Issue #017: The question that threw me off

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👋 Hey Money Peeps,

Let me set the scene:

A room full of 18 year olds staring at me.

It’s time for questions.

One hand shoots up.

I was not prepared for the question at all…

This week I had the pleasure of heading back to my Secondary School to speak to the 6th Form students.

I had only been back to that school twice since leaving in 2015 (feels scary to think it was that long ago).

It wasn’t meant to be a chat about my career in social media, or even a chat about personal finance.

Despite that, when the Q&A started, the first question that came out was the following:

“In your last video where you said it’s bad to retire at 40, what did you mean by that?”

FYI - he was referring to this video: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGerBpVEL/ (LMK if you don’t have TikTok and I’ll send you another link)

Someone had clearly done their research…

So… WTF did I mean when I made that video, because surely having the ability to retire at 40 is a no brainer that we all would love to achieve… right?

Let me explain.

The video displays two characters, with one sacrificing all enjoyment from his life to attain the goal of retiring by 40.

And by ‘all enjoyment’, I mean he is not willing to attend his best friends wedding because that would mean spending extra money to travel abroad.

In my opinion, aiming for financial freedom by completely sacrificing your current life is an option I would not take.

Why does future you get to enjoy life, but not present you?

I am a firm believer that striving for financial freedom requires balance. Absolutely invest and save hard for your future, but make sure to enjoy the moments in your life that you won’t get back along the way.

Go on that holiday you’ve always dreamed of, by saving responsibly for it.

Celebrate at the fancy restaurant, when you get that raise.

Of course, to some people, financial freedom as early as possible is worth absolutely everything to them, and this email isn’t exactly going to change their way of thinking.

Additionally, some people might think this email implies that I’m giving you permission to spend and enjoy life to the max now and not worry about your future.

All I’m trying to say is…

FIND BALANCE

Whenever you're ready, there are ways I can help you.

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^{DISCLAIMER: None of the above is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly education and should not be taken as investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and always do your own research.}