Finally, my wife and I are moving towards the next phase of our half-time journey, looking to settle into our retirement mode. It will open up a new world of possibilities as we acquire new experiences.
Previously, I had stopped working full-time for almost 6+ years after leaving my last banking role in 2017. During that period, I became a student again and did various part-time consultancy projects. For the last 18 months, I have been working full-time in the ESG renewable energy space linked to the financial markets. I am now officially retired as of 01 Mar.
My wife is also retiring at the same time, and it coincides with our younger son graduating from his university studies soon. My dad had also retired in 1990, shortly after his youngest child (me) completed his university degree. I guess we feel comfortable that our job as parents to support our 2 sons financially is over, and we can cross the finish line into retirement mode.
As I told our sons, we will be the last sandwich generation that will have to take care of our parents and kids to provide financial support. We have provided for them till graduation, and they need not worry about having to worry about paying for our expenses into our twilight years. Although a token monthly allowance from them when they start their work career as a show of appreciation would be a nice gesture.
We have been planning our retirements for months and have packed our schedule with activities and trips for the next 8 months into October. Having moved into our existing home in December 2007, almost 17+ years ago, it is time to do a major renovation of our home soon. This will require us to move out for 2 to 3 months during the renovation and to work closely with the Interior Designer for the 3D mockups and choosing of materials. This will be our first major project undertaking.
3 major overseas vacations have also been planned, totalling about 50 days. The first one is to Portugal and Madrid in early Apr (15 days) as a graduation trip to celebrate our younger son’s completion of his 5 years of med school where he will embark on his career thereafter. The 2nd vacation will be in South Korea for 23 days in Seoul, Busan and some smaller towns to explore in June. Also, to see BTS band members getting out of the army LOL.
The 3rd trip will be in October with some close friends in China – Chengdu and Chongqing to see some beautiful natural scenery and feed pandas (13 days). Nothing is planned yet for the year-end family vacation, and there could be more short trips in between to Malaysia (JB) and Asean countries as we will have time on our hands.
It is our belief that now is a good time to travel, at least for the next 10+ years before we hit 70 years old, as the spirit is strong and willing while the body is able for overseas adventures. Our generation is more aware of health and exercise benefits and of the importance of ageing gracefully. The mortality rate in S’pore, a newly declared blue zone, is now 84 and will probably extend into the 90s when we reach our 80s in 2 decades time.
Being a student again and using my Skillsfuture credits is a goal for my lifelong learning journey. It is also another of my half-time goals. Technology like AI is evolving so fast by the week that it is hard to catch up. There is so much I do not know and much to learn to keep my mind active. I will have the time to dive deep into topics I am interested in.
2025 will be an interesting year of new experiences as we chart the next path of our lives and explore the world while we slow down to smell the roses. We are indeed blessed with the rewards of our 30+ years of our career and 2 wonderful boys. Time to recalibrate and review what we want to do next and follow our Ikigai.
I have been thinking about the likely strong investment signals for 2025 as events shape the volatility of the markets. Putting my thoughts to paper will give me further clarity on where to put my limited resources. Identifying clear megatrends would be the first step in this top-down approach to drill down into stocks and instruments to invest in.
I see three strong themes emerging: 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI), 2. Quantum Computing (QC), and 3. Rapid Nuclear Energy adoption. I will elaborate on each point below as I lay out my thought process.
AI has been a fascinating topic since I decided to learn more about it after watching the AlphaGo documentary. Subsequently, I took a six-month full-time AI course from IBM in 2021, which opened my eyes to the possibilities where the sky was the limit. Then ChatGPT happened in November 2022 and the AI dam was breached. With the recent launch of DeepSeek, we will likely see another quantum leap in AI in terms of what can be done.
I have been reading about the DeepSeek breakthrough to determine how it happened. Other than the dubious lowball cost estimates, their think-out-of-the-box solution with restricted access to Nvidia chips has amazed everyone. Perhaps America’s groupthink had confined them to only using Nvidia’s CUDA parallel process even as they became worried about running out of raw data to train their LLMs.
The term “distillation” is also a keynote to highlight. Deepseek seems to have leveraged other established LLMs to formulate better answers. By using the DeepThink mode, it was able to deconstruct the initial prompt into many more parts to query other LLMs for a more in-depth answer. The process took longer but provided superior results at a lower cost.
No matter what happens, the AI race has just accelerated to a higher level as all countries are prioritizing the new methods of re-enforced learning and smaller specialised LLMs as the number one goal to stay ahead of the global tech competition. Nvidia chips will remain in high demand as we still need the best supercar to drive these innovations.
