I mentioned about the degradation of society in my previous post. On how people revere actions by Kane West so much so that there is a market for him, thus making him a multi-millionaire. Personally, I feel that this is ridiculous.

I've mentioned before that I find people like Kane West a selfish disrespectful possum. But the more interesting question is, why is this accepted?

Well, personally, I feel that each of us has a form of rebelliousness in us. the desire to be disrespectful, the desire to not care about others, the desire to be selfish, etc etc. In truth, there are many of us, not all, who want to live only for ourselves. However, the thing is, we/or most of us have suppressed this desire. Thus, when someone like Kane West comes along and shows that he can do all these things which many of us desire, people clamor to him like a God who is living the life which they did not dare to live. 

Now, how does this lead to the degradation of society? Well, in my opinion, there are more blokes like these around. There are other folks who show utter disrespect to society like Justin Bieber, etc etc. and the point is these idols are looked up to and emulated. Young folks nowadays justify their actions as long as someone else successful is doing it/does it. Just because Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, others think that they can do the same and achieve the same success. (I feel that Bill Gates has done some great things so he's not part of the disrespectful list. It's just an example of kids these days justifying their actions due to a few successful people who have done some things which were against the odds.)

So I look at kids these days behaving poorly. But their parents aren't really doing anything about it. Essentially, I think the parents are also desensitized about poor behavior. Look at Hollywood. People tell you that you can do whatever you want and you answer to nobody. That is only partially true. I think that we all answer to society. As it is the place we all live in and we are all part of society. But what defines society? Well, we all do.... So what was previously normal to society might not be normal now. And what is normal now will probably not be normal in the future. 

I was brought up to be respectful to my parents, to fulfill my place in society and I am doing that. I am earning my keep. Investing my excess and living on dividends. Entirely nothing wrong with that. In this post, I'm more concerned about respect towards each other and being humane. I was brought up to be be respectful to elders and nice to uncles and aunts. I don't see that much in the new generation. Furthermore, this has become the new norm. Such behavior is now common and accepted by the previous generation. 

Thus, although I understand/know that the values of society is always changing. As what is normal basically is determined by the number of people practicing it. This means that society will shift closer to a situation where people behaving badly are deemed normal. This results in young folks behaving badly, older generations brushing it off as normal/acceptable, and future new generation will continue to do the same thing. Essentially creating a downward spiral of respect and responsibility. 

That's just my thoughts. Cos I also believe that society creates itself. As long as enough people accept it, then it will become the new society. There is no such thing as the "good ol' days" as the new days have been created by the new folks who have new values in life. Unfortunately, I do not particularly like this as I was brought up in a different era and like most/all humans, I don't particularly like unnecessary change. But change we must as that is the only constant. Things will always change. That is just part of nature. 

What do you think? Do you think society has changed for the better? Do you condone such behavior from your kids? Do you think that the old values will come back someday? 



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Today, I asked myself a question. 

Who am I?

It's a very simple question and most people will respond with their name. 
But let's look into this question a little deeper. 

Who am I?
I think there may be numerous answers to this.

I am a son,
I am a husband,
I am an AVP at a financial institution,
I am a worker,
I am an uncle,
I am a breadwinner,
I am a blogger,
I am an investor

The list goes on. 
It may increase as time goes by,
It WILL decrease as time goes by.

Now which identity do you relate most with? What if you lost it?
For example, some people really relate to their jobs. They may hate their jobs. But they form their identity based on it. So they may really want to leave their jobs. But when they do, they lose their sense of identity and feel depressed and return to the job soon after. 

Females may deem themselves mothers, which might be why some find it so hard to let go of their kids when the children grows up, and they might keep nagging, advising their children even well into adulthood.

There are many other scenarios, like identifying with being a good son. Some children may be living for their parents as good sons/daughters. Doing whatever makes their parents happy, and in return, they themselves feel satisfied and fulfilled. However, some end up feeling a sense of emptiness when their parents pass on. As suddenly, they do not have something to live for. 

I realized that for myself, currently, I relate very closely to being an AVP at a financial institution. Now that's a really sad point for me considering I am aiming to retire young. Of course there will be a trade off. Once I retire, I will remove the identity of AVP and add the new identity of "I am a retiree". Maybe I will be able to relate more to being a retiree? Maybe? Maybe not...

