My CEO Journey

When I just started this blog, I wrote down my goals. The last I updated them was in 2016. You can read those goals here I'm glad I wrote them down. At least I could see how I have changed over the years. So, recently, when I revisited those goals, they don't make much meaning to me anymore. My life have changed over the years, so have my priorities and goals. I used to think that having loads of money, is key. If you look at my goals back in 2016, they are all about money, earning, business and so on. There's just one small goal on finding hobbies and developing them. So if I were to summarize my objectives then, it's very materialistic, with just 1 goal that focus on my soul. Now, I see having time on my side as key. In fact, my goal for 2021 is to spend as much time with my daughter before she enters primary school in 2022. That's it. No study goals for her, no financial goals for me, and so on. Just let life be, and make full use of my time.  Of course, it's

It's going to be the end of the year, and there are many who are topping up their CPF to earn tax relief. For me, topping up my CPF will not reduce my tax in any way. So for me, I'm not going to top up this year.  And the reason for that is simply because of this statement from IRAS: A personal income tax relief cap of $80000 applies to the total amount of all tax reliefs claimed for each year of assessment. So for individuals, note that your maximum amount of tax relief is capped at $80,000. Once you reach that sum, topping up your CPF will not help reduce your tax.  I get a substantial tax relief from the working mom tax relief.  The following is the tax relief for working moms: 15% of earned income for 1st child 20% of earned income for 2nd child 25% of earned income for 3rd child and beyond As these relief are cumulative (meaning if you have 2 children, your tax relief is 15% + 20% = 35%), they become quite significant. With 3 kids, I qualify for 60% of tax relief of my ea

What's your plans for 2021?  I wrote a review about my 2020 . It's really bland, isn't it? It's one of the shortest review I compared it with those written in  2019 , 2018 , 2017 and 2016 . The highlight for 2020 was actually me changing my job. The pain and anguish travelling (while having kids) had been weighing down on me previously, and I'm so glad I had put that behind me with the job change. This reminded me that's no point staying in a job (or a situation) that's not aligned with what you want. Just have to let go, and believe that something better will come. It may just take some time.  I was thinking hard what would be my goals or plans for 2021. It is not related to finance, career, and so on. In fact, when I looked at my goals here , there's nothing in there that I want to achieve. I have wrote those goals years ago, and well priorities have changed, or perhaps I know myself better. Time to revamp those goals. =) My goal for 2021 is act

 It's just 13 days left to 2021. How had your 2020 been? Career Career wise, I have changed job, and in a new role, with more pay. This made me realized that once you are sick of something, move on. No point staying on something that you have lost interest in. Sometimes, we continue to stay into something because of fear, fear of the unknown, fear of trying. But when you let go, and try the unknown, do you realize there are so many possibilities in this world. Finance While many said the pandemic had been a good time for buying stocks, for some reasons I haven't been focusing on this. The pandemic has made a dent to my stocks. All of them are in the red, and dividends received this year is just $1265.65. Family 2020 is a year of family. This is the first year that I hadn't travelled for 8 years! In fact, during the circuit breaker, I see my kids day in day out. While I love to be with them, I realized I need personal space too.  Personal This year, I realized I want more ti

I was looking at my salary over the years since graduation and comparing them with the median salary of Singapore residents from MOM (Ministry of Manpower)'s statistics . You can take a look at the chart below for a graphic representation.  The first three years of the working career was spent at a place that gave just 3% increment per year. I'm glad I left after 3 years. While there, I was slightly above median salary initially, soon the median salary caught up with me. I was also feeling that my current pay was insufficient, and did a job hop in 2012 in hope for better prospect, gaining more skills and better pay.  I then left for my consultant job which I talked about in the previous post. The first few years of my consultant job was great. I had 2 promotions in the first 3 years. After which,  I never got promoted. It could be I've plateaued, my new manager doesn't like me, or I went for 3 maternity leaves for the next 5 years. Anyway, it's what it is.  So, in