Jun update - new goal set - option to retire at 40

Half a year in to 2026. I thought this is a good time for me to have a half-yearly review.

This was what I set out for 2026:

• Build a stronger portfolio through DCA (target - 2k per month) ✅❌
• Grow passive income to 30k/year 
• Stay unharmed at work and continue to ride the waves
• Explore an alternative career path  ✅❌
• Donate more than 2025  ✅
• Bring my parents overseas (already 1 planned) ✅
• Gain more muscles, not fats by strength exercises ✅
• Eat, buy, do whatever I want (I'm actually doing so already in 2025 and like to continue in 2026. Self-love!) ✅
• Visit a new destination (already one planned, and foresee another one coming if all things go smoothly!) ✅

Half year in and I'm already achieving some parts. Broadly, I do think I had a rather fruitful first half of the year. I also feel my mental health is better. 

At the start of this year, I set out that each month, I will schedule something interesting. As I scroll through my calendar, I'm proud that I've pushed myself to be more active.

Jan:

• signed up for a makeup class though it turned out more to be a MLM sales
• started physiotherapy
• went for a heritage walk
• went for a church tour
• learnt crochet in hope to find a hobby and interest...but nope. Not for me haha
• set up POEMS account 

Feb:

• tried reiki meditation
• joined a workshop to manage emotions
• dental 
• did pottery
• joined an event to bond with my husband

Mar:

• joined a virtual session on recovering from fertility fatigue

Apr:

• travelled overseas to a country I've not been to before
• started learning a new language 
• learn energy healing

May:

• overseas work trip with hubby in tow
• did inbody scan which got me to wake up that I need to build more muscle mass
• engaged an online bazi reader - taking it with a pinch of salt, but it made me a bit more knowledgable about how to read my own bazi

Jun:

• attended a workshop to be more intuitive
• joined a mental wellness class which gave me more insight on how to be more mentally well
• decided to sign up for Careshield Life plus via Singlife since it gave 35% perpetual discount

It's been a pretty fulfiling half a year. I do feel I am happier now and I hope it sustains. I give thanks to myself for inserting activities to make my life less mundane, otherwise, it felt like I was just living day by day, which was my life for the past few years.

Also, I realised I didnt set a goal of how much net worth to achieve. It was my goal to reach 1.3m networth for 2025 but I didn't make it. It was 1.128m. Since it's important to establish a goal and work towards it, I am aiming to reach 1.5m networth by end 2026. Aim high for the stars :)

Beyond this short-term goal, I have now set my mind to achieve this goal: (option to) retire at 40. 

This thought came up strongly recently. Maybe it's the flood of layoffs news that got me uneasy and fearing it will be difficult for me to find another job as I get older. I am at a stage where I'm expensive. While we haven't fully grasp the extent of AI for our jobs, I know my management is already thinking of reducing headcounts in name of "AI" - which is a rather b move. 

Therefore, while I had really painful experiences at work last year, I am still holding on tight to my job since the job market is bleak. Learning to be thick skinned at work helps. Reframing my thinking that people at work don't matter as long $ is in my bank every month.

In order to achieve the option of retiring at 40, I am back to purchasing UTs in POEMS via my SRS and CPF OA. I got some during the march and april lows, but I wasn't gutsy to put in more. I must still thank myself for entering the market as I am sitting on 10-12% gains just by buying in this year.

I've also been deploying cash into ETFs, bit by bit. I've been accumulating too much cash and it's sad that I only woke up now. While people are enjoying the wins such as 50-100% growth in their portfolio since covid, I can only tell myself it's better late than never.

As of today, my networth is sitting at $1.232m. 268k more to reach my $1.5m goal end this year. I'm smirking but I trust that everything will work well in my favour!

I look forward to sharing my networth pie in Dec :)