Everyone's perception of what's required in life is different, do you have kids? Aging parents to bring to hospital for checkups regular dialysis treatments? How about driving them to Malaysia to visit their loved ones?
I have a divorcee friend living from paycheck to paycheck, he drives and for a good reason too, he has 3 kids of varying ages he needs to drop off at various childcare, schools. Maybe he should give them to the orphanage so he can save on the car and spending money on them. Wah 4K plus saved!
What about people who work at Jurong island? And these are people who need to use their cars for regular life. Maybe they should learn to find a job centrally and let the FT's take over those jobs
I know! The guy living at 2 Ridley Park must be the biggest idiot by your standards, got more then 10M worth of cars on the driveway and don't even use them.
Just by your examples I can say people living in Singapore are idiots, why not rent house to foreigner and rent a place in JB and commute daily. Can make 2K plus a month, buy cheap car, maid cheap cheap.
Everyone has a different perception of luxury, security, convenience and time cost and that does not make them idiots. Not everyone is as fortunate (or unfortunate) as you to not need a car as part of family obligations. Just because you met some buggers who cannot really afford a car yet have one and somehow step on your toes don't run around blaming everyone.
Wanna be respected, watch how you label people in general. Then we might take your words more seriously.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Let me be more explicit (btw I am the "don't buy a cow" poster.
The truth of the matter is that for a 1.5k consistent outflow, a person can get a whole lot more utility.
Eg,
if one is an Ah Beng cheong geyland type - one can cheong 10 x pm. More than enough to satisfy the very basic need for sex.
If one is a person who cares a lot for others, 1.5k monthly donation to any charity in or out of singapore can do a whole lot. It can probably pay for 5or 6 kids in special schools.
If one loves luxury, one can buy a Hermes bag once every 5 months for the wife.
If one loves comfortable domestic life, one can hire 2 domestic helpers.
If one wants to increase one's wealth further, a monthly RSP of 1.5k into a decent equity fund can probably get you about 5-6%.
OR one can get a lousy car.
The point is, unless you have done all of the above and still have a 1.5k cash flow looking for an outlet, the marginal utility of that 1.5k outflow is actually quite low.
That's why I said almost all are idiots. For the very few who are truly wealth eg, regular Hermes purchases, regular charitable donations, regular RSP and etc, then they will NOT be idiots who buy cars. These are the people who can and should buy a car...
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