Want $1.33m CPF savings & $240k passive income?

Hello everybody!

This is AK.

I am back!

Time for another update.

I talked about how I achieved financial nirvana in a YouTube video a few months ago and also how I have not been consuming any finance related content.

This is still true.

I have said before that my portfolio was more or less on auto pilot and that I didn't have to keep looking at it.

I do check quarterly to calculate total dividends received and that's about it.

Sounds pretty relaxing?

Regular readers know that for many years after achieving financial freedom, I still struggled to stop worrying.

Well, I think I have finally done it.

Done what?

Stop worrying.

The fact that I am turning 55 this year helps as it means my CPF account becomes a savings account.

More accurately, the Ordinary Account becomes a savings account which means I can make withdrawals from the account if I wish to.

Of course, if you have been following my blog for some time, you would know I have quite a bit of money stashed in the CPF.

Now to share my latest CPF numbers.

Interest earned in 2025,

In total, before any voluntary contribution this year, the numbers are as shown below,

I did top up my Medisave Account to max it out like I always do in a new year.

A 4% interest rate makes this a no brainer and I have blogged about how interest earned pays for my Medishield policy, year after year.

I like getting "free" medical insurance in Singapore.

I also did a voluntary contribution to my OA and SA to max out the annual limit.

Of course, this is something I have been doing consistently over the years and in my retirement, lacking earned income, I have been doing this without any outside help in the last 10 years or so.

Some might not find 2.5% and 4% interest rates interesting but they are, in my opinion, pretty attractive for an asset that is risk free and volatility free.

I have blogged about this often enough over the years, ignoring the naysayers.

After voluntary contributions in January, here are the latest numbers,

Total CPF savings,

$1,336,457.40

Ever since I started blogging in 2009, I have been saying we are lucky to have the CPF system and sharing how to take full advantage of it.

I will be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor soon.

Of course, regular readers would remember that I also said the CPF was one of two pillars in my retirement funding strategy.

CPF alone is insufficient unless we are happy with a rather basic retirement lifestyle.

What about the second pillar if we want more options in retirement?

I said I was also investing for income.

Specifically, I was investing in income producing businesses listed on the stock exchange.

I kept doing it over the years, getting it wrong sometimes but getting it right most of the time, fortunately.

I have been able to achieve more than $200,000 per year in passive income this way in recent years.

In 2025, full year passive income received from my investments in public listed businesses was

$240,009.09

On average, that's $20,000 per month in passive income which is very comfortable for the kind of lifestyle I have.

If I should choose to withdraw interest earned in my CPF OA in future, then, yearly passive income would get a boost.

I don't see any need to do so but it is good to have the option.

I have been retired from active employment for 10 years by now and I have been pretty careful with money as a retiree most of the time.

I think what I have achieved financially is probably more than enough to last me till I say goodbye to this world unless something goes seriously wrong.

I still have CPF LIFE which will pay me a monthly income from age 65 which is 10 years from now for me.

I blogged about this and also made a video about how I would get about $3,400 a month from age 65 by opting for ERS, the Enhanced Retirement Sum, which requires approximately $400,000 to be transferred to a newly created Retirement Account when I turn 55.

CPF LIFE is the best annuity available and I have blogged about this too.

Having another reliable monthly passive income stream in my old age is a good thing.

Independent of market conditions and not requiring any active monitoring, CPF LIFE is probably the most passive of passive income.

Stop worrying, I tell myself.

If you are still reading, you would probably get the impression that this took me many years to achieve.

Yes, it has.

Regular readers who have been following my journey over the years know this to be true.

Why is this important?

My experience shows that it is possible for regular folks to achieve financial freedom even in Singapore.

It takes discipline mostly and time does the rest.

For sure, my way is not attractive to everybody and some people may even look down on me.

Peasant millionaire? LOL.

However, for regular folks who do not mind getting rich slowly, my way is probably worth considering.

Of course, we want to do the right things.

Having discipline but doing the wrong things will not produce good results.

If you are new to my blog or if you want to learn how to invest for income in a structured manner, I am happy to say that Dividend Machines is open for registration again.