Can you imagine how QC will turbocharge computing and lead to even greater AI development? Moore’s law of doubling transistors in chips every 2 years has come true for many years and it was starting to hit a plateau. But QC is likely to speed up computing advancement to new levels.
The final trend I see is rapid Nuclear Energy adoption. Although Climate Change is a real threat to the planet, recent political moves have sidelined the global initiative towards carbon neutrality. However, a huge increase in energy demand is still very likely because of the expected continued demand from AI, cryptos and data centres. So how can the world solve this dilemma?
The Nuclear Renewable energy solution fits the needs perfectly. It provides a win-win end game that encourages a greater adoption of nuclear energy. It is one of the cleanest renewable energy sources and has a high-efficiency rate of 89%. 4th generation reactors like the SMR (Small Modular Reactors) are now much safer and do not require refuelling for at least 7 years. They are small and can produce up to 300 MW each while being stackable to provide economies of scale. Without other viable options, the resistance to nuclear energy will be lessened. People will be educated about recent breakthroughs in safe nuclear energy production.
AI, QC and Nuclear will be strong investment themes to follow this year. I have reconstructed my investment portfolio towards the success of these trends. Stocks that benefit the most from the success of these 3 megatrends are my target for investment.
Time flies and it is already Feb and I am late for my annual setting of new year goals to list my Key Performance Indicators to achieve for 2025.
This year is a bit different from previous ones. I have decided to join my wife and retire from full-time work. At 58 and 56 years old, we want to plan for our halftime life journey. We had both been working for more than 30+ years and decided it was time to take a well-deserved break.
Coincidentally, our younger son is about to complete his uni life and embark on his medical work career soon. This was similar to what my dad did in 1990 and retired when I graduated. Life is repeating itself.
My 2025 KPIs:
Read 20 books – They can be non-fiction or fiction books, short stories or novels. I will read anything that interests me, at a rate of 1 to 2 books a month. I will borrow the ebooks from the National Library to read on my PC or iPad. As usual, I will write a short summary of every book I finish as a matter of record.
Do 5 courses – Either physical classes or online MOOC, I will utilize the new Skillsfuture funds ($4k) to educate myself on topics I want to learn more about, with more than 25,000+ courses listed on the Skillsfuture website for me to explore.
Deep dive into at least 2 more new or existing interests, to continue on my life-long learning journey. With the Internet and AI tools available to help us, it should be easier. But we get an overload of information around us and the main problem is to sieve between the BS and discover the truth. That is getting harder to do nowadays.
Travel more – My wife and I have already planned for one major long trip every quarter to Portugal/Spain (Lisbon, Madeira, Porto, Madrid), South Korea (Busan, Seoul) and China (Chengdu, Chongqing). There will also be short trips between these trips to neighbouring places like Johor Bahru and cities in South East Asia. Given that we have more time on our hands now, we do not need to rush during our vacations and can slowly enjoy and absorb the local culture and vibe.
Be happy and healthy – to enjoy our 2nd halftime period. Life is short. We will take time to smell the roses. Have a regular exercise regime, and aim to constantly seek small feelings of happiness while exploring new experiences. We need to also count our blessings daily as we enjoy our retirement years.
I review my previous annual goals and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) at the beginning of each new year for the ones I set out last year. This year I am running a bit late and it is already 02 Feb. So much has happened within the first month, with the new American president on 20 Jan and a shocking turn of events at work with a colleague plus the early CNY festive period of meals and celebrations.
My 2024 KPIs written in Jan 2024 and how I grade myself as the year ended:
Read 15 books – I completed 16 and exceeded this goal for the first time… I give myself an A grade. At the bottom of this blog is the list of the books I read and a summary of each for my reference. The friend who suggested this good habit to me a few years ago reads 40+ a year – I aim to achieve that one day.
Closed one of the 2 funds launched by our financial services company – We were not able to do so for various reasons which I may write about in further detail in the future. I give myself an F grade
Do 5 online and physical courses. I only completed one online course due to my full-time job in 2024 and I was too occupied with work to concentrate on actively pursuing more courses. I only did a simple Google AI online course. I give myself a Grade C.
Stay healthy and happy always – Generally an OK year with some ups and downs. I give myself a Grade B.
I will write up a new 2025 KPI list soon to keep me focused on my to-do goals for this year. I will be starting my next halftime journey as I officially retire from work and decide on what I want to do, besides looking forward to more travelling and visiting new places together with my wife for the next 10+ years.
