Tag: t_livelihood6

clarifying the reasonable level of livelihood. I will exclude the familiar posts like Shuo and Maslow.

G5 real essentials 2fend off hardship #Khmer

Posted on by tiger40490

See also: livelihood[def2] x-class #S.Liu describes a higher standard of livelihood, closer to the standard of my peers.

Trigger 1: The Mr Money Mustache’s blogposts like the reason he is NOT selling the website highlight the wrong priorities of many high-income individuals… reminds me of My inferiority against the Managing directors, the rat race, the race to top schools and branded colleges…

Trigger 2: As described in burn rate: 80%@median family income: wbank^BT #Khmer, the Khmer villagers lead truly happy lives without high education or healthcare. So that begs the question — just what are “important” (essential and beyond) to these villagers and their happiness?

Q: what are the top 5 “provisions” important to an individual’s livelihood, that constitute my level of bare-bones ffree? The MMM’s ffree is presumably similar, but not MY criteria.
— priority: healthcare
— priority: adequate education for the young — at least 9 years. Ideally provided free for the poor
— priority: retirement — cash flow to last 25Y, to prevent the retiree falling into hardship
Note low inflation is a pre-requisite.
— priority: basic housing — in safe, sustainable environment, free of hazards. Housing is the most elastic item in this list
— All these priorities are taken care of in the case of MMM, ERE author and other early retirees. Are there other financial needs?

recreation? Free recreations require resourcefulness and imagination. You can cycle (most sustainable) to nearby places or take public transport.

In https://www.getrichslowly.org/early-retirement-extreme/ ERE author Jacob said “We consider spending money a failure to solve our problems by smarter means.”

— PAP government .. I think SG government has the right priorities in terms of the most important livelihood provisions for the citizens.
CPF is related to most of the priorities below
— “African Americans must want to be successful” .. In this Jared Kushner comment “success” is undefined but has many overlaps with the priorities in this blogpost.
— life chances .. Most of these priorities below are related to “life-chances”, which is the missing ingredient in most impoverished communities, including inner cities and the Khmer village.

[22]elastic: hard basket

Posted on by tiger40490

 

See also

At the 2022 inflation peak, across the countries I know, most of the high inflations actually hit (minor categories or) “elastic” categories [i.e. easily replaced by cheaper alternatives] like food, entertainment, travel. In contrast, A small “hard basket” determines the amount of purchasing power loss , or the shrinking of my dollars (saved or earned) during bad inflation.

This is an Aha insight. The CPI figures and inflation economics are misleading or inapplicable until we uncover this insight. Based on the  economics concept of Substitute, this insight is a a fundamental observation, laying a cornerstone for my blogs on CPIx-inflation, burn rate, livelihood, FullerWealth, freedom, exclub, successC/successE, recreations, wellbeing[Kahneman], stresses of modern life..

Inelastic demand (def) .. might be an abstract descriptor. It refers to the limited drop in demand for a good when its price goes up. In the hard basket, consumers still need (“demand”) the same items at the same quantity, even when prices rise.

Q: in SG/U.S. given that many substitute goods come in myriads of price levels, which specific items in my “basket” are the hardest hit by high inflation … 刚性需求 ?

  1. — half-ranked by hardness
  2. fruits, raw veg, raw meat/fish, starch
  3. non-elective medical/dental care .. esp. polyclinic and TCM
  4. (US) health insurance
  5. school fees
  6. utilities .. [telecom, heating,].. To cope, I would eat out, stay outside home longer, take shower at office/swimming
  7. public transport .. To cope, I would avoid taxi, prefer bicycle, live close to connectivity hubs (U.S. or SG)
  8. rent .. To cope, definitely relocate to remote, smaller, old houses. RV is popular among older Americans.. [[nomadland]]
  9. college .. To cope, delay enrollment or choose less expensive colleges.
  10. — disqualified items
  11. most foods .. There are many price levels, so I could always opt for “less hiked varieties”

Q: within this hard basket, which items are the biggest in terms of dollar amount?

  1. rent
  2. public transport
  3. utilities

Q: within this hard basket, which 2 items are the “hardest”[least elastic] ?
A: see the half-ranking

— Q: within this hard basket, which 2 items (tend to) experience the fastest inflation?

  1. rent
  2. gasoline?
  3. basic healthy nutrition.. See the singstat data in SG CPI-inflation: 30Y xp, basket composition

To varying levels of effectiveness, governments could slow down inflation in public-education/public-transport/public-utility/public-healthcare costs

 

2points@livelihood ] President’s address

Posted on by tiger40490

I think these and other points raised in the President’s address to new parliament are points to be explored in the upcoming parliament debates.

I feel the President’s address to a new parliament (once in a few years) usually sets out broad directions of focus over the next few months or years. Some of the policies would be adjusted within 12M, but the broad directions don’t change.

  1. jobs-for-citizens remain the top priority for the parliament. Three vulnerable groups: 1. low-income and 2. mature (struggling with age) workers, and 3. mid-career (i.e.被迫转行) workers with heavier financial commitments and families to support.
  2. find new ways to make a living, create jobs in new sectors.