Here is the link for registration,

Dividend Machines 2026.

I have been promoting Dividend Machines as it is a high quality, value for money course yearly since its inception but this time will be the last time I am doing so.

This is because I will be making a full retirement as a content creator which also means this is my final blog post.

Although I will be going away, my blog will always be here and some blog posts are timeless which means readers could revisit if they like.

I hope my journey to financial freedom will continue to provide inspiration to anyone who might come across my blog in future.

Please take advantage of Dividend Machines and revisit my blog whenever you feel the need to be inspired.

Remember, even for regular folks in Singapore, financial freedom is not a dream.

If AK can do it, so can you.

$213,172 Passive Income.

It has been a while since my last blog.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Instead of revealing the numbers at the end of the blog, I have put it in the title this time.

So, for people who just want the numbers, they don't have to read the whole blog or start reading the blog even.

Time is precious, I know.

9 months worth of passive income and someone told me it is probably more money than what most people make in a year.

Why do I still worry about money?

In the past, I would have argued but I just nodded my head.

Since my last blog and video on YouTube, I have not looked at investments.

Well, I did sell some stocks like I said I was thinking of doing to increase exposure to Bitcoin but that was all I did.

Bitcoin now forms more than 10% of my portfolio which I think is enough for me, considering the size of my portfolio and my needs.

All else being equal, passive income could come in lower in 2026 because of reduced exposure to some income producing stocks.

I would be able to enjoy cash flow from my not insignificant CPF savings then, however, as I turn 55 in 2026.

So, all is well.

I have turned off all feeds related to money matters and I don't have finfluencers' content being pushed in my face.

I haven't read research reports from brokers either.

This is probably surreal to many of my long time readers and it felt that way to me initially too.

It felt surreal because I was so used to worrying about money and I was constantly looking out for all things financial.

I don't know exactly when but it happened in the last couple of months.

"It is just money."

To be fair, we can only say this when we have enough money.

If we are fortunate enough to have enough money and if we are fortunate enough to realize the fact, we should if we could take it easy.

Peace of mind is priceless.

Like I said earlier in the blog, time is precious.

Too precious to be spent worrying about money all the time.

Of course, if you have been following my blog for a long time, you know it took me many years to get to where I am today.

We cannot be right all the time but if we do the right things, then, things would probably turn out well for us most of the time.

Remember that no one cares more about our money than we do.

Don't ask barbers if we need a haircut.

If AK can do it, so can you.

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.

YouTuber Or Blogger? AK Is Branching Out!

Things at home are settling down into a new routine and I am feeling a bit better.

Well, I did suffer a bone fracture a few weeks ago but it is healing nicely.

Of course, if you are following me in YouTube, you will know these developments.

I have been making more YouTube videos ever since things at home improved.

However, I seem to have lost interest in blogging.

So, if you are still interested in following me and if you are not following me in YouTube yet, you might want to do so.

AK71SG

I also want to apologize for not replying to so many comments here but I really wasn't feeling up to it.

I didn't reply to comments in my YouTube channel too for many weeks while I was trying to cope with things happening at home.

Anyway, you can still leave comments here if you like but, most probably, I won't be replying as I won't be checking the blog in a timely fashion.

So, only leave comments which do not require a reply from me.

I will probably continue to blog once per quarter to provide a portfolio update as it has become a tradition of sorts but nothing more.

That's all for this update.

Latest video and update:

If AK can talk to himself (in YouTube), so can you!

1Q 2025 Passive Income, OCBC and Alibaba.

Been a while since my last blog post.

Hope everyone is staying calm as stock markets crash around the world.

I produced a video last night which I hope helped to calm some nerves.

Here is the link,

AK71SG 

I do enjoy buying things when there is a sale.

I am dipping into my war chest and nibbling at OCBC and Alibaba 

OCBC because I think it is still the cheapest amongst the three banks.

Annualising the regular dividend gives me a 5.5% yield.

Based on a 50% payout ratio, this is attractive to me.

Of course, there is also a special dividend on top of this but that is a bonus to me.

As for Alibaba, I have made videos on this and why I thought there was a good chance of seeing HK$160 per share again.

