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04-01-2016, 05:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Hi,
I'm in my late forties and a multi millionaire. I was a high flyer, made my fortune and quit the rat race three years ago. I'm happily retired and I've achieved financial independence. Now I spend my time doing charity work, travelling and making up the lost time with my family members. I've never been happier.
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I am impressed. Looks like you are the most succesful person in this forum. Many of us old folks in our 50s are still working because we are not ready financially. You are lucky to be an ex-high flyer. We are just average workers, that is why cannot retire so early. We may have to work until we reach 60. Hopefully we will still be alive by then or else other people will be spending our wealth.
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11-02-2016, 10:01 PM
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Hi Whizzard,
Wow lovely post, you should share this post on a wider and a forum with a wider and with a audience of maturity. I would akin the post to a bottle of fine burgundy in a dusty basement.
Good to see you are still posting abeit less, its gonna be a roller coaster of a 2016 so take care my friend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whizzard
My journey through retrenchment - Part 2
Besides my family, my close friends were a great source of emotional support. They made sure that I was included in social events. They were sensitive and allowed me to pick up the tab on rare occasions whilst they racked up excuses to pick up more than their fair share of the tab. They would discuss ideas and options with me but never to press them upon me. Those who were too busy found time to send me email and some alerted me to opportunities that came their way. Inevitably, there were the few who faded away. Times of crisis can be very telling. You know who your true friends are.
As I entered February after the Chinese New Year festivities, the headhunter whom I had worked with in the past called me with an opportunity at a foreign financial institution. It was for a less senior position but I told her I was game to find out more. She arranged for an interview the next day and I went in with no expectations other than to find out more about the opportunity. I dropped my interviewers an email to thank them for the meeting. Within a week, my headhunter called me to say that the bank had seen 8 other candidates and I was the only candidate shortlisted for the final interview. I had to meet with their Asia Pacific boss after which they would decide. I was excited and told her that I would be happy to do so. She asked me to send over my previous pay details so that she could do the necessary administrative work in the event I was accepted. I met up with the senior executive the same evening and dropped him an email thanking him for spending his valuable time to meet with me. The next day, she called me with the good news that they were offering me the position and that I would be starting work in April. We went through the perfunctory discussion to finalise the pay and benefits.
I quickly realized that I would have to accelerate all the things that I earlier thought I had plenty of time to pursue. However, what came to my mind upper most was to summarise this anecdotal journey that I had experienced into a note hopefully to serve as an encouragement and source of hope for all those out there who are still engaged in a somewhat similar journey. Take heart, stay positive, live life, persevere and don’t put undue pressure on yourself. The night is always darkest the hour just before dawn - but not everyone makes it through the night. Stay positive and draw support from your family, friends and from your religion. Persevere but keep positive and you will find your light at the end of the tunnel. During the journey, it is difficult to see the light sometimes but I always like to believe that there’s always a happy ending in any story and I would like to wish everyone the best of luck and that I am sure each of us will find their own happy endings.
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11-02-2016, 11:12 PM
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Don't worry.
For those retrenched ex-PMETs out there, such as ex-engineers and ex-bankers, do not be sad. Instead of worrying so much, you can just retire assuming you no longer have any dependents at age 55.
Good retirement plan in KL or Penang for a 55 years old retired couple.
Passive income
Rent out fully paid HDB flat S$2.5k pm or RM7.5k pm
KL or Penang cost of living
Rent a 2 bedroom condominium RM1.5k pm
Car expenses RM500 pm (assume buy used car in cash RM30k)
Food, groceries and utilities RM1.5k pm
Misc RM1k pm
Total spending RM4.5k pm
Savings RM3k pm
This retirement plan allows you to live in a condo and drive a car.
Your key retirement asset: HDB flat (we are very fortunate since we all get to buy cheap BTO HDB flats when we got married)
Quote:
Originally Posted by whizzard
My journey through retrenchment - Part 2
Besides my family, my close friends were a great source of emotional support. They made sure that I was included in social events. They were sensitive and allowed me to pick up the tab on rare occasions whilst they racked up excuses to pick up more than their fair share of the tab. They would discuss ideas and options with me but never to press them upon me. Those who were too busy found time to send me email and some alerted me to opportunities that came their way. Inevitably, there were the few who faded away. Times of crisis can be very telling. You know who your true friends are.
