~~Towards Barista FIRE~~

This post is just for personal reference, to record my personal income and expenses in my journey towards Barista FIRE. For the month of September, it was another simple month for me.  Simple life, simple expenses.  However, occasional spending spiked because I have exchanged some funds to MYR when exchange rate was favourable, above SGD 1 : MYR 3.20 in preparation for the annual insurance premiums I need to pay for at the end of the year.  Besides this large one-off expense, the others were just expenses for annual health check-ups and some other miscellaneous spending in preparation for the upcoming trip with my mum and aunt. Besides expenses, I also receive 'bountiful' dividend harvest this month from REITs and other stocks in my portfolio, and that concludes my Q3 dividend harvest.  Looking forward to the final quarter's earnings and dividends, and hoping I can achieve my annual dividend goal for 2026.   All in all, after 9 months of phase 1 Barista ...

One of the most common sayings about money is that it cannot buy happiness.  I used to agree with that 100% when I was younger, but as I aged, I think there is a lot of truth in that.  Money alone cannot guarantee meaningful relationships, good health or a fulfilling life.  But after years of building my dividend portfolio, I have also come to realise something else.  Money may not buy happiness, but it buys choices, and sometimes, those choices quietly lead to a happier life. When I first started working as a private tutor, my income depended entirely on the number of lessons I taught.  No lessons meant no income.  It was as simple as that.  Back then, I packed my schedule as much as possible.  Every available slot became another tuition lesson.  As someone who is self-employed, every lesson represented income for that month.  Naturally, I became very protective of my schedule. Then came the inevitable cancellations.  Sometimes a...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is inevitably transforming the world.  From healthcare and finance to transport and national defense, AI is changing how businesses operate and how value is created.  Yet for many of us who are not software engineers, data scientists, or tech experts, this new era can feel overwhelming. Sometimes I worry: Being non tech-savvy, will I eventually be left behind?  Will AI make me dispensable in the industry I am in?  These are real concerns, especially as AI tools become more integrated into how work gets done. But here is the perspective I have come to embrace.  I do not have to be an AI developer/ expert to benefit from the AI boom.  I just need to be a smart investor. Why Investing Is My Strategy I have accepted the fact that I am unable to build AI solutions.  However, I can invest in companies that do.  By allocating capital to businesses that adopt AI to improve productivity,  use AI to create competitive...

I have been tracking my income and expenses all the way since 2008.  However, all these while I have only been recording, but did not evaluate and analyse my expenses all these years.  Since I have the intention to begin my first phase of Barista FIRE next year, I think it is time for me to analyse my expenses, so I can estimate the minimum amount of part-time active income I will need to achieve next year in order for my cashflow to be healthy. Looking back at my expenses from 2022 to 2025, I am quite surprised at how my spending pattern evolved over these few years (and probably I have underestimated my expenses all these years).  I have always believed that being mindful about expenses is the foundation of financial independence and not just earning more, but also learning to live well within my means.  However, reality may be a little different from expectations.  Probably it is time for me to be more mindful of my spending. Four Years Of Data: The Story Be...

Recently, I have been struck by two things I watched that felt uncomfortably close to home.  One was a video by The Joyful Investors , where Chief Corporate Officer from HRNetGroup shared that hiring demand today is strong at two ends of the spectrum: ground staff earning below SGD 5K, and C-suite executives above SGD 15K.  However the mid-level employees, those in the SGD 5K to 15K range, are increasingly being squeezed out.  The other was a video by  CNA Insider , which highlighted that workers in their late 30s and early 40s are now more prone to retrenchment compared to other age groups. Hearing both points together made me pause.  I am in my early 40s now, which means I fall right into that shrinking middle.  Is the middle class disappearing and is the middle age groups facing some form of employability crisis?  Even though I am self-employed, does that also mean that inevitably with time, my job (as a tutor) will also be replaced by AI?  Is...

