Just an older perspective to TS - have the end-goal in mind, eg. Estate planning.

All the moving about to US / SG / etc brokerages & accounts - ensure it's worthwhile for your Will's Executor to file/execute your Will in those countries and retrieve
+
relevant Estate taxes, even if SG brokerage, it can be US Estate Laws U'll face like 45% taxed on anything above USD $60K.

Personally, i've moved my stuff back to "easier & cheaper" for my Will's Executor to perform their duties with less or no estate taxes.

Of course there will be some smarter folks saying to share userid & password with another or joint-account but.. look into the details and probabilities ya. Executability when needed +legality + impact.

Note - i'm 49 this year and based on the local brokerage charges / fees on dividends, no biggie based on the amount i'm transacting. Thus, the end-goal is more important to me for my family. When younger, yup all those cost are quite a big % impact thus worthwhile to have accounts like OptionsXpress, TDAmeritrade, etc.

No absolute right / wrong ya - just sharing what i've done & thought - different strokes for different folks & different stages of life.

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Oct 8 2021, 08:09 PM

personally, i used % of net active income - ie. excludes passive income.
as % is very easily fungible, U can customize to your own situation + aim to increase certain allocations to grow faster / when situation changes

i started with the aim of:
50% basic necessities
10% saving to invest
10% saving to create emergency buffer - when "enough" eg 6-12 months living expenses, re-channel to invest
10% feel good
10% accumulation for big purchases OR pay off debts
10% fudging for a combination of the above XD

The above is a mutation / self-customized from T Harv Eker's "secrets of the millionaire mind" guidelines.
There's also the "50/30/20 rule" - google it. Similar but since i know i'm not too disciplined, i needed the more detailed version above to focus on, to get into the habit

it was tough at first, VERY TOUGH.
especially after paying for a divorce to ensure my daughter is ok & rebuilding from the ashes. tough as in like 5% savings only..

after like 12-15 years, i more than recovered and was on >=20% saving to invest to <=40%, and my necessities fell to less than 50% coz my flexi mortgage was chopped down by prepayments. The prepayments were used as emergency buffer + war chest for "lelong buys" like stocks in 2020 Mar-Jun + lelong groceries that have long shelf-life & "for sure used" like milk powder, oats, soap.

and prioritization XD
we can have nearly anything we want but NOT EVERYTHING - kan kan

it depends on individual's wants/priorities.

for married folks with children, they may want a "home base" for the management of stability - U know, like logistics to schools, kids' extra curricular activities, support, friends, etc. Ya - once we had kids, our lives aren't ours anymore XD. All decisions are weighted more towards the kids' welfare IF that's a priority to the parents

for those who are into travelling / digital nomad lifestyle long term, a home may be anywhere they are as long as they can keep in contact with their loved ones

i fall into the former grouping but i also leverage on my home's flexi mortgage for savings and investment usage when opportunities pops up.

No "one true way" ya, not Mando's this is the way XD - just sharing personal thoughts and executions.

i've moved home 3 times... painful + costly in terms of hassle, time, disruption and monetary as well.
Note - not solo ya, family moving.

Also, one can look at it as being one's best rental customer AND one's best landlord

then again, i dont like "travelling" overseas and whatnot. my home is my man-cave , thus other's mileage may vary.

Speaking as a parent - i agree with U that children never had a say, it's the parents' choice/decision on the children's being conceived and born.

Thus, IMHO, it's the parents' duty to do their best to grow their children to be able to care for themselves and hopefully, others like their partner, own children & help out in society. All i want from my kids are to see them - f2f or video-calls, and if possible spend some time with them.

Lots of SJWs here that assumes that:
IF one thinks that "our children doesn't owe us" means "we do not take care of our parents"

Oh well, shows the level of comprehension
&
(If NOT 1, MUST BE 0) fallacy is infectious.

Whatever it is, having children adds a heavier load to achieve FI/RE. It's one's choice

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Jul 27 2022, 08:03 PM

IMHO, dont need to be debt-free to be FI/REd as long as:
a. cash flow in generated by investments > (cash flow out +reinvestments for beating the kaka out of inflation),
AND
b. net worth +ve with 80%+ in investment assets and not lived-in property & other "fake assets" eg. cars and other stuff that depreciates+need $ to "feed".

i've >MYR250K short term debts & >MYR600K in mortgage debts

$40kpm *12 / 4%pa = $12M cukup la OR if inventive with cash flow, even less, kan?

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Dec 30 2022, 01:14 PM

Looking back this 2022 & sharing:
1. Financial year 2022 in recap - personally lost 8.18% yoy but nothing compared to those who lost lives and loved ones in Ukraine-Russia war & continued Covid-19 surge of deaths in CN.

2. 1.5 years into FI/REd: cash flow in VS out is still as planned even with (1.), touch wood - no, not YOUR wood XD

3. Financial year 2023: Still plodding along with plans & tweaking as needed. Hopefully revenge kill by investments done in mid & late 2022 XD

Wishing all fellow forumers & their loved ones, Happy, Healthy and >=15% ROIC New Year

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Dec 31 2022, 02:19 PM

Female = BU/RN
Buys Unnecessarily/Reach Nirvana XD
burns us guys too heehhe

U do understand proper investing, cash management and risk management is NOT trading or shitcoins right?
investing is +ve probability skewed, ie. the longer U stay in, the higher probability to make more, unlike casinos / gambling which is a -ve probability skewed

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 4 2023, 12:13 PM

it's good - we need more people like that person's mentality to keep working for $, rather than have $ work 365/24/7 for us.
else too crowded & competitive

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 4 2023, 01:21 PM

shows that it's not about education only but of mindset/thinking methodology

kinda started with "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin (Author), Joe Dominguez (Author) right?

yup, i do for paper trail/reporting in to THE MAN je

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Jul 5 2023, 10:55 AM

yeah - good example is my sibling, who went for all sorts of investing and trading workshops yet can't consistently invest nor trade. at the end, handed-off to me & EPF to manage coz cannot manage own temperament (fear/greed).

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Jan 11 2024, 11:37 AM

i still keep the same 3 asset classes but at different ratios due to different wants:

1. During retirement (now):
a. EPF to generate 50% of yearly cashflow usage
b. REITs (worldwide) to generate 50% of yearly cashflow usage
c. nonREITs / normal stocks (worldwide) to generate inflation beating returns

2. During work / active income:
a. EPF as Fixed Income allocation; 33%+/-
b. REITs (worldwide) as proxy for properties: 33% +/-
c. nonREITs / normal stocks (worldwide) as proxy to businesses: 33% +/-

Cash equivalent of 1 to 2 years' expenses are kept out of the above, in SSPN, Money Markets, FD, savings a/c,

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 24 2024, 01:27 PM

i'm doing individual REITs' stock coz REIT ETFs' / UTs' mgt fees.. i prefer to pay myself heheh

it heavily depends on your chosen lifestyle cost. for me, my own total costs, including insurances, home maintenance, item replacement, etc - comes to about ~2.5K pm only. Thus, even if i add my immediate family's costs, not a big amount pa. cashflow needed, and thus, not as much as RM4.3 M investments needed

in comparison, my older sibling will have to have more than i because of her taste buds and travelling hobby - get the idea?

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Dec 5 2024, 01:03 PM

been in my 50s for several years now (oh my achy achy back, hams & back delts during and after DLs )