SSB, T-bills, DBS and UOB. Plan for December. Easy.

This is probably going to my final blog post for 2023.

Planning on taking it easy for the rest of the month when it comes to social media.

Have been a little too active in the last few months on YouTube.

Now, going to spend more quality time with myself.

Being able to play three games everyday on my new gaming laptop makes me very happy.

That is what retirement is about.

It is about being happy.

A few things to talk about.

1. T-bills and SSB.

The Singapore Savings Bond being offered this month is offering a stunning 3.07% p.a. 10 year average yield.

Stunning for the wrong reason since last month's offer gave an attractive 3.4% p.a. 10 year average yield.

I think I will give this one a miss.

Am I veering away from my plan to keep buying Singapore Savings Bond as long as the yield is above 3% p.a. or not?

Well, the plan was to replace CPF Voluntary Contributions with Singapore Savings Bonds.

I have already done it with money meant for the CPF in 2023 and 2024.

2025 is work in progress and there is really no hurry.

In the meantime,  I will continue to strengthen my T-bill ladder.

The last T-bill auction had a cut-off yield of 3.8% p.a.

Hopefully, it stays there for the auctions happening this month too.

2. DBS and UOB.

I still want to increase my investment in the local banks.

OCBC is already a very large position.

So, the idea now is to grow my positions in DBS and UOB.

For me, the stock prices to add would be between $30 to $30.50 for DBS and closer to $26 for UOB.

3. Taking it easy.

I have been thinking of taking it easy when it comes to investing for some time.

However, after a recent recording with The Fifth Person, I have been thinking about it even more.

The decision to retire early was a big step for me.

I was always a worrier and I still am a worrier.

Still, I convinced myself that I had sufficient financial resources to retire early.

Then, in retirement, I began to question if I really did have enough.

I continued to invest for income and increase my passive income in retirement.

In recent years, I have been telling myself to take it easy and that I have enough financial resources not to have to worry.

I have had some success but something Adam said during the recording hit home.

So, I could simply just buy more Singapore Savings Bonds and T-bills from now on and still be quite comfortable.

Risk free and volatility free.

Don't have to do anything else.

This would be another phase in my life, if I should do this.

To be honest, I rather like it.

Anyway, that's all the talking to myself for now.

If AK can talk to himself, so can you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Unemployed AK grew his passive income from $100K to $200K per year.

I thought of making a video out of this but I am feeling a little under the weather.

So, I decided to blog about this instead while the thought is still fresh on my mind.

Something I do regularly is to blog about my passive income.

It is a digital record of not only the numbers but also my thoughts at those different points in time.

Of course, the blog posts are also to inspire readers.

Hopefully, more regular folks like me would make investing for income a part of their journey towards financial freedom.

Yes, if AK can do it, so can you.

While having a conversation with some friends recently, they asked me how did I continue to grow my passive income while lacking an earned income in the past 8 years?

One of them reminded me how my annual passive income was closer to $100K more than 10 years ago.

Now, it is more than $200K.

It isn't something I have given much thought to.

So, what did I say?

"I am just very frugal when it comes to money which allows me to continue investing more money although I lack an earned income."

When I left the workforce, the biggest disadvantage was losing that earned income.

While still receiving an earned income, I was able to reinvest all of my passive income and also some of my earned income.

Retirement has definitely slowed the pace of wealth building.

A friend told me that being able to continue to grow my wealth even in retirement is quite impressive.

(Most people see their wealth dwindling in retirement.)

How did I achieve this?

In a nutshell, this is the beauty of investing for income.

I consume the income generated by my investment portfolio.

I do not consume my investment portfolio.

I do not eat the chicken but the eggs laid by the chicken.

However, this isn't the full story.

Remember how my friends did a CSI on my passive income and reminded me that my annual passive income was closer to $100K more than 10 years ago?

Wasn't $100K a year already enough to F.I.R.E. for someone like me?

Well, it probably was more than enough.

So, what was the problem?

I am a worrier.

Hard to change.

I needed a buffer and a significant one too.

How significant a buffer?

Well, consider this.

Even today, with inflation being as high as it is, I recently blogged about how I would probably be quite comfortable with $48,000 a year.

See how significant the buffer is?

If I had retired more than 10 years ago instead of 8 years ago, I would have had a smaller buffer.

If I had spent money more freely, the behavior would have probably carried into my retirement years.

I would not have been able to continue building my wealth to what it is today then.

For most of us, it is far easier to curb the outflow than to grow the inflow of wealth.

So, it isn't just about not eating the chicken but the eggs.

It is also about having more than one chicken or having a buffer.

Don't consume all the eggs so that we can sell some of the eggs to buy more chickens.

Of course, there were also times when buyers offered much higher prices for my chickens.

I used the proceeds to buy even more chickens.

Not all chickens thrive but most of them do.

So, how did AK the early retiree grow his passive income from $100K a year to $200K a year?

No earned income but can continue growing passive income?

Confirm and double confirm!

If AK can do it, so can you!

Related post:
Inflation, passive income and budget.