A former Google employee, Shao Chun Chen, worked more than 40 hours a week in his corporate career in Singapore. Now, he works approximately three hours a week and earns ₹2.6 lakh a month.
Shao Chun Chen lived in Thailand with his family. In a CNBC Make It interview, he shared that he and his wife live in Thailand. He earns $1,540 to $3,070 (about ₹1.3 lakh to ₹2.6 lakh) monthly, covering all their living costs and travel.
Once a week, he “supercommutes” to Singapore to work as an adjunct lecturer at the National University of Singapore.
“I’m gaming the system. Three hours of working in Singapore can sustain my entire expenditure in Thailand,” Chen said. He teaches three-hour digital marketing classes.
He revealed that when he celebrated his 38th birthday, Google fired him at that time. However, after he was unexpectedly laid off, he built a seven-figure portfolio. The savings he built up over the years mean he doesn’t need a paycheck for a long time.
“I’ve been working for the last 14 years of my life, and because of the layoff, I was forced to take a break. It was very devastating, it was a huge blow to my ego, my identity, but it turns out, with time … it sort of mandated me to think (about) what I really wanted in life,” Mr Chen said.
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when he was fired from Google, Shao Chun Chen created multiple sources of passive income streams. He makes money by creating educational content on YouTube and from his coaching business, he earns $500 per hour.
“Find a way to improve your skill sets, or to reach a position where you can charge a high per-hour rate,” Chen said.
He also stated that he doesn’t need to work as much to support a comfortable life with his wife in Thailand, where the cost of living is much lower than in Singapore.
“If you combine a high per-hour rate with a low cost of living, you only need to work very few hours to cover your expenses,” he said.
Cities and jobs that can pay a high hourly rate tend to be expensive areas, but that’s less of a problem now that digitalisation has enabled remote work arrangements, he added.
Mr. Chen said he works 4 to 8 hours a week, including teaching, coaching, and creating YouTube videos.