There's also another thing to note, you can add new identities which could be more fulfilling than the previous one which you mainly related to and thus changing the main identity. Now, this is a really important point as it helps people to find additional fulfilment in life, especially for people who hate their work but can't leave it as it is the only thing they live for. Ironic but true for some people. 

There's only one problem... What. What to do to include additional identities? What's important is that the identity needs to rank higher than the previous one which you may not like. Unfortunately, this is really an adventure, or self exploration. There is really no answer if you don't already know the answer. Some people love being mums (one of the best/strongest identities). Others love being doctors. The point is to find an identity which YOU love that will make you feel fulfilled. It needs to be on-going as well. When kids fly the coup, some mums may lose their sense of identity.

One usually relates to an identity when they get more recognition out of it or if they really love doing it.
Example, I get money and recognition of my contribution by the company. (relates to it but don't like it)
Others may really like to cycle and identify themselves as cyclists.
Or they may be the breadwinner if no one else in the family is working. 
Or "I am a stay at home mum" who gets really agitated when other's may think it's a really easy job. 
Cos they really identify themselves with the role and feel that they have given a lot to accomplish it. 
Also why some people feel very insulted when you doubt someone's identity.
(Try telling a stay at home mum her job is like an on-going vacation. Or tell a sole breadwinner that his partner should go to work to add to the income.)
If they relate very closely to what they do, they might come at you with knives. 
Truth is, humans need recognition. Not necessarily by everyone but by some people.

So what next? 
Using myself as an example, I'd love to give up my identity as an AVP and eventually shift to retiree. But what if everyone denies that identity? When someone asks, "So what do you do?". I'd answer, "I'm retired.". Then there'd be this slew of responses "But you're so young", etc etc. And I'd have to persuade them that being retired is good, etc etc which makes me totally upset cos so many people cannot accept a retiree at 35 yrs old. 

Compare that to being a pilot for instance. 

"So what do you do?"
"I'm a pilot!"
"Wow that's really nice, you get to see the world, carrying so many people around with pretty flight attendants."

Sounds nice?

"I fly cargo"
"Oh..."

Spot any difference? Humans are prone to judging and being judged and most humans need to be judged in a way which is positive. People who say you shouldn't care... Don't kid yourselves. Everyone is looking for recognition in their own way. Unless that is not their main identity. 

Another example. Kane West...
I feel he's a total disgrace. Disrespectful, rude, self centred possum. Who contributes nothing good to society.
He doesn't care for recognition? Are you sure? 
He may SAY he doesn't bother what people think. But thing is there are many who admire people like that. Which makes him successful, resulting in the recognition which he says he doesn't need. He just sold his nonsense to a large enough population and based on large numbers, there are enough people who appreciate his work.
What is NOBODY appreciates his work? Would he be as successful? Would be still be the same old disrespectful self? Maybe? Maybe not...
(This results in a degradation of society as, in the new age, poor behaviour is actually being rewarded. But I'll leave that for a future post.)

Point is everyone needs some form of recognition regardless of from who. Even if you don't like what you're doing, most likely, you'll continue doing it if it provides you with the recognition. 

Knowing this, there IS another way to play this game.
Do whatever you want which you like. Think about Kane West. But in a better way. Then FIND people to recognize your work. Most artists do this. So I could retire, then stop talking to people who regard retirement as a waste of my life, and start mixing with people who react positively to early retirement. Yes this takes time and meeting of new people, but this is truly an investment for the future.

Problem is that most people want instant gratification. I work as an AVP and I get my recognition IMMEDIATELY. No need to talk to new people, no need to build new networks. Only downside, I don't like being an AVP. It's like starting a new business. You'll probably need to invest time and effort for this and things will start out really slow. Same as this blog. I may get some readers, and hopefully, slowly I get more. The aim is to work backwards. To hopefully do what I like and then get the recognition eventually. But I don't get my instant gratification which might lead to a drop in my interest level as I don't see the rewards of my labour. Like retirement. If I'm retired, I should be happy as heaven, but then I don't get any recognition of my accomplishment and get all this negative feedback, makes one want to turn back to the comfort zone.

Oh well, it's all a mental game, some may succeed, some may not. Hopefully, I'll eventually get there. I hope you will too. If you already like your identity then that's all good. I hope it's a perpetual identity which you can retain forever. If you don't like who you are, then I hope you take some active steps to explore what you'd like to develop in and what you could become. Nevertheless, this probably won't come easy. But it's never too late to start. So the simple question for today is...

Who are you?



