The Pharmacist Investor- The Quiet Compounder

 That morning in the meeting, there was a thick report sitting on the table. Sales targets. Conversion rates. Customer satisfaction scores. Employee retention numbers. Every metric had an owner. Every number had a tracking system. Every quarter had a review. I sat there, looking at that report, and a thought quietly appeared: We set all these KPIs for the company. But when did we last set one for ourselves? How Companies Manage KPIs Company KPIs have a few things in common. They’re specific. Not “we hope to do well” — but “we need to hit this number by this quarter.” They have a deadline. Not “someday we’ll get there” — but “by the end of Q3.” They’re tracked. Every month, every week, someone is checking whether the numbers are on course. They’re reviewed. If the target is missed, there’s a postmortem. Adjustments are made. Companies take this seriously. Do we apply the same seriousness to our own lives? What Do Most People’s Life Goals Actually Look Like? If you’re ...

 Salary in. Transfer done. Shares bought. September was a down month. The portfolio dropped 2.51% , pulling the overall cumulative return back from +8.32% to +4.61% . The numbers don’t look great on paper. But September is the month I feel most settled about since I started this portfolio. September Portfolio Breakdown Stock      Opening      Closing      Change NVDA      $220.78      $228.38      +3.44% QQQ      $716.76      $739.77      +3.21% JEPQ      $60.22      $61.26      +1.73% VOO      $704.89      $700.86      -0.57% BRK.B      $504.05      $497.95      -1.21% XLV      $170.54      $168.42      -1.24% SCHD      $34.89      $32.53 ...

 The first time I heard the words "dividend investing," the image that came to mind was this: A wealthy middle-aged man, collecting cheques once a year, sipping coffee on a yacht. Nothing to do with me. Until I closed my pharmacy, watched my finances reset to zero, and started rebuilding with nothing but a monthly salary — that's when I slowly began to understand something important: Building cash flow, when you're standing at the edge of a cliff, is the most reliable safety net you can have. But dividend investing isn't as simple as "buy the stock with the highest yield." That's actually one of the fastest ways to get into trouble. This article covers everything I wish someone had explained to me when I started — in plain language, no jargon. What Is Dividend Investing? The simplest version: Dividend investing means buying stocks or ETFs from companies that share part of their profits with shareholders. You hold these assets long-term and coll...

Salary in. Transfer done. Shares bought. August was the best month since I started this portfolio. The portfolio climbed 5.17% for the month, pushing the overall cumulative return to +8.32% . Good numbers. But the number everyone will ask about is a different one. 📊 August Portfolio Breakdown Stock      Shares      Opening      Closing      Change PLTR      0.2064      $123.06      $186.38      +51.45% NVDA      0.15      $200.75      $220.78      +9.98% XLV      0.1637      $162.55      $170.54      +4.92% SCHD      2.3191      $33.47      $34.89      +4.24% QQQ      0.0686      $687.99      $716.76      +4.18% JEPQ  ...

 Last month, I wrote a short post marking a milestone I didn't expect to feel anything about. My cumulative dividend income had crossed USD 1. That was July 7th. Today — less than six weeks later — the total sits at USD 2.24. The USD 2 milestone is done. What happened between USD 1 and USD 2 It didn't arrive in one payment. It came in pieces, the way it always does. After the USD 1 post, the following dividends landed: JEPQ: $0.19 QQQ: $0.02 O: $0.08 SCHD: $0.28 VOO: $0.20 Each one small. Each one reinvested immediately. Each one adding fractionally to the next payout. Together, they pushed the cumulative total past USD 2 and kept going. Final number: USD 2.24. Why the speed matters more than the amount USD 2.24 doesn't buy much. In Malaysian Ringgit, it's roughly RM10 — not enough for a proper meal, let alone anything meaningful. But here's what I keep thinking about: From zero to USD 1 took several months. From USD 1 to USD 2 took less than six wee...

  Salary in. Transfer done. Shares bought. July was a quiet month on the surface ,the portfolio climbed 0.50% , nudging my overall return from +0.96% up to +1.46% . Not exciting numbers. But underneath the surface, quite a lot happened. 📊 July Portfolio Breakdown Stock      Shares      Opening      Closing      Change SCHD      2.3191      $31.71      $33.47      +5.55% PLTR      0.2064      $116.67      $123.06      +5.48% O      0.4      $61.96      $63.87      +3.08% XLV      0.1637      $158.66      $162.55      +2.45% BRK.B      0.048      $500.39      $511.54      +2.23% NVDA      0.15    ...

