Retiring Early - Part 2

So further to my initial post on retiring early, I came across an article today that inspired me. But first, a side comment:

For those that use iPads, I strongly recommend that you spend the time to customise the News app to your interests. It take a while for it to adapt, but when it does, it is a truly rewarding and interesting experience to read the news each day. I still read mainstream news too, but now I get my daily fill of sports, metal, Star Wars/Trek, paranormal, you name it. Usually, most of those fringe topics would get drowned out in mainstream news, if not ignored altogether. I honestly sometimes spend a good hour or more scrolling through the feed, and always find many fascinating and enjoyable articles.

Ok, so back to the main topic. Needless to say, the News app is where I found this article. It was by a guy who has his own blog:

Good Financial Cents

He was talking about the need to have multiple income streams if you really want to be both financially secure and free in this modern world. As a person who has had a long and fruitful professional career as an engineer, but who has also endured a couple of periods of unemployment and hardship, I can relate.

Frankly, some of the content of the article is beyond me: he is clearly a well-established and well-known guru, and as such he can use his celebrity to get media deals, to do online courses that people will buy, that kind of thing. But it still inspired me. He makes good money from his blog. Of course his blog looks like a website, compared to mine that looks like, well, a blog. But I suspect that's where it all begins. The design is a 1%'er I believe - what will get people talking about your blog is the content.

So given that this guy's multiple income streams came from his job, his consulting business, his blog, his online training and his media deals, I know need to ask myself this question: How have I ever made money? Well, interestingly, the answers are more varied than I was expecting:

Full-time employment - obviously as an engineer, this one tops the list. I have over 25 years experience in my field, mostly in full-time employment. It is during these periods that I have both made the most money in terms of salary, but also in terms of benefits - I have only ever been awarded benefits/bonuses twice, but together, they amount to almost $300k. So absolutely massive in the overall scheme of things.

Contracting/Consulting - this was a period from 2012-2016 and also right now (albeit in a much more underwhelming fashion) when I was working on a few different projects. At its peak, it was pretty damn good - some awesome work on a burgeoning cement project in Kelantan and re-development work on a nickel project on remote Wetar Island, Indonesia. But apart from the first year or so, it was inconsistent, and frankly I was unprepared for the downturn. That downturn, adding in my major client owing me a SHITLOAD of money still, lead to us having to return to Oz in 2016.

Making interest on investments - I have made money this way, but frankly we're only probably talking about a couple of grand total in my life to date. Clearly getting this number higher is part of potentially becoming a passive income person. But obviously, this requires a BIG amount of capital invested to make the returns anything that could potentially resemble an income.

Making profit on selling investments - frankly, this is a shit category, I don't know why it's here. Yes I have sold some shares and made a quid. However the amount of money I have tanked on failed investments puts that positive aspect well into the shade. I am no expert, and if you are reading this for financial insight, I strongly suggest you go elsewhere. Why? Well, because I believe the current financial system is failing, and is going to absolutely go belly up within the next few years. So I am investing now in things like bullion and cash. Cash only to get quick access, but bullion because history says it's the safest long-term investment. Who knows. I just know that I have lost 10's of thousands of dollars on the stockmarket over the years, so fuck. that.

Making money on dividends - a bit like interest, yes I have made money on dividends, but not enough to really even warrant inclusion on this list. Still it's there.

The punt - this is an interesting one. I imagine that overall I am about even on the punt, but it's hard to tell. I do believe that is has potential, if I can ever put together a system that takes advantage of the fact that you can put some science into sports betting.I have made 1000's on some bets, and lost a few 100's on others. I am still working on my system. If I can be disciplined enough to follow it long-term, it will be interesting to see if I can join the ranks of professional punters. Highly unlikely, but I am damn good with maths and statistics, so it's not impossible. Self-discipline is where I let myself down in this regard.

Gambling - yes yes, I hear the naysayers already. Go get a big black dog up ya ok. I, like millions of others, like to play Lotto on a fairly regular basis. I understand the odds, and the fact I have had a 4 grand result once back in 2013, means that statistically, I am probably unlikely to win again. But the maths gods tell me the odds reset with every single draw. There is an interesting paradox that suggests that winning numbers are not repeatable as much as non-winning ones, but that's just nonsense. So let's say it's ok to throw a couple of bucks at this, but never with any anticipation of winning.