As I entered February after the Chinese New Year festivities, the headhunter whom I had worked with in the past called me with an opportunity at a foreign financial institution. It was for a less senior position but I told her I was game to find out more. She arranged for an interview the next day and I went in with no expectations other than to find out more about the opportunity. I dropped my interviewers an email to thank them for the meeting. Within a week, my headhunter called me to say that the bank had seen 8 other candidates and I was the only candidate shortlisted for the final interview. I had to meet with their Asia Pacific boss after which they would decide. I was excited and told her that I would be happy to do so. She asked me to send over my previous pay details so that she could do the necessary administrative work in the event I was accepted. I met up with the senior executive the same evening and dropped him an email thanking him for spending his valuable time to meet with me. The next day, she called me with the good news that they were offering me the position and that I would be starting work in April. We went through the perfunctory discussion to finalise the pay and benefits.
I quickly realized that I would have to accelerate all the things that I earlier thought I had plenty of time to pursue. However, what came to my mind upper most was to summarise this anecdotal journey that I had experienced into a note hopefully to serve as an encouragement and source of hope for all those out there who are still engaged in a somewhat similar journey. Take heart, stay positive, live life, persevere and don’t put undue pressure on yourself. The night is always darkest the hour just before dawn - but not everyone makes it through the night. Stay positive and draw support from your family, friends and from your religion. Persevere but keep positive and you will find your light at the end of the tunnel. During the journey, it is difficult to see the light sometimes but I always like to believe that there’s always a happy ending in any story and I would like to wish everyone the best of luck and that I am sure each of us will find their own happy endings.
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14-02-2016, 03:09 AM
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Millionaire Member
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bkt Timah
Posts: 86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dives
Hi Whizzard,
Wow lovely post, you should share this post on a wider and a forum with a wider and with a audience of maturity. I would akin the post to a bottle of fine burgundy in a dusty basement.
Good to see you are still posting abeit less, its gonna be a roller coaster of a 2016 so take care my friend.
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Hi Dives,
Hope you are doing well my friend.
Detractors are abound anywhere but trollers are found in abundance especially in some forums. As I sit behind the anonymity of this forum, so too the rest. What one does is really up to each of us so I don't really bother with trollers that much.
Yep, 2016 is looking volatile. I pretty much sat out the markets over the past couple of years. But, I was waiting for something like this to happen. Now that it's happening, I still find myself waiting. But, I have set my gameplan and will watch the market to execute. When else can you get blue chips on the cheap? Catching a falling knife is never easy, having gotten many cuts before, but I believe the timing to be near.
Instead of an aggressive series of hikes, interest rates look like its gonna stay depressed for a while and the fabled economic growth story has turned out to be one of slowdown instead. The commodity cycle has busted along with the China growth story. Even the resilient oil & gas market has crashed and no one talks about the peak oil theory anymore. Since I am a bit of a contrarian when it comes to the public markets, I think 2016 is a year that I will be deploying my money to work, carefully.
On another note, my son is now waiting to enter NS in April, like many in his cohort. I got him an internship at a local GLC in the meantime. He finds it boring, whereas I think its educational for him. I hope he now has a taste of how his father works in the corporate world to earn money for the family, boring or otherwise. Actually, its not too bad for someone who just finished his A levels, they pay him $1,100 per month for internship. During my time, I worked in Milano's Pizza earning something like $1.50 an hour. Since he is finishing at the end of this month, I will have to see how I can talk him into working in a retail environment as an hourly rated worker prior to his NS enlistment. I think he will learn something else from the experience. Hopefully, he won't turn out to be one of those strawberry generation fellows - they want to achieve success but without having to sacrifice for it. Sigh, been interviewing too many of such fellows lately. I find the foreigners much hungrier but I will still hire Singaporeans, its my national duty and I will toughen them up with my famed commando training!
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14-02-2016, 10:42 AM
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The 5 Things People Regret Most On Their Deathbed
Susie Steiner, The Guardian
Dec. 5, 2013
There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps.
A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."
Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying."
Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."
Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:
1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."
Quote:
Originally Posted by whizzard
Hi Dives,
Hope you are doing well my friend.
Detractors are abound anywhere but trollers are found in abundance especially in some forums. As I sit behind the anonymity of this forum, so too the rest. What one does is really up to each of us so I don't really bother with trollers that much.
Yep, 2016 is looking volatile. I pretty much sat out the markets over the past couple of years. But, I was waiting for something like this to happen. Now that it's happening, I still find myself waiting. But, I have set my gameplan and will watch the market to execute. When else can you get blue chips on the cheap? Catching a falling knife is never easy, having gotten many cuts before, but I believe the timing to be near.
Instead of an aggressive series of hikes, interest rates look like its gonna stay depressed for a while and the fabled economic growth story has turned out to be one of slowdown instead. The commodity cycle has busted along with the China growth story. Even the resilient oil & gas market has crashed and no one talks about the peak oil theory anymore. Since I am a bit of a contrarian when it comes to the public markets, I think 2016 is a year that I will be deploying my money to work, carefully.
