Hmmmm ... am I rich?

As many of my friends will know, I took an early retirement about 14+ years ago … quite early considered by many people. Many said I must have millions stashed away to be able to retire in my mid 40s.

Until today whenever I tell people that I retired early … they will still say … “wah, you must be rich and made a fortune!”

Hmmmm … am I rich?

OK, let me put it this way, let me ask … what is poor?

Poor means you don’t have enough … right? So when you have enough meaning you are the opposite of poor … that means you are rich. Follow me?

So based on that simple analogy … I can say I am rich, simply because I have enough.

Then, the very popular question pops up … “how much is enough?”

OK, let me give a bit of my thoughts about what is “enough” to me … now, this is strictly my own opinion ya.

To me, “enough” is not measured by how much you have … it is measured by how you spend what you already have.

What do I mean?

kopitian budgeting

Let’s say you have a 100 bucks … if you spend only 30, that I would say is stingy. If you spend 50, that is prudent. If you spend 70, I say you will have enough. If you spend all 100, that is living on the edge. And if you have a 100 and you spend 150, that is just plain stupid.

This is my simple explanation of “enough” … no rocket science just a layman “kopitiam” (coffee shop) budgeting of what I think is “enough”.

Then the next question is … how do I live with “enough” ?

Again, to me it is no rocket science … let me tell you my simple idea of living with “enough”.

It is about “feel better’ rather than “look better”. I put my money aside … I feel better knowing that I will have enough come rainy days. Now if I want to look better, I will put money into a new car.

I don’t have a “bucket list” … I cannot afford a bucket list. I only have a “budget list” … a list of flight destinations on offer by the budgeted airlines that I can afford. That is OK for me, I may not get to see a lot but there are enough of the world that I can see and experience.

Whatever I have, it is only enough to buy comfort … I cannot afford to live in luxury. The things that I have are all affordable … not collectables. I can only allow myself to spend at popular places … I don’t have the spending power to go to famous places.

To me, enough means my lifestyle can only be “fitted” with the “need to haves” … not “filled” with the “nice to haves”.

Last but not least … there are plenty in my life that are good enough to share but there is nothing for me to show. It is very much about contentment … nothing about achievements.

Now, this is just my very own idea of how I am living with “enough” … I am not asking anyone to live and spend like me ya. Others may have different ideas to live, spend, enjoy and show their successes and achievements that they worked so hard for.

Finally, I want to say … yes, I am rich. With a roof on top of my head, with clothes on my back, with enough on the table and with much comfort and necessities … I am richer than 75% of the people in this world.