Am I Envious of those Richer than Me?
In brief, no.
And I'm not in denial about this.
This is mainly because I have a simpler than simple lifestyle: no car, no house, no desire for either, nor other untoward expenses.
What I cannot deny, however, is that I am envious of those YOUNGER and wealthier than me.
Although I look upon youth as a more blessed gift than affluence, the younger set are also more naive and less experienced(I know because I've been teenish and 20-ish myself).
The majority( me included) are more inclined to lose a large sum of money which they may have gained in a relatively short period of time rather than keep it, much less grow it.
They tend therefore to not remain rich for longer than,say, 2 years.
But I freely admit that when it was leaked to my ears that my younger cousin,who worked with high-flying bank CIMB, had earned 26 months of bonuses in 2007 followed by 14 months each in the following two years, I immediately dropped into a blue funk, especially when her mother also let the cat out of the bag that the girl's spinster auntie had bitched to no end about her daughter deciding to buy a house in the affluent Bangsar district in Kuala Lumpur, apparently out of jealousy.
The blueness of half-jealousy-half-feelings of inferiority was deepened by about forty minutes of rumination(a habit that begets depression, said a report in the New York Times) about how my cousin's (jealous) temperamental single aunt may be a prelude to what I may be like when(and if) I get to be her age in under twenty years' time.
These slightly depressing thoughts were mixed with more uplifting consolations: that I had quite a lot of cash saved up since I voluntarily detached myself from a dead-end job almost 2 years ago ; that the commodity futures market offered the potential last bastion of hope for my enrichment; that I was far worse off in the aftermath of my unemployment, having committed spare savings to declining mutual funds linked to plummeting stockmarkets, and also having tied up capital with a friend, capital which I felt at the time that I had little hope of recovering(the friend eventually repaid every penny to the tune of S$7 200, and I sold my mutual funds in November 2009 for a better than 30% return).
Yes, I have struggled more than others due to innate shortcomings and deficiencies that the average person may never dream of overcoming, but who is to judge(let alone me) that my sufferings are the worst or the most unendurable?
Who is to say the my younger cousin, well-endowed as she is currently from the bumper-laced good years, is intelligent and savvy enough(although I do sincerely wish her all the best, and believe that she can) to keep all her savings?
After all, the investment world is fraught with dangers and temptations that threaten constantly to commit daylight robbery on one's squirreled cash!
(Her mother revealed inadvertantly that she also intended to buy a higher-end (though second-hand) car, a classic depreciating asset).
People may consider me strange for choosing to live in my parent's house in my mid-thirties, but I have adjudged that this is the best solution to my current dilemma: being unemployed, with a fluctuating income and no possibility whatsoever of a smile-inducing bonus at the end of a hard-fought year.
And I'm not in denial about this.
This is mainly because I have a simpler than simple lifestyle: no car, no house, no desire for either, nor other untoward expenses.
What I cannot deny, however, is that I am envious of those YOUNGER and wealthier than me.
Although I look upon youth as a more blessed gift than affluence, the younger set are also more naive and less experienced(I know because I've been teenish and 20-ish myself).
The majority( me included) are more inclined to lose a large sum of money which they may have gained in a relatively short period of time rather than keep it, much less grow it.
They tend therefore to not remain rich for longer than,say, 2 years.
But I freely admit that when it was leaked to my ears that my younger cousin,who worked with high-flying bank CIMB, had earned 26 months of bonuses in 2007 followed by 14 months each in the following two years, I immediately dropped into a blue funk, especially when her mother also let the cat out of the bag that the girl's spinster auntie had bitched to no end about her daughter deciding to buy a house in the affluent Bangsar district in Kuala Lumpur, apparently out of jealousy.
The blueness of half-jealousy-half-feelings of inferiority was deepened by about forty minutes of rumination(a habit that begets depression, said a report in the New York Times) about how my cousin's (jealous) temperamental single aunt may be a prelude to what I may be like when(and if) I get to be her age in under twenty years' time.
These slightly depressing thoughts were mixed with more uplifting consolations: that I had quite a lot of cash saved up since I voluntarily detached myself from a dead-end job almost 2 years ago ; that the commodity futures market offered the potential last bastion of hope for my enrichment; that I was far worse off in the aftermath of my unemployment, having committed spare savings to declining mutual funds linked to plummeting stockmarkets, and also having tied up capital with a friend, capital which I felt at the time that I had little hope of recovering(the friend eventually repaid every penny to the tune of S$7 200, and I sold my mutual funds in November 2009 for a better than 30% return).
Yes, I have struggled more than others due to innate shortcomings and deficiencies that the average person may never dream of overcoming, but who is to judge(let alone me) that my sufferings are the worst or the most unendurable?
Who is to say the my younger cousin, well-endowed as she is currently from the bumper-laced good years, is intelligent and savvy enough(although I do sincerely wish her all the best, and believe that she can) to keep all her savings?
After all, the investment world is fraught with dangers and temptations that threaten constantly to commit daylight robbery on one's squirreled cash!
(Her mother revealed inadvertantly that she also intended to buy a higher-end (though second-hand) car, a classic depreciating asset).
People may consider me strange for choosing to live in my parent's house in my mid-thirties, but I have adjudged that this is the best solution to my current dilemma: being unemployed, with a fluctuating income and no possibility whatsoever of a smile-inducing bonus at the end of a hard-fought year.
posted by DP at
8:37 PM
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