ha! jinx headhoncho. you said just what I said as I was typing
Itâs not my money - my wife only gives $20,000 to help cover expenses. Sheâs a very strong-willed Taiwanese woman who believes itâs mainly âthe manâsâ job to take care of the family - no matter what expenses crop up (and believe you me, they do). So yeah, I work like a ox to earn my/family money; she works part-time to earn basically her own money. Also, I might add, her consulting job has only been paying this much since the start of 2015. Before that it was about half. Putting that in perspective: when she made $50,000 she contributed $20,000; now at $100,000 sheâs still only contributing $20,000 (and refuse to contribute more). So for all intents and purposes, she âmakesâ $20,000 cause Iâm never going to see a dollar of those earnings.
Wow, with a joint salary of that much, you should be saving very well for your future. Iâm sorry to sound blunt and judgmental, but the fact that your wife spends 80,000 a monthâŚand seemingly not toward living expensesâŚis outrageous and selfish. What if you did the same and said that YOU would only contribute 20,000 a month toward everything?
You and your wife should be a team working to prepare for your future together, but it sounds like she isnât taking the future very seriously at all.
[quote=âRockOnâ]
Itâs not my money - my wife only gives $20,000 to help cover expenses. Sheâs a very strong-willed Taiwanese woman who believes itâs mainly âthe manâsâ job to take care of the family - no matter what expenses crop up (and believe you me, they do). So yeah, I work like a ox to earn my/family money; she works part-time to earn basically her own money. Also, I might add, her consulting job has only been paying this much since the start of 2015. Before that it was about half. Putting that in perspective: when she made $50,000 she contributed $20,000; now at $100,000 sheâs still only contributing $20,000 (and refuse to contribute more). So for all intents and purposes, she âmakesâ $20,000 cause Iâm never going to see a dollar of those earnings.[/quote]
This has left me speechless.
Fair enough, appreciate the explanation and its a personal matter. I think strong willed hasnât got anything to do with not sharing though does it?
One thing I REALLY donât like about taiwan society, is lots of women want to have their cake and eat it. Not all, but a lot. They egg each other on, âhow much pin jin did you getâ? , âmake sure you control the bank accounts when you are marriedâ, âmake sure to get the house in your name, foreigners donât need their name on itâ , âdoes he have a carâ, âyou can keep your money for rainy day, he can cover the costsâ, âhereâs the pin Jin back to you daughter, keep it in your own account and donât say anythingâ, âtake some of the money and give it to the parents, donât need to tell the husband he has extra anywayââ, âIâll put my savings in my life insurance fund but wonât tell hubbie/bf and ask them to cover my expenses as I am brokeâ.
This shit is rife in Taiwan and its not right.
Talk about depressing stories. 
[quote=âBlownWideOpenâ]Wife makes 100,000nt, you make 100,000nt, youâre heavily invested already, but still sitting mostly on cash.
Sounds like youâre doing fine.
Keep investing wisely and growing your money, you and the wife should be able to save about 100,000nt per month for several years. Your situation is better than most families in Taiwan. Try ride out the teaching for as long as you can then.
Iâd be very wary of owning the miners. They are they first to go belly up in a crash because they burn through cash. Theyâre also notorious for changing the company name, replacing the sign on the door or being acquired. Uranium One was the golden boy of uranium miners and look what happened to them. You can still play uranium, silver, gold, copper in other ways without owning the miners[/quote]
Yeah, it sounds a hell of a lot better than the reality. Iâm almost 40, with limited years available to earn, and a heart-attack away from disaster. Making this kind of money when youâre 30 is awesome. I mean, you can really live it up. Travel the world, no kids, luxury items, new cars. Not so much at 40. Please consider that the âretirementâ age for high paying teaching jobs in Taiwan is probably no more than age 45. Thatâs 5 years away for me. And even if I did do the education certificate spoken about above, I would still be considered too âoldâ for most good jobs.
[quote=âBlownWideOpenâ]Wife makes 100,000nt, you make 100,000nt, youâre heavily invested already, but still sitting mostly on cash.