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How much does the way you think, result in how you end up? 
I want to put up some things I've heard which I feel is poor mentality, leading to poor decisions and eventually being poor financially.

According to Singapore statistics, median monthly household income from work was $7,570 in 2012.
I saw a post on Facebook.

These are some comments following this post.

Let's put this in context. The median Singaporean HOUSEHOLD earns approx SGD7k per mth. It is normal for Singaporeans to raise a family with double income, both parents working. SGD4500 is already more than half of the median, meaning if one parent takes up this job, it gets easier for the family to raise above the average Singaporean household. 

And here, we have comments from folks with just pure negativity. Oh it's just too hard, there must be some catch, etc etc. Every job is hard when it starts, you just get used to it. This job will probably be the same. It might even be easier than other jobs. Thing is this role would be considered very attractive. However, for some folks, all they think of is the negativity and will just keep doing whatever they are doing as they will believe that any change is just too difficult. Although statistically, there is evidence that the change will be for the better.

Here's another example on a website on Poor Economics. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (2011) is a non-fiction book by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, both professors of Economics at MIT. The book reports on the effectiveness of solutions to global poverty using an evidence-based randomized control trial approach. It won the 2011 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.
(Taken from Wikipedia)

Why some people remain poor isn't that they don't earn enough, rather, it could very well be just a discipline problem. In the example above, the lady was basically just BUYING disciple when it could just come for free. She borrowed money to put into a fixed deposit at a lower rate as she did not have the discipline to save on her own. WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THIS?!?! The differential is 20% per year just to buy the discipline which she did not have. This means RS2k per ann just cos she did not have sufficient discipline to save. Considering that she struggles to save, I would also reckon that she is considered financially challenged and another RS2k per ann savings would do her well. This goes in line with what I believe. What you think results in how you end up. If your thinking and mentality is wrong, You will make poor decisions and end up in a bad financial situation.

Similarly, I wonder why some low income individuals in Singapore choose to work for menial pay. There are instances of people working for SGD800-1000 per month as cleaners! That will never get someone out of the low income cycle. Furthermore, I think it is a waste of their energy. There are always alternatives and I often wonder why someone would want to keep themselves in such a situation. For example, I myself have set up a flea market stall on a Saturday. Essentially, the event allows an individual to set up a makeshift stall with SGD50 to sell some stuff for a couple of hours. On 2 separate instances, I made SGD100 and SGD200. This is for 1 day work for about 6 hours. Flea markets are available every weekend at different locations in Singapore. If someone chooses to set up a stall on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they could potentially earn about SGD1200 per mth, considering SGD100 per day selling some items. You could buy some products wholesale from Thailand, Indonesia, China, Malaysia and sell them at a good mark up at these makeshift stalls. Naturally, you would need to be selling items which are in demand and not selling items which do not move. One could think of other alternative income avenues for Monday to Thursday and you could probably earn easily more than SGD2000 per mth. It's not a lot, but it's a start and it's still better than SGD800-1000 per mth.

Which brings me back to the start of this blog, what you think makes you poor. If you do not think of other alternatives and keep doing what doesn't work, well, it will never work. People tend to HOPE that things get better instead of take active steps to make the situation better. They hope for big bonuses or to strike the lottery and to them, just by buying a lottery ticket is deemed as trying to make things better for themselves. The thing is, success starts from within. If you always think of yourself as a victim, you will always be a victim. One should always try to think of ways to make things slightly better. Same as the concept of compounding. Slightly better every day, results in large improvements in the long run. But if you're not trying or not even thinking, then nothing will change even in 10 years.

Simply put, 

What have you done to change your situation? Are you just complaining and hoping? Or have you done something active to actually change things? Have you even tried? Or have you already failed mentally before you have even tried?



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Well, I'm really not in a favour of spending unnecessarily. But I really have a lot of pals at work and most of them give me a token chocolate or something for Christmas. They're really nice people and I'd love to have them understand that all this gifting is really a marketing scam by companies to induce people to spend more than necessary. Furthermore, it's well known that gifting during Christmas creates vast amounts of waste as some products are only useful for the period. Like Christmas snow globes... Or small ornaments that serve no purpose except be a token of appreciation which will lie in a cupboard forever. Some products would never even have been produced if not for this habit of gifting!

