My Barista FIRE plan: Here's how I want to Coast FIRE in two years

Finally, some money stuff!

I originally wrote this way back when I was working for Global Co, that shiny prestigious multinational monolith company. After that, a shit load of stuff happened - including me quitting the job cold turkey without a plan and then there's that little pandemic called COVID-19.

I promise to regale with the six-month career break that I took that was both awesome and terrorising at the same time. But first, here's my plan to Barista FIRE - I call it my RIPS system (Retirement, Investments, Portfolio career and Self-sufficiency:

The corporate drone stage is an important step of my Barista FIRE plans, alas.

1. Retirement - bump up my retirement funds to $500k by end of 2021. 

This is how the retirement fund in my country works: My company contributes up to 12% of my salary into my retirement funds. About 11% is also taken out of my salary to add to that figure. I am now adding an extra 15% to that number, every month.

My original goal was for my retirement savings to reach $400k by end of 2021. However, I was so focused on the government retirement fund, that I forgot to factor in my other investments (like, duh).

Current retirement fund:

Govt retirement fund: $329,000

Mutual funds: $60,000 

Cash (high-interest savings account): 80,000*

Total investments: $469,000

* I totally know I need to invest this soon. I'm planning to invest it in ETFs and REITs.

My new goal is to reach $500,000 by end of 2021. I need to save $31,000 to make that happen. That's why I feel that Job X is important right now. I'm so close to realising this goal it itches.

Using the magic of compound interest, if I add just $5000 yearly to my retirement accounts and my investments earn a moderate 5%, I would have about $880,481 in 10 years.

Why 10 years? That's the time when I can withdraw funds from my government retirement account. I'll be 55.

During my retirement years, I will be living off the fund by withdrawing 4% yearly. That's about $35,219 annually and about $2,934 a month. 

Would that amount be enough for my retirement? Sure, it'll be great to have more, but my house is paid off, I live relatively frugally, and I hope to be mostly self-sustainable then.

So technically, if all goes well, I should feel "safe" enough to Barista FIRE in 2022, aged 46.

2. Investments - Start building other investments

Not all my savings will be funelled into my retirement accounts, however. Half of it will also go into investments that I can access anytime I want. I'm still a little hesitant in this area as I don't know much about investing yet.  

I know some folks count their houses as an investment, but I don't. Unless someone give me an extra home, I'll probably be living in it one day. It's a bit of a bummer - if I sell off my home I'll be able to retire straight away, but I'm the sort of person that likes the security of owning my own home, so.

My hope is that I'll build my portfolio to a point where I can live off the dividends or interest one day (see No.1). But it'll take a huuuge amount of savings and I'm not sure if I can wait that long for it to happen. It'll be great to Barista FIRE when I have about $500 per month in passive income from dividends and high-interest savings accounts, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen in two years. Probably not.

I had, I repeat, had rental income of about $1.7k. When COVID-19 hit, that income fell to $700 as one by one, my tenants left. It's tough finding tenants now. There's a glut of properties in my area, and no one's renting. At least, not my apartment.

I know everyone hates landlords, but I can't imagine being a landlord and having a mortgage to pay right now. 

3. Portfolio career

a) A business that will give me "extra money"

I know myself. Uncertainty doesn't sit well with me. So that's why I'm going to depend on my passive income derived from investments and rent to cover my basic living expenses, and to have my business/part-time job, whatever it may be, give me my "extra money".

The business would be a mix of these tasks:

• Writing fiction and non-fiction ebooks - hopefully this will eventually give me some form of monthly income
• Freelance writing & editing 
• Training or coaching
• Community care work or pet sitting jobs are something I'm considering too

b) Get a "barista" part-time job

I hope to have a part-time job that allows me to top up my basic living expenses so that it can cover my basic expenses - in case the rental income doesn't pan out like now, during COVID-19 time. I have no idea what it'll be as these part-time jobs are a rarity in my part of the world,. Alternatively, I could ask for part-time hours from my current employer in ... a year? Not holding out for hope on that. Most companies would rather hire full time to squeeze the life out of the worker in my country. In my part of the world, job sharing is unheard of.

