Breaking Free From Childhood Wounds: Journey to Financial Independence - Episode 29

Embark on a captivating journey with Amy as she navigates the complex world of personal finance, drawing from her own experiences of witnessing financial hardship during her parents' divorce as a child. As she enters adulthood and secures a job, Amy grapples with the challenges of managing her finances and carrying the weight of those early struggles. Determined to break free from the cycle of financial instability, she sets out on a quest for financial independence. Through self-discovery, diligent research, and the guidance of experts, Amy unveils the path to financial empowerment, learning invaluable lessons about budgeting, investing, and creating a secure future. Witness her inspiring transformation as she overcomes obstacles, embraces a wealth-building mindset, and ultimately achieves the financial freedom she once only dreamed of. This episode offers a compelling narrative of resilience, growth, and the pursuit of a brighter financial future, inspiring listeners to take control of their own financial journeys.

The FI Freedom Retreat offers a supportive community of like-minded individuals who share a common goal: to reclaim their financial power. Connect with fellow attendees, exchange ideas, a nd build lifelong friendships that will continue to inspire and motivate you long after the retreat ends.

Whether you're burdened by debt, yearning to escape the rat race, or simply seeking financial independence to pursue your passions, the FI Freedom Retreat is your transformative gateway. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain financial clarity, design a life aligned with your values, and embrace the freedom you deserve.

Visit fifreedomretreats.com to explore the retreat dates, and the comprehensive resources available. It’s going down this year in Bali September 27th through October 1st. Grab your tickets here. 

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• Camp FI

• Camp Mustache
  

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TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Naseema: what's up? My financially intentional people you are in for a treat cuz we are joined today by Amy Minkley and she has an incredible story. But what's more incredible is that she's exposing so many more people to the FI community, to the, to the fire community, not the financially intentional community.

Not to be mistaken, but the financially independent community with her retreat's in Bali and she is having a retreat towards the end of the summer or in fall this year in Bali that you guys need to know about. But what is more interesting is really just Amy's story because she's just an incredible human being.

But I'll let you be the judge of that yourself. What's up, Amy? How are you?

[00:00:48] Amy: I am fantastic. I'm super excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me on this email.

[00:00:53] Naseema: Of course. Of course. And Amy, I just kind of wanna go through your backstory because you are someone who has been living the expat life in Asia for so many years, but you are a native Texan, right?

[00:01:09] Amy: Yes, I.

[00:01:10] Naseema: So we wanna know, inquiring minds, wanna know like how did you end up living in age just so long? And then how did that translate into your journey into fi?

[00:01:22] Amy: Sure. Yeah. I never planned to live in Asia for so long. I went abroad right after graduating from my undergrad degree. I studied what I love, which was history, and there aren't a lot of career prospects in history. So I, I decided to go abroad. My sister had gone abroad. She's a decade o. Older than me.

And so I used to get her letters in the mail when I was a little girl. And that gave me the dream of, I could go abroad for a few years, teach English. And I thought I would go abroad for one or two years to Japan and I ended up staying four and loving it. I mean, it opened my eyes up to Asia and the whole world and I just saw a whole new realm of possibility, which I hadn't seen in rural Texas.

Surprise, surprise. So,

[00:02:04] Naseema: surprise.

[00:02:04] Amy: Yeah, so it changed my life. Four years was great. And then from there, I ended up learning about international school teaching and staying abroad for since 2001 at this stage. So it's been a

[00:02:17] Naseema: Wow. 2001. So that is 22 years now. Huh.

[00:02:24] Amy: Yes.

[00:02:25] Naseema: So, wow. You were abroad like, I mean, like how was like that culture shock from coming from like Texas to like living in Japan? What was the shift like there?

[00:02:39] Amy: I anticipated that I would have a hard time, cuz I love community and I'm close to my family. And so I remember going over there thinking, I don't know if this is gonna work. My, my aunt said, well, you might come back early and that's okay, but. But I loved it. And it can really vary. So I don't wanna give listeners this picture, like it's all rosy and every time you go abroad and move abroad, it might be rosy.

