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Decision on Purchasing House

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maneo
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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by maneo » Sat, 05 Nov 2016 2:42 am

Max Headroom wrote:If you haven't already done your fair share of research, start now and keep at it. By the time it's time to swoop in, you'll be a property pro and, in all likelihood, you won't be spending one cent too much.
Good advice in general.
Max Headroom wrote:If I were you, I'd relax and sit on the fence a little longer. There's every indication that property will continue its slide in both the foreseeable and unforeseeable future.
Like any market, trying to time the "bottom" can be tricky.
Transactions are already starting to increase, but not prices.
This has usually been the indication of "smart money" returning.
By the time you notice prices starting to rise it might be a little late.
PNGMK wrote:You'd be better off paying cash for your M/G payments and conserving OA in your CPF account for a rainy day (i.e. unemployment or time off) when you can use it to fully service the loan as well as of course saving for retirement. IF Singapore gahmen really wanted to crash the property market they should drastically reduce the ability to use CPF for property. I have used it for that and now at 52 I regret.
Using CPF for housing is a good way to preserve cash flow, especially when starting at a low point in the prοperty market.
Best to be sure you intend to keep the prοperty for the long haul.

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:50 am

WD40: When do you plan to retire?
if you mean working for an employer? i would say if could i would do it
right now, but realistically this depends on certain factors such getting a PR or moving to a certain country
if you mean from the act of being employed to sustain myself then i would continue to do it as long as i am physically and mentally fit.

@PNGMK: i think i am overthinking it, but given the uncertainities at work, situation in Singapore etc buying a property right now seems the last thing on my mind.
Puducherry mmm nope, kerala maybe, the Arabian sea is a lot more calmer and the food/lifestyle is better in Kerala.

kaseyma: It should be considered the start of doing what you want to do without having to worry about saving for retirement.
midlet : I think a better way to put it would be Financial Freedom rather than Early Retirement.
If I dont need to work for money, I can be happier n enjoy working more. Whether one does gardening or research should not matter, as long as its his passion.

I tend to side with both midlet and kasey's views, i love my work, it allows me to be creative, it is challenging and tough and allows me to take risk, but grossly underpays me, if i didn't need to work for money i would be the happiest person in life.

@okonu: you said you had fun the 70's/80's without the internet, it was because back then everyone was creative in his/her own way. today's cookie cutter approach leads to giving people a false of contentment and sucks the lifeblood out of creativity, i can see that in Singapore today.

midlet:However, dont defend Conservative, SafePlay and Compromising line of thinking. Even if you take safe and conservative decisions, at least be bold in your thinking.

**spot on*** you hit the nail on the head.
To get there early is on time and showing up on time is late

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by x9200 » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 8:43 am

rajagainstthemachine wrote:If I dont need to work for money, I can be happier n enjoy working more. Whether one does gardening or research should not matter, as long as its his passion.
It's not universal. Only some areas may fit to your scheme. Very often passion is self-containing when it comes to the employment. You do something because you like doing it, by this you gain experience, new qualifications but also your employer's expectations towards you. It never stops at the pure passion ground. Soon it goes to managerial, and this means politics. If you refuse, you can not follow your passion, because your resources will get limited or you even may get fired. Fine if you are a philosopher with books as your main tools, but not if you need few million dollars just for some standard equipment.

And now you have a guy who mastered his work, he is an expert etc etc etc with all the passion, but he doesn't want to go into the politics. How do you see such guy progressing in his career?

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by earthfriendly » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 11:14 am

okonu wrote:"Happiness is low expectations". Mediocrity is not to be despised. Many great teachers have said that happiness lies in "moderation in all things", and in considering what makes you happy, not the expectations of others of what you should be earning/ buying/ doing

The secret to marriage is low expectations ~ Warren Buffett :P

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Re: RE: Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by Wd40 » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 11:28 am

x9200 wrote:
rajagainstthemachine wrote:If I dont need to work for money, I can be happier n enjoy working more. Whether one does gardening or research should not matter, as long as its his passion.
It's not universal. Only some areas may fit to your scheme. Very often passion is self-containing when it comes to the employment. You do something because you like doing it, by this you gain experience, new qualifications but also your employer's expectations towards you. It never stops at the pure passion ground. Soon it goes to managerial, and this means politics. If you refuse, you can not follow your passion, because your resources will get limited or you even may get fired. Fine if you are a philosopher with books as your main tools, but not if you need few million dollars just for some standard equipment.

