About

The Motivation

Dear Readers,

I am 24 years old and I am a recent university graduate who is about to enter the workforce. See a picture of me below:

At a university awards ceremony, I had the pleasure of interacting with other award recipients. They all had one thing in common, they were all super keen for their graduate roles in big 4 accounting firms, corporates, consultancies, etc. I had landed a corporate role but I didn’t share their enthusiasm. I had an epiphany, heavenly rays of light casting into my soul, my whole life up to this moment was to land a good job…which I did, but could I do better?

What is life? What is the purpose of my existence on this Earth? What makes me happy?

Like most people, I have not found answers to the above, however such reflection made me realise I needed to do something more fulfilling than climbing the endless corporate ladder. Everyone knows money doesn’t bring happiness, and yet, it is the anchor that prevents people from doing what they want in life. Upon reflection, the happiest moments in recent memory came from spending time with family, doing the things I love (travelling, scuba diving, feeding my Coca-Cola addiction), and strangely, almost dying on a small dinghy in the pacific ocean in the middle of a tropical storm – yes, it was oddly peaceful. And unfortunately, the four weeks annual leave I’m entitled to is not enough to fit that all in. For the record, my family is spread out around the world.

After the aforementioned award ceremony, I felt a sudden urge to be free, and I made the decision to be financially independent by 35 years old. Now I can’t say for certain if I’ll be successful in this endeavour, but I’ll be happy as long as I give it my all. Hopefully by then, I’ll have figured out a more meaningful way to spend my time.

The Blog

Value investing, as inspired by Benjamin Graham, will be my main means to achieving financial independence. I will post brief analysis on companies, show what I am invested in, and most importantly, talk about my mistakes.

I have been investing for almost two years now, and while value investing has worked out well so far, it has been incredibly difficult to adhere to. I have lost discipline and have been side-tracked by speculative and growth stocks. This blog will serve to keep me on the straights and hopefully you, the reader, will learn from my mistakes.

Not all posts will be about value investing, I will frequently write about my thoughts, tribulations, and trials in life.

Should you ever wish to get in contact, you can reach me at admin@thevaluebaby.com.

Cheers!