Happy New Year! May your year in 2020 be filled with joy and laughter.
In less than a month, it will be Chinese New Year when we wish each other a prosperous lunar new year.
But why prosperous? Why do we want our family, friends, colleagues, acquaintance and strangers to do well financially? Is this unique to the Chinese when other races wish each other happiness, peace or good health?
What’s wrong with loving money?
When I first came to Singapore, I was surprised to see Chinese parents using the Chinese word “fortune” in their son’s name.
This is not common for the Chinese in China and Hong Kong. For example, Hong Kong parents name their sons with the Chinese words of virtues, intelligence, talent, knowledge, good-looking, etc. Alternatively, they borrow names from heroes in Chinese history, or phrases from ancient Chinese fiction and poems.
It doesn’t mean money is not their priority. But it is better not let others know, especially not in their son’s name.
But there is nothing wrong to pursue wealth. You need money to survive in a city. With lack of money, you can’t have peace of mind.
Being raised in a humble family, having to struggle financially is nothing new to me. When you can hardly make ends meet, you can’t say there are more meaningful things in life than money.
There is something I learned over the years: You work for money when you are young. Once you are financially free, you can pursue higher goals above money. If you do it the other way round – chase your dream first before you have money, and in mid-life have to face reality and work for money – it will be hard for you. Because by then you will have lower adaptability and energy level, but a higher ego and family burden.
If you have been following my blog, you would know that I set up Property Club Singapore for education and networking of fellow property buyers and investors only after making my first bucket of gold from property investment, not before. And in Singapore, you can’t feed your family by being an independent blogger. (Read my blog post “The journey to financial freedom: My personal story”.)
How rich people think
There are many people who like to talk about money in their daily conversations. But somehow they have a narrow mindset and their monetary topics are confined to complaining or worrying about not enough money; comparing with what others have; glorifying or despising those who have it; or dreaming of one day when they are suddenly rich.
Sadly, money is not the more you talk about, the more you will have. Years after years, nothing much has changed. They seem unable to get out of the vicious cycle. They develop a strong sense of helplessness about money.
I just read Steve Siebold’s book How Rich People Think. Each chapter is a comparison of the differences between how the rich people and the middle class think. Below are some interesting observations of the two totally different breeds.
1. If you are complaining or worrying about not enough money
We often hear people complaining about high living expenses in Singapore. But high in terms of what? Is the higher living expenses justified by the country’s living standard, infrastructure development, law and order, employment and business opportunities?
Financial institutions and insurance companies instil the fear in us in order to market their products. We waste too much energy on worrying unnecessarily and spend too much money on buying unnecessary financial products.
Who determine the amount we need for retirement? Who decide how much protection we need to feel safe? Why do we have to rely on others to tell us what to do? Why can’t we take charge of our financial health and plan for our future? When can we replace negative thoughts with positive thinking to start building wealth?
So while the middle class is scrambling to survive and frightened for their financial future, the world class is capitalising on their elevated level of awareness. The masses waste a substantial percentage of their energy worrying about money, while the champions are fearlessly directing their focus to becoming wealthier every day.
While one group is mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day, the other is fresh and excited about thinking of new solutions and ideas that will keep the first group employed.
2. If you are comparing with what others have
Our education system makes many grow up thinking that life is all about grades, rankings and competitions. They are being trapped in a life with endless comparisons with others. They believe all good things in life are scarce and limited in quantity. The world is a zero-sum game. If you lose, I win.
They live their life hoping to win every time but in vain, not knowing that success means being able to find one’s own strength and advantage. Their scarcity mindset prevents them from seeing all the opportunities and possibilities out there. They just have to keep exploring, learning new things and learning from other brilliant people.
The average person believes there’s a limited amount of money and that they need to struggle and fight for their share before someone else gets it. They live in a world of fear and scarcity that says money is hard to make and harder to keep.
Middle class believes in financial scarcity, world class believes in financial abundance.
Middle class sees money as a finite resource, world class sees money as an infinite resource.
Middle class embraces advanced degrees, world class embraces any form of education that makes them wealthier.
3. If you are glorifying or despising those who have it
I said in my blog post “Will buying a home make us happier?” that our past experiences with money can affect how we see money and the rich.
Money is neutral. But our preconceptions can make us worship or despise money. Money anxieties are all about anger and fear: angry with the past and fear about the future. We are in constant fear of lagging behind, fear of missing out, and fear of losing what we have.
Few people are able to think about money without clouding with negative emotion, which is generated from dozens of middle-class beliefs. An ordinarily smart, well-educated, and otherwise successful person can be instantly transformed into a fear-based, scarcity-driven thinker whose greatest financial aspiration is to retire comfortably.
Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.” – Robert G. Allen
“Don’t knock the rich. When did a poor person give you a job?” – Lawrence J. Peter
4. If you are dreaming of one day when you are suddenly rich
Wealth is created by a process, not by an event. When you are queuing to buy Toto and dreaming of bagging that next jackpot, remember what Ken Fisher said about lottery curse in his book The Ten Roads to Riches.
“… this is a fate you shouldn’t hope for because of the well-known and documented lottery curse. Tragedy doesn’t promptly damn every huge lottery winner, but it does more often than not. And it will damn you, too.”
Middle class believes money is about status, world class believes money is about freedom.
“The only thing that money gives you is the freedom of not worrying about money.” – Johnny Carson
“It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune, and when you have it, it requires ten times as much skill to keep it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
That’s why I wish you joy and laughter instead of prosperity in 2020. Hope this blog post leaves you some food for thought in the new year.
I feel Hong Kongers And Chinese Singaporeans have similar traits. E.g the famous TV serial actor, Chow Yuen Fatt. Isn’t the name Fatt means fortune or prosperity? Many of my Cantonese Singaporean friends too have ‘Fatt,’ the Hokkien and Teo chew call it ‘Huat’
That is not common in Hong Kong. Chow grew up in Lamma Island where the inhabitants are mainly farmers and fishermen, especially at that time. They are more straightforward and down to earth. In my school days, not many dare to call themselves Cai (财) or Fa (发), for fear that whenever the teachers took attendance, the whole class would burst into laughter. But at home, we give our pets these names.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. I myself was driving a WRX, not a Ferrari when I made my first million. I was taking down million dollar supercars with a 50K car. Maybe this outlook to life is why I eventually succeeded?
Personally, I think what car one drives or whether one prefers to drive or use public transportation is a personal thing. I didn’t drive before I bought my five private properties. But in general, it is easier to have peace of mind by living well below one’s means.
I agree with you. But after reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” many years ago I made sure that even my car is an “asset”! The WRX is now a JDM classic that is actually appreciating in value! You are absolutely right, being rich is just a state of mind. Once you have the right state of mind the money will follow.