And now you have a guy who mastered his work, he is an expert etc etc etc with all the passion, but he doesn't want to go into the politics. How do you see such guy progressing in his career?
Ideally, if you don't like managing and you don't care about money then you should be able to continue working as an individual contributor, regardless of what the employers expectation is. In proper developed countries I have seen individual contributors even aged 60. In my bank itself in our head office our enterprise architect is in his 50s. He is top notch and he has been working since mainframe days. I don't see him having any problems continuing with his passion without politics. But yeah in Singapore it could be a different story.

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by Wd40 » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 12:17 pm

But in my opinion, the matter is much more complicated then that. Very few people know what their passion is. Most people think something is their passion and run behind it their entire life then when they actually get to do it, they find that it is not what they want. :)

A good indicator of what a person's passion is, is to see what he does during his free time, when nothing is forced upon him. What do most people do? While away their time, play candy crush, watch TV. Some people like cooking or play some sport, like cars, driving, gardening, do stock trading etc.

Most of these passions cannot be converted into viable careers. So these people have to do normal careers, things that they are good at(even though they dont like it) so that they can earn and save enough money and then when they have enough they can then pursue their passion.

I am one these people, I good enough to dabble in IT to make a good career out of it and earn and save enough. Even though I dont like it that much, but I can tolerate it. To my 9-6 is the downtime in our lives. The remaining time is the uptime.

Also pursuing passion in your career, I think is the ultimate goal, it is like the IQ of Einstein, which not everyone can reach. But instead, you can grade a career on a scale of 0-10 from 0 being downright hell like being a dishwasher in a restaurant or a janitor or something, where you can count every second during your job and time just doesnt move and 10 being the ultimate, like for example Bill gates, loves computing, good at it and was born to do it.

5 being neutral, where you neither love your job, nor hate your job, time just moves and you can come home and spend time with your family and look forward to your life.

I was at somewhere like 3 when I started out my career in a call centre, I hated it. I worked hard and got into IT and I would rate myself at 6. So I have already crossed the neutral level and to me this is an achievement already and there is a big element of self contentment also in it. So I dont know about Raj when he says it is underachieving. To me, it is quite an achievement given my skills and ability. I could still aim for 8-9, but I wouldn't enjoy it, nor do I have the drive to do it.

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by x9200 » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 12:55 pm

I don't think being Bill Gates can make one more happy than being a dishwasher guy*. It has nothing to do with the type of the job or the career position. As it was said earlier, it's about managing expectation, having this inner balance and peace, and probably most of all, appreciating what one has / already achieved. People who can do it, are often more valuable to the well being of this world than few hundreds of Bill Gates. Most higher everyday achievers didn't achieve anything good for both the world and themselves as the individuals. This doesn't mean it's a bad thing to have the achievers' mentality. It simply means, the problem / solution is elsewhere.

*) but yes, it's hell better most of the time to cry in your own rolls royce than in tata nano.

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by Wd40 » Mon, 07 Nov 2016 2:41 pm

I agree x9200. Being happy has nothing to do with job or career position or rather a better way to put it is being happy is not only dependent on job or career position.

Being sad though can be directly linked to job or career position. So you see the link? A dishwasher, if he is forced to do the job for the lack of money then he can't be happy. Bill Gates though atleast chose his own path so if he is unhappy he is himself to blame. I think we are both saying the obvious and are on the same page. Cheers :)

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Re: Decision on Purchasing House

Post by earthfriendly » Tue, 08 Nov 2016 5:10 am

What about loving to do the dishes and being Bill Gates at the same time ? :mrgreen:


http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/30/why-bill ... night.html

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