Disciplined savings for cash sucking events in life, and not just create an emergency fund

Cash sucking events does not mean emergency funds, but emergency funds will help in allievating cash sucking events.

My definition of cash sucking events is pretty huge, and it's probably a wider definition as compared to just what emergency funds can do.

I list some examples of cash sucking events below

1) Marriage
2) House
3) Baby/Kids
4) Medical Bills
5) Parents' Medical Bills
6) Business
7) Car? Not a necessity but it increases convenience if you have old parents or baby kids who may need to be rushed to the hospital anytime.
and more

I don't really like the idea and concept of just emergency funds, or maybe the more commonly accepted idea that it is for emergencies only. This is especially the case for younger people.

And in my opinion, many emergencies could be covered somehow by adequate insurance. House damage? House insurance. Car accident? Motor insurance. Medical emergencies? Medical insurance. The list goes on. The rest of my thoughts does not apply if you do not have adequate insurance cover.

How I went from 0 to 100k to 300k+ savings by age 32

Recently, there have been a number of the younger generations (mid twenties) asking how I managed to save... So I decided to write and share my experiences.

Recall that about 2 years ago, the national newspaper has mentioned how it is possible to save 100k by 30 years old. I remember there were quite a number of people who thought it was crazy and undoable, or maybe my memory failed me. Either way, there are a lot of people who achieved that before 30 years old.

Granted, my savings aren't exceptional. I do know a friend who has hit the two million mark when he was age 32 about two years ago. That.... is really exceptional, and I am unable to play at his level at the moment.

I don't want to write a grandmother story, so in summary, these were some of the events that I have been through before today. There were a lot of luck involved, but none involved striking the 4D or ToTo.

Investment Philosophy -- How it has changed for me

Since I first started on this journey years ago, my investment philosophy has changed quite a fair bit.

Back then, I was a greenhorn. I didn't know a lot of stuff. Especially for the first few purchases, it was based on hearsay. Hearsay from forums, from friends, from family. Honestly I didn't know better, and good $$ was lost. That was... in a way... "lesson fees".

Then, in my late twenties, I increase my focus on investing in sustainable businesses. The main focus was on monopolies, oligopolies, as well as "sustainable" REITs. I added inverted commas to the word sustainable before REITs because I may still be wrong in the long run. However, my model has served me well enough for the past few years.

Now, in my early thirties, having "sustained damages" from two of the three bombs, marriage and housing, my investment philosophy has changed a little more. Instead of just investing in sustainable businesses, I'm adopting a "Rise-And-Die-With-Singapore" investment mindset. Just what is this mindset about?

Restarting this blog with a slightly different focus

I have not been blogging actively for about 3 years plus I think. That was when I was at my late twenties and approaching the thirties.

Since then, some of the people who known me have asked me to continue blogging my financial journey. I have not done it due to a variety of excuses and reasons, including the reason that there are now many excellent financial blogs on the individual stocks.

Now, being in my early thirties, been just married, with a HDB, I think it will be interesting to chronicle the financial struggles, and growth of a newly married couple, both at 32 years old as of today.

The aim of this journey is to grow our retirement nest, yet not scrooging on the little comforts in life like I have been doing for the early part of my financial journey. As my wife always says, money is meant to be spent and enjoyed. It doesn't mean excessive spending, but it doesn't mean excessive scrooging either.

Simple Update on STI

Recently I sold 2/3 of my holdings of SGX at a price of 8.72.

My simple and quick analysis on the chart of STI still looks valid.
I did a zoom in of the past few months to see if the conclusion coincides.

Based on the assumption that the current wave is a motive wave (Elliott Wave Theory), it seems that my target for a correction around 3rd quarter of 2015 will still stand.

The horizontal line is about 3650. It comes from a interim top just before the top of 2007.

The first wave is about 210 in height. If the 5th wave is about the same as the first wave, which it normally is, then we should get about 3636, pretty near to the 3650 target.

I will still play cautious for now.