But as of late, whatever I have planned for 2026 is already in progress. I'm definitely winding down all my initiatives as I'm already around the 2/3rd mark of my life. I currently see three medical specialists - one for my diabetes, which I forcefully transitioned into insulin jabs to reduce my dependence on my drug cocktail, one for thyroid eye disease and now I have physio sessions to deal with my frozen shoulder.
a) Financial Markets
This is a rare year where folks who invested locally won big. I could not see it coming at all. Even though MAS had that EQDP planned, no one foresaw that Liberation Day would eventually push funds out of US bond markets to the rest of the world, with Singapore a favoured haven for its stability and strong currency. Valuations are still reasonable, and next year would not be as solid as 2025, so there's some more upside to go, especially for REITs.
I'm one of the few folks who actually agree with DBS's forecast that the STI will reach 10,000 by 2040. I've been a believer even during the years when dividend investing on the Super Terrible Index was considered a "dangerous" thing to do. Now my family has reached a million per capita, thanks to this stubbornness, without a single person holding a "real job".
I tell people that dividend investing in Singapore is a broken clock, but a broken clock can still be right twice a day, and you only need to be right once to get rich.
At around 5,160, I will take some steps to consolidate my assets.
b) Work initiatives
Other than lucking out in financial markets, work has not been great, with lecturing gigs being sporadic and unreliable. Business is also bad in the training field. I expect 2026 to be the worst year ever. Still, I see myself updating course materials to sharpen my proficiency as an investor, incorporating LLMs into them and refining prompts to improve investment results.
In this area, I'm glad I actually did what I wanted to last Christmas: get the ACLP with my Skillsfutures credits.
The big deal in 2025 is that, as my gigs start to dwindle, I was able to create a fully monetised YouTube channel, opening another career possibility as a YouTuber. I'm cautious about advancing this area as I want to work on a more measured pace and build helpful videos once a week, but I can capture 1,000 views in a week. I doubt the investment of time would pay off without sponsors, but I am not willing to work with financial institutions that can give me a unique voice in this space.
c) Learning Goals
I'm not going to make big moves until I get the metaphysical readings right for the Year of the Fire Horse, which augurs a fairly terrible year for me. Right now, I'm enjoying singing lessons and taking them quite seriously. My school is fun, and students will be performing in April 2026, so I want to participate in my first-ever singing concert.
If gigs dry up in 2026, I may pursue a serious course and see whether I can get mid-career support from the government, but this is limited to 2 years for all Singaporeans, and I might want to save it for a rainy day.
d) Hobbies
With singing and content creation, readers of the blog will notice that I've been contemplating quitting D&D for a while. You need to empty the cup before you can fill it with something else. But I don't think that it's time to make such a decision yet - it would be made if my kids have no interest in my hobbies.
In fact, I spent $400 getting the deluxe versions of all three rulebooks and planned to game this holiday season. If the year of the Fire Horse is going to be that bad for me, I need more avenues to destress.
I would talk more about the year ahead next week.
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