2023 has been a 12 months filled with ups and downs. If somebody had advised me to start with of the 12 months that we’d see the Russia-Ukraine warfare proceed into its second 12 months, and that October would see Israel launch a full-blown assault on Gaza main to fifteen,000 lives misplaced in below 2 months…I might have discovered it onerous to consider.
However that’s precisely what occurs – Life usually has its manner of peculiar us.
As 2023 involves an finish, that is my annual assessment of my funds to examine the place we at the moment are and make sure that we’re not falling too far off from our objectives. Throughout this yearly assessment, I usually look at my earnings development, bills, financial savings, insurance coverage protection, and funding efficiency – which helps me to higher strategize for the brand new 12 months.
Time flies, this marks the tenth 12 months that I’m doing this on the weblog! Earlier than I am going into this 12 months’s assessment, right here’s a fast recap of earlier years:
- 2014: Saved $20,000
- 2015: Saved $30,000 and grew income
- 2016: Saved $40,000 and grew income, hit $100k in net worth at age 26 including CPF
- 2017: Saved $45,000 and doubled my net worth in a year
- 2018: Saved $50,000
- 2019: Saved $35,000 (didn’t realise I utterly missed out on a round-up submit, however right here’s our child-related expenses instead)
- 2020: Saved $30,000 and achieved crazy (abnormal) investment returns
- 2021: Saved $40,000, grew income but saw reduced investment returns
- 2022: Saved $45,000 and battled a bearish investment climate
Financial savings & Earnings
This 12 months’s financial savings hit an all-time excessive, largely fuelled by the expansion in my earnings – which greater than made up for increased family bills because of inflation.
2014 | $20,000 |
2015 | $30,000 |
2016 | $40,000 |
2017 | $45,000 |
2018 | $50,000 |
2019 | $35,000 |
2020 | $30,000 |
2021 | $40,000 |
2022 | $45,000 |
2023 | $60,000 |
Loyal readers may recall how I selected to take a step again in my profession after welcoming my second child. In 2021, I gave up my Director function and was headhunted to hitch a competitor, the place I requested for a less-demanding Senior Supervisor function as a substitute, clocking in simply 3 days per week (and extra throughout crunchtime). However in 2023, I acquired promoted to a brand new portfolio as Director, working carefully with the federal government on new insurance policies and I now handle a group chargeable for bringing in and sustaining an enormous bulk of our firm’s Singapore income base.
Because of this, my salaried earnings doubled.
My facet hustles have additionally continued as BAU (enterprise as normal), however I observed one thing highly effective kick on this 12 months: the facility of referrals. Phrase concerning the work that I do (for weight reduction) actually began spreading as my preliminary base of shoppers (who efficiently misplaced weight) shared their “secret” with their family and friends members, which resulted in referrals and loads of new enterprise from people who by no means in any other case heard of me (or Finances Babe).
Subsequent 12 months, I’m seeking to construct one other new supply of earnings, so we’ll see if that kicks off!
Bills
Resulting from inflation and rising costs, our household bills have risen considerably. We acquired hit by a better mortgage charge (since we opted for a financial institution mortgage after we signed our mortgage pre-COVID at 1+%) and increased family payments on the identical time, identical to everybody else who’s a house owner and pays for his or her household in Singapore.
Our present month-to-month family earnings has risen to:
Nate: childcare & enrichment | $1,200 |
Finn: childcare & enrichment | $1,000 |
Helper wage and levy | $1,000 |
Mortgage & residence insurance coverage | $1,300 |
City council, carpark and utilities | $650 |
Eating & groceries | $1,400 |
Household insurance coverage insurance policies | $1,200 |
This excludes our particular person eating bills, the allowances that we give to our dad and mom (a 5-figure sum annually) and different miscellaneous bills that aren’t recurring in nature, so you may think about how the precise sum is quite a bit increased.
Our payments (mounted bills) have gone up, however the greatest ache has positively acquired to be from the price of consuming out, which has elevated considerably as F&B retailers hiked their costs this 12 months. To adapt, we’ve been making an attempt to chop down on this so as to not bust our price range (though it’s onerous to run away from it completely, particularly when you’ve got youngsters who request to eat at sure locations on weekends).
For abroad travels, we introduced our household (and fogeys) to Taiwan for a 2-week journey and spent 4D3N in Cameron Highlands, so our total holiday budget rose from $5k last year to $13k this 12 months.
Insurance coverage
My husband and I added 2 new insurance coverage insurance policies this 12 months to our portfolio to extend our protection for important sickness, particularly after MOH ruled that cancer will no longer be covered 100% under conventional insurance plans.
We misplaced just a few pals to loss of life this 12 months and noticed a number of others acquired recognized with most cancers, so we determined to behave whereas we’re nonetheless in good well being.
Investments
However you understand what was much more surprising?
That the inventory market would formally backside out in December 2022 and see the beginning of a brand new bull ushered in by ChatGPT’s launch (on 30 Nov 2022, marking the stellar rise of Synthetic Intelligence shares (and hype?).
And that the S&P 500 would go on to realize 25% in 2023 alone, principally pushed by mega-cap shares together with Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, (new-darling) Nvidia and Meta, and so on.
For those who had diligently caught to your investing all through (as a substitute of giving up like what most retail buyers did, when the bear market triggered by the tech shares crash in 2022 continued for for much longer than most individuals anticipated)…congratulations, you’ll have seen your portfolio transfer from being within the pink to into the inexperienced.
Once I wrote this final 12 months,
“In whole, my funding portfolio is at the moment down by about ~35%”.
SG Finances Babe, 30 December 2022
I definitely wasn’t anticipating the market to reverse so quickly and for my portfolio to return into the inexperienced so rapidly, however that’s precisely what occurred.
On one other good be aware, my dividends payout have additionally hit an all-time excessive this 12 months, with a major increase coming from DBS’ hike earlier.
All in all, my investments are again on observe.
Conclusion
I’m stunned that my financial savings hit a brand new milestone this 12 months – contemplating how the final time I hit $50k was earlier than I had youngsters, I definitely wasn’t anticipating to surpass the quantity this 12 months because of inflation.
However that’s the facility of elevated incomes capacity. If something, this 12 months has actually been a superb reminder that we must always proceed to work onerous and construct by way of our 20s and 30s, in order that we will have a better time in our later years.
Once I began this weblog in 2014, I wrote that my purpose was to retire by age 45. my very own monetary report card and progress since then, it’s protected to say that barring any surprising occasions, I’m effectively on observe to attaining it.
My 2023 monetary abstract would thus be:
- increased earnings (because of a promotion at work, and extra referrals),
- increased bills (because of inflation),
- a extra resilient insurance coverage portfolio, and
- improved funding efficiency (because the inventory market turned bullish).
The subsequent huge merchandise on my monetary agenda will probably be to construct my dividends portfolio to the purpose the place my dividends will probably be sufficient to pay for my dwelling bills. I estimate that it will take me 2 – 4 years to execute, so I’ll replace as soon as I clear that milestone.
See you guys over within the new 12 months!
With love,
Finances Babe