Life is fragile and precious. We should make the most of it to treasure the time and create new memories and experiences while we can do so.
List of books I read in 2024 and a summary of each for my reference:
(1) Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson – Finished the final 25% in Jan. Good psychoanalysis of who Musk is as a person and his quirks. Surges and crazy madness, ultimate risk taker that cannot sit still, willing to bet the house all the time. Hard to bet with or against him via his sheer mental willpower.
(2) The Private Equity Playbook – Adam Coffey (2019) – 104 pages about private equity- getting the right team, EBITDA, leverage, growth surge, and hiring consultants. I wanted to understand more about the PE world in general and how they think.
(3) The Asia 21st century (2022) – Kishida Mahbubani – A collection of his essays from 2019 on similar themes. America plutocracy: government for the wealthy and not for the majority’s wellbeing. Supreme Court “Citizen’s United” Jan 2010 decision to allow unlimited spending to ensure the election of candidates sensitive to donor’s interest. Disenfranchised US middle class that is now worse off than their parent’s generation and turning to Trump to vent their anger. Distrustful of the media. Blaming others like China and acting like a bully, refusing to engage but starting new wars. No American wants to face the ugly truths and address them.
(4) The Coming Wave – Mustafa Suleyman – Co-founder of DeepMind, explained and helped me fill in the gaps I had in AI history, quite enlightening. Tied AI to data centre and climate change. The last part is about ways to proceed, inevitably to embrace change. Turned a bit preachy at the end though…
(5) The Algebra of Wealth – Scott Galloway – a bit rambling at times, mostly aimed at beginners into investments and talks about the basics. Does not appeal to an experienced investor as his thoughts may be too conservative eg. Buy ETFs, buy a house and keep things simple. I like his podcasts but this 2nd book of his I read to date does not impress me.
(6) AI Investing for Dummies – Paul Mladjenovic – How to use ChatGPT to enhance and speed up your research and recommendations – shortcuts. Though written in early 2024, the speed at which AI changes makes the recommendations a bit dated by the time I read it in Aug with new AI tools like Gemini and Claude being launched. Intro and refresher for beginners. A good start to using AI to turbocharge and sharpen your investing skills.
(7) Private Equity: A Memoir – Carrie Sun. The story is about her 2 years with a high-pressure private equity fund and experiencing burnout. Similar to Billions the TV series. The author is an assistant to the top man – rumoured to be Chase Coleman, the founder of Tiger Global Management. Too much of an emotional roll coaster ride and not enough about the actual workings of the hedge fund. May appeal more to females trying to figure out their lives in a high-pressure work environment where the boss does not get it.
(8) Chip War – Chris Miller. Rereading it a second time to get a better understanding of the importance of chips and leading to ASML, Nvidia, AMD and ARM investments. Able to absorb better during the 2nd reading how each country managed to capture a critical part of the chip cycle, how they developed in history, and the importance of Taiwan’s TSMC as a manufacturer of choice where American chip designers outsource fabrication like Nvidia. An eye opener to how significantly critical this sector is to the world.
(9) Lee Kuan Yew – How to build a nation – Tom Plate. Written in 2009, a different Western perspective and line of questioning with regards to LKY’s points of view. LKY – society before self, soft authoritarianism, unlike the American self before others. His views on China and the USA in 2009 also echo Kishore’s – they think alike. An aggressive and frank American journalist questioning him on sensitive topics with no holds barred- a surprisingly nice read of the 2 days session he spent with LKY that recorded precious nuggets of his thought processes.
(10) AI for Finance – Edward Tsang – Written in late 2022. Too much technical jargon and assumptions without AI solutions and suffers from being just before OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in Nov 2022.
(11) Living the Asian Century – Kishore Mahbubani. An interesting read from a man who experienced the founding fathers of S’pore (LKY, Goh Keng Swee and S Rajaratnam) on a first-name basis. Talks about his life journey and how lucky he was to be where he is today. Maybe with age (75), he has more circumspection about his life not to let pride and ego take centre stage. Highly recommended read to understand how S’pore made its name on the global stage and the many struggles its people had to fight and endure to ensure survival.
(12) Blue Zones Challenge – Dan Buettner. Short book on the introduction of blue zone regions like Okinawa for healthy living and lifestyle. A one-year program to proactively improve your well-being and track your health and happiness to live longer. More American-centric lifestyle fine-tuning. S’pore has recently been declared a blue zone.
