Brain Dump | Morning Musings

The other day, I was reading a post by @adamada on The Generational Lie About Working Hard. It was such an intriguing topic that got me thinking about what most people faced. There are a lot of things I could say but this is a free write, perhaps jumbled ideas of what originally came to mind. So, bear with me that I might say something worthwhile or rubbish.

Welcome to my brain dump, it’s morning and when I am able to sit down, sipping a cup of coffee while contemplating about life and emptying it out a little

I always see myself living in an intriguing situation and sometimes a little out of touch. I talk about this a lot because honestly, most of the time I can't resonate with other struggles to own a house and the need to have one. Some other struggles included.

My peers and the people I know around, they don't struggle with any of this, the struggle of a mortgage is by choice. They could have just stayed in one of the lands/houses but they wanted to have their so-called "own" despite in the future, it will all come to them.

Let's rewind a little bit, this is about 4 generations. Assuming you're like myself an older Gen Z or perhaps a millennial. I am a 4th generation of my family and just like peers around me, this is what I learned, mostly.

So, it all started with the great grandparents. They made the bet and their grandparents inherited it, they make more wealth through 9-5 job or sometimes through entrepreneurial endeavors.

Their grandparents also don't have that many children, 3-4 at most, they work hard and they send their kids to university.

My grandpa was only a college graduate at the time and that could easily land him a very cushy job. My another one, maternal grandfather is just highschool graduate but he inherited a thriving business and multiple factories. Their respective lives were set. I am sure they have their own struggles but theirs isn't quite the same as ours.

Then, there's our parents. They are more modern, most of them go to university. They lived in excess back in the 80s and for upper to middle class, they could indulge in lavish hobbies too such as cars, expensive watches and the things that money can buy.

They lived in time when they don't have to worry about anything. As soon as they graduated, they inherited business or connection comes in handy to get a cushy job. Some go out their way to seek opportunities outside but really, even when they're tired of 9-5, there are business at home waiting to be managed.

These children (my parents) were coddled, responsibilities don't seem to be in their vocabulary and they don't have the same hard working spirit as their great grandparents or their own parents. Their family wealth was more than enough to bail them for every possible problems including some rare diseases.

That is when the wealth slowly declines.

As the society becomes modern, we have more needs. We want to do more things, even more lavish things and without a grasp of understanding that economy is getting more challenging, they kept on spending more than they earn.

They lived under the idea that they have properties to sell when shits hits the fan. They have people to go to because they were the creditors. They have assets that is always ready to be turned into cash. But as they say,money don't grow on trees and just a simple mismanaged could cost a lot.

In some families, these 3rd generation problem manifests differently, often about land ownership and how they bicker about the portion of the land and such. So, as the land gets divided, sold to finance whatever lifestyle it was, there are only little that's left for my generation.

This is where my generation and the people I know share a collective burden. Our job was not only to defend but to re-built. We were told to work hard, to save up, to buy more properties. The irony lies there. They were the one that spends it all in reckless habit spending but my generation was told to work hard, defend what we have left and to build a more comfortable life in this society.

There was also a little disconnection on how we were raised. I was raised by my parents with such background where responsibilities don't seem to be in their vocabulary. They don't understand much about personal finance despite studying finance or management. It was weird growing up but then, there's me 4th generation of something that's either identify as broke or broque.

Like many other people in my peers, our needs to have a house is also to be "independent". But again, it's all by choice. Certainly more complexities there but anyway, in this tough economy, we work our best not just defending what we had but also rebuilding for our future generation. As the things we all currently have won't be enough for the next generation to come assuming there's still any future left.

The story would have another version too. To simplify everything, if your great grandparents and grandparents aren't well off, by nature your parents was told to work hard. Then, they have you in between of building their wealth. As you grow up, you begin to live comfortably because your parents. But don't be swayed and start being reckless with your choices financially. It is always easier to keep and accumulate than to fix, rebuilt and accumulate.

Keep on working hard because one mistake, one generational mistake could have a greater cost for the next generation. I learned so much from my grandparents to live a modest life. It's not excess but also not too poor/to the point where they struggled so much. It took me a while to untangle these but now, I know better.