So, I added to my position as its price plunged to around HK$110 per share.

I will probably add if it goes to HK$100 per share as that is where I see a major support.

I always say we can never be too sure and that is why we need insurance.

A war chest is insurance.

Insurance has a cost.

In the case of a war chest, opportunity cost.

Some people don't like paying for insurance and prefer not to have it.

Well, different strokes.

As for my 1Q 2025 passive income, it amounted to $37,008.44.

This is a slight reduction from a year ago primarily because of a reduction in exposure to Sabana REIT.

Contribution from CLCT also reduced this year as China struggles to recover.

The reduction amounted to $2,000 or so which isn't a tragedy, to be sure.

However, I am aware that I will probably see a larger reduction next year as I expect lower contribution from IREIT as their Berlin property is being repositioned.

The expected higher dividends from DBS, OCBC and UOB should provide some relief as they form almost 50% of my portfolio collectively.

In closing, I apologize for not replying to comments as I do not have the mental or emotional capacity with stuff that has been going on in my life these few weeks.

All of us should have a plan, our own plan.

If AK can do it, so can you.

Sold Alibaba For 51% Gain.

This morning, I sold half of my investment in Alibaba for a 51% capital gain.

It has been a long time since I last did any trading and this was a pretty nice one.

A 51% gain in less than 2 months was not something I was expecting.

However, this is what Mr. Market does.

We get surprises, pleasant ones and also nasty ones.

It is like opening a box of chocolates, someone said.

All we can do is to identify what we think are good entries and the rest is up to Mr. Market.

No one really knows what Mr. Market is going to do in the next few weeks, months or years.

I thought the downside was pretty limited.

I thought the numbers looked decent.

I got in when the chart said there was some long term support.

And I left the rest to Mr. Market.

If the price had gone lower, I had a plan as to where to buy more.

If the price should move higher, I had a plan on where to sell.

Alibaba wasn't a large investment for me and it has become a smaller investment now.

As it doesn't pay a meaningful dividend, the way to get more cash flow out of this is to trade.

This reminds me of the time when I was trading the Hang Seng Tech ETF and I think some of you might remember that.

So, what is my plan for Alibaba now?

My eventual target price for Alibaba is still HK$160 per share or so.

I talked about this before and in case you missed it, see:

Why sell now?

The rapid move higher in price does not seem sustainable to me and there is a chance we could see a pullback.

A pullback to HK$100 per share is possible.

A nice round number is an intuitive support level.

The SDR equivalent would be $3.40 per unit.

I could get in again then.

In case Mr. Market turns very pessimistic again, we could see price retracing all the way to the 200 days moving average once more.

This was at HK$80.00 but has moved higher and is now at HK$87.00 or so.

Naturally, with prices higher, this moving average is rising and we could see HK$90.00 soon.

That is just 10% lower than HK$100.

So, buying some at HK$100 looks OK to me and if price should sink another 10%, I might buy more as the uptrend would still be intact.

Anyway, just a short update.

If AK can do it, so can you!

DBS Share Price To Stay Higher For Longer.

I have said for many months that interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer.

Higher for longer interest rates are good for not only savers but also investors in DBS, OCBC and UOB.

In their latest results, DBS said that they expect net interest income to come in slightly higher this year due to this.

This is a change from expectation for net interest income to stay flat or weaken, year on year, as the Fed cuts interest rates.

The Fed is now expected to keep interest rate on hold and might only cut towards the end of 2025.

The number of rate cuts this year expected by Mr. Market has gone from 5 to only 2 now.

This bodes well for DBS, OCBC and UOB.

Coupled with strong growth in their wealth management business and income from fees, we could see earnings surprising to the upside.

DBS has already announced a higher final dividend of 60c per share which is about 10% higher than the 54c per share a year ago.

They are also going to introduce a 15c per share per quarter payout over the next two years.

This is a return of capital to shareholders as the bank has plenty of excess capital.

This brings the payout per quarter to 75c per share.

Mr. Market really likes this and has sent the share price of the bank higher and it is quite possible that it is going to stay higher for longer, just like interest rates.

So, people ask me when am I selling my investment in DBS?

