For investors, the day-to-day swings in sentiment regarding the war in Iran is deeply unsettling. That’s understandable because this is considered the biggest energy disruption ever, surpassing the oil crises in both 1973 and 1979.

The headlines are always going to come up with a “worst ever” scenario and in many specific cases, that can totally be warranted.

But it’s also a timely reminder that no one knows exactly how this will play out because the world is vastly different to the one in the 1970s.

That’s also a great reason to view this uncertainty as the perfect justification to keep your dollar cost averaging (DCA) strategy on track.

It’s clear the White House (i.e. President Trump) has absolutely no idea what they’re doing or whether they even have a legitimate exit strategy to end this war in the Middle East. 

So, for individual investors looking at their portfolios, trying to second-guess what the US government will do, when they have no clue themselves, means there is little point stressing out about it.

In fact, how far the extremes in sentiment swing is indicative that the market can’t “price in” a predictable outcome here either.

By continuing to focus on investing our set amount each month, while ensuring we have a sufficient emergency fund in place – remember, 6-12 months’ worth of our basic expenses in a high-yield savings account or something like Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) – will mean we stay the course.

For investors who have at least 10 years ahead of them before retirement, the market will eventually work this out but the bigger question is whether we, as investors, can keep our resolve in the meantime.

If you’re looking at going overseas for holidays in the next few months, one of the big questions when it comes to the financial side of things is what card you’re going to spend on.

I take the view that when you spend overseas with a credit card, you basically shouldn’t be accepting less than 4 miles per dollar (4mpd). Why? 

Because you’re effectively “buying miles” by paying that 3.25% credit card FX surcharge when your credit card processes a transaction in foreign currency.

By using a 4mpd card, you’re buying miles at a very reasonable rate of 0.81 cents per mile. Of course, the only issue is that the 4mpd earn rates are capped so I just stick to basically two credit cards plus a multi-currency debit card (I use YouTrip).

So, what are the two credit cards I max out at 4mpd? The first is the UOB Visa Signature, which now has a separate $1,200 4mpd cap for overseas transactions. The only catch? You have to spend a minimum of $1,000 per statement month.

But if you’re travelling with family and doing a week-long holiday, then hitting that $1,200 cap should be relatively straightforward.

Then it’s on to the Instarem Amaze + Citi Rewards combo, which also gives me 4mpd on up to $1,000 of spending. The beauty of using this combo (where I link my Citi Rewards to my Instarem Amaze card) is that you can turn your offline spending into online spending to get 4mpd.

With $1,000 of 4mpd spending per statement month, it’s a solid option but just remember that travel-related and in-app spending are excluded from earning the 4mpd.

You can check out my full breakdown in one of my latest Instagram posts here.

If you want to understand how to optimise your miles strategy in Singapore in a simple and low-maintenance fashion (without having to hold 10 different cards), then check out my comprehensive Miles Made Simple e-book.

In these times of uncertainty and potentially higher inflation, it’s worth revisiting where we’re spending.

And more importantly, where we can save. So here’s a useful video I did on “10 Things That Are a Complete Waste of Money in Singapore”. Subscribe and follow along as I share a weekly tip on my Tim Talks Money channel.