Retrenched!

22/3/2017
At 4.30pm today, my managing director called me into the room and explained to me that due to the current activity levels in the Asia Pacific market, the company had no choice but to close the Singapore office.

We discussed slightly on the compensation issue. 

I finally received the letter of retrenchment. I was made redundant according to the letter. I had written in my Evernote in 2015 "I will make myself redundant when I turn 35." I prayed about it. I did not know God will answer my prayer in his way. It is pretty spot on. My effective date will be 1st April and I need to serve a month's notice. I will turn 35. 

28/3/2017
Today I passed my M1A. It was a close shave because I only prepared based on the CMFAS exam papers.


Two more papers M5 and M6A. 

For the rest of the evening, I spent some quality time with my sister and my nephews. I used to have more time with the elder nephew when I was not yet married with a kid. During the car ride with my sister, she told me she wanted to pay down her house in order to buy another condo. The rationale is to buy a place near to a school which she wants her sons to attend. To me, that is silly but important in the eyes of Singaporean parents. She is committing to two properties which will cost her say $2m. For instance, she moves to the new place and rent out her existing place, the yield will be 2-3% (based on my previous post on the yield of a condominium) and she continues to slave for her 2nd place. Both of my sis and brother in law are specialised professionals in the healthcare sector which provide them with high and stable income. If they only know how to a bit smarter with their money, they will easily surpass me in terms of net worth within a few years. Been a bit smarter, I mean putting money to work harder for them instead of putting them in fixed deposit and intend to pay down the house.

I know they will be rich as her husband's skill set is highly sought after and he operates on one of the most critical organs.

Due to all the exams and administrative stuff, I did not get to follow up much with Singapore market and just eyeing on two of my Hong Kong shares. I sold my 5 lots of one of the stock to lock in some profit. Another 28 lots to go. Take it slowly. The trend is intact and hopefully, a breakout will be seen in days to come. My US portfolio was not affected at all even with all the Trump drama. That is the beauty of having a portfolio which you can sleep soundly at night. 

I bought USD 201 worth of books from Amazon. I need to devour more books than before. Another USD 200 worth of books which I saved for a later purchase date. I have reserved USD 400 for my reading and learning budget.