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> As a conceptual shortcut, I'd want to understand what immigrant and first-generation Asians do, and do that. It's pretty simply actually. They try to hold a

> As a conceptual shortcut, I'd want to understand what immigrant and first-generation Asians do, and do that. It's pretty simply actually. They try to hold a steady job, save a high percentage of their income, don't have expensive hobbies, buy some property in the best school district they can and spend a lot of time on their kids education to get them into good colleges and elite professions like doctor, engineer etc. Kids learn good financial habits from their parents, and repeat the cycle with some additional knowledge (index funds, rental properties etc.) until they "make" it.

nostrademons 5y ago
Also a first-generation Asian (on one side of the family), and my wife is one too. This is absolutely right. It basically comes down to "Make (a lot) more than you spend. Invest the difference in scarce, desirable cash-flowing assets. Borrow money iff the expected returns from the asset exceed the interest rate." These are really simple rules, but really hard to execute. The advantage that immigrants (and some of their kids) have is that they haven't internalized all the subconscious messages American society imparts. So for example my sister lives in Texas, where everything is bigger, and her home is like 50% bigger than my Bay Area one (which I thought was a huge extravagance). But she's always like "Yeah, the neighbors all have bigger houses, and their kids have like twice as many toys, and our kids' friends all have bouncy castles inside the home, and we need to buy them a play structure so we don't waste time going to the playground." So money goes out the door on a bouncy castle, and a play structure, and full-service landscaping, and home improvements, and even more toys. Meanwhile, a typical Asian immigrant is like "Who need more than 4 walls and a bed? Why you care if other people think you poor, when your bank account go up?" My wife is like "We're gonna all end up in one big family bed anyways. Let's look into converting the house into a duplex and renting out the downstairs."
jfrunyon 5y ago
You're right, saving a high percentage of your income is pretty simple. For those with disposable income to save.

nostrademons 5y ago

Also a first-generation Asian (on one side of the family), and my wife is one too. This is absolutely right. It basically comes down to "Make (a lot) more than you spend. Invest the difference in scarce, desirable cash-flowing assets. Borrow money iff the expected returns from the asset exceed the interest rate." These are really simple rules, but really hard to execute. The advantage that immigrants (and some of their kids) have is that they haven't internalized all the subconscious messages American society imparts. So for example my sister lives in Texas, where everything is bigger, and her home is like 50% bigger than my Bay Area one (which I thought was a huge extravagance). But she's always like "Yeah, the neighbors all have bigger houses, and their kids have like twice as many toys, and our kids' friends all have bouncy castles inside the home, and we need to buy them a play structure so we don't waste time going to the playground." So money goes out the door on a bouncy castle, and a play structure, and full-service landscaping, and home improvements, and even more toys. Meanwhile, a typical Asian immigrant is like "Who need more than 4 walls and a bed? Why you care if other people think you poor, when your bank account go up?" My wife is like "We're gonna all end up in one big family bed anyways. Let's look into converting the house into a duplex and renting out the downstairs."

jfrunyon 5y ago

You're right, saving a high percentage of your income is pretty simple. For those with disposable income to save.