The Weekly Roundup – Academy’s Finest is a collection of my favorite blog posts, podcasts and other useful contents that I have enjoyed over the past week.
I will be releasing this series of posts with a short summary of the content for easy summary.
My goals is to share quality content (or what i think are amazing stuff) in an easy to digest format for my readers.
In the meantime, I will also like to pay tribute to these wonderful content creators all around the world, not just here in Singapore.
Please share any great blog posts or podcast episodes with me through the comments section. I value your input and feedback which will in turn allow me to share the most beneficial content.
Without much ado, let’s get started into the Weekly Roundup – Academy’s Finest Vol 1
My Blog Posts this week
- Buffett series: Disney: Disney is a household name that almost everyone in the world is familiar with. This is a stock that likely fits in Buffett’s portfolio at the right price. What is the right price for this amazing company based on Warren’s Buffett method of stock picking?
- 4 way parents can help their children (and themselves) graduate from college debt-free: The cost of a kid’s college/university education can be a huge burden on parents. In Singapore, a basic 3-years education course will cost around S$28,900. That amount increases to approx. S$44,000 in 20 years time. We show 4 ways that parents can help their children and themselves graduate from college debt-free.
- Portfolio and net worth updates: In our maiden portfolio and net worth updates, I provide a quick but transparent snapshot of our household financial well-being. This is a huge step forward for myself and my missus and I hope to gain support from my readers and potentially inspire some on their own financial journey to retirement.
Blog Posts
The team at Dollars and Sense (DNS) has written a thought-provoking article pertaining to the pension scheme of Singaporeans and I thought it was a pretty good read. While some might advocate that their CPF/pension funds should all be returned to them at the age of 55, there are potential financial pitfalls in doing them which DNS listed down a few that make sense to me. Do take a read on this article which remains a sensitive topic among all Singaporeans.
Kyith from Investmentmoats is one of the most followed financial blogger here in Singapore and I do enjoy reading most of his articles. In this article, he touched on the topic of why affluent Singaporeans, despite seemingly having the monetary means to enjoy a good retirement, are actually not on track to live the life they so desired at retirement. He believes this could be due to high monthly expenses which means their savings rate are not high. Their retirement expectations might be overly lofty which results in the lack of motivation to start actively engaging in a savings plan. Do hop over to Kyith’s website to read this engaging article.
- [Ultimate Guide] Procrastination: How to stop procrastinating for good using science from Austin Gillis
Austin Gillis from earlytorise came out with an article that catches my attention, given that I am someone that is prone to procrastination. He states in the article that the 3 reasons why people procrastinate is due to 1. Time Inconsistency, 2. The Planning Fallacy and 3. The Energy Paradox. There are however a few proven strategies to overcome these procrastination causes. I will not state all of them here but one which I thought makes really good sense is: Combine an activity that is painful in the short term (but beneficial in the long term) with something pleasurable. For example, if you hate doing exercise, then you should only eat your favorite dessert after a workout. There are some really good ways stated in the article that is worth a read.
- Lendlease Global REIT IPO – Why I’m subscribing for this IPO from Financial Horse
Financial Horse (unlikely to be his real name but who knows) is a Singapore financial blogger that writes a myriad of topics on stocks, asset allocation and most thing investments. In this article, he commented on a recently IPO REIT counter on the Singapore bourse called Lendlease Global REIT and his rationale for subscribing to it. This IPO turns out to be pretty popular with the public offering 14.5x subscribed. While his arguments to be vested in the counter is valid, this is unlikely a stock that will fit in my portfolio on a personal basis. I prefer REITs that have gearing bandwidth that do not require equity raising on a consistent basis. I don’t think that Lendlease Global REIT fits that criteria at the moment, hence I will engage a wait and see approach. But for those interested in a quick summary on this new IPO, head down to Financial Horse website.
- The Recommended Split Between Passive And Active Investing from Sam Dogen
Another blogger that I frequently follows is Sam Dogen from the popular personal finance website, Financial Samurai. In this article, he talks about the recommended split between passive and active investing and the different profile for each of this category. For himself, he belongs to the 75% passive / 25% active category which he terms as his “Passive Plus” strategy. My own personal allocation I am targeting is probably somewhere closer to the 60% passive / 40% active range. You can find a way to get rich slowly through passive investing and find multiple ways to get rich slowly through active investing.
Podcast Episodes
- Reaching Cashflow FI in Our late Twenties. Rethink the Rat Race from Fire Drill Podcast
The team from Fire Drill Podcast interviewed a couple James and Emily who retired from the rat race at ages of 27 and 28. This is due to their extremely low living expenses of $15,000 per year vs. the income of over $72,000 per year. They are big time into real estate, owning 10 units with a 2% rule ( they make nearly 2% of the property every month). They also talk about what it is like leaving their jobs and living their life to the fullest by travelling round the world.
Wrapping it up
That’s all for this edition of Academy’s Finest. Have a great weekend everyone!
