So, it’s official. In late August, Singapore Airlines announced that it would be implementing a devaluation of its KrisFlyer Miles programme from 1 November 2025.

However, it’s not as bad as many expected with Business Class Saver redemptions to Japan, Europe, and the US increasing by only 5%.

Yet it’s the Business Class Advantage redemption where the miles required are really ramping up and that’s more painful as Advantage clearly has better availability, given you’re paying a premium for what tends to be immediate confirmation.

For Japan, Europe, and the US in Business Advantage, from 1 November will increase by 15%, so three times the rate of the Business Saver increase.

On the Economy Saver front, many destinations – at least in Asia and Australia – are actually seeing a decline in the number of miles required with reductions of anywhere from 4% to 6% for the miles required.

The percentage increases for miles required to book Suites and First Class Saver and Advantage mirror those of Business so not much to see there.

Bottom line, if anyone is looking to redeem tickets for trips on Business for 2026 (and you can do it before 1 November), then I would get booking now.

Remember, you can redeem your miles for flights departing 355 days from today so anyone booking today could book for a flight as far ahead as 4 September 2026.

Many of us who look to build out a small dividend portfolio, to complement our core ETF allocation, tend to focus on just dividend yield. However, this can be counterproductive to our end goals (which is rising passive income) as ultra-high yields can indicate issues with a dividend.

Think of dividend yields above 6% to 7% as indicating something is amiss as either the market believes the dividend could be in danger of being cut – the worst thing for a dividend investor – or the share price has cratered.

Neither is an ideal scenario as one cuts your passive income while the other destroys your capital.

The best approach is to mix lower-yielding stocks – with dividend yields between 2% to 4% – that are growing their dividend at a faster clip (+10% per year) with higher-yielding stocks (that yield 4% to 6%) but are maybe growing their dividend a slower pace, so 5% to 10% per year.

At the end of the day, you want to be investing into dividend stocks that have consistently grown their dividend above the rate of inflation.

Having a diversified portfolio of global dividend stocks – anywhere from 15 to 20 – can help you generate various passive income streams without being too reliant on one company.

By focusing on the consistency and growth rate of dividend income, we can at least create one passive income stream that grows over time.

South Korean stocks hit a record high earlier this week after the country’s President – Lee Jae Myung – said the government wouldn’t press for an increase in the capital gains tax.

Korean stocks have been on a tear so far in 2025, with the benchmark Kospi Index up over 38% year-to-date.

Tim’s Take: Korean stocks have quietly climbed in 2025 despite the US unleashing a barrage of tariffs against its Asian trading partners, including South Korea.

In fact, it’s been one of the best-performing major markets globally in 2025 after having a disappointing 2024.

With the US and Korean governments still haggling over the details of a trade deal – that could see Korea face “only” 15% tariffs – the stock market has enjoyed several catalysts.

The latest leg up came as President Lee Jae Myung said he’d let the country’s legislature decide on a proposed plan from him on whether to expand the pool of investors subject to capital gains tax.

That comes as his left-wing government is actually looking to pursue policies that help improve stock valuations, similar to the approach that has been so successful in Japan.

Long suffering from what’s become known as a “Korea discount”, investors have been loath to allocate too much capital into a market that is infamous for poor corporate governance and bloated conglomerate structures.  

However, that looks like it might be slowly changing as President Lee has also expressed support for cutting dividend taxes as a way to encourage companies to pay out more to shareholders.

We’ve seen that success start to come through in both Japanese and Chinese markets, where authorities are prodding corporates to pay out more capital in the form of dividends to shareholders if they don’t have anything better to do with profits.

With everything from Korean defence manufacturers and semiconductor players through to financials driving performance this year, investors could be witnessing a multi-year transformation in Korea that could be positive for the future health of the local market.

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