Find something that appreciates even when we do not work

A friend write in her Facebook page that for the month of March, she would like to have 36 hours everyday. She said she had too many things to do and 24 hours is just not enough to complete them. Time is a resource which everyone has and 24 hours a day applies to everyone, whether they are the richest or the poorest. A friend shared this quote from Warren Buffett which is extremely true. (Image beside). “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”  Well, even after we retire from our full time work at say 60 years old, we should still live on for the next 15 to 20 years. Assuming we are healthy enough, can our funds built up during the 35-40 years of working life allow us to still enjoy a latte occasionally? I think the question we may want to ask would be as follows, especially for majority of us who are working professionals.
Can we retire comfortably when we earn RM25,000 a month for many years before our retirement? Would it be worse if we earned lesser than RM10,000 many years before we retire? The answer lies not in the salary we received at the beginning of the month but on the amount remaining every end of the month. Experts say, save 30 percent monthly and you should retire with almost the same lifestyle by the time you retire. Here’s an article about it.   Save one third to have two-third when we retire  In fact property investment is an awesome investment even if Warren Buffett is not investing specifically in properties. Here’s 12 reasons why KCLau says so.  12 Great Reasons to Invest in Real Estate (KCLau is one of Malaysia’s most prominent personal finance guru. Do read lots of great stuffs at this site)  It’s hard to just save, save and save right. I agree. That’s why it is time we start to find something which will ‘make money even when we sleep, else we will work till we die.’ I think Warren meant investments. Haha.
Many months back, I was hiring for my department and I needed someone who’s a sales manager to join me. Instead of doing sales, this person would have to forego commissions / incentives and focus on solutions / rollout / training instead. Yes, a pay cut is needed unless this person was not a performer in his previous role.  There’s no need to wonder too much, I really managed to hire someone who was willing to do that. I think the reason is simple, he must have earned enough during his awesome years as sales and most likely have enough investments that is ‘appreciating even when he is not looking.’  He is not the only one. Another colleague who’s at least 13 years away from retirement age had resigned. Reason given was that she wanted to spend more time with her kids. Another one with enough investments and thus not too worried about not earning that monthly paycheck. If these two salaried professionals could do it, I think many of us could do it too. Perform extremely well, climb that corporate ladder or be the top sales, invest as much as we can and watch it grow. 15 years later, we would be comfortable enough not to let our boss manage our life all the time. Okay, I better sleep now. I still need to work tomorrow. Haha. Happy working towards something that ‘appreciates even when we are not looking.’ Nope, a car is not one of them.
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written on 2 Mar 2017
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