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How to live on just enough

No one likes to think that one day they will be old, but everyone daydreams about retirement. And because people are living longer, the nightmare is that we will outlive our retirement income.

This life expectancy calculation has me expiring at 93. I’m not complaining. It just means if I were to retire at 65, I’ll need to have 28 years of income to support my old bones. Current wisdom says we should only withdraw between 3-4% of our nest egg after we retire to make the money last. That means for every $1 million saved, we should only withdraw $30k-$40k a year. In 25 years, that money is worth half. Freaked out yet? I am.

But then I remember my grandmother. When it comes to saving, she is my role model. She is a child of World War II. Growing up in Bangkok, Thailand while the city was being bombed to bits cut short her schooling. As a result her formal education ended at 2nd grade.

She married the love of her life whom she divorced, which was very unusual in the culture at the time. After, she raised three children on her own without accepting any money from her ex-husband. Eventually she migrated to the U.S. Here, she made minimum wage as a waitress for most of her life.

Fast forward to her retirement: she now lives a cushy life off her savings, retirement income, and rental income. She travels, she donates, she reinvests.

How?

She embodies the idea of living on just enough. My grandmother saved everything she did not spend. And she did not spend a lot. She drove a small economy car to a job that was 10 minutes away. She cooked most every meal (even though she was not a great cook). She shopped at discount grocery stores. And I don’t ever remember her splurging on anything for herself aside from an occasional box of Häagen-Dazs‏ ice cream bars.

Over the years, she used her savings to invest in a piece of land and a few condos in Thailand for cheap. Once she retired, she moved back to Thailand to cut down on the cost of living. She now lives on the land that’s fully paid for and off the rental income she made from those properties, in addition to the small monthly social security checks she gets.

If my grandmother can do it, so can I. So, can anyone.

The idea is quite simple. I took her ideology and applied it to the model I learned in a college nutrition class on weight control.

If money in = money out → 0

If money in > money out → positive

If money in < money out → negative

To my grandmother, it did not matter that she made minimum wage. If she could save some money and invest it for her retirement, then she would be in the positive. And she was right.

She’s proof you don’t have to make a six-figure income to end up with a good retirement portfolio. You just have to live on just enough, aka live minimally. Like having a perfect six-pack, it is an aspiration, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. Here are a few ideas on how to train yourself:

1. Save automatically

In this day and age, we can make saving even easier than before. A couple of clicks on a few buttons, and it’s automated. With the magic of compound interest, the longer we invest, the more it grows.

Compare the two charts below from this  compound interest calculator to see how adding $500 a month to $10k over 20 years with 8% annual yield can lead to a $300k difference.

Ways to save:

  • Invest in your 401k
    • I’m sure this is not the first time you heard this advice. You know why people kept saying this? Because it’s one of the best advice ever! 401k allows you to save a portion of your income, tax-free, so you can grow the money over the years. You only have to pay tax on it once you withdraw as retirement income. Several companies even offer a match up to a certain percentage. It’s free money – a gift from your company – just waiting to be collected.
    • How much to contribute? I’d say max it if you can ($18k in 2017). If you can’t, then start at 6% of your income. Increase it by 1-2% every month to test your threshold. Stop when it hurts. Then get used to living off that net income even after you get a raise.
  • Invest in Roth IRA
    • With Roth, you pay the tax up front, and withdraw it tax-free later on. If you are a cautious investor, an easy choice is an Index fund. You get smaller fee, a fund that spreads across a variety of stocks, and a steady growth that withstands some market lows. It’s not sexy and it’s long term, but it’s a solid choice. If you feel more adventurous, invest in companies that you believe in. It’s more of a gamble but the potential pay-off is higher.
  • Online savings account
    • Often, online saving account offers a higher interest rate. Plus, it’s harder to get to your money than from a brick-and-mortar bank, so it’s less tempting to tap into it.
  • Certificate of Deposit
    • Open an online CD account that’s connected to your online savings account to make managing it easier. Once you have 3-6 months of living cost in your savings account, start transferring the excess to your CD account.
  • Start a separate fund for each goal
    • Living minimally does not mean living without what’s truly important to you. If your heart desires a yearly vacation, save for it outside of your retirement fund. A $3,000 vacation means you will need to save $58 more each week in one year. Doable, right?

