Rich foreigners

[CTaitung]

@ma3xiu1

@The

How many foreigners made it in Taiwan big?

I only know one really wealthy foreigner still living here, but I don’t envy him. He married rich. He is a DNA donor and errand boy rolled into one, held on a very tight leash.

He wouldn’t happen to be one who married into a family business whose (mobile) product involves 2 wheels?

[ma3xiu1]

@CTaitung

He wouldn’t happen to be one who married into a family business whose (mobile) product involves 2 wheels?

No Seems there is at least two of them.

[Brianjones]

I know another one as well. There’s a few out there.

[Malasang88]

@Mithrandir

Yes, but school is free in the US and the difference between what the company pays for housing and what we pay for housing in Taipei is more than the mortgage I pay on my house in the US, which is much nicer than my home here. There’s obviously an apples to oranges comparison going on here as I live in Taipei, but the fact remains my standard of living is lower here than in the US and my expenses higher.

That sounds like a budgeting issue to me which obviously comes down to choices. Our rent is below what the company provides every month so I pocket the difference. I don’t have crazy high healthcare expenses like back home, don’t need to maintain a vehicle etc. We rent our house in the US also for a decent profit so net net we are making more and saving more here. Yes school would be free in the US and my kids were in a top ranked charter school, but here they get more attention from the teachers than they would back home due to smaller classes. I don’t feel like we’ve sacrificed quality of life at all.

[Mithrandir]

@Malasang88

That sounds like a budgeting issue to me which obviously comes down to choices.

No, as I said we aren’t getting the quality we would get back home and are paying more. Of course we could budget differently and get even less, but that would just reinforce my point about the lower standard of living.

[Malasang88]

@Mithrandir

No, as I said we aren’t getting the quality we would get back home and are paying more. Of course we could budget differently and get even less, but that would just reinforce my point about the lower standard of living.

That’s what I mean it’s about choices, what you value as “quality of life”. That’s not universal for everyone. For example, you don’t have to live in an old overpriced place in Tianmu. You can have a great quality of life in a newer area and the school bus comes right to your door.

[Mithrandir]

My point was that the perks associated with my wife’s job still doesn’t get us the standard of living we had in the US, so while we may seem “rich” by Taiwan standards, and I’m certainly not complaining about money, the comparison doesn’t work out. We get less here in terms of quality and pay more for it.

[Malasang88]

@Mithrandir

My point was that the perks associated with my wife’s job still doesn’t get us the standard of living we had in the US, so while we may seem “rich” by Taiwan standards, and I’m certainly not complaining about money, the comparison doesn’t work out. We get less here in terms of quality and pay more for it.

I understand and I’m pointing out that there is something within your budget that you are placing a high value on since I am in a similar situation and don’t have the same experience.

You would have to say what that is - house with a yard? Buying/leasing a car (it is higher than the US)? Living in Tianmu close to school?

[QuaSaShao]

I design and manufacture products in Taiwan and sell them in the U.S. and Japan and the arbitrage is how you make bank: Taiwan costs about a third of what it costs to make the same product in the U.S. or Japan.

You have to have engineering and problem-solving skills to make this work but nothing special compared to those of an average, mid-career engineer in the West.

[Mithrandir]

@Malasang88

I understand and I’m pointing out that there is something within your budget that you are placing a high value on since I am in a similar situation and don’t have the same experience.

No amount of budgeting will get me the same standard of living I have in the US here in Taipei for the same amount of money. It couldn’t possibly because the issue is how much money it costs to maintain the standard of living.

[Malasang88]

@Mithrandir

No amount of budgeting will get me the same standard of living I have in the US here in Taipei for the same amount of money. It couldn’t possibly because the issue is how much money it costs to maintain the standard of living.

You’re being evasive as to what you define as a high standard of living. What is it? The food? The traffic? Construction quality? Like what specifically are you placing value on to state you can’t achieve the same standard of living. Thats helpful for others to compare against what they value.

[Mithrandir]

@Malasang88

You’re being evasive as to what you define as a high standard of living. What is it? The food? The traffic? Construction quality? Like what specifically are you placing value on to state you can’t achieve the same standard of living. Thats helpful for others to compare against what they value.

@Mithrandir

Yes, but school is free in the US and the difference between what the company pays for housing and what we pay for housing in Taipei is more than the mortgage I pay on my house in the US, which is much nicer than my home here.

I’m not sure how you missed it, but there it is again.

[Malasang88]

@Mithrandir

I’m not sure how you missed it, but there it is again.

So construction quality? A yard? That’s not very specific which is why I said you don’t have to live in Tianmu.

[Poundsand]

You guys are using objective measures (cost) to compare subjective terms (nicer, higher standard of living) while comparing apples and oranges (private vs public schools, city living, different country)… So strange you don’t agree.

[Mithrandir]

@Poundsand

You guys are using objective measures (cost) to compare subjective terms (nicer) while comparing apples and oranges (private vs public schools, city living, different country)… So strange you don’t agree.

I explicitly called out the subjective nature of the comparison and the fact that it must be an apples to oranges comparison. Malasang simply wanted to make a personal attack on my budgeting instead of recognize the obvious.

[Malasang88]

@Poundsand

You guys are using objective measures (cost) to compare subjective terms (nicer, higher standard of living) while comparing apples and oranges (private vs public schools, city living, different country)… So strange you don’t agree.

Yeah I wasn’t expecting to agree. More just curious to what was behind the statement of my home is nicer in the US. What does @Mithrandir place value on and how does that differ from what I or others place value on?

Like if it was construction quality, I’d agree but also not something I place as much value on if renting. If a yard, then also agree since I miss our yard but I compensate for living next to a park. Or traffic I avoid driving as much as possible because I hate the traffic but there are better transportation options here vs. where I lived in the US.

[bluejasn]

@finley

I’m absolutely kicking myself that I didn’t buy property or land in Taiwan way back in the late 90s; I’d probably be retired by now. At the time, prices were comparable to the UK, or perhaps a bit better. They’ve gone up by roughly a factor of 10 since then.

So yeah, I’m not one of those people who got rich.

I wish I had bought Amazon, Apple and Google stock in the late 90s too.
If I had invested just $5,000 in Amazons IPO, my stake would be worth nearly $11.4 million today

[quandary]

Here is one:

Can a New Shul Unite Taiwan's Jews?

[ma3xiu1]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting piece

[11173]

@Mithrandir

I get roughly what I made in the US, but that money doesn’t go nearly as far here.

I thought the cost of living was substantially lower in Taiwan than the US.