Enjoy Life Now or Invest in the Future?

As I am writing this post right now, a good friend of mine is somewhere backpacking through Europe and is uploading her adventures on Instagram.

I would be lying if I said I am not jealous of her! Travelling around the world is a dream of mine and she is living it!

Quite frankly, as I do not have a crystal ball and have no clue what tomorrow would bring, I’m thinking that maybe I should have started travelling right after school like my friend did. But here is why I chose not to:

Getting the Engine Started

My priority is to get my financial engine started running as soon as possible so that I could enjoy life later. Seeing as my goal is to retire by 30 years old, travelling around the world right now would significantly set my financial plan back a few years.

This is why I want to focus my energy in building a passive income portfolio that can produce a steady income so that I can pursue other things in life (including travelling).

Had I decided to embark on this adventure, I would eventually run out of money or perhaps even be in debt. The life experience that I gain would only be short lived. It would only be a matter of time until I would have to come back down to reality and find a job.

Instead of blowing all of my money away to travel right now, I have made the decision to get a head start towards financial freedom. Plus, when I obtain freedom, I will have all the time to travel. Thirty is only but 3 years away and I am sure that I can wait until then.  🙂

Compounding is ‘King’

Almost everyone knows that compounding is crucial when it comes to building wealth. Based on pure mathematics, the more capital one can leverage, the bigger the returns tend to be. Additionally, the earlier one starts investing, the faster the compounding picks up.

The sooner I start building my wealth, the sooner my financial engine will pick up momentum. The momentum in the financial game operates exponentially. This explains why the rich gets richer and poor gets poorer.

Living life in the moment

On the other side, one of my early mentors in life Eckhart Tolle was a firm believer of living in the present.

If I had taken his advice, I would be out there travelling as well. Given that life is unpredictable, I may not get the chance to do so when I actually plan to in retirement.

There is something that I have learned in my financial journey so far and that is that there is more to life than money. At the end of everything, I would rather be happy than be wealthy and there is no guarantee that I will be when I am financially free.

What do you think? Enjoy life now or invest in the future? I’d love to hear from you.

14 Responses to “Enjoy Life Now or Invest in the Future?”
  1. Dividends Down Under August 29, 2016
    • amber tree September 4, 2016
      • Jeff September 4, 2016
    • Jeff September 4, 2016
  2. Doug August 29, 2016
    • Jeff September 4, 2016
  3. DivHut September 5, 2016
    • Jeff September 12, 2016
  4. Adam @crispycabbage.com September 13, 2016
    • Jeff September 14, 2016
  5. Piffany Rose Gaabucayan October 3, 2016
    • Jeff October 3, 2016
  6. Leo Ly December 2, 2016
    • Jeff December 2, 2016

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