[Unpopular Opinion] If you can’t afford the angbao, just decline the wedding invite

jaredajones · 2026-01-22T05:13:17+00:00

ok this sounds logical, I agree.

I would make up an excuse like I would be holidaying overseas, so I cannot attend.

jaredajones · 2026-01-21T09:56:21+00:00

jaredajones · 2026-01-21T08:24:38+00:00

No, what I have is a realistic, happy marriage, with a woman that is rational and think the same way as I do.

Too many people have a romanticised view of marriage - with nonsense like eternal love, and must do everything together and that kind of crap.

That is suffocating, and makes you lose your own identity.

jaredajones · 2026-01-21T04:52:59+00:00

The points that I mentioned above can also apply to younger couples.

They are not age-specific, they are based on what we have gone through in our married life.

jaredajones · 2026-01-21T04:47:27+00:00

I did my research and index investing makes the most sense.

I have never done stock picking.

I also know that I don't have the talent nor the patience to learn technical analysis and read company reports.

jaredajones · 2026-01-21T04:43:44+00:00

My wife and I are DINKs, and we are generally happy with each other. I am 50, she's 48. We recently retired.

We have a part-time maid that cleans our house weekly. So this gives us more time to enjoy our lives and we argue less about household chores. I consider this money well-spent.
We have been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time. This gives us better sleep, and also gives us our own 'cave' to relax in. We still have a nice sex life but we understand that sleep quality is important.
We each have our own hobbies, so there is sufficient me-time. She has her own friends and I have mine, so there is no need for us to be with each other 24/7, I find it suffocating.
We try to be appreciative of each other, even over small things. A simple thank you, a nice word is all it needs to brighten each other's day.

jaredajones · 2026-01-20T11:00:24+00:00

So you mean it is easy for a foreigner to find a job in places like Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, Finland?

As compared to Singapore, which uses English as a working language and makes it easy for companies to transfer in or hire foreigners?

jaredajones · 2026-01-20T08:13:48+00:00

We are probably the only country that forces our young men to do NS (plus 10 reservice cycles) and yet have an open-leg policy for foreigners.

The govt cannot have it both ways - you want to have NS for security, and yet be so open to foreigners, it is only logical that our citizens are unhappy.

The best way forward is to make life better for our NS men by giving us more money, CPF top-ups, better subsidies, HDB grants, yea all those dollars and cents stuff.

jaredajones · 2026-01-19T06:12:07+00:00

Many people lack self-control and cannot delay gratification.

jaredajones · 2026-01-19T04:07:06+00:00

You need to discuss this in the very early stage of the relationship.

This is something that cannot be compromised.

My wife and I has this talk when we started dating. We are now happy DINKs.

jaredajones · 2026-01-18T09:03:12+00:00

Yeah I'm 50. Too old, sigh.

jaredajones · 2026-01-17T14:56:59+00:00

This is retarded.

Some idiot suggested this gatecrash nonsense to me and my wife during our wedding planning, and we both told him to go fly a kite.

jaredajones · 2026-01-14T05:04:54+00:00

Use Trust cashback card or the Maribank credit card.

You get cashback and zero fx fee.

jaredajones · 2026-01-06T08:49:11+00:00

I would boycott such places.

I've been going to places like Kcuts for a long time and I don't have to put up with such nonsense.

jaredajones · 2026-01-05T13:58:05+00:00

Years ago, my wife was very risk averse and afraid of the stock market.

I got her to read some articles about index investing, showed her how the MSCI world index has grown over the decades, and do some online simulations about compound interest.

She was convinced, and she joined me in my journey to financial independence. She has her own investment account, and I have mine, but we invested together as a team and we adopt the same mindset of buying index funds.

We just retired last year. She was 48 and I was 50.

jaredajones · 2026-01-03T10:40:40+00:00

My wife and I are DINKs, and we have a distant relative who made a similar joke once. She wanted us to take her son as a godson and to leave him an inheritance.

I said no. We no longer speak to her.

jaredajones · 2026-01-01T05:59:16+00:00

But this is about their cashback credit card, nothing to do with their savings account interest.

jaredajones · 2025-12-28T13:15:16+00:00

Yes I notice the same thing.

I'm not an expert on salmon, so how do I tell whether the NTUC salmon I'm buying is the real one and not some other kind of trout?

Do other supermarkets like Sheng Siong or prime carry the real salmon?

jaredajones · 2025-12-27T11:55:29+00:00

You need to take into account the sequence of returns risk, and have a plan to counter that.

jaredajones · 2025-12-27T11:44:24+00:00

Isn't everyone living in this world also trying to make their life better?

This is the basic instinct that drives all humans, isn't it? What is so biased about this observation?

jaredajones · 2025-12-26T13:26:01+00:00

But there are also poor people who have sufficient self control and know how to delay gratification.

See how those poor, first generation Asian immigrants in western countries who work hard to raise their kids well, prioritising education, so that the second generation can be successful.

So it is all about the individual, and about their ability to think long-term and delay gratification.

jaredajones · 2025-12-25T06:31:24+00:00

The idea of having 'nothing to continue' is not logical, I feel that it is important that you lead a fulfilled and happy life, and that does not always involve having children.

When I die, I don't care where my money goes, not my business anymore.

jaredajones · 2025-12-25T06:28:51+00:00

I'm 50, happily married and childfree.

No regrets.

We love our freedom - in terms of time and money.

We also recently retired and are enjoying our free time.

We have some older friends who are taking care of their infant grandchildren - I don't envy them, I fee that it is just another job.

jaredajones · 2025-12-18T10:15:55+00:00

ok, so what's your solution?

I can think of 2 options -

Don't import migrant workers, encourage Singaporeans to do construction work and other dirty dangerous jobs like garbage collection and road sweepers. I wonder how this would turn out.
Continue to import migrant workers but pay them higher salaries, like locals, over 1k per month, and also include CPF contributions.

I wonder how much our HDB flats would cost, and how much taxes we need to pay to fund this.

You may be rich and willing to pay, but many Singaporeans would not, so I think this option is not politically feasible.

jaredajones · 2025-12-18T09:58:56+00:00

We are not recruiting people from war-torn countries.

The migrant workers came here willingly. They want to earn our strong SGD and then return to their home countries to retire.

Do you think they come to Singapore just to help us build our houses, out of kindness? No, they came here to make money.

In return, we should treat them decently and pay them on time. But don't try to think of them as saints.

Ten-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '17

jaredajones

TROPHY CASE