Passive Income. Alibaba. CPF. Bitcoin. Semi-retirement.

Time for another update.

First, on the personal front, I have been spending more time on other stuff in life as I have been feeling that too much time spent on social media is probably unhealthy for me unless I am doing it for a living, of course.

If it was a livelihood, then, rain or shine, I would have no choice but to do it, of course.

In my last YouTube video in the middle of June, I said I was taking the rest of June off from social media and I feel it has done me a ton of good.

I have spent so much of my time on social media since 2009 and although I have taken breaks from time to time, I always came back.

I think it is time I take a very long break or even retire from social media as it feels like an unhealthy addiction.

I know it is an unhealthy addiction because I could feel it feeding my ego and I am old enough to know I shouldn't like it.

Like I said, I am not doing this for a living and I do have a choice. 

I should choose better mental health.

Staying away from social media in the last two weeks has helped to clear my mind and I know what to do now.

More details on this at the end of the blog.

Now, for an update on money matters.

For readers who have been following my blog for many years, this year thus far probably looks very atypical as I not only invested in Alibaba, I increased my investment in Alibaba substantially.

Alibaba is now approximately 6.5% of my portfolio.

Strictly speaking, it didn't start this year as my first purchase was in December last year.

Anyway, for someone who is known for investing for income, Alibaba is an odd choice since its dividend yield is around 1% only.

However, if you are following me in my YouTube channel where I have been sharing my thoughts more regularly, you would know why.

I already have a relatively large portfolio of income producing stocks.

The passive income generated exceeds what I need in life by a big margin.

There is no urgency to further grow my exposure to these stocks, logically.

I also made videos about money in my CPF account and how that is going to generate passive income for me soon.

Although we earn interest income in our CPF account, realistically, we cannot count that as passive income until we turn 55 as that is when we can withdraw the interest earned from our OA annually.

I am going for the Enhanced Retirement Sum which would generate $3,400 in monthly income for me when I turn 65.

And the rest of the money in my CPF OA would generate about $20,000 annually in interest income which I can withdraw from age 55.

I turn 55 next year.

So, making further investments for income at this stage is really not a priority for me.

With policy risk in China largely gone, investing in an undervalued and growing AI and cloud computing infrastructure company like Alibaba is attractive to me.

Of course, most of Alibaba's business is still in e-commerce but that is what generates the cash for them to invest in the fast growing cloud computing infrastructure business.

I have talked about this many times in my YouTube channel.

So, I won't rehash.

The next thing I am going to talk to myself about might shock some readers but for those with better memory, it would not be all that shocking.

I have been buying more bitcoin.

About 3 years ago, I said that I changed my mind and bought bitcoin.

I was convinced that bitcoin was digital gold after doing some research.

Just like physical gold and silver, I think having some bitcoin as insurance against flawed fiat currencies is prudent.

It is a good insurance against monetary debasement as the world print more of fiat currencies non stop.

Bitcoin is a harder money than even gold and silver.

Hard as in hard to produce versus easy money like fiat money which can be printed infinitely.

Just like Alibaba, I have shared my thoughts on bitcoin in my YouTube channel regularly.

So, if you are interested, please search "bitcoin" in my YouTube channel and you will see those videos.

In one of the videos, I said I have become more comfortable with bitcoin after doing more research and decided to increase my exposure to it.

In that video, I said I would like to increase my exposure to 5%.

However, I have since then decided it should be 10% to 15% in order for it to be adequate.

Why?

Since I look at bitcoin as insurance, the way I decided that I was "under-insured" was to see how much coverage I had in traditional insurance.

In traditional insurance, I had to die for the benefits to be paid out to my family and the amount far exceeded my exposure to bitcoin.

So, I used that as a yardstick to accumulate more bitcoin and one advantage of bitcoin as insurance is that I don't have to die to enjoy the benefits.

Not something which matters too much to me but it is a plus.

I am very far from my newly set goal.

Since my last video on bitcoin, therefore, there has been a stronger will to accumulate more bitcoin.

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have seen more violence erupting in the world.

The Israel and Iran situation was the last straw for me and I bought more bitcoin when the price dipped below US$100K per coin like I said I would in one of my videos.

Military conflicts could become international, if not more commonplace.

Economic crisis could become global.

Ray Dalio said recently that we could be looking at something worse than a global recession and more intelligent people are thinking that way.

I think that it isn't as risky investing in Alibaba and holding bitcoin today.

Policy is very supportive now of tech companies in China.

Bitcoin is the hardest form of money known to mankind and it is, in many ways, better than gold and silver.

It is harder, cheaper to transfer and more portable.

To me, there is no risk in owning some bitcoin but it could be risky not to own it if we care about the value of our money and fighting constant inflation.

