I Thinketh! - Stuff in My Room & the Need to be Financially Free

This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. 
~ George Bernard Shaw

As I sit up on my bed typing this post with my future wife lying fast asleep cuddling up next to me, I’m reminded how important and what being financially free really is to me from just observing my surroundings.

In front of me stands my library. Three 2m high bookshelves cluttered with books.  These books from a wide range of categories – literature (classic and modern), contemporary fiction, finance, philosophy, travel, history, arts, science and language – lie dusty, in need of wiping, and quite a number in need of being read. It’s been a nagging thought of mine to start. Instead, I find myself constantly being distracted by something else that needs looking into causing me to put down the book I intended to read.

The last I had any proper time to really start and concentrate on my book was on a holiday to Krabi in September. That was a beautiful and relaxing trip. I finished the book too - all 300 odd pages of it - in the 4 days I was away. Just like I used to in the past. It helped that it was a page-turner. The Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.

Today, I find my eyes constantly drawn to my guide on Italy. The breakfast chatter with my brother has got me longing to travel once more. I love Europe and want to visit it again. Backpacking around for a month wasn’t enough. England, France, Germany, Czech Republic. That was more than four years ago. The mini-trips since then never quite matched up to the experience. Let's Go, the words on my travel guide to Italy says on the cover. I want to. It’s been a dream of mine.

My future wife rolls over in her sleep and my thoughts turn to her. In another year, we should be married. A wedding. Honeymoon. A house. And then kids. I’m not quite sure that they’re always in that order though. But I am sure that I want to be capable no matter the order they come in, and not handicapped by that piece of paper constantly changing hands called money.

I’m also sure that eventually we’ll have a dog. A dog that will provide love to and will be loved by the family. A dog that will be annoyed by the kids, but will play with them all the same. But eventually dogs too, grow old, and a lot faster than us. And at the end, we’ll wish we had spent more time with it before the inevitable. I’ve experienced this before. And I never hope to experience it again, let alone wish it on my children. The mat in the corner of my room ensures this. It belongs to the past.

Old age, illness, they go hand in hand. Personal calamities that need dealing with. The medicine bottle lying on the shelf serves as that reminder.  Zoom out. The world is a lot larger than our own personal problems. Wars, famine, poverty. Animals ill-treated. Species threatened. Dying. People suffering, children homeless. Uneducated. Sometimes all they need is a bit of helping hand. Isn’t that what humanity is all about? A dollar goes a long way. Involvement goes even further.

In short, being financially free opens up options, giving one more time to do the things that really matters to oneself and in that way, living and eventually dying without any regrets.

Able to do what one wants to do, when one wants to do it. The long awaited freedom.

~K

CapitaMall REIT in Trouble

All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. ~ Miyamoto Musashi

Since 13th of Oct, CapitaMall has been downtrending. From the chart below, this doesn't look like it's going to change soon. OBV and MFI indicate strong distribution with lower highs being formed. Furthermore the 14day moving average seems to be heading straight for a collision path with the 200day m.a., probably forming a dead cross with it. To add to this, ADX is still rising indicating that the strength of the current trend is extremely strong with black candles marking the way down since the 9th of Nov and isn't giving any indication of letting up despite Stochastics and RSI being in oversold region. RSI has also formed lower highs which bodes negatively for CapitaMall as well.

On the bright side, the past three days have seen price seemingly stabilizing at $1.86 support, in hopes of rebounding upwards. A break below this may see price retreating to the next support at $1.81. To break out of the downtrend, price must head above $1.93. Only then can we expect price to head higher.

Personally, for long term investing and as an income stock, at current price to book ratio of 1.25 and yield of 5%, CapitaMall is unattractive as a buy.

Not vested. 

~K

Heightened risks for Singapore REITs - CIMB    
Thursday, 18 November 2010

© 2010 - The Edge Singapore

STI Bounces Up

Stochastics signal lines crossed today as expected in Thurday's post, STI - Heading for the Next Leg?,  and the STI has bounced up higher than yesterday's close. This bodes well that price is likely to find its way back to the 50day moving average by next week, before heading higher still.

