1) Heavily diversify in international (50% of my equity portfolio is in ex-us index funds), where the declining trend is not as sharp.
2) Tilt my equity allocation towards small cap value (20% tilt). Small cap value has been shown by academics to be a good proxy for private companies that a normal investor in the public market cannot typically own.
I hope it'll be enough!
In comparison: the only reason Singapore did so well because economic activity in APAC needed to be directed from an English speaking country in the region which was stable and had a well established corporate laws/governance.
Now that other countries are catching up, Singapore is rapidly losing that advantage.
I've been asking what to do with our ~100k/yr profit, thinking putting payment toward my 4% interest loan.
I don't know if I can beat 4% next year.
If I were in your shoes, I would evaluate what is the 4% for: if it's for a mortgage, I'd keep it (you get a tax deduction after all). If not, it's essentially a tie: I'm fairly comfortable assuming that over the long run my above portfolio will beat 4% IRR, but at the same time getting a guaranteed 4% return by paying that non-deductible debt is not bad either.