We have received all of our dividends that we are entitled to for the month of Jan 2017. This means it’s time for another post on our dividend income for Jan 2017. By the way, I’m referring to my portfolio on SGXCafe for the relevant dividend information and I recommend it for your SGX portfolio and investment cash monitoring. Beats having to log into my internet banking accounts to check and sum up the dividends received.
SGX
- Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Z74): S$82
- ABF Singapore Bond Index Fund (A35): S$35
- Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B): S$211
Total dividend income for Jan 2017: S$328
One year ago, our dividend income for Jan 2016 was S$113. It has more than doubled one year later in Jan 2017. I have yet to figure out how to include a graphical representation of these comparisons on the blog. Might work it out eventually but will have to do manual comparisons like this for now to show the progress. With the setting up of the monthly investment amount of S$1,500 in the Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B) under the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan, we should be holding on to a larger number of units by next year. Let’s hope we can keep up with this rate of increase in dividends received or even accelerate it if possible.
As I have mentioned before, I should have another post on the investment purchases made for the month of Jan 2017 towards the end of the month. Since this post is about dividend income, it should be more useful to keep the discussion around related topics on passive income. Which got me wondering about whether I should write about the breakdown of interest income received for the month. After all, I already disclose the total figure on the Passive Income page of the blog, doesn’t hurt to show the interest earned on cash balances in various bank accounts. Just to reiterate my point on the importance of earning higher interest on idle cash. Something to think about.
I have been reading other bloggers’ posts on their intentions to purchase an investment/rental property in Singapore. The housing market has been slowing down and it is expected that the property prices will fall further this year. Honestly, it has piqued my interest in expanding on our real estate portfolio, which consists of one 2 bedroom freehold condominium in the East, various industry type REITs and a REIT ETF listed on the SGX i.e. all in Singapore. We receive distributions from the REITs and REIT ETF but no rental income. I wonder whether we should start exploring the idea of purchasing an investment/rental property in Singapore to have rental income as another passive income source. This would depend on how stable our jobs are for the next few years, taking into account the deteriorating employment market in Singapore. Is it worth the risk now to deploy a significant portion of our cash to become real estate investors?