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.

Thank you! My Fellow Readers

Few days ago, I received a postcard from one of my readers, KM (initial of my reader), who shared with me about how he had benefited after reading my "Freedom".

Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my thanks to KM for your praise. KM particularly emphasized on how important on knowing "Personal Inflation Rate". Yes, indeed. Without proper inflation rate on financial needs calculation, your financial plan might not realistic. 

A Sure Way Towards Financial Freedom

Extracted from Sin Chew Jit Poh Fortune Investment Weekly dd 10th Feb 2020 Page 22

This Chinese article is sharing how an 30-year-old American accumulates $1 million at the age of 26. His secret is very simple: Live Frugally. He is a Youtuber cum real estate investor. He claims that he is not a big spender and saves 99% of his income. For example, he doesn't go to expensive cafe for coffee but buying coffee beans and make it at home; he doesn't go for branded outfit but go for cheaper alternatives; he compares prices when shopping etc.

Do You have to Quit when You are Financially Free?

Last week, I read an article which shares a 32-year-old young retiree goes back to work two years after his retirement. He says the reasons for him to return to work are:

Life of Early Retirement

During chatting, I ask my wife what I have changed after my early retirement. She says I have become friendlier, more smile on face and spend more time with the family. My kids tell me that I have become more patient. My observation to myself is that I walk at slower pace to make myself easy. No work pressure has make me to show my real heart on greeting with my neighbors and friends when meeting each other. I strongly believe that relaxing mindset and feeling happy are keys to remain healthy.

Things to Look into Before You Quit Your Full Time Job to Become A Free Man

It took me years to finalize my decision to quit from my full time job. You might think that I should not have any worry as long as I am financially ready. As a matter of fact, there are also others areas I need to look into before I am ready. Here I would like to share my experience about things to look into before I make such decision.

Two Weeks After Early Retirement - Commence of Enjoying My Fruits of Delay Gratificatiion

It has been two weeks since I stepped down from full-time job. In this post, I would like to share about the changes to me since then. 

Are You Aiming for EARLY RETIREMENT?

You might have been hearing people keep talking about early retirement for various reasons. Yes, your reasons for early retirement is your motive to move forward. With this motive in mind, you have to consider your path on getting there. In short, you know where is your destination and now you have to consider how to get there.

Last Day at Work

I felt great during Lunar New Year break as I did not have any pressure on work after the holidays since I have completed tasks handing over to my successor. Unlike previous years, I slept very well and felt relax. This is the biggest variance that I first ever experienced. 

Today, February 11, 2019, Monday, the 7th day of Lunar New Year, to be marked as an important day to me. This is the final day that I work as an employee for the company that I have been serving for the past 21.5 years. I have been expecting this day for years but my feeling is mixed when this day is finally come.

During my drive for my final day to work, I tried to enjoy all the scenery passing by. I greeted my Chinese colleagues "新年快乐". My Managing Director bid me a farewell early morning due to his busy schedule. My good subordinates and colleagues handed over me some souvenirs and I gave away chocolates with gratitude before I left. 

Starting tomorrow, I'll be entering a new stage of my life. I have totally no idea how it will be looked like even though I have been projecting and practicing my future life for the past two years. Life is full of changes and challenges and I am ready to overcome them.

Yes, indeed my income will be very much reducing as I will be living on my own without any active income. On the other side of the picture, I have more time for myself and family with healthier lifestyle (as a  result of no more work pressure) which is a good trade-off. Reducing in active income doesn't mean that I'll start spending my own savings. As a matter of fact, my passive income has been much higher than my living expenses which, in turn, I could still maintain my current lifestyle without worry about money. 

Yes, my savings will be slowing down without active income. However, I don't think foregoing my health for more savings is a good offset as my health can't be bought no matter how rich I am. I must admit that not everyone could simply take this major move and I am glad that I have taken mine.

I am expecting my new life to come and I wish all my ex-colleagues, friends and their family members to have good life and health. All the best to all of you.

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.

2019 Happy New Year: 2018 Financial Review

Happy New Year in 2019!