Anyone looking into investing into the STI ETF can consider nibbling into the security. However at a high of 3800 in 2008 before the crash, the current 3200 leaves about another 15% upside. This is if it heads back to its previous high. Should it exceed this, my estimate is that it'd have a maximum of 20% upside to go. Pure guesswork that but that said, PE ratios would be expensive by then too. So it'll be more likely for stocks to come back down instead of rising further. Of course I know that the euphoria  (euphemism for madness) of the crowd could drive it higher still, so I'm not wagering the house on this.

However, as the blue chips have all climbed considerably since the downturn, the best returns now lie in the penny stocks for they normally rise last in a bull market. Here's where the gems are and also where the most volatility lies though so be warned. Have a good buy and more importantly, sell plan. Investigate your company properly. Do some thorough research to prevent yourself being scared out of the stock. This recent correction is a good time to start shopping for some quality buys.

Best of luck everybody!

~K

STI falls 1.15 point, or less than 0.1%, to 3,158.08 at closing
Friday, 26 November 2010

© 2010 - The Edge Singapore

25% in 5 days - Lafite Rothschild 2008 Stuns Once More

A sweetheart is a bottle of wine and a wife is a wine bottle. ~ Charles Baudelaire

Seems that QE2 is really driving up the price of everything. I'm not complaining. In my previous wine news, see Fantastic Wine News - Lafite Rothschild 2008, I said I was nervous yet excited about the new high that Lafite Rothschild 2008 made due to its announcement of the placement of the Chinese symbol for the figure eight on its bottles. But to add another 25% gain in five days...wow! That's unbelievable.

I'm crossing my fingers in hope that I get the receipt of acknowledgement that the warehouse received my wine by early next year so that I'll know I'm not dreaming, and of course, more importantly, that it's all not a scam.

Wish me luck!
~K

Fine-wine prices hit new high in October; Lafite 2008 jumps 25% in five days
by Kelvin Tan

Prices of the world's finest wines surged to a new high last month, according to the latest monthly market report of London-based online wine exchange Liv-ex.com. The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index, which represents the price movement of 100 the most sought-after wines, rose 2.5% in October, spurring year-to-date gains to 32%. Over a one-year period, the index was up 33.5% (as at end-October).

Wines of Bordeaux first growth estate Château Lafite Rothschild from the 2008 and 2009 vintages saw the biggest gains last month. Buying sentiment in these clarets was lifted on the back of strong buying at the Oct 29 Lafite ex-cellars auction in Hong Kong as well as the recent announcement made by the first growth estate that a Chinese numeric eight figure would be featured on its 2008 bottles.

"The Chinese symbol for the figure eight, said to bring eternal blessing and good luck, caused a large spike in demand for the wine," according to the report, which highlighted that the value of Lafite 2008 jumped 25% in five days towards end-October, after the announcement was made.

Indeed a case of Lafite 2008 (12x750ml), which was trading at £8,800 (S$18,260) prior to the announcement, skyrocketed to £11,000 in five days by end-October. For the whole month, the price of this highly sought-after vintage increased 28.3%. At current levels, Lafite 2008 is trading at a "premium" to the 2005 and 2009 vintages, observes Liv-ex.

Source:
The Edge Singapore
Week of Nov 22 - Nov 28, 2010

STI - Heading for the Next Leg?

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. ~ General George S. Patterson

Seems that most stocks on the SGX are bouncing off their 50day moving average. The STI is displaying similar traits. Although overshooting a little, it looks like the bounce back up is coming soon. Furthermore, Stochastics already seemed to be turning up as well from oversold territory and likely to intersect. 

A comparison to other countries show that most of them are displaying similar bouncing characteristics. For example:

US

S&P 500

Dow Jones

Nasdaq

Hong Kong

Hang Seng

China

Shanghai Stock Exchange

My take: With the upturn of all these countries, it does look like stocks here are likely to turn upwards soon, possibly by next week, and thereafter head higher. So if you're looking to buy stocks, you had better do so soon when the next entry price presents itself before the correction's over.

Good luck!

