Finance Smiths

I will be off from work on block leave from today for 2 weeks. Will be flying off to Greece tonight for a holiday. I have been looking forward to this for a while and hope it gives me time to clear my mind. And figure out what I want to do with my current work situation. Although additional resources have not been diverted into my team to help out, the situation remains dire. Let’s see if it improves when I’m not there.

The threat of new tariffs has escalated the trade war between the US and China. Consequently, the equity markets dropped and my reaction has been to manually transfer small sums of S$100 each day into our StashAway and Smartly robo-advisor accounts to buy into the dip. Nothing significant has happened to justify a permanent increase in my monthly contributions for investments.

I keep reminding myself to be patient with everything. It’s the same with my wife. We are at a tipping point when our work and personal lives might undergo major changes by the end of the year. Monitor the developments and take action accordingly. That’s what I’m going to do. Hope it works!

Work has been weighing on me for the past few weeks. It was already a difficult time leading up to getting my bonus and pay rise in March. After that, things have gotten even worse and each week has been tougher to get through. I know the reason for this. It’s because I’m being developed and pushed upward for a more senior position eventually.

While I can logically understand the basis of my suffering at work from an objective perspective. I’m not going to lie. I feel like quitting. It seems like my learning curve has gotten even steeper and the resources I have been given to achieve my objective have been cut. It’s frustrating trying to achieve results when working in a bank under a cost cutting environment.

I honestly don’t think I’m going to make it. I keep dreaming about resigning and taking on a similar position with less responsibilities elsewhere. I don’t even mind taking a pay cut. But is there even such a thing anymore? I reckon firms will just keep demanding more from its employees as their revenues and profits fall. Or should I hang on until the situation gets better?

This is a common occurrence at work I guess. It happens eventually when you stay at the same job long enough. The more capable you prove yourself, the more work you get allocated. Maybe the best way forward is to find a way to cruise and manage the level of responsibilities you take on more actively. Just so your career growth is more gradual and sustainable in the long run.

I’m feeling more tired from work and I have been increasingly talking to my wife about the issues with my job. I’m just glad she understands what’s it like and gives good advice on how I can manage this. More importantly, her job has stabilised since last year and she’s in a better & stronger position to support me during this time.

It’s not the financial cost of resigning from my job that worries me. My wife makes more than enough to keep improving our financial position even without my salary income. It’s having nothing to do at home that worries me. I like going out to work, dealing with challenges at my job and getting along with my colleagues.

It’s the same for my wife. We like having our own separate professional lives that keep us engaged with different social circles and meeting even more new friends. This is on top of the personal and family lives we have together. Keeps it interesting for us.

I keep wondering about what I should do next since the start of the year and before you know it. May is already here. Anyway, we are going to Greece for about 1.5 weeks in mid-May. I reckon that would be a good time for me to take my mind off work, relax and think about what’s my next step.

This is a short update on my reaction to the equity markets climbing significantly in the recent weeks. I have lowered the amount we invest per month into the following:

1. Maybank Kim Eng Monthly Investment Plan – S$700
2. OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan – S$600
3. POSB Invest Saver – S$300
4. StashAway – S$600
5. Smartly – S$300

It adds up to S$2,500 now and used to be about S$4,500. While I practise Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) – no market timing, I also apply Value Averaging (VA) – some market timing. I can always increase the amount we invest per month when I see the equity markets dropping significantly.

But I don’t plan to make such adjustments on a regular basis. Only when I can see the upward or downward trend forming. In any case, the other reason why I’m doing this is to start building up my cash position more aggressively for personal reasons.

There might be life-changing events coming up for the rest of the year and I would like us to be more prepared financially for them. Some are positive and some are negative. But I should write more about them as the situations develop.