But for me, I was really lucky. I was hired by the Japanese government to teach in Japanese high schools, and I was working with a lot of people. It's the largest teacher abroad program in the world, 7,000 teachers every year. And so I was working with, people from Jamaica and Australia, New Zealand, and the uk and all over.

Singapore. So I had friends from all over the world. We were all mostly just outta undergrad and we all came at the same time. And so there was this sense of community and I, I developed lifelong friendships, people that I'm still in touch with. In fact, I'm going to see some friends next week that I've been in touch with for 20 years.

So it was a great experience , and community really made it for me. And then the Japanese people are lovely and you know that program, if. If any of your listeners are interested and they just kind of wanna have a little break from their life, you don't have to have a teaching degree. But it could be a fun experience to go and teach in Japan for a year or two even mid-career, just to try something new.

And there were people also that I worked with that weren't just starting off, right out of. Undergrad. There were people in their mid thirties who had done other things and wanted to take a break. So it's, it was a great experience for me and I, I didn't have a lot of culture shock. I absolutely loved it.

[00:04:13] Naseema: Oh my God. I really am excited about being able to expose my girls to international experiences because I just feel like there's. Only a limited amount, you could actually learn just about life and about the world in general. By staying like locally, I really feel like international travel is where it's at to really broaden your horizons.

So I'm super excited to be able to expose my kids to that. So I love listening to stories like yours, but

as far as teaching abroad how much. Like of that language were you required to know before you went there?

[00:04:54] Amy: Well with Japanese, I did some, back then, it was like cassette tapes in my car that I was listening to before I got there. I never studied Japanese, formally before I went. And because I was teaching English and I was working with. English, Japanese English teachers not that much.

And most people went over there not knowing Japanese. And then I picked up, as I was there and took some language classes and the, and that kind of thing. I should be better at Japanese than I am. And I've forgotten a lot cuz I left 15 years ago or more. But but yeah, you didn't need any Japanese language skills because you had an Japanese English teacher in the room with you and you're trying to teach the conversation and also, playing games with them.

So it was, it was fun.

You didn't eat Japanese, so it's, it's a great opportunity.

[00:05:38] Naseema: Yeah, I love that. I l love that as a like transition or as a way to be able to explore internationally. Like why not get paid to go discover different places internationally? So I think that's amazing. But

you've lived in different parts of Asia and what has kind of driven where you've stayed throughout the different countries.

[00:06:01] Amy: Yeah, sure. When I left Japan, and just in case your listeners are interested, since this is a financial podcast, this was 20, I left Japan in 2005, so it was a while ago. And I, I didn't save a lot of money there, the housing was paid for, they paid for my flights over and I was able to save about 20,000 in four years.

So about 5,000 a year, 20 years

[00:06:20] Naseema: Not a lot.

[00:06:21] Amy: not a lot. Not a lot. But I had the time of my life and I, I was young in my twenties and I had a history degree, so it's not like I had a lot of high I had a lot of high income earning that 20,000 allowed me to travel and I took a year off traveling Southeast Asia and South Asia and India and Europe.

And then I went back to grad school and I got my master's degree. So I learned about in that year off, and this is something I would encourage all listeners.

If you have the opportunity, it doesn't have to be a year, it could be six months, it could be two months, it could be a month. Taking some time off, some time from your life to reflect and try something new.

Cuz as you said, when you have a new experience, you expose yourself to something different, it opens up n. A whole new world of possibility to you. And that's what happened during that year off. I met a woman who was teaching internationally in international schools, not in a local high school run by the government.

And

I learned about international school teaching. And so that really gave that really fast-tracked me once I got my master's degree and teaching certification to really start earning more at these international schools. So you asked about, where I went and how long I stayed and I really did target Asia.

