Posted by
Anonymous
17 yrs ago
Seems that is all Hong Kong is about so let's talk about it, who do you know makes the most and what do they do and how do they spend/waste it?
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dbg
17 yrs ago
"I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't want to buy things they don't need to impress people they dislike."
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I have to agree with dadda, I don't think you are rich at all. I also am a financial professional and make the same 120k p/m and my wife a about a quarter of that. We each just get cash and have to look after our own housing and the kids education. I have to say I am sometimes envious of all the expats that have their housing and kids education paid for, but on the other hand most of those jobs are relatively transient and my wife and I have chosen to make Hong Kong our home for now.
We were doing our budgeting a few nights ago and we keep thinking that we should be saving more than we are but with a 10 year mortgage on a south side apartment, a car, a maid, schooling and holidays (to cheap places around asia) its not as much as we think it should be. We do not lead a decadent expat lifestyle but any imagination and we do manage to put aside money each month but HK$150k p/m just does not go as far as one thinks it should. Thank god we have such low taxes here.
I think that's one of the reason's why people talk about money so much around here, half the population has a median income of about Hk$10,500 p/m so they hardly have two nickels to rub together and want money and those that do have money find that it really does not go as far because of the high price of real estate. I know money is common topic of conversation among my buddies as we all want to provide as best we can for our families even if, to use dbg words we are "spending [our] lives doing things [we] detest."
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What is the point in owning several flats and living squalor just to save for more.
As for studying for more professional qualifications, I find that pointless for most locals. You spend a fortune on getting an MBA and you are just another local with an MBA and you have increased your earning capacity by maybe a couple of thousand per month.
For locals wanting to earn more money and get out the poverty trap they need to master English, they will earn far more as a very good English speaker and writer with average qualifications than they will ever earn as a local with an MBA but with average HK English.
I have seen this many many times, besides all those qualifications doesn't mean you can think out of the box. The next step is to stop supporting all the family members, until this tradition ends the younger ones will never get ahead.
Just my 2 cents worth
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MJ1
17 yrs ago
I agree getting an MBA doesn't guarantee you'll make a bucket load of money. However, I don't agree mastering English will. Being an expat doesn't guarantee you're a master of English, quite the contrary in some cases.
Given we are in HK, I would believe it is more important to master Mandarin and have a competent level of English and Cantonese to go with it. China is the future.
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I would say, enough money is very subjective..one can be comfortable in less than what is mentioned in above posts, and interestingly, one can be uncomfortable in substantial money..it graetly depends upon the life style...and needs and wants
I earn much less than the above mentioned but I consider myself as comfortable...
Dont get me wrong, I pay for my child's international school fee, my husband earning is very erratic..I also save for the rainy day...
One thing would be interesting to know, what is considered as a good saving?
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Hi iamexpat
I'm impressed that you are able to owe an apartment in the southside ,send your kids to international schools and do all the other things you mentioned.I'm just starting to look at buying a property and can do with some advice.Which bank to use,what's the interest on mortgage.BTW,how much did you pay for your apartment?I'll love to own a property there but even on a pay of $150k/month,it seems to be out of my budget.
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Ohhhh my goodness!!!! that much money ppl are actually making??? !!!!!
and i thought being an Xpat Telecom Engineer i am making most (35000HKD pm) hehhehehehhe.crazy crazy..still i need to go far ....very faar.
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A friend of ours was making over US$750,000 per year when he was 27, he was working for an investment bank, he had computer and finance degrees and was not an income producer, quite a feat
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MJ1
When I was saying mastering English, I didn't mean being an absolute master of the language, I merely meant being fairly native sounding. There are companies out there that will pay locals who speak very very good English a decent salary based on this because they can competently sell to both the local market and the expat market. There are thousands of locals who speak great English but not so many that speak like a Native (when they are not), those who do are often well rewarded for the time they have spent immersing themselves in an overseas language and culture to get this good.
