I was reviewing the Dividends section of my SGXCafe portfolio and was happy to see the dividends to be collected these few months from various stocks and ETFs. They are more than the amounts I collected the same time last year and I’m pleased with the progress we have made. Slow and steady but definitely on an upwards trend. Let’s have a look at the dividends we received in Feb 2017.
SGX
- SPDR STI ETF (ES3): S$281
- Parkway Life REIT (C2PU): S$24
- CapitaCommercial Trust (C61U): S$155
Dividend income for Feb 2017: S$460
Last year in Feb 2016, our dividend income was S$431. Which means there has been an increase of about 6.73%. Not bad considering we have only increased our position in the SPDR STI ETF (ES3) via manual purchases and automatic investments (Maybank Kim Eng Monthly Investment Plan).
It’s the end of the month and I will be updating our portfolio, net worth and expense figures on the blog soon. This has become a monthly exercise for me and I quite enjoy the routine, especially when the values have increased from the previous month. In any case, it’s always useful to monitor and track your progress in these areas regularly, whether for the better or for the worst. It would give you a good idea of where you are headed and whether adjustments or changes to your investing strategy, work & lifestyle will need to be made.
Anyway, I have been thinking about some of the topics that I can write about. And one that has surfaced recently in relation to the empowerment of women is due to a number of posts from our local bloggers:
- Cheerful Egg: Upcoming Event: The Future Is Female
- Turtle Investor: The Future Is Female Conference: Ticket Giveaway + Discount Code
- Sg Young Investment: The Future Is Female Conference – A Women-only personal finance, empowerment and lifestyle conference
It’s about The Future Is Female Conference taking place on Sat 8 Apr 2017, which is organised by the The New Savvy and supported by the Singapore Exchange (SGX). You can refer to the conference website and blog posts above for more details.
I am always supportive of efforts to encourage the empowerment of women. But I must admit that I’m not a big fan of conferences. The ticket price for The Future Is Female Conference is quite high at about S$200 even after applying the promotion code. The 45 mins timeslot for each session of a wide range of topics is tight and I doubt you can get much depth of discussion. The list of speakers is long, impressive and features successful male & female executives, professionals, entrepreneurs etc.
Which makes you wonder how much time does each of them get to speak and draw on their unique experiences. Unless you apply a panel discussion format, which might cause the conference to become a networking session. The conference is targeted at women that find it challenging to manage their personal finances and investments or have no idea where to even start. I actually find the agenda items & topics to be relevant & useful but I struggle to understand how the speakers and their backgrounds fit into them. These speakers are likely to have high levels of personal motivation and drive to get to where they currently are. Even more so if they have experienced tough failures along the way. Would the conference attendees relate to them? Especially when chances are the conference attendees will likely come from a variety of backgrounds with different experiences. Sadly, I would never know.
I believe strongly in the empowerment of women and I’m disappointed to be locked out of such conversations that would have offered valuable insights into how women think and approach their personal finances, investments, careers, businesses and families. Things that I could have learnt and improved on as I continue to find ways to support my wife in her life, career & endeavours in this increasingly hostile world. Plus I might need even more help when we set up a family in the future. I have recommended this conference to my wife and her female colleagues & friends but the level of interest is low. After all, why would they pay S$200 to attend a full-day conference on a precious weekend to learn about things they can read online with people they might never meet again. More importantly, how can I successfully recommend a product from a provider that doesn’t seem to welcome me as a customer?