InvestX Congress 2015: Chit chat with readers.

Happy that I got to meet many readers at InvestX Congress 2015. 

I was part of the 4 member Q&A panel at the end of the day and because not everyone got to ask me the questions they had, I stayed back till 7.30pm to continue chatting with readers who came up to me. 

I hope I answered all their questions and, more importantly, got them thinking about their own strategies. Yes, it is important to have our own strategies. 

Don't simply do what I do because you like to build passive income. Not everyone can do or should do what I do. 

Remember: 
Have a plan, your own plan.

I received quite a few emails and there will probably be a few more to come. I would like to share a couple of emails from readers here and I hope they inspire:

Hi AK,

Re your articles related to saving, I had cut my morning gourmet coffee from 5 times / week to 2 times per week, every 5 cups  purchased , I get 1 free coffee :) still can't cut down totally, enjoying sitting in the cafe before start working.

I bring breakfast, lunch and fruit to the office regularly except when I meet friend for lunch. When I lunch out I try to cap at 6sgd per meal (work in CBD). 

I start to track my expense and had established a budget for 2016. I have decided it will be a frugal year for us. Extra money goes to investment. 

I have purchased my first 4 stocks in my life and more to come as I learn. 

For tomorrow, I will wake up early to pump milk for my baby boy, take MRT and bring my breakfast to attend the event of the year :) Thanks for sharing and always be there to answer our email.

Hi J,

It sounds like you have a plan and making progress too. Good on you! :D

I think you will see that every dollar does add up over time. :)

Hope you enjoyed InvestX 2015. ;)

Best wishes,
AK




Dear AK,

I finally got to meet you in person :)

I shall try to keep this short and sweet because I'm sure many readers email you, comment on your blog and your active blogging takes up quite a bit of time.

You were the one that sparked my interest in investing and also providing avenues of learning i.e. Dividend Machines, InvestX Congress 2015. From there it has encouraged me to keep learning and also sharing with others what I have learnt (as much as it's very basic).

I don't have much to ask you right now because I should put in the effort/due diligence in learning and forming my foundation from your blog and the treasure trove of previous posts as well as books, the internet, seminars/talks etc. I just have to put in effort searching through your blog with the search function or follow related posts.

I'm a newbie hence I want to keep and open mind and consider as many perspectives as I can. I never knew of the existence of "shorting". Sell High, Buy Low. I was like huh what magical technique this is. There's so much to learn out there! I only scraped some simple concepts of TA like Moving Average and CCI, which admittedly I have yet to fully internalize. Off to "investing/trading" school for me :D

I would like to thank you again for sharing your knowledge freely. I'm sure you get it often but I really mean it each time I say it.

F

Hi F,

I am happy to see so many readers at InvestX 2015. 

I am always happy to talk to myself as long as people are interested in listening. ;)

All of us were newbies at one time. 

The learning process these days is probably a bit less daunting and a bit more fun thanks to the internet. 

It is easier to get our hands on information and also to be educated. I am sure you will do well in time to come. :) 

Best wishes,


If you went for InvestX Congress 2015 and would like to share with me what you think of it, please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: The Fifth Person.

Thank you and have a good day!


Related posts:
1. Greater financial well being is not beyond us.
2. Heart to heart talk on achieving financial freedom.
I keep saying that all of us have difference circumstances in life. We might make very different choices in life and with those choices, there are pluses and minuses. We must make the best of our situations and, if possible, improve on our situations.
3. AK is a panelist at InvestX Congress 2015.

Invest for income and ignore the two Ms.

Who are the two Ms?

An email from a reader says...

Hi AK,

I followed you and bought XXX because I want to have passive income. 

The price is now down. 

I don't blame you. 





I made the decision to follow you. 

However, I worried and I got more worried after talking to someone in a forum. 

He said I am just taking back my own money when I get the dividend now. 

Can you talk to yourself on this? Thank you.

YLF

It is a journey.

AK says...

Hi YLF,

I gave some thought on how to answer your question. 

Hmmm, let me tell you a story of two investors, A and B.

A and B decided to invest in XXX because they liked the business and XXX also paid a good dividend. 

A few months later, XXX's stock declined in price. 





The business had not changed and, in all likelihood, it would still pay the same dividend.

A said that he had lost money and that when XXX paid him dividend, it was like taking back his own money. 

When he got the chance to break even, he sold and was happy.

B said that a lower stock price meant that he could increase his investment in XXX for a higher dividend yield because nothing else had changed. 

He was quite happy and bought more of XXX's stock.

As XXX's business was still chugging along nicely over time, B continued to receive meaningful dividends year after year even as the stock price went up and down over time. 

B was quite happy.

A became sad again.

Best wishes,
AK





There might be cases when a dividend is a return of capital. 

We can tell when we look at the financial statements if that is the case. 

In such an instance, we could say that we would be taking back our own money when paid the dividend. 

However, to say that we are taking back our own money when we receive dividend from a company because its stock price has declined from our entry price is either mischievous (if the person is in the know) or misguided (if the person is not in the know). 

The two Ms revealed.





Prices go down and prices go up. 

It is normal.

If we are investing in a good business with money we do not need for anything else and if the business pays regular dividends, we can hold forever.

If we can hold forever, short term movement in prices doesn't mean anything.

As investors, we should have the stomach for some volatility or else the stock market is a bad place for our money.





"Our favourite holding period is forever."
Warren Buffett


Related post:
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2. "Patience is sometimes the hardest part..."
3. How to save 100% of your pay?