She pointed out the current top threats: national protectionism; geopolitical rivalry; more volatility; disruption. Therefore, more Singaporeans may need more social safety net. She said Government will support young families to own their own homes, offer middle-aged Singaporeans more help to secure good jobs, and give them greater assurance that they will have enough resources to retire on. <– elements of the safety net and the nanny state

 

landscaping,run-down buildings: street cleanliness #Bushwick

Posted on by tiger40490

I now feel private (sometimes public) landscaping is a Top-2 (possibly #1) part of our sense of street cleanliness. If we are asked to rank 5 locations in terms of “street cleanliness” then this factor probably dominates.

When you walk on a street with nice landscaping, you would not litter. People behave according to the physical environment including the subtle signs. The landscaping sends a subtle signal of decency, order, civilization and wealth. Only the rich families can afford landscaping.

Eg: I visited Scarsdale and Hastings-on-Hudson only once, but the street landscaping left a lasting impression.

Eg: I visited different parts of Bayonne. Some homes along Ave E have run-down landscaping, or no lawn at all. However, two adjacent blocks can have very different levels of landscaping. The homes near the county park and near Parkside Lane have nice landscaping. The lawn probably contributes to lot size and higher pTax.

If you don’t want to pay the premium on a big home with big lawn, then just avoid those wealthy districts. Buy row houses or condos. They probably have smaller lot size, lower pTax and still come with some green space.

— run-down buildings also affect our sense of street cleanliness
Bushwick apartments for rent — In 2010 or 2011, I was choosing a new room for myself without family. I visited one unit by the elevated metro rail. The Chinese lady owner reassured me that her double-layer glass window was sound-proof, but I found the building, the street so dilapidated… a livelihood hazard. If I were to take a picture of the place, it would look gloomy , grim and greyish dark. That’s my memory of it, probably not the reality. My repulsion became a livelihood concern, a bigger concern than long commute !

The worst run-down buildings are almost always in NYC near the run-down subways. They are the physical representation of ghetto. Outside NYC, I feel Newark and Journal square also have very old run-down buildings.

theoretical-min (自理)Retirement burn rate: food+transport+bx

Posted on by tiger40490

Roaming retirement in cheaper cities would reduce my food + transport burn rate.

Lookalikes? Unlike a few related blogposts, this blogpost is about Retirement burn rate, after I stop working, after kids grow up. This bpost is fundamental, but my elasticity bpost is more fundamental and more broad.

Conceptually, excluding housing + insurance + healthcare, the minimum monthly burn rate would be roughly[1] 50% allocated to nutrition. Nutrition + transport + public utilities would comprise 70% of that burn rate. These categories are elastic to some extent.

Singapore CPI “basket” (https://www.singstat.gov.sg/find-data/search-by-theme/economy/prices-and-price-indices/related-info/faq-on-cpi) allocates 24.8% weight to housing+utilities. Together with nutrition 21.1% and 17.1% transport, they represent 63.0% of the Singapore CPI basket. This 63% is comparable to the 70% above.

[1] 40% at the basic-healthy level; 55% at the “nice food” level

  • nutrition — Across developed countries, food cost is rather low relative to typical income, and possibly falling over the years if we aim at the “basic-healthy” level.
    • Home cooking and raw food reduces service costs, as I told Colin Lim.
  • transport — a rising daily cost but
    • PUBLIC transport (like utilities) — are subsidized because 50% of the households can’t afford higher cost in these essentials services.
    • bicycle cost is dropping globally, just like food cost
  • [part of 17.1%] private car — Most U.S. locations unfortunately offer limited public transport so private car (insurance, gas, repairs…) is a major monthly cost.
  • [7%] healthcare — is the wildcard. In Singapore, outpatient cost might be $50-$100/month. Some basic medical supplies are mass-produced and falling in price.
  • clothing + bedding — is a yearly consumable item. The worst component, shoes, can last a year+. The minimum yearly clothing cost is much lower than nutrition. Colin Lim agreed with me. The Singapore CPI has only 2.1% allocated to clothing!

Mass production + globalization has brought down cost of food, clothing, vehicles, basic medical supplies, electronics, stationery. I won’t spend too much time listing what items are mass-produced.

During the covid19 economic downturn, many governments had cash handouts (up to $3k per U.S. family, and a few hundred a month for retrenched Singapore workers,,,) These amounts could make a difference iFF the family deploys it to basic-healthy foods, and cut discretionary spend ,,, to the bare minimum.

— scenario planning: hardship

Q: What’s my lifetime risk that my family may /fall on hard times/ and needs belt-tightening?
A: Not zero. My parents experienced that.

Some afflulent families can’t cope with belt-tightening. My family is not really well-to-do. I feel relatively confident we can cope with a lifestyle change including

  • healthcare including bx — we can rely on polyclinics + TCM clinics.
  • nutrition — basic healthy
  • kids’ enrichment — would become a luxury to live without

— some of the non-essential spends during retirement.

  • travel and dining
  • electronics
  • reunion with family and friends
  • workout and hobbies (often expensive) to keep an active life
  • fashion and personal items, esp. for older women
  • personal care

— more reflections on the Singapore CPI basket — See SG inflation: personal xp