HALF A MILLIONAIRE

In college, I had three roommates. We shared a studio-loft apartment. We put two standard bunk beds in the upstair loft, and we used the downstair studio for studying. They often went home during weekends because their parents lived in nearby cities. Sometimes, they teased me by demanding that I should pay higher rent because I used the unit more than they did. One weekend, I had the flu. I was very tired, so I immediately went to bed after having taken some Theraflu. I woke up on Saturday and felt better symptomatically, but I knew that I was still sick. Without an appetite, I stumbled to the kitchen and filled up my stomach with a bowl of instant noodles and went back to bed. I woke up and fell back to sleep several times without eating anything because I was too weak to get out of bed. When I saw sunlight again, I knew that it was Sunday. I allowed my lifeless body to slide off the top bed and onto the floor. I began to crawl down the stairs. As I was lying on the floor of the studio, the front door opened. Vince, one of my roommates, came back to campus early because he wanted to catch up with his reading assignments. I told him that I was hungry and asked him to make a glass of milk for me by mixing condensed milk with boiled water. He did. A couple of weeks later, I recovered fully. And, a decade later, I am still talking about my friend.

The foundation of our society is individualism. Each of us has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. We have the freedom to express our own individuality. We have conservatives and liberals. We have the rich and the poor. I will never trade our system for anything because it is an accurate representation of life. Only through struggles and competition we can grow and improve. Personally, I believe that the purpose of my life is to fight and thrive because I do not want to waste the chance that America has given me. In other words, I do not want to lose. And, unfortunately, in this fight, there is no tie. Some complain that the system is unfair. Some gripe about being born at the bottom of chain. And, perhaps, there is some truth in these cries. However, life is more interesting when we accept its challenges. We shall not rely on the government to solve our problems for us because it cannot even take care of itself.

As of July 4th, 2009, our national debt is approximately $11.4 trillions (U.S. National Debt Clock). Many financial experts argue that it is not a big problem because we are still capable of paying the annual interest of about $450 billions. We scold our uninformed Americans for taking out interest-only mortgages, but we have been allowing the Federal government to do it for more than two centuries. Personally, I don’t think the politicians know how to solve the problem because it has ballooned so quickly. And, none of “the patriots” is willing to take a political risk. Tomorrow, President Obama will whisper sweet birthday-wishing words into our Mother’s ears. He will retell us the stories about how our great founding fathers defeated a powerful king 233 years ago and how we freed slaves. And, we will applaud with our wrists and ankles shackled by debts.

Tomorrow, I will celebrate the 4th of July with my family because to me it symbolizes freedom. I am free to express my individuality. I am free to take care of myself first. However, besides freedom, individualism requires compassion to flourish. I do not want to credit our founding fathers for having created one of the most compassionate country in the world, but it seems that they did everything right. They did not ask us to be compassionate. They only gave us freedom, and, somehow, when we all strive to search for our own “individuals”, and when we truly understand the meaning of individualism, we automatically become a compassionate people. Perhaps, during the fight to become who we are, we discover the tasteful fruit of compassion. Personally, I think that individualism has pushed me to become more compassionate. For example, I want to help others understand the meaning of individualism, too. It is not selfishness. It is self-improvement. When one is independent, one feels empowered. And, when one is powerful, one will offer others “a glass of hot milk”.

These debts have always been in the back of my mind for years. However, believe it or not, tabulating them has given me a sense of liberation because it provides a total picture of my situation. The numbers (see below table) do scare me, but at the same time they motivate me to fight. I realize that it will take decades for me to win this battle. Therefore, it is very important that I focus on the good things.

The house, located in one of the best neighborhoods, has been a wonderful place for my family and me. Although it is small, it has sheltered us and our memories. Despite the current financial crisis, its value has modestly appreciated. With the above reasons, I feel that the mortgage is a good debt.

Several years ago, I bought another single-family house to rent out. I hire a managing company to lease and maintain it. Although it generates a positive cash flow when occupied, it does not give me a good feeling at all. Perhaps, being a landlord is not one of my likings. I like to invest in real estate, but I feel that I am not ready for it because I am not always in control. In terms of investment, the mortgage for the rental property is a good debt. However, I will get rid of it when the opportunity comes.

My educational investment was one of the best decisions that I have made. It gives me a professional career that I enjoy and at the same time make some money to support my family and myself. I have no doubt that the student loan debt is a good one because education has opened many doors for me. Most importantly, it has armed me with analytical and critical thinking tools or techniques that I employ daily in the decision making process.

Credit card debt is bad, but in my situation it is acceptable because the interest will stay at zero for three more years. Although I am able to pay it off, I choose not to because I want to keep the money in my saving account to earn a few more coins. If one is financially disciplined, a credit card can be a good tool because it is convenient and can provide some free cash.

Although I have shown that my debts are good ones, I believe that it is much better to be free of financial obligation. If I had $500,000 in cash, I would pay off my debt immediately and restart. However, in reality, money does not fall down from the sky. I do know that I can eliminate my home and rental-property mortgages by selling both houses and, as a result, decrease my total debt by sixty-five percent, but I will not do it. To live is to make choices, and I feel very blessed to have choices in my life and the ability to choose. I must keep on fighting.