So we grow up as kids and they always say, be a lawyer, doctor.
No parent tells the kid to be a cleaner.
Not trying to be insulting to cleaners, everyone provides a service to society, but really, no parents are going to tell their kids to be cleaners...
It's always been, study hard, so that you can be a doctor, lawyer, pilot, accountant, etc etc.
Right?
And the story ends there.
Most of us would have such an experience? Yes?
Our parents told us to study hard so that we can get into a good profession. Very normal.
So I would think maybe 80% or a considerably large percentage of parents tell their kids to study hard so that they can get good job prospects.
Ok now think about this. What if our parents had told us...
Study hard so that you can get into a good profession and earn money.
Then by 40 you should have saved up $500,000 and you put that into 5% dividend and live off dividends. And by 40, you can continue with your profession if you are happy with your job and continue to earn money or if you feel like it, you can quit and find another interest in your life.
What if the same 80% or whatever percentage of our parents told us this instead?
How many people would now be interested in this FIRE, semi-retirement lifestyle?
When a whole generation of people are taught a similar idea. It becomes the new normal.
Which means that when people reach 40, it becomes expected that they should have around $500k worth of investments.
And it becomes expected that they may quit their jobs.
Furthermore, it would be like a "graduation" into the next phase in our lives.
It's like we would pat each other's backs and say "Well done. Congratulations, I wish you good luck as you move into the next phase."
And if someone does it earlier, it even becomes a success story. It's like graduating University in 2 years instead of 3 years.
Imagine if everyone was brought up with this idea of early semi-retirement and the normal age of semi-retirement was 40, and someone does it at 35. Everyone would be like. "Well DONE!!!"
It's quite stunning when I think about it...
Cos our lives are pretty much shaped by our parents.
We don't choose which Primary school we go to. Our parents do it for us.
Then it's natural to move to Secondary school.
Then some form of tertiary education.
And many times, it's our parents who encourage us on this path, and they give us milestones. Study hard til XXX date and graduate, then do your NS, then go Uni, then get a good job...
Now, if only they had continued that story.
... save up by 40 years old, continue your job if you're happy, quit if you're not and go back and study or take up a course and find another job which you're interested in.
IF our parents had added these additional lines to their guidance, I think our whole society would have come out differently.
The perceptions of semi-retirement would be encouragement instead of disapproval.
People would pat each other on the back when each other succeeded.
Maybe companies would even have transition courses to help their staff transition into the next phase in life.
(The army has transition courses to help army regulars transition back to normal civilian working life.)
Furthermore, companies would be more careful not to upset their staff too much, cos the staff have more control over their whole lives. They can quit anytime. So it is in the company's interest to keep the staff engaged and happy with the work that they do.
Wouldn't that be a much better society?
Now, I'm not saying everyone will quit their jobs, but since they have been encouraged since young to save and invest, some will succeed, some won't. Like not all of us became lawyers, doctors, pilots. But the idea of saving up to semi-retire will still be inculcated at a very young age.
So even if they don't end up with great careers, they would still strive for early semi-retirement.
And people would be leaving their jobs and finding careers which they enjoy doing when their hit their savings milestone... and no one would think that changing careers is weird.
So I do think that society could be so much more amazing if we were taught it since young.
But oh well, I can stop dreaming...
The reality is... no parent taught their kids to save up $500k and invest it so that they can retire early.
So the bulk of people are stuck in this cycle... Cos no one told them to stop. No one told us to stop as well...
And people think that the retirement age is what the government has set for them... so it's something like 65?
So in the end, people just keep working like drones til 65 and retire and take care of their grandkids...
And when they see anyone retire earlier, they give weird looks and signs of disapproval cos it's not the normal thing to do, cos since young, they learnt that the normal thing to do is to work til retirement age, and the government decides what age that is...
Amazing isn't it?
Things could have been so different, if only our parents taught us...
Ok but also can't blame them, in the previous generation, financial education isn't as easily available and no internet so, no free movement of ideas and information, and chances are they were trying to make ends meet. And... they probably wouldn't have learnt that from their own parents as well...
How about you? Would you already have reached semi-retirement if your parents had taught you that early in your life? Would you have left your job and found a new one? How would your life choices have been different?
Quite thought provoking isn't it?
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