Entries Tagged 'Culture' ↓

Happy new year everyone! Today is the lunar Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival. This is probably the most important festival for Chinese people in addition to the Mid Autumn Festival.  During the festival we generally eat a lot, light up fireworks, and give red envelopes to children.  Doors in China are also decorated with red paper with couplets written on them and there are often many parades with dragon and lion dancers. What is less known in America is the original reason for this joyous and boisterous celebration, and it is a pretty interesting legend that I shall retell here.

A long long time ago, there lived a ferocious monster named Nian.  It was bigger than an ox and so ugly that no man could lay eyes upon it without vomiting. Its favorite food was human and it was able to swallow several people in one bite, but it was so lazy that it would only hunt once a year.  Every year it came down from the mountains in the midst of winter on a moonless night and raided the first village it came upon. Thus the people dreaded the new moon in the coldest night of the winter, and feared for their lives every time the year ends.

One year, the hungry Nian came down from the mountains as usual and ran to a village under the cover of darkness.  Only one house in the village had its light on and Nian walked towards the home.  As it approached the window it suddenly heard a loud noise and was startled, and then it saw the home had red paper on its walls and it was even more frightened!  The giant beast was afraid of the color red and loud noises!  It howled in terror and ran away from the village.

The villagers rejoiced the fact that Nian did not take any of them victim, and the next year they were ready.  They all decorated their homes with red lanterns and red paper and prepared firecrackers and loud musical instruments.  On the night of the new moon in the middle of winter, they had a giant party with gongs, drums, and firecrackers.  The village was lit up in lights and glowed red.

Some say that Nian came by the village again and was killed as it cowered in fear, and others say that Nian just never bothered the humans ever again.  Nevertheless, the villagers continued the tradition of celebrating in the midst of winter with lots of noise and crimson decorations.  Thousands of years passed, and the word for “year” in Chinese became “Nian”.  If you look closely at the Chinese character, you can imagine that its a stylized picture of a beast with a horn, large mouth, and a long tail.  The expression for new year’s day is sometimes “guo nian”, which means “having past the nian”, or “having survived the nian”.  Red became a color of joy, celebration, and ward against evil and that is why it is the color many Chinese brides wear.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the story, and if you have a Chinese friend tell them happy new year!

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Lately quite a few people have been asking me about my opinion on the political candidates and who I would vote for. I give a different answer everytime because I am not an American citizen and therefore I don’t have the right vote. Sometimes I jokingly say, “I hail to Beijing!”. Though in reality, the actions of the American government really affect me a lot more than those of the Chinese government since I am a permanent resident of the United States. I don’t particularly like politics in America because a lot of it is a bizarre popularity contest. (e.g. Hillary wins New Hampshire because she got emotional? What?) However, I am pretty clear about what I want the next president to do with my money. Here is my wishlist from the sidelines of the current electoral circus:

1. Get Rid of Social Security Taxes (At Least for Those Who Won’t Benefit) — Social Security Tax is the tax that irks me the most because I know as it is I will never benefit from it. It’s a system that lets older generations spend the money of the younger generations and everyone knows it is not really sustainable. I hope the next president actually does something about this because the past presidents always talk about Social Security reform and never take action. I am all for abolishing the system all together or changing the system into some kind of enforced retirement saving so that the person who paid the tax actually gets the money back in the end (the entire amount plus investment gains). If the government really wants a cut they can make sure the money all go into treasury bonds, but in the end the person who paid the money in the first place gets the money for retirement. I think that is the only fair thing to do.

2. Cut Down Spending — I think the government really spends our money on a lot of useless stuff or just mindlessly overpays for goods and services. I heard on the radio a few months ago that a company exploited the government’s billing system and billed the Defense Department millions of dollars for a few screws. Of course the company in this story committed fraud and was discovered, but how many of these cases are out there in other contracts? The government needs to be lean and frugal with their spending and actually examine their purchase orders one by one. My previous company’s CEO took frugality to the max and made sure every purchase was first researched on a shopping comparison engine, and then he signs the purchase order. The government can also cut down on inefficient personnel. It seems like a government job is so stable that people never worry about being fired. Well, maybe some slackers should be fired and government services as a whole may improve. I am just proposing a couple ways the government can cut down on spending without cutting services.

