Retiring As A 38 Year Old with USD 2 Million in Singapore | My Step by Step FIRE Guide

About this video

• Video Title: Retiring As A 38 Year Old with USD 2 Million in Singapore | My Step by Step FIRE Guide
• Channel: Shao Chun
• Speakers: Shao Chun
• Duration: 00:14:01

Overview

This video outlines a step-by-step guide to achieving financial independence, retire early (FIRE) by age 38 with $2 million, shared by Shao Chun. The speaker details their strategies for increasing active income, managing passive income through investments, and avoiding common financial pitfalls.

Key takeaways

• Achieved FIRE at 38: The speaker reached financial independence with a portfolio of $2 million, having worked a 9-to-5 job.
• Three-Step FIRE Guide: The core strategy involves being active in increasing active income, being passive in managing passive income, and avoiding middle-class financial mistakes.
• Active Income Growth: Strategies include internal growth within a company (volunteering for projects, upskilling, networking) and external growth through job hopping and regular external interviews. The speaker shares personal experiences of career transitions and salary growth.
• Passive Income Strategy: The speaker primarily invests in diversified, low-cost passive ETFs, such as the S&P 500 ETF, citing diversification and tax advantages as key benefits. They experienced losses with individual stocks and Chinese tech ETFs.
• No Property Investment: The speaker avoids property investment in Singapore due to the 99-year leasehold model, the long-term commitment of mortgages, and its contradiction with financial freedom.
• Diversification with Gold & Crypto: A small portion of the portfolio is allocated to gold and Bitcoin for diversification and as a hedge against inflation.
• Avoiding Middle-Class Mistakes: Key mistakes identified include lifestyle inflation, not being aware of one's burn rate, and the inverse of the core strategy (being passive in active income and active in passive income).
• Personal Finance Tips: The speaker emphasizes the importance of managing expenses, specifically highlighting taxes, rent, food, transport, and subscriptions. They also mention the benefit of moving to a lower-cost country like Thailand to reduce burn rate.