Heyy, it's been a minute! Thank you to my dear friend Soph (@sophinvests) for reminding me to post hehe. It's always nice having someone keep you accountable :-)
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Exactly one week ago I turned 25 and the best way I could think of celebrating is by crossing out another one of my bucket list items: to kayak on the Sydney Harbour 🚣🏻‍♂️ Waking up at 4am, meeting new people and watching the sunrise with our coffees in a thermos - it was exactly how I wanted to celebrate!!

And with that, I was reminded of why I'm so drawn to financial freedom in the first place. It's time affluence, which to me is unhurried time to pursue meaningful things. I was never really into high status, flashy symbols or aesthetics (not that there's anything wrong with it, we all value different things).

But also, it's not just about having more time, it's also the quality of that time aka knowing how to spend it - doing things that give back to us.

The first $100k matters, not just because it sounds impressive...

As you know my goal is to front-load my investments in my 20s, and that looks like getting to my first $100K ASAP. If you didn't already know, the first $100k is a bi*ch (according to Charlie Munger), but you gotta do everything you can to get there. After that, you're about "one third on the way to a million" in terms of the time it takes. It doesn't make sense mathematically, and that's the power of compound interest. Check this out:

I'm officially halfway to $100k! 🎉

Since the last update on March 31st, 2026, I've invested exactly $7,530.84 (I've been using Moomoo for the relatively low fees) and my current portfolio is now sitting at ~$53,000. In one of my initial posts I mentioned that ALL earnings from content creation, freelancing and other casual gigs will be invested but I lied. Silly me didn't take into account taxes so I made sure to set aside 30%. Anyway I'm not an expert, I'm literally figuring this out as I go and enjoy sharing it with you.

Where's the money coming from?

It's been a year since leaving corporate and since then my income has been unstable which is a shock after getting used to a stable pay for 3~4 years of work. If there's anything I've learnt it's that unstable pay definitely creates a sense of urgency to get out there and seek more opportunities, which I think is a great thing to experience in my 20s (while I can afford the uncertainty)

Truth is, most of the money I'm spending to stay afloat is what was supposed to be my property deposit. In 2022 I started saving for a home deposit, and I accelerated those savings when I started corporate in 2023 (I'm talking $1,000 every fortnight - which is a privilege I have while living at home with parents. Please don't @ me, I'm filipino and it's very normal we live at home until marriage which is a conventional thing that I'm now questioning but anyway that's for another day)
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​I had around $70,000 saved in the bank as of May 2025, and after 1 year it's now down to $45,000. I plan to invest some of this and get the balance down to $15~20k because I don't want too much just sitting in the bank (inflationnnn!!!!)

What's the end goal?

I worked in UX Design, and in this space we do iterations. The best thing about being a creative is that perfection doesn't exist, but trying to be perfect from the get go can be paralysing and therefore unproductive. I always thought I needed a clear cut financial goal that made sense to me and everyone else, but that's not how personal finance works. Money spent, saved and earned is just a reflection of your own lifestyle and goals.

I've given myself something to work towards - to become work optional in my 40s. I say work optional because I actually don't dream of "retirement". I'm gonna have to lock in for the next 15 years though...

That's all I have for today. I hope you're all thriving in life and smashing your goals 💌
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Until next time,