I do not like working from home. That doesn’t mean I like working in office either. I always thought having the flexibility of remote work meant that I do not mind working as long as I can work from home.
There are parts of my job that I enjoy, and there are areas that I dislike. And lately, I notice this area of dislike seems to be growing. I do not like sitting through meetings just to give status updates. Or having multiple calls for something that leads to nowhere. I hate that in order to increase my income, I have to ask for it with evidence of why I’m worth that amount.
With this Covid-19 situation, I have been working from home for almost 2 months. I thought I would enjoy it, since I save time on commute. So I have more time to spend with my family, which I do. I have come to realise that even with remote work, I still need to show up for that meeting, or that discussion, and that 1-1 meeting with my manager to discuss my performance. And all this are taking time away from doing the things I enjoy.
I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter. She probably has enough energy to fuel a jet plane! She is constantly racing around, doing something. It is a little exhausting keeping up with her. At 39 years old, I just don’t have that much energy left after working 8 hours. I realized how old I am. And it woke me up that I don’t want to still be working full time when I’m 50!
And also at this age, the risk of retrenchment is much higher. I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to worry about my income. I can depend on my husband but I think it is important for woman to take control of their own finances. Therefore, I would prefer to have my own savings, and income that I can depend on later in the years.
When I reach Financial Independence, I do not need to worry about retrenchment. I can always choose to find some part time job to supplement my income. Or I can choose work that I like to do. And I can choose to spend more time with family. I can even choose to walk away from my job. Basically, reaching Financial Independence gives you the freedom to choose! Freedom to choose is soooo under rated. It lets you walk away from things that made you unhappy, and allow you to walk to things that make you happy. As simple as that!
So at 39 years old, am I too late to reach Financial Independence? We have all read blogs or stories about how someone who started in their 20s have already reached financial independence or freedom in their late 20s or or early 30s. They are enjoying life or traveling around the world now. So how is it different for someone start at 39 years old?
Honestly, I think the path to Financial Independence (FI) is the same, regardless of when you start. You start at 20, maybe you take 10 years to reach FI. It will be the similar process, I start at 39, maybe it will take 10 years or slightly more.
The only difference is that you have more years to enjoy if you started earlier. So all you 20 something reading this, start now…
So with these 3 simple rules of reducing expenses, increasing income and building wealth, I hope I can reach FI before 50! I will cover more on the steps that I’m currently taking based on the 3 rules on upcoming posts.