2. Cut down on expenses

  • Don’t buy a new car unless you can get 0% APR financing
    • A new car is the worst thing you can do to grow your money. As soon as you drive it off the lot, it devalues. Instead look for a used car that’s no more than 15% of your net income. And if you follow the rule on saving above, you would already have cash saved up for that.
  • Limit eating out at restaurants
    • Eating out can cost you so much money. Instead, buy fresh ingredients at the market and cook. Not a good cook? Look for prepared meals at the grocery store or ingredients that are great eaten raw like romaine lettuce, green beans, heirloom tomatoes, and mushrooms. Add some Costco chicken and you have yourself a healthy plate of salad for just a few bucks. My grandmother is great at making salads.
  • Make coffee at home
    • I don’t buy myself a cup of coffee unless I’m travelling. That’s $5 a cup you save a day. If you buy coffee every day, that’s $1,825 a year.
  • Cut down on housing cost
    • This is tough if you live in an expensive city like I do. If you’re renting, consider getting a roommate, live in a smaller place, or even move to a cheaper area. If you’re buying, consider buying only a home you can pay off in 15 years. It may mean getting a smaller house, but the interest you save overtime will be tremendous. Plus, you can have a paid-off house before you retire.
  • Pay off your credit card balance each month or don’t use it
    • Depending on your credit card, the interest rate can be double digits. If the rate is 20%, it will cost you $20 more for each $100 you spent.
  • Buy less things
    • Living minimally is a habit you build, like an exercise regimen that you perfect over time. It’s talking yourself out of needing to buy something even when the sales tag is screaming at you, “Buy me! If you buy me, you’ll save money!” No, buying something is not saving money, it’s spending it. Overtime you’ll realize you don’t really need all that stuff after all.

3. Make more money

  • Contract out your skills
    • Are you good at fixing things around the house? Walking dogs? Teaching an art class? Building websites? Look for opportunities to use your skills to make money on your free time.
  • Sell things you don’t need
    • Yard sale, Flee Market, Craigslist, eBay, etc.  One person’s useless thing is another’s treasure.
  • Negotiate for a higher salary
    • First you must know your worth. Do research on the fair value of your job in your area. Try Glassdoor.
    • Negotiate your salary every time you get a new job.  If the company insists on paying you too little, here’s a great video on how to negotiate like a pro.
    • Negotiate  the salary of your current job. Every time your company reorganizes or consolidates and you end up with bigger responsibilities, after proving yourself a superstar, insist that your boss do a salary review. All you need to do is respectfully and nicely request a fair wage for the new role that you are in. People, bosses included, like to think of themselves as fair and just. And if they value you, you will get what you ask. Remember you’re simply asking for what is fair.

4. Think big picture and be flexible

  • Plan your life in blocks of 10 years.
    • This doesn’t mean you have to know every single detail, and it doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible. It’s thinking of your saving plan in different stages of life. In your 20’s you’re saving plan may be to pay off your college debt and save for a down payment. In your 30’s it may be to build up your retirement portfolio (which ideally you should have started in your 20’s) and save for your children’s college fund. In your 40’s it may be to save for passive income like rental properties. In your 50’s you may want to change your career or be an entrepreneur.
    • As long as you have your eyes on your big goals, it’s okay to give yourself a little break here and there. We are not robots. But it is important to always try our best.
    • Know that life is full of surprises and you must shift your saving plan as you grow and change. After all, money is just a tool to get what you need when you need it.

On that note, I wish you all happy saving. Remember living on just enough is a habit and a lifestyle that you embrace. Start with a first step. If you have a hard time with your first step, it may be too big. So take a smaller step. No matter how small a step, just start. Your older self will thank you.