Because the, the international schools in Asia, especially the ones that are. A little bit more prestigious. They pay very well and better than other parts of the world. And I also love Asia. But coming from my background and my childhood, I was very savings focused from a childhood money wound.

And so as soon as I got my master's, after traveling around, after leaving Japan, doing a sabbatical year, I went back to Asia with the intention of, of. Saving and paying off the rest of my master's degree that I had to take loans for.

[00:08:09] Naseema: Oh, that's great. That's great. So you just stayed in different. Parts of Asia. So you went from Japan and then what country did you go to next?

[00:08:17] Amy: So after I finished my master's degree, I went to Singapore and I stayed six years and I loved it. I mean, and that was awesome. And I was able to save about 35,000 a year there each year. And I stayed six years. So I saved a good chunk of change there. And I, I house hacked, the school would pay for my housing and then I would rent out my extra bedroom.

And some of this was coming from an unhealthy place from my childhood about I really need to safe, safe, safe. But I was also trying. Traveling a lot. I was having, I had 13 weeks holiday year, so I was still traveling and living my life, but I was a budget traveler and a frugal person, by nature.

And then I went to India for four years and I absolutely loved that school. It was a dream work environment. And I also house hacked there. The school paid our housing and they actually paid another teacher and I, if we. It was a choice, but if we wanted to live together, they would give us 10,000 each a year.

And so that, living with her ended up, I was there four years, gave me another 40,000 on top of my savings. So I saved about 60,000 a year there and I stayed for four years. And then

I decided I was pretty burned out cuz there was A pattern of overworking. And again, coming from the scarcity place from my childhood that I was, I had to work hard to keep this job, that, to keep my savings potential coming from fear, really unhealthy patterns.

So I was, I loved the school and it was an amazing job, but I also overworked. And so I took a, I took another sabbatical year that turned into two. And I can share about that too, but I feel like I'm, I'm sure I'm talking a lot here, so I wanna just take a break and,

[00:09:51] Naseema: Well, I think your story is fascinating and like I love how you just say, oh, I didn't really save a lot. I only save 20,000 a year when you know like most people don't have an like enough to cover a $500 emergency. Right?

And so I just wanna know like where you learn your financial habits from.

I. Even if you're saying that it was kind of like a scarcity mindset that you were just like saving, saving, saving. I wanna know where you got that from and how did you know to travel frugally. How did you know how to house hack to save on your housing costs and like eventually just stack so much money in savings when I, I know you get paid well as far as internationally, like across the board for like teachers, but still it's still a teacher salary at the end of the day.

So I wanna kind of like explore where did that, like savings acumen come from?

[00:10:47] Amy: Yeah, really, really an unhealthy place.

So as a child, my, my parents had a happy marriage as far as I knew, and I felt secure. I have three older sisters, but they're all much older than me. And when I was 12, it was just my mom and dad and I and my sisters were all in college and just.

When he sat me down one day and told me he was leaving. My parents were getting a divorce and I was shocked cuz they never fought and I didn't know there were any issues there. But then he, he had a younger girlfriend and he didn't really wasn't very involved in the family for quite a lot of years and he said he couldn't fully pay child support.

So my mom and I went from having money to not having money and having to sell my childhood home, moving to a different state. My mom went back to college. And it was really a, it was really a tough time. It was just really her and I, and she was really, Sad, she was in shock. But her biggest concern was money.

And she shared a lot of those money concerns with me and I felt a lot of the weight, like I felt kind of like her partner in a way. And I saw her reading financial books and just this kind of panic state of how do I support myself and my daughter?

Cuz I had relied on my husband to, say for my retirement now I don't have anything, so, I, I got a job right away as soon as I could, and I had two jobs during high school.

I had, was calculating on my calculator, this will date me, but it was 1995, or 1993 actually when I got a, 4 25 an hour. How many hours do I need to work to buy a car just so I can get to my job? Crappy old used car, but I loved it when I finally got it

[00:12:22] Naseema: Of course.