Ok now that I've made my stand on gifting clear, I still have to go through with the motion of buying some small gifts for some of my colleagues/friends. I've mentioned in a previous post (Under the Primary Credit Card) that I bought SGD300 worth of vouchers to top up my spending to hit a reward amount on my credit card. I'm not particularly proud of it, mind you. But well, I knew this additional expense would come up during Christmas which would push past my usual spending anyway, so it's like allocating some of last month's spending to this mth. (Now, remember if you saved money last mth due to under spending your budget, it DOES NOT MEAN that you are allowed to increase your spending on this month. The slippery slope of the hedonic adaptation starts kicking in when you increase your spending. Instead, you should get used to the habit of spending less and work hedonic adaptation the other way, meaning to get used to spending less instead.) However, this was a planned reallocation of my expenses anyway and I have to keep my colleagues happy as well. (Cost of raw materials in Singapore is very expensive and making personalized cards, gifts would cost as much if not more. For those who are going to suggest on making my own gifts.)

So I made my way down to the nearest hypermart. After running through most of the Christmassy items, I eventually spent about SGD100 worth of vouchers for about 50 gifts, mostly chocolates wrapped nicely for better presentation. Leaving me with SGD200 worth of vouchers to spend on other months. Which actually now gives me a bad habit of spending more than my targeted SGD1500 per month, cos I can now spend slightly more due to the vouchers. Else I would just use the SGD1500 budget and account for misc items within the budget. Note to self: To only use the vouchers for really really unexpected spending instead of a pressing urge to use up the vouchers within the next few mths. (There's this psychological feeling that I'm not using real cash when using the vouchers. So I sometimes get the feeling that I can just use it up as it's not accounted for in my mthly expected spending.)

What have you all been buying this month? How much have you spent? How much of it was on useless stuff which would be left in some corner of earth never to see the light of day? Or have you bought useful stuff like maybe a bicycle to teach your kids to cycle or wholesome food for your family, I don't see anything wrong with gifting a sack of potatoes so that someone can eat for half a mth or so or 1kg of a person's favourite cheese. And since the recipient is going to use the food stuffs anyway, it is going to be a very useful present! Why not? Why not give useful stuff which they can use and will not be just a waste of earth's resources? 

What have YOU given this season? 



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I was thinking of a new world currency which can be used around the world. It works like gift vouchers but for a commodity rather than a fixed value. Currently you can buy a Starbucks card with SGD10 value. But instead this system works by buying the actual commodity. Essentially a pre-purchase of essential products. 

Have a commodities voucher for staples, rice, sugar, potatoes. These vouchers will have no expiry date and can be used to claim in approved supermarts within a particular country. These vouchers would be good as cash. The price will be set by the supermarts. Essentially, a 5kg rice voucher can be purchased now at prevailing rates and can be used years later. This asset is inflation protected as the inflation is borne by the supermart/government. This voucher needs to be regulated and guaranteed by the government. Supermart will have a bid ask spread for people who want to convert this asset back into cash. Works similarly to traveller's cheques but based on a commodity/necessity. There will be a cheapest to deliver concept like for bonds but with a standardized quality/grade. A market may be created for trading across different commodities, sugar, salt, potatoes, quantity should be standardised consumable quantities for ease of exchange at the supermart. 

This "currency"/(will be referred to as voucher for this post) will help people who have no faith in the financial system or cannot understand inflation. At least when investing in this currency, they are guaranteed to have food to eat and will be able to keep up with inflation regardless of when they purchased the voucher. This protects the consumer and sets a new currency in the world. (USA 5kg potatoes can only be used to claim in USA. SGP 5kg rice can only be used to claim in SGP.) As the currency can be consumed by exchanging it for food, it will not be deflationary in nature. But neither will this currency be inflationary in nature. Also, the currency can be used along side the normal currencies as small change still needs to be traded in traditional currencies. 

Basically, traditional currency will be used for immediate exchange. And this voucher will be used for future exchange/storage of value. The voucher should be able to exchange for cash at the prevailing rates to buy other products with the traditional currency.

A worker's salary would be paid in X kg worth of rice, X kg worth of potatoes, X kg of sugar, X kg of salt. etc. A basket of products so that he/she will always have food to eat and that their salary will always keep in pace with inflation even if he gets no change in salary. His REAL SALARY remains constant. Whereas now if your increment does not keep up with inflation, your real salary goes down. People can even have a bank account which stores the different commodity he owns. Interest would be REAL interest and also hedged against inflation. Everyone could own an account card which can directly credit/debit the rice as he claims against the supermart. So everyone would have a commodities portfolio in their account and some free cash for spending on other immediate items which are out of the voucher system which should be luxury products and non-necessities. 

