DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A SUBSTACK-EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE WOKE SALARYMAN. When I reached FIRE a couple of years ago, a friend asked me how much my FIRE amount was. Based on the withdrawal rate and monthly expenditure of $4,000 a month, I said that it was $1.2 million dollars. His reaction was quite immediate. “$1.2 million dollars? I cannot la, I think I need at least $10 million.” I remember thinking: the audacity of this man. This was a dude who lived paycheck to paycheck, working in a middle-management position in one of the Singapore blue-chip companies. He wandered through life, balls deep in debt, yet spent most of his time surfing Jomashop looking out for good deals on used Rolex Submariners. (As if the antidote to his financial troubles was to buy more high maintenance, depreciating toys.) Even if he invested half of his salary every month for the next 20 years, he would not hit $2 million, much less $10 million....