Find your way and press "Play" (Part I)
Hello stranger. I don't know why and how you came here but I appreciate your attention. I start this blog as an experiment and journal for my investing journey. I caught myself soliloquizing way too often recently and therefore I decided to write down my ideas instead of arguing with the mirror while sitting on the toilet.
Let me introduce myself first: I am a 29 years old engineer from Germany, so please excuse me if my English is not flawless. Currently, I am working on my PhD thesis about refractories in steel making. Studying this special (and kind of weird) topic and following the corresponding career path never was a deliberate decision. I did not wake up one morning and said to myself: "I want to become the world's best refractory engineer". I just knew that I kind of liked Physics and Math, so Engineering was an appropriate choice.
Getting into such a niche profession (refractories) of the broad Engineering field is due to an uncle of mine who was a former professor at my current university and had connections to my current institute. The reasoning was logical. In the age of influencers, programmers and start-up entrepreneurs, the demand of ugly, boring, old-fashioned 20th century refractory engineers is not covered by the low number of graduates. Despite the fact that the old industries are dying slowly but surely in the western world, the (subsidized) German specialty steel industry should remain firm over the next 10-20 years. And I did not think twice. I graduated in 2016 and instantly got a job at my institute.
Due to my low materialistic demands, I now have a savings rate of approximately 60%. A supportive and lovely girlfriend, a good relationship to my family, very good friends, acceptable health and fitness, decent hobbies, a car, a nice apartment, ... I have everything a lucky person needs. Instead of working 8 hours a day for materialistic stuff commercials tell me to buy and consume in order to feel happy, I want to trade this income for the most precious things in life: time and freedom.
By now you should have noticed that I am kind of part of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. The funny part is that I just recently learned that such a community exists and I have no “real” affiliation to the community. I actually just always was a cheap bastard. I was born with the ability to feel physical pain from spending money on stuff I don't need in my life. But I claim that I never was a greedy person. I always supported my friends, family and partners for life in times of financial need. For my own consumer habits, I just always think twice and ask: "Do you really need this? Does this really make you happy?" And honestly: Most of the time, the answer is "No".
Actually, no bad conditions for retiring early:
Have a decently well-paid job? Check!
Have a high savings rate to retire early? Check!
One Problem remains, however: When you finally retire, you have to find a passion to spend your time on. In my childhood I tried many things and my supportive parents enabled every possible activity (even though they didn’t have much money). Playing the guitar, chess, drawing, writing, windsurfing, snowboarding and many others. Interests come and go.
Here some of my current interests:
Gaming
Cooking
Hiking
Climbing
Learning about psychology, science, technology and similar topics
Investing
I hope you can tell by now that this is neither a gaming newsletter nor a cooking or lifestlye blog. Despite my young age, investing is my passion since over 10 years. I want to share my ideas and my journey with you, on the long way to financial independence. About the early stages of my Investing "career", I will write in my next blog post.
Kind regards,
Your Non-Prophet