FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) Movement

[DevilPlate]

I think the point is that he was trying to estimate AK's last drawn income. If AK waited till he had $200k passive income to retire, it might be 'reasonable' to assume that his salary is in the $150k range?

Without the salary income, where did he get the capital to buy all those dividend shares in the first place? Parents?

If he is really had a low income job and got his capital by stock trading profits, I don't see him sharing any details of his trades in his blog that can lead to such a large capital by 40+?

Hearsay AK made handsome profit from his first property and got some seed money from parents

Maybe he tio Toto also we duno what…..

 

[DevilPlate]

50% of my portfolio is in assets denomonated in usd.

Doesn’t matter for stocks, gold, btc etc
Only matters for unhedge bonds priced in USD

 

[junlove]

Forward from DI Telegram
The Financial Cost of FIRE-ing at 45

Retiring early sounds like a dream—but what does it really cost? Today I "kaypoh" did a simplistic case study on the financial cost to AK for retiring at 45.

AK ever shared that he was earning average pay, so let’s say he was earning $150K annually and have built up $200K in passive income. At 45 in 2016, he FIREd.

Case 1: Retire Early
He walked away from the $150K salary and live off his $200K passive income. He said his expenses were roughly $40K pa and he gave his parents another $40K, leaving $120K for reinvestment.

Case 2: Keep Working
If he had continued earning $150K a year plus the $200K passive income—totaling $350K annually, he would have saved $270K of it each year.

The Cost of FIRE:
Each year in retirement, he is potentially giving up $150K in active income. Over 10 years, that’s $1.5 million in foregone earnings—not including raises, bonuses, or compounding investments from that extra income.

If he had not FIREd, his net worth would have grown by at least $2.7M (from the salary and passive income saved) over the 10 years that he has retired.

As a comparison, my net worth grew by about $5M in the same 10 year period (2016 till today), because I didnt FIRE. Like AK, I achieved FI in 2016, but I realised that at FI,
I was able to save 100% and more of my salary income.

FIRE offers time freedom, but it comes at a steep financial opportunity cost.

The Tradeoff: Time vs. Money
This isn’t to say early retirement is a bad decision. For AK, the value of time, freedom, and well-being probably far outweighs the monetary cost. But understanding the financial opportunity cost—especially when you have strong earning power and passive income—is essential for making a well-informed decision.

So before you hand in that resignation letter at 45, ask yourself:
• Can I afford the long-term impact of walking away from $1.5M+ in income?

• What would I do with the extra time—and is that worth the financial tradeoff?

• How secure and sustainable is my passive income in the long run?

Early retirement is a powerful goal. Just make sure you’ve run the numbers and are ready for what you’re trading in return.

yes, it's a trade off, that's why the mentality is very important.

Most of Asians got OCD one, just want to keep and grow and hesitant to retire earlier. Just ask oneself, imagine at the end of the road, you find yourself having millions but months to live, if can go back in time, you want to spend or remain the same path? So many that i've seen over the years regret this regret that, just remember that TIME is non negotiable. The value of time in later years is incrementally more precious, not LINEAR

 

[limster]

Hearsay AK made handsome profit from his first property and got some seed money from parents

Maybe he tio Toto also we duno what…..

His motto is "If AK can do it so can you"

If his wealth comes from parents/Toto... nothing more to say

 

[DevilPlate]

yes, it's a trade off, that's why the mentality is very important.

Most of Asians got OCD one, just want to keep and grow and hesitant to retire earlier. Just ask oneself, imagine at the end of the road, you find yourself having millions but months to live, if can go back in time, you want to spend or remain the same path? So many that i've seen over the years regret this regret that, just remember that TIME is non negotiable. The value of time in later years is incrementality more precious, not LINEAR

FAT FIRE i would totally agree.

I just cannot fathom why work and save/invest so hard just to continue to live a giam ganna lifestyle of 40k pa?

 

[DevilPlate]

His motto is "If AK can do it so can you"

If his wealth comes from parents/Toto... nothing more to say

Why would anyone take him seriously for someone with a rubbish bag over his head

 

[highsulphur]

yes, it's a trade off, that's why the mentality is very important.

Most of Asians got OCD one, just want to keep and grow and hesitant to retire earlier. Just ask oneself, imagine at the end of the road, you find yourself having millions but months to live, if can go back in time, you want to spend or remain the same path? So many that i've seen over the years regret this regret that, just remember that TIME is non negotiable. The value of time in later years is incrementality more precious, not LINEAR

This is very true and that's why I intend to have a hard stop by 55 years old

 

[abcde78]

This is very true and that's why I intend to have a hard stop by 55 years old

Hard stop for me at 50.
Soft stop at 45

 

[highsulphur]

Hard stop for me at 50.
Soft stop at 45

if you are the kind who needs to live a structured life, make sure you have a plan before you pull the stop.