As far as mastering Mandarin, yes if you are non Chinese, mastering Mandarin could pay huge dividends.
in regards to mbbcat's reply, I agree parents deserve something back but not the obligatory handouts that parents expect here. I work with guys who have little chance to ever afford their own flat because their parents expect 1/3 of their salary every month regardless of whether they lived at home or not. Having kids is not an insurance policy, if you can't afford to have children and do your best by them without expecting a return on the investment later don't have them to begin with.
Saying this, of course if my son won the lottery in 20 years I would expect a nice envelope to come my way
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To vzbtech,
Thats why ignorance sometimes is so very blissful.....
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Delightful:
There are a variety of places on the southside of the island. Not everything is $50 million dollar 3-4,000 square foot pieces of property.
Starting from the West the Scenic Villa, Baguio Villa and Bel Air Residences are all in a nice neighbourhood and likely in the $6,500 to $10,000 per square foot range I would guess.
Skip Wah Fu and Aberdeen as they are not so nice, although I would believe relatively cheap. I'm not overly fond of Ap Lei Chau although I believe that a number of expat teachers live in South Horizons and I would imagine those places would be less than $5 million.
Not sure if it is considered South but Shousson Hill would be next, places there tend to be fairly large and expensive, and out of my price range. The same could be said of Deep Water Bay.
Continuing along Repluse Bay has some huge expensive places but there are a few buildings that are not are not quite as expensive, especially those going up Repluse Bay road towards Wong Ngai Chung gap.
The buildings around Middle Bay and South Bay are not too bad for price either.
Then finally in the east there is Chung Hom Kok , Stanley and Tai Tam all of which have some flats in the $10 million range.
Obviously on $150K per month there are a lot of properties on the South Side that are out of reach. When we decided to buy we were fortunate enough to have a sizable amount of money to put towards the purchase price so that allowed us to have a managable mortgage for us and with a 2.1% rate of interest fou our 10 year mortgage we only have to pay $50,000 per month or 1/3 of our income. We also decided to sacrifice some size for ownership so while we could be living in a 2,000 sq ft + place if we were renting we decided to have something a little smaller but have ownership at the end as opposed to just paying rent (although I understand the economic arguement that renting could be better than owning in the long run here).
Basically to summerize if you can afford to buy a place for between $7-14 million there are a number of places on a Southside. I don't know if there is much available that would meet western requirements, both sizewise and neighbourhood wise for less than that.
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I m always surprised by these stats.. Only 15% of the population earns more than 25k HKD yet the only cars you see around here are "at least" Mercedes and BMWs..
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In HK having a car is a true luxury, most people don't own cars... which means these stats and the types of cars around shouldn't be too surprising...
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you re right on that ziggity.. Just checked and there are roughly 350k private cars so basically so basically close to the percentage of residents with income over 40k.
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tpol
17 yrs ago
MarathonHK,
I know people earning $30K / mth who goes and buys a new 5 series BMW. He tells me people look up to him when they see him in it.
But if you look at the 2nd hand market, some of the luxury cars a quite cheap.
For the locals out there who read this, try working for expats rather than for a local boss.
Of course, it means a good command of English but from what I have found, the expats finds the local salaries extremely low, especially when compared to their own salaries and the salaries from their home countries.
The chinese bosses tends to be stingy and thinks your local salary is high.
When I first arrived, I earned $30K/mth. Compared to home, it was high and I was very happy. Then changed jobs to an expat boss and he basically doubled my salary.
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Hubby and I combined earn well under $100k. We pay for 2 children to go to International School, housing, car and afford to go o/s twice a year and we can still save some on the side. Not a lot admittedly but to those of you earning $150k please don't complain about how it doesn't stretch far enough for you. You are living many people's dream including mine!! We live very very comfortably on our income so I would have to disagree that you aren't living a decadent lifestyle. I could live very decadently indeed on $150k!!! You are very lucky indeed.
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I get 10k pm and that's just enough to get by with my two dogs.
More cash would be very nice...I could use it to pay for the new dogs micro chip and de-sexing...but what I really want is the proper use of my legs and back again.
2 years off sick with 24hr back pain is no fun. Had surgery via public health but that was only partially successful.
Wealth is good but health is oh so much better.
