Unhappy Singapore employees!

According to the Randstad World of Work Report which surveys employees from Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, India, Australia and New Zealand, Singaporean employees rate at the top of the "unhappiest" ranking. Moreover, 64% plan to leave their current job in the next 12 months.

Is this surprising?

I think anecdotally, in the mornings when I take the MRT, I can clearly see the general mood of the crowd as we hustle to work. The atmosphere is grim as everybody tries to avoid each other's faces and look busy, most opting to glue their eyes onto their handphones.

It is not difficult to tell that we are a unhappy lot!

But why is this so?

Many of us would throw out the usual suspects, namely, long work hours, horrible bosses, meaningless work and office politics. I am sure we are all familiar with these, and there is not need to elaborate on them.

But must this be so?

There is a popular acronym in the world of Personal Finance, which is FIRE. This stands for Financial Independence, Retiring Early, and embodies the concept of achieving sufficient passive income from assets to cover all necessary expenditure, and thereafter being able to retire, or choose to leave work if one so chooses.

Are you trying to be on FIRE?

I am unashamed to say to I am trying my best to reach this goal. The reasons are as such:

1. I was introduced to the world of personal finance by the very concept of FIRE. The idea intrigued me, but I did not believe it made sense, or was even possible. However, the math was indisputable, and I learnt the importance of having financial literacy that day.
2. I work in an industry where 80+ workweeks are common and 100+ workweeks are not unheard of. This is a line of work where not having a single day off in 3 weeks is simply an event one shrugs off. While I am sure there are those who may face similar challenges in their workplace, wouldn't we all wish to have a choice otherwise? I believe that time is worth so much more than money as time is a very limited (and unpredictable) asset. I would prefer to invest this limited asset with people who matter to me. To preserve more of this limited asset of time, achieving financial independence is my chosen strategy.
3. Having a family changes your perspective on life. No longer am I aiming for the extra dollar to pay for an extravagant lifestyle. Rather, I would seek additional income only for the sake of feeding my family, and enjoying their company. Hence, I do not seek to climb to the very top of the profession anymore (with the attendant sacrifices), and would prefer a conservative strategy to live within my means.

To achieve this goal, there are sacrifices to make as well. As a family, we will choose not to spend lavishly on restaurants frequently, go for exorbitant trips to exotic places and buy unnecessary but highly desirable items for ourselves such as a car. Instead, we choose to have a simpler lifestyle, occasional meals in mid-tier restaurants, conservative trips perhaps once or twice a year (coming up in Nov!) and saving regularly. With this, I hope to progress on my journey to be on FIRE.

Are you unhappy at work and would like to consider an alternative? Would you try to be on FIRE?