Hello typical freshie,

Here are some hard facts of life.

1. Saving alone does not make a person wealthy. You need to make those saved money work! And the harder you worked them, the more rewards you will reap.

2. People said its not how much you earn but how much you save. This is only true to a certain extent. To save big, you really need to earn big. This can come from having a high salary or a combination of good salary and investment returns.

3. You will not be young forever. So, while you are living frugally saving those pennies, don't ever let life pass you by. You will be surprised how fast time flies by. If your friends want a better lifestyle and they worked hard for it, they may be the wise ones at the end of the day.

4. Many times in life you need to take calculated risks. This is certainly true in investing. When there is uncertainty and fear, there is opportunity. A few of us capitalized on the 2008/09 global financial crisis by picking up stocks when there was wide spread feeling of gloom and doom. Keep this in mind for the next crisis to come along.

5. Don't envy those who are successful. Instead aim to be better than them. This will spur you to think of better ways to do things and invest.

I came from a poor family and the initial years were tough. My desires to ensure my family and children have a better life than me have kept me going and working hard. Without investing, I don't think we could have achieved what we have today, just from our salaries alone. Today our passive income from investment alone is enough to cover our expenses of $120k pa.