Time - We can't go back

Mr. Hehl (Weiss MD before he retired) and wife circa 2004 Dec 31st New Year's eve party

Time, slips slowly like a river. And time, once it passes, is gone forever. So we need to make use of the time we have left on this Earth wisely and not squander it with doing useless things. As the values of people vary from culture to culture, we need to critically assess what we value the most at this juncture of our lives. 

Perhaps for the young businessman , it is to make as much money as he or she can can possibly can in as short a time as possible. That is well and good, but make the money in the right way and not by cheating or misleading people.

For the religious, perhaps it is finding solace in doing God's work. Again some overzealous people forget that for the most part, the world is full of other religions too so it is very important to be mindful that while we are helping other people, we should not adopt a 'I am holier than you attitude'. We are all sinners in the eyes of God.

For the students, it is studying as best as they can to ensure that they have a decent future. But for the many perhaps 80% to 90% of the workforce, it is to find decent earning jobs to feed their families. So here lies the issue of work-life balance. 

With our world increasingly being globalised, and the concept of the cheapest and most competitive of nations experiencing the fastest GDP growth, many of us, are inexplicably caught in the 'rat race' for which there is NO END POINT. A lot of people talk of financial independence, but realistically speaking, how many of us can happily say that " I have no debt" or "My house and my car are fully paid off and I have  S$ x, xxx, 000 in the bank "which can last us and our family comfortably for the next 20 years . 

The fact is this, countries like Singapore and Malaysia are already facing structural unemployment, whereby many managers, or directors, after having worked 20 or 25 years of their lives, then get retrenched, and there are no jobs for them which pay them equivalent or even 75% of their last drawn salary and the only jobs available are those in a totally different line and there is little chance of switching unless they undergo major training or they have to accept a low paying job and work their way up from there. Many people in their late 40s or ealry 50s are driving taxis, working in security firms as guards, or 'consultants' or housing agents etc. because their past jobs are gone and will unlikely to come back again.  

Given the facts of the world today :

1. The population is increasing exponentially, and 7 billion people are expected to be in this world in 2025.

2. More mouths to feed, and with the 2 Asian giants, China and India getting wealthier, the costs of feeding more people with the same amount of arable (farming) land will go up.

3. We have been experiencing severe global warming and cooling in the last 5 years. Crops have been destroyed due to drought, fire or massive floods. natural habitat and rainforests are being destroyed  for more industrialisation. Cost of food will go up. 

4. US is printing more money, the Quantitative Easing 2 will mean that more money will flood the market and lower the value of your money accordingly. This will lead to inflation. 

 So,  in a nutshell, it is unlikely for many people in the population to amass the amount of money, financial planners calculate for us to retire, say in 10, 15 years time because by the time that time comes :

a) medical care (good one that is) will have gone up by perhaps 100%

b) inflation would be compounded and our todays' $500,000 would be worth perhaps $250,000

c) just to get by living decently would easily mean a couple,spending about S$5,000 per month for the rest of their lives. That told, if in 10 years time, a person is 60, then he may have 20 more years to live.

   Say he spends 12 years in decent health. He would spend S$ 720,000 in those 12 years. Say you're in your mid 40s, and want to retire by 57 - 58. Would you have the means to save up to S$ 720,000 ? That means you would have to save around $28,800 PER YEAR for 25 years to achieve the $720,000. Your savings would most likely come far short  (maybe $300 - 400,000), and it is likely you may have just fully paid off for your house or apartment.

   So, in essence, you would have to DOWNGRADE your house, and pare down your spending to afford the lifestyle for your Golden Years.   

   If the person falls ill and requires medical care, that costs would shoot up astronomically, and unless he has invested in major medical insurance, the bill would come up to a hefty sum. 

  The scenarios are too scary to speculate.

We really need a step back and look at ourselves and question, what is more important, the need to ensure you do a good job at work and at the same time, ensure that you have ample time for both your family and yourself.

So, at the end of the day, it boils down to this, we cannot go back to the good old days of slow and steady work and just doing 'your old job'. Because, your old job is no longer relevant now. Everybody has to be 'wired in, clued in, or blackberried in'. Speed and response to customer is all important. The need to be contactable 24/7  is paramount.  New ways of doing things smarter and faster is 'in'. People use all kinds of platforms to be closer to their friends and their customers. Facebook, MSN Messenger, Twitter, Blogger, MySpace etc. etc. Embrace the new wired world or lose out.      

Me and the Boys, circa 2004

We may pine for the 'good old days'  but as this post so aptly states, "we can't go back". 

Do I have the answers ? Yes, be a businessman. But then again, the businessman may run into bad times and end up a bankrupt. There are a high number of business failures within the first 3 years of business (about 70%), so starting and managing a business is fraught with risks from start to wherever it takes the person. You may lose all or a substantial amount of your capital if your business runs into financial troubles. 

Make shrewd financial investments, with either property,equities and currency. We all need to pay our 'tuition fees' to get better at this game. Only then, we can afford to look towards the future with confidence. It won't be easy, but the winners of this game are the ones who invest in their active income (ie. job) as well as their passive income (investments,assets). 

Seize the Day.