My Kueh Lapis Passive Income Plan

 I believe that there is a common mistake when people are making their retirement plans and chasing Financial Independence. They try to find the "one perfect asset" that will fund their entire life. They want the CPF to do everything, or they want some investment products to do everything, or rental properties to do everything etc.

As an investor, I don't believe in relying on a single pillar. If that pillar cracks, the entire roof comes crashing down. 

I view my passive income and simple retirement plan like a Kueh Lapis. It needs to be built in distinct layers. Each layer has a different texture, a different risk profile, and serves a completely different mechanical purpose.

If you are just relying on one source of passive income, you are missing the structural integrity that comes from a fully stacked income plan. Here is the blueprint for the 4-layer architecture I am building toward.

Layer 1: CPF LIFE

  • Risk: Very Low.

  • Liquidity: Zero (until 65).

  • The Purpose: This is the absolute bedrock. The math of CPF LIFE is designed to solve one specific nightmare: outliving your money. Even if the stock market goes to zero and my future tenants stop paying rent, this layer ensures the basic lights stay on and food is on the table until the day I die. It is unglamorous, but it is mathematically bulletproof.

Layer 2: SSB & T-Bills

  • Risk: Very Low.

  • Liquidity: Medium.

  • The Purpose: Under bad economic conditions, we tend to see stock prices plummet and dividends of companies getting slashed. If I rely purely on stocks, I might be forced to sell shares at rock-bottom prices just to pay my bills. Singapore Savings Bonds and T-Bills are the buffer. They sit in the portfolio as cash-equivalents yielding ~2%. They don't make me rich, but they act as a moat protecting the equities during a recession. SSBs and T-Bills can be laddered monthly, to make up for natural gaps in my dividend income due to the scheduling of dividend payments. 

Layer 3: The Dividend Portfolio

  • Risk: High (Market Volatility).

  • Liquidity: High (T+2 days to sell).

  • The Purpose: This layer does the heavy lifting for lifestyle design. It yields 5-6% in cash dividends, outpaces core inflation, and grows its payouts over time. This is the layer that can pay for the holidays, the good foods, and all other good things in life.

Layer 4: Property Rental

  • Risk: High (Concentration/Tenant Risk).

  • Liquidity: Extremely Low.

  • The Purpose: Physical property operates on different physics than the stock market. You can leverage it (borrowing from the bank to buy it), and it is the ultimate hedge against monetary inflation. It requires massive capital accumulation to unlock, but it remains the final, heavy roof of our Kueh Lapis.





This is my simple passive income Kueh Lapis, consisting of four asset classes that Singaporeans know and love. The different layers represent diversification across different levels of risk, liquidity and asset classes. The layers come together to form this delicious Kueh Lapis that keeps you and your wallets feeling full and heavy for a long time to come. All Huat !!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Portfolio Review and Why I Don't Limit The Number Of Stocks Owned

2025 is in the books with only 2 and a half trading days left.  2025 is the year I initiated my dividend portfolio and embarked on this hopefully decades-long journey with dividend investing. My portfolio was steady and already printed cash like it was supposed to. In 2025 my  Net Assets  increased by 45%, of which around two thirds can be attributed to personal savings and one third can be attributed to investment returns (capital gains + dividends). Here is a breakdown of the number of dividends I can expect to receive by month next year: Jan: None Feb (3): Kimly, SGX, Suntec Mar (6): Keppel DC REIT, AIMS APAC REIT, PLife, CICT, MIT, MLT Apr (1): DBS May (7): DBS, OCBC, UOB, CLI, CDG, SGX, Suntec Jun (3): AIMS APAC REIT, MIT, MLT Jul (1): Kimly Aug (6): DBS, OCBC, UOB, CICT, CDG, Suntec Sep (5): Keppel DC REIT, AIMS APAC REIT, MIT, MLT, PLife Oct (1): SGX Nov (3): DBS, SGX, Suntec, Dec (3): AIMS APAC REIT, MIT, MLT I currently hold 15 individual counters, giving me...
Read more

Decoding DBS's FY2025 Earnings Call

Image
 This article was written with reference to DBS Media Briefing Transcript and Analyst Call Transcript for FY2025, which can be found at https://www.dbs.com/investors/financials/quarterly-financials During the DBS Full Year 2025 earnings call, CEO Tan Su Shan described the year using two specific words: A "Perfect Storm." She is entirely correct about the macro environment that our Singapore banks had to operate in. Benchmark interest rates (SORA and HIBOR) crashed by almost 2 percentage points. The Singapore Dollar remained brutally strong, hurting the translation of foreign earnings. Finally, the new 15% global minimum tax kicked in, slapping the bank with an additional SGD 400 million in tax expenses. DBS headline net profit fell 3% to SGD 11 billion. But if  you look at the actual operating engine, pre-tax profit rose to a record high of $13.1 billion . Total income grew 3% to a record $22.9 billion .  Deep Deep Deposits When interest rates drop, the textbook resp...
Read more

How To Get Cheaper Trades on Moomoo

Image
UPDATE: As of 18 September 2025, this Lucky Spin feature has been removed and the method no longer works. The moomoo points can be spent on trading coupons still, but at far less generous rates.   I want to share a simple and quick method to earn free trading cash coupons on moomoo SG. Trading cash coupons help to lower your trading costs on this platform. You may find this useful as a current user of moomoo, or as someone looking for a discount broker to invest/trade with. Step 1: Claim your Free Daily Spin This is the easiest part and costs you nothing. First, open your Moomoo app and tap the "Me" icon in the bottom right corner. Next, tap on "Redeem Points" . This will take you to the Rewards Club page. Find the "Lucky Spin" feature and tap into it. You are entitled to one free spin every single day . Make sure you claim it. Step 2: Focus on The Gift Box Look at the  progress bar  and gift box  at the bottom of the spin page. This is the real prize.  ...
Read more