It pours really damn hard

It's almost the end of the year. And here I am, immersed in my own little corner of the world. Having a little peace of mind. Enjoying the feeling of contentment and security.

So what exactly changed?

Big things actually. Not sure If I've mentioned this before but the year starts with a newly minted residence visa 🎉. Yup I am now officially a resident of New Zealand. I can now vote, participate in jury duty, open credit cards, open a Kiwisaver account (NZ's equivalent of 401K in the US), and a lot of investment opportunities . But what's more important is that I don't have to queue anymore in Philippine offices just to prove that I have the necessary document to fly in and out. I  won't be reimbursed a terminal fee anymore though. I mean, I'll take the freedom to fly anytime over 500 pesos, which in the general scheme of things not really that significant sum.

Speaking of funds, I opened an account in an online platform called InvestNow. They have a massive collection of diverse funds that include Australian, International  and even term deposits from a few banks here. My portfolio now includes a local dividend ETF, 2 Vanguard funds (one in AUD and one hedged to the NZ dollar), 3 International ETFs (Health, Robotics, and US equities) , and a Properties fund. We are still in a bullish market so everything seems to be fine. I parked a significant chunk in a 6-month term deposit as well at 3.3%. This way, I will still have my peace of mind in case everything goes down south all of a sudden. So far so good.

Looking at my portfolio in general, a huge chunk is still allocated to the more stable Cooperatives - mainly AFPSLAI and Pagibig. Yes that one is our Pagibig - as in Pagibig HDMF. Particularly a huge portion is parked in their Modified Pagibig 2 (MP2) Program, redeemable after 5 years, which last year saw a 7.41% dividend. AFPSLAI on the other hand is almost stable at 15.5% annually paid quarterly. Unfortunately, it's not compounding anymore. Which is a good  thing. It's the association's way of preventing overwhelming the member's fund. My managed funds and Kiwisaver (the Social security bit) are all invested in growth funds so they are effectively invested in stocks. But notice that combining with stocks they don't occupy a huge chunk of my portfolio anymore. Risk aversion took over and also taking into account that I need to build a seed fund for a venture that may start anytime soon.

The cake is a lie!

Subtly, I was also absorbed by a client so in effect I started a new job a few months ago. That means I'm not under an agency anymore 🎉.That's number 2 on my "woohoo! list" this year. The salary bump is not that huge and I also crossed a tax bracket in the process . Nonetheless, I find it significant. Especially now that I am building up a war chest for a new venture back home. It's all up in the air though. But the prospect is pretty positive. Hopefully I can write that down in my woohoo list soon.

Also last month, my portfolio pierced through that big 2.0 🎉.

With expenses in the way, it will momentarily dip for while. But everything is looking positively up. That's a huge milestone right there considering  just 2 years ago, I'm watching quite helplessly my savings draining away and I almost, as in scarily almost, have not made it here in a country that I can now call my second home. With the holidays fast approaching, I am not expecting anymore significant additions unless the market improves.

Outside my portfolio above, I have enough fund for my sibling's school fees and baon - for the whole year! 🎉. They're tucked nicely away. That and a very little buffer fund for anything untoward. I can just only celebrate in silence. And it's a pretty damn good feeling of achievement. Money can't buy happiness, my ass.

And yeah, I just bought a travel insurance a few minutes ago. I am going on a long-ish vacation across Asia and mi patria for the holidays!🎉.

Yup. Life is good.