My family is still recovering from our recent bout of cough and cold. It has helped to take our focus off the fact that we seem to be taking a step backwards with the recent Covid stabilisation restrictions. While we managed to meet up with our families and friends for dinners and drinks a few times in the past few weeks, it’s frustrating that we are unable to build on that for more social gatherings. At work, my wife had been going into the office a few times every week. It helped to form stakeholder relationships and it’s just easier to start a new job when you are in the office.
My wife now has to work from home for the next few weeks so it does hamper the momentum of settling into her new role. She has to readjust by working from home. I was looking forward to going into the office a few times each week too and start meeting up with my colleagues. It was supposed to happen this week but never materialised with the tightened Covid restrictions. I have to admit that working from home has been a great flexible arrangement for my family, especially with a young kid going to preschool. But it has affected the level of engagement with my job as I struggle with feeling disconnected and bored of my work at times.
Anyway, I’m hoping for a more consistent approach to managing Covid as an endemic by the Government going forward. This one step forward and half a step backward approach is not sustainable. It actually feels like we are not progressing at all even though we are factually still moving forward somewhat. I guess it’s difficult to be clear-minded and objective when you are in a constant state of frustration and confusion as to what the plan actually is. I’m not going to dwell on this because it doesn’t change anything. Just have to find a way to navigate the next few weeks mentally and physically.
I was having a look at the performance of my new automated monthly investment plans into Endowus, StashAway Thematic Portfolios, OCBC RoboInvest and UOB SimpleInvest. Most of them were started at the beginning of Sep with the funds transfers happening every week of the month. With the dip in the markets, all of them are now in losses. I only committed a small sum of cash to each funds transfer to average out the automated investments throughout the month. Not a bad call because it seems like the markets may dip further in Oct. But a disappointing start to my new increased Dollar-Cost Averaging investing strategy nevertheless.
Coupled with my low cash balance after completing the private property purchase (took a big hit from the downpayment), it seems like my investing options are limited at this time. I can’t move aggressively on any good opportunities and have to think twice often when utilising my cash for anything. I know it’s important to be patient and wait for my cash recovery to kick in. Self-discipline is going to be key here to maintain this approach for the next few months. I’m going to take my mind off this by distracting myself with the monthly Sep net worth update on my Google Sheet that I will work on in the morning.