Financial Freedom is not ultimately about money.

A Word on Retirement

"There's nothing worse than not saving enough for retirement. The next worse thing is saving too much." - Professor Joseph Cherian (Professor of Finance at NUS Business School) on retirement.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of saving for retirement. FIRE movement? Count me in. Passive income? Compound interest? You name it, I want it. I'm as obsessed with financial freedom as you are. Maybe a little too obsessed.

Don't Call Me Money-Face

I wasn't always like this. Growing up at home, I was taught not to love money. I used to hate the notion of investment. I didn't want to be known amongst my friends as the "money-face" (you're not Singaporean if you never say money-face before!!) or that guy who was always very giam siap (hokkien for stingy/miserly). Personal finance was a taboo topic in my world.

Yet fast forward a few years and here I am on Seedly (and the internet in general), stressing about my future and finances. What gives?

Wake Up Your Idea

Not so long ago, a hero who shall not be named succeeded in convincing me of the inevitability of inflation (after many heroes before him had fallen defeated). That triggered a journey in search of increasing my wealth and fighting the inflation that would erode my savings. To me, only Thanos was inevitable. For everything else, there had to be a solution.

That was how I started my foray into personal finance and investment.

Discovering the Concept of Financial Independence

At the start, I tore through videos and articles teaching me anything and everything about personal finance. In particular, Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad painted an image that stuck. A central tenet of the book is this: "Don't work for money, instead, make your money work for you".

That turned my idea of money on its head. Since young I'd learnt to study hard, get good grades, land a good job with stable pay, etc. My whole mindset had always been geared towards working for money.

But Robert Kiyosaki had just taught me the concept of financial freedom (or financial independence). When you don't have to worry about money, you are now free to work for whoever you choose, and work at whatever you choose.

Sweating the Small Stuff

Since personal finance underpins savings and investments, I decided that this would be a good place to start my journey towards financial independence.

And so, armed with a newfound awareness, I went about setting my personal finances in order. I hunted for cash management solutions to park excess funds, researched on the different robo-advisors (give chance, uncle too noob to pick stocks) and opened a few different savings accounts in a bid to maximise interest rates and savings.

I started agonising over every small purchase I made. I scrimped and saved to minimise leakage from my cashflow. I spent hours poring through excel spreadsheets of my finances. I got so stressed that I'd lie in bed for hours or wake up in the middle of the night thinking about personal finance. I was constantly scrutinising the allocation of my next pay check.

Actually, in getting my personal finances in order, I was just doing what I see plenty of Seedly folk out there doing. And there's good sense in that.

The problem was not that I was doing the right things. The problem was that I was doing them obsessively and it had begun to affect me and my health.

Yes, Financial Independence is About Money

We're all familiar with the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financially Independent, Retire Early. To retire, you need enough money. To retire early, you need even more money as you're basically extending your retirement.

The FIRE movement is great. But to do it, you need money. In fact, you need a lot of money. So financial independence is indeed about money.

But don't go away thinking that that's all it is.

But No, Financial Independence is Not Ultimately About Money

The FIRE movement, as it suggests, is about financial independence. Independence. Freedom. Not financial abundance.

I'll say it again. Financial freedom is not primarily about money but about freedom - that's freedom to do what you love, spend time with whoever you wish, and maybe even get things that you've always wanted.

So wherever you are in your investment/personal finance journey, always keep the end in mind. Remind yourself that you're pursuing freedom, not money. Money is accessory to your freedom.

Don't Lose the Forest for the Trees

If you're out there hustling today, I applaud you. Don't stop. If you're looking for a better bank account, a better robo-advisor, or a better investment to put your money in, I respect that. It's great that you're doing your own due diligence.

But if you find yourself stressing over money and personal finance to the point that you're depriving yourself of the very things you enjoy, take a step back and breathe.

Financial freedom is ultimately about getting yourself to a place where you're able to enjoy life on your own terms. Life is, after all, meant to be enjoyed.

It's okay to get lost sometimes, and that's why we have each other - because we need to be reminded every now and then of what the real goal is.

Money is not the real goal. Freedom is.

=======================================

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope it has provided you fresh perspective, or strengthened a perspective which you originally held.

This opinion is an expansion of a post from an IG page I designed to document things I've learned about personal finance and investment and hopefully help anyone as clueless as I am.

If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy the content you find on that page as well.