On another note, my son is now waiting to enter NS in April, like many in his cohort. I got him an internship at a local GLC in the meantime. He finds it boring, whereas I think its educational for him. I hope he now has a taste of how his father works in the corporate world to earn money for the family, boring or otherwise. Actually, its not too bad for someone who just finished his A levels, they pay him $1,100 per month for internship. During my time, I worked in Milano's Pizza earning something like $1.50 an hour. Since he is finishing at the end of this month, I will have to see how I can talk him into working in a retail environment as an hourly rated worker prior to his NS enlistment. I think he will learn something else from the experience. Hopefully, he won't turn out to be one of those strawberry generation fellows - they want to achieve success but without having to sacrifice for it. Sigh, been interviewing too many of such fellows lately. I find the foreigners much hungrier but I will still hire Singaporeans, its my national duty and I will toughen them up with my famed commando training!
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29-03-2016, 01:47 PM
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hi whizzard.
appreciate if you can share more about your career history.
did you start from zero? or are you fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon?
how did you get yourself into FX trader role in the first place?
do you already know what you wanted to do when you were younger?
what are some of your biggest challenges/failures that you faced?
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29-03-2016, 09:20 PM
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Hi Whizzard,
Sorry meant to reply earlier, its been a busy 2016!
Good to hear you have your game face on, 2016 already started with quite a bang. Those quick (and brave) enough profited immensely.
With regards to your son I think any work experience is good, but to be fair sometimes the companies coddle interns a little which leaves a young mind bored. Nevertheless its still an experience.
My initial foray into the working environment was on a construction site lol, there is something about blue collared which really forces reality home, one of my indo pals that I look up too though from a wealthy background decided to try and sell credit cards on the streets for a week lol. He did say it was a humbling experience.
Retail job may not be a bad idea but with the retail environment so slow most of the time workers are sitting under AC playing with the phones, unless its a restaurant or busy cafe but that will really be the deeper end of things.
I too agree that there is a lack of drive in the locals, guess its the trappings of the easy life. I prefer to work with ft's cause they least have more commitment to get the work done. Thankfully unlike yourself I am not in the hiring position and do not have this burden of prioritizing locals.
I'm sure you're son will be fine, the fact you are thinking of this means even if his path wavers you will guide it back to true course (with patience). My other friend's dad with a similiar dilemma did the same, took 15 years but I see a much more responsible person then when I first met him
All the best for 2016
Quote:
Originally Posted by whizzard
Hi Dives,
Hope you are doing well my friend.
Detractors are abound anywhere but trollers are found in abundance especially in some forums. As I sit behind the anonymity of this forum, so too the rest. What one does is really up to each of us so I don't really bother with trollers that much.
Yep, 2016 is looking volatile. I pretty much sat out the markets over the past couple of years. But, I was waiting for something like this to happen. Now that it's happening, I still find myself waiting. But, I have set my gameplan and will watch the market to execute. When else can you get blue chips on the cheap? Catching a falling knife is never easy, having gotten many cuts before, but I believe the timing to be near.
Instead of an aggressive series of hikes, interest rates look like its gonna stay depressed for a while and the fabled economic growth story has turned out to be one of slowdown instead. The commodity cycle has busted along with the China growth story. Even the resilient oil & gas market has crashed and no one talks about the peak oil theory anymore. Since I am a bit of a contrarian when it comes to the public markets, I think 2016 is a year that I will be deploying my money to work, carefully.
On another note, my son is now waiting to enter NS in April, like many in his cohort. I got him an internship at a local GLC in the meantime. He finds it boring, whereas I think its educational for him. I hope he now has a taste of how his father works in the corporate world to earn money for the family, boring or otherwise. Actually, its not too bad for someone who just finished his A levels, they pay him $1,100 per month for internship. During my time, I worked in Milano's Pizza earning something like $1.50 an hour. Since he is finishing at the end of this month, I will have to see how I can talk him into working in a retail environment as an hourly rated worker prior to his NS enlistment. I think he will learn something else from the experience. Hopefully, he won't turn out to be one of those strawberry generation fellows - they want to achieve success but without having to sacrifice for it. Sigh, been interviewing too many of such fellows lately. I find the foreigners much hungrier but I will still hire Singaporeans, its my national duty and I will toughen them up with my famed commando training!
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22-04-2016, 05:38 PM
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Millionaire Member
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bkt Timah
Posts: 86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
hi whizzard.
appreciate if you can share more about your career history.
did you start from zero? or are you fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon?
how did you get yourself into FX trader role in the first place?
do you already know what you wanted to do when you were younger?
what are some of your biggest challenges/failures that you faced?
