I cant believe it was November 2021 when I initially set to start blogging, now it January 2023. How time flies indeed. When I initially discovered FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) I was excited and also at the same time I wanted to see the numbers go up quickly and get to that FIRE number. What I have learnt is that life is a journey, I need to be patient, slow and steady wins the race. I should appreciate the time I have now, I should make the most of each day.
Who would have thought I would be at this point today. I would have lived in Australia for 20years in July of 2023. I started the journey as an international student who had a dream of becoming a doctor. I remember the excitement and fear of moving to Australia I had never been overseas, and was in possession of a one way ticket as my family could not afford to pay for a return ticket. When I started university I was disappointed to find out that the Biomedical Science degree I was doing did not mean that I was guaranteed entry into Medical School. There were to be entry exams to get into medical school (GAMSAT ) and the tuition fees for medical school would be 3-4 times higher. How was I to explain this to my dad?
I could have easily given up on the dream to become a medical doctor. My grades for my undergraduate degree were excellent my cumulative GPA was 6.13 out of 7. For some reason I could not get the minimum scores required in all sections of the GAMSAT it took three attempts to get this. Oddly enough I had enquired about getting a refund for the exam fee but could not get one so I figured I might as well just write it, I had not studied at all compared to the previous attempts but did actually get a score that meant I could apply for medical school in Australia and commenced medical school in January 2008.
Fast forward to today its 10 years since I graduated from medical school. I made the choice to not pursue Obstetrics and Gynaecology but chose to have work life balance as a General Practitioner. I am a “net-worth millionaire” . I generally have a four day weekend most weeks and work three days a week. I live in a beautiful seaside town. I like to think my time is my own now, this was not always the case. The goal is to end up working just for the fun of it. I want to live life on my own terms.
Net-worth Millionaire: Home value 933K, mortgage 285K, offset 44 K, Vanguard personal investor 114K, Pearler ETFs 76K, Super 162K, Freedom Fund 8K
I am still “house rich” but amazingly since February 2021 my investments outside of super have gone from 30K to 190K. I need to stay the course. Time is on my side, in time investments will grow, in the meantime I need to live my life and enjoy this one life that I have!