Jeremey, Age 48, Earns $13,000 a Month and Has Given Up on Retirement. Here’s Why.

A lesson on life, money, and retirement I will never forget.

Like me, Jeremey is a salaried worker.

Like me, Jeremey believed in retirement.

But unlike me… he has given up on that dream.

Jeremey today is very different from the man I knew 8 years back. Then, chatting about retirement makes Jeremey happy.

That is no longer the case today, despite earning $13,000 a month.

Jeremey has become a retirement dropout.

When It Comes to The Big R — It’s Complicated

There is never one reason why we give up on our retirement. Never.

Often, there are many.

For Jeremey, I observed the following.

• He sees investment returns without the risks (Oh, oh, big trouble!).
• His household expenses kept climbing, squeezing his income.
• He regards retirement as a race.

Each of these factors influences the others.

Together, they produce a negative psychological whirlpool that dominates his rational thinking.

And it all started when he started placing speculative bets…

… because he wanted to catch up with the rest of us in the journey towards retirement.

The Year is 2021

This year, Jeremey changed.

Like, a 180.

He started talking about investing. He said investing is easy.

My ears shot up. The Spiderman in me has awakened.

I asked him what was.

“Making money is!”

I was baffled. I never thought investing was easy.

It takes time and work to study and understand investment finance. I took years before knowing how to analyze one set of financial statements. I am still learning as I speak.

Jeremey caught me in deep thought.

He was surprised that I was surprised. After all, I was the one who nudged him on the retirement investment path.

My mind wandered.

And Jeremey read my thought bubbles.

Without me asking, he showed me his alternative asset portfolios nested in his smartphone. They are,

• 40% allocation to cryptocurrencies,
• 40% allocation to FOREX currencies,
• 20% allocation to a 13% interest-bearing Gold-backed account.

My heart almost skipped a beat.

My mind screamed high risk!

But I did not want to come across as sour grapes. After all, I explained to him the importance of investing for retirement. I just didn’t expect him to take this path of alternative asset investment.

Jeremey was happy. He said this after slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“I’m finally catching up with you guys! I should have started this retirement investment thing years ago!”

That fateful dinner marked the apex of his financial euphoria.

Since then,

• Jeremey lost 90% of his seed money in his cryptocurrency portfolio.
• He lost 100% of his principal in the interest-bearing Gold-backed account because it was a scam.

In total, $80,000 evaporated in 2 months.

He teared when he recounted his story.

“I should not have invested my money in things I don’t understand. Easy come, easy go.”

Jeremey was a broken man by the end of 2021.

Note from Author: I have nothing against alternative investment assets. Take your pick and do your due diligence. Knowledge reduces ignorant risk.

2023 Came Along…

… and Jeremey’s mindset changed, once again.

This time, it swung to the other extreme.

Jeremey decided (rightly or wrongly) to drop out of the retirement race.

His flip-flop mindset towards retirement no longer surprises me.

“I’m too far behind, Aldric. My household expenses are climbing exponentially. I’m the only working person in my family today.”

My eyebrows lifted slightly. Jeremey told me this.

• He has 7 mouths to feed, excluding him.
• His parents and in-laws retired this year.
• His wife is a housemaker, and the 2 children are in middle school.

Jeremey spends $11,000 a month to keep his family going. The remaining $2,000 goes into his travel account.

I was shocked when I heard that.

“Travel account? Did I hear you correctly?”

He smiled. He said I did.

This is what Jeremey said, ad verbum.

“I’m 48 now. My career clock is ticking. Maybe I will be asked to leave in 3, 4, or 5 years. I will never compound my money fast enough for retirement.”

He took a pause, looked away, and then continued.

“I have decided to retire rich with life experiences before I fail to afford it.”

I stayed quiet. Fail to afford it kept ringing in my head.

In truth, I was at a loss for words.

And I kept wondering.

• What really went wrong?
• How can we prevent ourselves from walking down Jeremey’s path?
• What can we do to get back on track when we lose our money?

I have no answer.

I doubt there are any simple answers, too.

In Parting

When it comes to retirement, no one has it easy.

Not even high-income earners like Jeremey.

His retirement dropout story into one case study I reflect upon daily. I crystallized five main life lessons from there.

• Lesson # 1 — Study any investment before injecting money into it.
• Lesson # 2 — Scrap the Race to Retirement Mindset. We fall prey to Get-Rich-Quick scams.
• Lesson # 3 — Never lose what we have accumulated this lifetime. It’s hard to earn it back.
• Lesson # 4 — If an investment deal sounds too good to be true, highly likely is.
• Lesson # 5 — Acquire financial knowledge at a young age. It compounds.

What are your thoughts after reading Jeremey’s story?

What would you do and not do for your retirement?

Let me know your thoughts.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.