{"id":25542,"date":"2016-08-09T11:24:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T03:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=25542"},"modified":"2018-09-25T10:09:30","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T02:09:30","slug":"how-much-money-do-you-really-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/how-much-money-do-you-really-need","title":{"rendered":"How Much Money Do You Really Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I don’t know if it’s a\u00a0kiasu<\/em>\u00a0thing, an Asian thing, or just a normal person thing. But instinctively, I always feel that I don’t have enough money. I always feel like I need more.<\/p>\n Ever felt the same?<\/p>\n Maybe it’s because we live in a culture where “more” is glamourised. We always want more. A nicer house, a bigger car, and a faster phone.\u00a0A more spectacular\u00a0vacation than last year; somewhere with a longer flight time\u00a0and a higher exchange rate — so that more people\u00a0will \u2018like\u2019 my pictures on Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n The difficulty\u00a0is — all the above need money. But\u00a0if the wants never stop\u00a0growing, you need to continue to make more and more money forever.<\/p>\n Instead, I’d like to ask the reverse question today. How much is enough? At what point do the wants stop?<\/p>\n How much money do you really need?<\/p>\n One of my heroes is a guy nicknamed\u00a0Mr. Money Mustache<\/a><\/em>. He retired debt-free at 30 years old. But he’s not alone in the world of early retirement. If you’re an article addict like me, you’ve probably read about others who’ve saved enough money to\u00a0fire their boss<\/a>.<\/p>\n How do they do it? Here’s the formula:<\/p>\n The pattern I’ve noticed?\u00a0It’s usually highly-specialised people (like lawyers and tech developers) who earn US dollars, and then choose to travel the rest of their foreseeable lives in cheap destinations. (And for those who choose not to travel, they still maintain frugal lifestyles at home.)<\/p>\n So the reality is that not many people will\u00a0be able to do it. But if you’re wondering how much money you really need to retire young,\u00a0here’s the secret:<\/p>\n For example, if I need RM 5,000 per month\u00a0today<\/strong>\u00a0to live comfortably:<\/p>\n Why? Here are the\u00a0assumptions:<\/p>\n What’s 4% of RM 1,500,000? Right, it’s RM 60,000. So, theoretically I can continue spending\u00a0money like how I’m spending it today. And since I’m not touching the principal amount at all, I can continue like this\u00a0forever<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course in life, shit happens. Emergencies happen. Accident babies happen. Critics of this kind of calculation will say that you can’t predict the future, so it’s not legit. Who knows if\u00a0Donald Trump will take over the world and\u00a0enslave anyone who didn’t vote for him?<\/p>\n But assuming things stay pretty stable, the 4% rule has plenty of safety margin\u00a0built into it — to withstand non-Donald Trump types of catastrophes. It’s by far my favourite method for calculating how much money I would need\u00a0—\u00a0if I wanted to drop everything and just play guitar by the beach all day.<\/p>\n Of course, early retirement is going to be difficult\u00a0for most people. And I hope I didn’t scare anyone off with talks of millions of ringgit.<\/p>\n So here’s a less dramatic way to look at how much money one needs. Instead of looking at that huge end-goal number, how about we look at monthly cash flow instead?<\/p>\n Simply, if we looked at money in and money out every month — how much money would you need\u00a0to put you on\u00a0the path to financial freedom?<\/p>\n This is what I would call financially stable:<\/p>\n If you were a company and had the above financials\u00a0—\u00a0I’d think you were fundamentally sound.\u00a0If I were an investor, I’d probably invest money in you.<\/p>\n The only “problem” with this model though: It’s sustainable, but you’ll\u00a0likely have to work until you’re old.<\/p>\n Unless you\u00a0invest\u00a0a lot more money for retirement than just 10%.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, I think most people are actually in survival mode.<\/p>\n Which means\u00a0making enough money to just cover expenses. Meaning no money left at the end of every month. And\u00a0being one emergency away from having to borrow money, or bankruptcy if they are already in debt.<\/p>\n The math behind survival is simple. If you just\u00a0want to survive, the amount of money you need is equal to your spending. But since you don’t have savings, you’ll have to work\u00a0until you die.<\/p>\n But who wants to work forever to just survive!? Everyone wants to be rich and retire early.<\/p>\n Well that’s true, which is why I ask, “Then why do most people spend money as if they want to work forever?”<\/p>\n I’m not trying to disrespect\u00a0the lower-income group here. This one isn’t for them. I understand that it’s\u00a0extremely<\/em>\u00a0difficult to\u00a0escape poverty<\/a>. This one is for the middle class who\u00a0have<\/strong>\u00a0choices. Of course, earning more money would help you be more comfortable. But a low salary isn’t the only reason you’re finding\u00a0it hard to breathe.<\/p>\n You’re barely surviving because you spend too much.<\/p>\n Regardless of which of the above situations you’re in or\u00a0aiming for, knowing your monthly expenses is the first step to improvement.<\/p>\n Because if you never have good control over your spending\u00a0— you will never have\u00a0enough<\/em>\u00a0money.<\/p>\n<\/span>1. How to retire early<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>If you have savings of 25 times your yearly expenses, you can retire today (the 4% Rule)<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/span>2. How to be financially stable<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>3. How to survive<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>The first step: knowing your monthly expenses<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n