[quote=flu]Let’s put it in perspective. Folks that bought a place say in Shanghai in 2003, are probably seeing 400% gains today. Selling said place and buying say a $1million place say in San Marino(even though folks might think is expensive, overpriced, etc) is still probably “safer” than keeping it in Shanghai. Plus, even if things depreciate, I’m sure folks would still come out ahead.
If folks want to talk about stereotypes, just go to almost any new sales office here. All the builder agents/etc don’t seem to have any issues bending over backwards when they see an asian couple walk in.. It’s so obvious, it’s almost ridiculous.
But for your “average asian couple”, Most asian couples (not all, but most)…also are dual income with woman making same as men (chances are both are relatively equal in profession/experience and tend to be in professions…. Also, tend to be more miser on everything else.
Where you start seeing deviation, are in the second and third generations that have been corrupted by american vices…like me.. who tend to be much more materialistic than my ancestors, wanting cars, booze, and boobs.[/quote]
OK. Now you are proving my points. How many Asians are selling a place in Shanghai and buying a house in US? They are minority. The average Asian bids the price of Shanghai apartment 4 times higher than they are in 2003. Is this financially smart? How? Average Asian approaches investment decisions as gambling. So you see property market rises to insane level and stocks went up and down with no relationship to the fundamental. Part of it, I can understand. They all want to get rich quickly because the overall financial environment can change overnight with the whim of its rulers. But part of it, is most people are only capable of being a miser rather than generating future cashflows from savings.
And for Asian people in US, since most Asian couples are dual income, why do they have to be miser on everything (except housing and education)? Because they have no idea how much wealth they needed and how to generate sustained cashflow, so they tend to over-save (maximize 401K in both spouses’ accounts) and do nothing when inflation kicks in. They buy bigger and more expensive houses, but a very small percentage of Asian people that I know own investment properties. It is a surprise given their income level. I think it is because most can’t tell the difference between expenses and investments.