~K

STI gains 0.7% to 3,159.23 at closing
Thursday, 25 November 2010

© 2010 - The Edge Singapore

I Thinketh! - The Student and the Barometer

In physics, you don't have to go around making trouble for yourself - nature does it for you. ~ Frank Wilczek

Here's a story I read that I find extremely interesting for the relevance to our current education system. A laugh out loud punchline with a food for thought moral.

Enjoy peeps!

~K

The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen: 

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer." 

One student replied: 

"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building." 

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics. 

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use. 

On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows: 

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer." 

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper." 

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (l / g)." 

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up." 

"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building." 

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'." 

It is told, that the student was Niels Bohr, who later received the Nobel prize for Physics.

Ways to Buy Silver

Silver is my preferred metal of investment. I'll elaborate more on the reasons in future posts. This post is just an introduction into the ways one can own silver as a way to diversify their investments.

There are quite a number of ways to start buying silver if one is interested.

Here's a quick list of them.

1) iShares Silver ETF (SLV)

Pros:
Very liquid; trades like a stock
Buy & Sell online
No storage cost & maintenance fee

Cons:
May not be backed by physical silver
Dependent on US timezone to buy or sell as the SLV is traded on the NYSE
Traded in US$

2) UOB Silver Savings Account

Pros:
Liquid
Bought & sold in S$
Singapore timing

Cons:
Must head to the bank to buy or sell
Bank does not store physical silver. It's all paper silver.

3) Physical Silver

Pros:
Security that you own the "real thing".

Cons:
Storage cost unless you store it at home
Illiquid
Risk of scams depending where and who you bought it from especially if 1) you can't sell it back or 2) are not holding and storing the physical metal yourself

4) Mining Companies

Pros:

Magnified price increase compared to the above 3 when price of silver increases.

Liquid

Cons:

Magnified price drops when price of silver drops.
Must research what percentage of revenue does silver make up

5) Silver Futures

Pros:
Liquid
Leverage - chance of making more money than the previously mentioned methods

Cons:
Leverage - Risk of losing more money than you have

For Singapore citizens, my suggestion would be to start a UOB Silver Savings Account. Though a little inconvenient to get to the banks, before 4pm (weekdays) or 12pm (weekends), and waiting in the queue to buy silver, this method eliminates the currency spread and brokerage fees per transaction. Especially useful if you're planning to do a monthly dollar-cost averaging investment for the long term and if you are investing in small amounts. Each transaction is subject to the minimum of 10oz, which at the current price is a total of S$361. (The daily price of gold and silver at UOB can be found here. This link can also be found at the bottom right of this blog under the Precious Metal section)

I also like the idea of owning physical silver. It's nice to admire a collection. =) But unfortunately, owning physical objects here seem to result in unbelievable premium prices above spot price. Also, there are a lack of sellers of physical silver. The only one I know of is Silver Bullion, which gets its silver from the Perth Mint, which also results in seriously huge price differences. GST also doesn't help, I'm sure you all would agree.

However, for non-Singapore citizens, my choice would be either the ETF or owning the physical. Your banks too, may have their own silver programs/products that you could invest in. But of course, I wouldn't know what other options are available in your country. Therefore, doing more research would be needed as the information here is probably incomplete.

Till next post,
~K

Breadtalk Buying Opportunity Soon?

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. ~Mahatma Gandhi

It's quite a correction that has been going on these last couple of days. However, Breadtalk hasn't been affected too much. As it is on my watchlist, I'm thinking of loading up on the stock to add to my meagre holdings.

Resistance is currently at $0.65 while support is at $0.62, which also happens to be the 50day moving average. A quick look at the chart shows that Stochastics and RSI are almost in oversold regions. From the MACD however, it seems that there may be a bit more selling before prices turn up proper. A good thing if you're looking to buy. Bollinger bands show prices are at the bottom of their volatile range.  Consolidation looks to be taking place as a squeeze seems to be forming which could result in a new price movement in the next couple of days. Also MFI is in the oversold region while OBV has been steady implying that quiet accumulation has been taking place while people are selling. A glance at the ADX, reveals that the strength of the trend which started on the 1st of Nov is weakening. This may mean a new trend is about to emerge. However, do note, ADX does not predict the direction of the new trend, it only indicates when a new trend might be occurring. As such, a new downtrend may form instead since it looks like the -DI will cross the +DI.

