My Dream Is To Travel Around The World On My Big Bike

We have a reader, Rahman who wrote to us about his dream to travel around the world on his big bike. Intrigued with his story, we asked him to share how he plans financially to achieve his dream. Without hesitant, Rahman told us about his Four – Golden Rules:

1. Settle your debt (this is important)
2. Save as much as you can once debt is fully settled (60% of your income)
3. Investment (must be 10%/annum return)
4. Do not lose money on investing

In addition to that, Rahman is also very strict with his spending and lives by Warren Buffet’s quote;

‘If you start buying things that you dont need, one day you will start selling what you need’

His Story

I graduated from University Malaysia Sabah, major in Psychology. I was  the 4th out of six siblings. My late father was ex-Felda staff and my mother  is a retired teacher. I have been experimenting ways to generate income through business since university years, back in 2011. Then, I had a small car rental business and I love making money, so I did not feel the pain of hard work.

Upon graduation, I had to go back to peninsular, therefore I sold my business to a friend. At home, when I was back in Kedah, I tried to do many jobs and businesses including banking and transportation. Then, I learned the skills in selling and how to attract customers.

In months later, I was offered a job placement in customer service and I took it. In taking up the offer I had to move to Kuala Lumpur with a basic salary of RM1,700. The pay was very little, however I was determined to make it work.

To me, that job is just an opening for more opportunities in Klang Valley. I worked really hard and built my rapport and network with the  people around me. I know, in six months when the contract ended, I need to move on to something better. True enough, after my contract expired, I managed to secure myself a position as a Microsoft Ambassador in another company with a pay of RM2,100. It was hard to have savings and survive with that pay, but I was contented, because in this job I had the opportunity to improve my soft skills and I got to learn more English.

Not long after, I received another job offer, with basic of RM2,700, and I felt really good. With this amount, I managed to have some savings. I lived on very basic life and thrifty with my spending. At that time, I managed to save around RM1,000 monthly and I was dreaming to retire at early age. However, everything was not going as I planned it when I was involved in an accident. Sadly, it was fourth day after Hari Raya.

I had to withdraw from my savings to support my expenses and to survive. Then, it got me thinking that having savings alone will not be enough. I started buying insurance for health and medical, and some to protect my possessions. At the same time, I thought of a plan in mind that I have to recalculate all my cost and improvise my strategy.

The Plan

• Retire by the Age of 40 ( I am 27 right now)
• To settle all my debts by 30 (to allocate RM800 monthly to completely debt free by 30)
• Save money and stash in an investment with a return of no less 10% yearly (at least RM500k)

True enough, the accident that I met was not all bad luck. Later, I have another job offer with basic of RM3,200. With this basic I can elevate my savings and investment up to RM2,000 monthly. My monthly cost is about RM1,500. I already own a home so I am lucky that I will be able to focus on early retirement and achieving my dream. The focus of the plan is to have savings and investment around RM500k, at that time it will be sufficient for me to travel around the world on my big bike!

Your Feedback

Your dream might not be the same as Rahman’s but we would appreciate it very much if you can share with us your plan in achieving  yours  or any suggestion for Rahman to add on/ improve his plan.

Write to us in the comment below or email us if you prefer, hopefully a lot of people will be able to benefit from your knowledge and experience.