I have said before that 2x book value was something I was looking at.

However, with the recent development, this has to change.

With an additional payout of 15c per quarter per share which increases the dividend by 25%, I would be giving up a lot in terms of passive income by selling now.

As I expect the share price to stay higher for longer, all else being equal, it could be a long wait before I get to buy again at a lower price.

While waiting, the NAV of DBS would continue to climb higher.

Some might say that a gradual return of capital over the next two years means that DBS' NAV would be impacted.

However, I would highlight that it is only 15c per share per quarter which would be more than covered by retained earnings which means the NAV of DBS would still be growing.

Just some back of the envelope calculation.

60c DPS from a 50% payout.

60c per share retained earnings.

15c per share capital reduction.

The bank is still growing by 45c per share per quarter.

This means that using NAV as a guide to sell, the target price to sell would only move higher over time.

Given the current situation, the share price has more room to move higher.

JP Morgan is now trading at 2.3x book value.

Could we see DBS trading at 2.3x book value too?

I expect UOB and OCBC to surprise to the upside to, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Investing in DBS, OCBC and UOB, increasing the size of said investments and staying invested has been most rewarding.

If AK can talk to himself, so can you.

Recently published:
Dividend Machines Are Crucial As CPF SA Closes.

Dividend Machines Are Crucial As CPF SA Closes.

Been a while since my last blog post.

I have been busy with many things at home and I have not been looking at the stock market.

The last time I did anything in the stock market was in December last year when I bought some shares of Alibaba and Wilmar.

Fortunately, my investment portfolio is on "auto mode."

More or less.

It doesn't require constant attention from me.

It simply generates passive income for me regularly and all I have to do is to check my bank account on a monthly basis to see how much I have been paid.

This is still something I have to do since I don't want to overspend and I have to allocate excess capital.

In recent weeks, when it comes to excess capital, all I did was to maintain my T-bill ladder and this was something I have produced blogs and videos on.

T-bills are still a good place to park excess cash for now as I wait for better investment opportunities in the stock market.

Interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer as the Fed is no longer as interested in cutting rates as they were in the second half of last year.

This is of course good news for my relatively large position in DBS, OCBC and UOB.

All three banks are likely to continue paying meaningful dividends and they could pay more in 2025.

This is because they have plenty of excess capital.

Having said this, it is important to mention that I am not always flushed with excess capital.

There will be months when I don't receive any dividend or very little.

First and fourth quarters are usually drier.

January usually sees a drought!

I received zero dividend in January 2025!

However, my investment portfolio still generated 42% higher passive income in January, year on year.

This is all thanks to T-bills and Singapore Savings Bonds.

Fixed income.

I have been stashing more money in T-bills and SSBs.

To be sure, the passive income in dollar terms is not mind blowing.

January 2025: $1,491.93

January 2024: $1,046.20

It is an increase of some $450.

Enough to cover some of my routine expenses.

Of course, if I had mainly relied on something like this over the years, I would not have what I have today financially.

This is just part of my financial pyramid and it contributes to my portfolio's stability.

Of course, regular readers also know that I like the CPF system very much but with the CPF SA going away once we turn 55 years of age, we have to be less reliant on the CPF to fund our retirement.

Investing in the stock market is still something that every regular person should seriously consider in order to have a more comfortable retirement.

How to get it right most of the time?

I have shared my methods and philosophy here in my blog over the years and more recently in my YouTube channel.

Some have asked me if I could conduct investment courses but, of course, readers who have been following me for many years would know my answer to that.

However, it is that time of the year again and for anyone who is interested to learn how to invest for income, "Dividend Machines" is open for registration again.

"Dividend Machines" is the only course I have promoted yearly since its founding so many years ago.

It is not only well structured, it is also well priced and does not cost thousands of dollars.

It is run by my friends at The Fifth Person and some of you interacted with Victor who was the guest speaker during "Evening With AK And Friends 2025."

Anyway, if you are interested in growing streams of passive income and you should be, have a look:

Dividend Machines 2025.

If AK can do it, so can you!

$300K invested in REITs? Why did I buy? How was I sure?

I spend a lot of time thinking.

