Singaporean ex-lawyer who quit her job at 29 and retired at 38
Have you read this article about a Jean Voronkova , a Singaporean ex-lawyer who quit her job at 29 and retired at 38 shares how you can do the same. The FIRE movement is definitely getting more coverage nowadays or is it the algorithm that pushes similar contents to me? Not sure.
The first thing that caught my eyes were we are of the same age and also we might have met for the first few months in VJC. ( I was only there for 3 months, and I moved on to another JC because I screwed up my O Levels, haha). Jean brought up 3 good points that most serious FIRE practitioner will follow. Luck is something unfortunately not something you can work towards it. At least that's my view. Some people just have all the luck in the world. Good looking, smart, witty, wealthy family. Perhaps Jean was being humble to say that she is lucky that her investments are profitable. I am sure they have put in alot of effort to ensure things are in place before going on their FIRE plan.
1. Planning. I think this goes without saying. One cant just go FIRE without a plan unless you are from a rich family.
2.Geo-arbitrage. Before I have kids, I thought of moving to Thailand with my then gf/now wife. Or go to Malaysia or something. It's definitely a smart move. Unfortunately, now I have 2 kids, this is out for me. I actually have an ex colleague. Fresh grab, but super smart about things like this. As we were all WFH, he decided to stay in JB instead of Singapore though he is Singaporean, his parents are based overseas and already sold the properties here.
3. Sacrifice. Downgrading your lifestyle isnt that bad. Live within your means which I mentioned in this post. If you are not a high maintenance person and doesnt fancy atas lifestyle, FIRE will be easier for you to attain. There bound to be some sacrifice if you decided not to work full time. For myself, complimentary health care is gone, just for example. I need to be more careful about whether or not I go see a doctor for the slightest of ailment or just take whatever medication I have in the cupboard. Most likely seeing a doctor will provide me with similar medication. Anyway luckily I have my wife's company insurance though I found out yesterday not all medication is covered. I paid 24 dollars for 20 probiotics. 😓
I took some comfort in reading this passage from her. Alot of people asked I am intending to get back to work. In fact my ex boss is asking me if I am done with my career break. Frankly speaking, I dont know If i will ever want to get back to the same kind of work I was in. I am pretty happy where I am now and I control my own timetable. This is unfortunately not something money can buy. I guessed if financially it all works out, perhaps I will never ever work again. Who knows?
"I know other ex-professionals who are now pilates instructors, pottery teachers, or who became chiropractors, bakers or restaurateurs. Of the people I do know, I think very few actually turned away from their pursuit of this path because of actual financial failure. In fact, I can't actually name one."
Hi, it's me. I seen her youtube sometimes back, definately do able, for example she is able to sustain her livings with a few income sources, even her youtube channel and instagram is already monetising,
ReplyDeleteNext they do not own big ticket item, no house mortgages although she mentioned she had rental income somewhere, as property owner we all know it's not easy to profit out of that, we can only hope the rental can cover the maintenaces and loan repayment etc and pray that the price appreciation x number of years later. Also they do not own car except bike in Bali, she shared a rental house and live in the local neighbourhood with her hubby, one most important thing I think is she does not has kid, that removes a major obstacle that most of us has, so I think it's very do able to most of us if we have > SGD 2k passive income....I will do that straight away if I am single or do not have kid...YOLO you know :p
One thing for sure is how long can that lifestyle sustained? As foreigner, medical care and long term stay VISA will be a constant problem, and what happened when she is 70~80 years old later?
Yeah. I agreed. No kids = alot of things are easier. Though we are of the same age, she looks much more youthful than me. lol. Kudos to her mentality that makes it possible for her to live the life she wants. Alot of people are too unrealistic. Want a birkin but also dont want to work. How, like that?
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