It has been another year. Recall from what I did for the past one year, after recalling my resignation at the request of the company's directors, the company is yet to honor what they promised a year ago. So, while the same old problem is still not solved, the workload has doubled or tripled. My body has been giving me some hints. Without proper adjustment, I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable. It’s too late to regret by then. Before I have made a big mistake, I must take a good look at what I should do from now on. For me, health is the greatest asset. No matter how much money I have, I just can't buy my lost health. Another thing is that since I am yet to attain the age of  50, I have lots of grey hair. This has shown how much pressure from my work.

准备退休：三个重要元素

我经常听到我的朋友们，不管是打工一族，还是当老板，都时常把“退休”挂在嘴巴。很多情况下，这些人都是要做到不能做才退下。为什么呢？是因为他们喜欢工作吗？试想想，如果是做他们喜欢的工作并乐在其中，怎么还会说想退休呢？更多时候是当心财务上在没有活跃收入的情况下无法应付接下来的生活费。这就道出了一个事实，许多人对退休的关注主要是金钱上。其实，理想的退休生活不是只有金钱，更多是如何让退休生活过得充实。

2018年1月1日，新年快乐！２０１８年、楽しいお正月を過ごす！

今天又是新的一年的开始。在柔佛州，今日不是公定假日。上班族如常上班。而今日的我心情非常的不一样。除了因为新的一年的开始而感到兴奋，更因为今日能完成我拖延以久的计划而觉得雀跃。

犹记得在2012年下半年时，在工作上感到心力交悴。当时的原因是因为上司的无理取闹，鸡蛋里挑骨头。在仔细研究自身的财务状况后，毅然准备了辞职信求去。但在递交前，却听说将有“大风吹”。我于是静观其变。值得庆幸的是我被转调去其他部门当主管。虽然要掌管两个部门，但工作量却大大减低。何乐而不为。

就这样直到2014年初，部门董事突然对我说要多加一个部门给我管，原因是当时这部门的主管无法达到公司的管理要求。最为可笑的是我对这部门的运作也不很了解。我反问为何选我。他说他非常肯定我会比该主管更好的管理这部门。这部门就是运输部。我就职的公司是一间跨国企业，它的运输部有多大是无法想象的。单单员工管理就让人头疼了。最让我心里不平衡的是竟然一分钱都没加给我。我当时虽然不愿意，但却希望借此机会增加我的知识。

Happy New Year

Today is the beginning of 2018. In Johor, today is not a public holiday. People go to work as usual. However, my feeling is very different. Beside being excited by the beginning of the new year, I am glad that I could accomplish my long-term plan today.

In the second half of 2012, I felt fed-up at work. The reason was because the boss's vexatious. After careful study of my financial status, I decided to resign. Before tendering, I heard that there would be a huge reshuffle. So I waited. Fortunately, I was transferred to other departments. Although I had to take care of two departments, the workload was greatly reduced.

Everything went fine until the beginning of 2014.  The department director suddenly told me that I had to take care one more department because the then head was unable to meet the company's performance requirements. The most ridiculous thing is that I did not know much about the operation of this department. I asked why I was chosen. He said he was very sure that I would perform better than the then head. This department is the Logistics Department. My company is a multinational company and you had no idea how big Logistics Department was. Staff management alone is already a big headache. The worst part was that there was not even a penny added to me. Even though I was reluctant, I thought positively by taking this opportunity to learn more.

The Real Meaning of Early Retirement / Freedom

When talk about early retirement, I come across many books and internet articles on how to achieve this financially.  As a matter of fact, finance is only part of the equation.

Here, I would like to share what is the real meaning of early retirement (at least to me):

1: Am I wanting to have early retirement and why?

A: YES, YES, YES.  I have been planning for this for years and I finally achieved this at the age of 40 financially.  Why?  This is because I would like to have more time to do what I like to do which I can't do so when my time is sold for living.  When I was an full-time employee, at least 8 hours of my day are sold.  Therefore, beside full-time job, I did not have sufficient time for myself as I would be occupied by other tasks in my life (sending/picking up kids to/from schools and/or tuition classes, settling bills and other family matters etc) while I still need at least 6-hour resting time every night.  My life was busy but created no value as I could not enjoy it at all.  Routine tasks had been making me felt so dull.  I could only enjoy my life if I become the master of my time.  That is the motive of me for early retirement.

