My Market Transactions — Wk2 2023

   

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil.

 

Have a great week!!!

“Being a manager means you cannot always be the nice guy you want to be”

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

“Being a manager means you cannot always be the nice guy you want to be”

I have been told this a while back. But I kind of refused to accept it.

So I have been trying my best to deliver quality results while being nice, even though this often means I have to work extra hard and even though sometimes I do not even get the recognition/understanding for my good intention.

But just as all people who do not accept reality, I come to the pivotal point.

I start to push harder and demand more, while knowing that this is still within the reasonable range.

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I know it is the right thing to do.

After all, the success of the team depends on every member of the team doing their part. 

Otherwise, the team wont be as efficient or effective as it should be, even though some members are willing to take the extra load.

Just imagine when such a team goes head to head against another team which has a manager who can ensure everyone in his/her team does their part.

The first team will lost, no matter how hard the manager works.

And when that happens and everyone in that team loses their jobs, it is hard not to pin the manager on the failure board. How hard he works does not matter.

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Again, I know that is the right thing to do, but what surprises me is team’s reaction.

There is no tough resistance. Some of them are even more motivated and happier.

They feedback that they have clearer idea on the expectation and what to do and are learning more. They have to work more, but it is worth it.

The outcome is that delivery improves and I work less.

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To ensure team productivity, there has to be someone in the team pushing the boundaries of possibility.

As the manager, there is no excuse.

A manager’s job is not to be a nice guy, but to lead the team to success.

To us all!

Till next time!

Library is a great place!

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

With WFH (at lease partially) becoming the norm, I find out that library is such a great place.

I can clear my head and focus on what I want to do, such as reading and sometimes even working.

Compared to staying home, there are so much less distractions, such as entertainment, noises, interruptions etc etc.

Of course, more than occasionally, there will be uncles/anties who watch drama on loudspeaker and cannot stop making wired noises, people who discuss/laugh/flirt loudly, people who just cannot stop shaking the shared table, people who would use up all the charge points on the wall etc etc.

Of course, more desks and a water dispenser would be welcome. 

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But it is still a great place to be.

Especially the regional libraries, where there are more spaces, desks, facilities.

The staff are generally nice, helpful and kind.

Most libraries are located in or near to shopping malls. So food/drink is not a problem.

Wireless@sg is available there. But mobile hotspot is safer if confidentiality is a concern.

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So if you also have trouble focusing in your own home, find out where the closest library is and give it a try.

If you do come, do behave, respect others and the staff and follow the rules. Afterall, it is up to every one of us to keep it a great place.

Till next time!

My Market Transactions — Wk1 2023

  

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Below are the transactions for last week.

Capital injection: 22KSGD

1.T-Bill - 22k SGD

The cut-off yield was 4.2% and I got allocated 22K. The bill is for 6 months. 400+ gain for 6 months.

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Capital outflow: 0

 

Till next time!

Hit in the face…

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

At the beginning of the new year, I have been hit in the face by a few things. 

One of them is that further loss from investment came in as my wife did her year-end summary. I was expecting loss, but not this big loss. I will share more in the upcoming Monthly Net-Worth update.

The rest has to do with my own face-losing behaviors…But realizing them is a blessing.

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I take it as a sign that I need to be prudent, diligent and keep my feet on the ground in 2023.

I will do exactly that.

I would say this is one of the best openings for the new year!

Till next time!

2022 Year-End Summary — Financials

 

Photo from author

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

As we just entered 2023, I would like to share with you a quick summary of 2022 from the perspective of financials.

As you can see from the chat above, our Total Net-Worth (TNW) has been increasing every year, but the increment year-on-year has been dropping, which means we are further away from our 40/40 goal than 2019 while I am 3 years closer to age 40.

This is mainly due to our investment.

I was mostly out of a job in 2020, but our investment carried us through.

In 2021, it is the opposite. I got my salary back, but our investment tanked, resulting in an overall lower increment than 2020.

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2022, on the other hand, was a disgrace. 

Our investment continued the dive, but not as drastic as 2021. I was able to hold on to my salary for the most part and most of the pay for the freelancer work I did in 2021 came in 2022. But we still had a lower increment than 2021. 

Worse still, at the end of 2022, our actual TNW was lower than our conservative projection. This means we have fallen behind our projection in absolute terms, aka, we are poorer than we planned to be.

Again, investment contributed to most of it. Even we were conservative about our projection, we did not forecast a negative return on investment. But we have been in the red zone for the last 18 consecutive months.

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With the market showing some signs of recovery and my new start in career, we hope to reverse this declining trend of increment and catch up with our projection in 2023.

Let’s revisit the numbers by the end of 2023.

My Market Transactions — Wk52 2022 - stupid enough to miss Dec SSB

  

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil - because I was stupid enough to miss the SSB application deadline...

 

Have a great week!!!