Hello Grasshoppa,

There’s always a debate on whether or not you should save more or earn more? When I was young & started to work, my mindset was to always earn as much as possible until I am able to buy anything I want including the best cars, biggest house & all branded stuff. That was my goal and I believe that many people are sharing the exact same goal. Those mindset drove my spending to be high & led me to have huge debts over the years. Today, I am practicing to save close to 50% of my income towards retirement. The question here is, would this suffice?

Combinations of my past mindset vs my current mindset have made me think further. Which is more important? Save more or earn more? Generally speaking, many people are upgrading their lifestyle based on their income & we can rarely find people that maintain their lifestyle even when there is huge increase in their income. Same goes to me, I realized that I am living a comfortable life despite being frugal but I do spend a lot on my food, training & my lifestyle. The good thing is, I usually save & invest before I spend & I only spend within my budget. Sometimes I don’t. LOL. Many cases that we know are cases where people upgrade their lifestyle without saving or proper planning which  leads them to credit card or other debts.

Money management education is usually based on your own experiences & sometimes some people are able to learn it faster than another. For my case, I don’t get to learn it from my parents or school. I personally think that money management needs to be taught in school. It is an important lesson that each student needs to learn in order for them to manage their money & building good money management habits.

My personal goal is to retire by 40 years old & this year I’m turning 33. To achieve this goal, saving 50% of my income may not be enough if I want to retire by 40. Even if I am able to earn extra 10% income per annum, it may not actually help me with my retirement at 40. The combination of both saving & earning extra will make it possible to retire at age 40 but will it help me to sustain for the next 30 years of my life? Many people always ask me, why retire at 40? You will be bored at home doing nothing. I think that retiring early will allow me to spend more time with my loved ones & I get to explore various parts of the world that I have never been to.

There’s a quote that has resonated with me from Warren Buffett, which is “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die” . It is also on my laptop wallpaper to remind me that I need to generate income while I am sleeping. Think about it, saving will give a sufficient amount of cash to use it for future usage. Generating extra income will also help you to upgrade your life in general. But ultimately, I think that generating income that allows you to make money while you are sleeping or travelling is the ultimate fit to have a sustainable retirement. Investment that pays you dividend is one the best example. There are other businesses or venture that allows you to earn income while you are sleeping too such as website or e-commerce business.

So Should You Save More or Earn More For Early Retirement?

In my opinion, it goes down to these 3 important steps.
1. Learn The Importance Of Money Management
2. Plan Your Financial & Start Saving
3. Earn Extra Income followed by Generating Automatic or Flexible Income (Investment Dividend, Property Rental, Online Business, Fiverr & etc)

It may look easy & sounds easy but is it really that easy? I personally think yes but you need to be discipline to apply all these 3 steps. It is not an overnight process & it may take years for you to achieve all 3 steps. It all comes with the power of habits. You just have to start & keep moving forward until you achieve all 3 steps. It is all about good money management habits which I believe all of you are able to do it.

OSS!