Grow money with money. Boost your ego? Laterlah.

A good friend, much younger than me was in KL the other day and as usual we went for a cup of latte in the evening. She was driving just a Proton Saga and she told me that many of her friends were driving a Vios or a City. All of them told her to change car because her Saga is making her look bad. I asked if she felt the same. She laughed and said, “Of course not. I am too young and besides even if I drive a Vios or a City, would successful people like you think highly of me.” I laughed and said that fortunately you say this because I am driving just a Persona. How dare of me to look down on anyone driving a Vios or City?
Truth is, many are aiming for that short boost in ego among peers. No one wanted to be known as that ‘fella who has no cars, or that classmate is driving his father’s old Nissan Sunny (yes, that’s me too). I seriously think MONEY is more important than ego. With ego, others may think slightly highly of you. With money, you can make yourself wealthy and you soon realise that ego does not create more money. Money however would create MORE money. Haha.
A very easy example, when a young graduate buys a Vios or City, even if it saves petrol or whatever crap that the sales agent tells you, most of the time it will be on a 9 year loan or at least 7 year loan. The thinking is, within 3 or 4 years, my salary would have increased so much that paying for the car is as simple as ABC. I would not doubt that BUT by having this loan, it meant that you have chosen to delay the opportunity to buy a property by at least 7-9 years. Seriously not a wise move at all. So, you rent and make someone rich. Staying with parents and giving them allowances is not so bad, at least when you need the money they would give you back, at least most of the time.
There are not too many 10 years before we realise that we needed more money to retire comfortably. Oh yeah, before we called it a night, I told my good friend that it’s not enough to drive a Saga. It’s more important to aim to earn more than enough to buy a Vios or City but use that money to create more money. If she did that, I would think highly of her. I would not mind having latte with her anytime at all. However, if the car she bought is to boost her ego but her wallet is empty most of the time, there’s really nothing to be happy about. No wonder the number of youths going bankrupt is getting higher year after year in Malaysia. Getting your ego boosted or bruised? Your decision.
written on 10 July 2015
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