My Fears Related to Early Retirement

I have often wondered how would people around me feel or perceive me should I tell them that I will be retired before the age of 40. Most would just assume that I either struck the lottery, inherited a massive amount of wealth or that I command a massive paycheck. All these are not true. Early retirement, for me is gained by saving hard, cutting the amount of money I spend and also taking the effort and time to find the correct stocks and bonds to purchase.

I also have this fear that should I retire early, especially in Singapore, many would see me and those like me as lazy. Questions would start flooding in, from both relatives and friends. "Why don't you continue working to earn more money?". " Why are you doing non constructive stuff". "Why are you no longer a productive member of the society?" .... So many whys. Well, @!$!@4 you that's why. Just kidding.

I seek early retirement because I do not want to work the best part of my life away. There is only a finite amount of things you need to purchase in life. I want to live, do the things I want to do while I am able. I want to be able to travel without fear of work piling up while I'm away. I want to be able to have a 2 hour lunch followed by a 1 hour stroll and not a 1 hour lunch. I want to be able to take the lessons and courses I have been wanting to take but have no time for. French, bike, diving and powerboat. All these things and many more. You get my drift.

Working will usually drain you of your energy, and at the end of the day, all you want to do is laze on the couch and watch some TV. Is that how you want to live you life till you are 65? I damn well do not.

Therefore, I have come to a conclusion. I will only care what the people directly affected by my early retirement think - A.K.A. My wife and future children. I feel that as long as we are happy, and my wife and I are able to provide for all our and future children's needs, other people can say anything they want and not mean a thing to me.

You know yourself best. If you have set an intended course, do not let anyone sway you from it. Many will sway you out of jealousy. Do not be brought down by their petty remarks. As long as you and your family are happy and contented, nothing else really matters.

Phwoar..really needed to let that out because it has been bugging me for quite some time. Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, as always, Save more, Spend Less and Invest Wisely.
P.

Thou Shall Not Covet

" Look at your own life to see what is enough, don't look at your neighbors to compare. " Saw this quote or something similar at a blog  i once read. My memory seems to be failing me. Can't decide whether it's due to me getting on in age or just too many things flying around in my mind.

The quote is so true. Since young, we have been 'trained' to always do better than others. Get better results than others, run faster than other, earn more than other or get a better car than others. We often look to our neighbors to compare but is one-upping our neighbor going to improve our lives significantly? There will always be someone else to compare with and in the end, it will form a never ending cycle.

Ask yourselves this, do you really need that extra million to retire? Do you really need that new phone? Do you really need a new car? Sure, these things are definitely nice to have, but do you need them? After earning that extra million, will you stop or will you want to earn another.. and another .. and another.

The important thing is to figure out what you deem is sufficient and work towards attaining that. If you want to get from point A to point B, especially in Singapore, a Honda Civic would do as well as a Porsche. Why get it just so you can feel 'better' than someone?

At the end of the day, what stays with you are memories of the experiences you went through and not the material things that you have accumulated. Don't get on the never ending roller coaster ride of endless consumption. Know what is enough and spend the rest of your energy enjoying the rest of your life.

P.

C'mon, let's get another round of drinks! Dont be boring.

Does the title sound familiar? I'm pretty sure you have heard something like that before. You can substitute the word drinks for shopping, food, hand phone and so on.

You feel pressured to spend and conform when your friends request that of you. Deep inside, you are feeling uneasy as you know that you are eating into your budget and spending way more than you actually should. Yet, to gain social acceptance, you dig deep into your pockets and scrape the dollars off the bottom.

I feel we should always do things in moderation. If you are always saying no to going out and having fun, soon your friends will stop calling. However, if you are always saying yes, you are seriously endangering your savings and retirement planning. The key is always knowing when to say yes, when to say no and when to give a better and less expensive suggestion.

If they are truly your friends, they will definitely hear you out and understand. (But not before making a sport out of you.)

Here are a few less expensive alternatives:

1. Buying beer from the supermarket and head to one of your homes to drink rather than heading to the pub and paying easily 3 times the amount. What i learnt from experience is that it's always the company and not the venue that decides whether it was an awesome night or not.
2. Get everyone to make some food and head to the park or something for a picnic rather than going to a fancy restaurant to eat. You might find that the fresh air and change of environment is extremely welcoming.
3. Buying a dvd from the store and watching it at home instead of going to the cinema to catch a movie. The dvd would cost between  $10 to $25 for all of you instead of approximately $10 per person should you go to the movies. Buy microwavable popcorn to ease in those hardcore movie goers.
4. Instead of going shopping at the mall, why not visit a flea market and have the same amount of satisfaction. You will be surprised and the amount of stuff you can find at a flea market.

The list goes on and on. Just use your imagination and I'm sure you, your friends and family will have as much satisfaction and enjoyment at a fraction of what you would have spent otherwise. Once again, i would like to say this.. It's the company and not the venue or amount spent that matter. If you are with friends and family, even the simplest of food will be a million times more enjoyable that a royal feast with...for absence of a better word, enemies.

As always save more, spend less and invest wisely.
P.

Life & Money - Change is the only constant

Everyone should have a plan in life. It's like a lantern that will guide your path and lead you to the destination you have chosen.

Having said that, i also have to say that a plan should not be extremely concrete as throughout the many stages in life, circumstances will change. When this happens, you should be flexible enough to alter your plan and do what is necessary to still arrive at your selected destination. You might have to take a longer time, save more money or take on more risk in order to do so.

What i have said leads to what this post is really about. It's about finding that investment method or strategy that you are comfortable with which will finally lead you to financial freedom or even better yet, an early retirement.

Throughout my short investment journey, I have tried and tested quite a number of investment strategies such as trading constantly, permanent portfolio, lazy portfolio and a few others. I have to admit that part of the reason to this is because i have been heavily influenced by the books and blogs that i have read. I do not know how others view this constant change but i feel that it is a good way for me to pluck a little knowledge from each source and eventually form an investment strategy of my own to carry me to my destination.

There are still many years ahead and I am sure that there will still be many crossroads and forks in my path to an early retirement. Changes that i can control like having a kid, owning a home and increasing my insurance coverage or changes that i have totally no control of like interest rate fluctuations, the economy and natural disasters.

No matter the change, we as humans have to adapt, survive and get out of any good or bad changes stronger.

What investment strategies have you tried so far and how have you tweaked them to achieve your goals and reach your destination? Feel free to share them here.

As always, save more, spend less and invest wisely.
P.