Unlocking an article published early in the recent crash, on 11 Jan 2022. Some details removed to preserve subscribers’ privileges. Market had the best rally since 2020 last week. Looking back, I could have bought more aggressively. While I added over $200,000 over the last three months, it seems like a good idea now to have gone all in. I really try not to think in this backward manner as we don’t know what tomorrow brings. We didn’t know if the crisis would deepen, and most commenters were predicting things to get much worse at the time. I stuck to my plan of reaching about $250,000 in lever ..read more

Dear readers, there is a new post up on Patreon. I won’t be posting paid content at this website anymore, as explained here. Thanks again for all your support. I’ll continue to post monthly portfolio updates, transactions, market thoughts, and other investment ideas over there. I’ve been wanting to produce more, but I’ve been tied up as my kid contacted covid. After a high fever of about 40 degrees Celsius overnight, he’s back to his usual self and recovering well at home. If you’re interested in signing up, there are still limited slots at the old pricing. That is the permanent pricing for lo ..read more

Like many others, I’ve been glued to the news about the invasion of Ukraine. I detest the greed of people like Putin, who are willing to destroy thousands and millions of lives for their dreams of empire. Why are evil people in power? I admire the bravery of the Ukrainians, who are stepping up to defend their freedoms and way of life. Not just their own, but for the free world. I see fathers saying goodbye to their daughters, brave men and women being killed, and for what? Even more greed and ambition. I feel ashamed that I live in comfort and peace. If you can, please donate to support the fa ..read more

It’s been a very bearish market for some months now, and Feb 2022 has only worsened. Russia has launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. I’ve been glued to the news and the horrifying images of war, the largest conflict since WW2. As a parent, I can’t imagine the fears of the families and children. I’m grateful to be living comfortably, with all of my loved ones safe. It is an unprecedented situation that can have dire implications on the global economy and markets. We seem to be having a lot of that these days. Things just seem to get worse and worse. Nonetheless, I’m not panicking and se ..read more

Putin just made a speech and will “support the independence” of two breakaway regions in Ukraine. It is a major escalation that will no doubt further stoke tensions, and futures are already down sharply. Taken together with the impending rise in interest rates, plus even more inflation thanks to oil and gas skyrocketing, it looks pretty terrible. Are we headed into a crash or bear market? Are we in a bubble-like situation that rising interest rates will pop? There were a couple of indicators I looked into. Margin debt in the stock market has been decreasing though still fairly high. It’s about ..read more

It’s been awhile since I last wrote about my kid, and thought its a good time to record his growth. Right now, he is about 4 years and 7 months old. We have just enrolled him in a kids gym class, where he will learn how to roll, balance and jump. We’ve noticed that he is already doing these things quite well at home. Gym should also be a good foundation for sports in the future, and help to spend some of his endless energy. We were very encouraged that he was able to be in a new place without us and follow instructions. This wasn’t the case about a while ago. His school teachers had complained ..read more

Hi all, thanks much for waiting. The Patreon link is set up here. There is a special ‘Trailblazer’ tier for you. This is reserved for my early backers and the pricing is the closest I can get to my current site, at USD $4. The link will not be made public till later. I had taken the opportunity to rebrand myself. theFI35 was meant to be “The Financial Independent 35”. I realized it is a bit of a mouthful. Plus, I’m no longer 35 years old. Clearly I did not think that through. theFI35 is now Financial Path, as a nod to the journey towards financial freedom and knowledge. I’ll continue to publis ..read more

Given the amount of attention on the Fed’s actions, wanted to give my take on how they will move from here. Inflation reached 7.5%, the highest level it has since 1982, causing more urgency for the Fed to act. Some observers are calling for up to 7 rate hikes this year. In my view, the Fed will proceed cautiously and not suddenly raise rates. The inflation we are seeing today is mostly caused by labour shortages, shipping issues, and a surge in demand, coming all at once. I don’t think the Fed raising rates will solve these problems, and I think they know it too. Raising rates rapidly now will ..read more

Dear subscribers, Thank you for your support. It really means a lot to me. The little chats I had with you individually have been especially meaningful and helpful, and I’m deeply grateful. I want to keep producing content in a way that is more accessible and provides the best experience for you. After much thought, I will be moving my content onto Patreon by 24 May 2022. In the meantime, I’ll still be producing and posting here. You don’t need to do anything, and articles will be posted on both sites till further notice. The reason I’m moving is because I’m not well-trained to run a website t ..read more

The Nasdaq is undergoing a nice rally, bouncing about 5% after a 15% decline. Are the declines over yet? I would be surprised that this is the end of volatility. I expect that the market will take a bit more time to digest the Fed’s bond tapering and first round of interest rate hikes. So I think there will be more opportunities to buy in over the coming weeks. I’m personally at a neutral position. I had deployed about $90,000 during the decline, and was prepared to pump in more. I was hoping for a steeper decline. At the same time, I’m quite ok to keep my purchases as they are. I find that ke ..read more