Generally people who is wealthy, will have TIME, MONEY and the most important HEALTH.

Not answering the question, but thanks for your input.

according to wikipedia....
Financial independence is the status of having enough income to pay one's living expenses for the rest of one's life without having to be employed or dependent on others.
Income earned without having to work a job is commonly referred to as passive income.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_independence

Yeah but according to one forumer’s own interpretation the above means RE

guys say I have some cash in hand less than RM20k. any good suggestion to start for FI? thanks much

i cant really save much at the moment due to pay cut MCO.

seriously? with 20k to FI?

Yeah but for my own interpretation of above is when one having reached that status, one can afford to RE. But whether one really wanted to RE or not, is really up to that individual preference n circumstances...

This post has been edited by T231H: Jun 29 2020, 06:29 PM

Yeah thats the conventional interpretation.

Those that come up with ‘own’ interpretation should really read up on FIRE, its not that hard - many sources out there.

so uhm.. how much do we need to have to start for FI? how much when you started?

You can start from zero of course!

All about living frugally and investing wisely.

googled and found these, hope some links in there can assist you.

how to plan for financial independence
https://www.google.com/search?ei=6sf5XqzZLr...&sclient=psy-ab

Just kidding... 😬

May I know what your portfolio consist of? Shares, property, bonds etc? Thanks

I’m near retirement (will be turning 50 in a couple of years, and I will be relocating to Sydney to begin my next phase of (semi) retired life, hence my portfolio is heavily biased towards the relatively “safer” assets classes. I also work in Singapore (have been for the past 25 to 30 years) so, understandably my investments are mainly in Singapore (where I am at present) and Australia (where I’ve planned to be more than decade ago). These are mainly investment grade bonds and a mix of residential and commercial properties in both countries. I have a small selection of blue chip stocks (mainly Singapore banking stocks - the usual culprits: DBS, UOB, OCBC, that I will hold till I grow old for the dividends.

I’ve also done some right sizing/rebalancing/housekeeping (insert your preferred term here) of my portfolio at the start of the year, mainly thanks to COVID19 which presented me a rare opportunity to pick up some of the IG bonds that I’ve been eyeing at below par value.

That’s about it, really. Nothing too risky I’m afraid, nothing too exciting. At my age, preservation of wealth is as important as generating it, if not more so.

Most people who start a business when they are young have no choice but to borrow from friends and relatives. Small amounts maybe like 30k for a small business. If you need larger amounts then you would need investors.

I have been an investor in businesses before and I have run business for other people with P&L responsibility. My observation why people fail is because people open a business which they are not familiar with. Those which I have seen successful consist of people who have already about 8 to 15 years experience in a similar industry, Sales and mkt experience, P&L responsibility and people management skills.

As most people do not have the relevant skills it is not surprising 90% of businesses fail.

If you do have the experience then it makes sense to borrow as normally you wouldn't open the business unless you already had a contract to sustain your cashflow but you only need to borrow after you get the contract as a bridging loan to perhaps run the project as distributors will not give you 100% credit the first time you do business with them even if they have been friends with you for like 20 years.

This post has been edited by mmweric: Jun 30 2020, 03:08 PM

As someone who retired at 42 I aim for about 2.5% above inflation so if inflation is 3.5% then 6%. But I generally spend only 1.5%.

You should always look at the real rate or return and not absolute return for example in Singapore you would need a lower rate of return as inflation there is lower.

If I am not wrong epf target is 2% above inflation with a 3 year rolling target but they have been consistently performing better then that. So for me an equivalent return to epf is good enough.

i can agree with this as I have also dabbled in starting up a business in my industry for a year. but decided it was too much work and quit too.

I had three good paying customers before i even hired workers too..

but at the end, business start up are mostly bottom of the food chain. You will get bullied and pushed around by the bigger guys for years and years. Also, poor paymasters and constant stress in paying your workers with no money coming in, means you are always working on edge and doing unhealthy things.

Not easy being a businessman.

Again, that may depend on the type of business set up you intend to run. If you’re providing services or skills or expertise, the set up costs might be a lot lower than a traditional brick and mortar type of business, burdened by stock inventories etc.

And I agree - it’s not easy being a businessman. If it were, everyone would be doing it.

ya agreed
personally encountered with such bastard. its not like they having financial trouble but rather its their ego problem.
i cut off doing business with them and the ''partner'' come and ''apologise''

more established businesses can just cut them off without affecting business much but startup had no choice to continue with them. and its this type of ppl making startup harder to survive

No difference whether you're big or small. When you're big small guys will come along and try to undercut you and the customers will use the small guy to push down your price. Sometimes your ex-staff becomes the small guy too.

Customers squeeze you because they either have KPIs or they want to be more profitable so don't take it personally.