This year, I hit my FIRE (Financial Independence Retirement Early) number.
During the twenty-two years that I have been in Canada as an immigrant, I knew exactly what to do.
- Work hard
- Save as much as I could
- Invest in real estate and the stock market
I taught myself how to invest in the stock market, how to use leverage, and how to be frugal and only spent money on things that I needed.
I was austere when it came to allowing myself little pleasures, like buying a coffee, taking a day off, or a prolonged vacation.
I like that I am still an investor who has an eye in the market all the time, but I don’t like that I haven’t learned to be more generous with myself.
I have the means to go to a nice restaurant and order anything on the menu without looking at the prices, but I still look at the prices. I still buy my clothes at Walmart and do many other things in order to save a few dollars here and there.
I am still earning money from my blogging, my photography side hustle, and my dance classes. Instead of being afraid of running out of money, now I am becoming afraid of dying with too much money, money that I could spend enjoying life. That’s my challenge for this year. I have to learn how to spend more money and be more generous with myself.
Financial experts insist that when you approach retirement age, people are supposed to rebalance their assets by allocating a bigger percentage to bonds and a smaller percentage to stocks.
I don’t follow conventional wisdom
I have decided not to follow conventional wisdom. The reason is that conventional wisdom doesn’t make sense to me.
My money is not invested to be withdrawn next year but over the next 40 years. Why would I deprive myself of the superior gain of stocks over bonds? That’s just crazy talk.
To deal with the volatility of a negative stock market year (or two) I have a one-year emergency fund and I have a line of credit for another year. If the stock market declines 20% one year and 20% the following year, I have enough in cash to continue paying my bills, and why not, maybe buy more stocks at a discounted price.
Not too many people have the same risk tolerance that I have. Many of my retired friends have a bigger portion of their portfolio in bonds. I will never understand this and of course, my retired friends don’t understand me either. So far, in spite of the financial crisis of 2008, and the market tumble (due to COVID) of 2020, I am so happy to be full in stocks. I have used those negative years as an opportunity to buy even more stocks.
What’s your risk tolerance?
Are you afraid not to have enough money or to have too much money?
Share with me in a private email.