uncle lim kopi

So, this came to uncle's mind recently. I stopped working for many months already, and I still have outstanding mortgage on my home. While I could liquidate a large chunk of my assets to completely pay off and own my home, I chose not to do it. Why? 1. The rates are still reasonable low compared with what I can get from my investments 2. Having liquid cash/cash-equivalent provides a lot of flexibility vs having a lot of money locked into the walls of the roof over your/your family's heads. As long as you keep up with the mortgage payments, you won't lose your home.  3. Should you decided to change to a different home, you may not qualify for a new mortgage since you have no steady employment income, so you may need the cash to pay off upfront for the next home, and then sell off your current one to get back some money.  4. You can't even refinance your existing mortgage with a different bank as they will require proof of income.  So, Uncle simply reprice my current mort...

 Do I enjoy it?  Of course!! I exercise a lot more frequently now, doing more reps for chin up, pull up, leg raises. Clocking more steps and cycling longer distances.  And I am eating well and sleeping well. Life has been good to me.  If you have been working non-stop for 15 years or more, slogging for your money and building up your family, if you can afford to, I stronger suggest taking a break of at least 6 months and do nothing. Just live your life. But make sure you have things lined up, friends to talk to and hang out regularly, as it certainly helps to keep your mind active and not end up rotting away. Trust me, unless you are filthy rich already, this will always feel scary initially. Scared that all the property and equity markets will crash and wipe your assets off the surface of the Earth. Scared that you will lose confidence as a person as your job has almost become your identity and image.  But don't be. Because it is exactly such perceived fears th...