, South Korea.

Once completed, the vessel will be capable of producing 1.2 million tonnes per annum of LNG and is destined for Petronas' Kanowit gas field which lies about 180 kilometres off the coast of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Daewoo and Technip were handed the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for the FLNG vessel in June last year.

Petronas said on Tuesday the start of construction of the FLNG unit marked a major milestone as it looks to meet its commissioning schedule of 2015, which would likely make the Kanowit the first operational FLNG project in the world.

The FLNG vessel will be 300 metres long, 60 metres wide and 33 metres deep and have a storage capacity of 177,000 cubic metres.

Daewoo started construction of an FLNG vessel for Shell in October last year which is destined for the Anglo-Dutch supermajor's Prelude field off Western Australia.

Shell's FLNG unit will be capable of producing 3.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG, plus sizeable quantities of condensate and LPG, however the Prelude project is not expected to commmence production until 2017.
 

Stocks End Lower, but Dow Recovers From 250 Point Loss; Vix Above 20

By: JeeYeon Park | CNBC.com Writer

      

Stocks closed in the red but well off their session lows Monday, as Treasury prices rose in choppy trading following comments from some Fed policymakers that downplayed worries over the end to the central bank's bond-buying program.
  
Treasury prices gained in choppy trading. The benchmark 10-year note yield were just below 2.53 percent after earlier pushing around 2.66 percent.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 139.84 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 14,659.56, dragged by Bank of America and Hewlett-Packard. Still, the blue-chip index ended off their lows after being down nearly 250 points at its session low.

The S&P 500 fell 19.34 points, or 1.21 percent, to finish at 1,573.09. The Nasdaq tumbled 36.49 points, or 1.09 percent, to end at 3,320.76.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended above 20.
 

STI 3,074.31 Down 50.14(1.60%)

Singapore shares ended lower on Monday with the Straits Times Index slipping 50.14 points to 3,074.31.

Some 2.11 billion shares, valued at S$1.47 billion were traded. Losers outnumbered gainers 401 to 77.

 

No where to hide as the sky is falling! (2)

No where to hide as the sky is falling!


STI dropped!

Gold dropped!

Bond dropped

Cash rotting!


Does Permanent Portfolio still effective in wealth preservation?


US bond funds lose a record US$47.2b in June: TrimTabs

Bond prices have been falling since the end of May when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank could ease its US$85 billion a month purchases of bonds should the economy continue to recover - PHOTO: REUTERS

BOND mutual funds and bond exchange-traded funds have lost a combined US$47.2 billion in June, the biggest monthly loss on record and exceeding outflows in October 2008, the climax of the global banking crisis, according to research firm TrimTabs Investment Research.

TrimTabs said bond mutual funds shed US$39.9 billion this month through to June 18, while bond exchange-traded funds lost US$7.3 billion. In October 2008, US$41.8 billion flew out of the bond funds, the previous record amount.

"Fund investors are unloading bonds at a record pace," TrimTabs said.

"These record outflows are occurring even though the average bond fund's 5.0 per cent loss since the start of May pales in comparison to the losses at the height of the financial crisis."

The High-Beta Rich

Quite an interesting read.

Fast come. Fast go.

Root cause: Highly leverage. Double-edge sword!

Retire by 35 by investing for passive income??? Fact or Fiction?

Just For Thinking ....



me & my money, june 23, 2013 thesundaytimes,

$120,000 passive income per year and retire at 35???

Fact or Fiction?

Here is the Maths on investing capital required, yield on investment cost and INFLATION @ 3% rate.

Maths doesn't lie!

From 36 to 75 yrs old, where does his increasing rate of investing capital come from to be able to produce this kind of year-on-year passive income @ 3% inflation rate?

How come interviewer never ask hard question?

Retire early? Watch your Job Dependency Index!

Just For Thinking ...


Is Uncle8888 the first person to coin this Job Dependency Index?

When to retire?

When your Job Dependency Index is getting very negative.

Life starts at 60, how long will funds last? (2)

Read? Life starts at 60, how long will funds last?

