Dear Students of Batch 30, It’s been a great honour and privilege to conduct a 3-Day Early Retirement Workshop for you. The 30^th batch of the Early Retirement Masterclass faces a challenging financial market. China’s recovery from COVID-19 has stalled, and the US faces gridlock as Republicans and Democrats begin a political dance to raise the debt ceiling. Singapore’s GDP growth enters negative territory as inflation remains stubbornly entrenched in the 5% territory. There’s much to fear in this market. Consequently, we conducted the smallest class in the history of the program. The cosy atmosphere and skilful student body still allowed us to build a 17-stock portfolio despite each student doing independent research without a teammate. The portfolio we will track will also halve its size as I try to fit the 17 stocks into a tight budget of $10,000. A high yield of 6.5% helps. But there is hope....