 Salary in. Transfer done. Shares bought. June wasn't a great month. I'll be honest about that upfront. The portfolio dropped 1.8% this month, pulling my overall return down from +2.22% to +0.96% . That thin green line is hanging on — but only just. When I saw the numbers, I felt a little flat. Not panicked. Just… deflated. You build something up slowly over months, and then one rough month quietly takes a chunk of it back. But the plan doesn't change because the mood does. June Portfolio Breakdown Stock      Opening      Closing      Change BRK.B      $474.48      $500.39      +5.46% JEPQ      $61.15           $61.46      +0.51% O      $61.28      $61.96      +1.11% QQQ      $738.31      $736.40      -0.26% VOO      $695.59 ...

 I didn't choose to surrender. Life made the choice for me. The Book In The Surrender Experiment , Michael Singer writes something that stopped me cold the first time I read it: "When you stop resisting what life brings you, you finally begin to truly live." My first reaction was skepticism. It sounded like the kind of thing people say when they've never had to make a genuinely hard decision. At the time, I was still holding on to a pharmacy that was slowly dying. I believed that effort and persistence would fix everything. That if I just pushed harder, things would turn around. I didn't yet understand that some things only get worse when you refuse to let them go. The First Surrender: The Day I Let Go of My Pharmacy The day I made the decision, I sat alone in the pharmacy after closing time. The shelves were still stocked. The counter was still there. But I already knew it was over. One voice in my head kept saying: "You can't quit. Just hold on a ...

 June 24th, 2026. SCHD's ex-dividend date. Which means: if you held SCHD before yesterday's close,  this quarter's dividend belongs to you. I hold 1.5656 shares. At approximately $0.26–$0.27 per share,  my estimated payout comes to: About $0.41–$0.42. The money hasn't landed yet — payment date is June 29th  but I wanted to write this today.  Because there are some things I want to say while the moment is fresh. What Is SCHD and Why Do I Hold It? SCHD stands for the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. It holds a basket of American companies with strong dividend histories and solid financial fundamentals. Healthcare companies. Consumer staples. Industrial businesses. The kind of companies that aren't particularly exciting to talk about at dinner, but have been quietly generating cash for decades. It's not a glamorous ETF. It won't make you sound impressive at parties. But it pays every quarter, maintains an annualised yield of around 3.3%, and  the compani...

 Yesterday, June 23rd, something dramatic happened in South Korea. The KOSPI — South Korea's main stock index — dropped 9.99% in a single day. Trading was halted for 20 minutes after circuit breakers were triggered. Foreign investors dumped over 4 trillion Korean Won in a single session. Retail investors rushed in to buy the dip. It was, by any measure, a historic day. How Did It Come To This? South Korea's stock market has been one of the hottest in the world this year, riding the AI wave almost entirely on the back of two semiconductor giants — Samsung and SK Hynix. SK Hynix alone surged nearly 350% year-to-date at its peak. Retail investors piled into high-leverage ETFs tracking these stocks. Margin accounts stacked higher and higher. The market was a balloon inflated to its absolute limit. Then the foreign money started leaving. Leveraged positions got force-liquidated. Margin calls cascaded. Retail investors who had bought on borrowed money were wiped out before they cou...

 Last week, a notification appeared on my phone. A dividend payment from Realty Income — $O. The amount: $0.08. In Malaysian Ringgit, that's roughly RM0.35. Less than a piece of candy from a vending machine. My First Reaction Honestly? I stared at it for a moment. Not because it was a lot. Because it was so little. A voice in my head said: "Does this even matter?" I sat with that question for a while. And I came up with an answer that actually made me feel something. How That Money Arrived The day that $0.08 landed in my account — what was I doing? I was at work. Sitting at a desk, answering emails, attending meetings, getting through the day like everyone else. Then I clocked out, picked up my son, gave him a bath, sat with him through dinner. After he fell asleep, I picked up my phone and saw the notification. Realty Income had put money into my account while I did absolutely nothing. I didn't sell anything. I didn't provide any service. I didn't tra...