From Poverty to Freedom: How I Achieved FIRE in My 30s and Retired Early/从贫困走向自由：我是如何在30+岁实现FIRE并提前退休的
A True Story of Financial Independence, Self-Sufficiency, and Pursuing Dreams Around the World/一个关于财务独立、自给自足和环游世界追梦的故事
FIRE stands for Financial Independence and Retire Early
More than 30 years ago, I was born in a remote small city in Liaoning Province, China. Whenever the weather forecast mentioned our city, it was always the last one.
My family was extremely poor. However, to what extent did my family experience poverty?
When I talked to foreigners about my childhood, I asked them, “Do you know that there are two types of televisions in the world, black and white and color? Can you guess what kind of TV my family had when I was young?”
Most people would say, “Based on your question, it must be black and white.” In reality, it’s already difficult to imagine a life with only black and white television.
However, I told them it was wrong because my family didn’t even have a TV when I was young. I had to go to our neighbors every time I wanted to watch TV. It wasn’t until I was about to enter junior high school that my father bought a second-hand television from a relative.
That’s how impoverished we were.
As a child, I was naïve and entered puberty at an early age. I developed a crush on a girl in my class, but during that time and in that place, I could only silently admire her. It wasn’t until we went to different universities in different cities that I mustered the courage to confess my feelings, surely no result as expected.
After graduation, I moved to Shanghai for work and experienced ups and downs. Soon, I realized that I wasn’t suited for corporate life. I was too shy, too straightforward, and had low emotional intelligence and average intellect.
However, I had one good quality: honesty, brutal honesty.
I never liked my job, but I wasn’t sure what I really wanted yet.
I never bought a house because I disliked being in debt. Growing up in poverty, I always felt uncomfortable borrowing money. Childhood traumas often take a lifetime to heal, and that’s the truth.
However I invested almost every month’s savings in stocks. I never engaged in speculative trading, but rather focused on value investing for the long term. My investment idol has always been Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s business partner.
After working for a few years, I felt lost and dissatisfied with my job and had no idea about the direction of my life. I was alone in Shanghai, seemingly struggling but actually just waiting for death.
It wasn’t until one entered society that one realized the simplest thing in the world is studying. So in 2009 and 2010, while feeling lost, I considered studying abroad. I took the IELTS and GMAT exams and applied to various universities in Hong Kong and Europe, seeking affordable tuition fees. Later, I received acceptance letters from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. However, I eventually gave up because I finally understood that studying abroad was just a way to escape reality and wouldn’t solve my internal problems —
what happiness means to me and what is truly important in life.
This question gradually became clearer to me in mid-2010.
Imagine this scenario: watching the sunrise over the Aegean Sea in the morning, strolling down the Champs-Élysées in Paris at noon, and enjoying a romantic opera performance in Rome in the evening. Living around the world, doing what I love, speaking my mind, pursuing the women I like, and no longer pretending to live.
I finally understood that for me, above all, a happy life means freedom.
Freedom encompasses several aspects, such as location freedom, financial freedom, time freedom, health freedom, and information freedom (the ability to communicate). Looking at them, I realized that location freedom is difficult for me to achieve due to the passport of China, but I gradually achieved the others.
That was a time when there is no working holiday visa or 10-year tourism visa for Chinese yet. The passport of China was even weaker than now.
Thus, immigration became my focus.
Unfortunately, during the period from 2010 to 2011, both Australia and Canada tightened their immigration policies. So I took two paths, self-studying French to immigrate to Quebec, Canada, and simultaneously striving to achieve a high IELTS score to immigrate to Australia.
I believe many people have experienced this — the IELTS writing section is challenging to score 7, and the speaking section is often penalized. I didn’t have money to hire a teacher, and my proficiency level was already close to the top instructors at prestigious training institutes (later, I taught IELTS at Global IELTS and Hujiang). So I used my lunch break at work to write essays every day, set them aside, and reviewed them a few days later, correcting them myself to see if I could understand them.
After six months, I finally achieved a score of 7 on the writing section（9 is highest). I applied to both Australia and Canada, and less than a month after receiving my 4 sevens, Australia granted me permanent residency (PR) in April 2013.
However, I didn’t immediately move to Australia because I was worried about not finding a job there and being unable to afford the high cost of living. Fortunately, the company I worked for had a long-term overseas assignment project that allowed me to travel around the world. So I temporarily put aside my plans to live in Australia.
During this time, I invested all my spare money in the stock market. My assets reached seven digits.
From 2013 to 2015, over the course of two years, I traveled to Germany three times, taking the opportunity to learn German diligently and explore most of Europe.
I always disliked my job; I just yearned for a free and easy life.
