Written by: Nick Nguyen | 🕒 3 minute read

Maybe I went a bit overboard and scared you in Part 1. I mean we literally just listed out all the obstacles that will prevent you from having that fairytale retirement. And even if you do manage to navigate them all by 65, you’ll still be left with only 10 years left to enjoy your life. That’s after father time has taken its toll on your body, leaving you with stiff joints, high blood pressure, god forbid a terminal disease. Your prime may have disappeared if you didn’t have the time to take care of yourself physically and mentally. Is that when you want to do everything you’ve ever dreamed of? You know, those things that you didn’t have the time or effort to do while you were working your full-time job? 

That may sound great for some people, but I don’t want that. And I REALLY don’t want that for my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and future children. 

So, what’s the answer? 

That’s a loaded question that I’ve slowly begun to answer in my other posts for people at every stage of life linked at the end, but let me try to put it simply here: 

DON’T FOLLOW LIL’ BO PEEP FOR 65 YEARS. 

That path, although straight, is literally riddled with wolves and booby traps waiting to cull sheep from the flock. Only a select few make it to 65 and are able to then live their dream lives whether that be travel the world, live peacefully on a lake, see their kids and grandkids grow up - you know do whatever they want in the last 10 or so years of their life. 

Ouch, that was a depressing thought.  

But think about it! Your student loans are still accruing interest, you may choose to buy a house and a car down the line...that’s more debt that you have to pay back. And sadly, a typical person’s income doesn’t magically adjust at the same rate that you take on debt. Realize, this is just for the basic necessities! We haven’t added the luxuries in life yet! So if you happen to make 1 wrong move and your DTI (debt-to-income ratio) creeps past this arbitrarily established number of 43% that most lenders will approve you to sign away your life - you’re screwed! (Even 43% is way too high! You should be aiming to keep it at 25% of your gross income, which I’ll discuss later). 

BE THE BLACK SHEEP!!! 

Stray away from this path and instead light yourself on F.I.R.E. Think about being Financially Independent first so you can Retire Early! I mean, I’m not reinventing the wheel here. Instead I’m appealing to the super judgmental cultures out there in the world (you know who you are my fellow asians). For those of you who are a little lost, these are the ones where mom and dad think that a chef is the equivalent of a servant and that the only true jobs that exist are (1) Doctors, (2) Engineers, and (3) Lawyers in that order. 

Instead of just falling into one of those “stable high-paying jobs” (which after February 2020, we’ve learned that these jobs aren’t so stable nor high-paying if a world pandemic hits), follow your dreams! I’m not saying to not be a doctor, engineer, or lawyer at all, but instead take a gap year and do something else to put yourself into a financially stable position first!

But....how do we do that?