Eventualities of Life

Everybody have to face the eventualities of life. Some are not so lucky; realities hit them hard earlier on in their lives. Some are very lucky, all their lives, they do not have to plan, or prepare, or worry, everything seems taken care of, from the time they are born till they breathe their last breath.

Have you ever think of your retirement or old age planning? What will happen if you do not have extra to afford old folks home? These two questions keep coming back to me every now and then.

I do not know I can live until what age. I do not really know how bad inflation can be, and how much I would need to maintain my standard of living. By the way, I am not exactly a materialistic person, and I live quite frugally, sometimes to the extent of being labeled as KIAM SIAP KUI, which means stingy “ghost” in Hokkien dialect.

I am afraid of being a burden to my family, if one day, I become paralyze. That is why I bought a 500k* ringgit worth of insurance sum assured for myself. *Note: That is what I can afford for now. I figured, if I was being diagnosed with critical illness, I’ll use that sum to settle all my debts with the balance goes to supporting my wife in raising our kid. The balance might not be much, but if she manage it well, should be adequate to support her for the next 10 years, assuming 30k ringgit a year as costs of living.

I am lucky, as in the sense that my parents and in-laws are still working, and they are quite healthy. I am not burden by hefty medical bills like some friends. Nor am I required to use major part of my earnings to support my parents and in-laws. Compared to certain friends, I am considered very lucky.

Considering current economic scenario, it is really not easy for a small family of three, having household incomes within the range of 5k ringgit to be self-sufficient and also at the same time supporting parents’ families. My mum used to tell me that her salary of around 1k ringgit, back in those days, in the 1970s’, was sufficient to pay for car and house installments, and also helping out parents’ household expenses. Fast forward to today, that 1k ringgit a month merely enough to pay for motorbike installment.

What will happen to the costs of living 30 years from today, when my baby boy is 30? Certainly it will be unreasonable of me to ask him to provide financial support to me and my wife, when he is just starting to build his family and he will have his own family commitment to attend to. At least that is how I feel. I understand that certain readers might say it is a moral obligation for children to take care of their old age parents. The thing is that, life is not easy. What if my kid barely makes ends meet? I would not want to be a burden to him.

Recently there is this argument that whether Malaysia should have filial piety laws similar to our neighboring country, Singapore, the US, Canada, Ukraine and Russia. My take is that, government can make it a strict liability to provide for maintenance of parents, but the love will fade when law takes over.

To avoid that, either I hope for a shorter life span, or I plan ahead so that I have more than enough for my old age. It is really up to you, as it is your life, your choice. For me, I rather rely on myself. I hate the feeling of having to hold my hand out to request. It was a very unpleasant feelings, I had enough of it when I was very young before I started earning.

Which is why, ever since I reach the age of adulthood and maturity, I started spending quite an amount of time seeking knowledge to generate and accumulate wealth, through reading books and magazines on finances and investments. I want to learn the wisdom to be wealthy. I believe I can only learn from someone who are already wealthy.

Quoting Bill Gates, “Born poor is not a sin, die poor is.” And so I promised to myself, I must be rich.