Do poor people make poorer financial decisions?

A few days ago, this article came out which roughly summaries on why poor people tend to make not so smart choices due to tunnel vision or that you need to make short-term decisions rather than to plan for the long term.




I do know that poverty can strip a lot of opportunities and chances for an individual but I never knew that it can affect the cognitive aspect of the individual as mentioned in the article:

"Research from Princeton University has claimed that the dip in cognitive function in a person preoccupied with money problems is similar to a 13-point drop in IQ."

The main thing is that because the individual is so preoccupied with their expenses and financial status that the brain is worn out.



One example mentioned in the video was that of Mdm Mary Yeo, who spend almost all her financial assistance buying $400 worth of packet drinks because her children always walked past the provision store.

I do on a certain degree can understand what she is feeling, because she finally could have th capacity to fulfill her children's wants. Needs and wants are easily mixed up to a person and to successfully differentiate between you wants and needs are not easy.




Also, the habit of saving might not be embedded in their lifestyle and therefore with an excess of cash, they were not sure what to do when an amount of cash is given to them.

Definitely, I feel that there is a difference in decision making between the rich and the poor. As the phrase goes, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer".

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My Financial Goals - Is $100 000 in 7 years possible?

I have been delaying this post for awhile and it is a rather important post to be honest.  Just as this quote, "Begin with the end in mind. - Stephen Covey", goals are the first steps to every journey we take and are also our last. It is important to set goals and work towards it in your life.

I have listed out a rough guide for myself of the amount to save and how much I hope to save at the end of that year, I did not include investment gains or bonuses for now. Right now, I am currently 23 years old with about $8000 invested in the stock market, $2000 in Singapore Savings Bond and about $3000 in my bank accounts. Of course, the value right now would fluctuate due to income from part-time tutoring, deductions from my savings plans and daily necessities.




Read more: Savings plan - Yes or No

Current Situation:

• Total asset at $12 000

Read more: Total Current Assets - Breaking $10 000

Here is my rough plan, after listing it all out, I have realized that to reach $100 000 in 7 years time will really not be so easy. Total includes current asset of $12 000.

In 7 years time, where I would be 30 years old (It will be a great gift as I enter my thirties, if I am able to achieve it), I hope to:

• Reach $100 000 in total assets (cash savings and stock holdings)

Of course, the goals I have set for myself could be easily attainable by some or might seem ridiculous to others but I think it serves as a guideline for me to work about it every month. I haven't started work yet as my semester ends on October. I am currently in the process of trying to clinch one and once I do, an estimation of how I can achieve the $100 000 and how long it will take me would be much clearer.

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Did anyone say free vegetables and fruits? - Experience with SGFoodRescue

I took part in the Pasir Panjang food rescue and it was a very enriching experience for me. All along, I have been purchasing my vegetables and fruits from supermarket and of course when I first saw of this event, I was interested in seeing how much food “waste” there really will be. 

SGFoodRescue logo taken from https://sgfoodrescue.wordpress.com/

Process: I haven’t been to Pasir Panjang wholesale centre before and I think the coordination of the whole event was pretty smooth with the meet up at the mrt station followed by gathering at the coffee shop nearby and then having a briefing at a gathering point. The coordinators were very good in guiding and providing instructions. We were then split up into groups and assigned to the different sections of the center.




Our group leaders guided us to the stores and taught us how we could go about asking. Usually the store owners would save some for charity organization who would come and take it in the evening. So our group leader told us that we are actually looking for food that is not good looking enough or was rejected by the supermarket and that if the food given to us are actually meant for charities, we should not take it. I thought that this was really nice and well thought-out. After all, it was about rescuing food and not about getting food meant for the charities.

Overall Thoughts: It was an eye-opener for me as I never knew Singapore as producing such a large amount of waste due to consumer's perception that fruits and vegetables should look good and nice. I do have to say that we pay for food and hence expect it to be good but at the scale that it is right now, the wastage is too large a scale.




For example, on that day, we had a few trays of peaches. The whole seller mentioned that due to the peaches being too ripe hence the supermarket rejected the whole batch. Wow, I never knew that our supermarkets could reject the whole batch due to them being too ripe. I was thinking that maybe one way would be to lower the prices of the peaches sold but it might not be feasible to the supermarket due to the low profit margin.

If I haven't been to this food rescue mission, I would have never knew just how much food waste we are producing. Right now, a walk in the supermarket feels different and I really hope that we are able to create a sustainable recycling system that allows us to reduce food wastage.

Moving on: Recently, I also read an article by Early Retirement SG where he goes around to get bread that is being disposed of by bakeries and I would really want to do that but am a little shy thus hesitant to do so. But maybe in the near future, I would try it out. In the meantime, I hope to join more food rescue events particularly the Little India one as I haven't gotten a chance to join. SGFoodRescue is working to raise awareness about food wastage in Singapore and if managed well, they will definitely benefit so much more people and allow them to appreciate food. In the meantime, I am also planning to join the next veggie rescue!