Above is the progress of me reaching my targeted financial goals for March 2023. The total value of my financial assets increased from 64.46% to 65.41%. The minor increase was attributed to the increase in overall value of my stock portfolio in March 2023.
I compute the total value of my financial assets based on the cash value of the following:
- Insurance savings (NTUC RevoSave Cash Benefit)
- Savings accounts (POSB, OCBC, CIMB)
- Singapore Savings Bonds
- Current value of my stocks (My Stock Portfolio)
- Supplementary Retirement Scheme
Insurance Savings
NTUC Revosave continues to reward me with its cash benefit. The benefit of this insurance plan is that it provides cash whereby you can either leave it with deposited with Income at 3.0% p.a. or withdraw the cash.
If you like something short term, you can wish to take a look at GREAT SP Series 10 which gives you 4% p.a. for one year.
Savings accounts (POSB, OCBC, CIMB)
I have 5 tranches of fixed deposit placement with CIMB as the bank has consistently offered excellent fixed deposit promotions.
The fixed deposit rates for most banks have dropped drastically in March 2023. Here are CIMB Bank’s interest rates.
Singapore Savings Bonds
Singapore Saving Bonds continue to be an almost risk free investment. The effective interest rate for SBAPR23 is 3.15% p.a. over a 10 years period. The interest rate had dropped significantly and I believe most investors are holding on to their cash to wait for better interest rates.
Readers who wanted safe haven or place for emergency funds should consider Singapore Savings Bond.
The good thing about Singapore Savings Bond is that you can redeem them anytime because there is no lock in period.
In March, I have collected the following interest payout from the Singapore Savings Bonds that I have bought every month over the years.
- September 2018 (GX18090T)
- March 2019 (GX19030Z)
- September 2022 (GX22090Z)
I written 2 guides on Singapore Savings Bonds. Do check them out!
My Stock Portfolio and Dividend Payout
I use Stocks Café to keep track of the total value worth of my stocks. Stocks Café is my preferred tool for managing my stock portfolio. It is packed with tonnes of intelligent features such as portfolio monitoring and reporting, dividend tracking, stock screening. All these features are automated which means no manual entry is required.
This month, I receive the dividends payout from Mapletree Logistics Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust.
My stock portfolio remained unchanged as I made no buy or sell transactions.
There are also no changes to my US stock portfolio.
Summary of Financial Goals March 2023
In March, I am terribly disappointed with the low interest rates that Singapore Savings Bond and SGD Fixed Deposits are offering. The only attractive one is Great SP Series 10 at 4.0% p.a.
Just 2 days ago, the Fed raised the interest rate again by a quarter of a percentage point. This is despite the fact that the annual inflation rate in the US slowed to 6% in February of 2023, the lowest since September of 2021.
REITs are probably going to take a hit on their subsequent dividend payout if the rate hikes continues. Even so, I noticed the share price of REITs are not going down despite such negative news (rate hikes). Investors must be pretty bullish.
Even though two major banks Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse have failed, Fed chairman Jerome Powell assure investors that the banking system is sound. Singapore’s local banks are not much impacted as I can see their share price have not deep dived.
Let us look forward to April 2023 and watch for opportunities to add on more to my stock portfolio!