Lessons from my Day-job

The biggest change to my life this year is working at an office for the mornings during the weekdays. I’m doing paperwork in the conveyancing department of a law firm, which means day in, day out, my mind is on the buying and selling of property.

Not quite the kind of stuff that gets me up in the morning all excited and raring to go, right?

But the interesting thing is that I get to see how differently people behave when it comes buying their homes, often the biggest purchase of their lives. And it IS very interesting, because those who have more money to spend on this and those who have less behave very differently.

For the benefit of the non-Singaporeans reading this, Singapore has a forced savings system called the CPF. Deductions are made from the working Singaporean’s salary and put into his or her CPF account, and that sum of money is set aside for either retirement or paying for housing.

The typical Singaporean couple, when purchasing a flat to live in, will have to take a bank mortgage, make an initial payment from the CPF towards that loan and then continue to service that loan with the regular deductions from their CPF account (maybe with payments from their salary). Since the prices of the flats are so high, buying a flat involves using large sums of money from CPF and coordinating it with one’s salary in order to pay for a very heavy mortgage.

So when they came in the lawyers to work out all the legal details of the purchasing, I got see the difference between those who have more money and those who have less!

Most people would buy the flat as joint-tenants, which meant that the ownership of the flat would automatically pass to the spouse if they die before they finish paying for the flat. The richer, however, were more willing to go as tenants-in-common – each spouse had a pre-decided percentage ownership of the flat. That allowed them to will away their share of the flat to their heirs (and might make it easier to divide the property in the event of a divorce?).

I haven’t had the time or energy to research into which was a better option. I’d suspect it depends largely on the couple’s specific situation. But what I am certain of is this: the richer went to the lawyer’s table having already thought through and discussed such issues. I sensed no uncertainty whatsoever on this from either the husband or the wife.

It also shows a willingness to think through and plan estate matters, how their possessions will be divided should either person die an untimely death. Morbid topic, but the richer face up to it more willingly.

Proverbs 13:22 (ESV) - A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children…

Another thing also: the richer tended to have their insurance agents on call, and they would call their agents in the middle of meeting with the lawyers. They knew how much they were covered for and expected their insurance agents to be able to give them good advice on how to coordinate their insurance coverage with the mandatory insurance required by CPF.

Here’s a good tip for insurance agents – if you want to have wealthier clients, you had best be prepared to advise them well on such important matters. Why should they get insurance from you if you can’t give them better advice, specific to their situation, than the next agent waiting in line for their business?

When I noticed all this, I first thought, “Of course the wealthier can afford to be fussy and meticulous about insurance and estate planning, they have enough money for it!”

Luke 16:10 (ESV) - One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…

And that is the point, right? If I am not serious about such things now, even if I have more money I won’t be serious with them either. I’ll just be lazy and try to hire someone to settle all these matters for me. The richer consulted the professionals, discussed the pros and cons with their spouses, then made up their own minds and took the final responsibility for their own decisions.

They didn’t just hand the money over to some stranger and put it out of mind!

Proverbs 27:23-24 (ESV) - Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

Finally, the clincher: husband and wife were in agreement. They already came to the meeting prepared to service the mortgage as partners. Both of them knew they had to work together in paying off their home.

This was the case even if the wife wasn’t working (rare, in Singapore, but it happens). As long as she has worked before, she would have money in her CPF account, and the wives in the more affluent marriages wanted to make their contribution also. That is even if she did not have the earning power or as much savings as her husband.

I don’t see wives trying to get away with doing less just because their husbands can do more!

As a side note, I will strongly discourage men from marrying any woman who has no working experience, who goes from school or college straight into marriage and wants to be a home-maker. If that happens she will have no idea of the working world, as well as no inkling of what it really takes to make a living in the real world. She may end up as someone who knows the price of something, but not its value.

Proverbs 31:10, 16 (ESV) - An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels… She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

Proverbs 31 paints a picture of the biblical super-woman, an excellent wife. Notice how she gets involved with property and real estate investments? That is what I got to see in person so far.

Conclusion:

All the above came from me observing the upper-middle class people. I know that there are the really rich, who in Singapore will buy landed property or condominiums. Do they have different rules or different practices, so that they will preserve and even grow their wealth? Maybe. But I suspect God just wants me to learn from the upper-middle class for now. And if I am faithful with learning and practicing those lessons, maybe then God will entrust me with the wisdom of the really wealthy?

Be blessed!

Game Plan of the Wicked

I recently got to know this guy who does Chinese Martial Arts. Being more adventurous than the typical practitioner, he participated in a sparring session with people from other styles. And at the end of it he realized that the other people were better prepared than he was. In his own words, "they all had clearly gone in with a game plan in mind".

As Christians trying to survive in a world that is often apathetic and sometimes even hostile to what we stand for, we need a game plan too. We need to know the general strategy of the wicked, understand what they are up to, and then formulate our responses to deny them their objectives. Here's a part of the game plan of the wicked.

For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. (Psa 11:2, NASB)

Notice that the wicked are depicted as using bows, long distance weapons. That allows them to inflict damage from a distance, rather than wrestling with us face-to-face. This suggests to me that the wicked would rather avoid direct confrontation with us believers. Also, the wicked are also described as shooting in darkness, suggesting a cowardly, sneaky attempt to catch God's people unaware and finish them off without having to deal with any resistance.

That's their game plan. What is their objective?

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa 11:3, NASB)

Their objective is to destroy the foundations that the righteous stand upon. If the foundations that the righteous stand on are destroyed, they fall. And the foundation of God's throne, what we are to stand on, is righteousness and justice (Psa 89:14). So when we see things happening in society at large that go against righteousness and justice, what are we to do?

Continuing on with the rest of Psalm 11 -

The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates. (Psa 11:4-5, NASB)

First, we declare the praises of God. We declare that he is the God of justice (Isa 30:18) and that he will bring about justice in his own time. If we truly know the power and justice of God, we will speak boldly even as we admonish the earthly rulers of this world (Psa 2:10-12).

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Pro 31:8-9, NIV)

Then we are to speak up for others. Even if it seems like what the wicked do will not affect us directly but affect the poor and oppressed instead. Remember, the wicked begin their attacks from a distance and in darkness. They do not like us bringing up their deeds of darkness into the light (Eph 5:11-12). We need to foil their attacks first, because if we do not the foundations will gradually be eroded and chipped away from under our feet. And then we would be in REAL trouble.

And after we speak, we are to act in obedience to God, because that establishes a foundation within our own lives (Matt 7:24-25). Consider the following passage:

... and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday... Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations (Isa 58:10, 12, NIV)

Notice that in this passage God's people raising up the age-old foundations comes only AFTER we take concrete and practical action to help the poor and needy? That's our game plan. We speak up, first declaring the praises of God, then for the oppressed in our communities. Then we act, we restore the foundations we have neglected and the wicked have destroyed. Do you think this game plan will work? I think so, the last time I read the book of Revelations it tells me that we won!