0:01
Hello everyone. Um, I'm about to say
0:03
something that might sound
0:04
controversial, maybe even offensive to
0:06
some of you. Uh, but stick with me here,
0:07
right? Because, uh, if you're serious
0:09
about financial independence in early
0:10
retirement, and if you're planning the
0:12
the fire game, not just just to talk
0:14
about it, but if you really want to win,
0:15
then this might be one of the most
0:17
important strategies you'll ever hear.
0:19
And the the strategy is very simple.
0:21
Don't resign from your job, but get
0:22
fired instead. Now, I know this probably
0:25
has triggered some of you, and uh,
0:26
that's just fine. I expect this video to
0:28
get a fair bit of heat in the comments.
0:29
Uh some might even question my ethics
0:31
and others might argue about loyalty and
0:33
professional integrity. Uh but here's
0:35
the thing, right? I'm not here to play
0:36
it safe. I'm here to be downright
0:38
practical. If you want to retire early,
0:40
live on your own terms and build a
0:42
corpus that gives you freedom for the
0:43
rest of the life. I I think you're
0:45
you're going to have to make some
0:46
unconventional decisions and uh this is
0:48
probably going to be one of them. In
0:50
this video, I'll talk about a strategy
0:52
and how much you can expect to save or
0:54
earn. and I'll definitely address your
0:56
ethics question. I'll also give you some
0:58
tax-saving tips and most importantly,
1:00
I'll talk about how to make this whole
1:01
thing happen for you. Right. Personally,
1:03
I achieved my financial freedom a couple
1:05
of years ago and I'm still employed in
1:06
my current job. I'm currently planning
1:08
to use this exact same strategy. So, so
1:10
please don't think that I'm giving you
1:11
some crappy clickbaity thing. Uh this is
1:13
as real as it gets and genuine, right?
1:14
So, let's get started.
1:20
Before I get into the strategy, I think
1:21
let's first address the ethics and the
1:22
loyalty question that you have. Um this
1:24
will probably help set some background
1:25
as to you know uh why I chose this path.
1:28
Um many of us were raised to believe in
1:30
staying loyal to our employer right like
1:32
for example the good employee who puts
1:33
in the years goes the extra mile never
1:35
rocks the boat. That narrative was real
1:37
uh once back in the the 1950s and 60s
1:40
even up to almost 80s uh there was an
1:42
unspoken contract the the company would
1:44
take care of you and in return uh you
1:46
would dedicate your working life to them
1:47
right um I've seen this kind of
1:49
firsthand let me share a short personal
1:51
story of mine. My father joined as a
1:53
junior supervisor in one of the
1:54
manufacturing companies and stayed with
1:56
that company for nearly almost three
1:57
decades. He gave pretty much everything
1:59
he had for that company. And when he
2:01
retired, I remember the day I mean very
2:03
vividly. Uh there was this big faval
2:05
garland around his neck a small
2:07
ceremony. Uh his team who were primarily
2:08
just workers in that f the factory they
2:10
were in tears almost hugging and crying
2:13
Um for my father it was a very emotional
2:15
and a moving day. Um I was very young at
2:17
that time I should say that I was pretty
2:18
amused amused to basically watch this uh
2:20
whole episode. But look around today, I
2:23
mean that world doesn't exist anymore,
2:24
right? Post globalization, we are no
2:26
longer employees in the traditional
2:28
sense, right? We we basically resources.
2:29
Um we part of a spreadsheet and when the
2:32
company needs to cut cost, they don't
2:33
think twice. I mean human capital is
2:34
just that, right? Capital mobile
2:36
replaceable and disposable also. So the
2:39
next time someone tells you to be loyal
2:40
to your company, ask yourself is that
2:41
loyalty mutual? Right? If a company can
2:44
fire you when it suits their financial
2:45
goal, then isn't it fair that you make a
2:48
decision to serve your own financial
2:51
I know I'm kind of sounding very cold
2:54
and harsh, but let's just wake up with
2:56
the reality. It's not about the good or
2:57
the bad. It's just about how things
2:59
change with time and there's absolutely
3:01
nothing wrong with it. Right? So, with
3:03
this background setting, I guess we are
3:04
now ready to discuss the actual
3:07
Let's just say you've been working at
3:09
the same company for over a decade. Um,
3:10
you've been consistent, reliable, maybe
3:13
even the top performer, right? But now
3:15
you've you've hit your fire number or
3:16
you're very very close to hitting your
3:17
number and you're considering quitting
3:19
uh to finally live that dream of life
3:20
that you know you've been always
3:22
planning. But the problem is if you quit
3:24
now you walk away with nothing extra
3:26
just your pending salary and probably
3:27
whatever is lying in your property and
3:28
fund and that's it right uh but what if
3:31
you get laid off or at least if you
3:33
engineer an exit where you're asked to
3:34
leave you could walk away with something
3:36
far more valuable a severance package
3:38
and that's exactly what I'm talking
3:39
about here. Most Indian companies
3:41
especially mid-to-large organization
3:42
offer severance to long-term employees
3:45
the numbers kind of vary but it's it's
3:47
quite common to see that you know one
3:48
month of salary is paid for every year
3:50
of service and that's no joke right uh
3:52
for example in my company for every year
3:54
served they pay 3 weeks worth of salary
3:56
right uh and then and in some companies
3:57
they have a capping for example maximum
3:59
up to 10 years and that number is slowly
4:01
reducing uh all companies are looking to
4:03
actually reduce their seance package uh
4:04
so the sooner the better right so let
4:06
let's let's consider an example let's
4:08
just say that you worked for 12 years.
