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To all my readers:
I am one of those people that are driven to be wealthy. I come from a middle class family and my parents were very poor in my early days of childhood. My mom told me when I grew up that there was a time when she did not eat out, nor bought anything that was not a necessity for 1487 straight days. My dad was an Engineer by training, but changed his career to be an Operations Specialist for an additional $400 HKD ($50 USD) a month in salary because his old salary was just not enough.

In 1989, we immigrated to Canada, and because my dad was afraid he could not find a job in the new country, he stayed behind. I am not sure if this was the only factor, but the additional push for more money prompted him to look for another job. Luck had it, another company wanted to hire him for his experience as an Operations Manager a few years after the rest of our family immigrated to Canada. He was also offered twice the salary that he originally was getting. Although I did not really realize it at the time, this made a major difference in our standards of living.

As time went on, our family was able to afford a better and better lifestyle. I was actually deemed the rich kid by some of my friends since I had all kinds of game consoles that my friends did not have. Little did they know how poor we were a few years back, and the reason why I had so many toys was because my dad wanted to make up for not being there. I remembered we would play cards in the basement and watch baseball together when my dad actually had a chance to come visit. However little the time we had spent, they were great moments in my life that I will never forget. I thought to myself, if we only had money, we could live comfortably since I was very young, if we had money, my dad could be here.

I was working as a part time at a fish and chips fast food restaurant before college. We had 10 hour shifts, and it was hard work. For whatever reason, I was asked to be the cook, and the hot oil used for frying the fishes would slash onto me more times than I would like. When I finally quit to go to college, I remembered a time when I was on the bus looking out the window. With almost tears in my eyes, I thought to myself “study hard, or else you will be working here for the rest of your life.”

I am in a unique position where I had some rich family members. My uncle for instance is a self-made millionaire. He came to America when he was young, and from security guard to truck driving, he would pursue to be the best. Luck also had it, he stumbled onto an opportunity to be in a partnership as a distributor. After years of dedication, he slowly grew it into a manufacturing company that employs 150 people. He lives in a very nice part of Southern California. As I interact with him and seeing what his wealth has brought to his lifestyle, it reinforces my view of the importance of money.

My parents are retired now, and my dad finally in Canada by 2001. In 1998, I went to an out of town college, so I again missed my dad’s company when he was home. After staying for another year to finish Masters, I thought to myself “Finally, I can be home with my dad”. Feeling excited at graduating and being able to live with my dad, I packed my bags and went home. This was when I realized that there was one little problem – I could not find a job. I have a Masters in Computer Engineering, and in 2003, it was not a hot industry. I ended up working as a part time at a golf driving range. I remembered when I was picking up the balls in the cart (while other people were hitting at me) that all I could think of was how much I needed a real full time job. “I should be the people on the other side hitting golf balls for fun”, I thought to myself. All my co-workers were high school kids and college drop outs, while I had a Masters degree.

One day, my uncle called and offered me a job in Southern California. Although I knew taking the job would mean leaving my family again, I took it because I was not going to wait for another opportunity. Again I thought “if I only had money”.

After a few years in Southern California, I met the love of my life. In 2007, we decided to get married. We also wanted to buy a house, and have kids. With all this in mind and the upcoming wedding expenses, I was just overwhelmed. I kept thinking to myself that if I had more money, all this would be easy. I would not have to worry about being able to afford all these major expenses that are coming up, I would be able to show my fiancée how much she means to me, and I would be working because “I want to” instead of “I have to”.

I am not sure why I think money is more important than others do, as I am sure my stories are similar to what others have experienced. I just know that to me, this is one of the most important aspects of life. I agree that money cannot buy happiness, but if you do not have enough money, then you dare not think of becoming happy.

I have decided to be as wealthy as I can be. My short to-do list includes:

• Earn as much as I can.
• Save as much as I can, as early as I can.
• Learn as much as I can on growing my nest egg and how to apply it.

This blog allows me to do all three in some way. Thank you for visiting! If you would like to hear my stories to financial freedom, please subscribe to my feed and continue to be a reader of Personal Finance with Money Ning!

Sincerely,
David