COVID-19 on the rise - Be Safe!

 Covid is on the rise in Singapore! Health minister, Mr Ong YK said that we are preparing for 5000 cases.

I went for my third vaccination booster jab this morning. All my 3 dosses vaccine are Pfizer-Biontech. The vaccine area is at the second level of Pasir Ris Elias Community Club. The place was quiet and the administration went smoothly and orderly. The whole process was very efficient and fast. The only waiting time was the mandatory 30 minutes rest after the injection.

Up & up you go!

 

Resting area

As expected, I didn’t feel any pain or nausea. Even after half a day, there is no side-effect or problem. My body has already gotten use to the vaccine as this is the third vaccine injection. Is there a need for an extra inoculation? Would the health ministry calls for another vaccine jab in 6 months times? And repeat it every 6 months… There’s no end to this. Always be prayerful. God is still in control

Be Safe, be prayerful

Psalm 91 comes to mind when we think of deadly diseases:

“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday (verse 6)”

And Psalmist declare: “For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease (verse 3)”

Keep praying for everybody. Is the COVID disease a sign of end-times event and Jesus Christ is returning soon?

 

My dream – a Virus Detection Device

So, now we know, the unseen (by the naked eye) is always more powerful than what can be seen. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe (John 20:29b)” Viruses cannot be seen but is there any way we can detect their presence with our senses? Or can we design any device and wear on our shirt to measure the amount of viruses flying in the vicinity, say 5m or 10m away all around us? Just like a microwave energy detector which I developed, we can measure the amount of energy in the laboratory, why can’t we do that as a medical pre-cautionary personal device. And make such a medical device with colour coded LED (Light Emitting Device) using green as safe, yellow as warning, red as danger and alarm on (loudness adjustable). I am sure with this invention, we can surmount this virus and forget about all the contact tracing or checking in and out at every places. Does virus has energy, or what is their flying frequency? Is there any rhythmic profile or pattern that can be detect? All these can be translated in electrical signals and we engineers then can build electronic circuits for this medical device. And make it very low cost, consuming little or no energy or battery needed.

Or those techies, why not write an Apps that can detect the amount of viruses in the air within 5m and everyone can down load it into our phone. Alarm goes off if the virus level is beyond acceptable level.

So, doctors, researchers, scientists, engineers, and inventors, let us put our head together and do something to fight the virus, not just reducing the lethality of the viruses with the vaccine. I mean, even with vaccine injection, the medical professional are still working non-stop with cases keep rising.

O-Kay, I can go on and on to dream and imagine as an R&D engineer. If there is a will, there is a way…

 

Be safe; Be social responsible

But for now, we have to continue to maintain safe distancing. And wear our masks.

And so, as I walked out of the vaccine centre, I received 50 face masks – a reminder for me to be safe and triggered me to blog about this vaccination!

 

Have you taken your Covid-19 vaccination? What are your reaction or hesitation to do so?

 

Agape and Blessing!

 

Building Passive Incomes for financial freedom

 

Actually, I didn’t really think about making money during my years of employment. I just give whatever spare money I have to those in need – Charitable organizations (NKF; Salvation Army; St. Luke’s Hospital) and Christian Ministries (GMB, Gospel Mission to the Blind; Singapore Bible College; ODB and churches).

Now that I have stopped working, I realize … (and a bit late)

Nothing is free in this world. To live in this world, we need money. Although money will never drop from the sky, ideally we can still receive money by doing nothing after the initial work or effort. It is like planting a fruit tree. After the initial work of planting and nurturing, when the tree matures, it will bear fruits in its season – some yearly, some regularly depending of the type of fruit trees you plant.

Passive income is like planting “money-trees”. Once the money-trees mature, they start giving you money seasonally – yearly, semi-annually, or even quarterly depending on the type of money-trees you plant.

Passive income, which is opposite of active income, is money generated without you doing anything ACTIVELY.  [Active income is your employment. You are paid for your time, energy and skill by your employer]. Just like planting a fruit tree, which requires seeds, soil and nutrient, passive income or planting money-trees need seed-money; time and planning. And so, let me share some of my Passive Incomes:

 

Type of Passive Incomes

1        CPF Interest (Central Providence Fund)

CPF is only applicable to Singapore Citizens / PR.  For those who are 55 years old and above, after setting aside the amount for Full Retirement Account, the amount of money in the Ordinary Account (giving an interest of 2.5% p.a.) and Special Account (giving an interest of 4% p.a.) can be withdrawn. So, if I have $1million in the OA + SA, I will have at least $25,000 of yearly interest! This interest can be withdrawn if needed and become my passive income. We can also do a top-up to our CPF account up to $37,740 per year. With compounding interest at work, the money can grow faster.

