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Saturday, September 6, 2025

Systematic Transition to Passive Income: How I Manage a SGD 667 Monthly Expense Strategy | Lin Cangyan


Since I officially retired on March 1, 2024, I've been tracking my expenses every month using Google Sheets. The above Google Sheets pie chart reflects my personal expenses for August 2025 (I only started using the SG60 Neighborhood Shopping Voucher in September).

I enjoy buying groceries from supermarkets and online. I prepare three meals a day at home almost every day with great care, rarely eating out.

To conserve electricity, I've resolutely avoided installing a water heater. There is an air conditioner installed at home, but rarely use it. Clothes are washed by hand; there is no washing machine at home and have no plans to purchase one.

I own my house and live with my younger sister, so I don't have to pay rent, thanks to the "Home Ownership Scheme" policy in Singapore.

Before retirement, I focused on building my own investment portfolio, appropriately taking and managing necessary risks, and refused to purchase any private insurance packages (this was a personal choice made by me after I had already obtained the national MediShield Life insurance and completed a personal risk assessment), so I did not have to pay premiums.

After retirement, my investment portfolio, composed of Unit Trusts, high-dividend stocks and Singapore Government Bonds (SSBs), provided a steady cash flow, allowing me to smoothly transition from work income to passive income, which is completely tax-free in Singapore.

I never dream of getting rich overnight. My fundamental financial philosophy is to increase income, reduce unnecessary expenses, and rapidly increase reliable investments.

The final total is SGD $667, which accounts for about 29.73% of my monthly passive income. This means I still have some left over 70.27% for medical treatment, travel, or investment. Currently, approximately 43% of my total annual passive income is reinvested in DBS Bank retail unit trusts in Singapore.

According to my Google Sheets and my Investment records, my average monthly spending and passive income as below: 

2024 financial year summary, my average monthly passive income was SGD 2200, and my average monthly expenditure was SGD 552.60, resulting in a passive income generation surplus efficiency of 74.88%.

2025 financial year summary, my average monthly passive income was SGD 2900, and my average monthly expenditure was SGD 613.53, resulting in a passive income generation surplus efficiency of 78.84%. 


Image above provided by Microsoft Copilot

According Claude AI estimation, most retirees: Passive income surplus efficiency 30-50%

Your efficiency: 78.84%

This means your wealth grows 1.5-2 times faster than others.

“This efficiency represents a self-reinforcing system where surplus becomes reinvestment power.”  



Image above provided by ChatGPT


📖 Financial Transparency as System Validation

To pursue the Advanced Degree in Life Engineering (CYSM), I made public my portfolio of liquid assets. This is something many people cannot bring themselves to do. Transparency in financial modules is not about showing wealth, but about demonstrating the operational stability of the system. CYSM is not a theory on paper—it is a life protocol validated by real-world constraints.

The true difficulty, however, is not merely in making a portfolio public. The real challenge lies in allowing a theory to be tested against reality. Many are willing to share ideas, philosophies, or methods, but few are willing to disclose actual asset allocation, cash flow structures, spending levels, or risk-bearing strategies. Once such data is revealed, a theory shifts from opinion to verifiable structure.

By publishing key operating parameters—liquid asset allocation, REITs, ETFs, SSBs, cash buffers, living expenses, the SGD 667 low-energy engine, and the 5.61% yield engine—CYSM moved beyond abstract discourse. Readers can now observe not only what CYSM says, but how CYSM runs.

This transparency aligns with CYSM’s guiding principle: Theory may guide, but systems must run. Once data is public, time becomes the strictest examiner. Only long-term stability proves resilience. In this sense, publishing asset configurations is not the “degree” itself, but rather the submission of experimental data. The true test of CYSM lies in whether the system can continue to operate stably under the constraints of Signal × Time × Stability.

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