I can (theoretically) retire, so can you?! Part 1



I was planning to have a blast of a weekend with the kids. I even turned down a drinking appointment on friday for fear of screwing up my saturday. So i stayed at home just chilling with the wife after the kids have slept. Had pizzas for the night. I ended up having a very bad case of food poisoning. Couldnt sleep the whole night, breaking out in cold sweat as well. I thought to myself, aiyo i should have just gone for the drinking session with my buddy. Hang over isnt that bad! In the morning, i was still able to muster up whatever energy i have to tend to the kids but decided that i will just "report sick" and chaokeng in the afternoon. 

 If you have been following my blog ( i doubt so),you should know that i am putting a stop to my career after working for 14 years. Main reason is to be there for the family. 1 kiddo is unfortunately not 100% well but he is as happy as he can be! As my work involves alot of flying, my wife and i discussed about it and it's not possible for her to handle the 2 kids alone as she is working as well. We pondered over whether or not we should hire a helper but decided not to. Final decision is for me to quit since i never liked my job, even though i am pretty good with it. My wife loves her job. Once i reached this stage of the conversation, i normally will see some puzzling looks on the people im talking to. It's like i have broken 3 asian social norms. 

 1. Is your wife ok with it? How come it's not her who quits her job since it's normally a mother's thing? Plus you earn so much more than her. Answer to that is i have known my wife for almost 2 decades now. She has a very strong personality and also extremely supportive as a wife. From the start, she has been very upfront about not wanting to be a stay home mom. She wants a career of her own. I dont see the point of forcing her to quit and there is no more happy wife happy life! Fortunately i am not someone who cares much about social norm, so when someone starts teasing that i am going to eat soft rice? I ll joke along with them. I have and always been like this. 

 2. Why are you giving up your good paying job? You are 40 years old now, isnt it a waste? What do you plan to do from now on? Netflix all the way ah? You should continue to work and earn another million! Then you will be even more comfortable. I have decided with a passive income that pays me around 5k per month now, theoretically if i spend lesser than that, i dont have to work a single day for the rest of my life. I can spend quality time with my kids, refocus my life, and maybe train a 6 pack or something. 

 3. You can gather more wealth and ensure that your kids have a better start compared to their peers. I used to live in a 1room flat with my siblings and parents. My parents speak only hokkien, and i can only speak hokkien until i was 5 years old when i went to K1. Even then, i was struggling with mandarin and english. Although my parents are not that well to do, but they are always around to teach us to be good. I dont love them less becaue they didnt give me a trust fund. I love them because they are my parents and i can feel their love for me. At where we are now, i think we are giving our kids maybe a 100x more than what my parents gave me financially speaking, and you are saying i need to slog more to give them more instead of spending quality time with them? If my kids hate me because i didnt give them 2 million dollars and only just 1 million. Then i think perhaps they dont even deserve 1 dollar. And no, i wouldnt be guilt tripping my kids the next time because it's my own decision. When i asked my boy if he wants me to spend more time with him or buy a sports car, he said, buy a sports car. Damn materialistic little prick. :) 

 Ok, i need to continue in another post as i need to go pack up the house because the wife and kids are coming back, i dont want her to think that i am completely slacking away while she is doing the heavy lifting for the day. haha.

Comments

  1. I applaud you for putting your kids first before yourself. Plus you have 5K every month from dividends. You are well taken care of by your investment. Go enjoy your time with your children, and get that 6 pack along the way. Add Oil!

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  2. Curse of Asian providing too much for children till they are "disabled" and they themselves slaved. Good for you !

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  3. Good for you. I think many of us want to spend quality time with our kids, but do not have that level of passive income yet.

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    2. Thanks.I dont think what i have is sufficient for a full retirement but i can take the opportunity to refocus my life and evaluate the type of work i want to do in the future. I took the liberty of clicking on your name and visit your blog. It looks great! Clean, neat and professional! I also have a boy and a girl as well and i also worked in the construction company, but it's offshore construction. O&G related.

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  4. Thanks fir the complimejt on my blig. Getting lazy to write. Will do so one day hahaha...

    Anyway my passive income is not there yet. Now in saving for warchest mode.

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  5. Thanks fir the compliments on my blog. Appreciate it. Getting lazy to write and eyesight getting worse. Will do so one day hahaha...

    Anyway my passive income is not there yet. Now in saving mode to build war chest.
    Will be waiting for your next post.

    ReplyDelete

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