There are times when I wonder who the rich are and who the poor are. More often than not the roles are actually reversed in reality although it is hidden behind a veil of the external expressions of finances.
The 'poor' usually don't have a credit card. They grew up in a household which was probably not very well off and were taught to save and value every cent. They sometimes didn't get to go to the best colleges or even to college at all. And because they didn't get the best 'start' in life, they sometimes start out in the careers a few steps behind.
The 'rich' have never had to worry about money, probably growing up in a rather affluent household, and never lacking in experiences such as going for nice holidays and buying all the new gadgets. They sometimes got a supplementary credit card from their parents from high school days, then got comfortable allowances as they went to top colleges and universities. You might see them get a car as a gift during college or upon graduation.
But if you actually drill down into the networth of people, you will find that many of those perceived as rich are actually heavily in the deficit, and many of those perceived as poor are most certainly in the positive.
Of course, the 'rich' seem to rich better, eating more expensive food, driving flashier cars and living in nicer cribs in good neighbourhoods but more and more, I'm realising that the amount of debt incurred by them are unsustainable in the event something unexpected happens.
I know a couple overseas who both earn very high incomes but bought their current property at the peak of the property bubble right before the GFC burst it...The property has now dropped in value by more than RM1 million, not by any fault of theirs. They can still afford the monthly installments to the banks and live comfortable lives, eating good food and driving nice cars but their networth is severely in deficit.
Then I see situations where the guy working at the hawker store down the street selling mixed rice has carefully scrounged up over 20 years of hard work in cash (some of them don't even trust banks and just stash it under the bed although it won't be nice if there's a fire) and are purchasing their third landed property, in cash, so their children have something to start off with. These people would have never qualified for a loan in the first place or even considered getting one but they just kept persevering with the old school safe method of hoarding every dollar they could, everyday.
So, which is the rich one and which is the poor one?
You never know...the chicken rice stall man may likely be far more well off than you even if you own a house and a car (both on bank loans by the way), while you enjoy your dinner at San Francisco steakhouse down the road from his stall.
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