I reached financial freedom at the age of 38 – here are 4 money principles I live by

The idea of financial freedom can feel like a far-fetched dream — something only a few get to experience after a lucky break, or during retirement after working for decades, but Shao Chun says otherwise.

Over the course of eight years working at Google, Chun lived below his means and consistently set aside up to 50% of his paycheck for investments. That allowed him to build a substantial portfolio worth $2 million, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It.

"You can actually achieve financial freedom while working nine to five," Chun said.

But when he was laid off in February, Chun realized he no longer had to rely on a paycheck to sustain himself.

Using the 4% rule as a guideline, Chun saw that he could comfortably and safely live off of his investments by withdrawing 4% of his portfolio in the first year and that same amount, adjusted for inflation, in each subsequent year. In theory, this amount would likely be small enough for his portfolio to support him for at least 30 years.

"When you are financially free... you then can then have that flexibility or that air space to actually do what you want," he said.

Besides the amount withdrawn from his portfolio, Chun also makes money by teaching as a part-time professor at the National University of Singapore, creating educational content for his YouTube channel "9 to 5 Millionaire Mindset" and through his career coaching business.

Here are the four key principles he lives by that's allowed him to achieve financial freedom:

The first step to becoming financially free is to be intentional about pursuing that freedom.

"What we used to value is stability, [but] given where the economy is going right now, stability is no longer a perk that... companies can provide us," he said. "The