There have been several articles lately on achieving financial freedom and living the life that you want, with the vast majority talking about retiring from their job. When I first started my financial journey, I also have the same thoughts to quit my job and enjoy life with my favourite Asahi (Photo credit CookieCoffee). However during the course of my financial journey, my perception of retirement changed and I now want to carry on working as long as my health permits. There are many reasons why I would choose to carry on working. I am no boot licker and I will not tell you that I adore my company or job but I can honestly tell you that I do not hate it or at least I do not have to drag my feet to work. Some meetings and projects can be pressurizing and sometimes nerves get over me. Yet I like these sort of challenges - something that pushes me out of my comfort zone. Sure, activities that I have not tried before e.g. sky diving, learning a musical instrument, drawing etc can also challenge my boundaries, but challenges in a job where your neck and sometimes reputation on the line is totally different. I worked in the IT industry and keeping myself relevant and updated is a necessity. The majority find it a chore and I belong to the majority. Yet 'forced' learning also have the benefits of keeping my mind adaptive and more willing to embrace change. The benefits does not only apply to work but in my own personal life too. The other small perk of this is I can help my family and friends with the basic IT problems at home. Learning and sharing goes hand in hand and it is only natural that I will want to share with my colleagues what I have learned. Another activity that I enjoy is to share my experience. I think many of us can relate when we were a greenhorn and how appreciative we are to have a good mentor. When my kid joined the work force, I also hope to be able to share with him my experience in the workplace. Our job scope may be different but some things in office never change. :wink: It may be rare for some of us but sometimes we make some of our best friends in our job. My partner is living proof of that. Our workplace is also another venue to expand our social life. Knowing more people is akin to travelling to different places. This is especially true if you work in a cosmopolitan organisation. Every individual is unique and it offers me a different perspective on how to handle situations and life. Everyone hates office politics but again there is much to learn here. All these have a ripple down effect on my own personal life and how we deal with our own family and friends. It may sound weird but work instill certain habits and routines into me which I find it beneficial. I wake up at 6.30 am have breakfast, proper lunch at 1 pm, proper dinner at 7pm and goes to bed by 1am. There was a period of time when I was in between jobs. I was waking up at noon, skipped my breakfast, lunch at home (usually some bread/biscuits and Milo as I am too lazy to go out to buy food), game and watch youtube till past dinner time, drag myself out for supper for my first proper meal of the day and sleep only at 4+ am. Finally I feel blessed and thankful that I am still able to work and contribute to society in my small little way. We have a tendency to compare with people who are better off than us. Nothing wrong with that so that we can strive to improve but we should also not forget the less fortunate folks who wants a job but could not. Imagine an ideal world where everyone reaches financial freedom at 45 and quit their job. Who then is going to run the business/shops, drive the train/taxi and cook my favorite Char Kway Tiao? I know this is not going to happen but we are already facing a labour crunch in certain industries.

Reaching financial freedom is not about retiring from my job but to be able to choose to carry on working without having to worry about being forced into retirement.