4. Self-sufficiency: Live a low-cost, sustainable lifestyle, learn to grow my own food

A big part of my plan is to be self-sufficient, and that's why I'm learning how to grow my own vegetables right now. The plan is to have a garden full of vegetables - and who knows, maybe one day chickens, which I can live off from. (The eggs! Not the chickens! I don't think I can kill em.) This will cut down on my food expenses, hopefully, but I largely adore tending animals and gardening so it'll be a fun hobby at least.

I've also adopted a minimalist lifestyle. I've scaled down my life significantly that living on just $2000 a month or less is quite doable.  

To get around, I use mostly use public transport (we have a $100 monthly transit pass) or use my feet. I'm a homebody in general and have no great desire to travel abroad. (Did that in my 20s and 30s, and even lived abroad for years, so I've satisfied that thirst.) My car is paid off, and I usually only spend about $50 a month on petrol.

During the lockdown, that $50 lasted ... months! I realise that if I have a remote job, I can save so much more.

I have low-cost hobbies: I garden (free), read (about $50 a month) and write (free).

As I practise intermittent fasting, I only eat once or twice a day - that saves me a whole bunch of money.

I also live in a very cheap place. I only pay $250 for my room a month. It's a decent place with a swimming pool and a gym, not a dive - the reason why it's so cheap is really because my dad owns the place, and my brother and I share the place and maintain it for him. The money I'm paying goes to utilities and management fees. So, I have a significant amount of privilege in that sense and I'm very grateful for that.

So there you have it, my RIPS plan to Barista FIRE. It's not a perfect plan by any stretch of the imagination, and my math is ... terrible, so I'd appreciate any tips to help me along the way :)

My Barista FIRE plans are ... somewhat delayed (or altered)

Remember my very first post?

Where I said I wished someone would fire me?

Well, it came true.

Originally, this post was supposed to be about my Barista FIRE plans. I had this detailed plan on how I was going to achieve Barista FIRE in a few years, but well, things are now in the dumpster fire now, so to speak.

A few days after I wrote my previous post, my boss told me that she was not pleased with my work and that she's planning to put me on a performance improvement plan. It didn't matter that she said this 3 months after confirming me, after telling me that I was a reliable and dependable worker, though I have weaknesses she hoped to improve in a year. It is what it is.

She told me bluntly that I was a bad fit for the job. And I actually agreed with her.

It was true - the company was a bad fit for me.

For the last few months, I tried to convince myself that this company would be workable. In many ways, it could be. The culture at large was supportive, but my department's culture was not.

I tried to tell myself that it wasn't as toxic as my previous company's. That I could manage it. But really, it is impossible to please a boss that is impossible to please. At work, I was always on an edge, always afraid that I'll be making a mistake or say or do something that will put me in the wrong light. I have colleagues who can't wait to pounce on me for some carelessly uttered word or even a word uttered in jest. All will be used against me - they told my boss what I did or said. My boss pitted one team against another. It was a mess.

Also, the training that I thought I would be given was non-existent. I was told to "look into folders" to get an idea how the team worked. As a newbie, I asked a lot of questions - but was shocked when, a month in, I was told I asked too many "stupid questions". Left on my own, without the guidance of seniors, I tried to learn up on my own as fast as I could, but the learning curve was just too steep. Without help, it would be nigh impossible to get to speed fast enough to please them.

I found the working environment cold. Nobody spoke to each other at work. We worked in robotic silence, our conversations taking place in chatrooms. My boss didn't like me walking around too much as it gave the impression that "I had little work to do". I felt stifled, on guard, suppressed. This was a complete 180 from the work environment I was happiest at - in Ye Olde company where we would casually drop by at a colleague's desk to chat about cat videos and trade nibbles.

I knew it was not a healthy place for me. But I thought that all I needed to do was put my head down and work hard. But despite working really, really hard, it was just not enough. My boss wanted a certain kind of person in my role. And I didn't want to conform.

Unlike the US, it's not terribly easy to fire a confirmed employee. The company has to demonstrate that they've tried their best to "rehabilitate" said employee. There needs to be industry inquiries, three warning letters and yes, a performance improvement plan (PIP).

My boss tells me that she is thinking of putting me on a PIP. The reasons why she's putting me on one is flimsy at best, and the areas I'm supposed to improve on are subjective and not measurable. (Improve "independence and resourcefulness". How do you measure those?)

She's trying to push me out of the door. But I'm not going to stay and fight. I'm taking this is as a blessing that I'm now given a sign from above to finally live the life I've always wanted.

