[The Journey of FIRE] #1 Three Encounters That Provided a Turning Point in My Life

Hello. I am Katsura, a retiree.
Thank you for reading my article again today.

Since many of the people who 'like' my self-introduction article write about investment and finance, I would like to change paths a bit and write about my own FIRE journey.

Today, I will talk about three encounters that provided a turning point in my life when it came to achieving FIRE.

Introduction: Three Encounters That Became Major Turning Points

Seven years have already passed since I achieved FIRE.
The days of being thrilled about being free have passed,
the days of worrying about stock prices have passed,
and finally, the days of wandering through my lifestyle have also passed (though I might wander again).

FIRE - Financial Independence and Retire Early (Financial Independence and Early Retirement).

When I aimed for FIRE 15 years ago, this term was not yet common.
Naturally, I had no idea how to reach FIRE, and this is just the result of moving forward as guided by various encounters.
I strongly feel that I am where I am today because I have been supported by so many people.

Looking back, there were three encounters that became major turning points. They were a manager at a client company, a department store concierge, and a banker.

I will proceed by writing about those three encounters and what I learned from them.

1. The client who taught me the importance of financial literacy

This person appears frequently in my stories. This is because meeting them was the starting point that led me to FIRE.

I met this person through work. At the time, I was only interested in working, and they encouraged me to read the book 'Rich Dad Poor Dad'.
I bought it and started reading it immediately, thinking it would come up the next time we met, and it was an eye-opener. I learned for the first time that the common sense I knew was nonsense from a financial perspective.

• Even if you work diligently as an employee and save money diligently, if you do not run your own business or invest, you are not participating in even half of the world's money flow.

• The mechanism of capitalism is that people who possess capital have a system where they can continuously increase their capital.

• Conversely, if you borrow money for your own living expenses, your capital will continue to decrease.

' I have absolutely no financial knowledge,' I realized for the first time.

I learned that just as important as earning income is how you use that income for your future, and that financial literacy is essential to think about that.

Learning financial literacy, reviewing my household budget and life plan, and realizing that I could achieve FIRE—everything started here.

2. The department store concierge who taught me how to use money

This began with a certain incident.

That day, I had a huge argument with my mother about how to use my savings.
"If that's the case, you should just spend your money on your appearance!"
So, I took the money I had been saving for a car, went to the main store of a long-established department store, and spent it all in one day. (I have a short temper! Haha)

It seems I wasn't the only one surprised; my mother was too, and a few days later, I received an invitation from the department store's private client service. The first private client representative I met was the person who gave me my second turning point.

He was a veteran private client manager. He himself seemed to be quite well-off. Since I had become a private client customer beyond my means, I was panicking about what I should buy there, but he would invite me one after another to events selling items at prices I couldn't afford, saying, "You don't have to buy anything, just start by cultivating an eye for good things."

Then, one time, he recommended a Picasso print to me. It was a painting with the colors I like and it was perfect for my room.

But, that "Picasso" print, you know. The price range is on a different level. At that time, although I bought small, trivial things, I didn't have the courage to make an immediate decision on big things. Now, even if I wanted to buy it, I can no longer get it, and I cannot afford it.

• Things that are one-of-a-kind and wonderful to everyone increase in value over time.

• It is important not to spend money on small, "affordable" things, but rather on big things that truly "enrich your life."

I learned that over the few years we spent together.

Even now, along with the memory of the Picasso print I failed to acquire, this lesson is engraved in my heart.

3. The banker who taught me what it means to invest

This was a story after I retired. I had already put my retirement money into investments, but after the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to travel, I had to go through a lot of painful learning to cover unexpected expenses for managing and selling my parents' distant home over a long period.

When I deposited the proceeds from the sale of my parents' home into the bank, I received a call from someone in the bank's wealth management department.

When I went to visit as invited, we just ended up chatting. It was like that every time. "Please feel free to consult with me about anything if you have any concerns." As an ordinary person, I didn't know how to handle that.

One day, I was asked, "Would you like to invest these funds?"

When I visited the bank, I was asked how much money I wanted to set aside for the future and how much I wanted to withdraw to live on.

They said, "Let me make a proposal next time," and later, they recommended a combination of a monthly dividend investment trust and a fund wrap.

I had heard that these products have high fees and that monthly dividend investment trusts can reduce your principal if you're not careful, but since they might know things I don't, I decided to go with the flow.

Looking back, unlike my brokerage account where I frequently check stock prices while managing investments, I don't worry about or touch the money in the bank at all; I just receive regular reports and check if I need to change anything. Other than that, a portion of the investment returns is automatically deposited into my account every month. Even when stock prices fluctuate wildly, it is growing steadily.

For that person, (unlike investing aimed at making a profit) investing retirement funds for the long term meant, in order to be able to focus on "living" as much like myself as possible,

• to build a framework where you can get the funds you need at the time you need them.

• That for long-term, stable investment, it may sometimes be better to pay fees and have a professional manage your assets.

• (Since checking your investment status daily makes you want to tinker with it) it is better to limit yourself to checking periodically whether things are generally on track according to your plan.

I was taught these things.

"When you don't know what to do, try going with the flow."
You should try going with the flow. In the end, I learned that life lesson as well.

Summary

Acquire financial literacy, invest your savings, and use that as a foundation to live through your retirement. Even this classic process would have remained "someone else's business" for me if I hadn't met these three people.

Looking back like this, I feel that while knowledge and data are important, who you consult with—in other words, "people"—is another essential factor.

I hope you will read this as one example of how an ordinary person reached FIRE.