Sounds like youâre doing fine.[/quote]
Believe me, I have to fight for every dollar I send to my broker to invest, since my wife wants this vacation (btw, I keep saying noâŚnot now) or new furniture (appease the angry wife), or whatever she wants. So from the original post I stated that my monthly expenses totals $85,000, that leaves me with roughly $35,000 pm to invest for the next 40 years of my life. Thatâs slightly more than US$1,000. Good god, thatâs not a lot or nearly enough to not worry about the future. If I save US$1000 for the next 60 months (5 years) I will only have US$60,000 if shit goes south. Plus say US$40,000 or so of investments comes to US$100,000. Thatâs not going to be nearly enough when my luck turns. So yeah, I panic and act like a dick (by refusing extravagant family vacations and Club Med long-weekends) to protect my familyâs future. My wife thinks Iâm the stingiest SOB on the face of the planet (well, me and my foreign friends my age).
The reason Iâm in mining shares is basically because I need the leverage over the long-term. If I canât manage to multiply my savings/investments by at least a few times, life has the potential to get really uncomfortable in my 50s and 60s.
Wow your wife sounds like a nightmare.
You are saving $1,000 a month, which really isnât enough at 40 to save for a comfortable retirement (especially since teaching kids in Taiwan isnât really a job fit for those into their 60âs and beyond). Your wife has champagne taste on a beer budget, and that probably wonât change as you grow older. You are stressing about having enough money for retirement, but she is obviously brushing your worries off and not considering your feelings on the matter.
Do you think this will ever change?
What will happen to your retirement savings when youâre both older / unable to work? Will she blow it all (while having put some of her own money away in a nest egg that you may not know about, so that she can keep herself secure)?
First of all, I would if I were in your shoes beat up your wife for more support. I would do so because she has to contribute.
My wife does not pay into the common kitty either, her contribution is some groceries, buying some stuff for me, and just keeping everything ticking in the home so I can concentrate on making more money. She is very well paid for a local worker, however we are not near NT$100k a month at least when it comes to her. I accept because again, she keeps things ticking, and I am in no doubt that she would pay whatever she could for me if needed. (She tells me that a lot, and told me to consider her savings as a piggy bank in case the business needs extra cash.) Her willingness to contribute is roughly on par with my willingness to mop the floors.
If our incomes were at the same level or where the OP is, no way I would let her get away without a substantian contribution.
When it comes to your savings plans, then the important thing is that you get your missus to chip in, and then you then salt away what you can. I would buy ETFâs in the sectors you think will shine, that has been common wisdom for more than a decade, and as long as you have some dividends to reinvest, you should be able to see a nest egg growing and that should make you able to handle another 10 years of teaching. I would however say that you should more and you should plan on working longer. Thatâs because NT$35,000 for 20 years in todayâs environment will not net you enough at the end of the day for anything more high-end than a flat in Taidong and fried rice for dinner. Sorry, but someone has to say it.
I am not a native speaker of English and I have therefore never worked teaching English. I have worked NT$130,000 a months jobs in finance, NT$65,000 a month jobs in sales, and have run my own company for 11 years. I would like to see that as a retirement saving in itself, however as it is now, itâs not worth a lot. I am not kept awake a night, as business is growing and my very modest nest egg is increasing in value. If I keep building the business at this clip, i can walk away with enough money to retire in 5-8 years, however I would not know if thatâs what I want to do when the time comes. For me thatâs basically down to if I see new opportunities keeping my blood in boil and if I see a potential for further growth. Once neither of the 2 apply, I am likely to sell what I can and walk away.
Our monthly expenses per month would be around NT$150,000, I have a fairly new car of local make completely paid for, I have no debts, and I am building savings in my company and also in equities. I live in rented accomodation, and utilities are not a whole lot, again we are only 2. I have additional expenses for children living overseas, however I can see an end to that, as they are where they are supposed to pay their own way.
i avoid debt like the plague, keep the growth of my business before anything else, and bank most of the rest, however less than I would prefer. I prefer that to come in good time.
If you are to establish an extra income stream, your best bet is to start your own business as a hobby if you are so inclined. Once it pays the bills, make it your living and put yourself completely into it. if it does not pay off, you will be destitute. If it does, you might end up without a financial worry in the world. I am aiming for the latter, and I think that i might just make that goal, however 15 years after starting said business.
[quote=âIndianaâ]Wow, with a joint salary of that much, you should be saving very well for your future. Iâm sorry to sound blunt and judgmental, but the fact that your wife spends 80,000 a monthâŚand seemingly not toward living expensesâŚis outrageous and selfish. What if you did the same and said that YOU would only contribute 20,000 a month toward everything?