Some say I am a thoughtful person.

However, some say I think too much.

We are all wired differently, right?

During "Evening With AK And Friends 2025," something that kept popping up could be explained as such.

I said having money to invest with was not enough.

We must have the right mindset and the right framework for what we want to achieve financially.

Our methods and our motivation must match.

So, I shared the pyramid which I use to help ensure portfolio stability, and at the very least make sure it does not sink to the bottom of the ocean and is lost forever.

Having the right mindset is also very important.

Being prudent with money is the first and most important step as we need capital to invest with.

Being patient and pragmatic is useless if we don't have the capital to begin with.

Patiently waiting for opportunities.

Being pragmatic to know how much we should be investing in something.

Someone asked what gave me the courage and conviction to buy into REITs big time during the GFC.

I remember in reply to another question, I said we must know what we are buying.

If we didn't know what we were buying, then, we wouldn't know if we should buy more or if we should sell.

We could panic and sell when the price plunged instead of buying more, for example.

I used the example of Saizen REIT and said I was sure their portfolio of assets was worth more and that there was a strong demand for them.

When they sold some of the buildings to pay down debt as required by their lenders then, they were able to sell them at a big premium to book value.

Mr. Market was feeling very pessimistic about the REIT and turned a blind eye to that.

The GFC was really a credit crisis.

Some REITs like AA REIT could not get their hands on loans.

In the case of AA REIT, a white knight came along to recapitalize the REIT. 

It was controversial and very ugly but it was the only practical way for the REIT to survive.

The white knight was not altruistic, for sure.

It was all about making money and with so much money involved, they would try to make sure the REIT delivered.

So, what did I do?

I got on the boat with them.

Be pragmatic.

I also mentioned Lippo REIT during the event and how I was able to get a 25% distribution yield back then.

Indonesia was one of the very few countries that did not go into a recession during the GFC and the Rupiah was relatively strong then.

Indonesia didn't rely on external trade much.

Their domestic economy was 60% of their economy if I remember correctly.

The country's urban population still went to malls and they didn't have as many big malls back then.

The malls weren't going to shut down with demand that high.

With a 25% yield, I would have gotten back my money in 4 years.

Of course, some older readers might remember I sold more than half of my investment later for a 200% capital gain when Mr Market recovered from its depression.

That was the one year I blogged about massive capital gains from investments on top of passive income.

Be pragmatic.

I also said that I had the benefit of advice from a senior investor in real estate who said to be brave.

He said the market was behaving as if the buildings were being abandoned.

Still, we must do our own research to verify which I did.

Be brave but don't be foolish.

Don't borrow money to invest with.

Silly to risk what we need for what we don't need.

Don't follow "gurus" blindly.

Don't ask barbers if we need a haircut.

Educate ourselves and trust ourselves more.

We cannot get it right all the time, for sure.

However, if we are right most of the time, we should do well enough.

In the 15 years after the GFC, people got used to low interest rates.

REITs got used to that too and many borrowed too much and were way too optimistic.

We want to avoid being too optimistic and being too pessimistic.

Be pragmatic.

When some were saying buy Suntec REIT, I produced a video on Suntec REIT on how much it has changed from the time I invested in it donkey years ago.

Therefore, contrary to what those influencers said, I said I wouldn't buy Suntec REIT.

A few years back, so many influencers were saying buy Eagle Hospitality Trust and I produced a series of blog posts on why I wouldn't touch it.

Do our own research.

Someone in the audience said my blog was hard to read and he preferred my videos.

I think the truth is more and more people don't like to read.

Maybe, this is why in a recent international study, Singaporeans scored so badly in composition and comprehension in the years after leaving formal education.

Outsourcing isn't always a good idea especially when it affects our personal development.

We can listen to what YouTubers have to say but don't start relying on them for directions.

Alamak.

Nagging again.

Primary objective of this blog is to better answer a question posed during the event.

As I grow older, my brain dulls.

It takes more time for me to recall all things I want to recall in reply to some questions.

It is quite sad when I think of how I was sharper and more articulate before.

The nagging just happened unintentionally.

If AK can do it, so can you. 💯