 

If you are a young working adult, planning to buy a house, you will likely use your CPF OA to fund your housing loan. I have also used my CPF OA to buy a HDB flat and use it for 15 years. It is best to avoid buying private property as the first house if we do not have the means and use up all the CPF money, leaving nothing for retirement. By keeping the HDB flat loan from CPF to 15 years (which ended in 2007) and not longer, I have now more than $1million in the CPF OA + SA even without voluntary top-up. My plan is to grow this CPF OA +SA to $1.5 million, so I started doing yearly CPF top-up in 2020. (Should have started earlier if I have known about this). As I am no longer in employment, where will I have the money to do voluntary top-up to my CPF?

 

If you want to achieve $1million by age 55 years old, you can also transfer your CPF OA to CPF SA to earn higher interest and also do voluntary yearly top-up. You need to do your own calculation. Once you achieve this, you will have a money-tree or passive income of $2k per month. If you start earlier, you will reach it earlier.

 

2. Insurance Policies

When I first started work, I bought a lot of Insurance Policies because my brother and sister-in-law are insurance agents and they approached me. I actually bought these policies out of obligations. So now, after more than 20 years, these insurance policies are maturing and I can cash them out. I am now using these cash to top up my CPF account and also for my expenses! As the years go by, I will continue to redeem these policies. As a young working adult, buying insurance is a long term saving. It becomes your passive income only after >20 years. But, you do not need to over commit and buy too many insurance policies, unlike me.

 

Or you can buy an Endowment Policy with a fix number of years (3, 5 or 10 years). Once the policy mature, you will get a monthly payout. I have also one such policy that will mature in 2 years’ time.

 

3. Singapore Saving Bond

SSB is another passive income that I invested in 2020. With $30,000 and giving about 1.5% p.a., I received about $250 semi-annually. The interest changed yearly and now has decreased drastically. This is a risk free investment and will last for 10 years.

 

4. Corporate Bond

In March 2021, I manage to purchase ASTREA VI bond for $15,000 for 3% dividend semi-annually. It was over-subscribed and I was offered only 15,000 instead of my subscription of 30,000. I received the coupon of $226.85 in 20 September and will be also in March. This Bond will last for 10 years.

 

5. Fixed Deposit

Bank Fixed Deposit is another passive income but give very low interest. I do have some Fixed Deposit but was lazy to terminate it. I will do so early next year when it mature. Initially, when I started this FD, the interest was 1.5% p.a. for 9 months, then the interest dwindled to peanut and I forgot about this FD.

 

6. DBS Multiplier Account

This Multiplier Account give you higher interest if you are a working adult and credit your monthly salary in DBS account. The higher your salary, the higher the interest. Also, with more transactions done monthly like DBS credit card, Paylah transaction, DBS housing loan and DBS Vickers Security stocks dividend, you can get higher interest. For me, when I was working, I would get about $150 of interest per month. Now, I can only get about $99 per month as I don’t have any salary credit into my DBS saving account.

 

Semi-Passive Income

Semi-passive income has higher risk, but give higher interest or money to you. You also have to do some monitoring of the progress to make sure that the risk does not kick in and eat up your investment. So I will classify them as Semi-passive because of some monitoring needed.

 

1.      Stocks Dividend

Your need to have some stock investment knowledge and skill before you start. I started to do some stock investment in 2015 after reading a book by Adam Khoo – Winning the Game of stocks.

 

There are 3 type of stocks that I invested:

·         Equities - Stocks of individual companies.

·         Exchanged Traded Fund (ETF) – this is an index fund that makes up of a group of stocks of companies

·         Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) – These are properties that collect rental and dividend to investors who buy their shares. There are various types of REITs – healthcare; logistic; industrial; commercial; hospitality; and others.

 

To reduce risk and get higher dividend, invest only the best companies that keep making more and more profits and so give increasing dividends. Also, by investing in ETF, any companies that does not perform well will be removed from the ETF and replace with another better performing companies. This will mitigate any risk but the yield is usually low (3 to 4%). REITs usually can give >4 % and only invest in the best REITs.