You and your wife should be a team working to prepare for your future together, but it sounds like she isnât taking the future very seriously at all.[/quote]
Like I said in the OP, sheâs more of a You-Only-Live-Once (YOLO) person so she pays $50,000 for private gym instruction, LV and Coach handbags, etc, etc. While Iâm more of the âoh shit! I have to save for the futureâ kind of person. Itâs a turbulent ride, but weâve been married 10 years and we both started with nothing at the same point, we have taken 2 very different paths. And in all fairness, she doesnât actually spend ALL her money every month, she saves it for her own future endeavors (which I hope will someday, at least, pay some of the expensesâŚyou must be thinking Iâm living in La-La land).
Iâve tried the whole âso next month Iâm gonna pay for only $20,000 of expenses, just like you.â Then she fights back with the whole man-takes-care-of-family horseshit. Iâm still going to keep pushing her to up her part to at least $30,000 or to at least pay down the credit cards or tuition for our kidâs kindy every month.
[quote=âIndianaâ]You are saving $1,000 a month, which really isnât enough at 40 to save for a comfortable retirement (especially since teaching kids in Taiwan isnât really a job fit for those into their 60âs and beyond). Your wife has champagne taste on a beer budget, and that probably wonât change as you grow older. You are stressing about having enough money for retirement, but she is obviously brushing your worries off and not considering your feelings on the matter.
Do you think this will ever change?
What will happen to your retirement savings when youâre both older / unable to work? Will she blow it all (while having put some of her own money away in a nest egg that you may not know about, so that she can keep herself secure)?[/quote]
Well, pressure her I say. Communicate your worries to her. tell he rabout your fears and see how she reacts. After all, she is your wife.
If she plays her own game on the side, get that stamped out, or only think of your and your own nest-egg. The main savings in my life are under my control, my wife has savings and has told roughly how much, however they were built before marriage.
My main savings right now are in my company. Thatâs a risk, however better than not having any, and the potential dividend on them would beat anything else offered by a wide margin.
As a rule of thumb in the current investment climate, you should aim for a nest egg of a size where you each year need 4% of the capital, then dividend payments and what have have you not will cover 3%, while the rest will be covered by drawing 1% off the principal.
[quote=âRockOnâ][quote=âIndianaâ]Wow, with a joint salary of that much, you should be saving very well for your future. Iâm sorry to sound blunt and judgmental, but the fact that your wife spends 80,000 a monthâŚand seemingly not toward living expensesâŚis outrageous and selfish. What if you did the same and said that YOU would only contribute 20,000 a month toward everything?
You and your wife should be a team working to prepare for your future together, but it sounds like she isnât taking the future very seriously at all.[/quote]
Like I said in the OP, sheâs more of a You-Only-Live-Once (YOLO) person so she pays $50,000 for private gym instruction, LV and Coach handbags, etc, etc. While Iâm more of the âoh shit! I have to save for the futureâ kind of person. Itâs a turbulent ride, but weâve been married 10 years and we both started with nothing at the same point, we have taken 2 very different paths. And in all fairness, she doesnât actually spend ALL her money every month, she saves it for her own future endeavors (which I hope will someday, at least, pay some of the expensesâŚyou must be thinking Iâm living in La-La land).
Iâve tried the whole âso next month Iâm gonna pay for only $20,000 of expenses, just like you.â Then she fights back with the whole man-takes-care-of-family horseshit. Iâm still going to keep pushing her to up her part to at least $30,000 or to at least pay down the credit cards or tuition for our kidâs kindy every month.[/quote]
Bloody hell, credit cards are paid off EVERY month. Always.
As a rule, it would be best if both parties contribute the way they can, but still keep some of their case for savings or Gucci and Prada handbags. Really.
With regard to her starting a business venture, I think nobody here can offer any advice of any quality. If I met your wife and discussed her plans with her, I could tell you what I thought, but here I have nothing to go after, and nothing to say. When I explained my business plans to ppl 11-12 years ago, most people thought I was crazy, however I am still here and going good. I have met one of my wifeâs friends a few times. She talks the talk, funds over indiegogo and what have you not. Last time she was at our house I had her through the wringer trying to understand why she fell so miserably on her face. I left with the impression that she was a talker, not a doer.
[quote=âIndianaâ]You are saving $1,000 a month, which really isnât enough at 40 to save for a comfortable retirement (especially since teaching kids in Taiwan isnât really a job fit for those into their 60âs and beyond). Your wife has champagne taste on a beer budget, and that probably wonât change as you grow older. You are stressing about having enough money for retirement, but she is obviously brushing your worries off and not considering your feelings on the matter.
Do you think this will ever change?
