We are officially in the second half of the year now and it seems just a couple of weeks back that we celebrate the end of 2014.
Since we are officially midway through the year, it’s a good practice to look back at the objectives we set earlier (Link Here) and do an appraisal of how things are going. For myself, I do take these objectives seriously because I put in a lot of thoughts into it and naturally I would want to see them progressing well. Without further ado, let’s take a look at each of the objectives and how things are progressing:
1.) Capital Injection of $36,000 and Networth of $333,105
I’ll break this down into two parts.
The first is on the capital injection. I did mention that savings are going to be very tight this year due to having a child expenses. To top that off, my wife has also stopped working so that brings double impact to the household expenditures immediately. $36,000 capital injection objective would translate to about $3,000 savings per month, which would go directly right into investment. Of those, about $1,000/month comes from the dividends, so the savings out of the salaries would be $2,000/month. I’ve done pretty okay in that aspects, as we can see the overall equity networth increases from $279,780 in Dec 2014 (Link Here) to $300,020 in Jun 2015 (Link Here). Not all of the increase are due to the capital injection though, but a major play would be from it I concur.
The second part is on the networth objective at the end of the year. Looking at how things are progressing, it looks like I will fall short of the target by quite a bit. I can probably hit around $320,000 by year end should market goes into consolidation mode but we’ll see how things will turn out. Again, I will not be overly concerned with the networth target because that’s not entirely something I can control with the mood of the market playing a big role. If I can add on more cheaper shares while my networth remains lower, I’ll take it right away.
On a separate note, I have also done my CPF Top Up of $7,000 (Link Here) for this year, so the shortfall will probably be coming from here.
2.) Projected Dividend of $18,000/year ($1,500/month)
Year to date, I’ve received a total of $5,603 in dividend income so far, which translates to about 31% of the goal. It’s a far cry from the original target and I foresee the year end to come in at around $10,000 for the best case scenario.
The main reason for this is due to the lower achievable portfolio target as well as more cash holding in the portfolio, which brings about very little interest income to cater with.
We still have the big August and November months coming, so we’ll just have to wait for things to turn out.
3.) Improving Personal Cashflow
Savings are tight this year but cashflow has been improving really well this year compared to the past couple of years.
I think the main reason is due to more discipline and handling of the cashflow, taking the system more automated than manual. For example, I’ll make a habit to clear all my credit card expenses before I leave anything for my investment. Some people advocate the paying themselves first before spending but I actually think the opposite works better for me. As long I can control my discretionary expenses in check, the rest of the money would go into the investment pool (or warchest) which can be a lot more than if I decide to pay myself first.
Preference is subjective, It depends on which method you are more comfortable with. Both methods should work out fine.
4.) Writing more regularly and Blog content
This year I’ve met a lot of new bloggers and readers through content interaction with them. I feel this is the best part of writing as I get to interact and exchange ideas with these alike minded group of people.
In terms of writing for this year, I think I’ve kept the intensity going from last year so I’m pretty satisfied in that sense. Learning will still continue on an ongoing basis and I will continue to share anything that I am finding it useful to the community.
There has been plenty of new faces of bloggers in the community recently. I think it’s a great chance to also hear from them from a different perspective but the same way some of us started blogging in the past.
5.) Reading at least 1 book a month
I can’t believe this but I am progressing rather well for this for my standard.
To date, I’ve finished reading Security Analysis, Barbarians At The Gate, Project Rosie, Fault of my Stars, Irrational Exuberance and Wealth of Common Sense. These are some really great books that have increased my understanding of the subject matter and I like that the habits of reading get kicks under way more than ever.
6.) Eat less than 8 instant noodles in a year
It really sucks because I started off well by not consuming them for the first 3 months and then it just toppled from there. I think I have eaten about 10 instant noodles in the last 3 months from Apr to Jun and this really kicks in the hard truth about perhaps not being strong enough mentally to sustain the habit. I found some really great Korean noodles on the web that kick start my old habits and it doesn’t help that I found a really cheap but super delicious instant noodles when I stepped in Giant.
Though the goal is somewhat over, I’ll be trying hard to contain myself for the rest of the year and beyond, so we’ll have to see the mental strength.
7.) Personal Mystery Project
I’ve blogged about completing one part of the personal mystery project when my wife decide to open her online shop at 24Fabulous (Link Here) and here for the instagram link:
https://instagram.com/24fabulous/
4 months into the project and good to hear latest that we are on break even already. What was planned to be a small affair has now grown over the past 4 months, so things are going well underway. In fact, I can see that she is at times much busier than I am at home. But she’s really happy doing it.
I am still in the midst of working for another project that is underway. I’ll foresee them to be completed by some time early next year so I’ll probably make it known once it’s closer to being done.
So that’s the plan for now. 7 goals. I’ll keep focusing on these goals while maintaining the balance between work and family. The kid is taking a huge toll on my health so far, but I probably won’t exchange him for anything in the world.
What about you? How has your half year goal been?
Keep up the good work! Enjoy the process!
Thanks Frugal Daddy.
Let's keep up together.
B,
I enjoyed every post from you. Keep blogging and sharing your personal experience with us.
I look forward to hearing from your mystery project soon!
Jia you!
Hi See Kay
Many thanks for your continuous support.
We are all learning from one another, so I hope to see everyone benefiting from the sharing together.
Hi B,
You are doing really well with a kid and all so I think you can keep up with your occasional indulgent in instant noodles… haha. I can feel your happiness seeping through your writings… way to go! 🙂
Hi Jes
It's good to hear from you, been a long time but I have continuously been a silent reader of your posts too 😉
Thank you for your words of encouragement. It definitely helps accounting for our own action, even if it is as simple as eating the number of packet of instant noodles. I hope this brings about greater mind resistance to the evil of all things. Hahaha 🙂
Hi B,
I think you're doing great. Have definitely noticed the continued intensity with the blog posts which is great. And 10 instant noodles in the first half of the year doesn't sound too bad at all! You're far more disciplined than I am 🙂
Cheers,
Jason