My Route to Financial Freedom

One of my university majors was Finance. The reason for me on choosing this was that I like to explore all the possibilities and probabilities. I like figures and get around with them but I hate Accounts. I don't mean Accounting figures are meaningless but, to me, the process of doing this is rather boring. One good thing on Finance is that I could justify the figures by adding in assumptions with is not allowed in Accounts. In short, Finance allows me to carry out some assumptions to justify my analysis.

I managed to get a full time job in Finance sector after university graduation but it turned out a total different picture. I was in a Finance company and my job was only to get credit businesses. I unable to utilize what I had learnt. Instead of practicing in job, I decided to use it in my own financial life. I started to buy lots of financial planning related books, journals, magazines, news and many more. Tons of ideas were making me confused. Years of exploring tells me that I should create my own formula instead of follow blindly on what those reading materials were telling me. 

If you ask me my formula, it is very simple - BE REALISTIC. Books authors and financial planners do not know you more thoroughly than yourself. As a matter of fact, all I need is my very own financial information and using some logical financial formula to create my road map to financial freedom. I share this in my book - FREEDOM.

So, I have set my financial destination and a road map to guide me. I follow and review it closely. Do the necessary adjustment to ensure everything is on track - I do my budget; I record each cent I earned and spent and analyze it against my budget for reasons of variance.  I know, to most of you, it is boring but the result is SIGNIFICANT. If you ask me whether I feel boring on doing all these, my answer is a big NO. As a matter of fact, I really enjoy when doing all these. I like numbers, remember? Once I am doing my financial compilation and analysis, I forget who I am and how much time I have spent each and every time. Because of this input, I am very confident on my long term budget with consideration of reasonable uncertainty in it.

By following my road map, I have attained my financial freedom at the age of 40. However, after attaining my major goal, I was lost. I wondered I was really ready financially. The feeling was so unreal. As I am a risk averse person, I was really unwilling to take immediate action on leaving my full-time job. On the other hand, I felt easy then because I knew that I have option to work or not to work if worse come to worst. 

In 2014, when I was 43, I tendered my resignation the very first time after feeling tremendous pressure from work. The pressure was given by my direct superior, the operation director, during uncontrollable operation crisis within the department I supervised. Instead of extending his helping hand, my superior only sat there and asked when I could settle down the crisis. I felt so down and decided to leave. My superior was shocked and asked me to stay. He promised he would do his best to protect my department and he did. So I stayed.

5 years later, in 2018, when I was 46, I tendered my second resignation. Again, I was so disappointed on the company's  new management style in which everyone treated the others like enemies. It was different from the first generation management of which they created something like family value which is totally had disappeared. Again, my superior asked me to stay.

Since the age of 40, 7 years have passed. I didn't stop for searching for value of life. I have diverted my focus from work to my hobbies gradually since then. By doing so, I will have something to focus on after leaving full-time work instead of sitting on sofa and do nothing.

Beside hobbies, I am also concentrating on maintaining my health. I pay attention on my diet by balancing up intake of vegetables and meats. I need meats to maintain my muscles. I learn that a man loss 8% of his muscles after the age of 40. I can't imagine how I will be looked like if I don't keep my body in a good shape. Therefore, beside balancing diet, I also have regular exercise. I jog for 5 km every day to maintain my stamina; I do arms, shoulders, leg stretching and buildup to maintain my muscles. There is one important thing I would like to share is that I feel really great after all the sweats and this feeling is able to keep me up for the whole day.  

On January 1st, 2019, at the age of 47, I tendered my resignation the third time in order to attain the aforementioned value of life.  This time round, I am not lost. Yes, I am very sure that  I am financially ready and there are many other things that I should pursue when I able to before I regret. I am feeling great as I don't need to worry work related issues that had been torturing me for years anymore. I strongly believe that this changes will make me healthier. Most significant one is my blood pressure is stabilizing (from 180/100 during early 2018 to now 135/90 or lower) and able to have better sleep quality. I also do hope that my tons of gray hairs could be turning black sooner or later. Hypertension and grey hairs were "gifts" from high work pressure and I want to get rid of them as soon as possible. I want to be 47 years old or younger but not looked like 60-year-old folk. 

Forego of my health for money is a total nonsense. No matter how rich I am, I can't buy my health back if I lose it. I must do something now before it is too late and this is how my resignation in 2019 could be marked as a significant step of my life. 

Above sharing is my extended story after the release of my book, "FREEDOM", in 2012. In this book, I share with readers on what I have been doing to attain financial freedom. I am very sure that my sharing in this book is working, but, again, this book is to share my success formula but I don't expect you to follow blindly as each of us is different in terms of life exposure. However, I strongly recommend you to understand and digest the essence of my ideas to generate your very own formula. If you have discipline and faith on your road map, your financial freedom is only steps away.

I am also providing online coaching on my own way of share investment. Feel free to drop by https://investbursa.com/ for more information should you interested in.

See you at the final destination of financial freedom. Good luck.