(13) The Singapore Story – Lee Kuan Yew. A good read of the details from LKY’s life till S’pore independence in 1965. A lot of info on the various steps and near misses which could have changed history and sidelined LKY/PAP. The struggles with the communist threat, British rule and merger with Malaysia in 1963, plus the fights with wanting a Malaysian Malaysia against UMNO’s Malay Malaysian supremacy led to the separation. Seems like LKY was always prepared for that and wanted the Tunku to claim that it initiated that move.
(14) Cryptocurrency Uncovered – Your guide through the Digital Gold Rush – Nathan Venture (2023). A short 200-page book that could have been written by ChatGPT – a giveaway – the last paragraph of each chapter starts with “in conclusion, …”. Brief run-through of various topics associated with crypto, a refresher that does not attempt to dive too deep within each lesson.
(15) Yeoman – Charles Yu. An ebook short story (less than 30 pages) from the same person who wrote Interior Chinatown book which is now a new TV series I am watching.
(16) The Little Book of Bitcoin – Anthony Scaramucci. A short 200-pager book on the build-up to the case for buying BTC. Nice points made and advice on how to invest wisely. Good for newbies.
In 2 days, the great disrupter will again take over the office of the most powerful job in the world.
While he is more prepared this time than in 2016 with the crypto bros rallying him on, I cannot help but feel we will be in for a wild ride in the next 4 years. His main objective is to break all status quo systems/processes and see what happens. The recklessness will be unseen before; hopefully, the American nation will survive the onslaught. It will emerge either stronger or in a big mess. The probability of a big mess seems higher at this point of review.
There will be more trading opportunities with higher volatility and investors must have balls of steel to weather the swings. Some mega macro trends (eg. AI evolution, Climate Change) are clear. But it will be a crazy ride with multiple surprises ahead. So let the games begin!!!
A long-time friend and colleague suddenly passed on from cardiac arrest last Sat. Having known him for more than 20+ years, it came as a shock to all of us who knew him. We will treasure our best memories with him and value the fragility of life while cherishing our short time on earth. Let’s count our blessings every day. May he rest in peace.
Year-end is always a special time for us as we celebrate Christmas and New Year with loved ones and gather for good food. This year was even more special as our older son returned from HK to spend time with us and we squeezed in a 1-week family vacation to Hanoi too.
24 Dec – Our annual Christmas Eve dinner was held at home where a few of us managed individual dishes to serve everyone. After dinner, we went for Part 2 by visiting a relative’s house to join a bigger group gathering.
25 Dec – The start of our 1 week Hanoi family vacation. A 630 am ride to the airport for a sumptuous breakfast at the First Class lounge before our 9 am flight. The Grab app was the main cab-hailing method used in Vietnam and we took it from the Hanoi International Airport to the Pullman Hotel. The fare was less than SGD 20 for the 40-minute journey. After checking in, we went to the Old Quarters for a Don Duck restaurant lunch specializing in duck dishes. After the meal, we accidentally stumbled into the picturesque railway line of cafes where the train passes within a hair’s breadth of our cafe tables. We took photos and had drinks while waiting for the train to pass within inches of us. We walked about 1 km in the cool evening from the hotel to Tam Vi restaurant, which was booked in advance by our younger son. It was a one Michelin-star place that served cheap and great home-cooked Hanoi meals.
26 Dec – We woke up early to meet our guide for an 8 am Hanoi walking tour in central Hanoi. We walked to the main lake and its temples, then visited the St Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi. Finally, we went to the Hoa Lo Prison museum which was named Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. We then joined a food tour in the afternoon to sample varieties of Vietnamese street food. We headed to the Beer Street area in the evening for an outdoor Vietnam BBQ dinner.
27 Dec – Another early day for us as we had to set off at 8 am for the ride to Halong Bay. After boarding the cruise ship at noon, we had a buffet lunch before we set sail through the scenic bay. There was a brief stopover for us to kayak around an island mid-afternoon and soak in the jacuzzi aboard the roof deck after the exercise. Our connecting cabins had a lovely view of the cruise along the bay before the sunset for evening drinks at the rooftop bar before a sit-down dinner.
28 Dec – Morning buffet breakfast was served at 7 am before we set off to Cat Ba island via a smaller boat for an excursion through the famous caves. Check out by 11 am for the journey back to Hanoi to our new service apartment accommodations at Oakwood Residence. After checking in, we went for a massage at a local Spa experience which the tour guide recommended. It was very rustic with a local setup frequented by regulars. Dinner was Italian at La Fiorentina near our Oakwood Residence. We had a fantastic meal courtesy of my wife as a bonus. 2 bottles of wine and great food. That was the most expensive meal for the trip at VND 5.8 M (about SGD 300).