 

[BBCWatcher]

50% of my portfolio is in assets denomonated in usd.

No, a global stock index fund might merely be quoted in USD. Global stock index funds are quoted in lots of other currencies, too — Swiss francs, euro, British pounds, Mexican pesos, and more. But the arbitrary quotation currency has nothing to do with the asset. Gold prices, for example, are routinely quoted in USD. So are oil, collectible artwork, wheat, Bitcoin, and iPhones. None of them are U.S. dollars.

Several years ago I purchased a Straits Times Index exchange-traded fund of the top stocks listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. That fund was (and still is) quoted in U.S. dollars. Was I holding U.S. dollars while holding shares of that fund?

Doesn’t matter for stocks, gold, btc etc
Only matters for unhedge bonds priced in USD

Exactly.

 

[abcde78]

if you are the kind who needs to live a structured life, make sure you have a plan before you pull the stop.

After living over 40 years of structured life, i can do with some unstructured lifestyle i guess.

 

[hwmook]

Hearsay AK made handsome profit from his first property and got some seed money from parents

Maybe he tio Toto also we duno what…..

He actually made money from a few properties before, he doesn't have wife and kids so he doesn't need his own place. His generation still no ABSD. His income is 60-100k PA throughout his working life so he really doesn't need to worry about missing out on a lot of income. It make his decision to FIRE pretty easy.

 

[Dividends Warrior]

I just cannot fathom why work and save/invest so hard just to continue to live a giam ganna lifestyle of 40k pa?

Agree. Must have a spending plan too.
Spending my dividends in Thailand. Song song gao Bangkok!

 

[cosycatus]

He actually made money from a few properties before, he doesn't have wife and kids so he doesn't need his own place. His generation still no ABSD. His income is 60-100k PA throughout his working life so he really doesn't need to worry about missing out on a lot of income. It make his decision to FIRE pretty easy.

I tot the story was he was saving for a condo when GFC hit. So he dump few hundred K in and the rest is history

 

[homer123]

 

[yslvlys]

FAT FIRE i would totally agree.

I just cannot fathom why work and save/invest so hard just to continue to live a giam ganna lifestyle of 40k pa?

U referring to AK? I think it's different to FIRE with 200kpa passive income and choosing to budget 40k annual spend on himself vs a person who FIRE with 40kpa passive income. The former can always choose to live it up anytime he wishes.

 

[yslvlys]

USD came off 6% YTD. Another reason to have some holding in home country as diversification to buffer against such scenario.

There will be more USD millionaires in Singapore in 2025 due to the weakening USD ie. Need less SGD to become USD millionaire.

 

[yslvlys]

yes, it's a trade off, that's why the mentality is very important.

Most of Asians got OCD one, just want to keep and grow and hesitant to retire earlier. Just ask oneself, imagine at the end of the road, you find yourself having millions but months to live, if can go back in time, you want to spend or remain the same path? So many that i've seen over the years regret this regret that, just remember that TIME is non negotiable. The value of time in later years is incrementally more precious, not LINEAR

The post seems to be taking a neutral stance but it seems more like mocking AK for missing out on the additional income and low key flexing he has S$5M more than AK.
AK retired with passive income more than twice his then current needs, so there is probably enough buffer for inflation, dividends drops or other risks. So he is definitely on Fat FIRE.
Not everyone can have a high paying cruising jobs like revhappy, homer and limster. If so, probably no one would really want to resign.
The situation is like considering to FIRE or not with S$15M or wait till S$50M to retire, which is ridiculous as both are large sums of money adequate to live a comfortable life (in AK's case it's S$2-3M liquid with fully paid up house and car with 200k p.a.+ passive income).

 

[limster]

From AK's blog
(1) his father is a 'businessman' (8/1/14)
(2) he worries that his father is wasting money paying for 2 'club' subscriptions but he never go to the club (17/6/20). Parents with 2 club memberships are a different SES from the average person.
(3) his parents don't need financial support but he just gives them money (maybe for biz class tickets for holidays?) 22/10/19

Of course, one can say that just because you have parents with money doesn't mean you will be financially successful. Total respect for ASSI going all in to become property investor (whether with some seed money doesn't matter), and taking on the leverage when there was no ABSD, and making his millions in property.

Then he also got the good instinct to convert all of it to REITs/dividend stocks and not listen to all the dividend haters. While dividend haters keep on repeating that your dividends can go to zero, every year he collect $200k dividends

 

[Potent]

Agree. Must have a spending plan too.
Spending my dividends in Thailand. Song song gao Bangkok!

No flood Bro?
Stay safe.