Make a career of aiming for financial freedom

I agree with Mr Paul Heng's proposal of a mindset shift from "it could never happen to me" to "what am I going to do if I lose my job?" ("Enhance skills, network to prepare for challenging year"; Dec 19).

In the light of the continued restructuring of the economy and increasingly capital-intensive nature of production, most of us are bound to face job loss one day.

While it is crucial that we enhance our employability by upgrading our skills and networking extensively, we must not restrict ourselves to just looking at the traditional concept of "job security".

One of today's catchphrases is "financial freedom".

This is most commonly defined as the point at which one's assets (stocks, bonds, real estate, and so on) produce enough income to cover baseline expenses.

Singaporeans should aim for multiple avenues of income, to provide an additional safety net, should the economy falter.

Investing and performing financial planning early will be of help.

One can also engage in a "slash" career, where one pursues multiple unrelated careers simultaneously.

Qu Aohan (Ms)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 21, 2016, with the headline Make a career of aiming for financial freedom. Subscribe