There have been a number of air miles “nerfs” to popular Singapore credit cards in recent weeks and it seems to go from bad to worse for those of us who love KrisFlyer miles in the Lion City.

Just earlier this week, UOB announced some key changes to the UOB Lady’s and Lady’s Solitaire cards that will make it even harder for us to earn miles.

Whereas the current monthly spending cap to earn 4 miles per dollar (mpd) on the UOB Lady’s Solitaire card is S$2,000, from 1 August 2025 this cap will be cut to S$1,500 per calendar month.

Even worse, whereas you have two bonus categories with the UOB Lady’s Solitaire and can choose how much to spend on one or the other, from next month there’ll be a 4mpd spending cap of $750 on each of your two bonus categories.

It’s almost a “double whammy” in that they’re cutting the 4mpd rate by 25% (down to S$1,500) but also limiting the flexibility of the various bonus categories.

The end result? They’re trying to make it harder – as in more laborious – for you to earn miles as you’re forced to actively track at a more granular level.

Regardless, the UOB Lady’s Solitaire card should remain a top 4mpd card for many people. Just watch out for those spending caps come 1 August.

How would you invest when turning 40? That’s something that I’m grappling with as I turn 40 this year. Do I need to change my plans? Has my risk appetite and time horizon actually truly changed just because I’m entering my 40s?

These are questions I’m seriously pondering (and others should, too). Personally, I don’t own any bonds and am more comfortable holding a cash position (like emergency fund) in cash-like instruments such as money market funds or a high-yield savings account.

But is this something I should reconsider? As we know, bonds traditionally perform as a defensive asset in an investment portfolio.

Now that I’m entering my fourth decade, it makes some sense to allocate a set portion of my income towards bonds. While there are bond “funds” out there, my preference is to look at exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

That’s because they’re low cost and they’re suited perfectly to bonds as an asset class – remember bonds are notoriously difficult to buy on an individual basis (unlike companies’ shares).

An “all-in-one” solution could just be a global government and corporate investment grade (IG) bond ETF like the iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF (LSE: AGGG) that’s listed in London.

Personally, though, I’m leaning towards thinking about corporate bonds given the absolutely disastrous state of government finances worldwide.

For this, I’m thinking about the iShares $ Short Duration Corp Bond UCITS ETF given its investment grade nature and shorter maturities – meaning you won’t get caught out by being invested in longer-maturity bonds like many investors did in 2022.

But speaking of “defensive” assets, I’m also looking to accumulate more gold as part of a very stock-/equity ETF-heavy portfolio.

This should help provide some ballast in times of uncertainty and can also be a counterweight to a weaker US Dollar (which many of us probably have exposure to through our investments).

As we get into our 40s, mistakes in this decade of our investing journey can really impact us for years to come. So, for me as I enter my fourth decade, I often think of Warren Buffett’s famous quote – “The first rule of investing is don’t lose money”.

Hong Kong stocks rallied by 20% in the first half of 2025 as Chinese investors ploughed money into the city’s stock market amid rising tensions with the US.

Increased flows via the Stock Connect programme, alongside a robust IPO market, has seen the Hang Seng Index climb to levels last seen in November 2021.

Tim’s Take: Hong Kong’s stock market has come roaring back in 2025 as the natural destination for Chinese money (and their corporates’ capital raising) seems that much more attractive in a world where President Trump seems to be bullying allies and competitors alike.

Hong Kong’s capital markets are buzzing with fundraising activity as a total of 42 companies went public in the first half of the year, raising a total of US$13.5 billion in the process.

That figure easily topped the global IPO table for the period, with the tech-focused Nasdaq second (US$8.9 billion) and the New York Stock Exchange third (US$7.5 billion).

Mainland money is also making a difference with the Stock Connect scheme now making up an estimated 50% of total daily turnover in the Hong Kong market.

Institutional investors have also been getting in on the act as money flows back to the China growth story amid political uncertainty in the US and potential Fed rate cuts in the back half of the year.

Remember, the Hong Kong dollar (which is pegged to the US dollar) essentially imports the US Fed’s monetary policy and any easing on that front should see more capital flow into the stock market.

For that reason, a lot of investors see this as being at the early stages of a continued run upwards in 2025.