So far, this is the end of the line for me. I write from here, on a 10+ year old computer. And I have no plans of relocating again.

When you get to be my age, you are not so much looking for a place to live any longer; you are mainly looking for a place to die! And you start to realize that event could happen any day now. In fact, it seems to me that the 60s are a somewhat precarious period; many of our friends didn’t make it past 70. I mention Ong Kiem Sian, John Cars, Clive Briffett and Iain Ewing below but there are others. In view of that, you need to appreciate each extra year you get to experience. 

I believe that your health outcome is pretty much a lottery. Clive was never sick a day in his life, he didn’t smoke, he loved the outdoors, had a pool in his garden in Oxford, England and stayed fit. One Saturday morning he got up, felt a bit unwell, had a massive cardiac arrest and an hour later he was dead. His wife Hilary is such a sweet lady, she must have been in shock. Something similar happened to John Cars. It could happen to anybody, especially if you are over 60. 

Having said that, that your health is a game of chance, I also believe that there are some things you can do to improve your odds. Probability calculations point to certain health risk factors, many of those can be avoided; obesity is the most obvious one, but there are others, such as being careful to avoid accidents, especially in traffic. I have never bought a health insurance, in Be Financially Free (Marshall Cavendish, 2016) I cover the issues with insurance in more depth, so I don’t need to elaborate on that here; I sum up some of my views in this article of mine on LinkedIn. In my view, it generally doesn’t pay to bet against yourself. I prefer to do what little I can to improve my healthcare odds, manage the money I save myself, and then deal with emergencies case-by-case as they inevitably crop up.  

Iain Ewing had two much sought-after passports (British/Canadian); he was wealthy and could base himself basically anywhere he wanted to. But he chose to die in Singapore. I have made the same decision. I guess I could buy a little red house in Sweden with some land to manage and live there quite comfortably. But I am afraid that I would be bored to tears there. As you know, in life only two things are certain: Death and taxes. In both cases Singapore comes out on top! The best healthcare in the world at affordable prices ensures that we have longer life expectancy than virtually every nation in the World, except Monaco and Japan! And regarding taxes, we have no taxes on dividends and other capital income – all this has already been taxed at the 17% corporate tax rate, so why tax again? Perfect for people who just want to live in financial freedom.  

As I mention above in 'Singapore 2013 ... onwards', I am a Permanent Resident (PR) in Singapore; but in spite of the term, PR is not actually quite permanent! Every five years I have to apply for renewal, so to remove this level of uncertainty, in March 2024 I applied for Singapore citizenship. Either way, I plan and hope to stay here till the end. When the time comes, maybe Bee Choo can insert the last paragraph to explain how that end came about!?