 

If you are new, start with:

è REIT ETF like NikkoAm-straits Asia Ex-Japan REIT ETF. The REIT ETF give >4% and pay quarterly dividend, It holds a basket of REIT all over Asia.

è Equities – DBS (Development Bank of Singapore), this is the number one company in Singapore and the must have stock. It pays >4% dividend and pay 4 times a year.

è ETF – either Straits Times Index ETF or Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF. These stocks give 3 to 4% dividend semi-annually.

These are very low risk stocks and yet giving very good interest you can imagine them as fixed deposit. However, I consider them as semi-passive income because it will better to do regular monitoring of the stock prices so as to buy them at the lowest possible prices to increase the dividend yield.

 

Other semi-passive income which I do not engage in are:

-          Room rental

-          Limited partnership in a business

-          Write blog, book, songs to earn royalty

-          Write articles for magazines like Reader Digest, Kris (SIA) magazine.

 

And so, start by saving up a regular portion of your salary and use them to diversify your investment. Start planting your money trees and let time mature them. You can starting learning all about passive income or stock investment before you start.

 

Blessings

________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer:

The information provided is for educational and general information purposes only and is not intended to be personalized investment or financial advice. I make no promises as to the accuracy or usefulness of the information present.

Recalling life’s routine in a traffic jam

 

What a messy traffic jam along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) this morning! A 7km distance that normally takes me less than 5 minutes to travel turned into 25 minutes

 For the past one and a half years, I seldom experienced traffic jams. Less cars were on the roads, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. More people were working from homes. But today seems like the “bad-old-days” of driving through the PIE. The lane that I was driving on always seemed slower than the rest. And when I changed to another lane, the new lane now seemed to move slower!  Perhaps, traffic jam is the environmental way of teaching us to be patient.

I thought we are now in the “new-normal”. The “old-normal” of driving are always traffic jams, peak-hour rush, horn and frustration. And so, as I “crawl” through the traffic, I couldn’t help but mesmerized about how life has seep pass me all this years without me pausing to sit back and think. A traffic jam is like living on a fast-lane of life suddenly pulling the hand-brake.

Hey! I thought I am retired and should have time to smell the roses; sit-down with a cup of coffee and enjoy the breeze from the Pasir Ris beach. That was my dream before I quitted my job last year. But as God would have plan it, my retirement life is more like cruising down the PIE daily, with a busy weekly routine. No, I am not complaining. It’s just that I was caught up in the day-to-day chores that leave little time to ponder. Today is Thursday, and the busiest day of the week. Maybe, a traffic jam is good to help me take a better look of life’s routine… and check my attitude of going through life.

Did I pass the test of 1 Cor 16:14 “And do everything with love”? Check.

How about Phi 2:14 ”Do everything without complaining & arguing”? Check.

OK, a more difficult one, Matt 5:16 “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good work and give glory to your Father in Heaven.”

Let’s always check our light, at times, we may forgotten to turn on our light. Once our light is on, drive carefully. Even through the traffic jams of life (which are many), we can still do things that give God the glory.

Agape.

A Christian Ministry worth supporting financially!

 “Your word was found, and I ate them.

and your word became to me a joy

and delight of my heart;

for I am called by your name,

O LORD, God of host.”

-                                              - Jeremiah Ben Hilkiah

Received yet another book from OUR DAILY BREAD (ODB) last week! ODB has always been very generous in giving out books and Bible.

Did you receive any of them?

I started daily reading on this devotional book, do some reflections and journaling. Included in this book are also a devotional daily study on the Epistle of 2Timothy by Rev Dr Robert Solomon; many life testimonies and a re-look at the ways we live “the new normal” through the current COVID-19. All the writers are our fellow Singaporeans. So it related to us very well.

Devotional Aids

For many years, I have been receiving ODB booklets. The daily devotions has really encouraged me. There are many good stories that help me to apply Scriptures into living. I also compiled many useful stories and keep them for reference and sharing when I was involve in pulpit preaching years ago. It is a good resource to be blessed by ODB. More recently, many Singaporeans also contribute devotional articles to the ODB.