你50岁还要烦钱吗？Are you still struggling for money at the age of 50?

栽自新洲日报投资致富2017年11月6日第27页

看了这个报章标题，有些感触。就在几天前，我去了间银行去存放定存。因为我要得到更好的利率，我便向大厅的一位Officer询问。谈好后，该名Officer没让我拿号码排队，而是直接将我的资料及批准的利率交到收银员那儿处理。看来这位Officer的来头不小。在等待定存收据时，我便和她聊了起来。当她问我在哪儿高就时，我说我是自由工作者（Freelancer)。（其实我目前我还是全职工作者。那为什么我会说我是自由工作者呢？那是因为在不久的将来，我将会是我自己的主人。现在是时候让自己习惯这样说了，好让心里有个准备。）那位Officer好不羡慕。她说她也希望能像我一样。后来我才知道那位Officer是原来是该银行分行的经理。

该如何分配：退休基金？孩子教育费？医药费？

栽自2017年10月9日新洲日报-投资致富第32页

很多财务规划师都一而再，再而三的劝大家尽早为孩子的教育费规划。但在很多情况下，人算不如天算。就拿我本身为例。在25年前，我父母因我们三兄弟都想前往澳洲攻读大学课程。老爸老妈没多说一句，拼了命让三个孩子拥有了澳洲大学的学士文凭。至到今日，我们还是对他们为我们的付出感激不尽。

真的需要那么多吗？

2017年9月25日，我在一家报章的财经版的专栏里看到一个询问。询问者今年40岁。想在60岁退休并得到财务自由。这位询问者说他们一家四口（两夫妇和两个10岁以下的小孩）月花费为RM6,570。该财务师用5%的通膨率及4%的投资回酬率来加以计算，得到的结果是该询问者需在60岁前拥有近RM590万来应付每年RM21万的生活费。这每年RM21万的生活费并不难计算。只要将现在每月RM6,570的生活费乘以12再以复利5%持续20年既可得到。可为何需要RM590万的退休金才能支撑呢？在计算上，道理很简单。以RM590万的退休金乘以4%的年回酬率就可得到。该询问者目前只拥有不到RM50万的投资加现金。也就是说他必须在20年里多存RM540万。是的，该顾问的确是说需要多RM540万，也就是半个RM1,000万（不是RM100万）。对许多人而言，若半个RM1,000万那么好存，那全世界将没有穷人。

人生目标

很多人在很多时候会自然的把不如意无限量的放大，把自己当成琼瑶小说里的主角，有着别人无法理解的坎坷命运。认为他人都不了解自己因而遇到的种种的阻碍及挫折。怨天尤人，埋怨为何上天对他那么不公平，因而到处找人发泄。被盯上的倒霉者就成为他的垃圾筒任他倾倒。这样一方得到了释放而另一方则装下了满满的垃圾因而制造了下一个的“不平衡”者。我本身就有着类型的朋友。说实话，我并不是很喜欢和这类型的人有频繁的接触。但在很多情况下，当事人并不晓得他所做的对另一方带来的负面影响。

退休生活试验

2017年丁酉鸡年，我拿了十天的长假。目的主要是要借这时机与家人朋友好好聚聚，二来是要借这十天长假来试验一下退休生活的感受。在此来分享一下我的感想。

在这一个多礼拜来，说真的，除了吃吃喝喝之外，我的生活还挺充实的。第一，除了年初一外，我每天都做一个小时的晨运。我每天早上六点左右便起身梳洗。在6:30am出门运动前会喝一杯温开水。为了更有效的消耗新年期间吃喝的热量，我的跑步圈数从之前的15圈增加到20圈。一圈约为250米。换句话说，每一天我都跑了5公里，这还没加入快走热身。结果是我的跑鞋都快“瓜”了但我的感觉良好。每次跑步时都会从开始的慢跑逐步加快。我这样做的目的是要训练自己的耐力和保持我的肺活量。汗流浃背和气喘如牛后是一身的轻松。下来便是做拉筋运动好让我全身的筋骨灵活。之后再慢慢的走回家，在让身体从高运动量后开始休息并沿途欣赏住家四周的一花一草。回到家后，正好来个热水澡。不亦乐乎。