[00:12:23] Amy: mm-hmm. And then, college too.

My dad wasn't supporting financially and he had supported my sisters, but you know, at that stage he just really wasn't involved. And so I had to, I was working two jobs living. I worked in the dorms as an ra, I had a work, then I moved to crappy apartments and I just, Saved, as much as I could, I went to a state school.

It took me five years, but I got out debt free and it was much cheaper, back when I went to school at the, in the late nineties, early two thousands time period. But, but I was focused and I had to learn how to budget to pay my rent, pay my tuition, buy my books and all of that. So it was a gift. I'm very grateful.

I don't hold any kind of grudge against my dad. He's, he's since come around and apologized and really he, he lives with a lot of guilt and so I, fully forgive him for that. And I do recognize it impacted me in a lot of negative ways, and it was really tough at the time, but it also brought some, some blessings and some good lessons in my life.

[00:13:19] Naseema: So when your mom had to make that transition, was she working before or was she fully dependent on your dad?

[00:13:25] Amy: She was fully dependent on my dad. Yeah. She came, I mean mm-hmm. And she had me later in

[00:13:31] Naseema: that mindset. I can see that mindset and well, I can't be dependent on anybody, so I need to make sure I'm taking care of myself coming out of that.

[00:13:38] Amy: Hmm.

[00:13:39] Naseema: Yeah.

[00:13:41] Amy: Yeah. She was from a different generation where, she grew up in rural Texas and, and she had me late in life. She had my three older sisters at a more traditional age. But so she was just shocked. She never thought she would get a divorce and yeah, she had, she, she actually became a nurse, so she went back to nursing school and that was her lifeline, and she was a mother, baby delivery nurse too,

[00:13:59] Naseema: Yes.

[00:14:00] Amy: So she was working all the night shifts, doing whatever she could, overtime, panic mode, just trying, and she worked till she was 71 to try to make up ground.

Mm-hmm.

[00:14:09] Naseema: Wow, wow. Yeah. So I can totally understand where that mindset would come from. Listen, we, this is survival. Like I can't depend on anybody else. I need to make sure that I'm taking care of me. Because you were thrown into a position of having to take care of yourself really, really early because your mom was in her, was transitioning herself, and then you were just like, I'm not gonna be an extra burden.

Like I get it. And so You made it work by buying your own car. You, you, you figured out, an a career that you know you can travel, but you could also save if you needed to. But you figured out a way how to do that cheaply. Like I love all the lessons despite. The fact that it had to come from this place.

But yeah, like you said, like you turned that situation into something that eventually worked out well for you and you were able to accumulate savings throughout your years as an international teacher. So what I wanna know is how did you like transition from this, like aggressively savings mode to like being introduced to the financially independent community?

[00:15:23] Amy: It took me a long time as the answer, like it's, it's hard to overcome, this, when you're hardwired to be a super saver and very frugal. It is very hard to change that scarcity mindset, especially if it's coming from a childhood wound. And so, yeah, it if I can back up a little bit and I'll get to that.

Maybe I can tell you when I left India and I mentioned that I overworked and I think there was an imposter syndrome I had and there was probably a piece of unworthiness I had from seeing my dad leaving and then I felt like the kin school. And so I always kind of struggled with, this, I.

Identity that like, I'm not worthy or something as a, as a young teenager, somehow it impacted me on that level. And so when I was getting these jobs at these prestigious schools, I really never felt worthy. So I just worked, work, work, work, work to make myself worthy of the job, cuz that was my lifeline to savings and safety.

But I, I decided to take a sabbatical year and I was gonna go to travel through Africa and I stopped in Bali for a 10 day transformational course and it changed my life. It was so impactful and I actually healed my relationship to my father, and I realized that I had been single for 13 years because I did not trust men, and I believed I needed to be strong and independent.

