91. Work optional at 34 with Anthony Nguyen

Anthony Nguyen spent around a decade building towards financial independence. But when he got close to his target, he did something many people struggle to imagine: he stopped early.

After years in commercial banking, Anthony took a career break, stepped away from the corporate world, and discovered that financial independence wasn't really about doing nothing. It was about creating the freedom to do more meaningful work, build stronger relationships and design life on his own terms.

In this episode we'll discuss:

💸 How Anthony went from feeling the Sunday scaries in commercial banking to Googling "how do I not work forever?" and discovering the FIRE movement

💸 Why he moved away from individual shares and towards ETFs after learning some painful early investing lessons

💸 Why property investing never appealed to him, despite growing up in Sydney surrounded by the belief that property should be the default path

💸 Renting forever by choice: how minimalism, travel and geographic freedom shaped Anthony's view of housing

💸 The 50% savings rate he adopted early in his career, and how salary increases went straight into investments instead of lifestyle upgrades

💸 Why Anthony didn't wait until reaching 25 times his annual expenses before stepping away from work

💸 The impact of Die With Zero, and why good health, time and financial stability pushed him to bring his plans forward

💸 Why the first year of freedom wasn't simply endless travel, cycling and hobbies — and how boredom and isolation forced him to rethink what a good life actually looked like

💸 Anthony's version of a perfect day: meaningful work, meaningful relationships and some form of physical activity