A fellow financial blogger in pursuit of financial independence and early retirement, CreateWealth8888, passed away earlier this month. From his blogger profile, it appears that he has done significantly better than most have in the pursuit of financial independence and early retirement:

• Maintained a 5 person household and put 3 children through university on a single income since 1995
• Started investing, and only in SGX listed stocks since 2000 (age 43)
• Achieved financial independence with enough to retire on until 2041 by 2013 (age 56)
• Finally retired at the end of 2016 at the age of 60

How many amongst us can say that we have done better than he has? Especially given the constraints and the resources available? The twist in the tale is obviously how mortality caught up with him at the early age of 67, when he had barely more than 6 years of retirement to enjoy. And of course, almost 2 years of this was in some sort of Covid-19 restriction or other....