The road to financial freedom

Dave and I have a common objective – achieving financial independence.

We have set a tentatively timeline for ourselves, when our portfolio have reached a certain level, that will be the time when we think we have achieved our financial independence.

But whether we will be leaving our jobs entirely, that’s altogether a different matter and we do not yet know. But at the minimum, we will have that option available. We might take a step down from our current roles, or look for something else that offers better work-life balance, less stress, less hectic, less crap, etc. Or, we could venture into something entire different, start up an ecosystem, or perhaps since we will have more time then, to focus more on this blog with more regular postings and helping to grow the minimalism community in Singapore.

We were even joking that Dave could become a decluttering specialist – taking a course, getting himself certified, and help others in the process, since it’s something that he enjoyed.

I could probably become a stay-at-home mum, and spend more time with Ally, since she will most probably be attending primary school then, and help her with her schoolwork etc., rather than outsourcing all these functions to an external tuition agency or those ridiculously priced enrichment centres.

Or perhaps I could also become a freelancer? And perhaps to take up a course to learn how to play the guitar, which is something that I always wanted to learn for a long time.

The possibilities are endless.

And it’s all really exciting.

However, this is something that I haven’t quite had the chance to share with a lot of people.

Not even my own family. I remembered I mentioned to my mother a few years ago, that I am not looking at climbing the corporate ladder, but looking forward to early retirement, etc. Her reply to me was ” 胸無大志”, which essentially translates to lacking aspirations, unambitious. Well, not that she was entirely wrong either, but it just kind of hurts that your family doesn’t quite support the vision that you envisage yourself to be in.

I did share with a few friends of mine. However, they do not quite see things the same way, either they feel that it is a way of self escape, or that it just sounded something nice but achieving it is an entirely different story. I don’t blame them for thinking that way, since they probably have more mortgage to service than me, and there’s the car loan too. Oh yes, and kids as well. So they probably don’t feel that financial independence or early retirement is an option for them.

The road to financial independence is a personal journey, but as for me, I am glad that I have Dave with me to walk through this together. It is not easy. But neither is it as complex as it seems.

Yes, we do make quite a few lifestyle changes, but I feel that these are changes that comes by more naturally as we age, as we have reached a different stage of life, rather than been forced to. And by no means do we feel that it compromise our quality of life.

We are minimalists, so we own less stuff, that translates into less clutter, less distraction.

We focus more on quality than quantity.

We relish experience more than things.

We enjoy little pockets of happiness, rather than lavish outbreaks of luxuries.

I am glad that I found a lot of like-minded individuals on the online communities, through this blog and also other bloggers who share their thoughts and journey towards achieving financial freedom, and early retirement subsequently.

There have been lots of anecdotes out there, in Singapore and beyond and they are an inspiration to read.

We hope that someday our journey inspires you as well.

It is possible.

If you decide to do so, and take the plunge to start planning your journey.