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How to save Sapa and places like it

Sapa, Vietnam. Why should we care to save it? The gorgeous valley of fertile land where bubbling brooks empty into waterfalls and a perpetual fog covers the tip of majestic mountains, is home to many hill tribes like the Black Hmong, Red Dzao, Tay, Giáy, Thai and Phù Lá. Their culture and languages are different from those of the Vietnamese. There is also a long history of the Vietnamese government marginalizing and segregating the tribes. If Sapa were a woman she would be a beautiful middle-age, scarred by her battle with the world.

When outsiders enter a place, regardless of intention, there’s a wide ripple effect that can destroy the innocence of its residents. Here, an entire generation is being raised to service the tourist industry. Everything that once existed for a utilitarian purpose now exists for entertainment – a zoo of artifacts and people.

I wonder if we were also entertainment. To hear the native young tribal women mimic an American, an Australian, or a British accent was a glimpse into the education vital for them to work in the industry and make the money the economy here has come to rely on. Farming is hard work. Joblessness is prevalent. Is it just a matter of time when rice fields would exist only as props?

It’s hard to not feel guilty being here with our Western mannerism and money and the carefully constructed life we carry on our backs. We look and we hear but we will never understand. There is a line drawn between the two sides: invaders and invaded. As time passes the line gets darker and more difficult to erase.

Our wonderful guide from Sapa Sisters, Giao, did her best to represent her home. Yet I got the sense that she mourned the Sapa she once knew as she looked wistfully at the landscape. Our night at the home of a Black Hmong family after a full day hike through the verdant hills and rice fields was probably the closest to an authentic experience we had here. We helped make a dish of young bamboo shoots with eggs for dinner and slept under mosquito netting in a room lined with hard mattresses on the floor.

As I lay awake listening to the karaoke singing from the next door guest house filled with Vietnamese tourists, I wondered what Sapa was like before outsiders had found it. Its only sin was being beautiful and we all pay the price for having destroyed it.

There are hundreds of Sapas in the world – a once paradise wrecked by tourism. It is one of the reasons why writing about traveling is a double-edged sword. So, what can outsiders do to minimize our negative impact on the places we visit?

  • Do not buy from children

I realize this sounds harsh and heartless. How can we not support the beautiful, innocent children? Well, the reason you see children selling tour books, handicraft, or trinkets on the sides of the road is because people buy from them. By doing so, you are perpetuating this trend. Children should be in school. They should be playing with other children. They should not be shouldering the responsibilities that belong to adults.

What you can do to help:

Ask locals or your guide if there is a school around. Schools in southeast Asia, or under-developed parts of the world, often do not run on government funding. Offer to buy raw rice or school supplies to donate to the schools.

  • Minimize trash and take out what you bring in

Wherever humans go, we bring trash. It’s in the plastic bottled water, the food wrappers, the plastic bags. Along the hiking trails, I saw debris of litter left by people passing through. In a city, there would be someone whose job is to pick up the trash, put them in a trashcan, and dispose of them in a landfill. But in a remote place far away from that convenience, where does the trash go? Along the road, of course.

What you can do to help:

Bring in reusable water bottles and bags. Be mindful of what you consume and how you consume them. Pack in the trash you brought in and dispose of them once you’re back in the city. If you have more time, consider volunteering to pick up trash.

  • Support local businesses

From speaking to our guide who belongs to the Black H’mong tribe, I learned a few things. Here, many wealthy Vietnamese invested in building hotels and resorts and selling ‘authentic’ hill tribe experiences to tourists. These businesses often use Vietnamese who moved from other parts of Vietnam. The money tourists spend on these businesses don’t often stay local nor is used to help the hill tribes. While it may be convenient and comforting to stay at resorts or big hotels, eat at chain restaurants or coffee shops, it doesn’t help. Supporting local businesses like a homestay, a tea house, or an herbal bathhouse run by members of a  hill tribe will allow the money to stay there and be used to better the community.

