When Money Begins to Speak

  The process of accumulating wealth in a capitalist society often resembles driving on an endless highway. When you reach 100 million won, you see 500 million won; once you hold 500 million won, you envy those with a billion. It feels as though a larger number will bring peace of mind, but in reality, endless greed and newfound anxieties about the future often take its place. Steering toward my milestone of early retirement in February 2031, I constantly asked myself to avoid falling into this numbers trap: "How much is truly enough? Is it the money itself that I desire, or the landscape of life that the money can provide?" The answer I reached was clear. To me, investing is not a tool driven by endless greed to continuously multiply cash. While accumulating wealth up to a certain point is vital, there comes a time when shifting the focus to "how to spend it wisely" becomes the true essence of financial freedom. The Peace of Mind from S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, ...

 Hello. Many working professionals in the US diligently open retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or an IRA, and faithfully accumulate index funds tracking the S&P 500 or NASDAQ 100. However, most eventually experience a vague sense of burnout. They look at their budget and wonder, "Do I really have to grind and clip coupons to max out these accounts every single year until I hit 59½?" It feels like an endless corporate hamster wheel with no exit in sight. I decided to boldly break away from this conventional financial playbook. My strategy is simple yet aggressive: invest heavily for just the next 5 years until 2030, and from 2031 onward, enter a period of "precision deferral" for a full 12 years until 2042—without contributing a single additional dollar. Rather than becoming a financial hoarder who indefinitely accumulates wealth into the grave, I want to use my money wisely and at the right time to purchase the ultimate asset: the freedom of time. Here is t...

 Hello. In my last post, I discussed the specific numbers of the compounding withdrawal system that will sustain the 12-year gap after my retirement in 2030. Once you have built a reliable pipeline, the next question to consider is: "What will I fill that free time with, which the system has gifted me?" Some fear that when the structure of a company disappears, their daily life will easily crumble. A 24-hour blank slate with no set clock-in time and no supervisor directing you can feel surprisingly daunting. However, within that immense freedom, I plan to seamlessly carry forward the 'solid routines' that already anchor my life today. 6:00 AM: The Most Familiar Start That Grounds Me Even when the morning of my first day of retirement in February 2030 dawns, my day will begin at 6:00 AM, just as it always has. Even now, I wake up at 6:00 AM every single day to meditate and go for a walk while plogging—picking up litter around my neighborhood. Upon returning, I ti...

 Hello. I am a blogger who shares records of my investments and life.  In my last post, I shared the core framework of my portfolio. Today, based on that system, I would like to share a concrete milestone of the future I am heading toward: the '12 years' between my early retirement in 2030 and receiving my personal pension. Some might look at these 12 years of no traditional salary in my mid-40s as an 'anxious gap.' For me, however, this time is a brilliant opportunity to break free from the fixed mold and reclaim absolute ownership of my life. Instead of commuting like a pendulum, I plan to fill my days reading and writing every morning, learning cooking and sports, and experiencing a completely new world. Of course, this freedom is not based on blind optimism; it is possible because of a thoroughly calculated, 'simple system.' Withdrawing 3 Million Won a Month: Can It Really Last 12 Years? At the center of my plan is the capital that will be established u...