As far as investing goes, I won’t be too offended if people label me as Mr. Play-It-Safe. I may be adventurous in other areas in life but when it comes to money, I am very careful with my decisions.
There’s a good reason for this: Money does not come easily to me. People around me, family members especially, may not agree with this, but it’s the truth. The fact that I made it look easy doesn’t mean that it was. I have my own struggles. And with hardship comes deeper appreciation of things.
In my attempt to retire as early as possible, I tried to save as much as possible seed money — the money that is supposed to breed more money to finance my retirement. But now, many years after I started, and having accumulated a decent amount, I still find myself saving more. I wonder why.
If early retirement is what I am after, I should really be putting my money for that use. Maybe buy more properties for rental income, but stocks for dividends, buy gold for its recent stellar performance, etc. But I am not doing so much of those. I wonder why.
Am I being too conservative for my own good and goal? Or maybe… just maybe… I don’t really want to retire so soon? Maybe somewhere deep inside I still have an inkling (but very much alive) of hope for this thing called a CAREER?