What you can do to help:

Support businesses that employ minority ethnic tribal members. Sapa Sisters and Ethos Spirit are two of the businesses that are committed to helping local hill tribes by employing their members as guides. They would also be great resources to help you plan your trip in the most responsible way you can.

 

What are some of the places you have visited that left a lasting impression (either good or bad) on you?

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How to travel Myanmar in 7 days

Myanmar is an old country with a recorded history that goes back hundreds of years. Its culture is complex and its government policies intricate. I’ve read the news. I know about the military’s treatment of its people, reporters, and occasional tourists. I was worried. But there’s a way to do it safely and responsibly. Here’s what I did in  7 days.

About Myanmar

When I was growing up in Thailand, I learned about the long history of warfare between the Thais and Burmese. When I think of the Thai-Burmese relationship I see images of ransacked cities, gold melting off pagodas, and dead elephants and soldiers. But the reality is often more complicated.

Like America, Myanmar was a colony of England. From 1824 to 1948 it underwent wars with the British and became known as a province of British India. It finally gained independence after WWII and Japanese rule like several southeast Asian countries. Colonialism marred it, just like it did its many neighbors. Until recently, the country had been under one military regime after another, with much of its spending siphoned to the military at the cost of infrastructure. Based on UNICEF report in 2012-13 fiscal year, it has spent 29% of its entire budget for the defense forces, while the education sector received just 11%, the health sector 5.7%, and social welfare at 0.29%.

The 2015 election granted the overwhelming majority seats to the National League of Democracy. Since then, efforts have been made to reallocate its spending. Although evidence of its past decisions is apparent in potholed roads and homelessness.

Civil unrest and disputes between its people dominate Myanmar’s past and present. There are more than 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, with 7 being the largest minority nationalities: The Chin, the Kachin, the Karenni (sometimes called Kayah), the Karen (sometimes called Kayin), the Mon, the Rakhine, and the Shan. Each group has their own language, culture, and history, making up Myanmar’s rich tapestry. Yet, not all tribes are recognized and not all the people who were born there its citizens.

So how does one navigate through this rich and beautiful land rife with conflict? Answer: With a combination of caution and thirst for experience, together with help from local guides. Hiring guides was not something we normally do. But we were glad we did. In doing so, we were able to cover a large section of the country and sample the many flavors this wonderful place has to offer. Click on the links to see the detailed travel log of each day.

Day 1: Yangon – Street food tour and Shwedagon Pagoda

A street food tour is a must for anyone visiting any country. Yangon is special for its architecture of dilapidated colonial buildings mixed in with modern skyscrapers. We walked around neighborhoods, ate authentic street food frequented by locals, and hung out in a park in the middle of the city. Afterward, we visited the Shwedagon Pagoda at night to experience the peaceful vibration at one of the most famous Buddhist sites in the world.

Day 2: Yangon – Botataung temple, fisherman’s village

A bombing during WWII in 1943 destroyed Botataung temple. It was only rebuilt after Myanmar gained independence in 1948. A special place among Burmese, you can find worshippers pray wedged in various corners of the gilded temple. After, we took the ferry across the Yangon River to a fisherman’s village and a non-profit boarding school that educates children from ages 5-13 from all over Myanmar.

Day 3: Bagan – the ancient city

Bagan is an ancient archeological city that was the seat of the Pagan kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. At its height, there were over 10,000 Buddhist temples, of which 3,122 remained. It is a must visit for admirers of history and Buddhism. Yangon to Bagan was also my first of many overnight bus rides in Myanmar.

Day 4: Bagan sunrise and Mount Popa

Witnessing the beauty of the morning rays peeling open the cloak of darkness and bathing the valley with warm orange light, revealing red brick temple tops and its green surrounding, was the apex of my trip. Afterward, we drove a few hours to Mount Popa where we climbed up 777 steps to the top and watched a rainbow arch over the majestic landscape after heavy rainfall.

Day 5: Shan State and Pindaya Cave

After another sleepless night in an overnight bus from Bagan in Mandalay State to Shan State, we drove to Pindaya Cave. The stalactite cave has 10,000 Buddha images climbing up its sides, with the oldest estimated to be from the 17th century.