And so I, I had a healing session that was very powerful and I, I met my partner four days later. I decided I was ready for a partner. I called him in. I met him four days later and I was 41 at this point. I've been single in Asia for a long time. And it's, Good to be single too, but I was, I was tired.

I was ready for a partner after that long. So, yeah, I was blissfully happy and I decided to stay in Bali and I spent two years there. I decided one year of sabbatical, turned into two, and I was so joyful and alive, riding my bike through the rice terraces and just so happy. But, that fear of money of spending for two years and not having any money coming in really started to, was there that demonn on my shoulder again.

And so I saw a job for an international school and I convinced my partner, it's a good idea to move from Bali in nature, to go back to Bangkok, a big city and do this international school job. And I saw that, I could save $90,000 a year there. And so I, put that in my compound interest calculator and I started figuring out how much and so I couldn't tell, say no to that.

I felt, but I was really only choosing that job for the money. That was the only reason. And I got to Bangkok and even though I had loved international school teaching before, it was no longer a fit for me after living two years in Bali and really seeing another way of life that was more balanced, living closer to nature, all of those things.

And I felt. Flat on my face.

[00:18:08] Naseema: Mm.

[00:18:09] Amy: It was not pretty.

[00:18:11] Naseema: Wow. What happened?

[00:18:14] Amy: Yeah, I mean I went through depression. I went through, I was having anxiety after not teaching for two years. I had this major imposter syndrome about the new job I have to prove myself, build my reputation with all new coworkers. And I went into that old pattern of overworking and especially cuz I hadn't been working.

I just, I was waking up at three in the morning, getting up to work in the middle of the nine. I don't know, just really unhealthy patterns of how do I, how do I approve my worth as I just. Work harder and harder and harder and double down and hustle more.

And it didn't have to be that way.

It wasn't that way for all other teachers, but my own neurosis was,

[00:18:51] Naseema: And nobody was, nobody was putting that pressure on you to do those things. Correct?

[00:18:56] Amy: No, no. I mean

it's always a lot of work anytime you start a new school, cuz the curriculum's all different and you're building your materials. So the first year is always really hard. But yeah, and my partner thought, who are you? You were this like flowy, happy person in Bali and suddenly you don't have time for me.

You don't even have time. You're edgy. You're anxious, you're. And he went, he went back to, to Bali. I didn't have time for him in Bangkok, and so it was having an effect on my, my mental wellbeing, my physical health, my relationship after being single for 13 years. I was putting it all in the line for money,

[00:19:30] Naseema: Mm.

[00:19:31] Amy: And I actually, even though I was miserable, I decided to renew for a second year. Because, $90,000 compounded over time like, I was very trapped by that. That fear of, not having money or financial ruin or my story from childhood was, your financial situation can be okay, and then overnight it can disappear.

That's what I learned as a 12 year old, and so I had that fear

and so you, I know this is a long answer to your question, but.

[00:20:00] Naseema: it's fine. It's beautiful.

[00:20:01] Amy: That's where in that moment of really like desperation and depression is when I went searching online and I found the fire movement and it was like a light at the end of a tunnel.

It was like a life raft. It's like suddenly there's another way. There's another possibility.

[00:20:21] Naseema: Yeah. I, I love that. But I thank you for being so vulnerable and sharing that because I, I can, we can all understand like where that motivation to focus on, savings. And I, I just wanna clarify one thing. So when you're saying savings, are you talking about putting money into a savings account or were you investing this money the whole time?

[00:20:44] Amy: Yeah, I was investing the whole time. I saw my mom when I was a teenager reading these investment books and I read, I was reading investment books when I was a teenager, so I, I got started at my Roth IRA when I was living in Japan, so I was always doing low cost index funds.

[00:20:57] Naseema: Wow. So that's amazing. So you knew how to do that from before, before you got introduced to the fire movement. So that is spectacular cuz we see like in propensity, especially for women to just save money and to savings accounts. And that's why I wanted to make sure to clarify that no, your money was actually compounding and growing in investments from the time you started saving as a teacher.