So, apart from my mining career, so far I haven't made any money worth talking about from other ventures. In fact it's fair to say that if it's non-mining, I have generally lost money at it rather than made any! But does this need to be my be-all and end-all? 2016-2018 showed I can turn my hand at another trade and do well - I was damn good at flipping burgers and selling Lotto. Frankly, I was satisfied with the work of running the family business with my sister and her husband, it just didn't make money. Sadly, small business in Australia is fairly fucked, especially when said business needs to compete against any of the big boys. Throw in ageing infrastructure and an ageing commodity, such as newsagency, and you're staring at a hard road.

So clearly I am in the throes of finding myself a new mining job. Hopefully one this time that will provide longevity, assuming of course that I am mature enough to adopt a longer-term perspective. I think I am. I have been yearning for it for some time now, and am ready to give my all to a new employer, hopefully for the rest of my career. But, is there anything else? What else am I good at? What else could I do that perhaps someone might be willing to pay for? Let's list out a few potentials:

1) Freelance writing - look, I know I can write. I will never forget Darcel's words in English class in 1990 saying "this is the best essay I have ever read" about something I wrote about Happiness. Note to self - still need to get a damn copy of that!!! I don't think I am ever going to make money from this blog - it's too personal and too varying in content to appeal to enough people I imagine. But, the fact remains that I can write, and this guys blog above talks about websites where you can offer your services. I need to look that up.

2) Online consulting - I was recently approached by Gerson Lehmann Group to consult to one of their investor clients. I had a one hour conversation with a few guys in HK and made US$200 for my efforts. Wow! I thought at the time, look at me being paid to consult for a big global firm. They have approached me twice since, but neither topic I felt I was expertly qualified for. This one may well be a great little source of additional income for someone who is recently retired, but frankly it's never going to pay the bills. Still, good to keep going as a small drip feed income option.

3) Mining training courses - I am no expert on current use of software these days, but I do have a lot of knowledge. What made me think of this was an example from the blog mentioned earlier here, and also an experience from Penjom. I put together a tutorial on One Note for how to design batter blasts in open-cut mines. One of our senior engineers thought it was awesome. I never got the chance to do more, but perhaps I could? And then post them for fairly cheap prices for engineers looking for tips. You'd only need to sell a couple for people to show an interest in your work.

4) Punting - well as described above, this is something I have been pursuing for years, with limited success. Now that I think of it, maybe I should go back to the old days and review my data when I was trying to get lots of action. Perhaps that same data could be made to work for me in helping to fine tune the aspects of horse racing that make more of a difference in the long run. Who knows. I just know I need my trials to show consistency over a few months, and then maybe we can think about a live run.


5) Cooking - so I'm thinking about things I am good at, and cooking is one of them. I don't say I am an expert, but I think I do ok. And frankly, one of my favourite channels on YouTube - Greg's Kitchen - he is an amateur cook at best, but he does it with panache and makes it fun. I can do that. Maybe I should. It's worth a try, especially being a multi-cultural family, who can appeal to a wide variety of folk. I have proven it with the chicken wings recipe over the years - I've had Poms, Aussies, South Africans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Canadians, and no doubt one or two others gush praise for that recipe (thanks Mum, thanks Pete!).

6) Tutoring - this is an interesting one. Way back when, in 1991, when at uni, I enrolled to be a tutor. I didn't last long as both my clients, being teenage girls, felt that tutoring in other activities was also a good idea. Haha, far out, young me was so naive. So I ran away. But the fact remains that I was good at it, and with my recent homeschool experience, maybe I can do a bit of tutoring in my spare time. It is worth considering as an additional income option. It ain't passive by any means, but it's still interesting.

So there you go. I'm going to give freelance writing a serious bit of investigation in the coming week, as I continue to look for full-time work. Apart from that, maybe I can offer my services as a local tutor of English? It's an interesting thought. The fact is, there are many ways one can make a few bucks. Maybe few of them can make a lot of money, but altogether, it can make a difference. But managing one's time, especially when family is involved, is a challenge, and something to keep in mind. Anyway, let's see where this leads.