How Much Is Enough

During my FIRE journey, I would set a target amount by certain period of time. When I reach the targeted amount usually by a later deadline, there is another urge of another higher amount due to the inflation. This leads me to wonder whether how much is enough for FIRE.

I have been in the workforce about 18 years since 2000. It’s almost two decades. There are no much decade in a lifetime. I have witnessed example of people dying in their 20s, 30s and 40s. This is an additional food for thoughts on how much one need for FIRE.

I encountered instance in which one of the blogger, namely Mr Crazy Kick is diagnosed with an illness in a later stage of lyme disease about one year after his retirement from full time employment. Fortunately,  the disease can still be cured.

http://www.mrcrazykicks.com/how-late-stage-lyme-disease-caught-me-off-guard/

Another blogger, namely Root of Good highlighted another example of the reader which is diagnosed with another illness.

https://rootofgood.com/early-retirement-terminal-illness/

The above-mentioned circumstance has set me to ponder further on how to approach the life going forward. Life is unpredictable and there is no knowing what will happen tomorrow.

I am of view that it is better to FIRE first before dragging the event with “one more year” syndrome. As long as one is confident of sustaining for at least five years with the investment portfolio, I am of view that it is safe to quit from the full-time employment to focus on the activities which are of interest to one. Even if one decides not to quit the full-time employment, I am of view that one should take it easy in the full-time employment. There is no need to stress on whether one has done well in the work with the knowledge that one can still survive for the few years with the investment portfolio.

The dynamics at the job changes as one feel that he/she is coming from a place of strength when one knows that he/she knows he/she has the back up supporting him/her. One will stress much less when the economics of the job are no longer a primary deciding factor in his/her survival.

WTK

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Travel Insurance

Whenever I go overseas for a holiday, I will buy the travel insurance. Recently, it comes to my mind on whether there is a need to do so. The reasons are as follows:

• The travel policy covers loss of luggage, flight delay and other risks. The amount of compensation is quite small about few hundred or so.
• If one falls ill during the holiday, the medical expenses may cost a few hundred dollars. The chance of making a claim is rather low.
• If the chance of a claim is 1 in 100, it may be worthwhile taking a risk. The saved premium on 100 trips would probably cover any future claim.
• The risk can be covered under the personal accident. A personal accident policy may be insured by paying an annual premium of $600. This covers one for accidents 365 days, 24 hours a day, in Singapore and overseas.

Based on the above reasons, it is advisable to avoid buying travel insurance.

WTK

Extended Warranty

I believe that some of you may have encountered the decision on whether to pay extra money for extended warranty on the items such as car, refrigerator computer, stove,  washing machine, a major system in home etc.

I used to buy the extended warranty on such items many years back. Now, I do not longer do so. The reason is that the paid monies for the extended warranty can be used to offset the purchase of the next similar item when the existing item is spoilt. Some of the reasons are as follows:

• Extended warranties may have small clauses which rely on contract fine print to deny coverage for almost any reason.
• Accidental damage may not be covered.
• Providers can go out of business, leaving consumers without the coverage they paid for.
• Warranty Work many be unreliable.
• The warranty may not cover what one think it does.
• The extended warranty may overlap manufacturer’s warranty.
• Under the law, it is not even a warranty.

WTK

Progress Of 2018 Resolutions

Time flies. Half of 2018 is almost over. I believe that some of you may have made some resolutions at the beginning of the year of 2018. Have you evaluated the progress of your resolutions and assessed the current status of the resolutions? The mid-year review of the resolution will go to some extent to assessing whether the progress is on track and one can adjust the strategies to align the progress of the resolutions accordingly.

Neverthless, I wish you all of you all the best in your resolutions. There is no need to fret over the resolutions which are not in line with the progress. For those who have achieved the targeted resolutions, congratulations on achieving your target.

WTK

Geoarbitrage

I last mentioned Geoarbitrage as one of the options for early retirement. Different geographic locations have different cost of living. Geoarbitrage refers to taking advantage of these differences. Such strategy can be a powerful tool during one’s wealth building years and it can make one’s money last longer in retirement.

There are many avenue of global geoarbitrage which allows early retirements in locations such as Argentina, Panama, Thailand, Poland etc. Quality of life and cost of living is low in these places compared to Singapore. I list Chiang Miang in Thailand as the first choice of my geoarbitrage locations.

Geoarbitrage is most critical when one consider his/her wants and there is a need to build an appropriate plan. The plan may include the following:

• Identify the stage of life one is in and preference on the type of life one will want to lead during the geoarbitrage.
• The amount of money one is currently spending.
• Housing – this is one of essential factor. One will need to consider whether to purchase or rent a property. If one prefers to be a nomad, I am of view that renting will be a better option.
• Earning – It is impossible for one to sit around and do nothing during the geoarbitrage period. Doing some form of work which generate some form of earnings, will go to the great extent in reducing the reliance on the investment portfolio.
• Cut down on Belongings – It makes sense to remove everything one does not activities.
• Minimalism – I prefer to reduce my belongings to a few checked bags. This will lead to me not wanting to buy anything now.

One need to plan slowly and carefully before embarking on the geoarbitrage dream.

WTK

Immediate Action – Do It Now

Today is almost one month since the inception of this blog on 19 May 2018. Time flies. Over this one month, I learnt a lot of insights from publishing my thoughts and posts on the blog. If I have not made a decision to start the blog on 19 May 2018, I will still be without any blog.  This goes to show that one will need to get started regardless of the prevailing circumstance. Make decision in accordance to the prevailing circumstance. The morale of the story is to getting going and do the best in the things which one do. The results are secondary.

WTK

Sustainability Of Investment Portfolio With No Emergency Fund As A Back-Up

There is a formula which determines the number of years in which one can sustain with the investment portfolio without the active income. This is applicable for those with the generated dividends from the invested portfolio less than the annual expenses of one. The annual expense will be deducted from the invested portfolio. This means one will need to liquidate the invested portfolio equivalent of the annual expense at the beginning of the year. Hence, it will be advisable to cater for the allowance to the annual expenses. An example is that one’s annual expense is $26,549. It will be prudent to allocate $30,000 for such expenses.

The formula is as follows:

(Value of Invested Portfolio – Annual Expenses)*1.07 (Assuming the annual yield of the invested portfolio is 7%)

Based on the above formula, one will be able to estimate the number of years one can sustain based on his/her investment portfolio. One will need to re-evaluate the feasibility of such plan on yearly basis. The above is based on one with no emergency fund as a back-up.

Take it with a pinch of salt on the strategy

WTK