Tips to Early Retirement

Posted by Seng Lee on August 7, 2007; This entry is filed under Finance.

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you found out that you have strike a lottery?

I bet your answer would be “I can finally quit my job and retire early!” But chances are that lady luck may not choose you to be the one.  Rather than leaving things to destiny, here are some tips that you can use to seek early retirement.

1) DON’T BUY A CAR

An automobile, unlike property, never appreciates in value, petrol prices are forever increasing and parking as well as traffic jams is often a waste of time and money. Transport should not be a problem in Singapore since we have a world-class public transport system.

2) RENT TO LIVE, BUY TO INVEST

Property prices nowadays are getting ridiculously high and interest rates are increasing steadily. Rent the house you intend to live in and only buy property when economy is down in recession.

3) DON’T DRINK OR SMOKE

They are bad for you. Their prices are high because of the heavy duties on alcohol and tobacco. I believe that you know they are bad for your health. They caused liver and lung cancers that are top killer cancers. It is not cheap to treat them, so why not quit now.

4) DON’T GAMBLE

It may not seem like a huge amount every time you place a wager. Have you thought of this? Instead of burning $500 a month on gambling, saving that amount in your CPF Special Account at 4% p.a. would get you a total of $350k at the end of 30 years. That’s a big amount to have!

5) CREDIT CARDS

Credit cards can mean disaster when they are used for the wrong reasons especially with interest rates of 24% p.a. If you use a credit card because of the perks and privileges, make sure you can afford to pay off the debt in full. If you are facing trouble paying off the full amount and is only paying the minimum sum, it is only good that you switch to using a debit card or Nets instead of a credit card.

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