
Thanks for being here
Society has generally taught us to follow certain paths. Go to school, get married, spend outside your means, and work your 9 – 5 until retirement at 65. But I realized I didn’t want to be spending most of my day, my week, my life on a 9 – 5 that I didn’t feel added value. I was your stereotypical overachiever climbing the corporate ladder. But you may have a time in your life where you realize that what you think you should be doing or where you think you are thriving may not actually be what you want to do… If this sounds like you, I totally understand. Here is My Story...
All About Me
My parents immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in their 20s and my brother and I were born in Calgary, Canada. I watched them work so hard and grind, so that we could have an amazing life here and that really rubbed off on me. My mom worked through University here in Canada and has a degree in Mathematics. My dad worked day and night shifts and because Canada didn't recognize many of the University courses he had taken in Hong Kong, he had to retake a lot of his courses in order to get his CMA designation in Canada. They both worked a lot through our childhood and we grew up with a fairly frugal lifestyle. I would wear clothes way too big for me for 10 years that I was supposed to "grow into", had the same Halloween costume multiple years in a row, and remember freezing in the house because my parents set the thermostat to 16 degrees. Because they were conscious with their money and worked so hard to set us up with opportunities in Canada, I grew up in the middle class in a suburban Calgary community.
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Education was always important in my family. My parents would be disappointed if I got less than 100% in exams/classes and in turn, I was also disappointed if I wasn't perfect. My personality and upbringing led me to be an overachiever in anything I took on. I studied hard and honestly enjoyed it, but also was very active in extra curriculars such as gymnastics, piano, and orchestra. Because I always strove to have the best grades and have extra curricular activities, I was able to obtain scholarships for uni. Since most of my university courses were paid for via scholarships, I was fortunate to be able to obtain my Bachelor of Commerce degree debt-free.
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Even as a kid and teenager, it was ground into me to always save my money. So, when I received money for birthdays or whatnot, I never spent it. I already had my basic needs met by my parents (housing, food), and I always liked the idea of growing my savings/net worth, so I'd always put it in the bank.
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I wasn't a cool or popular kid growing up. I think I was the quiet smart Asian kid who could do flips lol. All the cool kids had the latest brand clothes and toys... I did not. It wasn't something my family valued or spent money on. As a kid, I felt left out sometimes and that I didn’t fit in, but looking back, I'm glad I was raised that way. Our parents would instead spend their time and money on our extra curricular activities and interests. I was signed up in a variety of activities and was a very busy and productive kid. As an adult, I still hold this value where I'm honestly just not that interested in fancy material goods. Yes, I splurge every so often, but I still always like to rationalize and justify why it's worth it. As a side note, I do spend decent money on experiences like travel and hobbies because these are things are really value.
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I started handling my own investments when I was 17, basically investing in GICs, and individual stocks. I've learned so much over the years since I first started investing. I continue to invest and have both passive investment income and active investments. In passive income alone, I make 6 figures annually, with this amount growing every year.
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During University, I lived at home and worked 3 jobs. I took any savings I had and invested it. I decided to pursue my Chartered Accountant (CA) designation after graduating based on the prestige, development and future career opportunities. I articled with PwC and was always rated in the highest performance which led to higher salaries. After obtaining my CA designation, I originally thought I wanted to stay at PwC and make Partner, but realizing how your life would just be continually consumed by work, I decided that's not how I wanted to spend my time and I left for industry.
When I left to the energy industry, I worked hard and was rewarded with promotions and higher compensation. During this time, Calvin and I got married and I handled both of our finances. While I was the breadwinner throughout our relationship, Calvin's earnings were very similar (engineer in energy) and we'd aim to bank/invest a whole salary every year. I'd manage our investments, and we had a goal that by the age of 40, we could both "retire". Note retirement for us means being able to leave our jobs and focus on things we're truly more interested in, regardless of money. I have a belief that people are not necessarily striving for "happiness", but rather purpose. So we'd have the financial freedom to live the lifestyle we want and pursue things we feel purposeful. Sidenote: Calvin really enjoys his job, so he'll likely continue working his corporate gigs if that's what he wants, but he has the financial freedom to leave if he wants to.
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While I always wanted to leave my corporate job earlier than typical retirement age, leaving at the age of 33 was not part of my initial plan. However, I was reaching a mental state where it was truly a struggle to wake up each morning. I started reaching a breaking point mentally where I was languishing – overall feeling like my day to day lacked purpose. From the outside, people thought I was thriving, but inside, I felt pretty empty. It wasn’t just my mental health that took a toll, but my physical health and lifestyle were also unhealthy. I felt tired all the time. I spent my whole day sitting – sitting at a desk and then coming home to sit and watch TV. I had no energy to spend on things I actually wanted to do outside of work. While I am good at and enjoy accounting/finance related things, I didn’t want to be tied to a desk for the rest of my life. Part of what was holding me back were also the golden handcuffs – the financial incentives of a stable six figure income which made it hard to leave.
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So over time, I set up passive income sources for financial stability. And in 2023, I stopped working! Honestly, if the work environment hadn't been so toxic and I wasn't at the mental state I was... I'm not sure if I would've finally realized this wasn't the life I wanted. It's been over a year since I left, and I've honestly ALMOST gone back to corporate gigs. Not because I need to, but because I felt it was EXPECTED of me by society. I'm soooo glad I didn't go back, because I truly am so much happier. I now spend time on a variety of things that I am interested in and passionate about. I’m continuing to learn more about myself and pursue the things that really make me feel alive. Most of all, I love how I'm able to wake up excited and decide what I’ll do every day!
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One of the many things I'm passionate about is teaching others to also achieve financial freedom, live a life they love, and move their bodies. To feel empowered to move however you want - on the pole and in life. So I started Break Free With Me!
Break Free With Me focuses on the core values of financial freedom, empowerment, and movement. While there are so many "influencers" teaching people to become influencers and start online businesses, I focus instead on earning income through investing, financial management, and building passive income sources. Using my own experiences, I hope to teach and support others to achieve financial freedom and live a life they truly love.
