One day in May 2009, I find myself giving the exact opposite advice I would give myself, or for almost anyone else. I have a friend who still owes me money I lent him years ago. He has postponed repaying the debt every time I checked with him. This time however, he took the initiative to call me and tell me that he can’t pay me anything this time. His dad passed away and he has lost his job. I told him that I could help him with his resume if he sent it to me. He did, and that was when I advised him:
If you could not find a job in the hospitality industry, I suggest that you take a job in the civil service. Make use of the job upgrading scheme to study part-time and get a diploma. If you have no money to study, you can sign on and be bonded for a few years. After you have upgraded your qualifications, you can quit the dead-end civil service job and get a higher paying job. Choose carefully what you study though, because it will take up a few years of your time. I can advise you on that if you like.
If you are going to work for people, then higher qualifications is important. Even a few years ago, I have serious doubts about you making a living from affiliate programmes. It is realistic to make some side-income from these. However, very few people have managed to earn enough on these programmes to quit their day jobs. It is perhaps easier for you, if you spend your spare time getting a useful qualification rather than engaging in these programmes.
My friend has only ‘O’ level qualifications, putting him at a severe advantage compared to almost every other job applicant. He has also no idea what he wants in life, and how he could contribute to his employer if they hire him. He also did not have any specialized knowledge or skills that could add value for his online businesses. I am aware that he has lost money in the past joining expensive affiliate programmes (often against my advice). He has no savings or assets.
I felt that he would have to take a big step backwards and change his lifestyle as well as life strategy in order to move forward. I also felt that having a stable job will help him much in his personal life.
However, he replied that he will not upgrade his qualifications as he does not like studying. He also wishes to continue being a waiter and is not keen to try out other jobs in other industries. His dream is still to achieve passive income through online businesses.
With these decisions, he has sealed himself into a path where he has no viable future.
This made me think once again if I should focus my effort on finding a more meaningful, well-paying job instead of targeting financial freedom directly. My answer to that thought is usually to draw a vertical line on a piece of paper. At the bottom of the line, I write “US$1000 per month”. On the left side, I write “slavery”. On the right side, I write “freedom”. If I can earn that amount of money via passive income, I will be free to pursue my true career. Since some people can make millions of dollars per month, it should not be that difficult for me to make such a small fraction of their income. Except that it is really difficult. I have worked a lot on my websites and they are usually barely enough to pay for even my transportation expenses.
Unlike some of my colleagues, I am aware that unless I earn at least a six digit income every month, a high paying job does not buy me financial freedom. Instead, I must accumulate enough capital for years and then invest my savings into something that can buy me that freedom. There is also the law of diminishing returns: Heavy taxes are a common issue. The other is that family, colleagues and friends will expect you to spend a lot more on social events and gifts, putting brakes on your financial plans. [Unfortunately, most people seem to think that the point of having money is to spend it to entertain them, not to use it to buy your freedom.]
That reminds me of one of the lessons in a very insightful Singlish book entitled “towkay ho seh boh” (i.e. “How are you, boss?” in Hokkien). I will paraphrase it for non-Singlish speakers: If you insist on walking in a straight line, you will eventually crash into obstacles or fall off a cliff. If you follow the curves of the road and go around the obstacles, you will find many gems of opportunities and riches.
This is totally different from the management and self-improvement books who use straight lines and arrows to show us how to set goals. Maybe that is why my poor friend is suffering.
