A letter from a 66-year-old retiree.

I have received many emails in my three years as a blogger. Of course, there were some unpleasant ones but, fortunately, most of them are not. Many are questions which I would try to answer to the best of my knowledge. As I am not a trained financial adviser, however, I am not allowed to give advisories and I have refrained from doing so.

 

 

Sometimes, I would share readers' emails here in my blog, especially those which I think are inspirational or those which I think readers might find beneficial in some way. Today, I received a bracing email from a 66-year-old retiree. 

 

Blogging is a very time and energy consuming activity but if I have been able to make a positive difference in the lives of people through my blogs, then, it is definitely worthwhile.

 

hi AK,

i am a 66 yr old retiree who came upon your blogpost ASSI about a year ago quite by chance.

i had dabbled in shares many many years ago and having been burnt i swore i wont touch the SGX ever again.

However, after selling off my apartment and cutting off the rental income last year i was in a bind

as there was no more income and saddled with cash earning practically nothing and being retired....

until i came upon your blogs on the REITS and especially AIMS and SABANA. i have vested in both since end of last year and have been comfortable with the passive income without the hassle of tenants , repairs , maintenance fees and taxes.

i do not think you fully realize how your intelligent, knowledgeable, and objective views have helped

people like me who previously only depended on tips and rumours with disastrous results.

not only have i benefited from your analysis but i have also learned alot from your gems

like 'i have begun not to be bothered with price movements and be more focused on passive income (something to that effect)'

most of all you come across to me as very sincere in wanting to help those who want it.

therefore i urge you to ignore those who are critical of you and yet devoid of any alternative views. (like those comments of your recent yahoo finance reprints)

.....

yours gratefully,

.......

Related posts:

1. A letter from a reader in his early 20s.

2. Article published in Yahoo! Finance Singapore (2).
3. To be richer, be comfortable with being invested.

Unrelated post:
See photos of my staycation in MBS: here.

Request for sponsorship.

"Astonished, we were."

Recently, I received what I thought to be a rather bizarre email.

As someone who is blogging for fun and making a bit of pocket money from ad placements etc, I never would have thought that I would be asked for a monetary sponsorship. Well, I was recently asked!

Apparently, the event will have:

1000 delegates:

• Age between 28 to 55
• Annual income more than $40,000
• Professionals, Managers, Executives and Businessmen (PMEBs)
• Entrepreneurs
• High Net Worth individuals

"There would be abundant opportunity to gain exposure for your site during the event."

The proposal listed various levels of sponsors. A monetary sponsorship of $500 would qualify for the Bronze Level while $10,000, the highest, would qualify for the Platinum Level.

 

At the Bronze Level, ASSI will get our "corporate logo" into the event and will be eligible to insert a "voucher" into the 3,000 goodie bags.

 

I was truly flabbergasted.

 

ASSI doesn't have any logo, let alone a corporate one and I would have to provide 3,000 vouchers on top of the $500 monetary sponsorship? Wow!

 

A friend told me in jest that I should be happy because it means that my blog has moved to a higher level. What higher level? People actually think that I am making serious money from blogging now? That is the higher level? I almost fell off my chair laughing.

 

Gaining more exposure for my blog would be good. If I am able to reach out to more people, sharing my ideas on financial freedom and my methods, why not?

 

If every reader would share my blog on Facebook, Twitter etc, I think it would be more than enough.

 

After all, I blog for free. Should I pay to promote my blog? I think not.