Investing for Freedom - My Story Part 1
I've been investing in Singapore since 2015, but blogging is a new passion.
Before 2015, I knew nothing about investing and cared even less.
I thought it was for the wealthy: poor people bet on horses; rich people bet on stocks.
That was my mindset whenever the topic came up in conversation. Then, I stumbled upon A Singaporean Stocks Investor (ASSI), a blog focused on having ‘a more secure financial future in an uncertain world by creating a stream of reliable passive income with high yields.’
AK, the author, has built a strong dividend-paying stock portfolio enabling him to retire early and pursue other interests. He now shares insights on managing finances and evaluating stocks. I recommend checking out his blog and Youtube channel for practical advice and inspiration.
Kudos to him for achieving his goals.
Inspired by AK, I began learning about investing. Coming from a background in Political Science and English literature, it was tough at first—analyzing P/E ratios was harder than deconstructing James Joyce.
Back then I’d me more likely to talk about Charlie Dickens rather than Charlie Munger.
But after reading countless letters from Warren Buffett and The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, I started to enjoy learning about investing.
It wasn’t, as I had previously thought, all about wealth inequality and labor exploitation, prioritizing private profit over collective ownership and social welfare.
What I discovered was a world of opportunity; a world where intelligent people put their hard-earned money to work.
After investing in a number of S-REITs and blue-chips, I started seeing the dividends roll in, and I began to realize the potential of this strategy.
A few books that inspired my dividend investing journey are as follows:
- The Little Book of Big Dividends by Charles B. Carlson
This book provides practical advice on creating a dividend-rich portfolio, emphasizing strategies for building wealth through dividend-paying stocks.
- Dividends Still Don’t Lie: The Truth About Investing in Blue Chip Stocks and Winning in the Stock Market by Kelley Wright
A modern take on the classic dividend investing philosophy, this book shows how to use dividend yields and growth as signals for stock market success.
- The Snowball Effect: Using Dividends & Interest Reinvestment to Help You Retire on Time" by Timothy McIntosh
This book explains how reinvesting dividends can lead to compounded returns and financial independence over time.
It was around this time to that I became interested in Crypto and blockchain.
Also, through my investigations into Bitcoin I started learning about inflation and sound money. I recommend the following books:
- Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas M. Antonopoulos
A comprehensive technical guide to understanding how Bitcoin works, aimed at developers and enthusiasts.
- Bitcoin: The Future of Money? by Dominic Frisby
An exploration of Bitcoin’s potential to revolutionize money and the global financial system.
- Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper
A historical account of Bitcoin's rise, focusing on the key figures and events that shaped its development.
Discovering Bitcoin and blockchain technology changed my life. For the first time in history, humans have the ability to transfer value peer to peer without having to ask permission from a third party. Learning and using Bitcoin (and other stablecoins - namely USDT) Also, Bitcoin has a fixed supply, providing a great way to protect a proportion of one’s portfolio in a deflationary asset.
I will write more extensively about Bitcoin in later blog posts, for it is still fundamentally misunderstood by most people.
If you are looking at reading about the early movers and shakers (Cypherpunks) in the Bitcoin space, check out the following articles:
- A Cypherpunk's Manifesto by Eric Hughes
This classic essay lays the ideological foundation of the cypherpunk movement, emphasizing the importance of privacy, encryption, and anonymity in the digital world.
- The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto by Timothy C. May
A cornerstone of the cypherpunk ethos, this manifesto predicts the rise of cryptographically secured transactions and how they can disrupt governments and centralized control.
- Why I Am a Privacy Nut by Julian Assange
Assange, known for founding WikiLeaks, was involved in cypherpunk discussions and wrote extensively about the need for privacy and encrypted communications.
- Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet by Julian Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Müller-Maguhn, and Jérémie Zimmermann
A written discussion among these notable figures, this book covers the role of privacy, the dangers of state surveillance, and the future of freedom in the digital era.
- Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto
Although it's primarily known as the Bitcoin whitepaper, this article embodies many cypherpunk principles, emphasizing decentralization, privacy, and freedom from state control.
So, as you can see, I made a massive pivot in my life at this time from having zero interest in investing to becoming obsessed by it.
Investing in dividend paying equities and Bitcoin suddenly took center stage. I believed, and still do believe, that this is a solid strategy to build considerable wealth over time.
Having said this, I have made a few big mistakes in both areas, and I will write about these in future blog posts.
Another early inspiration was The Motley Fool Money Podcast. Their lively discussions about U.S. blue-chip stocks made investing exciting. I was tempted to invest in the S&P 500, but the 30% dividend tax put me off. I knew by then I wanted to invest primarily for income.
Growth investing in stocks didn’t appeal to me at this point—the thought of nearing retirement and losing everything in a market crash scared me. Building a portfolio of income-paying stocks, reinvesting dividends, and letting compound interest do its work seemed like the perfect plan.
What’s cooler than watching your wealth grow passively?
"Passive income is freedom. It’s about creating a system that makes money whether you’re sleeping, eating, or on vacation." (David Baily)
Anyway, that’s enough for this blogpost. I will share more about my investment journey, including the ups and downs, in future posts.
Have great Sunday folks!
IB