“Debts are like children – begot with pleasure, but brought forth with pain.”
Yes, finally, I am debt-free now after working for almost 22 years! Even though it might have taken me longer than others to be debt-free, I am happy that I have reached this financial milestone.
The very last loan that I paid off is my primary residence—the house in which I am living at this moment. As I have written before, the biggest mistake I made during my financial freedom journey was to keep upgrading my house—to keep on buying a bigger house than before.
My first house purchase was 21 years ago, when I started my housemanship training, a two-story terrace house in Simpang Ampat with a price tag of MYR170,000.
During my 22 years of working life, I have moved from one place to another and stayed in 7 different houses, of which 4 were bought along the way.
Upgrading life style
I used to believe I needed to upgrade my lifestyle whenever I earned more. As I have written in my previous post, the idea of better pay equivalent to a bigger house and a fancy car will put you in a Sisyphus position, rolling the stone up a hill indefinitely.
That happened to me years ago. After my first house, I bought a semi-detached house in Simpang Ampat, and later, a condominium in Penang Island. When I started my private practice in 2012, I purchased another gated townhouse near the hospital.
The worst financial decision I made was in 2015, after working in private for 4 years, when I decided to get a huge loan to buy a landed Semi D nearby the hospital. This purchase has set me back years in my financial freedom journey.
I am debt free now
I have promised myself to become debt-free starting today, after I have settled my final housing loan. The feeling of being debt-free is priceless. I am no longer working tirelessly for others, especially the banks. Every penny I earn belongs to me.
I am on track to achieve financial independence by 2025 if everything goes well. My only concern at this moment is my children’s education funds. What I have gathered so far from my co-workers in the hospital is that studying in the UK might now cost more than before Covid. Living in London now costs almost double what it did a few years ago.
The feeling of being a free man is a great relief to me and my family. The best thing that has happened in my life is the freedom from worrying about money again. Although money can’t buy you everything in this world, it can buy you freedom – I mean taking back control of your time and living freely.
My Advice to You!
Yes, people around you always encourage you to take out a loan to upgrade your lifestyle. The easy accessibility of credit has made us more impatient. Most of the time, we seek instant gratification. We are impatient to reward ourselves, so we resort to borrowing money from the future to find happiness in the present.
I totally agree with you getting a housing loan to buy a house, but I advise against constantly upgrading yourself. Remember, Warren Buffett still lives in the house that he bought in 1958. In 1958, Buffett and his then-wife purchased a 6,570-square-foot home in Omaha for USD 31,500. The house had five bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. And mind you, he still lives there!
When my eldest son left for college last year, my wife and I realized that our current house might be too big for us once my younger son leaves for college in 3 years’ time.
I am still investing regularly into my ETFs portfolio monthly regardless of market direction. Hopefully I will hit my numbers in 2 years time, although a full retirement is possible, I may just cut down my clinic hours in hospital and stop doing active general physician’s calls.
My Investment Status Now
Once I hit that magical number, my option is endless. I might take a long break to travel to Vietnam and Thailand, go hiking or cycling in Taiwan, or write my second book. Who knows?
I have set aside MYR100k this year for my EPF. Whenever I have extra money, I continue to buy ETFs based on my asset allocation. At this moment, I am no longer adding any more money into Singapore REITs and bank stocks. Instead, I am saving all the dividends from my SGD portfolio to prepare for my child’s university education next year.
Conclusion
A life without debt offers you numerous options. These options might not be available to you if you are tied down by your work. If things go wrong, you have a safety net to rely on that is not dependent on debt payments. Being debt-free also means that you don’t have to work for money anymore because you are no longer worried about late payment fees or, in a more drastic scenario, losing your car or home.
It is a great feeling, and I must say I am happy to have accomplished it before turning 48 this year.
I too am debt free at aged 50 after many stressful years in corporate. It is a wonderful feeling.
Dear meowai,
Yes, it is a great feeling being debt free finally. You are finally not working hard for other people but yourself!
Congratulations! To share, I’m debt free too, still driving 17yo car and living in a small condo bought as my 1st house BUT I didn’t start investing so I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog.
I’ve started IBKR investing, very small amount but I’m glad I listened to you and started.
I just need to invest regularly regardless of market direction like you said, as I hold the fund too tightly when the etf goes up. Will keep telling myself, just invest, time in market, right right?
Again, congratulations!