I received a comment recently. And I was wondering whether I should write about it.
But I thought the comment had good learning points. Or at least it made me think more about things.
The amazing thing is, sometimes, we can find life lessons in the smallest of things.
So commenter Bart compared me to AK71. I don't read his blog so I went over and skimmed a little bit. Apparently AK71 makes $15k dividend a month. Meaning it's likely he has a portfolio of around $3m according to my estimations. AND he retired at 30+. Woah!
The thing is, I didn't feel any pang of jealousy.
You see, when I left the workforce, I already knew more or less how it was going to be.
I decided that I wasn't going to compare with others and what I felt was enough, was enough and I could take it easy from then on.
When we are in school, we compare grades.
Then very quickly we go to work and we compare toys... Stuff like how big our cars are, upgrading to new condo, our watches, bags, who goes to what country for holidays, etc.
And usually, when someone decides on FI, especially early FI. They know they have to stop comparing. They set an AUM they would like to have, then they work hard towards that goal and after that, they are satisfied and leave their jobs for FI and probably living frugally. Usually we have to live frugally even before FI, else it's pretty hard to achieve FI.
Well at least that's what most people who talk about early retirement do.
Some decide they want to have more to uphold a lifestyle others feel that less is enough. So usually, people who talk about FI, arent bothered about what another person owns cos that doesn't affect their own lifestyle.
Now, I'm not saying that it's not possible to retire well like AK71 with a cushy AUM. But most people aren't going to be able to achieve it at 30+. Some have more responsibilities, some have less.
Some will be able to retire with more, some will retire with less. Some will retire older, some will retire younger. Others may struggle to make ends meet.
For me, I have decided to retire with less. And I am very happy with what I have. I have more than the average Singaporean in terms of assets and lifestyle. What's there not to like?
It's not like I don't spend on buffets and expensive food. I still go for nice meals once in a while, except that for most of my daily necessities, I am able to obtain them for free. So I hardly consider myself penny pinching or miserly. I still spend when I need to, except most of the time, I don't need to. It's not like I hold out on myself and I don't buy stuff when I need or want to spend.
So when I read Bart's comment. I was quite amused. Cos... Typically, the early retirement or FI community, doesn't compare much. If I was interested in comparing watches with my friends when I was working, I probably wouldn't be able to retire early.
How to be happy if you're always comparing? There's always someone better off, smarter, richer, more handsome, prettier, etc, than you...
If I retired with $1m, and I get jealous of someone with $2m... How to be happy?
If I retired at 35, but I'm jealous about someone who retired at 30... Then how to be happy?
At any point of our lives, it's so common to compare. But usually, it does nothing for us except to make us unhappier.
And so, I find that this is a good reminder for us to not compare with others so much. As long as we are happy with what we have, what other people own or have doesn't affect our own happiness.
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