Administration of the currency will be between the government and supermarts to ensure that the food costs and storage costs are hedged so that they can provide a fair market exchange for trading of this voucher system. You should be able to convert this currency back into cash but at a spread for the supermart to earn from the spread as they provide the service of storage/hedging/transport of these commodities. The commodities would be on a constant state of renewal from the supermarts as they sell the products daily so the storage costs should not be too high. I would not expect people to suddenly withdraw 10,000kg of potatoes unnecessarily. Although the supermart should have some protection to the amount a person can withdraw at a single instance. Example if someone wants to withdraw anything more than 100kg rice or 10kg salt depending on product, they must give ample notice to the supermart, 1week or as determined when the voucher system is put in place so that the supermart can prepare the product for delivery. 

Currently there is a commodities exchange but that is based on the existing financial system. It trades in large quantities which are not practical for the common man. Also, it does not take into account the transportation costs and storage for the common usage. The above mentioned voucher system would clean up the inflationary nature of the current system and do away with the deflationary nature of gold. It also helps the man on the street to keep up with inflation and living costs and maintain his standard of living even during inflationary times. If this system is put in place, there would be no inflationary times as the vouchers would be used as a currency and is already inflation adjusted. There will still be fluctuations between USA salt vs USA sugar, USA potatoes vs SGP potatoes as the cost of delivery would differ. Costs of living would take a new meaning. As there would be no real "costs" any longer. Cost of living would be about 300gms of food per meal. Luxury handbags may see inflation as it would be out of the system but who really cares. People would be investing in actual commodities to keep themselves alive. 

The administration would help work out the delivery and storage of products to consumers and they can get a margin as they currently do. The supermarts will have large quantities of current cash to bolster the company and potentially do business in other industries, so that it stays afloat as all products have been pre-purchased in the form of vouchers.

The new system would work very much like the barter trade system in history but now storage would not be a problem. There would also not be a monopoly across supermarts as there can be multiple supermarts providing the service as long as they are approved by the administration. They will be competing to keep costs low so that they can sell more vouchers. Traditional currency would still exist and help facilitate trade in other products. For people who are concerned about the survivability of the supermart, they do not need to be too concerned as there would be a group of supermarts providing this service. Also, it is similar to insurance products where there is faith that the company will continue to be around. This is the same as putting money in banks.

Although this is a radical idea. I believe this system could truly revolutionise the economy and we would not be counting everything in dollars and cents. The financial system would change as this printing money nonsense would probably stop since both inflation and deflation would probably be handled this way.

Maybe you can provide more comments/insights and build upon this idea? Do you think such a system could work? Maybe in the far future such a system may come into place. 
Remember, you first heard it on EarlyRetirementSG



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I've been hearing this "Why do you want to retire early? I'd be so bored. There's nothing to do. My brain will degenerate. I'd want to go back to work.".

Let's break down the points...
Why do you want to retire early? 
Well, so that I can do whatever I want. Really. If I feel like doing nothing then I'll do nothing. If I want to go cycling/exercise, I'll just go. Maybe go fishing, make new friends who are already retired. Maybe some gardening, etc...

I'd be so bored. There's nothing to do. 
That's cos you aren't thinking of what to do. Cos you're so used to just waking up tomorrow and going straight to work that you can't think of what else there is to do besides work. When you were younger as a kid before you were working, what were u doing when you had nothing to do? Kids never have nothing to do. They don't work. But they always had things to do. What has changed? It's cos you've gotten lazy to think of alternatives. You're so used to waking up, washing up, wearing your nice suits and going directly to work as a habit so much that if suddenly this disappeared. You would have no idea what's next. There's always something else to do. Go find it. Stop using this as a lame excuse.

My brain will degenerate. I'd want to go back to work.
Seriously? You use your brain only when you're working? Gosh... I really don't know what to say. You could read up on programming and develop apps just for the sake of it, you could grow some plants, read self help books. Plan a road trip, make cushions to sell and donate the proceeds, etc. All these use brains. They don't use the same skills as what you probably used but they use brains and skill. Your brain will degenerate only if you let it. It's the same as muscles. If you stay at home and stare into space and watch dumb shows, yes your brain will turn to mush. 

