How it all began

Planning for my future
It didn't start when we got married. It didn't start when I hit 30 years-old.  It didn't start when my idle cash balance reached US$400,000.  Nor was it when my Little One was born. It also wasn't when we purchased our first house last year.

It was only after we purchased our second house last month when I suddenly realised I should start to plan for my retirement! Why not? I have always heard of people saying that one is ready to retire when you own 2 houses - one to live in, the other one to generate rental income to support your expenses.  So I thought maybe I can retire once one house is fully paid down, while Mister will continue working to support the family. I can spend more time with my little Mochi. I can read more. I can go hiking and swimming more. I can pick up some new hobbies or even be a better cook!

My dream house! The Moomintroll house =) 

When I happily putting into an excel spreadsheet my liquid asset, mortgage details, rental income, expenses, etc., dreaming of my early retirement life, I started to get a sense of uneasiness...  I was so wrong to think I'm ready to retire in a few years!

What went wrong?
With a family of 3 plus nanny, it is not easy to live on rental income from one moderate house.  I am a planner. I love planning. I can't believe I never really planned for my own retirement!  I always think that my pay will keep rising. So why not consider that when I reach my top range salary? I also feel that I have been saving aggressively and making decent money. Why would I have to worry about retirement?

My heart is on FIRE
Excuses aside, I started to google "retire on rental income", "early retirement", "retirement planning mortgage rental". That is when I heard about passive income and found the whole community of "Financially Independent, Retiring Early" FIRE - all the things I should have learnt in the first few years in my career.

I start to question myself. For the love of math and finance, am I doing the right things required to achieve FIRE? Is FIRE something I want? If so, when? Why I never heard of the 1% rules before buying our two houses? Am I on track on the 50% saving rule? What are the passive income I could generate? How far am I from the 4% rule? I need to reconsider my options. Do I want to be a FIRE, FI but no RE, FIBRE? Or just work until I'm 65 years old?

All of a sudden, I get a new hobby of retirement planning, number crunching all night, and reading books on investments.   I subscribed to over fifty finance and property blogs. The more I read, the more I want to share. I want to tell people about my situation and hear what is their thought. I want to tell my family and friends to start and plan for their retirement! I want to tell my brother and sister to save up and purchase a house or two. I want to ask my friends how do they invest their nest egg.  I have so much to say that I'm texting on whatsapp all day with those who care to listen. I figured I might as well start a blog and say it all out =)



So this is how it all started. How about you? When did you get that moment of realisation to plan for your retirement?  Who inspired you to consider the option of FIRE?

I always liked the idea of having a courtyard instead of a backyard. Photo from my Seoul trip.