In SIngapore, its monetise or be monetised.

With my latest video on how to invest to attain FIRE, my subscriber base hit 850. No small feat considering that the primary approach is for personal branding, and I've avoided overly incendiary content and focused primarily on how useful it will be for the viewers.

Today I'm going to talk about monetisation. 

After reading this article entitled All Hail the Landlord by a left-winged troll called Zat Astha on The Peak magazine, which hit a nerve some time ago, which demonised landlords to a certain extent. My reaction was to clear one of my rooms in double time and get my real estate friend to find me a tenant. If you are looking for a one-room in the North, you can respond to this ad: 

https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listing/hdb-for-rent-350-woodlands-avenue-3-25641833

If I read about something left-wing academic types complain about, my personal rule is to embody the problem because it has always done me good from Thomas Piketty's (r>g) doctrine, David Graeber's concept of bullshit jobs and Marxist dialectic materialism - I think my version of FIRE I embody beenefitted largely from sociologists, political scientists and economist who actually hate capitalism.

As an owner of multiple REITs, I don't think landlords are evil. The only way to get higher rentals is to find a tenant willing to pay for them, and we've just emerged from a time when mortgage interest rates were sky high. Accusing landlords of trying to keep their shops empty is irrational, as landlords lose money every month to keep their property unoccupied. Businessmen must become more competitive or move into a zone with lower rents and footfall.

But what do we do at the personal level? 

In this current economic environment, even when I am in a state of comfort, I should always find something to monetise, whether a personal brand or a spare room. For many years, my kids were not ready for us to get rid of their toys, and we had a spare room full of clutter. Now, it's actually advantageous to have a tenant to keep a lookout for my mum and maybe flip the master switch during a power trip. Having some rent is just icing on the cake - it's not always about greed.  

If a person fails to monetise, they will be monetised—they will have to take up employment for most of their waking hours. I think readers are better off giving up the concept of loyalty and just treating work as selling time for money - this will eliminate many sources of stress in their lives. 

Anyway, at the personal level, I'm not having a good time right now as I've just started on insulin injections daily. I was initially glad about lower medical expenses, but then I learnt that now I have to buy a box of needles every month with alcohol swabs. I hope the elimination of my drug regimen and its side effects will make this change worthwhile. The last thing I want is to switch to insulin from the hospital bed.