A small but important step towards financial freedom

I did not intentionally choose Labour Day as the first day writing my first ‘official’ post in my blog (which I have set up months ago – I know, procrastination is my #1 weakness, which I am actively working on now). Anyway, it seems to be a pretty auspicious day to mark a new beginning on Labour Day 2008. A few years from today when I achieve my financial freedom (sure I will!), I will proudly tell my buddies in our ‘kopi’ sessions (it’s a Singapore slang, basically, it means coffee break) that on Labour day 2008, I took a small but important step towards financial freedom. This makes celebrating Labour day more special.

Well, blogging alone will not get us really rich. I know millions of bloggers out there may disagree, my point is: what I am saying about taking a small but important step today is not really about blogging, it’s about a symbol of commitment that really matters. It is about me telling my friends and the whole world that starting today, through blogging, I am regularly setting action items and goals which lead me towards financial freedom. And here, I am inviting YOU to join me for the fun and thrill in this journey.

Another key objective of setting up this blog is to use it as a common platform for me and my like-minded friends (YOU!) who are passionate about investment to share knowledge and experience on investment and business. I strongly believe that through active sharing and healthy debates, we learn and grow much quicker. Apart from knowledge sharing, blogging is also a good way to track and monitor progress over time.

I will eventually come out some standard framework for us to put down our thoughts and ideas in a more systematic manner, but for now, it’s free-style. I have discussed earlier with my good friend RT on the topics that we will discuss here, here is a partial list:

• Investment fundamentals – different school of thoughts
• Securities Analysis/Fundamental Analysis – the criteria that we should set, for ourselves
• Study financial reports – to start with, we can start reading Hyflux report or Microsoft
• Macroeconomics
• Book list/Book review/ebooks
• Understanding the market
• Technical Analysis
• Financial investment instruments – fixed income, equities
• Hedging/Risk management – through options, cut-loss strategy
• Non-financial investment instruments – wine-investment, art pieces investment
• Property – a big topic by itself, for capital appreciation, for rental yields, local/overseas markets, know-how
• Business opportunities – franchise business, new niche products, network marketing
• Internet Marketing

To start the journey and get the ball rolling, the first assignment that I am proposing today for the month of May, 2008 is here: http://infinitewealth.wordpress.com/assignment-of-the-month/

Have fun!