It’s the first day of the new year 2017! We had a great time last night having dinner with good friends and counting down at their place. Stayed up late having drinks, playing board games and chatting before heading back in the early hours of the day.
Slept in until the afternoon today and it’s been a lazy day. But we should be heading out soon for another gathering. Always nice to have fun over the long weekend before going back to work!
Anyway, I considered having a post about 2016 in review, where I write about hitting or missing my financial, professional and personal goals. Might do a short summary instead to have a quick look at the past year 2016 but more importantly, to welcome in the new year 2017.
Financial goals (Met all my targets for 2016)
Net worth: Increased by S$150,000 for the year. Mainly from reduction in mortgage principal, increase in retirement funds & cash savings and investments into a mostly flat Singapore market and trending upwards overseas markets.
ETF portfolio: Increased by S$37,000 for the year. Made investments in overseas ETFs in the first half of the year and Singapore ETFs in the second half of the year.
Share portfolio: Increased by S$33,000 for the year. Averaged down on telecommunication, oil & gas, engineering and financial services stocks.
Other portfolio: Increased by S$31,000 for the year. Mostly from cash savings with some growth in the surrender values of the wholesale life policies.
Total assets: Increased by S$128,000 for the year. In addition to the above additions to the portfolios, growth in retirement funds due to being employed for the full year.
Passive income: Average monthly dividend & interest income of S$1,000 for the year.
Savings rate: Average monthly savings rate of 40% for the year.
Spending multiple: Increase spending multiple by 1x for the year.
Expenses: Annual expenses of S$120,000 for the year. Shocking and unsustainable. That’s all I have to say.
Professional goals (Change jobs in 2016)
I changed jobs after having to deal with the conflicts and stress in my previous work environment. Plus my learning curve had plateaued and these push factors triggered my move. I’m doing more interesting stuff and get along better with my colleagues at my new job. But the longer and more intensive hours at work are affecting my personal life.
Personal goals (Overseas travel, exercise & sports and went out more in 2016)
We enjoyed our trips to Penang, Korea and Italy this year. Will be heading to Bali and US in the first half of next year. Tried to go the gym or for a run at least once each week and went for weekly badminton sessions in the recent months as well. I made an effort to go out more with my wife, our families and friends. Going for such gatherings and meetups is important to my relationship building with them. I have a tendency to isolate myself, which is not good even if I sometimes prefer the company of myself.
Aims for 2017
I should have a more detailed post about my goals for 2017 eventually. For now, let’s keep it simple. I hope both of us can continue to stay employed this year because that will already allow us to progress further in our financial goals. Most of the cash savings and investments have already been automated and I should only make manual investments when there are significant market dips.
It would be good to gradually lower our expenses as we better manage our spending and time on the various aspects of our lives. We should try to exercise more often or at least lead a more active lifestyle. Finally, I wish for us to be happier, less stressed, more fulfilled & accepting in whatever we choose to do and whatever happens to us this year.
Happy New Year 2017 everyone!
