How to spend your $$$ wisely?

  

In any affluent society we are living in, the rat race is inevitable in our daily life. Undoubtedly, we have to work hard to earn our fair share in order to survive well. Having said that, we should also make money works hard for us in return, adding values to our life and hopefully contributes to the well-being of others and the society at large. Without money is impossible to help yourself or others, but do not forget the law of diminishing returns will set in gradually. This is why billionaires round the world are returning their fortunes to societies to realise their self-actualisation needs.  At the end of the day, we should ask ourselves if we need so much money to live in this world and is our life worth living!

Below are superb articles featuring three characters who define what wealth means and how it can be better utilised.

(1) The prestigious 99 club

One upon a time, there lived a King who despite his luxurious lifestyle was neither happy nor content. One day, he came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King, as being the Supreme Ruler of the Land, he was still unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy. 

The Majesty asked the servant, ‘Why are you so happy?’

The man replied, ‘Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don’t need too much – just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.’

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King’s woes and the servant’s’ story, the advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club.

’ ‘The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?’ the King inquired. The advisor replied, ‘Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant’s doorstep.’

From that day, the servant’s life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled.

When he sought his advisor’s help, the advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.’ He continued, ‘The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they’re always yearning and striving for that extra bit saying to themselves: ‘Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life.’   

We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we are given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.

That’s the 99 club! If you happened to be a member of this ‘elite Club, please quit this club today itself and give an opportunity for Happiness and Peace of mind to enter your life.

(2)  Singapore’s youngest millionaire at 26 yrs - Adam Khoo

This young man travels frequently in the Asian region to conduct educational seminars. Once at the airport, he met a participant on a plane to Malaysia who was surprised that a millionaire like him was seated at the economy class.

His reply was, ‘That’s why I am a millionaire.’

That guy still gave a confused expression.

To Adam, most people are mistaken that millionaires have to wear expensive brands like Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex, and sit on first class in air travel. Lavish spending is an end to all earnings and thus wealth never grows. He found most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. Thus they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster.


For him, he can easily save 60-80% of his income as compared to most people who can barely hit 10%. He is able to do that without any extravagance on luxury items. However, he is happy to invest much in his children’s education without any consideration.



He observed that those who inherit wealth and do not have to work hard spend like there is no tomorrow. Without having to build everything from scratch, money loses its significance. Material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. The satisfaction lingers for awhile and you would then crave for more to make you happy again. Living in a vacuum constantly chasing unrealistic dreams is a sad, demanding and unfulfilling task to keep up with.  Instead, what makes him happy is to see healthy growth in his children and stable of companies. He is most elated to receive emails that show appreciation on how his books and seminars have touched and inspired someone’s life. To him, this gift is better than a Rolex watch can do for him.

Simply put, his happiness is derived from the work accomplished and money is merely the by-product. Hence, a job that you do not enjoy doing does not provide you the means to acquire things that can bring you happiness.

(3)  The greater philanthropist

After the morning hustle and bustle, the atmosphere at the dark and damp Taitung county’s Central Market quietens as every stall shuts for the day and their owners return to the comfort of their homes. Not for a Ms Chen Shu-chu, an elderly lady in her 60s, who silently sorts out the vegetable leaves awaiting the occasional afternoon customers at her vegetable stall.

She leads a simple life with a daily routine. Waking up at three in the morning to ensure that she secures fresh supplies at the vegetable wholesaler centre first before proceeding to the market earlier than anyone. Her stall closes the latest around seven or eight in the evening. This business becomes her everything in life having left behind by her late father.

Decades of hard work have caused curled fingers, swollen joints and deformed feet. Nothing can deter her to continue working so hard.  Why does she has to toll so much?

With her vegetables selling at “a bundle for NT$30 (S$1.30), three bundles for NT$50″, she earns a pittance. However, her frugality has enable her to save and donate about NT$10 million (S$430000) towards various charitable causes, including schools, orphanages and needy. She said: “Spend only what you need, and you’ll be able to save up a lot of money!”

This selfless devoted Buddhist with such humble income has gained global recognition. Forbes magazine voted her one of 48 outstanding philanthropists from the Asia-Pacific region.  Also selected the year’s top 100 influential people by Time magazine and emerged under the Heroes of Philanthropy category. Fellow Taiwanese and Oscar-winning director Lee Ang and PM Ma Ying Jeou praised her openly for leading by example.


After becoming an overnight sensation in Taitung county. humility stays.

“I have done nothing extraordinary and anyone who wants to can do it. There are many other charitable people; we just don’t know about them,” she said. “I do not place great importance on money. When I donate to help others, I feel at peace and happy, and I can sleep well at night.”

It takes a poor person to empathise with another poor soul. Having experienced hardship in her younger days in an improverished family, she knows how important money is when one is desperate. No longer does she harbour any desire for material gain and her only form of enjoyment is work. All she needs is some vegetarian food and a place to sleep.

Her philosophy in life is simple: If doing something makes you worried, then it must be a wrong thing. If it makes you happy, then you must have done the right thing. What others say is not important.”

She is contented with what she has and feels that as long as she “lives a life she wishes for and does the things she wants, that is good enough. Most importantly, “Money is worthy only if given to those in need”.