How much are you earning per annum?

Your points are valid. Money is important, to a certain extent. But money does not always translate into happiness. It's a revelation I had and I really wanted to share it.

So many of us pursue wealth but actually what are we really pursuing? What's our goal? I think we all want to be happier? The problem is that happiness as a goal is too abstract. As human beings, we then set goal posts/put ladders to help us. I'm sure you guys heard the story of climbing the ladder but realise the ladder leads up the wrong wall..

You can have a house with 7 rooms. You can have a house with 1 room. You still can choose to be happy.

As for your query on our business, we started out in industrial pumps but expanded beyond that pretty quickly once we saw the entire value chain.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for sharing. But I would argue that being less happy is the result of growing up.

It's the same for everyone. As one ages from a kid to an adult, one gets more responsibilities, stresses from family and society, and realizes that the world is a more evil place than one had assumed.

Imagine your family still had to cram into the same roo, all adults, no privacy. Would you be happier?

In fact, I would theorize that if you had stay poor, you would be much less happier than now.

But I appreciate your sharing of what you think. You are rich but you stay humble. Could you share more on how your dad moved from an Aircon technician to be a rich businessman with businessess beyond the shores of Singapore? It's quite an amazing achievement.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Your points are valid. Money is important, to a certain extent. But money does not always translate into happiness. It's a revelation I had and I really wanted to share it.

So many of us pursue wealth but actually what are we really pursuing? What's our goal? I think we all want to be happier? The problem is that happiness as a goal is too abstract. As human beings, we then set goal posts/put ladders to help us. I'm sure you guys heard the story of climbing the ladder but realise the ladder leads up the wrong wall..

You can have a house with 7 rooms. You can have a house with 1 room. You still can choose to be happy.

As for your query on our business, we started out in industrial pumps but expanded beyond that pretty quickly once we saw the entire value chain.

Study says money only makes you happy if it makes you richer than your neighbours

Study says money only makes you happy if it makes you richer than your neighbours.

So no matter how rich you are if the guy next door is richer you aren't generally going to be happier.

Which is why you see many people complaining here, so my advice is to save up and relocate to some third world country.

Accountant
3years experience
56K p.a.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Good observation there.

That is why I do not allow my children luxuries and expensive toys even though our business is doing well. For the same reason, my wife and I agreed to stay on in our small apartment rather than move to a big landed house even though we can afford it.

We have only 1 small TV. After dinner, we and our children squeeze into my bedroom and we all watch TV together. That is happiness enough for me. And our kids grow up normal.

On the other hand, my friend bough a 6 bedroom house even though he earns less. Everyone has their own room and their own TV, computer, xbox etc. No one can find any one else in the family. They have to shout and then call one another on their mobile phones !

Of course no one wants to be poor. But when one becomes more comfortable, wisdom is needed to manage the extra money. It is not as simple as maximising one's pleasure and pent up desires. Money is a double-edged sword. It can be your tool and it can hurt if you use it mindlessly.

I don't agree at all. When the children grow up, they need to emulate parents that they respect. It may be fun for you when they are young to cuddle up in front of a TV, but when they grow up to be unsucessful or delinquent, it won't be that fun anymore. In short, you are having fun at their expense.

I worked hard and didn't see much of my children when they were young, but four out of my five children now work in my business and three of the five live with me under one roof, complete with their families and my grandchildren. I had to build a very large house to accomodate all of them. While they complained that I wasn't around when they were young, when they became teenagers, they realized my sacrifice to make our family wealthy and they have come to work in our business. When they started working for me, they realized even further how hard I had worked and the difficulties. It gives me great satisfaction to pass much of the management of the company to them now.

I'm 43, male, making $100k a year as manager.
Owned a fully paid up landed and two investment properties.
Plan to retire in a few years time, with a passive income of $6k a month.
Will need to sell my 3 series and travel by public transport.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm 43, male, making $100k a year as manager.
Owned a fully paid up landed and two investment properties.
Plan to retire in a few years time, with a passive income of $6k a month.
Will need to sell my 3 series and travel by public transport.

cool story bro !

28, earning 70k PA.

But do trades frequently. Sometimes win, sometimes lose.

Being lucky so far with at least 500 supplement per month.

But paid sch fees of more than 15k initially.

Overall green now.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

28, earning 70k PA.

But do trades frequently. Sometimes win, sometimes lose.

Being lucky so far with at least 500 supplement per month.

But paid sch fees of more than 15k initially.

Overall green now.

How different is that from gambling? My uncle claims he can do card counting and claims he makes a living from playing bj in MBS -- sometimes win sometimes lose -- but when I look at his family, I don't think he's even making any living!

Don't waste time on such things. The only people getting rich are the trainers and trading brokerages.

~USD$160k almost passive tax-free annual income.

23y.o. full-time student currently pursuing a compsci degree overseas.

Put it simply, I build and run successful websites, garnering most of my profits via advertising revenue, believe it or not it's up to you.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

~USD$160k almost passive tax-free annual income.

23y.o. full-time student currently pursuing a compsci degree overseas.

Put it simply, I build and run successful websites, garnering most of my profits via advertising revenue, believe it or not it's up to you.

I believe you. Can share the URLs of one or two of your excellent sites?