About Me – Update

The About Me page has followed me for 3 years.

Well, I know the period is shorter than one US presidential term, the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and yes, even the existence of my home (It’s 3 years and 5 months by the way, yes I am counting down the MOP!)

But hey, there’s been SIGNIFICANT changes in my life in these few years:

1. Quit a good-paying job
2. Quit a better but lousy-paying job
3. No longer into jobs

All right, all right. I know life’s not just about work, work and more work.

So how about this revelation: I am no longer so hung up about semi-retirement or a 15 Hour Work Week. 

Read on to find out more in this update.

Hi, I am Thomas (a.k.a. Mr 15HWW).

I have received this during countless Icebreakers & X’Mas parties

Very happily married (very strong emphasis here), I am the co-writer behind this blog. The other permanent writer is my wife Jasmine who has written one blog post so far (good luck searching for it here). But well, her contribution goes far and deep since she thinks she is actually the mastermind behind the rest of the other posts…

Instead of declaring that I am a value investor or income investor and offending hordes of people who go by those aliases, let’s just say that I am a Personal Finance Geek (PFG). Yeah, The PFG*. 

Nah Warren… I dare not…

Here’s a list of my …ahem… achievements?:

• At 16, I started devouring the“Ask Dr Money” column in this local tabloid, The New Paper.
• At 20, I was the cheapskate prowling around the Investing & Personal Finance sections of KinoKuniya
• At 24, I had accumulated $50,000 from part-time work, bursaries and scholarships
• By 27, I got married, held “the wedding banquet“, got the keys to my BTO, spent an astronomical sum on the renovation, set aside $100,000 and most importantly, started this blog
• At 29, I shamelessly and unabashedly declared my wife and I quarter-retired

Thanks Rose, but you forgot that milestones consist of moments too!

So there you go. With a decade of experience gobbling up information on personal finance and investments and 3 years working in a social security organisation (there’s just 1 in Singapore), I might be somewhat disillusioned in thinking that I have something extra to offer on the subject of personal finance.

But what’s indisputable are the benefits I have received after writing on this blog. Over the past 3 years, I actually gained the courage and conviction to:

1. Quit a good-paying job
2. Quit a better but lousy-paying job
3. Be no longer interested in jobs

I really believe the above might not have materialised without this blog.

The lion within me…RRarrr!

I have successfully (I presume) transitioned from an employee to a full-time tutor and a freelance writer.

I enjoy my work these days and I am actually looking to ramp up my 25 hour work week in the near future to help more students and create more beautiful and useful pieces of writing (like this).

Yes, I am no longer so hung up about reducing my work hours to a 15 Hour Work Week. 

All right… I exaggerate…

Don’t get me wrong. Habits would retain, saving rates would be maintained and investing would still continue. However, it’s more about having the option to wind down than actually doing it.

Afterall, if Douglas Rushkoff is right, a shorter work week could soon be imposed on us. Yeah, even in my new roles, I could become obsolete within a decade. Although I really really really really hope not.

Thanks for reading all the way till the end. I hope you have both enjoyed and benefited from this introduction. As you have most probably observed, I became more and more serious as the introduction went on but really, you shouldn’t be taking my writing too seriously (pls read Disclaimer).

*To all aspiring financial writers, a quick check shows that ThePFG.com is available! But before you plunge in, let me just reassure you that there isn’t much money to be made on the blogosphere. Unless you really enjoy writing and sharing about these topics intrinsically, the effort/reward ratio is rarely worth it. You really need to give alot more at the start before you start receiving anything, if you receive at all.