To fund my purchases of Alibaba shares and bitcoin, I have been dismantling my T-bill ladder which I have talked about frequently in the last two years.

Yes, that's my war chest.

This way gives me the funds to accumulate bitcoin every two weeks as the ladder matures but it will only last for a total of 6 months.

Lacking an earned income, I would have to rely on my passive income to further grow my exposure to bitcoin.

That would be a very gradual process as I consume a large part of my passive income.

What to do?

If bitcoin's price should decline significantly for some reason, I might sell some of my loss making or underperforming investments to buy more of it to hit my new target of 15%.

These are investments which I have not sold even though they have underperformed as they look undervalued to me at the prevailing market prices.

However, like I have said many times before, undervalued can stay undervalued for a long time and redeploying some of the resources to assets I am more concerned with currently is not a bad idea to me.

The investments I have shortlisted at the moment are IREIT Global, CLCT and Wilmar International.

Of course, if you have been following me for a long time, you would know that I have not found REITs attractive in recent years and much preferred putting more money to work by investing in our banks.

So, when I think about raising cash, it shouldn't be surprising that some REITs in my portfolio are considered likely candidates.

As for Wilmar International, the recent graft case in Indonesia which caused it to give up some 60% of its annual profit is, hopefully, a one-off event which means a correspondingly lower dividend for one year.

It isn't a structural issue and it doesn't change the view that Wilmar International remains deeply undervalued but it has been undervalued for many years and could stay undervalued for many more.

So, I decided that it is also a good candidate for a partial divestment in case I need more cash.

A side benefit in doing so is that I wouldn't have as many businesses to monitor and this frees up time for me.

However, it is not a given that I would do it.

Like I have always said, we must all have a plan, our own plan.

Over time, we could make changes but we should not stray too far from the original plan, especially if it is a good one which means not touching my rather substantial investments in DBS, OCBC and UOB, for the most part.

Let our winners run is the idea.

I have my own plan which I make changes to whenever necessary, eavesdropping on myself and eating my own pudding here.

Investing for income has worked well for me over the years and it is likely to continue chugging along.

Like I said in an interview with The Fifth Person, there are always big investment themes and my portfolio has morphed over the years.

I feel that the future is going to be very different and investing for income alone might be insufficient for regular folks.

If I were to go into hibernation today and wake up 5 to 10 years later, the changes I see in the world might shock me.

I am taking steps to help ensure that the shock would not be too nasty for me in such a hypothetical situation.

AI is part of the future and will bring more changes, both good and bad.

I suspect that many people will lose their jobs within the next decade or two, both white and blue collar, or have trouble finding jobs as AI and advanced robotics take over.

They need insurance as unemployment is likely to become a bigger problem.

Some businesses will struggle and some will fail in the face of such changes.

They need insurance as the business environment becomes even more competitive.

Then, there is the cost of living crisis which will only get worse especially for the common people as inflation is not going away.

Very flawed fiat currencies devalues our time and energy which means for most people, they would have to work much harder for money and might not be better for it as everything becomes much more expensive.

Job insecurity plus cost of living crisis.

It is a double whammy.

The world has not been peaceful for some time now and it is likely to be even less peaceful in future.

It would be a mistake to think that Singapore can stay insulated.

We need insurance.

Bitcoin is a good insurance in such difficult times.

It is pretty much future proof as it is the future of money.

What about the insane price volatility of bitcoin?

Like I said in one of my videos on bitcoin, when we buy a life insurance product, it is for the long term and it is the same for me when it comes to bitcoin because I view it as insurance.

Short term price fluctuations should be ignored and price declines are simply buying opportunities.

Of course, I am going to remind myself of the importance of doing our own due diligence before making any decision.

Please remember that I am not telling people what to do.

I am just talking to myself.

OK, now, the numbers.

Passive income for 2Q 2025 came in at 

S$95,974.56

This is almost 18% higher then passive income received in 2Q 2024 which came in at $81,339.05.

DBS, OCBC and UOB did most of the heavy lifting.

This year, looking ahead at 3Q and 4Q, in total, I should still receive more than enough passive income for my needs.

The higher dividends from DBS, OCBC and UOB will compensate for the reduced contribution from IREIT Global as their Berlin property is being redeveloped in the next two years.

2026 might not be as comfortable as OCBC and UOB are paying special dividends for one year only.

Take a deep breath.

I still have my CPF savings.

Always the worrier, I know.

Finally, I am announcing my semi-retirement from social media.

It is really for my mental health.

What does semi-retirement mean?

No daily, monthly or even quarterly updates.

I might produce 2 or 3 blogs and videos a year because I know that there are people who are still interested in following my journey because they find it entertaining.

Yes, no financial advice here.

Just entertainment.

Till the next one, stay safe.

If AK can talk to himself, so can you.

My YouTube channel: AK71SG.