3. Simplify the Tax System but Don’t Raise the Taxes — I don’t really mind that the tax system is tiered or that we have to pay income taxes, but I don’t like how ridiculously complicated the system is. I have written previously about the AMT and the marriage penalty and I think all these weird exceptions should be ironed out and simplified. It is not easy, but something has to be done. Also, it’s very likely that a lot of the Bush Tax Cuts will expire in 2010 if the next president isn’t supportive of the tax cuts, and I think a sudden change back to higher taxes would be hard to swallow for a lot of Americans. It would be best if the next president just kept the tax cuts where they are.

4. Fix the Way the Consumer Price Index is Measured — I have also written about this before. Basically the government really never reports the true inflation we face everyday. I hope they would at least include the actual costs of things in the measurement of inflation instead of the substitute costs. Anyway, this is a hairy issue that affects a lot of people that I never hear about from the presidential candidates. If we have a more accurate CPI we can have fairer raises and better prepare for our future through savings and investments.

5. Encourage the Nation to Save — As long as I have lived here we are encouraged to spend because consumer spending is what keeps our economy going. What if there are just a few changes that encourage people to save? For example, raise the Roth IRA contribution limit, or eliminate federal taxes on treasury bond interest income? What if we had a president that advocated that frugality is the path to the American Dream? How would American change? How would the world change?

Anyway, there are a lot of other issues I care about, but what I say doesn’t matter because I am not a citizen. I hope something good comes out of the new presidential regime and I hope voters examine what the candidates wish to do instead of being in love with their personalities. Good luck America, and feel free to say what you want to see happen here!

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When I first moved to the United States in 1992 the country was recovering from a widespread recession and I was totally unaware of it since I was only nine years old. Then ten years later another recession occurred and I was attending college and once again lived through it without caring too much. Today there is a lot of talk about the coming of the next recession and I am sure it will happen again since the economy is cyclical. We are already seeing a slow down in employment and massive losses in the financial industry and the stock market has come down about 10 to 11% since the October high. So what will I do in this coming recession?

1. Stay Invested — I am not going to sell all my investments just because it is going down right now. Panicking and selling long term investments is probably not the best thing to do since I really don’t need the money right now. I will also continue to contribute to my 401k despite the volatile market. The reason for this is that eventually a recession ends and the market goes up again. Selling a stock or fund at a low is never really a good strategy.

2. Look for Bargains — I will be looking for cheap investments to buy if there is a recession. There are many great companies that will survive through a recession but their prices may be depressed by the general mood of investors. So I am sure there will be bargains. Additionally the real estate market is falling almost everyday and if there is a reasonable bargain I may purchase real estate. Basically, I will keep an eye out for things on sale.

3. Be Indispensable at My Job — The general consensus is that the tech industry is still fairly strong, but a recession could change the outlook rapidly and there may be a great Silicon Valley Job Massacre again. I think the key to keeping your job is to be good at it, and I will try my best to be “unfirable”.

4. Formulate a Backup Plan — Sometimes being a great employee is not enough and people still get axed because the horrendous economic situation of their company just can’t be salvaged. This is why I think everyone should have a backup plan to survive. I’m not sure what I would do yet, but I imagine I could be a consultant or just blog full time. I also have a pretty big emergency fund that could help through a period of unemployment.

5. Stay Debt Free — When times are lean, it’s even more important to be debt free because it may be harder to reduce debt with less income. I will make sure I don’t take on any debts I can’t pay back.

6. Cut Expenses — If our income falls drastically we may need to cut expenses. There are many areas where we can be more frugal right now, but since we’re doing fairly well in savings we’re not living an extremely cheap lifestyle. For example, we could move to a smaller apartment, but it would be less comfortable. However, if we really had to downsize we would be fine with a smaller and cheaper apartment. I think many people live in houses that are way too big for them and if times are lean that’s where they can save the most. They can rent out part of their home or just move to a smaller apartment.

7. Continue to Donate — I read an article some time ago that said charitable organizations receive less donations in recessions. This is understandable because if a lot of people lose their jobs they would be unable to donate. I will try my best to maintain my donations.

Anyway, my outlook for the next recession is that it probably will not affect me and the hubby very much and I probably do not have to change much of my lifestyle. If we both happen to lose our jobs I think we are still fairly well prepared to live through it. What are your plans for the coming recession?

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A couple days ago I read an article that stated more than 80% of Americans are happy with their personal lives and America is the happiest place on earth! The article gave many reasons to the bliss of Americans including wealth and religion. (I do agree with the reasons given.) I personally think that the general ignorance of Americans about current events and their own personal financial situation also makes them happier than the rest of the world. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?