Putting it all together, this comment which I get from some people is totally ridiculous. I mean, even the "I don't have enough money" comment is worth more thought than this. At least that comment potentially could be valid. If you have a large enough amount of money to generate enough income, then the comment is invalid. If you don't have much stash, the comment of "not enough money" is valid. The "nothing better to do" comment IS NEVER VALID. It's a choice and it's always up to you to do something about it rather than just, well, waking up and going directly to work, without thinking of anything else you COULD be doing. Like sunbathing at the beach.

If you really really love your job then that's all fine. But if you got enough money and don't appreciate what you're doing then, really, please just do yourself a favour and make a move. I know some people who love sales. So yea, they love their jobs, they have enough money but they just like the satisfaction of meeting people and getting sales. Same as people who love programming and being developers. Or people who love to start new businesses. You could stay and continue doing what you want. Retirement isn't for everyone. But pls don't give a lame excuse if you have a choice. 

That's all it is really. Do you have a choice? Are you fully utilizing it? It's your life really. You only answer to yourself. I hope at the end you'll live a good life and I also hope that at the end, I'll maximize all the choices I have to make the best of my life.

Are you wasting your options? Letting them expire for no good reason? Many people save so that they can have the option to retire or find a better alternative although it might be lower paying. But most don't ever leave til its too late or til their old and sick. Do you know someone like that? Are YOU someone like that? 

Your Life! Your Choice!



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This could be read in 2 ways and when writing this, I mean it in both ways.

1) In the end, All you have is time
Meaning you really have a lot of time to do things. You bosses rush you. Screw it. The average human lives for about 80+ years. That 1 day that someone is rushing you to do something that's NOT important, relax, that's THEIR problem. If you don't feel like fixing the car today, well you can always do it tomorrow. You could also exercise tomorrow as well.

You can take slow walks crossing the road, slowly strolling at the hypermart looking for cool stuff to buy or just browsing around car show rooms wasting the salesman's time cos you know you aren't going to buy anything. Relax, all you have is time.

You could also retire when you're 60 as well. Considering you'd still have 20+ years to relax and do whatever you want. 20 years is plenty when you're taking your time and enjoying yourself. Go and take hikes and spend your time in anyway you want. 

Basically, time is free. You have all the time to waste. Until....

2) In the end, All you have is time
You really don't have much in this life except time. If you waste it, it's really gone. Never to be spent again. When it's over its over.

You could work for your money. Essentially exchanging your time for money. Then you spend money on stuff. But actually you're using TIME. Cos you exchanged time for money and spend money so well, you're spending time. 

All you to exchange in this world is time. 
Let's put it this way. If you have sufficient money for the rest of your life. You now own this really cool item. It's a ball. But it's not any ball. It glows and glitters like a diamond and bounces and when you throw it, it comes back to you naturally and smells nice and you love playing with it and would love to be playing with it for every second you're awake. It's one of a kind in this world. It doesn't really do much, but it's cool. If was left to you by your great great great grand father. No one else has anything like it.... Well would you sell this item? Now that you have enough money for the rest of your life. 

I'd liken time to something like that. Time you have, doesn't really do much. Except well... you're alive. You can lend the ball to someone else to make money. But you'd sacrifice playing with it. Same as time. You could rent it someone else to make money but you'd not have it for yourself. But you would have lost the use of it for that whole period. (Hmmm I'm thinking that might not be such a good example as I type... Anyway moving on.)

Can you imagine, your precious time in this world. Never to be gotten back again. You are willing to sell 1 month of it for SGD5k? SGD3k? Or for some SGD1k? That's what the rich do. They PAY something they have a lot of, for something WE ALL have very LITTLE of. Which is YOUR TIME! Your time makes you money, but makes them move money. But there's a catch, they don't spend much of THEIR TIME.

So you exchange your time for some money, the rich pays you, but makes more money out of you, and he doesn't spend much time. So he's really using mainly your time to earn him money. Can you imagine that?!?!

Does this make any sense? That people actually are willing to sell their time for something as cheap as money? When you look at it as time is all you have to exchange, money now seems very cheap to be trading time for. Maybe at the start when money is scarce. But when there is sufficient money for investment and creating a passive income, I think it's time for individuals to turn the tables around and be the "rich" people who are providing the money to buy other people's time so that they can now make money on other people's time. I'm thinking it's time to be empowered to and stop trading your precious time for cheap money.

What do you think? Does this make sense? How much are you trading your time for? Do you think you're getting a fair exchange? What can you do about it? Are you planning a way out of the situation? 