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On your first few questions, plse see my previous reply here:- https://forums.salary.sg/6951-post87.html
My FX Trading job was my first job after graduation. After graduating, I took up a course on trading which was run by the IBF (and supervised by senior traders from banks). I got "head-hunted" there and was encouraged by some of these traders to apply to their banks.
I had no clue what vocation I seriously wanted when I was graduating. All I knew was what I didn't want.
My first challenge was finding out that I didn't like FX Trading after all. I spent several years in the role to ensure that it was a considered opinion.
Another challenge was the first time I took up loans to speculate in stocks. I lost a few hundred thousand investing in a company that eventually got delisted. After I cut loss and took the loss, the feeling was one of sheer relief. Ironical as it was, since I just lost a few hundred thousand dollars.
Another challenge was getting retrenched a few years after I was made MD (and I was amongst the youngest internally promoted MDs vs hired from outside type). This happened during the Global Financial Crisis and expecting to find another similar job was almost out of the question.
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25-04-2016, 01:00 AM
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Millionaire Member
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bkt Timah
Posts: 86
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I have recently stumbled across this blog. Quote interesting. This chap has a lot of followers and he is generous with sharing his thoughts. If you are keen, here it is:- Can we retire at age 40 with peace of mind? | A Singaporean Stocks Investor (ASSI)
I think he is retired liao! Enjoying his passive income whilst not eroding his capital base. That's a robust and sustainable plan! Respect!
I have recently discovered more "hobbies" I would like to personally pursue, if I have the luxury of time. I have started on my cooking, as I've discussed before. I think my grilled meat can challenge some restaurant standards. Now, instead of spending $188++ on a Fiorentina or Costata steak from Bistecca, I can do it myself (with prime US beef or Aussie wagyu beef) at home at half the price. Plus, when I open a bottle of wine at home, I pay no corkage! And I don't have to order the over-priced sides, which I can cook myself at a fraction of the price. Yes, I don't get the service and pampering that the restaurant provides, but I guess me pampering my family gives me some joy as well.
Also, I am toying with setting up an aquaponics pond to breed fresh water lobster. I have an existing fish pond at home which we keep ornamental carps. I am bored with it. Maybe try something that can be productive and edible!
Also, I am thinking of starting a herb garden and a vegetable garden soon. Have been researching those quite a bit. It's possible in Singapore, many people have done it whether on a landed property or a high-rise property. The produce grown may not be able to replace the grocery runs but it gives satisfaction to be able to grow something on your own to supplement the grocery runs, I think.
Lastly, I have also been toying with the idea of buying a sail boat and sailing around the regional waters and when I am experienced and confident enough, will venture further. A good, comfortable size (50'+) and safer boat will definitely cost less than $1 million if bought 2nd hand plus the necessary repairs and refurbishments. Add in annual maintenance equivalent to 10% of the boat price, that would necessitate me to divert some passive income for the boat maintenance and upkeep.
Looks like my list is building up. The time to call it quits is nigh. Must take a look at my money situation again. Giving up the security of a recurring monthly pay check for my time is certainly a hard decision. Unexpected expenses do creep in e.g. my mother needed a major surgery recently and I sponsored the entire treatment. It was well in the 6 figures. They don't have the comprehensive medical insurance that my family has. I can't ask my brother, he is not earning that strongly but he gives his time to visit my parents more often than I do, so that evens it up. As for my sister, she can afford to share it with me but maybe I'll let her take care of my mum's next operation to remove her gall bladder.
The period that I earn a high salary started in my 30s and logic dictates that you should maximise this period of high earnings as much as possible, hence the reluctance to quit. Plus, staying in the workforce gives me the option to call in some favours and pull some strings for my children when they need internship or during job interviews. Maybe a few more years ..... but if I get retrenched now, it would make it easier!
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26-04-2016, 05:21 AM
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Hi Whizzard, Dives, Anoldanalyst (is he still around?),
After taking some days off to explore this thread, I realized that indeed gold nuggets of wisdom can be acquired without undergoing immerse heart-breaking moments. Back to topic, high-net-worth individuals are feeling unsecured especially this year.
A friend of mine is enlisting this May, 16th. A guesstimate is to wish him the best since I ord-ed recently - few months back - and currently attending private distant-learning college (while many pursued insidious mockery behind my back)!
I'm currently working 2 X Part-time jobs, very hungry for success, on top of my 'B' and 'A' grades. My future aspiration is to be an analyst but in search of ways to diversify my income so as not to attain similar displacement with credit to the poster(s) here.
Pardon me, getting "uncle-rattling" here. Sincerely wishing everyone a blissful year to pass!
Warm Regards,
Pandaren
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