So last week, I gave up on this job. I'm no longer invested in improving or learning as much as I can. Nor am I emotionally tied to it any longer. I'm just going to do the minimum to get by until I slap them with my resignation letter when the time comes.

I'm mostly mad that this has derailed my plans to Barista FIRE in 2-3 years. But perhaps this is not the end of the world. Ever since I came across The Fioneers' post about Slow FI, I am starting to think of it as a viable option. Perhaps I do not need to race towards financial independence. Perhaps I can even take a break.

I'm just grateful that I have a healthy emergency fund and a number of things I'd like to do during my down time.

I'm not going to rush into getting another job.
I'm going to finish my writing projects and kickstart my long-neglected authorpreneur business.
I'm going to use this time to reflect on what kind of work would make me happy.
I'm thinking of setting up a business and even going into training.
I'm thinking of networking intensively, informational interviewing my way to a new job as outlined in the book, Designing Your Life.
I'm going to write about these interviews on my blog and even start a podcast.

And I can do all this because I have a healthy emergency fund.

Meanwhile, I am actually making arrangements to set up my life, the life that I have always wanted to live.

I'll keep you updated.

I've been away - some updates!

So it's been a while since I last updated.

Since the last time I blogged, I had passed the probation period at my job. I'm now a full-time permanent staff at GC.

But while I was ecstatic at finally jumping through that seemingly impossible hurdle (my boss didn't make it easy for me), I've been really overwhelmed at work, trying to cope emotionally to what's going on.

As I said in my last post, all is not well in Camelot.

On the whole, Global Company is really good. It's one of the best companies I've been in, in terms of benefits and management. It's in no way, the shit storm that Crazy Co was. I am able to leave work at work because nobody communicates after working hours, which is absolutely orgasmic for me. The HR department is responsive and professional, the CEO actually sent me a birthday card and management often exhorts its people to have fun in the games rooms or join the many social activities it holds. Also, they feed us with fruits and biscuits and have $50k coffee machines and we can even go home two hours early once a month.

Unfortunately, my department has a micro-culture that is a furnace; it's rife with politics that leaves me baffled, unsafe and on guard most of the time.

Well, nothing is perfect as they say.

For the last few months, all my energy has gone to coping emotionally and also to learn as much as I can to manage the job. There's still gaps in my knowledge to fill, and I'm working overtime to do it. So bye-bye tweeting and blogging. (Which is why I've not been around, sorries). 

It took me a while to figure out why I was so unhappy in a company that ticks all the right boxes. In fact, for the longest time I was trying to convince myself that nothing was wrong and I was just too traumatised from Crazy Co to think clearly.

High, very high expectations

Have you heard about the DI SC profiling system? It's often used to type work personalities/styles at work. So in the DISC system, I am an "I", an influencer, a fun-loving, life-of-the-party people person. What Influencers fear the most is rejection.

And since I stepped foot in this company I faced rejection after rejection. I was rejected by my immediate supervisor who thinks I'm incompetent. (And I know this because my boss actually told me that!) And I often got told by my boss that there are certain aspects about my personality and behaviour that she doesn't like.

For weeks I tried to behave the way she wanted. But it was never enough.

And a few days ago, I've just had it. I'm not sure why it took me so bloody long, but I'm plain fed up that I'm giving such weight to a stranger's opinion. That my well-being is tied to her opinion of me. I can't control what she thinks of me, so it's futile to even try.

The things that she is criticising me for? Well, it's not really things I can be fired for, so I can just file it under: "Interesting, but who cares" and chuck it out on my mind.

The Stoics have a very useful philosophy - worry only about what you can control. And about people's opinions?

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said:

If you do not worry about what others think, say or do, but only about whether your actions are just and godly, you will gain time and tranquillity. — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Still, this has made me more determined that ever to go Barista FIRE in a couple of years. I want the option of being able to quit if i need to.

Fortunately, I have a good support network at work so it helps me manage the stress. But yes, it does make you wonder why our workplaces are the way they are. And it's making my "why" (for Barista FIRE) even stronger than before.

I'm already probing possibilities in terms of what to do after I quit my job. It's looking promising. More on that next week!

So, the good thing about this whole situation is that I'm learning a lot, gaining valuable skills, and of course, the money.

Meanwhile, I just need to learn how to stop giving a fuck what people think about me. It isn't a useful use of my emotional energy, you know?