Volume however, is also low these last couple of days suggesting that not many are selling the stock despite the correction. Even the spike in trading volume on the 10th of Nov, didn't cause much movement in the price. Furthermore, the transactions made today (see table below) shows that selling was only 41,000 shares sold compared to 128,000 shares bought. 

My take: Personally, I think the chances of a new downwards trend is quite low. I'm expecting prices to bounce up by early next week. As the fundamentals for Breadtalk are good, the only thing on my mind is if I should wait for Stochastics to turn upwards and cross the signal line first before buying. Hey, after all what goes low can still go lower.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll buy in. Gotta think on this a bit. Hoping it'll drop to the 50day ma though. Lets see what happens.

~K

Fantastic Wine News - Lafite Rothschild 2008

Personal comments: I'm all excited and nervous about this piece of news in the Edge Singapore which I read 2 weeks ago. Invested in a case of Lafite 2008 with Assetton last year, Sept-Oct thereabouts. Cost price €3,600. Excited from the potential. Bit nervous that it's too good to be true.

Lafite 2008 with auspicious symbol set for price surges

~by Kelvin Tan

Bordeaux’s first-growth estate Château Lafite Rothschild, the favourite label of wealthy Asian buyers, will engrave the Chinese eight figure on its 2008 bottles to commemorate its vineyard venture into China, says Decanter Magazine. The auspicious eight symbol will be featured above the label on each of Lafite 2008’s 750ml and magnum bottles.

In partnership with China’s largest state-owned investment company, CITIC, Lafite will cultivate 25ha in Shandong’s province’s Penglai peninsula, which has been called “China’s Bordeaux” by some wine commentators.

“The shape of the symbol seems to offer a perfect representation of the slopes of the vineyard and commemorates the launch of our Chinese wine project. We wanted to remind all those who will have the pleasure of drinking these wines in a few years of this exciting undertaking,” a spokesperson of Lafite owner Domaines Baron de Rothschild told Decanter Magazine in a recent article.

“Lafite’s decision to feature the Chinese symbol of luck on all bottles of the 2008 vintage has ignited a frenzy of activity on the exchange, as merchants prepare for a sharp increase in demand from the Far East,” observes UK-based online wine exchange and research firm Liv-ex in its blog.

Lafite 2008, which is rated 98 to 100 from renowned US wine critic Robert Parker Jr, “has seen keen trade since the announcement”, according to Liv-ex, which predicts more price upside for 2008 claret. A 12x75cl case of Lafite 2008, which has quadrupled in value since mid-2009, has been bid to a new high of near £10,000 (S$20,665) at end-October from £8,300 in September, according to Liv-ex.

Source:

The Edge Singapore

Week of Nov 8 – Nov 14, 2010

How Interest from Your Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit Affects Your Returns

Over the last couple of days while turning the idea over in my head of opening a foreign currency fixed deposit account, I’ve been looking up interest rates quite voraciously. To my surprise, and disbelief, the US dollar (US$), the Euro (€) and a couple others have such low interest rates that I’m wondering why anyone would want to open such an account with any of our local banks in the first place. Also, when coupled with the FOREX risk involved (refer to The Risk of Foreign Currency Fixed Deposits for a discussion on FOREX Fixed Deposits risks), it’s unbelievable anyone would find it worth the gamble.

That said, there was only one currency that stood out in terms of interest rates. The Australian dollar (A$).

Here are some figures pulled out from the relevant banks’ websites to illustrate this.

ICIC bank offers the best interest rates for their fixed deposit account for a 12mth period, with CIMB coming in second. However, CIMB offers more flexible deposit time periods and has the best rates other than the 12mth.

So with such high interest rates does this make it a good investment? Lets see.

Using ICIC bank’s interest rate of 6.59% p.a., a deposit of S$10,000 and an exchange rate of S$1.00 = A$0.90:

Conversion of S$10,000 into A$: S$10,000 = A$9,000

Interest gained after 1 year: A$9,000 x 6.59% = A$593.10

Total amount: A$9,000 + A$593.10 = A$9,593.10

Looks like a gain doesn’t it? But unfortunately, this doesn’t take into account foreign exchange risks. Take a look at these points.

