(no subject)
Just today in branch, on a (now) typically quiet day, one of my colleague posed an open question to two of his colleagues who were around - one of whom happened to be me.
It was an interesting question, really: 'How much do you think you should have in savings by the time you turn 30?'
At that point in time we sorta decided on a figure between 50K and 100k, with the sole girl amongst us three saying perhaps closer to 100k would be a comfortable figure. Some quick calculation, then, assuming that I am at zero now (which is really not very far) would mean that i have to save about 20k a year. How i'm gonna do that is another issue altogether.
Practically, though, I knew it was going to be very hard for me, given the outflows that have. As one who knows me will know, I often dish out sums of money to my parents for the support of their business, when they run into cash flow issues. To put it in perspective, in the one year i've worked now, I reckon i've given them about 1/3 of my salary to tide difficult times. I also pay for my internet bill, and part of the electricity bill. But that's normal.
So anyway, then i got really busy, and all these disappeared from my mind for awhile.
(cue: difficult customer)
And then on the trip home i was in the bus, when i suddenly thought of our conversation earlier today, and somewhat realised - how much is enough?
I mean, to me, honestly, its not that money is not important, but i see it merely as a vehicle to achieve some comfort in life. It is not, and should not be the be-all and end-all. It hit me that very often people get caught up with chasing money that they end up wanting it merely for the reason of having more, and the real reason - that they want to provide for a more comfortable home, for example - tends to become the excuse that they hold.
What's more scary is that in the endless and relentless pursuit of monetary excellence people tend to lose sight on the ground and become selfish and self-centred to the extent that everyone else becomes a stepping stone to their success.
Do i want that? absolutely not. For me, just as, if not more important, is the need to remain grounded, to never lose sight of the principles that keep me human.
I hope you're keeping well.
It was an interesting question, really: 'How much do you think you should have in savings by the time you turn 30?'
At that point in time we sorta decided on a figure between 50K and 100k, with the sole girl amongst us three saying perhaps closer to 100k would be a comfortable figure. Some quick calculation, then, assuming that I am at zero now (which is really not very far) would mean that i have to save about 20k a year. How i'm gonna do that is another issue altogether.
Practically, though, I knew it was going to be very hard for me, given the outflows that have. As one who knows me will know, I often dish out sums of money to my parents for the support of their business, when they run into cash flow issues. To put it in perspective, in the one year i've worked now, I reckon i've given them about 1/3 of my salary to tide difficult times. I also pay for my internet bill, and part of the electricity bill. But that's normal.
So anyway, then i got really busy, and all these disappeared from my mind for awhile.
(cue: difficult customer)
And then on the trip home i was in the bus, when i suddenly thought of our conversation earlier today, and somewhat realised - how much is enough?
I mean, to me, honestly, its not that money is not important, but i see it merely as a vehicle to achieve some comfort in life. It is not, and should not be the be-all and end-all. It hit me that very often people get caught up with chasing money that they end up wanting it merely for the reason of having more, and the real reason - that they want to provide for a more comfortable home, for example - tends to become the excuse that they hold.
What's more scary is that in the endless and relentless pursuit of monetary excellence people tend to lose sight on the ground and become selfish and self-centred to the extent that everyone else becomes a stepping stone to their success.
Do i want that? absolutely not. For me, just as, if not more important, is the need to remain grounded, to never lose sight of the principles that keep me human.
I hope you're keeping well.