Reflecting on 2024

2024 marked a year packed with personal milestones, from moving into my own house, celebrating my wedding, to crossing the coveted $1 million net worth mark. There were also difficult decisions to make, like overhauling my investment portfolio, investing when markets were at all-time highs and grappling with rising insurance premiums. Here's a brief recap that shaped my year:

Major Expenses

The largest expense this year was the renovation and furnishing of my new home which cost close to $90,000, slightly exceeding my initial budget. Being our first time going through this process, we were keenly aware of the many horror stories about renovation nightmares - be it unreliable contractors, hidden costs, or shoddy workmanship. While we thoroughly researched the contractors and IDs, there was always an element of luck. Fortunately, we managed to engage one that we were quite satisfied with.

To manage costs, we opted to work with a main contractor instead of an ID. While this saved up quite a significant amount of money, it also meant taking on the challenge of planning every detail and making countless decisions ourselves, from selecting tiles and choosing a colour theme to planning carpentry and ensuring the layout is functional. I spent countless hours on YouTube seeking design inspiration, learning about common renovation pitfalls, and double-checking every measurement to make sure everything fits.

Another major milestone was hosting our wedding banquet. Getting married can be notoriously expensive, and expenses can easily snowball if not carefully managed. If budget is a constraint, my suggestion is to prioritise elements that matter most to you and your partner. Thankfully, the generous Ang Bao from our guests helped us broadly break even.

Insurance

This year, I decided to downgrade my Private Integrated Shield Plan (ISP) to a Class A plan. I got quite a shock this year when I found out that the annual premium for my rider increased by close to 40% to more than $1.4k (the high premium was partly due to it being a legacy plan). This is more than I could stomach, considering the lifetime premium of more than $700,000 (likely more, as healthcare cost continues to escalate). A Class A Plan costs roughly 1/3 of that. Given my personality, I would most likely under-utilise my private plan and opt for subsidised healthcare at public hospitals anyway, so this downgrade felt like the right choice for me.

Investment

There was quite a significant shift in my portfolio this year, which streamlined my holdings from 16 funds/ETFs/individual stocks to just 10. Key changes included selling my cash-funded Dimensional funds from Endowus and reallocating to ISAC, USSC and CSPX. Additionally, I started investing my CPF-OA.

I also increased my monthly DCA amount to $10,000, comprising:

• $7,000 cash into ISAC, USSC, CSPX,
• $1,500 SRS money into Dimensional US Core
• $1,500 CPF-OA into Amundi World.

This allocation balances about 80% exposure to the US market and 20% international, with a soft tilt toward small-cap and value stocks.

Toward the end of the year, I took the plunge and invested a lump sum of $115,000 in cash and CPF-OA into the above-mentioned ETFs/funds. This was a difficult decision that I've contemplated for a long time as the market has been hitting record highs, and despite knowing that time in the market beats timing the market, I hesitated. To be honest, there wasn't a specific reason for pulling the trigger; I guess I just got tired of waiting and wanted to get past this paralysis.

Net Worth

One of my key achievements this year was crossing the $1 million mark in financial net worth (incl. CPF, but excl. equity in my HDB flat). With this, I am one step closer to my FIRE target. As of this writing, my net worth stands at about $1.1 mil. Hopefully the market will be kind to me and help me achieve my 2nd million by the time I'm 40.

Final Thoughts

Looking ahead to 2025, it's likely to be just as turbulent as ever. Trump's second term will no doubt create more uncertainties (and a lot of memes~~). But amidst this volatility, it is also exciting to see how much AI will evolve and unlock new productivity gains. Regardless, my task is to keep building my portfolio, step by step, and trust the process.