To Cultivate Generosity and Love Simplicity

I read a book by John Stott about some Christian perspectives about wealth and I had some reflections about the matter which I thought might be useful to share.

How to be content in life is really not about chasing riches or wealth.

Being content in life is really about learning how to live simply or to love simplicity. Truth be told, many of the pleasures in life can actually be enjoyed without paying a single cent. Sometimes, the night sky with all the stars is enough to take my breath away compared to watching a zillion movies. Living simply also means being happy with the simple things in life like the MRT ride to work, the cup of coffee, a quiet rest at night, a nice bath, etc.

Loving simplicity is however not enough. One ought not to hoard wealth to the extent that he puts his trust in them. After all, you never know whether you will wake up with it or whether you might even wake up the next day. Another part about managing wealth is really about learning how to give your money away according to your means. The money that you have can be given to good causes rather than just to satisfy your own desires. After all, what can one do with so much money if you don't even know whether you will live past a certain age.

So cultivate generosity and love simplicity. Be content with the food and clothing you have. Give generously to the poor.

Big Money Talk on MRT

I was on the MRT going back home when I overheard this conversation between a middle-aged man and a guy in his late twenties. The young chap was probably a property agent and talking to this middle-aged man who was also probably a property agent himself. They were talking about flipping properties and the young chap was eager to learn from the middle-age man.

Young man: So you buy and sold a lot of properties?

Old Man: Yes. A lot. In the past, just buy and then sell, and you make lots of money.

Young man: How much money do you make per sale?

Old Man: Good money.

Young man: So 30K?

Old Man: No lah! 30K is peanuts. I am talking about 6 digit here man... 30, 40K is peanuts!

Young man: Wow. *suitably impressed

Old Man: In 2007, any property on the market, you just buy and sell. Surely make money.

Young man: Wow. So you must have made a lot of money.

Old Man: Enough to survive lah. Nowadays it's just consolidating.

Young man: So how much do you make from all your transactions? Got 200K?

Old Man: No lah! Please! 100-200K is peanuts I tell you. Chey..200K is nothing man, I tell you.

Young Man: Wow....

Even when I heard this conversation, I was like "Wow". 200K is peanuts??

Some people do not even earn $200K after working for ten years and here was a man talking quite loudly in the MRT about $200K being peanuts and how he has made a lot from flipping properties.

Food for thought!

Living Within Your Means

Most people have heard about "living within your means" but how many people actually practise it?

I have just discovered that it is very hard to live within one's means. As one climbs up the career ladder, or as one ages, one feels obliges to spend more on certain stuff. This can range from food, clothing to holidays even.

It is difficult to live within your means when everyone else is spending like there is no tomorrow. It is difficult to live within your means when friends and colleagues are always nearby and offer a good comparison of the things that you have versus what you do not have.

In fact, I am almost certain that it is not your absolute income that makes you happy. Rather, it is your relative income that makes one satisfied.

The simple lesson: Stop comparing and live the life that you really want to. Comparing gets you no where and only makes you desire for the things that you do not have. The reason why we fail to live within our means is because we keep comparing and our expectations go up. We expect to be able to own certain luxury goods that we could easily do without.

I have failed in this area too many times. This entry is just a reminder to myself and to readers to Live Within Your Means.

Bills to Pay

Lots of bills to pay for this month.

First there is road tax. If I renew it for a 6 month period, it will cost me $367.00

Next is housing installment which I need to pay in cash. That is close to another $500.

Then there is my upcoming car insurance which I need to renew. That will set me back by a good $1000 plus.

Credit card bills also add up to over $1300.

Lots of bills to pay for this month. Less my usual contributions to my investment linked plans, I have very little savings for this month.

10,000 Hours To Be An Expert

Everyday I try to draw some lessons from the books that I read or the things that I experience.

I have been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. In one of the chapters, it mentions that 10,000 hours is what it takes to make a person good at a particular field. That is roughly 10 years. The most gifted person or the most talented person still needs to practice 10,000 hours before they get really good.

Come to think of it, I have never really truly put in 10,000 hours into any particular field. Even during my university days, I don't think I managed to study 10,000 hours. And that perhaps explains why I am neither talented in any sport or in any musical instruments.

10,000 hours is all it takes. Of course, there needs to be some talent involve. But even with talent, you still need 10,000 hours.

Where should you devote 10,000 hours to?

Funny Incident at MRT

Memories often fail me and so I thought I should record down some of the funny incidents that I go through in my life as well.

While I was taking the MRT today, I wanted to know the time. As the MRT was packed, I looked at the watch of another passenger who was holding the handrail next to me. I got a shock to realise that I might actually be late as the time on his watch showed 845am. To be certain, I peeked at another passenger's watch and her watch showed 842am. At this point in time, I was wondering whether my own watch was behind time.

However, after looking a round at other watches, I realised that the time was actually much earlier at 825-830am.

What a funny incident! I peeked at 2 separate watches of 2 different passengers and somehow, they both had watches that were 15mins ahead of time. 10 mins I can understand. But isn't 15 mins a bit too much?

Girl Made to Sign Pre-Nup Agreement

Apparently, some girl was about to get married when her in-laws and husband-to-be sat her down and wanted her to sign a pre-nup. They also wanted the marriage registered in the US so that the pre-nup will be enforceable as pre-nups are not recognised for marriages registered in Singapore.

The forum thread is attached below:

Read this : http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=33015

Do you think pre-nups are necessary? Is it wrong for the rich to try to protect their assets?

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