In early 2015, I took a long leave of absence for nearly three months (a great perk of working for a multinational company) to try to find a job in Australia (according to Australia’s regulations, permanent residents must reside in Australia within five years). At the time, I chose Sydney and Melbourne as my target cities.
Those three months were a tremendous challenge and ordeal. Why?
Because I went without any sexual activity for three months.
Australia had severe racial discrimination, far worse than Europe, like Germany. In Germany, I was naïve and unaware of the rules of the game, but I could meet several girls in a month.
In Australia, I was completely dumbfounded. As an Asian, I can say that I had no advantages whatsoever. For example, during my five years in Australia, I had less than ten matches on Tinder, and they were all Chinese girls or foreign backpackers. In Brazil and South America, I could surpass that number in one night. The difference was truly significant.
However, I never complained. I admitted the problem and either work hard to find the solution or accept the reality.
The harsh reality and some interesting experiences (which I will write about later) prompted me to learn how to pursue women.
So I started searching for information online and watching YouTube videos. The information online varied in quality, and I went through many detours. But at least I understood one thing — I had to take the initiative and no longer see sex as great scourges, commonly taught in my culture.
In March 2015, I returned to Shanghai and stayed at a youth hostel. I started applying what I had learned and eventually succeeded in pursuing a German girl before leaving for Mexico.
In the two months I spent in Mexico, I dated over 40 girls and had intimate encounters with nearly 20 of them, sometimes even two in a day. When you have that much experience, everything becomes easier, and I started to become more confident.
After returning, I would go to clubs on the Bund in Shanghai every day. From beautiful Swiss flight attendants to Polish dentists, from well-endowed German girls to British English teachers. Finally, I started dating a German exchange student and spent five months together. She returned to Germany, and I had to go to Australia.
In early 2016, before resigning, I took the opportunity to buy an apartment near Shanghai. Now its price has doubled or tripled. For me, it wasn’t the most important thing — it was more of a gesture to my parents.
It was at this time, before going to Australia, that I invested almost all my money in the stock market in a single stock with a cost of less than 200 RMB, with the code 600519, known as Guizhou Moutai. (For the readers who are not familiar with China’s stock market, its price increased 10 folds in the following 5-year time, helping me become a multi-millionaire)
In 2016, when I first arrived in Sydney, I started teaching IELTS writing online at Hujiang while searching for my first IT job. After a month, I found a job paying 700 Australian dollars per day, but I quit within a month due to conflicts with my supervisor.
In early 2017, I found a job in Brisbane and moved there. I worked for several large companies and had a successful freelancing career. However, by the end of the year, I realized I couldn’t save much money at all. The cost of living in Australia was simply too high!
In mid-2018, I got a job in Melbourne and bought my first apartment there, which I lived in. It has now become an investment property.
In 2019, I started buying land and building a house as my investment. Due to the Chinese stock market, my domestic assets significantly increased. I also began exploring full-time remote work.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and the US stock market crashed. I started buying a large number of US stocks, especially Microsoft, at an average price of $180 per share. I still hold them, and they have doubled in value.
In 2021, my personally held stock assets alone reached eight digits, not including my properties in both countries. With dividends from the Chinese stock market or a withdrawal rate of 2.5% (far below the 4% requirement of FIRE), I can easily live a relatively decent life in some countries in South America or Southeast Asia.
Thus, finally I retired completely in my 30s.
In June of the same year, after a four-month journey along the east coast of Australia, I sensed the severe COVID-19 situation in Sydney and the possibility of Melbourne entering lockdown again. I didn’t want to waste another year, so I bought two tickets to Europe and left Australia completely before the lockdowns.
Since then, I haven’t returned and hope I never have to.
That’s my journey to achieve FIRE, mentioning my experiences in pursuing women along the way.
My requirement for FIRE is that my annual expenses don’t exceed 2.5% of my stock investment assets in China. Not to touch a penny of my investments abroad (US stocks and Australian/China properties) and let them appreciate as I grow older.
I haven’t calculated my personal rate of return, but I believe that over my 14-year investment career, the compound growth rate has definitely exceeded 10% (in fact it’s 25%).
Stock investments have brought me not only money but also a certain ability — the ability to
control my emotions and stick to my principles no matter which country or market I’m in, to survive and grow.
Currently, the rental income from Australian and Chinese properties easily covers the mortgage (I have a loan), so I’m currently enjoying the growth of assets. However, I personally detest real estate investment because of its limitations and work requirements, which lack freedom and liquidity. Therefore, I won’t be increasing my real estate investments.
I don’t want to become a slave to money; I pursue freedom.
That’s my story of achieving FIRE. I hope it can be useful or inspiring to others, whether in terms of methods or motivation.
