Beginning of 3rd Year of My Retirement

Today, February 11, 2021, is marked as the beginning of 3rd year of my retirement.  Since I retired at the age of 47 in 2019, I have never regretted the decision I make.  

I recall that some of my friends told me that I would definitely get bored in 3 months based on their unfavorable experience (They wasted their time and sat there doing nothing. Pity them) but it did not happen to me.  Even until today, some of my friends are still asking me what I do daily during retirement.

As a matter of fact, it took me some times to adjust myself to get use to my retirement life.  At the beginning, I realize that I lost my  corporate identity.  I was a Senior Manager in an Japanese company based in Malaysia. I was also a head of 5 departments with more than 35 subordinates.  The job did give me opportunity to grow in corporate world with tremendous exposure in various aspects of business world.  I learned how to handle people in and out, how to see problems in widen angles, how to get around with the top management and many more.  Some of you might wonder, since this was the case, why I still decided to have early retirement.  Well, simply put, this is not the life I wanted.  I like my job but I dislike to get around with people, see people, think people and react accordingly.  I felt like I wasn't myself but an actor.  I had to absorb all the favorable and unfavorable consequences as my superior won't care and my subordinates couldn't effectively assist me on the problem I faced.  Huge work pressure had affected my health and temper.  To me, no matter how much I earn, I just couldn't buy my health if I lost them.  Since I was financially ready as I started my financial plan in more than 25 years ago, without any hesitation, I tendered my resignation the 3rd time on January 1, 2019.  I still can recall the sweetness of being released.  Finally, I am the owner of myself.  But loss of corporate identity means that I no longer need to wake up early and rush to work which make me uncomfortable in the initial 6 months when I saw the other rushing to work in the morning while I took my time for morning jog.  I felt shame when my neighbor saw me taking care of my plants at 10am in the morning.  I hate people asking where do I work.  I finally get rid of these feeling and proud of who I am 6 months later.

I spend tonnes of time on reading in the initial 1.5 years of my retirement and now I am focusing on learning computer programming by writing some programs which I have been thinking of.  It needs commitment and time to learn. As it is my pure interest, I don't feel any pressure on learning it.  I also learn Japanese language just for my own interest.  I have been watching Japanese dramas in order to improve my listening skill but still a long way to go as they are just talking too fast (LOL).

I plant flowers and vegetables myself.  Fertilizing, cutting, clearing weeds, watching up insects are also keeping me busy.  Helping my wife to cook and do housework and get around with my kids (chatting, discussing, advising etc) are also part of my daily life.  I really don't have time to get bored.

I continue to do my own stock investment but less active due to unstable Malaysian stock market.  Due to outbreak of COVID-19 and MCOs, poor economy has make BNM to reduce interest rate in order to stimulate the market.  Low interest regime is a killer to retirees like me.  I used to enjoy at least 4% p.a. on fixed deposit but now only about 1.5%.  I don't satisfy with this.  I, therefore, look for financial advisor to see whether there is any medium to low risk investment options.  I come to know a financial advisor who is introduced by a good friend of mine.  She shares with me her track records on investing in unit trusts which I hate the most previously.  However, her track records really impresses me.  Furthermore, she is willing to reduce the initial charge to 1% from 5%.  Therefore, I give it a try from January 2021 and the result is promising.  So, I continue to top up my investment on unit trust which I also have opportunity on exposing investment opportunity in overseas market such as China.

Two years of my retirement has passed.  My financial performance is lots better than my plan, mainly contributed by relatively lower expenses with higher investment return.  What I am going to do next is to act according to my plan and review my action should overall investment environment change, just like I start my unit trust investment again that able to give me impressive return with low charge and expert monitoring.  I also would like to realize my wish to travel soon after the pandemic is under control.  I was stuck in my house in 2020 due to COVID-19 and I do hope it could this could be over the soonest.

Here, I wish everyone stay safe and stay healthy.  May your financial dream comes true soon.  I also wish all Chinese readers Happy Lunar New Year.