As retirees, we need to avoid two big money mistakes commonly made by many retirees during their financial planning for retirement income for life.


No 1: Not adequately factor in year-on-year inflation for retirement income cash flow. Our passive income (e.g. dividend income from stocks) from our investment portfolio is never inflation proof or inflation adjusted. When we need to top up any short fall in our retirement income, we may then commit the bigger No 2 money mistake.

No 2: We are forced to sell assets when the market is slumping to meet shortfall in retirement income. This is definitely a Game killing move!

Uncle8888 is most or less done with his two taps cash flow solution for retirement income for life.

Oct 2007 vs. Oct 2012. What will I do differently this time? (2)

Read? Oct 2007 vs. Oct 2012. What will I do differently this time?

Read? Retirement Income for Life??? (10)


It didn't crash in Oct 2012.

Will it happen in Oct 2013?



You can’t predict. You can prepare.

 Howards Mark


Believe me, there’s nothing better than buying from someone who has to sell regardless of price during a crash. Many of the best buys we’ve ever made occurred for that reason.

Howard Marks

Impact of inflation on your long-term investment holding

Just For Thinking ...



After 10 yrs, your stock must appreciate at least 30%

After 20 yrs, your stock must appreciate at least 75%

After 30 yrs, your stock must appreciate at least 136%


After 40 yrs, your stock must appreciate at least 217%

Biosensors

No where to hide as the sky is falling!

Today, STI tua kee!

STI dropped!

Gold dropped!

Cash rotting!

 

Stocks Nosedive 2%, Dow Ends Down 350 on Fed Taper Talk; Vix Tops 20 for First Time in 2013

By: JeeYeon Park | CNBC.com Writer

                

Stocks took a sharp nosedive across the board Thursday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 posting their worst day of 2013, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted the central bank may scale back its asset purchases later this year

With the declines from the last two sessions, the Dow and S&P 500 wiped out all of their gains from May and June.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 353.87 points, or 2.34 percent, to end at 14,758.32, with all 30 components in the red. The last time the blue-chip index closed down more than 300 points was last November. The Dow is down more than 5 percent since its May closing high.

The S&P 500 tanked 40.74 points, or 2.50 percent, to close at 1,588.19, crashing through a key 1,598 level that traders had been watching. And the Nasdaq tumbled 78.57 points, or 2.28 percent, to finish at 3,364.63.

All three major averages were back in negative territory for the week, and on track for their fourth-weekly decline in the last five weeks.

 

STI 3,133.26 Down 80.53(2.51%)

Walau!

STI dropped!

Gold dropped!

Cash rotting!














































Gold took another beating on Thursday, falling close to a three-year low after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Wednesday that bond buying could be slowed later this year.
Investors dumped the precious metal, which traded as low as $1,289 per ounce

Book at NLB: Brian Nichols' 'Taking Charge With Value Investing'

Value investing followers may borrow at NLB and take charge.

 

Number of millionaires in S'pore up by 10%

The number of millionaires in Singapore increased 10.3 per cent to reach 101,000 last year, revealed a new wealth report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.

        

           

         

SINGAPORE: The number of millionaires in Singapore increased 10.3 per cent to reach 101,000 last year, revealed a new wealth report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.

The survey tracks high-net-worth individuals with investable assets of US$1 million or more.

The collective wealth of the super-rich in Singapore also expanded by over 11 per cent to US$489 billion in 2012, revealed the survey.

Thanks to the global rebound in equity and property markets, North America reclaimed its top position as the region with the most millionaires while Asia-Pacific led overall wealth growth.
However investors in Asia have proven to more risk-averse, focusing more on wealth preservation than creation and preferring to put their money in real estate, cash and deposits.

Barend Janssens, Head of Wealth Management, Emerging Markets at RBC Wealth Management , said: "Asia Pacific is less... influenced by the equity markets and the fixed income markets.

The variety of investments that are made by high net worth individuals in Asia, and also their underpinning wealth in their companies, which are very often first and second generation owned family companies, as well as their real estate portfolios, is making our outlook very much focused on a positive trend for Asia Pacific investors."

- CNA/jc