A man in Singapore has sparked discussion online after sharing that he retired at the age of 37 despite not having a university degree.
According to Mothership, Seth, a personal finance content creator in Singapore, entered his savings and expenses into a retirement drawdown calculator he built himself, only to realise that he could already afford to retire.
According to the numbers, he could stop working immediately.
Enough to sustain himself without needing a job
In a YouTube video published on Dec 14, Seth said he had reached financial independence, which he defined as having enough resources to sustain himself for the rest of his life without needing a job.
With that assurance, he resigned from his full time role at Providend, a fee only wealth advisory firm where he had worked for about two and a half years.
But Seth’s journey to early retirement did not begin smoothly.
After performing poorly for his A Levels and failing to secure a place in a local university, Seth said he began worrying about his future. For the next several years, he earned about S$1,000 (approx. RM3,100) a month.
At that income range, retirement wasn’t even a concept I had in my mind,” he said.
Ironically, Seth now believes not getting a degree became an advantage. According to him, it pushed him to explore less conventional ways of earning money, including creating content online.
While he enjoyed working a corporate job for a period of time, Seth felt that a stable but fixed monthly salary would not help him reach his retirement goals quickly enough.
“Grades are important, but these days I do feel that it was a twisted form of luck that I didn’t make it to university,” he said.
Multiple hustles and strict saving
Seth stressed that his early retirement was not purely due to luck.
He took on multiple side hustles over the years, including working as an insurance agent, teaching tuition, and running a personal finance website and YouTube channel.
Multiple hustles was something that really worked for me,” he explained. Over time, he reviewed which efforts produced the best returns and focused his energy there.”
Eventually, he doubled down on tuition teaching and went on to set up his own tuition centre.
Even as his income increased, Seth remained careful with his spending and savings habits. One major factor he cited was his decision not to have children.
“It really depends on your priorities in life. If the joy of having children outweighs the joy of retiring early for you, by all means, go have children, and then you just have to retire later in life,” he said.
For himself, Seth said he did not think he would be a good parent and chose a lifestyle that aligned with his goals.
He also noted that couples who are DINKs (dual income with no kids) often have it easier in Singapore due to benefits such as subsidised housing, compared to singles.
Retired but still earning
Although he considers himself retired, Seth continues to earn money from producing personal finance content, which he described as a hobby rather than work.
Having this hobby that makes me money really gives me the assurance that I can say that I’m retired,” he said, adding that it allows him to live more carefree days.
In 2021, Seth also shared that he bought a S$690,000 (approx. RM2,100,000) condominium on his own before turning 35.
Watch the full video here:
