10 minutes to improve your life and investments

I spent time at night reading his archive of comic strips then realised that he also has a blog on the same site. The slides won't take more than 10 minutes to go through. It tells us what some of you already know that the means matter more than the goals. That if you focus on getting the processes in place, the goals will be "easier" to reach. By the way, the slides uses techniques from a communications guidebook and could be a reference for your future projects. 

Goals are for Losers. Passion is Overrated. from Scott Adams

Catching up on my reading

After my examinations ended on 19 February, I have been indulging myself with computer games, exercise, after work drinking as well as reading. In fact, I borrowed from my girlfriend a book that I had bought for her, Thinking, Fast and Slow, and am almost done reading it the second time. Despite rereading it, I think there are many wonderful points about how our minds work that we can learn and understand as well as exploit. I will perhaps raise a few points in the coming posts, but suffice to say at this point, our minds are the product of many years of evolution and what it is most useful with - surviving the wild - means that sometimes it fails to cope with modern day abstract situations, such as in finance. 

The other book was purchased at least 2-3 years ago when I first signed up for a Kinokuniya membership, The King Never Smiles, actually as a followup to a undergraduate module on Thailand. I picked the book up again to understand the history of Thailand and the role of the monarchy, especially the long ruling king Bhumipol. The crisis in Bangkok is a long recurring one but I am of the view that once the prophecy comes true, it may mean more chaos but a new start to Thailand's democracy.

What if the HDB flat comes too early?

In late 2012, I was successful in balloting for a BTO in McNair Road. Although this was a 90+3 square metre unit, me and my girlfriend would incur a liability of half a million dollars once we receive the flat's keys. According to the documents, the legal date of possession is the fourth quarter of 2017 (!) but usually tenants will take possession about one year in advance.

I was looking through the facebook group for this HDB group and one of the photos showed that a sign at the construction site indicating the first quarter of 2016 as the expected completion date.

At this point in time, while I am delighted that the project is moving ahead, I am also taken aback because i have yet made any marriage proposal! Rest assured that this is in the planning stages but what if come first quarter 2016, I receive a letter from HDB to inform me to collect keys, when I haven't receive an affirmative to my proposal? It is a requirement that both owners be married to each other upon receipt of flat.

This is a very real issue because when the keys come, HDB will clear also any balance in your CPF to reduce the mortgage principal. Moreover, it also means that renovation works will be in order.

According to "seniors", it is possible to appeal for an extension of three months to. HDB just requires an ROM certificate to legally indicate our married status, so they do not need to be at your wedding dinner.

But the big worry is that what if we cannot really agree that marriage is the right thing for the two of us. Personally, I have told my girlfriend that while we have put a 5% deposit down and paid stamp duty (total amount of about 40 k!), it should not be the reason that we are sticking to each other even if things are showing otherwise. My own advice to other couples who apply-first-marry-later is that you have to agree on this point. That is the only way that you prevent an escalation of commitment that is doomed from the on set. An expensive wedding dinner, ring, renovation works, only for things to be split and even burnt (wedding photos). Hopefully it won't happen to me!

What have I been busy with

My last real post was more than a month ago due to time constraints due mainly to school and work commitments, not to mention the Chinese New Year break.

School took most of my time. I was roped in to be the backup for a project which I was originally tasked to sit out. The thing with this group project is that the members giving me problems were those that were allocated to my group by the lecturer. Furthermore, I decided on a group project module because it meant one less exam but who would have known that it cost me the same amount of time and anguish!

Concurrently at the point of time, I had to work on my essay which was due in the middle of February. This was for my more regular module focused on Southeast Asia but the theme was unfamiliar to me. This was not helped by the fact that the section of the National Library where I had intended to camp and do my research was closed for maintenance work.

The triple whammy was that I had a very important piece of report I needed to update as part of my day job. I did badly for the previous update and went at lengths that I did not meet the same problems as with last time. Needless to say, there were days at work when my brain stopped functioning because there was just so much to read and digest. 

As for the stock market, there was a major meltdown during the Chinese New Year period and things have started to look normal. I am maintaining my earlier outlook but I will change according every 3 months. 

There was some good news concerning the stocks that I hold. There was a strong rebound in the price of Wilmar although I am still in the red. Biosensors International also benefitted from rumours that it might be potentially taken over. Super Group, my most recent holdings, announced that it will carry out a 1-for-1 bonus issue. It means that the price will become lower XB, and may mean more participation from other retail investors. PetraFoods on the other hand announced a record dividend payout although it was not as much as I had hope it would distribute, considering the gains it made from its divestment. 

Outside the stock market, things are returning to normal. I now need only to take one more module for the next three months before completing my course. After which, I am support to serve the country for 3 weeks for a course!

Well, I will still be accumulating my monies for until after the World Cup at least. 

A brief return

The madness is finally over for the time being. The confluence of work reports, school reports and the examination killed my will to follow the market. After a strong sell off during the Chinese New Year, the Straits Times Index has returned past the 3,000 level. I am still holding on to my cash because my risk appetite is weaker than before. Seeing the stock market plunge 3 weeks ago just re-confirmed my bias that we are in a downtrend, and the more volatile side of the downtrend. Will post more stuff once I get back into the groove.