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I've always wondered if humans get together, we could come up with a world where everyone would have food to eat and a roof over our heads and medical would be free. People could volunteer to work for companies providing necessities like farming, medical, construction. Machines would do bulk of the work. These volunteers would get a first selection of the necessities which are produced. 

There are so many people in this world. So many folks doing (in my view) "non-productive" work. For example, a bunch of marketers, production of LV, Prada, the finance industry. If we closed down all these sectors and put more resources to necessities, humans could produce more necessities, (I'm tired of listing necessities, But lets define necessities as doctors, farmers, fishing, food producers, construction, transport, education, research, technology. Non-necessities, I'm defining as the luxury industry, complex finance, gambling, tobacco, abusive drugs, etc)
We could all either not work or work for maybe 1-2 hours per day and everyone would have enough to eat, a food over their heads, free medical. As mentioned, volunteers who want to work would get the first selection of the produce. The products would be disbursed by the government on a monthly basis to all families in a country. Those are the basic needs of humans. 

After which, humans can choose to spend their time doing other useful things like being doctors, researchers, etc. 
So we'd have a bunch of volunteers working as producers who get slightly more than others, and the rest could bum around and get the base necessities of housing, food and medical and do whatever they would like with their lives. 

Essentially money is just an illusion to fulfill human's unlimited wants, its to gain financial security. If it is possible for a just and fair government to come up with a system to fulfill an individual's base needs for his whole life, he would have security for life, then he could put his efforts to doing other things to contribute to society and he won't be stashing cash and working for non-necessities in life and chasing the non essentials.

Isn't that what we developed technology for? To work less? However, as people's wants increase, they work even more. If everytime you were offered a raise, you asked for the same salary but with the increment as a deduction of the work done instead. How many hours would you be working now? (I'm talking about folks who are earning sufficient and not just above the poverty line.) So if the boss offers you a 5 % increment, you counter that you would keep the same pay but with 5% less work hours. Well, you lived well enough with that pay already. It's now time to work less. After 10 years you'd work about 50% less. Ok assuming compounding, you'd actually compound more pay if you increase 5% per ann for 10 years. But I'm just talking about this conceptually. That humans initially created technology to improve their lives to work less. But ended up finding other things to do to fill up their time again and keep themselves busy. Constant improvement to processes are fine but some desires are just pointless, like SGD2000 handbags. There's a whole industry for these products worth billions. If the money were used to help the poor countries develop and end up in the same situation, no one would starve or be left in the streets or be unable to afford healthcare. The gambling industry is also another industry of pure waste. I'm appalled that people find that they have no other way to be happy or get a thrill besides to spend money. 

What is GDP? It's another number for countries to compare against each other. And we keep wanting to increase GDP/productivity. If GDP falls, we are in a recession. Like who cares about a recession if everyone has enough to eat, a place a stay and free medical? So we end up continuously pushing for more products, goods which really don't do very much for the human race. 

Personally, I think the current system is a silly system and maybe some folks may think my idea might be bordering on communism, I'm not in favour of communism. Humans have a tendency to be selfish and greedy so a single person holding power is a bad idea. I'd prefer to believe in a more socialistic society where everyone gets a fair amount of basic necessities and is allowed to do whatever they want without fear of going hungry. That would be the true life everyone should live. If you want to be a doctor, then do so for interest and include your services in society rather than believing that you should be compensated more just cos you can save someone else's life. If you want to build buildings, then do it cos you have interest in building big structures rather than wanting to make millions. 

Do you think such a society would work? Is this familiar with your thinking? Are there already countries successfully pulling this structure off? 



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I've mentioned in a previous post. I don't keep an emergency fund. I have maybe SGD3-4k in cash. That's about it. All my other cash is locked up in investments. 

ARGHHH I already hear the screams of horror about what a disaster this is...

What if something goes wrong?!?!
Ok what could go wrong?

1) Someone ends up with a medical issue. 
Well insurance should cover most of this. Get a fair enough coverage with an acceptable deductible/co-insurance and you should be well covered for medical issues or long term hospitalization. If it's a real serious issue, then I think it may trigger one of the critical illness policies.

2) Sudden Debts
Do you have family members with gambling issues? Well I don't. So we're not expected to bail people out of financial problems which we did not create.

3) Loss of Job
Both of us work in high performance companies which have very low chance of getting fired/retrenched. 