1) If rates remain the same after a year, then converting A$9593.10 back into S$ will give us a total of S$10,659, a gain of S$659 or 6.59% as promised by the bank.

2) However, should the S$ rise in strength against the A$, a 10cent move upwards (i.e. S$1.00 = A$1.00) will result in your investment now being worth only S$9,593.10 or a 4% net loss of S$406.90 despite the interest paid.

3) On the flipside, a 10cent move downwards where S$1.00 = A$0.80, will result in your investment now being worth S$11,991.37. A nifty gain of almost $2000 or 20% profit.

If you’re a person who thinks that the upside must be twice that of the downside, then perhaps this investment might be something to put on your radar. However, do also consider the minimum investment amount and the buy/sell spread which I didn't mention. These vary from bank to bank. 

For me, I doubt I’ll be opening an account any time soon, at least not till I’ve set my other investment plans in motion. But once I do, I'll definitely consider this.

Cheerios!

~K

The Risk of Foreign Currency Fixed Deposits

We all know that the banks interest rates at 0.1% is rubbish. Even the fixed deposit interest rates are rubbish. So I've been tinkering with the idea of converting a portion of my funds to a foreign currency to be locked up in a fixed deposit account for the sake of portfolio diversification as well as to earn the higher interest rates. However, like all investments, this comes with their own risks. The most important of all is foreign exchange risks, where the original currency gains in strength to the foreign currency thereby resulting in a lower value of the original invested sum when the foreign currency is converted back. Confused? Don't be.

Here's an example to illustrate:
2010 S$1 = A$0.90
2011 S$1 = A$1.00
2012 S$1 = A$0.80

Therefore if you converted S$10,000 into Australian Dollars (A$) in 2010, you'd get A$9,000. In 2011 however, if you were to convert the same A$9,000 back into Singapore Dollars (S$), you'd wind up with S$9,000. But if you were to hold on to 2012, the A$9,000 would now have been worth S$11,250 instead.

So you can see from the above example how a simple shift of 10cents can drastically affect your invested amount.

Note that this is without any interest paid by the bank.

In my next post, I'll elaborate on how interest affects your deposit in the foreign exchange fixed deposit. But for now...

Ciaoz Amigos!
~K

I Thinketh! - A Lesson in Honesty from a Homeless Man

Honest hearts produce honest actions. ~ Brigham Young


I came across this interesting and inspiring bit of news today while surfing the web.

In brief, Dave Talley, who lost his house, stumbled upon a backpack with $3,300. Despite being tempted to keep the money, Dave did the right thing and returned it to its rightful owner.

That is truly amazing.

Most of us here in Singapore live relatively comfortable lives. Most of us earn enough to buy our necessities and even have some left over to enjoy the better things in life. Yet despite this, if we had stumbled upon that backpack just how many of us would have done what Dave did?

By that act, life to Dave is definitely more than just about money. It's also about doing right and living well. I'm pretty sure the personal values Dave held strongly interfered with the temptation to keep the money. A man of high integrity.

I admire that.

I aim to live it too.

~K

Gold a Better Buy in the Short Term, Silver for the Long Haul

Prepost outburst: See how the Fates are. They never give you what you want!

So I took a look at the chart for gold today and realized that gold dropped and then bounced off its 50day moving average twice. This is definitely a bigger drop than the fall silver did. Check out Gold & Silver Correction Over? for a brief discussion on last week's silver price movement.

Furthermore Stochastics has fallen to oversold regions and now show a buy signal, with the signal line cutting the red line upwards. These two indicators lend weight that the correction is indeed over and that buying will resume and that prices will go up. However that remains to be seen.

This video from Zen Trader, entitled Why Gold Could Fall to $900, provides more insight into the recent run up that gold has had, pointing out strong negative divergence between RSI and Price which could indicate a correction of about 35% or more, bringing down the price of gold to $900 thereabouts. This video is cluttered with other charts so if you want to listen to the brief discussion on gold, you gotta scroll to about 8mins 30secs.