Day 6: Inle Lake

Inle Lake was the most touristy spot we visited in Myanmar. But it is still worth a trip. We spent our day riding in a jewel-colored long-tail boat through the beautiful lake. We visited temples, monastery, and villages on stilts.

Day 7: Phaungdawoo temple, Shwe Indein Village

A graveyard of a thousand stupas surrounding a village called Shwe Indein. Check. A market where one can buy green tea leaves and wild turmeric from hill tribe’s women for a song. Check. Another beautiful ride along Inle Lake. Check.

Our trip to Myanmar has been unforgettable. The people are kind, the food delicious, and the bus rides hellish. There is still an innocence to the country which I suspect may change as it becomes more touristy. The people smile openly and are generous with stories. Regardless of the politics of this country, I was reminded that people and government do not always share an ideology. Each person just wants to live their life peacefully and hold their loved ones close to their heart.

Myanmar, may you never lose the best parts of yourself.

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5 traits in an ideal traveling partner

One of the perks of being married is always having someone to travel with. Or so I thought. There are reasons like kids’ school, work schedule, or just a simple ‘I don’t want to go there’ that result in us not having our favorite person to travel with. And while there is a trend over the past few years in traveling solo, sometimes we just don’t feel like it.

No fret.  Enters a traveling partner.

But like dating or marriage, we cannot simply choose anyone with a passport. Traveling has ruined relationships. But it can also strengthen them. The trick is to find who your ideal traveling partner is. So what should we look for?

Here are what I have identified as the top 5 traits in an ideal traveling partner. Keep in mind that opposites may attract and compromises can be negotiated. But we are here to talk about the perfect partnership after all.

1. Someone with a similar level of tolerance. 

It’s all relative. The level of tolerance varies by person. Some people can handle a high level of grossness (those who love to camp al fresco and think nothing of having to do their business in a hole dug by a stick.) Some think they can handle certain gross things under dire circumstances (those who would prefer a clean bathroom in a hotel but would not complain if their only option is a squat toilet in an emergency.) And then there are some who cannot fathom the idea of putting their bottoms on anything else but the cleanest toilet. This also applies to how tolerant the person is with street food or trekking in the jungle. Identify your level of tolerance and that of the other person.

2. Someone who is honest but not mean.

The ideal traveling partner is comfortable at communicating their mind to you. They don’t have to be an open book or an extrovert – just someone who has a comfort level with you that allows them to be themselves. However, while honestly is important, so is the ability to be strategic in presenting information. We don’t need a diplomat here, just someone who thinks before they speak and understands that there can be repercussion to hurtful words.

3. Someone with similar economic background or spending habit.

Just like in a marriage, conflict in any relationship can stem from money. Too little. Too much. Never enough. An ideal traveling partner will have the same spending habit or expectation as you. It will not be any fun if you want to splurge on spa treatments or expensive meals if the other sees them as a waste of money. On the other hand, you don’t want to be the anchor around your partner’s neck if they want the Ritz and all you budgeted for is a bed and a bathroom at a hostel. Economics will determine whether you will take overnight bus and train vs. fly in planes or charter private cars which would affect the comfort level of the trip.

4. Someone who is interesting to you.

We’re not looking for a Nobel prize winner – just a person you find fascinating in some way. Be it burping the alphabet or knowing every single thing about the renaissance movement in Italy, they have the ability to hold your attention and inspire you.

5. Someone with a sense of humor. 

There will be moments when things don’t go smoothly. There will be times when you are so angry you can fry an egg on your face. Bad things happen. You need someone who can still laugh (after you finish cursing) in those bad moments.

So there you have it: 5 traits in a perfect traveling partner. Remember, once you think you have found that person, be frank at sharing your own quirks and limitation. You may think you can change yourself to fit someone’s ideal, but it would only blow up in your face. And you don’t want that to happen on the street of Rome when you’re both exhausted after an overnight train from Venice. Believe me.