Turning my life around

First posted on Vox.

So in the last few weeks I've been thinking about my health, both physical and financial. I want to have a long and comfortable life, and realised I couldn't leave it up to chance. It occurred to me today that blogging would be a good way to chart my progress.

Health
I came to the realisation that there's no point paying the big bucks to clubs and gyms, simply because I find dragging myself there a deterrence. The solution is not to give myself any excuse NOT to exercise. I also realised that doing it daily is the only way to keep myself disciplined.

I started off my regimen by climbing the stairs. I actually like this because it's simple, free and out of the sun. It's an excellent cardio workout. I take the lift to the void deck (I only go up, never down, to save my knees), climb up to the top floor (12th), go back down, and come up the other staircase to my floor (8th). Great returns for very little time.

I also needed alternatives at home, so I started to think of equipment. I got Wong Lilin's Loopz (basically a resistance band with loops), and some yoga stuff (blocks, belt, books). I also decided to invest in a second-hand home gym machine. At first, I was ready to go for a treadmill, but then read about how noisy it was, plus a good one that lasts costs a few thou. I never liked running anyway, and always thought treadmills were dumb. My favourite machine at the gym was always the crosstrainer, so why not get one? It's quiet, doesn't use much electricity and is low-impact. I found a nice Kettler going for half-price ($750) on local eBay, and with the help of an extremely kind friend, carted it home. It's a bit creaky, but Kettler will do maintenance for free before the end of the warranty period this month. My mum enjoys it too, and we are starting off with 15 minutes a day with a resistance interval programme. I would like to do 30 minutes daily by the time I start work.

The other goal I have is to bring my weight down to an ideal BMI (between 41 to 51kg). I have to lose at least 3kg, and never having been a dieter, don't really know where to start. Today I remembered an article I read about calorie restriction, which studies show improves your health dramatically, but is also quite hard to do on a daily basis. What many people are doing instead is intermittent fasting (IF). The easiest programme for me I think would be something like Fast-5, where you eat only during a 5-hour window everyday. I have always found it hard to eat breakfast consistently and late lunches I've had enough to know I can take it. I plan to start with a 6-hour window, with 3-9pm being ideal. I can't see myself giving up my morning coffee (black with a little sugar), though, and I'll probably break the rules on weekends. I'm really aiming for the long-term health benefits here, but the weight loss is a real plus.

Finance
I've always had a very short-term approach to finance, which seems odd coming from the daughter of parents who worked in banks most of their lives. I've always been pressured to be frugal, but never taught financial management as such. I actually think this is a skill that ought to be taught to kids as soon as they are old enough to understand, so that they don't develop bad spending habits like I did.

The first thing to do was to settle my insurance. I was frustrated with AIA last year and let my applications lapse, but this year I went for the required medical examination and hopefully AIA finds it sufficient. The most important thing I want to add to my current life insurance plans is as-charged health insurance. On top of that I was going to take an ILP, but have second thoughts now. Maybe I'll get an early-payout CI plan instead.

After visiting various websites and forums, I decided that I want to be primarily a passive investor, using Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). I am especially inspired by this blogger, and will be using his portfolio as a guide to developing my own. When I first decided to trade, I opened accounts with various stockbrokers, but having compared them carefully will stick with POEMS for SGX and Saxo for foreign markets. My goal is to invest about $20k yearly in equities, drawing both from cash and CPF-OA. Cash investments should be drawn from my SRS account when possible, so that I can pay less tax. I was ready to deal with bond ladders for my fixed income, but decided in the end that using my CPF-SA would be a good stand-in for now.

At the same time I also need to save for my doctorate, since there's no guarantee I'll be able to get sponsorship. This $12k yearly can be parked in a money market fund, which gives me a better interest rate than my bank, while providing liquidity and low risk.

It's going to be bloody hard, having so little to spend a month. I suppose it's just as well that 5 days a week I'm going to be stranded in the campus Far Far Away, where there is no real shopping to be had. The institution apparently doesn't believe in AWS, so I can't depend on that and bonuses for savings. I'm going to have to be very disciplined.

The last thing I want to do is to find an additional source of income. Previously, I got that by doing more of the same thing I do everyday, which is incredibly draining. I thought of freelance editing, but that is tiring work too, and a little too close to my real job. I'm going to try forex trading, having been inspired by a friend. If I have the right temperament for it, it could be a very nice change of pace. The initial investment in training is a bit daunting, but education is never a bad thing.

Another thing I'm doing for my financial health is to focus on discounts and rebates for credit cards, and forget about reward points, which I find hard to use most of the time. I've cancelled the cards I never use anymore (so that I don't have to bug them about annual fee waivers), and will concentrate my spending on the UOB One card when I get it. I think it has the best rebate programme of all the cards out there. Every cent saved is another cent for my nest egg!