u/naked_sponge

Curious to know of stories where you made a costly mistake and how you overcome it. I can share my sad story to kick the ball rolling.

In 2020 when I was 29 years old, I invested in Tesla with all the money I had because I believed in the vision of the CEO which was to reduce reliance on oil and that EV will replace ICE cars eventually.

Each time the stock price went up, I bought more - to the point where I had 400 shares at a cost basis of $370 (around SGD200K) during its ATH.

When it dropped from the peak (from $370 to $123) my investment essentially more than halved and at the lowest point, I had only 80k in it. I was so mortified, I deleted the app and didn’t look at it for years.

It was only in 2024, when I chanced on a news article about Tesla reaching its ATH again. I reinstalled my app but this time I exited all my positions, making a loss of around 20-30K.

The real cost however was the opportunity cost. Had I invested in S&P500 during 2021-2024, I would have made around 60K.

So what’s your story?

Hi everyone, this is my first post to share my experience with everyone on what I've learnt about personal finance over the years. Over the years - since university - I saved and invested aggressively once I started to work. The past few years have been kind to me due to the bull run in the equity market as well as a better labour market.

Currently, I am working in a new company where it is stressful and I hope to achieve FIRE by 40. Recently I had a major health scare where I was warded in the hospital for some heart issue and I realised just how short our lives can be. I hope everyone acheive success not just in personal wealth, but health too! As customary, here are my numbers (C.A.A Wed 15 July):

Net Worth

	Amount in SGD
Cash	10,000
Gold	5,000
Equities	1,048,000
CPF OA	170,000
CPF SA	40,000
Total Net Worth	1,273,000

Income per month

	Amount in SGD
Job	13,000
Side hustle (fluctuates)	10,000
Total Income	23,000

Expenses per month

	Amount in SGD
Rent	2,500
Utilities	100
Internet + Mobile phone plan	100
Credit Card 1
- Groceries	250
- Meals	400
- Dining out	250
- Transport	250
- Subscriptions	200
- Insurance	300
- Misc	1,000
Credit Card 2
- Piano	250
- Education	150
Parents Allowance	1,000
Total Expenses	(6,750)

Any leftover (income - expenses) is wholly invested into equities. The past few months, I've been saving up for longer travels, larger expenses like wedding cost and downpayment for a house. After the health scare, I realised I should take it easy and relax more. I also intend to give my parents more money so they can enjoy their life (they are in their 70s). Even though they did not have a lot of money growing up, they let me do whatever I wanted and never asked for more money from me.

I'll share more in the next post, till next time.

I’m a software engineer and have been in the industry for close to a decade. Currently in my early-mid thirties and am curious how you all stay sharp and healthy.

In my case, I have high cholesterol, poor sleep, heart issues and the like and I feel like even if I wanted to continue in this profession, the toll it takes on my body is too much and I might need to switch to another career.

I’m also worried yet optimistic about AI because on one hand, it helps to improve productivity but on the other, it just seem like I’m just waiting for my job to be fully eaten by it.

Happy to hear your perspectives on this!