29 Dec – Another early day starts at 730 am for our full-day trip to the Ninh Binh province. We target to cover 3 places during the whole day. First was the Bai Dinh Pagoda complex followed by a buffet lunch. Then it was to Trang An for a small boat ride for 4 persons with a personal rower to enjoy the scenic sights. The final destination was to the Mua Caves where we climbed the 500 steps to the top of the mountain for spectacular sights from the peak. Arriving back in Hanoi at 730 pm, we dropped off at the Hanoi weekend night market to have a simple seafood dinner at a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the Old Quarters which had good reviews.
30 Dec – The final day in Hanoi was a chill day. We visited the gym in the morning before heading to the seafood Maison Buffet booked 2 days ago for brunch. The buffet spread was impressive, loaded with all the freshest seafood that Vietnam can offer for just VND 0.5 M (about SGD 25). Then we visited the newest Lotte mall before taking a short walk around the biggest lake in Hanoi. We spent a lazy afternoon watching the last few episodes of Squid Game 2 and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the end of a great holiday. We decided to explore the area around us for dinner and found Bao Wow, a quaint place for our final dinner meal in Hanoi.
31 Dec – Packed up and checked out by 9 am to set off to the airport for brunch at the lounge. The flight home was delayed and we finally landed at 6 pm. We then attended a lovely New Year’s Eve party till 1+ am. There was so much wonderful food filled with fun games and laughter till 1+ am.
2025 finally arrived… We are in for an exciting year that is likely to be eventful, and filled with twists and turns. Mostly thanks to the incoming American President. Hopefully, it will be profitable for my portfolio as we navigate the ups and downs of an unpredictable new management which will seek to destroy the status quo and move in a new direction. Happy New Year and wishing you a Prosperous 2025 ahead!!
I recently came across this annual report by futurist and author CEO Amy Webb. Via a long summary, she set up some thought-provoking 2025 Macro Themes which I had reread a few times to fully digest the various topics she was conveying. The future looks bright with multiple tech breakthroughs
I would like to revisit her predictions next year to see which will pan out. Also, the themes will help crystalize my investment thought processes and look at interesting public companies to invest in for 2025.
Meanwhile, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2025 New Year ahead. I am excited about family gatherings with good food and a family vacation soon.
Banksy, an artist who periodically appeared on my radar over the last twenty-plus years, always intrigued me.
He was a mysterious graffiti street artist who continued to deface walls and buildings with provocative images of current events. After careful planning, his pictures would suddenly appear overnight, and the world would lavish attention on his latest creations.
Seeing bits and pieces while not knowing the full story, has led me to want to attend “The Art of Banksy – Without Limits” exhibition that is currently being held in my hometown.
Though the pricing felt a bit steep (SGD 30-50 per person), curiosity got the better of me. I am a history buff and always like to explore deeper into a historical figure, to understand the person behind the name who does what they did and why they do it.
My interests could be as diverse as the Roman empire to Elon Musk the man. Book autobiographies, movies or TV series that expand on the lives and thinking of the person enlighten me tremendously. I started buying the Smash Hits weekly magazine to read the lyrics to the songs I liked when I began appreciating pop music during my teenage years. Having a catchy tune was not enough for me. I needed to know the lyrics to the song in order to fully comprehend what the singer was trying to convey.
Back to this Banksy exhibition. It was an eye-opener for me as I realized he was active for more than 20 years and has done so many varied works of art in multiple countries and geography.
The complete history of his beginnings and creation fascinated me for the 60+ minutes I needed to complete the exhibition, as recommended by the organizers. It was interesting to see him blend his interests and philanthropy actions while exposing the hypocrisy of human nature.
Some speculated that he was a roving band member who painted in the night during their tour dates. But others have also pinpointed him to be a bloke called Robin Gunningham, a rebel at heart. His images point us to the contrast of emotions and uncomfortable truths around the world. Why have hate and war when there can be love and peace instead?
To monetize his works, he sometimes uses auction houses to sell the physically movable painting items. A list of his works that were sold and prices transacted. Generally, his official website also offers signed and unsigned prints for sale at a few hundred dollars apiece.
Banksy encourages anybody to take and amend his art for their own personal amusement as long as it is not for profit. No one is allowed to lie that he had endorsed them when he has not.
This was a highly entertaining and enlightening exhibition for me. I learnt so much about a free spirit individual who truly enjoys creating new artwork to provoke and open the minds of everyone, to bring to attention the ironies of life and in a small way, to galvanize us to get off our butts and perhaps do something about it.
