I invest a portion of my monthly CPF Ordinary Account (OA) contribution with Endowus to get global equities exposure in my retirement funds. While keeping the remaining as CPF OA balance to earn the fixed interest rate. As part of the recent adjustments to my regular savings plans and recurring buys for ETFs, Stocks and Cryptos, I have also increased my monthly CPF OA investment in Endowus.
With MariBank and GXS Bank cutting their interest rates on deposits, I have started placing a few 12 months, 9 months and 6 months fixed deposits with DBS/POSB for higher interest rates. No issue with locking up some of my cash funds with staggered maturities to cover liquidity and investment needs down the road.
With stock and crypto markets riding high, it’s easy to feel like you have been sidelined and left behind. If you have not taken the equities and crypto positions before the current bull market, trying to make up for it now may be a tricky proposition. While it’s possible for the market to go even higher, it makes no sense for me to take any big positions now. Regular investing keeps me vested in the markets but I have to be patient in waiting to pull the trigger on dips and crashes. Then again, I was too slow during the Apr 2025 Tariffs Market Crash so what do I know.
This is why it’s important to be building something with the time you have. You can’t be watching the markets movements every day. It goes up and comes down for different reasons all the time. Only big movements warrant your attention. Even then, some market dips and crashes, you take the right course of action and benefit. Others don’t work out and you are left nursing the losses. A lot more of that time should go into focusing on solving the active income problem. Once you find a way to build multiple sources of active income that can increase over time, you have a much bigger buffer with investing in terms of risk and reward.
I depend on my job as my sole source of active income. While I have managed to increase it over the years, the risk of losing my job has also gone up correspondingly with age. In the past few years, I have also noticed that my salary income has stayed flat even though my expenses have continued to rise due to inflation. Sure, you could argue the solution is to move jobs and get a pay rise. Try doing that at close to 40 years old with 2 young kids. Unless you are in an industry that is in demand, it’s more likely you end up with an average pay rise but a much higher increase in workload. So you end up trading more time for more active income but your family pays the price. The corporate game is one with few winners and many losers.
The fear of the unknown keeps you stagnated but jumping into the abyss can make you better off or worse off. In my circle of friends and acquaintances, it’s funny how the proportion of people I know taking the leap of faith into the unknown end up in an almost even mix of being better off or worse off. A 50%-50% of making it. No more and no less.
Structurally, it’s no secret that there is now a much bigger focus on cost cutting as revenue drops, flatlines or even if it goes up in some cases. Headcount reduction is the easiest way to increase profits as long as the workload can be redistributed. Whether to the remaining staff in SG, overseas or AI. You better believe companies are shifting headcount to less expensive countries compared to SG. And their investments in AI is not because they want to help you be more productive. It’s because they are trying to find a way to cut you without losing the workload management capability.
Pivoting to more in demand areas to keep yourself relevant takes its toll as you get older. There’s a limit to how quickly you can learn new knowledge and skills with growing family commitments. More importantly, the next salary income ceiling for you to break through becomes ever more difficult to achieve. While you are well aware the solution is to build other sources of active income, you also realise you lack the expertise to do so. Because what allows you to thrive in a job may not translate well to building a business for example. All the certifications and recognition at your job mean nothing once it is structurally irrelevant. And you realise you haven’t taken the time and effort to build real world experience such as a business.
Is this what a midlife crisis feels like? Becoming more aware of your life choices marked by feelings of regret and desire for change. It’s fascinating how self-reflective you become with age. Kids accelerate that process because it’s like they are a mirror of your life. If you have taken care of your health and can keep up with them, then you get to enjoy more physical activities together with them. If you have enough money and time, you get to be more present and involved with their lives while having new experiences. Once you lack health, money or time, family problems start to surface quicker than you imagine.
So where does that leave me? No idea to be honest. I know my capability limitation and I try a bit to break it when I can. I put in the effort to keep my job, be present for my family and build my own thing. It’s not much but I’m hoping it adds up to something over time.
Here’s my referral link if you are interested in setting up an Endowus account: https://endowus.com/invite?code=Q8FKI
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial advisor before investing.