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