avatarAldric Chen

Summarize

My Neighbor Leads a Simple & Boring Life. He Is a Millionaire at 38 [For God’s Sake!].

We complicate things too much

A simple guy. A rich guy. Photo by Cedar Wheeler on Unsplash

I am convinced we are missing the forest for the tree.

God! We are such idiots.

This is what I mean.

Millionaires live among us. Yes, within an arm’s length. I recently discovered that my neighbor, one doorstep away, that guy who takes public transport to work and wears jeans everywhere he goes…

… Is a [freaking] millionaire.

I couldn’t believe it.

You won’t, either…

… If you meet Chek.

In Finance, Street Smarts Matter [More].

Chek is not uneducated in finance.

He knows nothing about,

  • Future value,
  • Present value,
  • Intrinsic value,
  • Discounted cash flow valuation.

Chek is clueless about the financial mechanics.

That does not make him a money idiot.

Quite the contrary.

He learned about money from life. Chek has 3 pillars of inspiration.

  • His own innate curiosity,
  • One plumber brother,
  • One dumb sister.

It turns out that paying attention to our immediate environment is the edge we have above finance Ph.D.s. The trouble is we don’t.

We walk with our eyes closed.

Haha. Well, well.

Back to Chek.

Chatting is Out. Questioning is In.

Chek is curious.

Real curious.

In fact, he learned about the ins and outs of his job by asking questions.

He does his work, gets stuck, asks his colleagues for help, progresses a little, gets stuck, seeks his boss’s counsel, moves on, and yadda yadda.

I live my life in circles, he said to me.

But I don’t think so. It may seem so. Chek spirals himself forward and upwards. Everyone can tell. This dude uses his hands to think.

His questions carry weight.

Once, Chek got curious about group insurance and life insurance. He was approached by a financial planner. Chek did not blindly sign up.

He approached his boss.

It was a 45-minute coffee chat. Chek bombarded his boss with all sorts of insurance comparison questions. His boss, according to Chek, looked vexed.

“I thought he would fire me, you know.”

I laughed.

“Yes, I would, if it is me. Man, you are bl00dy annoying!”

But Chek’s boss is not me. He is a good man. He listened. He explained.

He told Chek that,

  • The group insurance covers him and his wife,
  • It has generous dental and general practitioner coverage that life insurance does not,
  • The company paid $21k for him and his wife, insuring them up to $6 million for one year.

Chek took notes. He scribbled furiously.

And then, he went home and compared plans. Chek signed up for a modest life insurance plan.

Chek told me this.

“Aldric, our expenses matter. Medical and dental expenses burn a big hole in our pockets. There is no point earning more when we surrender our money to those in the white coats. If the company is paying, that’s good. We can save a lot, you know?”

Just how smart is this guy?

He doesn’t have a hole. Yet he is already proactively covering them with other people’s money.

It shows that life is our best teacher.

His Plumber Brother Taught Him Systematic Thinking

Chek was born into a financially modest family.

His eldest brother dropped out of school at age 18. He supplemented the household income and funded the education of his younger siblings.

Chek is [very] close to his eldest brother. I can tell.

He shared one conversation he had with his beloved titan-like brother.

“My eldest brother is a humble guy. He is not highly educated. But he can see the big picture. He tells me that I cannot fix a pipe where the leak is. I must step back, see the big picture, and observe where the water is coming from and where it is going. Then I can fix the pipe.”

Chek continued.

“I took his teachings and ported over to money matters. I look at the big picture when money is leaking. I try to figure it out. Stopping the tap from running is the first step. The leaky pipe is the second.”

When I asked Chek what he meant by stopping the tap from running, he said this.

“I just ask myself why I need this. If there is no answer, I cut it off.”

What a simple, straightforward, kick-ass reply.

Reversing Everything His Dumb Sister Does

This one is funny.

To Chek, his sister is dumb.

No, not low IQ, by the way. No. She is the darling of the household. She is the only one who made it to university.

“I am confused by her, you know. So smart yet so dumb.”

I almost died.

Chek says his sister,

  • Earns $6,000 monthly,
  • Chokes up $6,500 in credit card bills,
  • Never, ever invests her money because it is risky,
  • Travels once every 3 months to see the world,
  • Brings her friends to restaurants for meals,

He told me this.

“Aldric, I am not as highly educated as you are. But I started work at 18. I am 38 this year. I have seen enough. I can tell what my sister is doing with her money is dumb. So, whatever she does, I do the opposite. She is my anti-teacher in personal finance.”

I’m [incredibly] impressed.

I ask Chek what [exactly] did he do. It turns out that Chek,

  • Makes sure he earns more than he spends,
  • Invest in hospitality and travel-related stocks (haha!),
  • Only travels when his company sends him overseas for training.

I listened to him and started wondering.

Who is the [real] smart one?

Who has a higher IQ?

Life is filled with ironies.

The Close

Chek told me he became a millionaire at 37.

I took what he said at face value. I cannot ask him to show me his bank and investment accounts… of course.

Given his frugality and money shrewdness — I believe him.

Chek’s sister amazes me, too.

And this is the funniest thing.

I cannot imagine a bankrupt and a millionaire living under one roof. Haha.

Well. It is just…

… Weird.

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Money
Retirement
Economics
Investing
Finance
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