So as you can see most of the main scenarios have been covered. Maybe there may be some other issue which I have not accounted for. But I can always sell my shares when needed. I don't foresee any problem that cannot wait 3-4 days for funding. If it's really an emergency then I think taking a loss on my investments is acceptable. For other instances, I can always use my credit card to pay off any bills like car repairs and wait for my salary next mth. 

HOWEVER, there are scenarios when someone NEEDS an emergency fund.
I'll list some of them.

1) Someone ends up with a medical issue
Well if you or your family members are not adequately covered by insurance. You'll need a good buffer of emergency funds. This is actually very common as many Singaporeans especially the older generation, do not insure themselves. This was mentioned in my post on insurance as Singaporeans treat insurance as a taboo subject.

2) Sudden Debts
Well helping your family member who has a drug/gambling problem doesn't really do any favours for any of you. However, you may want to keep some funds if you really want to help them.

3) Loss of Job / Employment / Irregular income
If you're in an industry which is on a downturn, you may want to keep some reserve funds. As there is an actual risk that you might be laid off. Other scenarios may be you are a business owner and sales for the period might not be as hot as expected, or you might be working based on commission and the income for the period might not be as great as hoped. So keeping an emergency fund for people who are at risk of losing their income or have an irregular income would make good sense.

As you can see keeping an emergency fund is similar to owning an umbrella. If you stay in the desert, you might not need to have it ready. The important thing is to analyse what your current situation is before listening to all those financial advisers on the importance of an emergency fund. It is important for some people. But for others, it might be just locking your funds away in low return accounts and hindering your early retirement.

What do you think? Have you been holding on to your umbrella even though you stay in the desert? Have I failed to consider other emergencies which I cannot handle with my current situation?



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Couple of years back my wife and I took a tour to Hokkaido. Wow it was a beautiful country. Snow covered rooftops, nice food, etc etc etc. The only problem was that it cost us about SGD6000 for both of us on that single trip. 

2 weeks after I returned to work, the dread of work kicked in again. The fairy tale of Hokkaido was long forgotten at the back of my memory. There was nothing to look forward to. I wanted another trip to get out of the system again. How many of you have encountered such a scenario or a similar case? 

This got me thinking. How about I use the SGD6000 to go on 4 short trips a year? That would enable me to have something to look forward to every quarter. Sure I won't be going anywhere far and I'd have to scout the best deals. But its still a good idea to get away from the drone of working without seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

As mentioned previously, this budget is quite flexible. I usually plan around SGD6000 but when I reach the destination, I'm more relaxed in the spending money and since we don't look at luxury products, the budget doesnt exceed by much in a year. So the annual actual spending would be SGD7000 or so. The budget is also reallocated over the quarters. Meaning we could be going to Southeast Asian countries for 3 trips and 1 better trip to Taiwan or Japan. 

We'll also start planning 6 mths in advance so that we can scout for good air fares and cheap hotels to pre-book. You'd be amazed at how possible it is to be planning based on SGD1500 when you can target deals 6 mths in advance. 

Basically, the trips we make are more for relaxing and taking time off from work rather than for heavy exploration of the country. So we tend to re-visit some of the areas if we enjoy the lifestyle there rather than to look for new places all the time. 

Some places which we go to are.
Penang, Malaysia, about SGD600 for 2 pax, 3 nights stay, flight, transport and food.
Taipei, Taiwan, about SGD2000 for 2 pax, 6 nights stay, flight, transport, food, gifts.
Bintan, Indonesia, Club Med, SGD1200 for 2 pax, 4 nights stay, boat, transport, food. (Club Med promotion)
Beijing, China, SGD500 for 2 pax, 4 nights stay, flight, transport, food. (Groupon promotion)
Pattaya, Thailand, forgot the price.
Bangkok, Thailand, forgot the price.
Malacca, Malaysica, haven't been but pricing should be similar to Penang. 

What do you think of this idea? Going for more short trips rather than 1 long one. Some of my friends go on 1 long trip to Europe costing SGD15k +. I tell them. Your 1 trip covers 2 years of my trips and I can go for 8 trips. They stay at posh hotels and come back with new bags and wallets from the usual LV and Prada. 

Would you rather go for 4 trips a year to simple places or 1 long trip to a good place? Can you wait a whole year? What would make you happier? 

(Yes no trips per year would probably allow me to retire even earlier. But as I've said in other posts, this blog isn't about scrimping and saving all the time but to allow leeway for enjoyment and living a fair enough life on the path to early retirement.)



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