 

ODB Booklets

ODB – NLT Bible

Did you receive the Our Daily Bread NLT (New Living Translation) Bible? I have been using this Bible for all my bible reading and meditation. In it, there are also many clip-out devotion that are related to the Bible reading passage. A wonderful and useful Bible. I will complete reading the Bible in the NLT version from this ODB Bible. So, far I have only completed reading the Bible in the GNB (Good New Bible), RSV (Revised Standard Version), NIV (New International Version) and many Bible Book Studies using the NASB (New American Standard Version). This year, I am using this NLT Version for a change.

Bible Study Guides

 Ready to move into studying the Bible book by book? Maybe not the Precept or the BSF method; but at least move into a more systematic method of doing some observation. Here, ODB takes one step further and started to write Bible Studies on Books of the Bible. From reading and meditation of the WORD of God, we are now guided to study the Bible. Great job!

They also have topical books – I particularly likes the study series on “Surviving the Storms of Stress” and also about “Joseph: Overcoming Life’s Challenges”. You will be equipped to handle stressful and challenging moments.

Christian Books

Want a good casual read about life events? Or stress out about life? Rev Dr Robert Solomon – Finding Rest for the Soul will recuperate you back with energy again! He also write for retirees like me, and in big print! Growing Old Gracefully will warm your heart. And be sure to do the reflections after each short chapters. That will spice up your soul after a good read with reflection, journaling and doing.

Another of my favourite writer is David Roper.  I used to attend his church where he was the Elder of Peninsula Bible Church in the Bay Area in California, USA back in 1985-86. His short stories in Teach Us to Number OUR DAYS will relate well to retirees.

I still have many books and materials from ODB which I am reading, studying and working through them. That is how I spend my time wisely to enrich the soul.

ODB Online

ODB has a webpage. You can access their resources also.

Link:  ODB Sg  (https://odb.sg/)

So, what are your encounter with OUR DAILY BREAD? Are you blessed by their daily devotional or books? You can write to them online if you want any material. This is one Christian Ministry that is worth supporting financially. And in turn we also benefited from their works. [ODB gives materials freely even if you don’t support them financially]

I am sure as you spend time diligently through these materials from ODB, you can say like the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer 15:16): “God’s Word is found and I eat them. They become a joy and delight of my heart.” I do, will you?

May the Good Lord blesses ODB richly.

My wonderful jogging day

 

Jogging Time & Distance

Thank God for a superb day!

After doing all the morning house chores, I decided to go for a jog at Pasir Ris Beach, about 1km from my house. At about 10am, the sun was blazing hot, so I jogged at a slower pace to enjoy the morning beach breeze, the scene and also to pray.

Across the sea is Johor, Malaysia (Punggol's sideview)

The running payment along Pasir Ris Beach

Big ship anchoring along the Johor Straits (Changi's sideview)

So, what did I do while jogging?

I Pray:

I prayed for my family, they are the closest and dearest to me. I always thank God for each one of them. Without their love and support for each other, life can be tough within the family. Home is supposed to be a refuge and sanctuary in time of trouble; for encouragement + motivation in time of crisis and challenges; and inspiration + emulation in time of growth.

I pray for my cell leader and cell members. We all have needs and concerns. I thank God for all of them.

I Listen:

I listen to my body. While jogging, I usually pay attention to what my body is telling me. Am I out of breath? Do I feel any pain or muscle pulling? Am I lethargic or weak? All these will decide how fast and how long a distance I can cover for the run. Today, the weather is hot. So I just decide to run slower and enjoy the day.

I listen to animals’ noise. Pasir Ris beach has many animals – stray dogs, wild boar, cock and hens, birds – all kind of birds. Once, I was attach by a group of stray dogs. Thankfully, I manage to fend them off. Since then, I am particularly careful about animals.

I listen to God. Jogging always give me a sense of tranquillity. I jog when I am tired to receive God’s rest. I jog when I am sad, to receive God’s comfort. I jog when I am troubled and need to make decision to receive God’s peace. And so jogging is always the best part of my life.

I Watch:

I mostly watch the weather. It can be very unpredictable. One moment it is sunny, half way through the jog, the sky can turn black and rains. I suffered many of these kind of weather condition and had to change course. Today, however, the weather is kind to me and give me a good day.

I watch the pavement for obstacle and danger. Many years ago, I fell into a man-hole while jogging at 5am. Thank God, I suffered only a minor injury as I was still young and strong. 2 months back, I tripped on the roots of a tree and tore my skins. So, jogging can be dangerous if I am careless.

