Jingling Purses, Light Hearts

I've been listen to the audio version of George Clason's Richest Man In Babylon (4+ hours) as I do my mundane stuff, such as cooking, showering, washing up etc - and it still resonates deeply in my mind, heart and soul each time I hear and repeat the chapters.

One of the key terms that spoke to me was "jingling purses creates light hearts" - and I know for this to be true. I've paid off my HDB apartment, and month to month our expenses are mainly living costs such as food, transportation, utilities. Of course, one of the ways is to downsize one's place so that mortgage/rent is much more affordable.

The stories in Richest Man In Babylon are very easy to understand (for me, despite the old English ie "thou" etc), and very framework/philosophy focused, rather than being highly technical, which is possibly why many overlook it as being "too simple" and not actionable enough. The same can be said Rich Dad Poor Dad, which approach is also similar - story-style narration.

I realize, this is my preferred style.

In all my businesses, ventures, money, relationships, I realize that I do not take the nitty-gritty technical approach; I employ a "systems-based" philosophy where I simplify my decisions based on the following:

1. Pareto's Law of 80/20 on effectiveness
   
   
2. Doing what is meaningful, fun and/or interesting rather than doing something for money/forced to
   
   
3. Pursuing the highest good, which is love (including Christianity, relationships, integrity, delivering value etc)
   
   
4. Buying high-quality stuff of what one need AND use
   
   
5. Producing more than consuming (including cooking own meals, walking more etc)
   
   
6. Investing and reinvesting as much as we can into dividend stocks

Every action and decision needs to "stack" and add positively to our lives without taking out anything.

All for one purpose: To build passive income streams that is more than one's living expenses to live a meaningful life on one's own terms.

Whatever "own terms" mean to you.

• Some want to stop working to pay the bills
  
  
• Some want to stop working cos they hate their boss/colleagues/work
  
  
• Some want to stop working cos they want to be with their loved ones
  
  
• Some want to stop working to focus on things they love/want to do

Of course we can accelerate this is by

• Cutting out as much unnecessary costs as possible (such as TV, cable, expensive/unnecessary habits)
  
  
• Investing and reinvesting as much as possible into dividend stocks

And once the dividend income is more than what one needs to live on, one is theoretically financially independent (financial independence is where your passive income is more than living expenses; but doesn't mean you're wealthy. That's financial freedom/wealth). You can see that the more unnecessary expense you remove, the less you need and closer you are to financial independence.

And that's what NigelChua.com and me embodies.

However, there is a way to accelerate and short-circuit the system.

The reason is this: there is only so much one can save. Maybe $500 to $1000+ per month, and whilst that is good, depending on how much you need to retire (see the simple maths here), that can take decades.

• Some don't have that kind of patience or time.
  
  
• Some who wants to learn more skills that is meaningful that can increase potential income streams
  
  
• Some who are already financially free and have quit their jobs who wants to find something to do
  
  
• Everyone has different reasons

And that's why I write a lot more about building making money online building passive income assets because for me, that's the easiest and best actionable plan where people do not have to quit their jobs, and starting an online business or hustling on the side can be relatively low cost but potentially have unlimited upside.

On top of that, I prefer online business because it's easily to scale, reach people and have a higher level of passive income potential to it.

I mean if you think about it, if you fall into the category of people who actively work, save as much as possible to invest/reinvest as much as possible - it's pretty much a waiting game. Work is generally stable, you can spend time with loved ones, but when you have eliminated TV etc, you will have a lot more time to yourself.

Hmm, this post became longer than I thought.

My original plan for this post was to share that

• I realized I am more of a philosophy-style person, and that's what my readers can expect ie top level, broad/concept-based passive income philosophy simple living
  
  
• I am expanding NigelChua.com to include ideas on the 6 systems-based philosophy (needs to be refined) but I don't want to cover investment recommendation ie which stock to pick etc (for that, there are so many people to look for including Kyith's Investment Moats and the masked income investor in SG - they're better for that
  
  
• Earning more becomes highly effective and efficient once one has maximized savings and invested as much as possible into dividend stocks

Search In NigelChua

Hello, and welcome to nigelchua.com - I'm the founder and writer.

Also husband, father, Christian, entrepreneur and dividend stock investor and owner director of Phoenix Rehab Group Physio & Hand Clinics. 

Read more about me here.

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• nigelchua.com (this site!)
• Phoenix Rehab Group Physio & Hand Clinics Singapore 
  
• NALCOGroup.com