Financial freedom and not enough time (UPDATED).

I met three friends for lunch a few days ago. 

They are all financially free, having sufficient passive income to meet their expenses in life and more. 

They do not spend time chasing after money now.

We talked about a mutual friend of ours who is richer than any of us but seems to be more interested in getting even richer faster, sacrificing what we thought were more important things in life in doing so.











We only need so much money in life. 

The rest is for showing off. 

To be financially free, ultimately, is to be free from working for money.

What is the point of having more than enough money but not enough time to live life the way we want to?





Life is too fragile and I decided to be nicer to myself after a series of unfortunate events which happened in the last couple of years.

A friend told me some time ago:

"You worked so hard for financial freedom. You have the resources to do whatever you want to do now. You should."

Yesterday, I said something similar to another friend who has achieved financial freedom but still drags himself to work because he thinks he doesn't have enough money. 

For some, it could one day be a case of having too much money and not enough time.


We should know when we have enough money so that we can have more time.




How Jack Ma sees his retirement?

“When I retired from the CEO position, I told the CEO team (in 2013) I should have more time playing golf on the beach.

“But I find, oh my God, spent 870 hours in the air last year, and this year, 1,000 hours,” said Ma.

“The thing is, I don’t want to die in my office. I want to die on the beach.”

He famously said his “biggest mistake was I made Alibaba”, because of the enormous pressure and responsibility he has had to shoulder to steer the US$420 billion company with more than 86,000 employees.

“I was just trying to do a small business and [not] grow that big, take that many responsibilities and get so much trouble.

“Every day is like being as busy as a president, and I don’t have any power. I don’t have my life,” Ma said. (Source: SCMP)





Related post:

Three point turn.

1Q 2017 passive income from non-REITs.

Japan is rising from recession. Produced by NHK Int'l.

In my last blog, we saw that I made some changes in my S-REITs portfolio in 1Q 2017. Regular readers might recall that the quarter also saw some changes in my non-REITs portfolio.

I made the following changes to my non-REITs portfolio:

1. Increased my investment in APTT and then sold it within 2 months.

See: Sold APTT at higher price.

2. Increased my investment in QAF Limited.

See: What is QAF really worth?

3. Invested in Kingsmen Creatives.

See: Kingsmen Creatives Limited.

4. Increased my investment in Religare Health Trust.

See: Increased investment in RHT.

5. Invested in Centurion.

See: Centurion Corporation Limited.

6. Invested in Guocoland.

See: Guocoland and Mr Quek.


Eco World, GuocoLand to hold 27% stake each.

Quite a few changes, I must say, and, naturally, my cash position is very much lower now. Off the top of my head, cash is probably at less than 20%.

More than 80% invested is a big deal to me. It is probably a big deal for any regular retail investor who believes in always having a war chest ready.

Unless Mr. Market should throw me prices much lower than the current levels, all else remaining equal, I really wouldn't be adding. 






I received income from the following non-REITs in 1Q 2017:

1. Singtel
2. Tai Sin
3. APTT 
4. APSF
5. Croesus

Total income received from non-REITs, with Croesus Retail Trust being the biggest contributor, in 1Q 2016 is:

$13,543.31

This gives me about $4,514 a month.

Together with income received from S-REITs, I suppose 1Q 2017 turned out pretty well.






I get enough to cover all my expenses and more. So, I am able to do voluntary contribution to my CPF account and also put some money in my war chest. Now, back to my game.

See: 
Make $1 million investing for income?

Related post:
1Q 2016 income from non-REITs.