Are you ready to come out on top from a recession? (Part 1)

Really? Not save more money har?

Things have become too expensive in Singapore. 

You name it and the price is probably much higher now than just a few years ago.

This has led to not just a few people thinking that a recession is probably good for the country as it will bring down prices and that these lower prices are beneficial to Singaporeans. 

This is pretty one sided in thinking.





Nonetheless, there is more and more talk of an impending recession and some "gurus" are seeing precursors of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis now. 

Would it be Thailand to lead the pack again? 

Or would it be Malaysia or Indonesia?

I have been through quite a few recessions and I can say with certainty that they were not pretty. In severe cases, people lost their jobs and their homes. 

In many cases, people took pay cuts and had trouble making ends meet. 

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis was particularly depressing for many.

I am very sure that recessions make life for the common people more difficult.

The only people who benefit from recessions are the rich.

When a recession hits, we will read in the papers how the very rich lost millions of their wealth and, perhaps, this makes the general population feel better. 

However, what the rich lost is mostly just on paper. 

It is immaterial to them. 

They are still very rich, in many cases, and their lives go on unaffected, especially if their assets are still generating meaningful income.





After a recession, we would read in the papers how the very rich emerged even richer! 

Why? 

They made use of lower prices to buy more income generating assets which would see their prices rise in an economic recovery! 

Recessions are good for some people and they are the rich!





So, recessions are not natural equalisers. 

Recessions usually make the gap between the rich and the poor bigger.

Do you have what it takes to benefit from a recession?

Find out in Part Two: here.

Related post:
STE's story: The Millionaire Next Door.

A bit of history.

How big is a 452 sq ft apartment?

UPDATE (October 2018):
I have lived in a shoebox apartment for 4 years!
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A while ago, there was quite a lot of discussion about apartments smaller than 500 sq ft in size and, in some quarters, there was also talk about whether they are good enough as habitats for humans.






When I revealed that I bought one such apartment early last year, there were mixed response from people. 

Some said I made a good decision since there are many advantages of buying a small format apartment. 

Some said I made a terrible decision since there are many disadvantages too.

Many of those who said it was a terrible decision questioned if there is actually going to be enough space for me to live in.

The smallest apartment I lived in as a child was a HDB one room flat. 

As a teenager, the smallest apartment I lived in was a HDB three room flat. 

For 13 years of my life (in my late teens and as a young adult), I lived in a HDB five room flat. 

In the last flat, my share of living space was about 300 sq ft.

So, a 452 sq ft apartment is more than enough space for single me, I reckon.

Anyway, to stop all the guessing, I went online to search for videos of what 452 sq ft of apartment space might look like. 

Here is one which doesn't have some background music or commentary:






Fit for human habitation, you think? ;p

What about a 200 square feet apartment?