Show Me The Money

Reproduced below is an interesting view regarding personal finances and employment by Mohamad Rosle Ahmad. His letter was published in page 7 of Life! today.

I don't need a job to survive

When the issue of raising the retirement age to 67 surfaced some time back, I said to myself: Count me out.

My goal has always been that I will no longer need a job before I'm 55.

I'm a believer in the mantra of entrepreneur-investor and the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, that "a job is really a short-term solution to a long-term problem".

Hence, everything I have done is geared towards retirement in the shortest possible time. I have avoided cars, credit cards, country clubs and condominiums. And with only $40,000 left to pay for my five-room flat, I should be debt-free before I hit 40.

Relying on a job for survival is dangerous. One only needs to remember the 1998 Asian financial crisis when companies cut jobs like there was no tomorrow.

Globalisation, cost-cutting, restructuring, downsizing and outsourcing means your job can disappear overnight.

Moreover, companies will always seek younger staff.

Hence, continuous training and re-training should be geared towards freeing the worker from the crutch mentality that his livelihood depends on being employed by a single company.

It can be as simple as being able to do plumbing and electrical repair work -- which immediately gives a person job access to all the households in Singapore.

Nevertheless, in spite of the greater likelihood of failure, running your own small business might be the only way to survive in the future for many of us.