Working for money, buying property for?

The main reason why we work is for money. Right? Question, how many of us dread waking up on Monday morning? How many of us would prefer to get sick instead of facing your manager everyday? Sorry, I have not feeling this way for a very long time. You can say that my motivation level is high or that I could self-motivate myself? Or perhaps I feel ‘challenged’ at what I do currently? Anyway, I would love to work for as long as I can because I love what I do and more importantly, I get money to pay my bills, to bring my family on a holiday and to pay for petrol as I would not be taking the MRT even when it is completed unless it’s absolutely necessary.  If you think that’s just me, fyi, I did a survey among my friends in Penang. I asked them, if there is a bus stop just 200 metres away and you need to stand for 30 minutes before reaching your factory and you have to walk another 200 metres before arriving at your factory, would you take the bus. It’s 10/10. None would take the bus.’
So all of us work for money. Then why do some of us buy our first property? Let me tell you four reasons why. You can smile but these are my real reasons.
1.  I can afford one. Yes, truth is, my first one was just a small apartment of 700sf. I treasured it tremendously and both my wife and I still talked fondly about how we paid the deposit and we were finally owning our very own home sweet home. If you can afford one and you choose NOT to buy, you may not be able to afford one in future. Okay, perhaps you can still afford one which is smaller and further than what you would have been able to afford today.
2. I love my family. If you seriously love your family, you need good financial planning. However, there are so many different ways. Buying property is the simplest, safest and most assured. If you and family love staying there, chances are, many other families would love it too. You need a place to stay anyway, So, if you are not so awesome in financial planning, buy a home and let your family have a home sweet home. Hard to go wrong on this one.
3. Protect my money. You worked so hard. You saved so much. Do you save it under your bed? Of course not. You save it in banks for interest. You buy unit trusts because all your friends said unit trust is good. Let me remind you that house prices increases based on it’s overall price. Even if your salary increases by 10%, your savings is not going to be able to keep up with the house price increase after a while. Fortunately, you can buy FURTHER away, for now. 2% increment for a RM300,000 house meant you have gained RM6,000 every year and increasing year after year. Saving RM6,000 and it is suddenly not easy…. right?
4. Pain first, sweetness later.  Let’s face it, when I do not buy a house and tie myself down to mortgage payments every month, I would have extra cash. With this extra cash my hands would be itchy and I may use it for some things like buying a bigger car than what I really needed. I may even use it to book a 5-Star hotel instead of a 3 star one for my vacation. I may buy new Iphones every year. Sigh, there goes my money unless I have no access to it. Think about it.
I know of many friends who said they do not work for money. They said family is more important than money. Yeah sure, you mean medical fees are free when your family is sick? You mean your family loves staying at home during school holidays instead of going on holidays? You mean your family members are happy when you give them your old handphone as birthday gifts? Please, get real. We work for money but how we use that money for real happiness, that’s up to you and me. Happy Investing.
written on 3 Sept 2014
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