When I was three or four years old I had very little knowledge about how my parents paid the bills. I didn’t worry about money because I was unaware of my need for it. I think that’s a big reason why children are generally happier than adults. Children aren’t concerned about making money, responsibilities, or the future. For children the ignorance of adult affairs such as financial management is normal, and I think it is quite fine and healthy for a child to worry more about the next episode of his or her favorite cartoon than fussing over paying the rent. Unfortunately I think a lot of Americans carry this blissful ignorance well into adulthood and are happily irresponsible about their money.

For example, I have read quite a few articles from multiple sources on how most Americans are not saving enough for retirement. The numbers of American adults reported by the press as not being well-equipped for retirement ranges anywhere from 100 million to 150 million (this is roughly 50% to 75% of the adult population). The question is, how many of these people actually know that they don’t have enough for retirement? I imagine not many actually know the extent of their financial health. The simple fact is when people do not know that they are not saving enough for the future they won’t save more. The bigger problem is that some of these people won’t believe you if you tell them that they will not have enough to retire. I don’t think this type of stubborn ignorance is healthy, but at least most of them have time to correct their course.

It really seems that Americans are happy as long as there is enough to live on in the current moment. This is why the minimum payment on credit cards is such a psychological trap. The minimum payment is only 1 to 2% of the entire debt and almost anyone could afford it from month to month. Meanwhile, the interest piles up and the debt follows the minimum payment customer forever. If you watch the Secret History of Credit Cards you will see how clueless most consumers are about how credit card companies make money. The banks bank on the consumers’ ignorance, and keeps them happy with low minimum payments.

Additionally, ignorance also played a huge part in the housing bubble. Many people wanted a home and didn’t do adequate research on their purchases and loans. A great number of these homes are going into foreclosure, but some of these people who bought homes at the inflated prices are still happy homeowners because they’re unaware of the current housing crisis and they can afford their homes. After all, the easy loans gave  people an opportunity to own huge new homes, and a good number of people don’t read the news and don’t really care that their property has dropped in value. Quite a few of these homeowners are also extremely optimistic about their home values in the future. I think in general optimism is a good thing, but I would never endorse the act of falling into financial ruin due to ignorance.

I would count myself as one of the happy people living in America, but I think my reasons for being happy is more due to religion and family. I would argue that even though ignorance can be bliss at times, knowing as much as you can about the world around you would better prepare you for the times ahead. None of us know what will happen in the future, but to be completely clueless and happy in a disheveled financial present is not the path to a enjoyable future.

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Speaking of Christmas, I find it funny that one of the most popular icons of Christmas is Santa Claus. I always knew that the jolly fat man riding with reindeers and elves is not real since he did not exist in China when I was growing up. When I moved to America I was still a child, but I was old enough to know that any presents I received were given by my parents. I really thought that American kids are really gullible to believe that a rotund man would come down their chimneys like a cat burglar and drop glitzy packages of presents. Yet year after year the lie is perpetuated and millions of children are disappointed when they find out the truth. So today, I’d like to salute those who really make the grand operation known as Christmas joyous and possible.

First I’d like to thank all of the dedicated United States Postal workers and the employees of other package delivery operations such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL for working overtime and getting billions of packages delivered this holiday season. One of my friends is a supervisor at UPS and he has been leaving his pregnant wife home to go to work everyday at midnight. During the holiday season the volume of deliveries grow so much that these real people have to work more to bring you that new sweater or digital camera. If you know one of these hardworking men and women go ahead and thank them this holiday! My parents usually give something for the mail lady during Christmas and I think it’s a well deserved gift.

Next I’d like to thank all of the operations departments of retailers such as Amazon, or Walmart. These big retailers have amazing operations facilities that serves so many transactions during the holidays in order to bring holiday cheer. I remember that one of my classmates used to work at Amazon and she said that during Christmas their project was titled “Project Saving Christmas”. Basically they ensured that everything was shipped out on time.

Now you may say, stop right there Baglady! You’re cheering for consumerism and spending! Well, actually I am saluting the people that make giving presents possible and these unsung heroes are the closest thing to real Santa Clauses. It is unfortunate that Christmas has become such a commercial holiday, but I do believe that Christmas is a celebration of Christ’s birth and giving presents during Christmas is a symbol of the gift of life Christ has given us. There is nothing wrong with making someone happy by giving them a gift! So finally, I would like to thank God, for letting me be on this earth this Christmas with my friends and family, and ultimately God is the one that makes everyone’s Christmas possible.

Have a safe and wonderful day today everyone!

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