SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman took to social media on Tuesday (Nov 19) to share that she has finally achieved Coast FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) at the age of 29.
In a post on Reddit’s ‘SingaporeFI’ forum, the woman explained that her journey to financial independence was fraught with difficulties, particularly due to her demanding job in the medical field, where she worked long hours (40 to 60 hours a week).
Additionally, she faced a personal health crisis when she was diagnosed with cancer last year, which added emotional and financial stress to her life. Fortunately, she recovered from her illness.
Despite the adversity, the woman stayed focused on her goal of achieving financial independence.
She kept a tight grip on her expenses, consistently saved a portion of her salary after returning to work, and made strategic investments across various assets, including bonds and equities.
Today, her hard work has paid off. Her investments now generate a sustainable passive income of S$5,000 a month—enough to cover her living expenses and give her the freedom to live life on her own terms.
In addition, she revealed that her liquid portfolio stands at approximately S$1.8 million, with S$750,000 of that total coming from a critical illness insurance payout following her cancer diagnosis.
“Thankfully, I have no dependents, so the need for life insurance is nil as of now,” she wrote.
“My experience with cancer does give me a good estimate of healthcare costs out of pocket from specialist visits and meds post Medisave/hospitalisation insurance so far, and my profession also has an advantage in navigating those, so I’m not that concerned about it overall.”
She also shared that, moving forward, she plans to transition to part-time work, working only 20 hours a week in the mornings, so she can dedicate more time to things she’s always wanted to do, like travelling.
“I think altogether, though I’m terrified, it feels great to be finally free. I guess it’s just a milestone I wanted to share,” she wrote.
Diving into freedom
Beyond travelling, the woman said she is excited to dedicate her time to hobbies and personal growth, which she had to put on hold due to her demanding schedule.
“I want to learn languages – starting with basic Duolingo stuff, but I’m looking at using SkillsFuture to sign up for proper in-person classes,” she said.
“Spanish is at the top of my list for practical reasons, but German and Japanese are also languages I’m interested in because of media interests,” she added.
She also plans to read books, play games, take up pilates or yoga, and get back into writing.
Additionally, she hopes to adopt a healthier lifestyle, find love (though it’s not a priority), stay in remission for cancer, adopt pets, explore creative pursuits like painting, and learn programming.
“Keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t get too bored of semi-early retirement and end up going back to work,” she hoped.
“I have to learn from successful people like you and pass down these lessons to my children.”
In the discussion thread, many Singaporean Redditors praised the woman for her determination and resilience. Her journey inspired others to chase their own FIRE goals with renewed vigour.
One Redditor expressed, “Congrats! I think it’s a really good move. You can take some serious time off to recover but still keep yourself employable in the long term by working part-time.
Plenty of adventures ahead of you at 29!”
Another said, “You made very good financial decisions and showed great discipline. It’s great that you can now take life slow and relax.
I must learn from successful people like you and pass these lessons to my children. I’m 40 now, but still only working a government job and looking after my two little treasures.
Able to look after them but, of course, have to keep working till old.”
However, a few also shared a different perspective and felt that the woman was “humblebragging” her achievements. One Redditor commented:
“I’m going to play devil’s advocate and state the obvious, but your post feels more like a flex than a sharing.
It seems very disingenuous to say you hope you don’t get too bored of semi-early retirement and end up returning to work.
Perhaps you would like to share how you accumulated wealth over the years from working 40-60 hours a week and achieving FI before 30. Nonetheless, health is wealth, and I wish you the best of health and happiness.”
What is coast FIRE?
According to Forbes, the Coast FIRE strategy is all about aggressively saving and investing during the early years of your career.
The goal is to accumulate enough savings and investments so that, over time, they grow without requiring much additional effort from you. Once you hit your target savings, you can begin to “coast” toward retirement.
This means you no longer need to work full-time or save heavily; you can scale back your work hours or even take part-time jobs, as your savings and investments will continue to grow and eventually fund your retirement.
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)