I am once again looking at new apartments with Sanami. However, this time there is no rush to decide. Last time we moved because Sanami quit her job that gave her housing. This time we are not rushed to move, but would like to.
Our current home is quite nice in everything besides size, age, and cleanliness of the surrounding area. Our current home, Tsurumi, is a very convenient city, but not an especially clean or green one. Supermarkets and train stations are close, so daily life is quite easy. Nothing feels too far away
, but our current living size is small. The two of us are living in about 270 square feet, and realistically we need an extra 70 square feet. That is enough space to have a bedroom (7 x 10 ft.). We would love to have 200 more square feet seperated into a couple of rooms, but we can live will less.
It has been very interesting observing the renting habits of Japanese people. At my work, I have a wealth of opportinity to ask societal and cultural questions to my students. There seems to be a striking disconnect between what I was taught about Japanese and what I observe.
I read that Japanese people are very good at saving money when compared to their US counterparts. This has not seemed to be the case. I've observed less people buying on credit, when compared to the US, and so live closer to their means. However, very very few people save or invest their money outs
ide of their home real estate.
One student talked to me about this. As he put it, "Most of the older generation thinks that stocks are gambling, not investing, and the idea of using your personal money to invest in businesses (e.g. bank CDs) is either for those who are immoral in some way."
The younger generation has a different problem. Most of the single 20-30 something people live with their family, when possible. Their disposible income is high, and they spend it without much thought. Or perhaps this is just hte cross section of Japanese society that I observe, those with a high e
nough disposable income to pay for English lessons.
So the older generation does not invest, and the younger generation spends too much money. I would like to be neither, but moving to a new apartment is not a financial investment nor a way to not spend money.
-----------------
sent from W-ZERO3
No comments:
Post a Comment