2021 has come to an end. The year flew by in an instant as there were quite a few major changes to my life. I got married earlier this year in Jan and moved to a new house in Oct. This was in the midst of a busy work schedule as I continued to work in a public hospital in Singapore. There were a few waves of COVID-19 infections and everytime there's a new wave, the hospital scrambles with everything its got to support the country in need. Every employee plays their part in this fight against COVID-19 no matter if they are doctors, nurses, allied health professionals or admin workers.
I've learnt a lot through the experiences I've had this year. I learnt that life is fragile, I've seen deaths. I've seen how people come together to help each other when in crisis. These are the experiences I get from my work which can be emotionally draining sometimes but it helps me grow stronger.
I've not written a blog post for quite a while now while I was busy settling my reno and moving to a new home. Its a transition in life and one thats well worth it to spend with someone I love. In a relationship, we learn to care for each other and not just think for ourselves. I'm not perfect but I'm learning as time goes by.
On finances, I'm still doing relatively well. Despite spending on wedding and reno, I still manage to have extra savings after deducting all my monthly expenses. I got a promotion in Jan and continued to get good bonuses while working in the healthcare sector. All these helps grow my wealth.
On investment, my portfolio continues to grow with more stocks being bought as COVID-19 continues to put a dampen on the stock market. However, total returns (calculated by XIRR) is only 3.54% for the whole year for me. This is largely due to a write off in a total loss in Hyflux, which has collapsed totally without any compensation. I'm lucky in a sense that despite the loss, my other stocks gains manage to cover the losses and still eek out some gains. Moving forward, my portfolio will continue to focus on building dividends and continue to sustain a 5 figure dividend annually.
How has your year been so far? If its not so good, have faith that year 2022 will be better. If this year has been good for you, I sincerely hope that year 2022 will be even better for you. One last hope I have is that COVID-19 will be gone from our lives soon so that we may live normally again. Our world has changed because of it while we adjust to new ways of living. But as all things goes, it will one day come to an end and all will be good again.
Stay safe and have a good year ahead everyone. Happy new year 2022!