Thoughts about the US government shutdown

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Our market has been rather bullish so far, where I think the amount of buying opportunities is rather scarce. Therefore, I have just been reading financial news and reports to keep myself abreast of the current financial situation. One of the highlights from my reading has been the US government shutdown initiated by Trump. Although this is happening thousands of miles away from me, I still thought it was rather relevant in my context.

It was reported that the shutdown has been the most detrimental for US workers living paycheck to paycheck, where they could not pay their bills on time and some had to even resort to taking loans. Some workers did not report to work because they could not even afford the fuel needed for transport.

Now to bring it to my context: imagine if there was a government shutdown in Singapore, or even a shutdown in my company, how long would I last without my salary being credited every month?

I remember reading about how we should allocate 6 months worth of expenses in a contingency situation where we can react to any situations. But I think building up this fund might pose a challenge especially for people like me who are just starting work soon.

I have some thoughts about this:

1) I have not been really enforcing this on myself because I am not employed yet, but I strive to at least maintain my account balance every month. So if my balance of my bank account is $1,000 on 1 January, I will try my best to make sure that it will be at least $1,000.01 on 1 February, and of course if it is $1,100, it is a little bonus for me.

2) Ideally, I am targeting to save at least 10% of my remaining salary (after CPF and tax) so that I can build up my contingency fund as soon as possible. This might be tough with any additional commitments, but this is my goal for now.

And lastly, in times like a shutdown, alternative sources of income are the most important. I will continue to build my portfolio which can generate healthy sources of income in the long run and decrease my dependency on that monthly paycheck. A high bar but a necessary goal!

Please comment if you have any suggestions or feedback too!