Berlian Laju suspended!

I had previously posted about Berlian Laju here:
http://wealthbuch.blogspot.com/2010/10/berlian-laju.html

This was a purchase from a long time ago. I had the opportunity twice to cut loss with $800 loss, but I didn't. It ballooned to $10k.

Too bad my bet didn't work out... Probably have to write off 10k from my portfolio.

Lessons learned:
1) If you don't cut loss early enough when things looks wrong, the loss will cut you deeper.
2) A TA purchase should be given TA treatment. Do not switch to FA or hope treatment. Vice versa.

Returning almost all of 2011 dividends to the market through this single counter. Thanks Mr. Market for the lessons :)



On the bright side, my rubbish counters have reduced by 1.

Goals for 2012, The Year of the Dragon

This post was sort of inspired by jwt from LP's cbox. Basically, he asked me if I have any updates on my personal goals, and he would be interested to read. I was quite surprised and honoured actually. I was too busy to really spend time to update this blog, but I was thinking, hey, I might as well consolidate my thoughts in this post to guide myself too. After all, typing everything out helps me (1) consolidate thoughts in a more structured and logical manner, and (2) take more responsibility and action for my goal because I have announced to the world.

Dragon Year 2012 is another year for me to achieve multiple goals. Why set these goals, one may ask. Well, I have set myself goals for year 2010 and year 2011. While I do not necessary achieve all my targets, at least my actions are in the correct direction. I will have an aim in life, something to look forward to, and when achieved, a feeling of exhilaration.

Am I doing it right?

Much as I try to motivate myself with the statement:

There's no absolute right or wrong; just do what you think is right.

I can't help thinking sometimes if I'm indeed pushing myself on the right track. I don't want to go through the trouble to type a long history, so I shall just summarize in point form.


I have these goals lying in my head for quite a while:
Time-consuming goals
Childhood goal:  Start a tuition centre (taking 50% stake in a current centre)
Recent goal: Start a publishing house and publish truly useful educational materials for A levels (I must share my knowledge before I forget or before anything unfortunate happens to me)
New goal: iPhone and Android apps for education purposes (for free downloads to help students)


While I'm working my ass off on these goals, I need money to eat, I need money to invest in the materials to work towards the goal, etc. Yet, my current job is so damn low-paying.

So the question lies here.... should I search for a higher paying job while I work on my goals? Yet, will the new job be so busy that it does not allow me time nor energy to work on my goals?

Don't get me wrong, I like my job, I like what I do as sidelines. But I need to grow as well :x


It's truly a testing moment as I see my job salary remaining moderately stagnant (due to the company itself, a US MNC which isn't doing too well), while I see my friends and siblings getting higher and higher salary increments in government sectors. Yes, I might have achieved more than most my age at the moment due to extra income from tuition, but deep down, I know that isn't anything sustainable. My available time will slowly reduce, my energy will slowly wane...

It makes me wonder if working on my goals while staying stagnant in the job market is the correct move in comparison to climbing the career ladder. The cliche answer is: "only time will tell".... Yet it doesn't help in coming out with any solution.


Finished with lamenting, signing off back to working on my goals.