Financial Freedom, Being Debt Free and Quitting My Job

Today, I asked myself 3 questions:

How long more do I need to achieve financial freedom?

When will I become debt free?

How long more must I work at my job?

After so many years of working, it seems that I am no where closer to my goal and dream of financial freedom (where my passive income will surpass my monthly expenditure).  I did a quick calculation and estimate my passive income to be slightly around $2800 per year.  That is much less than what I thought I would have achieved 3-4 years ago when I first started out on this journey.  It seems that I will still be taking a long time to reach my true goal of financial freedom. Over the years, my monthly expenditure has also crept up slightly.  This can only mean one thing:  I NEED TO WORK HARDER AT MY GOAL!

Being debt free of course is one of the things that I look forward to.  It simply means having more disposable income to play around with.  Of course, if you manage to borrow cheaply, it does not make sense to pay back the loans if you can get a higher rate of return compared to the interest you are paying on your debts.  However, I don't know...perhaps it is just psychological.  But being debt free is something that I hope to achieve.  Well, at least I mean clearing my bad debts (e.g. car loan).  Good debt is still welcomed.

Well, the last question that I asked myself is really related to the first 2 questions.  When I can quit my job is probably the day I am certain that I have attained financial freedom.  It is not that I hate my work or anything.  It is just that I feel I can be doing so much more with my life and time then having only remnants of my time to give to my family and friends.  

 I want to work for the rest of my life.  But I don't want to have to work for a living (a.k.a having a job). 

Time to get down to business.  

Bought Ascott REIT

Bought another 3 lots of Ascott REITs (@$1.065) after I realised that I have not been investing in the stock market a lot.  Thought that it will be good to add to my current portfolio considering the amount of spare cash sitting in the bank that is not earning much interest anyway.  That brings my total exposure to Ascott REITs to 15 lots.  Have been enjoying the dividends over the past few years and hopefully, the dividends that come in will not fail to disappoint me.

August was good in terms of dividends received but September has been pretty quiet.  Other than a Adsense cheque that I received, have not received much passive income.  Can definitely do better for the future.

Retirement Plans

Have been thinking what I intend to do when I get older - like at age 65.  I really cannot see myself not working and just sitting around at home doing nothing.  As Singapore ages, I guess there will be more and more elderly folks around.  When I am 65 (if I live that long), I will be surrounded by lots of old people.

Well, I don't really plan to retire.  And I hope that I can stay employed for as long as possible.  At least that will keep me active.  But the matter of fact is that it will probably be difficult to work at the same pace that I am working now.  So I will probably be doing WORK, but it might not necessarily be PAID WORK.  It could be volunteer work or something else.  I don't know.

Recently, the thought of opening a postage stamp shop just keeps creeping into my mind.  Maybe I should just pursue my hobby and try to make a living out of it.  That will be some cool retirement plan indeed.  But it is difficult as the capital involved seems to be quite huge.  And I will probably want to hoard all the stamps rather than sell them.  Something for me to think about and work towards over the next 30 years perhaps.

Singapore Millionaires - Lots More by 2016

According to Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report, Singapore is ranked no.5 in the top 10 countries with the highest average wealth per adult in 2011. The figure amounts to USD$284,692 per adult. Australia is in 2nd place with USD$396,745. Switzerland is ranked 1st with average wealth of USD$540,010.

Based on the data, it also seems that by 2016, around 408,000 Singaporeans will be millionaires. That is quite a significant number of millionaires in tiny Singapore.

Most Singaporeans who read this are probably thinking: "How is possible that it is so easy for so many Singaporeans to be millionaires?" Well, the exact same thoughts are actually running through my head. Just doing a basic calculation of my annual pay package (inclusive of bonuses) and I figure that I need a minimum of 14-15 years just to make a million dollars. This is of course based on the assumption that my pay stagnates and does not increase at all. Another assumption made is that I also save all my salary and do not spend a single cent.

With such a simplistic calculation, it will take me till I am almost close to 50 years old to actually earn a grand total of one million dollars. And this is in Singapore dollars not US dollars.

Looks like I won't be making it in the 2016 list. Perhaps 2025?

Weekend is Ending, Great Things to Do, and Back to Office

The weekend is ending. Another restful 2 days is over and I am off to a brand new start to the week. It is almost the end of the year and I am still amazed at how little I have accomplished over the year 2011. It has not been a great year in terms of accomplishments but it has been fantastic nonetheless. After watching Steve Jobs 2005 Speech at Stanford Commencement, I try to look myself in the mirror each day and ask myself the same question: "If this is the last day of my life, will I want to be doing what I am going to do today?".

I have been doing that the past couple of days and I realised that the answer is a vague NO. It isn't a strong NO-NO. But neither is it a resolute YES.

On another totally unrelated topic, I have been thinking of great things to do in Singapore. This is whether be it in terms of killing time, new places to eat, etc. I know there are lots of things to do in Singapore but I just find my weekends kind of dull.

So the weekend ends. And I will be back to work tomorrow. But an exciting idea has just popped into my head and I can feel the adrenaline rushing back into my blood. It was just a simple thought on what I should be doing with my life, and how I ought to really follow my passion and my dreams. And something just struck me that I know I ought to be doing but haven't really been doing much. I am so excited about this new idea and hopefully it will bear some "fruit" in due time.

Have a great week ahead!

Chris Rene X Factor Audition - Young Homie

This was Chris Rene's audition on X Factor. The title of this song is Young Homie and was written by Chris himself. Truly different from the other singers and worth watching if you like the rap, R&B, hip-hop kind of music. I love his other song from his album Sould Out that is titled "Forever".

Things to do in Singapore - Free Entry into Asian Civilisation Museum (15 and 16 Oct 2011)

There are not many things to do in Singapore except eating, shopping and really just walking around. This weekend (15 to 16 Oct 2011), the Asian Civilisation Museum is having an open house - meaning its free entry for all. So it is a pretty good deal as the exhibition on the Terracota Warriors are on. It is a good chance to visit the museum if you have not done so.

The Asian Civilisation Museum is located just opposite Fullerton Hotel right beside Victoria Concert Hall (which is now undergoing renovation). Not too sure whether parking is currently available there but I parked my car at UOB Plaza which was basically $3.50 per entry. Took a short walk across the bridge and I was inside the museum.

The exhibits are all located at the 2nd floor and it was quite crowded. Not surprising really since it was free admission to all. I have always found ancient antiques/artefacts pretty cool so it is worth the visit if you like to see such stuff too. Of course, took a short stroll down the Singapore River too