Two and a half months ago, I shared a post titled " Handling Challenges With Positivity: Improving Health When There Is Less Work ", where I opened up about the struggles I was facing and the mindset I hoped to adopt to navigate them.  Today, as I look back on that chapter, I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude and renewed clarity.  Life has not become perfect, but I have changed, improved and adapted, and that in itself has made a world of difference for myself. Better in Body, Mind, and Spirit Since November 2024, I have lost 9% of my body weight.  That milestone did not come overnight, instead it came through consistent effort, healthier habits, and a shift in priorities.  More importantly, my latest health checkup confirmed that every one of my health metrics has either improved or stayed at a good level since February 2025.  This validation from within (my own body) means more to me than any external affirmation.  It is a reminder that progress ...

This is not really a post on personal finances or sharing of any little financial knowledge I had.  Instead, this is just a personal record of my current life journey, on how I choose to view the small hiccups in life positively and make changes to my life. The past couple of years have not been great for my health.  In the pursuit of FIRE, especially after Covid, I began to work choose to work 7 days a week, though just for a couple of hours of work daily.  However, with no full day of rest, I find that I have gotten more unhealthy (in terms of dining and lifestyle), and it started to show.  To make matters worse, things got tougher on the work front too.  Due to the large number of students graduating by November 2024, it has been hard for me to get new students to fill up the slots since the end of last year.  This meant my working hours per week have dropped drastically since November and December 2024 (and evidently, I did not get many new students in ...

Barista FIRE is one of the 4 financial independence strategies where an individual chose to semi-retire early but continue working part-time for additional income.  Recently, Barista FIRE is also gaining popularity, becoming an appealing option for many FIRE practitioners.  If one is planning to adopt this lifestyle in a few years, choosing the right part-time job is also crucial.  It should align with the individual's interests, offer flexible hours, and allow one to enjoy a balance lifestyle between work and leisure. Here are some suggestions for possible part-time job options that could fit perfectly into one's Barista FIRE journey (and I am seriously considering some of them): Part-Time Jobs That I May Consider 1)      Private Tutoring As I am currently already a full-time private tutor, continuing this role could be a natural choice, but with fewer students and continuing on a part-time basis.  Tutoring is also a popular option as a part-time j...

Dying has been a taboo subject for many, especially for Asians.  Personally for me, I am not too worried of passing on, as I do not have any children who are dependent on me.  I am just very very worried to be in a bed-ridden state for whatever reason.  Besides that, in the event that I passed, my only worry will be my mum, but I believe my brother will take very good care of her, so no worries there as well.  So, why am I writing about this taboo subject?   Due to family medical history, I do not think I will live a very long life (70 is probably a bonus number), however, nothing is absolute and predictable.  Therefore as much as I would like to get as many things done as early as possible to ensure minimal regrets, I will also need to protect myself from longevity risks.  Personally, being able to have a rough prediction of how much time I have left is a very fortunate thing, because that will enable me to prioritize and do as many things as I c...

This piece is inspired by AK71 once again, who has recently released this video saying that he is considering liquidating his entire portfolio.  He is having such thoughts because his portfolio is sufficiently big enough to be placed into safer instruments like T-Bills or Fixed Deposits to eliminate/ minimize any market volatility to the portfolio, and this amount is more than sufficient to last him his lifetime.   So will I do the same thing?  I am not in the situation to comment on that, because my portfolio is way too far away from this ideal situation, and moreover everyone's situation is different.  If I ever own a portfolio the size of his to be able to Fat FIRE, I think I may probably consider doing something similar, but there may be some factors I personally need to evaluate and assess.  Since my portfolio is significantly smaller, I did think of complete liquidation of all my assets before, but with the help of geo-arbitrage.  I am a Malaysi...

On the 3rd April 2024, Hualien, Taiwan experienced the worst earthquake in 25 years, with a magnitude of 7.2 in Richter Scale.  It is precedented by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan earlier this year on 1st January 2024.  Two days later on 5th April 2024, New York City, US, experienced a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake as well.  Besides natural disasters, there are also a couple of wars happening around the globe.  In Europe, Russia-Ukraine war had started on 24th February 2022, and it is still ongoing to date.  In the Middle East, Israel-Hamas war, which had started on 7th October 2023, is also ongoing currently.  In fact, the wars are intensifying everyday with no end in sight, and making things worse, with threats of escalation between Israel and Iran. With so many natural disasters and wars happening around the globe now, the first thing I am very grateful for, is that I am safely living in Malaysia and Singapore where such s...