What will happen to your retirement savings when youâre both older / unable to work? Will she blow it all (while having put some of her own money away in a nest egg that you may not know about, so that she can keep herself secure)?[/quote]
Thank you. Thatâs what the entire thread is about. It just isnât really enough. Saving / Investing TW$35,000 sounds like a lot when youâre younger and starting out new in Taiwan, but it really isnât much at all, in the grand retirement-scheme.
She has jokingly said that if something, like a heart-attack / stroke / cancer, should ever happen to me, sheâll walk away and leave me and that Iâd better get private health insurance to help me cover those expenses one day. I must admit, after she said that to me I kinda felt like a piece of disposable shit to her, even though it was said in jest.(Many a truth, is spoken in jestâŚset off an alarm bell). So obviously when the insurance guy came around I made sure I covered all my financial bases, for when shit goes pear-shaped.
Another way Iâm protecting myself is opening an offshore personal brokerage account that she doesnât know about or have access to. The majority of my ânewâ money will move through this account to help me safeguard it in the future. So sheâll have her SEPARATE savings account and Iâll have my own 100% SEPARATE investment account. Seems more fair.
Respect with a capital R for the honesty. I think you can and deserve to have a better life and Iâm not talking about your job. Marriage is supposed to be a team.
[quote=âRockOnâ]
She has jokingly said that if something, like a heart-attack / stroke / cancer, should ever happen to me, sheâll walk away and leave me and that Iâd better get private health insurance to help me cover those expenses one day. I must admit, after she said that to me I kinda felt like a piece of disposable shit to her, even though it was said in jest.(Many a truth, is spoken in jestâŚset off an alarm bell). So obviously when the insurance guy came around I made sure I covered all my financial bases, for when shit goes pear-shaped.
Another way Iâm protecting myself is opening an offshore personal brokerage account that she doesnât know about or have access to. The majority of my ânewâ money will move through this account to help me safeguard it in the future. So sheâll have her SEPARATE savings account and Iâll have my own 100% SEPARATE investment account. Seems more fair.[/quote]
I use an off-shore brokerage account, however only because that was the easiest to set up, and I prefer to keep my savings away from Taiwan anyway. My SO knows about this arrangement and has never really offered any opinions about it. She was against buying stock and saw the money invested in real estate, however given the state of the Taipei real estate marked and brainwashing from my side, she seems to have changed her opinon. It even seems that sheâs getting around me my strategy of investing in dividend ETFâs and stocks, as getting cash off the investment matters to me.
My wife said to me that if she got incapacitated and shee needed around the clock help, she would really prefer that I was rich enough to get a professional caregiver in around her, she thinks it will strain me too much, or that I am not cut out for it or whatever. We have not discussed what would happen if it was me, however since I am younger than her, it does not really pop up on her radar screen, I guess.
if your wife says that now, I bet you that it will rear its head if you really wound up with something really bad.
What do you guys think is a reasonable retirement nest-egg target (in TWD) at say age 55 and at age 50, assuming the following:
- Retire in Taiwan with limited overseas family visits
- Life-long renter (no own residence)
- Limited, as in $20,000 pm income from whatever sources from retirement to death. (Interest income, dividends, post-retirement work)
- Supporting self and wife
- Living in big city - Taipei / New Taipei City (outer limits of the MRT)
- Life expectancy 85 years (scenario 1: 35 years in retirement; scenario 2: 30 years in retirement)
If I had to guess, Iâd guess about NT$20,000,000 if you retire at age 50, and about NT$15,000,000 if you retire at age 55.
These numbers are just of the top of my head and based on basic calculations. These numbers look monstrous and hardly attainable.
What do you guys think?
From the description of your wife Iâd say you need 1 billion NT if you retire at age 55, 1.5 billion if age 50
For starters I would make some serious and urgent changes in your domestic financial arrangements.
- Get half your house/apartment in YOUR name (go to the tax department and get the wife to sign the documents where she âgiftsâ you 1/2 ownership.
- Keep your wages in your account, and share half of each bloody bill with her, as inâŚgo out and pay the damn things together, 50/50
Iâm divorced from a 14 year relationship, and I did (insisted) on the above, this is why my ex and his family were not able to totally fuck me over (much to their disappointment)
I never realized how unfair she was until I shared that info here. Her whole the-man-should-take-care-of-everything attitude seemed very convincing. So just for the record, my wifeâs financial behavior is totally unacceptable to all of you? Makes NT$100,000 and contributes only $20,000, leaving all the other expenses to me.
What do your wives do with their incomes? Do they contribute their entire (or most entire) paycheck to home expenses?