Correct.

[00:21:22] Amy: Yes. Yeah.

[00:21:23] Naseema: Beautiful. Beautiful.

[00:21:25] Amy: Yeah, I really learned the lesson. I cannot depend on a man and I need to be educated myself. As a woman, that's so important.

[00:21:32] Naseema: I love that. I love that. But

what about discovering the fire movement really made the biggest impact on you to kind of shift the way you thought about how you were living?

[00:21:44] Amy: Okay. Yeah, again, it was a slow, I'm a slow learner and I'm a little stubborn and hardheaded, so it took a while cuz I didn't, I didn't know about f I was always saving and investing, but I didn't, have any idea how much money do I need to retire. I thought it was maybe $5 million was my goal, and I had projected it out if I said, So really learning about, the 4% rule and knowing how much, cuz I had lived those two sabbatical years in Bali before I went to Bangkok, knowing how much it cost me to live there.

And that was my best life, and then I, and I had a good nest egg already, so realizing, oh, I'm actually better off than I realized. But it took a while of reading a lot of books and listening to a lot of, and I went down the rabbit hole, and I was. Depressed, and it was just like, this is my lifeline, so let me listen and, and read everything.

And it was also during the pandemic. So there was, a lot of, not a lot of other community around me, I guess. So I really I discovered that I was okay, but it took some time because again, I said, I, I. I renewed my, my job for a second year, which I planned together just for one year. I convinced my partner, well let's just go one year, and then I renewed it and then I was me deeply unhappy and I quit and I broke contract, which was super scary cuz I knew that that would maybe blacklist me for all international schools forever cuz it's a kind of a small network.

But I actually quit and broke contract after I already signed a second year contract. And then I actually went back in four months later and begged for my job. Back and then I worked that second year and the second year was better and I learned to balance it a little bit more. And we were teaching online and actually got to teach from an island in southern Thailand, and my partner came over there.

So it ended up being okay in the end, but not because I made smart choices along the way, mostly just outta luck and, and those kind of things, but, But yeah, it took, it took me a while and a lot of it was that knowledge of the fire knowledge, but it took just a while to change that mentality and also diving into mindset, like knowing the nuts and bolts, the knowledge, but it's also the, it's not only the information, it's also the transformation and seeing those childhood beliefs of, money could disappear at any moment.

I have to be strong and independent. Only depend on myself, even though I've got a partner now, and we've been together for several years now, just allowing myself to look at some of the subconscious beliefs and start to change them. So I did a lot of belief work as well. And then time,

[00:24:10] Naseema: yeah. I love that. Yeah, I love that. And, and it's like you had the technical know-how and the skills, but what was really missing was that component of first of all, I. You are okay financially, you're in a way better place than you thought. But then also being like, okay, like I can kind of release some of these beliefs around money that has kind of gotten me trapped in situations where I would give up living my best life for money. And I like that you like used this discovery to heal those beliefs. I think it's fabulous.

Do you remember how much like it cost you per year to live in Bali during your sabbatical years?

[00:24:57] Amy: Yeah, I would say, I spend On the average day, I spend about $50 because I'm still in Bali, and then, then I like to pat in a lot of extra because there are always courses. I love to do courses. I'm a, a nut for this kind of thing. So, I like to pat in several. Several thousands of dollars for that.

So I would say in a year my daily budget added up, plus insurance, plus these higher price ticket items, like courses that I love to do, it's gonna cost me $25,000 a year. And that's a very fat life. That's just for me cuz my partner also is spending about that much. So we're not living on the cheap and Bali.

I mean, you can definitely live cheaper than that. But that's going out to eat twice a day. That's me going to yoga, going to classes multiple times, a day. I often go to more than one class in a day between yoga and something else. So that's like the most luxurious life that I can have there.

Really, there's nothing else I would really want there.

