I like the idea of financial freedom/independence, mainly because of the option to quit the job if I want to, no need to hang on to the job just because of the paycheck
This world is realistic, any company can, and will sack anyone if they would like to, as long as they can find a cheaper substitute.
So we have got to have an option for ourselves, i.e., our plan B

Have been working towards it for few years

Don't think RM 1M is enough though, perhaps at least RM 5M, enough to separate a few portions, e.g., 1 for FD, 1 for long term investment and 1 for short term investment or the like (didn't plan for so details as things changes all the time)
Anyway I tihink if can reach RM 5M net capital, then with the ability, there should be no problem at all to be FI/RE and do the things that I want to do

All the best guys

If 5M then based on 4% FD it is about 200k/year which is about 17k per month

It definitely looks a lot for now, even for a family with a reasonable good lifestyle

I think the main consideration here is in the future 10 years or so perhaps there is no more guarantee return of 4% per year in FD, who knows the interest rate will decrease to a new low. Therefore at least RM 5M is just to be safe and worry free.

Again I think if someone can achieve RM 5M current asset (easily disposable to generate cash such as bank savings, stocks, unit trust etc), then his/her ability at that time will be enough to continue surviving, and growing the capital without working

My personal opinion is, unless your capital is really large to generate sufficient passive income on stocks dividend, otherwise aiming for capital gain is a way to grow your capital (of course this comes with a greater risk)
It all depends on the person, perhaps you can split your capital into a few portions which buy different stocks for capital gain or dividend income

All the best!

Wanted to share my opinion on debts. A lot of people want to be debt free, because debt free is free from worries etc.

This is not entirely through in my opinion. While in the process of getting FIRE, taking debt can speed up the process, if manage properly. Yea debt free is good after you reach getting old or after you have the ability to FIRE. While still

I used to thought I need to be debt free at all time so that I don't have to worry about it. Now I realise that having a manageable amount of debt can be beneficial. For example:

i) Using credit card effectively to manage cash flow. This also includes the use of 0% balance transfer to spread out the payment over a longer period of time.
ii) Some loans like hire purchase repayment already calculate the interest till the end, so I find it no point to pay off it earlier (although pay off earlier will get some discount, not much).
iii) Share margin financing is such a great tool to borrow money at a low interest rate. Be sure to only buy good counter with SMF
iv) Some will refinance the house to cash out since the mortgage loan is only ~4.5%.

Things like that can help us along the way to achieve FIRE. The cash obtained from the above can be used as you like, e.g., investment

I wish to stress that the debt must be manageable and within your control to make it beneficial. Using debt is like a small leverage of your asset and it is a two-edge sword, if used improperly will bring terrible outcome

Feel free to discuss

For illness part - this is why exactly we need insurance. Insurance is crucial in financial management, it helps to avoid large spending on medical treatments. Without insurance it is quite common to find someone who has lots of saving only to find it gives to the doctors

As for losing job, if finance is managed well, there is usually a few months of backup fund to prepare for this situation.

Totally agree and point 4 & 5 really resonances me

With FI in mind one can really tend to think "I don't want to do this a day more than I have to" or the like
Sure, we want FI but one have to at least be serious with our work and do the necessary. One shouldn't let the negativity creeps in and affects one's life, this is not the right way
If possible, love what we do in our job while having the clear goal of FI is probably the best possible scenario - enjoy working at the same time of seeing the capital growing

And yes, as the author says, when the capital gets big could make no difference in feelings when you finally make it, which is in big contrast to the previous day that one imagine "once I have this amount that amount I can..."
Therefore I realise the mportance of spending the money and rewarding ourselves at times e.g., travelling and buy some stuff that we want
I know it is hard to see the capital goes down but appropriately withdrawing the capital can make us feel very good and the sense of rewarding is priceless

After all, balance & moderation, I would say, is the way in FI, and in many other things in life

Hi Gary it is good to know that you are staying in AU but choose to retire in KL, at least MY isn't that bad right

From my observation people in AU work until very old because the welfare there is too good and people thought they can always depend on the government, which I think is a really bad idea
It is better to depend on ourselves rather than on government. This is especially the case in MY because we don't have good welfare system but is not too far off with western countries like AU even though the welfare is so good. This is because (i) with inflation the money we get from the welfare is smaller in value in years to come so never depend on that (ii) as you said the welfare system is not sustainable and the increase in retirement age proposal meaning people have to work even longer and (ii) let's be frank, those in power will only think for themselves and not the people (as in the dramatic frequent-change of PM in AU and just 2 weeks ago AU has a new PM, again. I already lost count of how many PM change in AU for the last few years)

P/S: I saw your signature that you stay in Randwick. I stayed there for some time and really love Randwick. It is nostalgic thinking back

Scenario A: this is why balance and moderation is important in achieving FI. Appropriate withdrawals to enjoy life will keep to process rewarding

Scenario B: disagree. One primary reason of FI is security, i.e., we really never knows when a company will sack us and therefore with FI this is no longer a worry. In addition, with FI we have the call of staying in the job over the boss than vice versa - I see this as a very important element because of the following third reason - no need to "see people face", if you know what I mean. Politics is always unavoidable in any institution and I find it tiring. And yeah, with FI we can focus on doing the things that we love to without all these factors coming in.

some suggestions to TS:

On the first post, it would be nice to have some figures, e.g., how much of basic savings is required to achieve basic FIRE, as mentioned by @j.passing.by

And maybe can have some basic FAQs on the first post.

The reddit r/FI is a very informative forum, but it is too US/Western-based. Will be nice to have something for Malaysians on FIRE

Garysydney

Thank you for your sharing and glad that you have made your way out of the debt long time ago
Your experience will help a lot of young generations to remind them of the cruelty of financial markets

Having said that, I understand the feeling of anticipating a market crash, like the during Feb this year, only few days of drops caused a lot of people to anticipate market crash/major correction. In fact, many people start waiting for a major correction for years, but it didn't happen until now (literally without any major correction except 2011 and 2014 but they are really short). Perhaps one of the main reason is too many people anticipating a correction/crash and hence it wouldn't come. So I have learnt not to anticipate a crash, it probably wouldn't come when you expect it, and it will come when you least expect it to.

Back to the topic, yes, you can afford to make mistake while you are young, but not when getting older
Investment is really important to achieve FI. Yes there is a risk, but if without risk then sitting at most 4% per year is surely a loss (to inflation). I didn't see other way out for ordinary working people other than investment. So I will take the risk to invest while I can afford to, and try my best to ensure that the risk is always within manageable capacity

Cheers

Any property that generates passive income?

4k/month translates to RM 1.6M in FD (assuming 3% p.a.). Need to strategize to make your cash/assets worth RM1.6M in 11 years. Seems possible, but need to invest more to generate better returns, and combine with dividends from stocks maybe.

And by the way, for discussions with FD interest, we should be bear in mind that future FD rates just will not be at 3%, it is getting lower, let alone BNM is expected to further lower 25 points by Dec 2019. So when calculating for interest from FD in future, I will tend to be more conservative.