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It's all relative. Everyone has a choice. The "we have kids" thing is a smokescreen - there are other ways to save money - if, and only if, people want to.
When I first came here I gave everything up and myself and my wife lived on around $15,000 per month. Wasn't a kings lifestyle but was fun and we got out often. In fact was one of the best times of our lives.
Once I started my own business and saw our income go up of course there were other things we were able to afford. By the time I got to paying myself $50,000/month well I could save $30k no problem. We weren't paying a fortune for rent but we had kids and car and plenty of other luxuries.
Since then my income has increased by xFold but my expenses in relation to that have not. There are reasons for this including where I live, eat, drink, socialise, etc. I could live south side if I wanted to but chose not to, I love where I am and it's closer to where "I work" and I have more money to both enjoy and invest. We all have choices. That's what it's all about
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Relevant to this discussion thread of how much ppl making as salary (saw reports of ppl earning HK120/ mnth ! wow!), is how much ppl actually spend with that cash. I've heard some reports of wives of bankers spending like HK100K/ mnth themselves on shopping, facials, outings, restos..etc. But not sure.
Me, I am on btw HK30-43K/ month, and my spending is HK15-18K on going out..etc. (ie non essentials like accom, rent, bills). Whats everyone else's experience or stories?
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wow 120K a month and no savings from that!?! i could work for 2 months and take a 10 month vacation... for 1 months rent of 70K(!) i could pay rent for over a year inclusive of all utilities... oh the life of a bankster...
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cd
17 yrs ago
Disagree about not needing a car, when you've got kids, plus a wheelchair user, having a car makes HK a lot easier to get around, and go different places. I drive 250 miles a week, imagine that in taxi money. Agree with the rest though...
Most people live to their means, the more they have the more they spend.
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juji
17 yrs ago
Its a really crazy subject. The more you earn, the more you spend, the more you spend, the more you want. What a crazy ego driven world we live in. Where instant gratification seems to be the only option. This crisis will certainly shake some trees. It has certainly rocked mine. From 150K to 0 has been quite a hard landing and they only person I have to blame is myself... Were all those impluse purchases and luxurious items worth it? Not from where I am sitting now.
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Hi Juji,
sorry to hear that. You were earning 150K a month? Can you share w us what industry that was in? Banking? Finance? And you spent it all, didnt save much?
cheers
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By some standards on this thread, I am filthy rich. But by some standards in HK, I am dirt poor. We own our flat in Mid-Levels and I make hundreds of thousand HKD per month. We are driven by a chauffeur and take a least one vacation trip per year to far-away land on business class. We are members to an exclusive social club in HK and school our kids in top international school. I wear Swiss made mechanical watches, each costing an equivalent of a new Japanese car.
However, my wife insists on cooking our own meals. The only time we dine out is during the weekend that averages HKD 400 per meal. We shop in local wet market. Manicure and facial are a luxury attempted once in a blue moon. I still wear an 11-year pair of loafers that has seen numerous re-sole. The clothes on my back averages 5 years or more.
So my point is, money is important, especially in an expensive city like Hong Kong. However, having money does not necessary mean a person has to squander it. The only advise I have to those who are struggling to make it is that, there will always be opportunities to strike it rich. But how one utilizes the riches will determine whether one will continue to be rich.
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juji
17 yrs ago
jon_99 I used to be self-employed. I have bought property, have some shares and still have huge amounts of assets in my companies, though no cash flow at the moment. You know, I think this experience, as awful as it is, is the best thing to every happen to me. I agree completely with fizzfuzz above. Its not how much you earn, its allocation.. what you do with it after you earn it.
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juji, if you still carry a few plastic in your wallet, my advise is to limit it down to two credit cards and consolidate your debt. Carry less than HKD 500 with you at all times. Pack your own lunch from the left-overs. Sooner than you think, the economic situation will rebound and you will suddenly find yourself in a cash-flow positive position. Good luck.
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bcc100, you are absolutely right about "no limit to luxury." However, there is always a limit to one's savings. So consider very carefully when you compare a tangible investment, i.e. that LV wallet, to the intangible benefit, i.e. the personal appearance...
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