[00:25:52] Naseema: What were your housing? What was, what did your housing look like?

[00:25:56] Amy: So, I mean, we still have, our place in the rice fields and we don't own it. We rent monthly. So it, it can be about 400 to 600 a month. Depending on how many rooms you get, it can be even more than that. I mean, of course people can spend $2,000 a month for a huge palatial place with a private pool and all of that.

But you know, we typically get a two bedroom, two bath place. We like to have our own space. So it's usually around four to 600 a month, and that's divided in half. And that's not the price you'll find if you come on holiday and you're just looking for a nightly rental. But if you're there for a while and you're able to negotiate for a monthly price and you can scope out and really, find some deals, then that, that's what we, what we pay it.

Prices have gone up a little bit, with Airbnb and after the pandemic and that, but you know, it's, yeah, it's right around five or 600, I guess I would say, now a month, and then we split that. So it's pretty reasonable.

[00:26:52] Naseema: That sounds very, very reasonable. So now I wanna transition into the FI Freedom retreat and how that idea came to you and how you're curating this beautiful experience for people in Bali. And this is your first year doing it, correct.

[00:27:09] Amy: Yes, yes.

[00:27:10] Naseema: And, and you have got some heavy hitters there. Let's dive into the FI freedom retreat, like how you were inspired to create it and what is it gonna look like for people? And let me just say it is phenomenal.

To know that this is your first year hosting this retreat and it is already sold out, and you have got some incredible people attending and some incredible speakers, so let's talk about it. I'm super excited for our listeners to hear about it.

[00:27:43] Amy: Thank you. Yeah. You asked first about the idea and where did it come to me and it was, it's really in those kind of dark days when I was depressed and Bangkok during the pandemic and listening to all of these fire podcasts and I heard about Campfire and Economy and I thought, I've lived, I want something on this side of the world.

I want community, I wanna connect to fire people. And I, I loved Bali. And so that was my idea back then was I wanna. Bring something to Bali on this side of the world. And then I quit my job in Bangkok finally, and I went back to the us My dad had a stroke and so I came back to help a lot with that.

And during that time I went to a lot of fire events. I've been to. Eight between economy and I, I met you in person at economy, which is super fun and I love economy. So if listeners haven't been to economy or campfire, or Camp Mustache or FIN Talks, those are all wonderful events. And so I went to eight events and I'm going to Camp Mustache, you at the end of the month as well.

So that'll be my ninth event. But going to these. In-person events. There's something so special about the community. They're, creative, they're supportive. They're such out of the box thinkers. They're very helpful and inspiring. People logged into my Vanguard account. They looked at my asset allocation.

They talked through my money fears with me. They looked at my spreadsheets, they looked at my numbers. I was so. Touched by how supportive people were and really, I just wanna give back to this community and create this opportunity for other people as well. And I have a dream of uniting, the fire communities and other parts of the world and getting Australians and Americans and Singaporean and people who live on that side of the world, who, it's a long way to fly to a u a fire conference in the us but then a lot of people are from the US are coming over too.

So it's gonna be fun to, to get people together from all different places.

[00:29:33] Naseema: Yes. I love that. And I was just writing down like all the events that you, all the fire events that you attend stateside. I'm gonna list those out too, just in case people were interested in attending those over here. But just walk us through what the event is gonna be comprised of. Like how is it all set up in the beautiful country in Bali?

[00:29:55] Amy: Thank you. Yeah, I'm super excited about the speakers. I really wanted to bring in people that are, have something really different to offer to the audience and may not. People may have not have heard from them before. So I do have some heavy hitters and there's also some people that will bring in something unique and new which is I think very exciting.

And I've, got some non-US speakers too. So I think that's gonna be fun for the audience. We're gonna have amazing speakers, the. The participants who are coming, I know a lot of them and they are amazing. So there's, there's podcasters in the audience and there's very, very money savvy people.

