Happy cny everyone!

This post is a day late. But better late then never!

Here is wishing everyone a very prosperous goat year and good health. All the best! :)

The real measure of your wealth.

Even as we continue to build up our assets and financial foundations, we must always remember the following quote which i came across at tiny buddha.

The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown

You can read more about the article here.

Our life's worth must not only just be our net worth. What do you think?

Happy new year 2015

All the best folks for the new year 2015. Many finance bloggers have listed their resolutions and "systems" for the new year and I wish you all the best in your endeavours!

Huat ah!

Build your own utopia!

I don't know about you but I have been pondering about life pretty a lot these days. I think life is all about creating your own utopia.

If you feel that life is about creating multiple streams of income. Thats your utopia. If its about getting married to your loved one and having lots of children, thats your utopia. If its about rising the corporate ladder, thats your utopia.

We humans seem to always need a certain target to attain or achieve and when we have achieved that, sometimes we just need another target to hit and to attain.

Maybe i am just thinking too much. Anyway, merry xmas to all of you and wishing you all happy holidays and may your utopia come true!

Yay! I am getting my 3rd salary soon!

Another week and I would have taken 3 months salary from Melbourne. I have learnt quite a couple of things in the course of these 3 months here.

• I have learnt how to use a macbook. Shortcuts are different with the command button. It can be a bit irritating (it still is, trust me). I guess I would need to take some time to get more familiar with it.

• Brunch can be quite boring when I eat it alone. Thus, I have cut some brunches during weekends. I am also too peeved with eating eggs all the time during the weekends. I guess I am also watching my diet. It can be also expensive to eat brunch. It costs about 20AUD per brunch. If I add coffee to that, it would set me back by about 25AUD. Wow, its quite a lot!

• My mother came to visit this week and it was a joy to eat with her and share my Melbourne experience with her. I hope she enjoyed herself very much. At least this makes me feel that my move to Melbourne is worth it so that She can enjoy free accommodation (well, I pay rent ...) from me.

And here i am. Melbourne!

It has been a while since my last update. Time flies and I am back to work for a week already. This time, I am making this post from Melbourne Australia.

Accomodation
It was pretty challenging for me to set up accomodation for myself in less than a week. Its kind of funny that I am renting from others in australia and getting rent from my tenant in Singapore. I owe it to my girlfriend in finding my current rental property. Its pretty close to my office and I can save on time and money in terms of transport. It just takes me 5 minutes and 2 traffic lights to get to work.

Entertainment
Shops in australia close pretty early, so there isnt much for me to do after work except to eat dinner, shop at the supermarket and then head home for tv (thank goodness for tv). I am still trying to sort out my home wifi so that I will not have to rely on prepaid too much.

Investment
I am still working on improving my passive income flows and am still placing orders (but so far no luck). At the moment, I think I will focus on trying to reprice my existing mortgage loan before looking into the australian market. Its pretty good being a landlord here but I am also quite sure that there are lots of fees involved whilst trying go get a new tenant. If you do not know, prospective tenants will have to fill up a comprehensive rental application to the property agency before they will be considered. This is really good for the landlord as this minimizes risk in delayed payments.

Getting permanent residency
I do want to still try for this but I am not sure if I can handle the cold weather. I was told that the current weather is really cooling but I still feel the chills even though I am wrapped up in 3 layers of clothing. My girlfriend also does not seem keen to migrate to australia as she prefers being closer to Malaysia so that she can visit her parents at a more affordable price. On the other hand, I do not really want to waste my good IELTS score and the exam does not come cheap.

Conclusion
In the meantime, I shall not think too much and enjoy my time here. I am very grateful for the company sponsorship and I am sure that I will enjoy this experience very much. I hope my mother will come experience Melbourne soon and that my girlfriend will come soon too. (In case she is reading this, but I highly doubt it.)

Starting overseas work in less than 1 month!

Time flies. I have recently received my 457 visa approval and will be starting work on 1 Sept 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. I am keen to experience work and life in a new country. I am contented and excited to be offered this opportunity to do so.

a) Condo is rented out on a corporate lease

I am really fortunate to be able to find a new tenant for my existing condo in today's property climate. The company will mainly be paying for my mortgage and I hope that it will be this way for some time to come. The new rental rate is a lower than my previous rate but I think that its pretty decent considering that I still have some cash left after paying off the bank mortgage.

b) Started local work for 3 weeks

While waiting for my visa approval, I have started a short local contract role which is due before my reservist. It puts me back into the mood of working after being out of work for quite a while. In addition, I have to coordinate with folks in Shanghai and that at least makes the job more interesting. I have also polished up on my vba skills and have improved my financial position. The money will also come useful for me when I make the move to Australia.

c) Dividend rich month

August is also a dividend rich month for me. I think I am definitely not alone in this. For those who  have bought into reits and trusts over the years would also have their dividends pouring into their bank accounts in august and september. I am glad that my dividends can help with my financial needs during my time of joblessness.

Its going to be a busy month for me wrapping up my contract role, attend reservist and prepare myself to settle down in Australia. My next post will most probably be made from Australia. See you then!