I watch out for traffic, if I am running along the road or on the walkway. There are many bicycles and PMD (Personal Mobile Devices). They are usually quite reckless; only pedestrians and joggers suffer in the event of an accident.

 

Things I don’t do during jogging – listening to music. I am not a musical person unfortunately.

Do you like jogging? What do you do while jogging?

I am definitely looking forward to another wonderful jogging day.

Agape & God Bless

 

Retirement: BE SAFE! / Be RESTed

 These days, I start to think a lot. And so I shall write more often. Maybe, freedom from career-job and office politics have made life less emotional draining and less mentally stressful.

But now, let’s talk about my retirement…

 

I often hear people saying before you retire, you need to be healthy and wealthy. Also, the maxim of “Health is first wealth” definitely rings true to retirees’ ear. No point having a lot of money but always in poor health and immobile. Or being very healthy, but always struggle to make ends meet.

A year has passed since I entered into retirement! And in the midst of the COVID pandemic! Through this period, I learnt another truth; especially in old age that besides having good health with reasonable wealth is SAFETY or RISK.

 

HEALTH  <- SAFETY/RISK ->  WEALTH

 

Let me share some of my situations for the past 1 year:

WEALTH Safety

Growing wealth using CPF 1M65 ($1M@65 years old)

You bought some stocks in the stock market, and COVID-19 struck. Argh! All your stocks turned red, some never to recover, especially those with poor fundamental because you risk venture into them. Thankfully, my stock holding are of strong fundamental, with the exception of a hospitality REIT and aviation stock (not SIA but SATS).

If you are younger, then time is on your side and you will recover from the risk taken. For senior like me, I learn that every risk taken has a strong repercussion. For one, there is no longer any income. We rely on what we have saved before retirement and not to squander all away with risky assets. However, for Senior Singaporeans, we actually have a money safety net which I only recently discovered. That is the Central Provident Fund (CPF). For those who are above 55 years old and have set aside their Full Retirement Sum, their CPF account is now actually a saving account giving a minimum 2.5% interest. So, I started to top up my CPF to achieve $1million. That will give me a yearly interest of $25,000 or >$2,000 a month. A nice sum of free money for retirement! What a nice safety net. For Singaporeans in their 40’s, this is the best method to prepare for retirement. And it is quite easily achievable. The earlier you start, the easier it is to achieve $1million dollar in CPF. This is widely discussed in the internet if you want to lean more.

My other Wealth Safety net is a through Insurance Policies. Through the years, I bought insurances from my brother and sister-in-law whenever they approach me. Now that I have retired, I have cashed out a few of these policies and they become my wealth safety net. A few weeks ago, I started to look through all the insurance policies that I have and was shocked to discovered that I have more than what my 10 fingers can count. No wonder, I was always grumbling about paying premiums for my insurance policies all these years! It is like having a “suffer then, enjoy now“ kind of feeling right now. J

HEALTH Safety

Work life actually drain off all your energy daily. It is difficult to find time to exercise and stay fit and healthy. Retirees like me are often in the park or beaches exercising – walking, jogging, cycling, and even practicing yoga or tai-chi.

Jogging is the best time of my day. Initially I was a bit ambitious and jogged about 9km for 5 times a week. Then I signed up for the Straits Times 175km run in October 2020 and completed the distance in less than 4 weeks (average about 50km per week). 

2 important safety rules I learn about jogging:

Injuries – Running must be balanced with rest. Overstrain will actually tear the muscles and instead of improving, the body breaks down. After the Straits Times 175Km Run, I suffered fatigue and injuries and has to take a long rest.

Accident – In July 2021, I have a fall while jogging, after tripped by kicking on the roots of a tree. The skin of my hands and knees were torn and bleeding. I had to stop jogging for more than 1 month for the wound to heal.

These days, I pay a lot of attention to safety while jogging.

 

 

Another aspect of retirement is about REST.

Rejuvenate – Enjoying & doing what I like

Exercise – building up fitness & power

Safety – from injury, accident & eating safe

Time – Use Time wisely, otherwise people will use your Time.

   Time to pray, reflect, read, write, learn & serve.

 

I will write about various aspect of REST in the future. I will continue keep this blog alive and interactive if you have anything to share or comments.

 

Agape & God Bless!