So at these events that I've gone to, I learned a lot from the speakers, but I learned just as much from the other participants and the conversations we have around the pool. And we're gonna be doing amazing excursions to see, rice skilled walks and volcano views and monkey forests going to the monkey forest and water temple blessings.

And so we're. Gonna have cultural activities and adventures and community time and we're gonna go to KK dances where they dance on hot colds and put fire down their, their mouth and their throat. So there's so many fun things we're gonna do and, the power of community is what's. Incredible. I think that that's really what these events are about.

It's about connecting to like-minded people, being inspired on your fire journey. Especially, sometimes we're in that middle part where it can be a little bit of a lonely, isolating journey. And to be able to connect to others who are on that journey, who may have an idea or perspective that I, at least that's what I found.

I hadn't thought of something that I hadn't seen. There's no. Price tag you can put on that because I feel like for me it's fast tracked my life and fast tracked my journey and my awareness of what is possible. And so I feel like it's, it's gonna be amazing and a lot of people are coming and staying for se, multiple weeks and we're going to down to the beach afterwards, even after it ends.

People are still gonna be hanging out and, building community together in a smaller group if they don't have to rush back to work. So I'm excited to show people Bali because I love the community of friends I have there too. And, and there's a lot of digital nomads and entrepreneurs and so it's cool that people can stay around.

They're gonna be exposed to the fire community, but they also can meet a lot of digital nomads and entrepreneurs and people who are doing pretty inspiring things in Bali. And then the bolognese people are amazing. So it's just, it's gonna be great all the way around.

[00:32:21] Naseema: Oh my God, it sounds so exciting. And like, why not stay in Bali longer if you're gonna travel across the world, make it a vacation for real. So I love it and I just know it's gonna be an incredible event. I'm just mind blown about like how you were able to put this together and I just want as many people to experience it as possible.

But this year sold out. Do you have the dates for next year?

[00:32:48] Amy: I am thinking I probably will do it again in September next year. Yeah, it's, it's a great month to visit. Beautiful weather and it's not peak season either, which is, is quite nice, but I'm not confirmed. I think I'll, I'll wait till this one, it's the end of September this year and then I'll make a plan for next year.

But I would encourage listeners to go down to the footer of my website, which is Five Freedom Retreat. With an S sign up for the mailing list, cuz it's sold out very fast this year and they can go ahead and sign up now, so they can be the first to know about the dates for next year once I release those.

But I would love to welcome them to Bali. I'd love to welcome you to Bali if it, if it aligns for you in the future,

[00:33:27] Naseema: yes, yes.

[00:33:28] Amy: yeah.

[00:33:29] Naseema: Yeah. I am trying to make sure that me and my girls get to Bali because I know it'll be an incredible experience and to be able to be a, to be there with you, Amy, I think because of your, how long you've lived there and just to be exposed to your community would be amazing. So yes, we are putting that in the works.

Well, thank you Amy, so much for joining us and make sure you guys are following Amy and going over to her website of the Fi Freedom Retreat and then signing up for her mailing list so you get more information. As you can tell, she's an incredible person because of how many people just.

Like naturally gravitate to her, how easy it was for her to sell out this amazing experience, which is no small feat. And I just wanna give you your flowers for that, Amy, because listen, I tried to curate retreats and they are very, very hard. So for you to be able to knock this one out the park on the first time, I think sh goes to show what an amazing person you are.

And so I'm super honored to be able to know you and I'm looking forward to our audience getting to know you better. But the best way to do that is to make sure you sign up for the mailing list to get more information about what Amy is doing in this world. So thanks again, Amy. So.

[00:34:55] Amy: Thank you Nasima. I really appreciate what you're doing and for creating financial literacy in the world and I so admire your journey. You're incredible playing off 1 million of debt in two years, so important and, and sharing this message of financial freedom and literacy with your audience. I appreciate it.

Thank you for having me on.

[00:35:13] Naseema: Aw, thank you.

Hey there I’m Naseema

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