On this site, I rarely share about other aspects of my life besides travel. Today, I’d like to do something different: share my aspiration of my dream retirement and how I plan to achieve it.
My vision for ideal retirement involves traveling the world full-time without worrying that I’ll run out of money. To do so, I need to have a reliable source of passive income.
My financial goal is to build a portfolio of assets that will allow me to draw steady passive income (about 4% annually) during my retirement years.
Currently, I have active income coming in from my business and passive income from my investments in stocks and bonds. However, the size of my current asset is still far from my financial goal, so I’m always on the lookout for more income streams to help me reach my financial goal sooner.
I tried forex trading recently, and I thought I’d share what I think about forex trading in general, whether forex can be a viable side hustle for me and the platform I use for forex trading in Singapore.
What I Think About Forex
Forex stands for foreign exchange. Basically, it works like a money changer. You use one currency to buy another currency.
The concept is really simple: you bet whether a currency will be up or down against another currency.
For example, I use SGD in my daily life, and currently, 1 USD is equal to 1.34 SGD. If I think USD-to-SGD will go up in the future, I will buy more USD/SGD now and then sell it later when USD/SGD is more than 1.34 to make a profit.
Conversely, if I think USD-to-SGD will go down to below 1.34, I will sell USD/SGD now and then buy back later when USD/SGD is less than 1.34 in order to make a profit.
The maths in forex isn’t difficult. The most difficult aspect is analysing the fundamentals of the currency in order to make educated guesses.
If stock trading requires studying the ins and outs of a business, forex trading requires understanding the economy of a country compared to another country.
Stock trading requires you to be well-versed in analyzing a company’s USP (unique selling proposition), how the company runs its business, the company’s competitors, and so on. Meanwhile, forex trading requires you to be well-versed in analyzing a country’s GDP, government policy, geopolitical events, and so on.
As someone who is running a small business, analyzing a company is slightly easier than analyzing a country. So, I have a steep learning curve in front of me.
How I Trade Forex in Singapore
I use OANDA to learn forex trading in Singapore. The app is quite easy to use, and the spread is reasonable. If you have a TradingView account, you can also use OANDA to submit orders in TradingView.
One of the most important questions I ask myself when choosing a brokerage is whether my money is safe in it. OANDA is regulated by MAS which requires them to set up trust accounts in other banks so that in the event of insolvency, the customers’ money will be protected.
If you are trying out for the first time, I highly recommend setting up a demo account to familiarize yourself with the platform, understand the trading mechanics, set up your processes, try out various strategies, and learn how to manage your emotions.
Can Forex Be a Viable Side Hustle to Fund My Retirement?
Forex can be a viable side hustle to fund my retirement, but it’s definitely not a get-rich-quick hustle. I won’t be able to immediately earn thousands of dollars in a day when starting out.
To be a better trader, I need to invest A LOT of time to learn about forex fundamental analysis and technical analysis, as well as my own psychology and how well I react under pressure.
It is also important to recognize that forex trading is risky. To de-risk, I avoid leverage, start with a small account, don’t go all-in on one trade (diversify into different trades), and put a stop-loss in place.
Conclusion
Throughout the journey of building my retirement portfolio, I live by the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
I believe diversification of income streams is the key to living a peaceful and secure life. I don’t want to depend on a single source of income (which is my main business). I’d like to have side hustles along the way, as well as dividends from stocks and bonds.
That’s because unpredictable events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could severely impact my primary income and deplete my stock and bond portfolio. In such scenarios, having diverse income sources will provide a safety net.
For now, trading will serve as a side hustle rather than my primary source of income as I strive to diversify my revenue streams. Developing trading skills is valuable, as it can help safeguard my future earning potential against unforeseen circumstances.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by OANDA.
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