So how does anyone make money here? People seem to have money, they buy apartments worth half a million us or more!
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many salaried employees dont make much money.
people make money here through :
- owning their own business
- saving and investing
- generational wealth (grandma dies and leaves you a house that is worth millions due to real estate prices )
- take out 30 year mortgages
those are the things ive encountered among my TW colleagues
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So owning a business is the best way to move up here I guess.
I guess I’ll help her focus more on setting up that tutoring business/ school then caring about her job. Should just view the job as temporary.
That’s my take away from this
yes, plus, owning a business opens you to a new lucrative field of tax evasion, allowing you to hide even more money.
something that is impossible as a salaried employee.
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A lot of the agents start with a firm then go freelance once they’ve built up a network after a few years. Then the money is good. Lots of travel and long hours though.
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Oh yeah that makes a lot of sense!
Inheriting money is the main way by far.
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Where in Taiwan is she located? That seems stupidly low for folks in the north.
Btw, you may also be interested in reading this fascinating thread, especially the google document at the top started by @marcopoloTW .
Guy
Definitely. I know Chinese teachers getting 1000/hr for tutoring.
Semiconductor peeps making bank and business owners. In my experience semiconductors industry pays better here than almost anywhere besides the states (and Singapore probably but not sure).
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My cousin said Taiwanese people dont even study for the math part
That isnt a regular salaried job.
“Companies” are not paying that amount to new hires.
Yeah also most places that I’ve seen for 1:1 Chinese tutoring is 600-800/hr (that the student pays), and I’d assume the school they work for is not paying that full amount to their teachers because otherwise how would they make a profit or cover overhead?
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Then the teacher is probably making about 200 per hour. You have to make 3x your wage to keep your job.
At 200 an hour I might as well work retail… the pay is approaching that and you don’t have real responsibilities.
Actually apart from semiconductor I don’t see anyone making much over minimum wage here. Doesn’t matter what your qualification is.
Then what’s the point of even trying?
Doctors, finance, consultancy, tech, academia, all on minimum wage?
Plenty of jobs in Taiwan pay far more than minimum wage - if you’re qualified.
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Doctors in Taiwan don’t actually make that much…
But lots of jobs are literally minimum wage, even ones you’d normally get after college.
It makes college a waste of money.
College is not a waste of time, it provides you with basic knowledge and gets your foot in the door. High salaries come with training, experience and hard work. It’s the same everywhere, nobody owes anyone a living.
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Along with skin color, country of origin, and who your parents know.
It costs a ton, and at least in the US people are saddled with student debt that does little to actually improve your career prospects. There are so many other jobs that pays you to train you, and you’d make money without being loaded with debts.
Student loans only make sense if there were some guarantee that you’d make more than without college. But they need to make schools bear some of the risk, right now schools can just charge whatever they want.
Are you talking about Taiwan?