What happens if your payslip stops tomorrow?
Ditch the earn-more, spend-more trap
This newsletter helps ambitious professionals take control of their money and build real financial freedom without stress, jargon or overwhelm.
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Seven months after discovering financial independence, I was lying in a hospital bed.
A blood clot had travelled through my heart and straight into my brain.
Two and a half weeks in hospital.
Eleven months recovering at home.
I had to learn how to walk again.
To see properly again.
To focus again.
I was 37 years old.
Looking back, the timing felt cruel.
I'd just realised I didn't have to work until retirement age.
That if I played my cards right, I could stop earlier.
On my terms.
Then my body almost made that choice for me.
I got lucky.
Very lucky.
Many people who suffer strokes aren't.
Some are permanently disabled. Some don't survive.
That experience rewired how I think about money, work, and "someday."
The uncomfortable truth
Retirement on your terms is not guaranteed.
There are only six ways a corporate career ends.
Four are involuntary:
Death
Illness
Redundancy
Role obsolescence
Two are voluntary:
Career pivot
(Early) retirement
Most people only plan for one of them.
They assume they'll work until they choose to stop. That redundancy happens to other people. That their skills will stay relevant. That illness is something for "later."
I thought the same thing.
Until I was staring at a hospital ceiling wondering if I'd ever work again.
Options vs obligations
Here's what that year taught me:
The goal isn't just to build wealth.
It's to build options.
Options mean that if your salary stops tomorrow, whether by choice or by chance, you and your family are protected.
Options mean you're not trapped by a single income stream with no safety net underneath it.
Options mean "enough" is a number you actually know, not a vague feeling you hope to reach someday.
Most people don't have options.
They have obligations.
A mortgage that demands a salary.
A lifestyle that expands with every raise.
A pension they've never properly looked at.
A vague plan to "sort it out later."
Later is a luxury. Not everyone gets it.
Final 2025 workshop: Your corporate exit plan
So I built a workshop for anyone who's ever felt that quiet anxiety when layoff news hits their industry.
For anyone who's wondered whether they're building something real or just running on a treadmill.
For anyone who's thought "I should really sort my finances out" but keeps pushing it to next month.
In 90 minutes, we'll work through:
The six exit scenarios.
Most people sleepwalk into one of them unprepared. We'll make sure you're not one of them.
Your real dependency on your payslip.
How many months could you actually survive without income? What would need to change? What's the gap between where you are and where you need to be?
What "enough" looks like for you specifically.
Not a generic rule of thumb. Not some guru's formula. Your number, based on your life, your expenses, your goals.
How to build protection for the worst case and freedom for the best case.
So that whether you choose to leave or life forces you out, you're ready.
This isn't an escape fantasy
I'm not going to tell you to quit your job and follow your passion.
This is a reality check.
A clear-eyed look at where you actually stand today, and what it would take to stand somewhere stronger.
Best case: you reach a point where you know you have enough and you choose what's next.
Worst case: your income stops unexpectedly, and you and your loved ones are still protected.
Either way, you leave knowing exactly where you stand.
The details
📅 Wednesday 17th December
🕐 20:00 Irish time
⏱️ 90 minutes (workshop + Q&A)
💶 €149
👥 30 spots
That is it for this weekend! I am in Amsterdam for a presentation at Salesforce and a night out with great friends. I will make my way to the airport to go back to Dublin now.
To your financial freedom,
Sjoerd
P.S. If you have any questions about the workshop, just hit reply. I'm here to help.
Sjoerd Bak
Become a Millionaire Ltd
www.bamillionaire.com
