Loving all the stories here. I am FI but not planning to RE. I am probably semi retired now. I go to the office around 11 and work about 2-3 hours. I stay in the office until 4 or 5 but just surf the net, read story books and sometimes watch some movies. I don't work on Sat or Sun.  There are times when I have to work harder...maybe pull an all nighter but it is pretty rare...maybe once every 2 to 3 months.

I am 43 and a single mom. My daughter is 17 and just entered college on a scholarship.
When I was 19 I left home to enter a local university. Although I was offered several overseas scholarships I could not take the offer as my parents were not willing to subsidise my living expenses in UK although they could afford it.  I could have worked and studied at the same time but during that time at the age of 19 I was scared to go to UK alone and was really clueless. HAHAHA.

So anyway I left home and stayed in a hostel  that was crowded and more like a elevated version of a prison cell. 8 to a room. During my four years of studies I did well and the university sent me overseas for competitions. As it was a local university and I was not a bumi, I was not qualified for JPA or MARA scholarship and many of the private company scholarships at that time had a 2 year bond attached to the award. So I just hustled and got paid to do assignments for my uni mates. Paid my own way through university.

When I left university I got a high paying job immediately but being young and stupid I fell in love and got married at 25. By 26 I had my daughter and 10 months later I was divorced. At the time of my divorce my ex left me with no money and a car debt as he bought a car in my name.

Since I was 26 and had a young mouth to feed, I guess survival instincts kicked in. I then started working in 3 different companies before I left and started my own business 12 years ago.  I started my business because I wanted more time with my daughter and I wanted flexibility as I had no help from my family or my ex. I was totally on my own.

Currently my business has 5 full time employees  and two part timers and my income has doubled from last year. My income is approximately 600K per year after expenses. My passive income is about RM20K per month and will probably increase  because I am still earning and saving.

Most of my passive income comes from FD and share dividends. The rest from the rental of 2 properties (only 20%).

I am not a miserly person but I am quite frugal in my daily expenses. I eat at home quite a bit because I find home cooked food healthier and I love cooking.  Recently due to the increase in my earnings, I have loosen the purse strings a little and bought a 200K car. I have also increased my travelling because that is the only thing I like. I usually travel 3-4 times a year but now I travel business class. The car and some of the travelling is paid by my company as an expense.

As my daughter is on scholarship I don't really need to support my daughter that much. She gets a RM500 per month allowance from me and yet she hardly spends it.  She is an amazing person and we have a very close relationship.

Thanks for sharing. Are you achieved or working towards FI/RE?

Great!

Appreciate if you can share your journey so that people can learn from you. Thanks

Thank you very much for the reply.

That's basically how i calculated too. Only thing that worried me most is son's education expenses in the future (everyone saying education inflation gonna be high).
Should I put some money the dual currency investment from a bank?

Hello!

I see some of you talking about investing in S&P500 ETF. Unfortunately, I don't know what is the best way for a Malaysian to invest in it. I'm looking at TDameritrade but unfortunately they have problems with their W8-Ben form and I am unable to complete registration.

Can someone enlighten me what is the best way or any alternative methods for me to invest in the S&P500? I am seeking for the lowest cost and hopefully no holding/admin fees.

Thanks

Actually chucking in FD is very good..
Less troublesome.. confirm get interest.. pidm protected..

I saw a lot of my fren doing alot of investment..
Some made it.. but most busted it.. especially property..

Not only not making money, every mth is negative cash flow and lots of maintenance fee. Rental cant cover..

Those in Unit trust all see unit price dwindling 20% below..

FD one all happy and no stress

Of cuz there r those who made it too.
They put money into their business and grow it.. hands on with it.
Some punted / investee in stock.. and get double / triple..

But how many percent can be in that category? Not much ooo...

Why if retire at 40, money can only last till 60? Upon retirement, he should have less spending. If he can reduce spending (cos his funds are not a lot), he does not need to delay retiring...reduce by how much? Maybe 30%?

I was seriously considering retiring at Malaysia at one point in time. Had my entire post "retirement" roadmap planned out, with dreams of opening semi-free old folks, orphanages and autism training centers. Even brought back large sums of money after last year's elections. Was prepared to forcibly uproot family in my pursuit of making Malaysia a better place.

Unfortunately, I am a very politically sensitive person.

Recent stuff happening in Malaysia had me reconsidering things, hence I added the "developed countries" FI objectives. That is my hedge in case things in Malaysia ever.... get out of hand.

I will wait maybe a decade to see how the political / social scene in Malaysia plays out. That to me, is the primary barometer that decides whether I come back to Malaysia to commit whatever efforts and energies I have in my later years to doing some social good, or whether I should concentrate it in Hong Kong / China / wherever life takes me to instead.
You are welcome!

