Expensive lessons learnt:
1) Should have renovated the Alila house instead of mulling over it like I have so much money
2) Shoulda bought the investment books BEFORE plonking down 50k, not AFTER the Financial Crisis - but who knows, I coulda been more reckless
3) Shoulda not signed up for that stupid slimming treatment in 2005 out of sheer disillusionment and desperation. Stupid chill-wrap treatment when I know deep in my heart that only a sound state of mind, happiness, self-assurance and EXERCISE would restore my former glory
4) Shoulda bought a cheaper Dell instead of a top end Toshiba - lifespan, with my lugging it offshore, it made no difference to the duration I had it for...
Am super pissed at myself. Sigh. There, have vomited this out. Still don't really feel better.
But there is always a way out, with patience and effort and help from loved ones. Here's the bare bones of the recovery plan Rev0:
1) Call up every housing agent I can find on a PR blitz on the Alila
2) Read and understand the books before jumping anymore
3) Hold on to the PB and Nestle stocks I think
- Spend less, but with so many things I need to buy for both Miri and Alila homes..not sure if this is a realistic scenario. Sigh.
On the bright side, even with all the deductions from the housing loan and study loan, I'd save about 2k a month.
And I haven't lost everything to Bernie Madoff, like this guy who wrote in Time Magazine. His family and his wife's lost everything, a total of USD30 million. Crazy!! I really should learn a lesson or two from someone who lost her entire retirement savings to Mr. Madoff:
"If we have to live this way now, we will. Those who will make it through this are those that don't identify themselves with their bank accounts, they will transcend this. Those whose egos and self are wrapped up in their assets will be lost."
I still have my asset. Still have my income. It's not all that bad, and lessons have to be learnt after all, especially for a pighead like me.
And here's a really inspiring one:
"We are all connected whether we like it or not, and our collective energies can change things for the better, while our collective indifference can kill us.
Nobel Prize–winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel knows this all too well. What must Wiesel be thinking right now? His Foundation for Humanity destroyed by a big-shot Jewish financier? Impossible. But the foundation had $15.2 million under management with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. This represented substantially all of the foundation's assets. And the double hit for charities like Wiesel's is that there will be no tax recovery available.
Yet out of this ruin, Wiesel's foundation, in a statement of grace, found something inspiring: "The values we stand for are more needed than ever ... We shall not be deterred from our mission to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice around the world." They've been hit, but they are not down. Life and work go on. "
Another one, from Larry Leif, 58, a successful sporting goods and toy company entrepreneur in Delray Beach, Fla., his retirement is more than on hold, it's completely disconnected. Leif, who has been planning his golden years since the age of 19, lost his entire $8 million retirement account with Madoff. Now it's nothing more than a series of phony statements he thumbs through while shaking his head.
I'm blessed," he adds. "I'm healthy, I have great friends, and I have a new focus in my life, one I didn't expect three weeks ago. We can make this system better for everyone. This is now my mission."
This is one dividend that Madoff could not steal.
So who am I, really, to complain?
1) Should have renovated the Alila house instead of mulling over it like I have so much money
2) Shoulda bought the investment books BEFORE plonking down 50k, not AFTER the Financial Crisis - but who knows, I coulda been more reckless
3) Shoulda not signed up for that stupid slimming treatment in 2005 out of sheer disillusionment and desperation. Stupid chill-wrap treatment when I know deep in my heart that only a sound state of mind, happiness, self-assurance and EXERCISE would restore my former glory
4) Shoulda bought a cheaper Dell instead of a top end Toshiba - lifespan, with my lugging it offshore, it made no difference to the duration I had it for...
Am super pissed at myself. Sigh. There, have vomited this out. Still don't really feel better.
But there is always a way out, with patience and effort and help from loved ones. Here's the bare bones of the recovery plan Rev0:
1) Call up every housing agent I can find on a PR blitz on the Alila
2) Read and understand the books before jumping anymore
3) Hold on to the PB and Nestle stocks I think
- Spend less, but with so many things I need to buy for both Miri and Alila homes..not sure if this is a realistic scenario. Sigh.
On the bright side, even with all the deductions from the housing loan and study loan, I'd save about 2k a month.
And I haven't lost everything to Bernie Madoff, like this guy who wrote in Time Magazine. His family and his wife's lost everything, a total of USD30 million. Crazy!! I really should learn a lesson or two from someone who lost her entire retirement savings to Mr. Madoff:
"If we have to live this way now, we will. Those who will make it through this are those that don't identify themselves with their bank accounts, they will transcend this. Those whose egos and self are wrapped up in their assets will be lost."
I still have my asset. Still have my income. It's not all that bad, and lessons have to be learnt after all, especially for a pighead like me.
And here's a really inspiring one:
"We are all connected whether we like it or not, and our collective energies can change things for the better, while our collective indifference can kill us.
Nobel Prize–winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel knows this all too well. What must Wiesel be thinking right now? His Foundation for Humanity destroyed by a big-shot Jewish financier? Impossible. But the foundation had $15.2 million under management with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. This represented substantially all of the foundation's assets. And the double hit for charities like Wiesel's is that there will be no tax recovery available.
Yet out of this ruin, Wiesel's foundation, in a statement of grace, found something inspiring: "The values we stand for are more needed than ever ... We shall not be deterred from our mission to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice around the world." They've been hit, but they are not down. Life and work go on. "
Another one, from Larry Leif, 58, a successful sporting goods and toy company entrepreneur in Delray Beach, Fla., his retirement is more than on hold, it's completely disconnected. Leif, who has been planning his golden years since the age of 19, lost his entire $8 million retirement account with Madoff. Now it's nothing more than a series of phony statements he thumbs through while shaking his head.
I'm blessed," he adds. "I'm healthy, I have great friends, and I have a new focus in my life, one I didn't expect three weeks ago. We can make this system better for everyone. This is now my mission."
This is one dividend that Madoff could not steal.
So who am I, really, to complain?
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