Money & Investing | Asian American Poll

MONEY & INVESTING
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:12:08 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Who handles the household checkbook in your family?
The Wife | 74%
The Husband | 26%

Which of the following ethnic groups attaches the most importance to making money?
Chinese Americans | 51%
Vietnamese Americans | 14%
Japanese Americans | 1%
Corean Americans | 30%
Filipino Americans | 4%

Which of the following do you consider to be your most important investment method currently?
Buy/Upgrade Own Home | 39%
Other real estate | 4%
Stocks/Options/Futures | 31%
Mutual Funds | 10%
Bank Deposits | 16%

This poll is closed to new input.
Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

AC Dropout:
"When you're rich enough people come see you, not the other way around."
Consider yourself lucky, but the vast majority of successful people work more 40 hours a week and must do the business traveling themselves. Their kids suffer the most when the parents invest more time into their careers...no nanny's or maid's care can replace that of a parent's.

"When you enter the "leisure class" lifestyle. Time is what you have an abundant of."
That's called 'retirement.' Most people who have the 'leisure class lifestyle' are not parents, but grandparents.

"If not the lack of money, what was the disagreement about. The only other thing is control of the money, which is also because there is a lack of resources."
Wrong. Its about the distribution of money. I have a few siblings/relatives who are newlywed...the allocation of money (not the lack of money) have created nasty arguments and marital problems.

"Because when there is too much money, the last thing on the family's mind is who gets to control what and who doesn't have enough."
Wrong again. The more money, the more problems with allocation, respect, and appearance. You are no longer concerned about providing your family with the necessities of life, but rather maintaining an image. The problem is that most families dont fit the image they like to present to others...nor can they acknowledge it, b/c they need that 'perfect' image they created (but cant live up to) to justify their lifestyles.

"First you come trying to discredit how money has no correlation to family stability. Now you stating that the person earning the average American salary does not qualify as a mate for you."
Clarification...I stated earlier that financial stability is about living within one's means, not an abundance of money. Wealthy people are also capable of overspending and misusing money. Wealth also has no bearing on emotional stability. Parental/family relationships determine a child's emotional stability. What is so difficult to understand about that?

About the family average salary being 28K...That 28K probaly also includes the salary of students making minimum wage...that's hardly a comfortable salary for an FAMILY to live on. I also stated that I wanted someone who makes a DECENT salary. Also, I dont go on dates and inquire about their salaries. I have inquired about their careers b/c it tells me about the person's interests and goals...thus their personalities and our compatibities.

"In the USA, quality of life is directly proportional to a patients ability to pay."
I guess that must also be your definition...if that's what suits you. But the rest of us need more than money to live on...we need a nurturing environment that includes family and friends.

"Money begets options in life."
From my observation, an excess of money breeds unnecessary problems.

gzus in NYC:
"The answer is, with my usual caveat, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes."

You can experiment it yourself, if you want real evidence. Make your career a priority over your family...and when your kids are all grown up...ask them those same exact questions...I bet their answer would be different from yours.

Let's look at each factor now. Does money buy peace & friendship? Yes, if you have the conniving, untrustworthy kind. How about true love? Your mate can be attracted to your money more so than you...if this is what you call 'true love'...so be it. What about healthy upbringings? Or morals and values? Yes, if you convince yourself to believe this...dont expect your family to believe it though. Does money buy intelligence? If you dont know the answer to this, you're lagging in this area. Does it buy charisma? If you're a loser, it can buy you confidence...but not charisma. Does money ensure you the best health? It can get you the best doctor to cure your illness, but not to prevent your existing ailments (like your distorted view on money).
be Friday, May 17, 2002 at 21:18:14 (PDT)

First of all, money doesn't buy this or that. It creates...

Money equates to freedom. People want more money because it gives them more freedom. With more money, you have the freedom to acquire more, try more stuff, go just about anywhere you like, and create more friendships and love relationships. Whether all of this is superficial or not is another matter altogether.

Money is like matches. With more matches you can start more fires. Whether these fires burn productively or destructively is up to the person!

Does money create happiness? Yes and No.

Money can create everlasting happiness, or only a moment of instant gratification. Money can also create depression, if not used properly. Again, money is like matches, it is like a tool to be used properly or improperly.

Depending on mentality, you can just have sufficient money to sustain your life (meals, clothing and a roof covering your head), or wealth (where money provides you with many accessories that are unncessary for your survival but nice to have).

Why do many Asian Americans aspire to wealth? Perhaps pyschologically AAs feel an inferiority complex among other Americans, and that wealth might be a solution to their insecurity. Let put this way, in a Western Tradition, some people are spirtually healthy, and others are spiritually empty or starved. In a Western dominated societies, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism are conflicting traditions and are of no help to Asians adapting to a Western lifestyle. Therefore, many Asians are spiritually starved and view MONEY as their RELIGION. There are religious groups such as the Jews who view money with great importance like the Asians. However, many wealthy Jews give their money to charity, and their own people and cause. Many wealthy Asians have not been as generous or productive with their money as the Jews! Maybe the reason is that Asians have no true religion and see money as the only savior! This is my take on Asians and Wealth.

The Basics Friday, May 17, 2002 at 10:13:35 (PDT)

be,

"What they fail to mention is how long it would take to pay off their house and car payments"

We are definitely in disagreement because we are operating in different definition.

Wealth is when you have an abundance of assests. You and I need to come to an agreement on what liabilities and assest are to move on constructively.

These people you mention are not wealthy. They have too many liabilities and no assests. Just because something is in your name, doesn't make it an assest. Assests are things which generate income or retain value. Homes and cars purchased on loans are usually liabilities because they are negative income producers.

However, when you purchase a home or a car on a loan, then turn around and lease it out for a profit minus your monthly payments. Then those items become assests.

What you are discribing is the usually mid-class American dream. A home, 2 cars, 2 kids all on loan and a huge liability. A Doctor making 200K a year with 150K liability a year is middle class in my book.

When I talk of wealth or fiancial security your assests need to far out weigh any short term or long term liability you may choose to incur. In other words your assests should be at least 10x your liability and net worth of at least a few million to be considered somewhat wealthy by today's standards.

Connecting with kids and wealth is an independent thing. Because you and your parents grew up in different environments, it is really difficult to connect. Because you and your kids will grow up in similar environments, I'm sure you will be able to connect with your kids.

"Men who have pursued me tend to brag about their wealth"

Because I don't know you or the people who pursue you I cannot comment why they would brag about stuff like that with a lady. Usually wealthy people I know the last thing they say is I'm worth X Millions to a lady. My only insight is that in a prior post you mentioned 28K would not be considered a descent annual income. Perhaps this attitude is somehow conveyed to your suitors, so they feel it is necessary to mention their wealth to you to gain your favor.
AC Dropout Friday, May 17, 2002 at 10:10:54 (PDT)

just wondering,

It was a number that came up in a conference on the genetic study to hereditary diseases. When you do studies like this skeletons in the closet tend to fall out.

The jist of the conference was not about illegitamate children, but the number was striking since it coincided with the illegitamacy rate of a certain bird species.

I just remember the number because the speaker's openning statement was that.
AC Dropout Friday, May 17, 2002 at 09:40:18 (PDT)

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