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Luisa Tam

Many of you have no doubt asked yourselves at one time or another why you work so hard, and for what.
And while the obvious response might be to quit working so hard, it is not that simple if you are stuck in the work-and-spend rut of the modern world.
This lifestyle is the norm in big cities such as Hong Kong, where studies have highlighted our culture of working long hours and unhealthy capacity for shopping.
A survey released last year by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, based on government data, found 20 per cent of the city’s 3 million-strong workforce put in an average of 55 hours per week, or 11 hours a day based on a five-day working week.
But now more people around the world are looking to retire early, rather than working until they reach their 60s.

According to advocates of the “financial independence, retire early” (Fire) movement, retiring 20 or 30 years earlier is no longer a pipe dream.
The concept has swept across Europe and America since the 1990s, and has gradually picked up momentum in this part of the world, gaining popularity among millennials, many of whom are now in this age bracket.
This generation believes early retirement isn’t the preserve of the ultra rich, with many members of the middle-class aiming to enjoy living before it’s too late.
The basic idea behind Fire is to condense your working life, instead of spreading it throughout your lifetime. If we divide our life into three stages, there are the years for learning, then working, and finally enjoying it before we become too old.
Hongkongers have worst work-life balance in Asia-Pacific
Very often, we spend too many years working to make enough money to enjoy old age. But by that point we might not be physically fit enough to fulfil our dreams, and do things we really wanted to do when we were young.
Fire provides an answer to this conundrum.
The idea is to calculate your average annual expenses, and then multiply that by 25 to give you the amount of your retirement fund. But to achieve that you need to cut out all unnecessary or extravagant spending.
After achieving your retirement fund, you have the freedom to decide whether you want to stop working entirely, or do so at your own pace.


Hongkongers are perfect candidates for the movement. Locals generally work really hard to provide for themselves and their families, the only problem is many of us generally can’t resist the temptation to spend.
According to a Greenpeace survey from 2017, Hongkongers have some of the unhealthiest shopping habits in the world. The city ranked top in 10 out of 12 indicators that showed a tendency to spend excessively on material goods, and an unhealthy reliance on shopping.
But the Fire concept only works if there is an adjustment in spending.
So, here is an idea. Compile a list of regular monthly expenses, and a list of things that make you happy every month. Then compare the two lists, and you might find items on the happy list are mostly free or cost very little.
In start-up driven Hong Kong, ‘996’ grind blurs work-life boundary
The concept effectively allows you to buy back your freedom through hard work within a fixed, shorter period of time, during which you limit your spending on necessities and build up savings.
And this comes down to a choice of living according to your needs rather than your wants, and within your limits without exhausting yourselves physically. More often than not, we are tempted to work too hard for material gains, and are effectively trading our health for money.
Mind you, Hong Kong has one of the most expensive housing markets in the world, so this presents a challenge to those wanting to retire early.

Nonetheless, Fire gives new impetus to achieve more financial discipline and provide insights so we learn to value time over money.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, the way we shop and live have drastically changed, which has provided a lot of opportunities for online services or small businesses.
As a result, everyone can be an entrepreneur given the opportunity. And who wouldn’t be fired up if given a chance to regain control of their life, and do something extraordinary in this extraordinary time?
Luisa Tam is a Post correspondent who also hosts Cantonese-language video tutorials that are now part of Cathay Pacific’s in-flight entertainment programme


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My Hong Kong

Stop shopping, start saving, and light a fire under your dreams of early retirement

Hongkongers in face masks head to work in Central. Photo: Nora Tam

A man is seen going to work on foot as protesters remained on the streets overnight causing a roadblock after a march from Causeway Bay to the Central Government Offices in Tamar, Admiralty, against the extradition bill and calling on city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign. 17JUN19 SCMP / Edmond So

Times is money illustration. Photo: Shutterstock

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Working hard can mean trading your health for wealth, especially in a city like Hong Kong, but that’s no good if you are then too old to enjoy life after the office



Working hard can mean trading your health for wealth, especially in a city like Hong Kong, but that’s no good if you are then too old to enjoy life after the office.


Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}My Hong Kong | Stop shopping, start saving, and light a fire under your dreams of early retirement

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Working hard can mean trading your health for wealth, especially in a city like Hong Kong, but that’s no good if you are then too old to enjoy life after the office

My Hong Kong | Stop shopping, start saving, and light a fire under your dreams of early retirement

Working hard can mean trading your health for wealth, especially in a city like Hong Kong, but that’s no good if you are then too old to enjoy life after the office