Have you ever been to an antique bag auction?

Artwork, antique furniture will appreciate in value over time. Don't think this applies to bags. If you go to second hand bags shops, they are selling at a discount to the original price. Just like cars which depreciate in value over time.

your loan is quite high. netting off the cash you will still owe the bank $800K.

unless your husband is a top civil servant or doctor, working for corporates with high pay carries risk such as politics, cost-cutting, high stress, etc. cannot afford to screw up even once as there are others lining up to take over.

i'm 38 and instead of splashing out on a big property, we bought a smaller landed instead worth $2.6M and token loan of $250K, leaving us with $950K in cash and stocks for low-risk fixed-income investments and peace of mind for retirement. we also drive a bmw instead of a high end luxury car.

I think if my husband has to lose his job, we can still afford the monthly loan repayment with the 1.1m cash we have over a long period of time where he can look for a job. Our loan as a percentage of monthly income is way less than the recommended 30pefcent. It's only 6k out of the 40 plus k per mth.

Altho we are working on having him grow his income while we increase our savings. Like we said, we save $240k per year. So in a few years, even if I make zero returns in stock markets, we can still make up the 800k.

But no way will we pay down our loan because it's heathy to have housing loan. As it gives as liquidity to buy investment properties or stocks. And make more returns.

I think its one retirement strategy to pay off housing loan on resident property. But maybe you may have to downgrade your property during retirement to get money to live off of. I am not willing to do that.

Then my friend, you don't know enough about bags.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...0-auction.html

To be honest with you. I used to think like you. Maybe I have become more cynical. I have watched some movies with certain themes in them then done research on these themes online. I have found that poverty and people not having enough to eat in this world is not due to the extravagance of the common people. It's because of politics at the higher level, organizations and wars and just fighting that results in certain governments choosing to invest their money in ammunition rather than in feeding their people.

You can't save the world superman!

Yes, you can save one life or a few lives. I see it as trying to patch up a small hole in a leaking water dam! I don't know what to say but these issues are larger than life! It's not about you holding back your spending!

That said, we should be empathetic to the poor. What about educating our young so that one day they can make a difference in diplomacy and stop some of these fighting overseas?

If there is a change in policy towards two child, then demand for properties in China will surely shoot up.

Developers with big exposure to China's real estate will surely benefit big time. Keppel Land and Capitaland will surely be big winners over the long term.

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China considering one-child policy changes: Premier

15 Mar 2015 16:51

BEIJING: China is considering further changes to its family planning laws, Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday (Mar 15), after a relaxation in the "one child policy" failed to see significantly more babies being born.

The ruling Communist Party imposed strict rules in the late 1970s to limit population growth, with most urban couples restricted to a single offspring. The often brutally enforced policy has been hugely controversial, but officials say it has been a key factor in China's rising prosperity. Now, though, it is leading to demographic problems including a rapidly ageing population and a shrinking labour force.

A relaxation in the regulations in late 2013, allowing couples to have two offspring if at least one parent was an only child, failed to see a marked increase in births.

Li told reporters that Beijing would assess the reform along with "China's economic and social development situation" before any possible change in regulations. "Both the pros and cons will be weighed," he said, adding that "improvements, adjustments" would only be made in accordance with legal procedures.

Li's comments were measured but were in marked contrast to past official declarations that family planning is a "fundamental national strategy" that cannot be "shaken".

The topic was raised at his once-a-year meeting with journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People - where questions are generally submitted in advance - by state broadcaster CCTV and seized on by the official news agency Xinhua.

Among its consequences, the one child policy has also created a severe gender imbalance due to a traditional preference for sons. Nearly 116 boys were born for every 100 girls in China in 2014, while the sex ratio in the total population was 105 men to 100 women.

Senior official Liu Binjie said on Tuesday that China was reviewing the 2013 change after revelations only 470,000 babies were born as a result - representing one-tenth of families newly eligible to have a second child.

Experts have proposed a further loosening of the laws - and one local family planning official even called last month for a mandatory two-child policy.

Really?? I just got a new car and I am VERY HAPPY! BAHAHAHA

And please lah, I worked for extended periods (which means for years) in third world countries setting up businesses. Given laptops, toys, money and what not to empower the poor, at the end of the day you just make yourself feel better but it really changes nothing. These countries need a complete change at the top so stop being a naive bleeding heart going around lecturing others.

Why don't you start a donation drive and put a link here for donations, if its a good legit cause I and I am sure others here will chip in.

should i retire?
 

couple, mid 40s.

just realised windfall from multi-bagger investment. low 8 figures. it was high risk start up that managed to make good.

still owe the bank about a million for our home. no other real estate. no other debt.

I kinda enjoy what I am doing although I don't earn much. the missus is ordinary OL.

thinking of packing up and calling it a day here but life is very comfortable here. simple lifestyle. ocr condo, jap car. no berkin bags / porsches etc like the lady with a pb. i got no pb. i got posb only.

what would you guys do?

Congratulations! You are smart, hardworking and have also been given a lucky break to monetize your startup! You are set for life! But don't go dissing no miss birkin!

Ms birkin with the pb account