Getting up to speed and a nice surprise!

I was away for a short holiday with my parents and I am now trying to get up to speed.

Lots of emails, comments and messages to reply to. I think most will know how it is like.

In case you are interested in what I did during my vacation, visit my travel blog: here. I will have more updates in the next day or two.

OK, as I was getting up to speed, I received a nice surprise.

See the following email dated 12 August 2015 from a reader. That's just yesterday:

Hey AK,

 

Will like to congratulate you on this first, know how much it means to you. Top 500 sites in Singapore, taken at 510pm.

 

You have done a great job in promoting financial literacy and educating Singaporeans. It is not easy to maintain a site and you have done it for 6 long years.  

 

Congrats AK!

And the attachment:

 

Yeah! And I wasn't even blogging in the last few days.

Thanks, everybody, for being so forgiving and for making me smile.

OK, I just checked. It seems like it was a touch and go. ASSI's rank is now 511 in Singapore.

Haha... ;p

Related post:
Why some might never be rich and why we soldier on?

Why some might never be rich and why we soldier on? (UPDATED)

I had a blog post published in December last year titled "Helping more people discover a path to financial freedom". 

Note that I did not say "the" path.

I want to highlight again that there are many paths we could take and it is never my way or the highway.





When I was chatting with a reader last night on FB, he shared with me the problem he has with convincing his elder brother to do something about his financial health. 

Apparently, his brother is doing very well in sales and enjoys a high income.

Now, when we are doing very well in anything, there is a chance we might feel invincible. 

That is a nice but dangerous feeling to have.





It is worth reminding the reader's elder brother that he might not always make so much money but when a person is doing so well, good advice could sound rather sour. 

They easily fall on deaf ears.

The elder brother doesn't necessarily have to invest his money, he just needs to be prudent and save more of his earned income. 

If he continues to enjoy good health and be very successful in his job, he might have so much money that he does not need to invest to grow his wealth. 

However, he must first listen and appreciate a couple of hard truths.





Here are 2 reasons why he might never be rich:

1. Spends money freely. 

Bought himself a brand new $300K car, for example. 

Having said this, he is not selfish. 

He has been very generous towards his family, showering them with expensive gifts on their birthdays (which makes the problem worse). 

I don't know what kind of housing he has.





2. Doesn't believe in having insurance. 

He says he has about $100K in savings at any one time and that it should be enough. 

There are two issues here really: not having insurance and an inadequate emergency fund. 

If he were to die, how long would that $100K last his parents. 

If he were to not die but were unable to work, how long would that $100K last him and his family. 

I shudder at the thought.





It is very clear to me that the reader's elder brother does not have a sound financial plan and he really doesn't understand why he could be setting himself up for trouble. 

Unfortunately, for many people, they would have to experience failure before they understand what they did wrong.

In "Helping more people discover a path to financial freedom", I said that I was sure readers were spreading the word about my blog. 

Quite a few readers have told me that to convince people to take ownership of their financial well being and to take action to improve on their financial health is harder than they think. 

Tell me about it.





Although I might not be blogging as much as before, I am spending more and more time online. 

It is probably unhealthy. 

So, I am going away on a short holiday with my parents and I wouldn't have any access to the internet for a few days. 

Also, I haven't gone on a holiday with my parents for about two years. 

They are quite excited about the trip.





Before I go, I will leave you with this thought for the long weekend:

Financial freedom is out there. 

Financial freedom is not a race. 

There are no losers at the end of the journey. 

It is not a competitive sport. 

At the end of the journey, everyone is a winner.





So, although it might not be an easy thing to do, look for friends to go on the journey together and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Soldier on! 

Now, this is an appropriate metaphor as we celebrate SG50!






Related posts:
1. Journey to financial freedom is not a race.

2. If we are not rich, don't act rich.
3. Survivability and opportunity. (Added in 2018.)