Yes, I understand that a fully paid up home and RM5 million nest egg fund actually goes a long long way in Malaysia.
However, the reason why I consider that it only meets my "basic" requirements are as follows:

1) The need to keep up with inflation - a percentage of the passive income will be "reinvested" as my basic attempt to not lose too much ground to inflation.
2) 2 aging parents and 2 aging in-laws - need to be prepared for any medical and physical contingencies. These will cost money, time and resources.
3) Several aging family elders - these people have contributed to my life meaningfully in various ways when I was growing up. They are not on financially stable ground (in their retirement years or where the status of my cousins, nephews and / or nieces are concerned). I want to be in position to lend a hand if the need ever arises *touch wood, plastic, metal, etc. such needs to not arise so soon*
4) A sibling who made some.... questionable long term financial decisions that may hobble his family's financial situation in the future. I want to be in position to lend a hand if needed.
5) A RM10K / month income in Malaysia does not go as far as many have imagined - as was heavily discussed in the "RM12K household income but RM40 savings per month" thread in regular /k, RM10K income per month doesn't really get a household as much as it used to. I hope to have some buffer and contingencies in place.

Regarding Hong Kong, it has many issues, some deep, and difficult to resolve, but I love the place. I love the convenience, the energy, the close proximity to mountains, trails, and greenery, the variety of food and goods and services, the centrality of the location (near Taiwan, Japan, SE Asia, and next to the great hinterland of China), and the combination of old and new city that it uniquely has. Hong Kong has a lot more charm to it than Singapore. Now, if only Hong Kong can solve some of its most intractable problems.....
Thank you. Yes, my family's "expat" status does put us in a better position to achieve FI, but it must come with strong controls and responsible fiscal management.

I have noticed, in several of my friends and my better half's friends and colleagues, a commensurate increase in spending and consumption as they advance up their career ladder.

I have observed folks moving into bigger, more expensive, "landmark" homes. I have observed folks migrating to more expensive brands and fashion styles. I have observed folks buying bigger, more expensive, more high maintenance cars and toys every 2 or 3 years. I have observed folks taking impulse holidays and applying no control to their spending (imagine an impromptu five day trip to Japan for two on business class tickets, staying in a five star hotel, and going everywhere in a taxi, all just for the sake of impressive a girl. RM50K gone just like that.... very irresponsible spending).

My other half has stood in line at the taxi stand with ladies decked from head to toe in extremely expensive, branded stuff complaining that "they could ONLY save HKD10,000 per year in Hong Kong", which is ridiculous.

I also allocate a decent amount of time to read up on personal financial management and investment, because I want to try to find as many avenues and opportunities for my money to continue earning more money for me. That takes several hours / week of my time.

I also have to prepare for the possibility that we "may" lose this expat position in the future. The job market and the future is never stable or set in stone.

It has been and is an interesting journey, and will continue to be an interesting journey in the long long future (assuming my health holds up )

Hi guys,
Newbie here..
I'm currently just started my working life and I'm obsessed with FI. Would like an advise or two on how to improve my money management so here it goes..

I'm 23 this year just started working 10 months ago in reputable M&C.
Basic salary is about 3.6k
I have a side business that has been running for about 6 months which gains me about 3k(during starting period)-17k(currently) per month.

Currently I only have about 10k in my savings account currently..

The rest of the money i stored in :
FD = RM58k
ASM = RM42K
EPF = RM16k (inc self top up)
Stocks = RM11K
BTC = RM57k++

My target has always been getting RM1M before I'm 30 (planning to get married that time)

At the moment, my strategy is to keep pumping my EPF self contribution to gain as much compounding interest as possible (i don't need the money currently so I'm okay if the money being locked up there)

Any advise from sifus on how to improve my goals? I've been working hard on it and trying hard on how to improve my strategy. Any advise will be appreciated

Hello friend, I truly respect your intention of volunteering yourself for societal contribution when you have achieve FI.
I do have the same thinking, when I have achieve Financial Independence then I will retire and fully focus on volunteering works, and contribute to the cause that appeals to me.

It’s FD, ASNB combine EPF (lol)
I’m not sure if I’m calculating passive income right lol

Then it's wayyyy lesser than RM1,150

Bank lelong have plenty of fire sale / force sale

Those so-called 'fire sale' are still expensive if compared to prices prior to 2012. Usually the price would be 10-20% lower than market price only, but over the years, prices have shot up tremendously, some up by ridiculously as much as 100%. So we can still wait for the market to "re-adjust" itself, then only we go into bank lelong.
Mostly due to foreclosure as many of the auction units are in the range of RM300k - RM500k range.

I worked in temasek group ,if they re going in, sure they wan full control of this company already ...