Jeremy Jacobson and his wife Winnie Tseng were in Malaysia and Singapore early March 2016. What’s so special about this couple?
You can find out more in their blog Go Curry Cracker, but let us just share a bit about them here.
The couple (and now their baby) has been traveling around the world after “retiring” in their early 30s. They didn’t strike the lottery, nor did they inherit a fortune from their parents, but this couple have massed a multi-million dollar investment portfolio in a decade of frugal living on their combined salary of USD 135,000. How did they do it?
In their blog they explained that they were investing 70% of their salary on index funds in the stock market. Yes, 70%!
“To get to a high savings rate, we cut spending in the areas that are typically the largest money drains: transportation (a car), housing, food, and entertainment,” they write. “By using a bicycle and the bus for transportation, living in a comfortably sized apartment in a walkable neighborhood, and finding joy in home-cooked meals and nature instead of consumerism, we eliminated, or significantly reduced, our cost of living.”
Now they travel the world living on dividends of USD4000 a month.
What are the key lessons here?
- You don’t have to work 40 or more years to live a life of your choice, nor do you need a windfall of money.
- Traveling around the world as a lifestyle is not only for back-packers living on shoe string budget.
- There are only 2 things in their formula: #1 savings rate and #2 investment return.
Your may have a different dream. Maybe you want to be able to setup a bakery to share your love for pastry. Maybe you wish to setup your own music production house and work with talented musicians. No matter what it is – let saving diligently and investing wisely be your mantra.