从贫困走向自由：我是如何在30+岁实现FIRE并提前退休的
一个关于财务独立、自给自足和环游世界追梦的故事
FIRE是Financial Independance and Retire Early的英文缩写。意味着财务独立和提前退休
我出生在中国辽宁省的一个偏僻的小城市，家境非常贫困。每次天气预报提到我们这个地方，总是最后一个。
小时候的家庭贫困到了何种程度呢？我和外国人聊起我的童年，我问他们：“你知道世界上有两种电视机，一种是黑白的，一种是彩色的。你猜猜我小时候家里的电视机是什么样子的？”大多数人都会说：“你这么问，那肯定是黑白的呗。”其实已经没人能想象仅有黑白电视机的生活。可是，我告诉他们，不对，因为我小时候家里根本就没有电视机，我每次都要去邻居家借电视看。直到我快上初中的时候，我父亲才从亲戚那里买了一个二手的电视。就是这样贫困。
小时候很天真，很早就陷入青春期，喜欢上了班上一个女生，但那个时代，那个地方，我只能默默喜欢，直到上大学两地了才敢向她表白，结果可想而知。
毕业后，我去了上海工作，经历了起起伏伏。很快我就意识到自己不适合职场生活，我过于腼腆，过于直率，可以说是情商低，智商也不高。
但我有一点好，就是诚实。从来就不喜欢我的工作， 只是还不清楚自己究竟想要什么。
虽然我一直没有买房子，因为我非常不喜欢负债。小时候穷惯了，总觉得借钱不舒服。儿时的创伤常常要用一生来弥补，就是这个道理。但是我几乎每个月都用剩下的钱买股票。我从来没有做过炒股，只是基本面投资，长期持有。我一直以来的投资偶像就是沃伦·巴菲特的合作伙伴查理·芒格。
毕业工作了几年后，我过得很迷茫，不喜欢自己的工作，也不知道人生的方向在哪里。我一个人在上海，表面上是在拼搏，实际上只是在等死。
进入社会后才明白，世界上最简单的事情莫过于读书。所以在2009年和2010年，在迷茫中，我考虑出国留学，参加了雅思考试，GMAT考试，申请了香港和欧洲的各所大学，只要学费便宜就行。后来香港理工大学和比利时鲁汶大学都给了我录取通知书。但最终我放弃了，因为我终于明白，我出国留学只是逃避现实的一种方式，它不能解决我内心的问题 — — 对我来说，幸福意味着什么？人生中最重要的事情是什么？
这个问题直到2010年中期才逐渐变得明晰起来。
想象一下这样的场景：早上看着爱琴海上的日出，中午去逛巴黎的香榭丽舍大街，然后傍晚回到罗马听一场浪漫的歌剧。在世界各地生活，做自己想做的事情，说自己想说的话，追求自己喜欢的女孩子，不再假装生活。
我终于明白，别人无论，但对我来说，幸福的人生首要是自由。
而自由也包含多个方面，比如：地理自由、财务自由、时间自由、健康自由和信息自由（你需要能够进行沟通）。我当时一看，这里面由于中国护照只有地理自由是很难实现的，其他的我逐渐都可以达到。
那个时代还没有工作假期签证，也没有美国的十年签证，中国的护照比今天弱很多。
于是移民成为我生活的重心。不巧的是，在2010年到2011年期间，澳大利亚和加拿大都开始收紧移民政策。我便兵分两路，开始自学法语，为了移民加拿大魁北克。同时开始努力考雅思，要求是在同一次考试中每个科目都要达到7分，为了移民澳大利亚。我相信很多人都有这样的经历，雅思写作考7分非常困难，口语也经常被扣分。我没有钱请老师，而且我的水平已经接近顶级培训机构的老师了（后来我先后在环球雅思和沪江教授雅思，就是这个道理）。所以我利用工作间隙，每天中午写作文，然后放一边，几天后再回来看，自己给自己批改，看我自己能否读得懂。就这样，我花了半年的时间，终于拿到了4个7。 我同时申请了澳大利亚和加拿大，但在我拿到4个7分后，不到一个月，澳大利亚就给我PR（永久居留权），那时是2013年4月。
但是我并没有登陆长居澳大利亚，因为我担心自己在澳大利亚找不到工作，担心自己负担不起澳大利亚的高消费水平。碰巧我所在公司有一个长期的海外派遣项目，可以环游世界，于是我暂时放下了去澳大利亚生活的计划。 这个时候，我把所有闲钱都投入股市。我的资产达到了7位数。
2013年到2015年，经历了两年的时间后，我去了德国三次，趁机拼命学习德语，也趁机游览了大部分欧洲。
我从来就不喜欢我的工作，我只是向往自由自在的生活。