Anyway, I'm not buying gold for now despite the recent dip to the 50day ma. I've put enough of my funds into this metal and am rather satisfied with the allocation. That's not to say I won't buy if it does drop to $900/oz though.

Personally, I believe silver is still a better buy in the long run and am holding onto my funds while I wait for an attractive buying price.

Wish me luck! =)

~K

Gold & Silver Correction Over?

Correction does much, but encouragement does more. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I've been eyeing to increase my silver holdings for awhile now but I've been waiting patiently for the price of silver to drop. Alas, when it finally did start to correct on the 12th of Nov, I didn't have the spare funds to inject. On the 16th of Nov, a rather bullish doji appeared, appearing to signal a change to the selloff and the start of the rebound. Again I didn't have the funds to inject into my silver account. Today, when the price has rebounded strongly upwards, supported by the 14 day moving average, back to where it was before the correction, my funds to inject are finally available.

What a waste of an opportunity! *lament lament* Or is it?

The demand for silver is still there with the uptrend clearly intact. What's uncertain though is that most of the previous corrections last for at least 2-3 weeks, some more than a month. This recent upturn happened after only after 1 short week. So there's a chance that the correction hasn't played out fully. If this is the whole correction however, and not just a lame rebound, it's a rather short correction, proving that there's still ample demand for the shiny metal.

Lets see what happens tomorrow and next week.

Hopefully we'll get our chance!

~K

Note:
Not vested in iShares Silver ETF. I'm using the iShares Silver ETF as a reference as there isn't any chart plotting silver price in S$ in ChartNexus software. Nonetheless, this is accurate enough for me.

I Thinketh!

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. ~ Buddha 

I realized as I revamped my site that I needed to have a new subsection for any postings that are unrelated or only tangentially related to focus of the blog. Questions, gripes, interesting bits of news, gossip, those kinda stuff.

All these will be placed under a new header I decided to call "I Thinketh" heh. Stylo mylo huh? =)

Stay tune for my first thinketh post. Look out for it!

~K

Living a Rich and Fulfilling Life

Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin. ~ Grace Hansen

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. ~ Joe Lewis

Such true, true words spoken by Ms. Hansen and Mr. Lewis. I've had more than a year since my last post to reflect on that. That's quite a story if you have time.

Last September, when I first started this blog, I had only just been introduced to the idea of investing and passive income in a financial seminar held by my organization. It was a "revolutionary" idea to me really. The only investing I did back then was to turn my money (cash & CPF) over to an insurance agent who sold me these investment-linked policies and endowment plans. Only during the recent financial crisis, when I witnessed the China-India fund which I was invested in, which at one point almost doubled in 2007/8, crumble into a $15,000 loss did I get my first wake up call. I needed to care about my finances. For who else is going to be more concerned about my money than me? Thankfully, I rode out the wave to recovery without selling and managed to break even and then gain some at the beginning of this year. Talk about Scary!

Since then, I focused a lot of effort into learning and finding out more about the different investments in the market, attending talk after talk and reading book after book. But most important of all, I began to take action. Action to get my money working hard for me. But while I focused tremendous time on this new-found direction of living a rich and free life, or at least wanting to live one, I also realized that there were other things to life that were equally or even more valuable - relationships, love, experiencing new cultures, seeing new worlds, cities, charity, volunteer work and finding peace with God for example. To quote Napoleon Hill in his True Riches video below, "observe if you will, with great benefit, the fact that money comes at the end of the list of the twelve things that makes men rich".

That said, it does not mean that money isn't important. It is. But there is a whole world more to life than simply that.

With this new focus, shall I continue this blog; to record my journey into living a rich and fulfilled life with money providing me with the opportunities.

Wish me luck! =)

Cheers,

~K

Site Revamp

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~ Maria Robinson

As you guys can see, my last post was more than a year ago. This was because I was quite disappointed when my Adsense was cancelled. Nonetheless, I'm making an attempt to continue especially since I've more time these days. It's gonna start with a major blog revamp.

Post again real soon!

~K