There were no updates a year ago in 2023 as I was probably in a funk, worrying about my child and his developmental delays.
That dark mist has lifted as both the Mrs and I embrace reality and celebrate his every little progress. So comparatively, 2024 was a great great year.
Here is a look at the 5 categories: Health; Wealth; Relationships; Work and Leisure which should encompass the bulk of life.
Health
Review of 2024:
- Resumed jogging in May when I shifted to my new place and went for daily walks early in the morning at 630am for the past two weeks.
- Finally revisited the gym sometime in November when EnergyOne was running a great 11/11 promotion.
- Diet plan still in shambles despite a decade of trying to make it a “priority”
Hopes for 2025:
- Encourage the Mrs to join me for these exercises as we recenter on ourselves
- Go for a comprehensive health check-up. I have been procrastinating for a couple of years and I believe at my age, it is imperative to do one every other year. Same comment as two years ago.
- Ice-cream is still a massive weakness in the diet
- Sleep more and lights out at 11pm
Wealth
Review of 2024:
- Household net worth is up significantly even though we spent >150k moving to a new place
- No regrets though and if finances allow, would do so every decade
- Crypto, US stocks, Banks and Gold have outperformed REITs and HK stocks and I have a much higher weightage in the former
- Selling tech stocks like Meta, Microsoft and Amazon in early 2024 was a massively bad call
Hopes for 2025:
- Reminder to take profits more aggressively for crypto in 2025
- Position more defensively as I expect inflation to remain high
- Establish a separate portfolio for my child that can be more aggressive due to the long horizon
Relationships
Review of 2024:
- Neglected the Mrs with lots of gaming. I downloaded CM 01/02 and spent a couple of months degen-ing. Felt like a teenager again but the feeling did not last too long
- The child prefers spending time with the Mrs or the helper. I am a clear third choice. Not sure if this is inevitable or I should do a reflection
- Cook breakfast of scrambled eggs for the family every other morning
- Made some efforts to have more social life by taking initiative to arrange for meal meet-ups with family and friends
Hopes for 2025:
- Less child-centric. He is turning 3 and needs to be more independent instead of being treated like a prince, especially at home.
- Need to find a more rewarding venture to dedicate some of my free time to feel less “lost”
Work
Review of 2024:
- Actively sought to work less but still pulled in similar income to 2023. The set-up at my new place can accommodate bigger classes
- Only worked from home exclusively for the year and not needing to travel to any lessons is a huge boon
- Very high student retention rates so “income anxiety” for the Mrs is reduced for 2025
Hopes for 2025:
- Offer free Zoom lessons targeted at G2/N Levels as a way of giving back
- Better marketing to attract/help more students since I strongly believe I am very good at what I am doing
- Challenge myself to earn a higher than median income
Leisure
Review of 2024:
- Lots of time spent at Gardens By The Bay and an indoor playground at Suntec (we have annual passes there)
- Many lunches at sen-ryo. I think the set lunch offers terrific value
- Two overseas trips for the family. One to Taiwan in early March with the extended family and a Nov trip to Perth (the Mrs won a lucky draw that helped to cover the air tickets and accommodation for the trip)
Hopes for 2025:
- Plan for an overseas trip in late November. Somehow, maybe due to our unique work arrangements, there is little desire to travel often. A trip without the kid (if it ever materialises) will be exciting though
- Pick up Bahasa independently. Better empathise with students by learning something from scratch
- Utilise the car better by making more day trips to JB during non-peak hours
Conclusion
The major project in 2024 was coordinating the move from one 5-room flat to another. No change in flat size but I believe there is a huge improvement to the standard of living. Less noise, disturbances from neighbours, closer proximity to amenities and nature, and lastly an optimized layout for conducting our lessons.
Expected a haircut as we paid for a more expensive place and did extensive renovation. However, as US stock markets and crypto goes from one ATH to another, net worth climbed steadily. Totally grateful for that even though there is little we can control beyond asset allocation.
If you have not penned down your thoughts for 2022 and hopes for the new year, I do urge you to do the same either on a physical diary, or just type it and then print it out. Your future you will thank you for setting aside an hour or two to do it.
For me, always rewarding to reread past years’ updates to reminisce the past and be more appreciative of the progress along this journey of life.
Thank you for reading!