4:10
That's 12 months of salary as a payout
4:11
plus your graduity, your provident fund,
4:13
that can easily add up to an extra year
4:15
or two years worth of income tax
4:16
adjusted, right? So now think what that
4:19
does to your fire journey, right? If you
4:21
were just one or two years away from
4:22
your early retirement, that severance
4:23
could literally accelerate your timing
4:25
by those exact years, right? So in other
4:27
words, you retire earlier and richer by
4:29
just being smart about how you exit.
4:32
I'm sure some might say that, you know,
4:33
but people who hit fire don't usually
4:35
quit immediately. They they keep
4:37
continuing a little longer, right?
4:38
That's exactly my point here. Many fire
4:40
ready folks continue to work for a few
4:42
more years to build a kind of a cushion
4:44
or they want to create a margin and give
4:45
themselves some options, right? That's
4:46
smart. I mean, absolutely, you know,
4:47
nothing wrong about it. But why not make
4:49
that extra work really count, right? So,
4:52
if you're planning to exit anyway and
4:53
especially if you're no longer
4:54
emotionally invested in the job,
4:56
wouldn't it be more beneficial uh to
4:58
time your departure in a way that
4:59
maximizes your financial outcome? Right?
5:00
That's the question here. So rather than
5:02
slog for another 2 years to save an
5:04
extra say 15 or 20 lakhs, you might be
5:06
able to get that same amount through
5:07
severance in one go. Again, this isn't
5:10
about being lazy or manipulative. Uh
5:12
it's about recognizing how the system
5:13
works and using it to your advantage.
5:15
Now I'm sure the the next question has
5:17
popped up in your mind uh which is what
5:18
about the hefty income tax I pay on the
5:20
severance package. Uh well, there's a
5:21
nifty little thing you can do to
5:23
minimize its impact. If you really time
5:25
your exit strategically, say for
5:26
example, if you time it in say April or
5:28
May, right at the start of the financial
5:29
year, your severance bonus and the final
5:31
payouts might fall within that
5:32
low-inccome year, right? So since you
5:34
won't be earning a salary for the rest
5:35
of the year, your overall income is
5:36
lower, which means that you fall into a
5:38
lower tax bracket. This could mean tens
5:40
and thousands of uh you know money saved
5:42
in taxes, which again can go straightly
5:44
into your corpus, right? For someone
5:45
who's walking the tight rope of fire
5:46
planning, uh this isn't a small amount,
5:48
right? Uh that's the difference between
5:50
retiring and at say 40 versus at 42. I
5:53
hope you're still with me. Um, so the
5:54
next question I I'm sure you would have
5:56
is, okay, how do I pull this whole thing
5:57
off, right? Um, you can't just exactly,
5:59
you know, storm into your boss's office
6:01
one day and say, "Fire me, please."
6:02
Right? That'll be quite an event uh to
6:04
watch. Um, this requires emotional
6:06
intelligence. It requires a lot of tact,
6:07
right? Uh, and most of all, it requires
6:09
a very strong relationship with your
6:10
manager. Uh, this is exactly the point
6:12
in your career where um, you're almost
6:13
on a goodwill hunt in a different sense,
6:15
right? If you've really built a good um
6:17
you know a good will over the years and
6:19
your manager understands your situation
6:20
and is very supportive um they may be
6:22
willing to align your exit with some
6:24
sort of a team restructuring or either a
6:26
performance review or even based on a
6:27
cost cutting measure right that's all
6:28
possible sometimes it's just being about
6:31
you know it's about being just honest
6:32
letting them letting them know that
6:34
you're ready to move on but also open to
6:36
mutually beneficial outcome right in
6:38
many cases that I've seen managers
6:39
themselves prefer voluntary exits rather
6:41
than a messy resignation or a disruptive
6:43
failure right so it's all about two
6:45
things, right? Number one, how you frame
6:46
it. And number two, the the trust you've
6:48
earned so far. This is all I had to
6:51
share with you. Uh to some people, I
6:52
think the idea might seem very radical,
6:54
maybe even distasteful. That's okay. I
6:56
mean, not every strategy is for
6:57
everyone. And I'm also aware that this
6:59
strategy doesn't work if you're say a
7:00
part of a government job or you're
7:01
self-employed. Uh but to those who are
7:03
walking the fire path and to those who
7:05
have sacrificed years of consumerism,
7:06
upgraded your savings, optimized your
7:08
investments, and done the hard work, I I
7:11
think you deserve every possible edge
7:12
you can get. Right? So this isn't about
7:14
gaming any system. It's just about
7:16
mastering it. Right? So before you hand
7:18
in that resignation letter, ask one
7:20
question to yourself. Are you leaving a
7:22
lot of money on the table? Right? I
7:24
genuinely hope this video challenged
7:25
your thinking or gave you a new
7:27
perspective. I would love to hear your
7:28
thoughts uh in the comments. Uh agree,
7:31
disagree, you know, bring it on. Let's
7:32
have a real conversation. And if you're
7:34
someone who's walking the fire journey
7:35
or just starting out, consider
7:36
subscribing. This channel is all about
7:38
financial independence, you know,
7:39
intentional living and building a life
7:41
that you don't really need to escape
7:42
from, right? So, until next time, stay
7:45
smart, stay bold, and uh don't just
7:46
dream fire, design it. Thank you. If you
7:49
genuinely found this video useful,
7:50
please consider subscribing and liking
7:52
the video. And I will see you soon in
7:53
another video. And until then, take care