2015年初我请了一个长假，近三个月（外企的福利还是不错的），尝试在澳大利亚找工作（根据澳大利亚的规定，拿到居留权后的五年内必须在澳大利亚居住。所以在2018年之前，我必须辞职去澳大利亚）。当时选择了悉尼和墨尔本两个城市。
这三个月是巨大的挑战和煎熬。为什么呢？因为三个月我没有性生活。澳大利亚的种族歧视非常严重，远超过欧洲和德国。在德国，那个时候我很天真，也不懂得游戏规则，但是可能一个月也还能认识几个女孩子，而在澳大利亚却完全傻眼了。作为一个亚裔，我可以说没有任何优势可言。举个简单的例子，在澳大利亚的五年时间里，我在Tinder上的配对次数不到十次，而且全都是中国来的女孩子或者外国背包客。而在巴西和南美，可能一晚上就能超过这个数量。差距真的很大。
严峻的现实和一些有趣的经历（以后我会写出来）促使我学习追女孩子。于是我开始在网上搜索资料，看YouTube视频。网上的资料良莠不齐，我走了很多弯路。但至少我明白了一点，那就是我要主动出击，不再把性看作是洪水猛兽。
2015年三月回到上海，住在青年旅舍。开始施展我的所学，最终在离开上海去墨西哥之前，成功推倒了一个德国女孩，可以说是一个好的开端。 在墨西哥的两个月时间里，我约会了40多个女孩，上了近20个，有时候一天甚至两个。当你有这么多经验的时候，一切都变得容易了，我也开始变得更有自信。
回来后，我每天去外滩的club。从瑞士的美丽空姐到波兰的牙医，从德国的大胸妹到英国的英语老师。最后我交了一个德国女交换生，相处了五个月，她回德国，而我也必须去澳大利亚了。
2016年初，我乘着还没辞职的机会，在上海附近买了一套公寓，现在价格已经翻了两三倍。对我来说，这不是最重要的，更多的是给父母一个交代。就是在这个时候，在去澳大利亚之前，我几乎把所有股市上的钱都投入到一只股票上，成本不到200元，代码600519，它叫贵州茅台。
2016年，我在悉尼一开始远程在沪江网上教雅思写作，直到找到自己的第一份IT工作，日薪700澳元，一个月后由于与领导不合被排挤，离职。
2017年初，在布里斯班找到一份工作，搬到了那里。先后为几家大公司工作，自由职业者的生活非常顺利。但到年底，我发现自己根本存不下什么钱。澳大利亚的消费水平太高了！
2018年中期，我得到了一份墨尔本的工作，来到了墨尔本，我买了第一套公寓，自己住。现在已经变成了投资房产。
2019年，我开始购买土地，建房作为投资。由于中国股市的原因，我的国内资产大幅增长。澳大利亚的钱也必须开始投资。同时，我也开始尝试全职远程工作。
2020年，新冠疫情爆发，美国股市熔断，我开始大量购买美股，特别是微软的股票，平均价格180美元。持有至今，已经翻番。
2021年，仅仅我个人持有的股票资产就达到了8位数，还不算我在两地的房产。仅凭国内股市的分红，或者以2.5%的提取率（远低于FIRE要求的4%）我就可以轻松在一些国家（南美或东南亚）过上相对体面的生活。
于是我正式在30+的时候退休。
同年6月，在结束了澳大利亚东海岸的四个月漫游之后，我觉察到因为悉尼当时严峻的疫情溢出，墨尔本可能再次封城的消息，我不想再浪费一年的时间，于是买了两张去欧洲的机票，在封城之前彻底离开了澳大利亚。
从那以后，我再也没有回去过，也希望自己永远不需要回去。
这就是我的FIRE历程，顺便提一下我的追女生经历。
我对FIRE的要求是，每年的开销不超过我在中国的股票投资资产的2.5%。我没有详细计算过我自己的资产回报率，但我相信在14年的投资生涯中，复合增长率肯定超过了10%。股票投资给我带来的不仅仅是金钱，还有一种能力，这种能力就是无论我身处哪个国家、哪个市场，我都能控制自己的情绪，坚持自己的原则，生存下来并增值。
我的原则是不动用我在国外的投资（美股、澳大利亚房产）的一分钱，让它们增值，陪伴我变老。澳大利亚和中国的房产目前来看，租金可以轻松覆盖贷款（我有贷款），所以目前就是享受资产增长的收益。当然，我个人非常非常厌恶房地产投资，因为有太多的限制和工作，缺乏自由和变现能力。所以我已经不会再增加投资了。 我不想成为金钱的奴隶，我追求的是自由。
这就是我的实现FIRE的故事。希望对大家有用，或是方法，或是激励。
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