update :

exclub concept brushes aside health, family harmony, career longevity, brbr, healthcare provision, citizenship,

Therefore, exclub is an incredibly narrow indicator of achievement or satisfaction.

In ffree^FOMO #9K/M and strugglfamilies earnS$7k #Julius, and again in this blogpost, I continue to put myself into the shoes of a 9K/M family.

With 9k salary, some exclusive “clubs” would reject my family members — financially disqualified to enroll.

These clubs include immigration (Singapore included), branded educational institutes, investment deals, cars etc.

In a similar way, when other kids (wives) can afford something nice like vacation deals, but I have to say “That’s unnecessary lifestyle creep we can’t afford”, it feels just like disqualified.

A slippery slope ! Even though we did qualify for many “exclusive clubs” like uchicago, SG citizenship, there is always an even more exclusive club. The billionaire-under-40 club would make most of us feeling disqualified and bitter, iFF we choose to feel bitter.

— paradox of China techie

I will try to give a concrete, specific description.

A 30 year old tech worker in Beijing (or Shanghai) may considers himself unsuccessful because a “decent” home typically costs RMB 5 million to USD 1 million, and his USD 60k salary (月薪 3万五) is insufficient. Basically, he is disqualified for the Beijing home-owner club.

If instead he chooses renting, then his salary could provide him a comfortable high Brbr (buffer) and a comfortable life. Consider

• My parents together earn up to RMB 20k/M. They only need up to RMB 一个月几千块.
• My uncles in Tianjin each earn below 10k/M in pension.