patrick.net

Troy said.

I was lucky to have a friend in Santa Cruz with some space in his house so I just moved there to wait on the fallout, which came as expected 2001-2003.

Yes, but we havent corrected fully for 1998-2002 period yet. 15% down after the 100% increase is still in process of being undone.

Many things are being undone..

Dwindling public companies means big changes in the valley

http://www.mercurynews.com/sv150/ci_12110548

toothfairy says

The advantage is that rich folks do not rely so much on credit. They can default on their McMansion and the next day walk down the street and pay cash for a different house.

Oh? Havent we read how many times how the super rich ... movie stars, sports figures, dot-com millionaires etc etc are dead broke going into bankruptcy with no money to go out and buy another home. Many of these people do not know how to handle or save money. They did a great job pissing money away on multiple homes all falling in value.

Condohelp says

I don’t know if hose people are “rich”. Many middle class people bought homes that were a million with neg am loans and predatory lending. You can’t blame the people as much as you should blame the government for letting all regulation go on lending practices. Many people didn’ t even understand the loans they got into.

Not around Santa Clara County. Many used neg-arm because (1) couldnt pay using fixed 30year loans (2) gambled on a tech boom repeating with IPO stock boom. (3) the idea prices were always expensive and never go down in the Bay Area. Many couldnt even understand that even the "best" cities do drop in price as they did back in 1989-1991. Many people around SCC are new to the region and their thinking has been skewed based on a few short years during 'boom years' and lots of hype.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/real_estate/fall2000/2000_09_22.trends.php

"No one wants to recognize it, but between 1989 and 1992, prices dropped 30 to 40 percent. There's no question that could happen again. Everything has a cycle and real estate is no exception. It's foolish to think prices will go up forever. In the longer term they will, if you can weather the downturns in between. There's no way to know," Dancer said

"I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."

I love the comment that the rich are more ruthless.

The problem with the situation is people actually looked at this as an investment. If people said that when buying a new car, most people would think they were nuts. Somehow, housing is more special.

The rich are not SUCKERS! Come on, they know perfectly well that the snake oil peddled to the masses about "morality" of keeping up payments is merely a useful tool to keep the peasants in the yoke.

Those of you who have generalized these million-dollar loans to "average Uhmericans" or CRA subprimers, are falling into the trap that you think the Bay Area or NYC are the entire USA. They are not. In most states and cities in the US a million dollars is a mansion with 20 rooms a pool and some servants.

Cain says

I love the comment that the rich are more ruthless.
The problem with the situation is people actually looked at this as an investment. If people said that when buying a new car, most people would think they were nuts. Somehow, housing is more special.

Pardon, I treat my car purchases as investments and I am not crazy. I do research on costs, quality and resale value. If I buy a car for blings, I put a value on that too.
Let me state the obvious. The rich are smarter with finances than the working stiffs.
FICO scores are only important if one lacks resources and must beg for financing.
Duh, they didn’t become rich by letting emotional hang-ups take over.
The banker shills call this being ruthless, I call it being decisive.
What is the logic for J6P not treating his house purchase as an investment?
That does not mean one must get the highest ROI. Make no mistake, if one must trade a big chunk of his life a finite resource to afford, it is an investment.
If not, what is it? A spiritual journey? A civic duty? Meaning of life?
For those with NINJA loans, it is playing with other people’s money.

Vicente says

They are not. In most states and cities in the US a million dollars is a mansion with 20 rooms a pool and some servants.

And this was true with Bay Area as well...I bet you recall how MC Hammer tried to sell his "Mansion" for a Million, and there were no takers. Agassi sold his at loss... the list goes on.

MC Hammer mansion for 1 million? Come on! If you mean his first mansion I think north of 5 million and this is the Zillow listing for it:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44896-Vista-Del-Sol-Fremont-CA-94539/25021235_zpid/

thomas.wong1986 says

toothfairy says

The advantage is that rich folks do not rely so much on credit. They can default on their McMansion and the next day walk down the street and pay cash for a different house.

Oh? Havent we read how many times how the super rich … movie stars, sports figures, dot-com millionaires etc etc are dead broke going into bankruptcy with no money to go out and buy another home. Many of these people do not know how to handle or save money. They did a great job pissing money away on multiple homes all falling in value.

I agree you're right but the article suggests that the rich are defaulting because they are somehow more savvy and strategic about their money. When In reality many of them are just losing the home because they're going bankrupt.

toothfairy says

I agree you’re right but the article suggests that the rich are defaulting because they are somehow more savvy and strategic about their money. When In reality many of them are just losing the home because they’re going bankrupt

I think the media assumes too much when they look at the upper end of the markets and talk about the uber rich. Many of the Palo Alto types made there millions at one shot 'lottery winnings' from the tech bubble some 10 years ago. Eventually they pissed it away on junk and toys. Real millionairs have a small business going which they maintained for decades watching their spending habits carefully. You certainly wont find them living in PA.

yep, thats the one...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n5_v47/ai_11840190/pg_2/?tag=content;col1

Hammer: "too legit to quit": the fight for a new image and a $20 million home - M.C. Hammer - Cover Story (1992)

"Sitting majestically atop 12 acres, the $20 million, 40,000 square-foot multistructure homestead will have a game room with pool table, Ping-Pong and video games; floors of Italian marble, and various aquariums, ponds, fountains, gardens, terrariums, skylights and fireplaces.

There will be two swimming pools, tennis courts, a baseball field, a weight and sauna room, a recording studio, a 33-seat media room, a bowling alley and--oh, yes--a 13-car garage to house part of Hammer's extensive automobile collection that includes a Ferrari Testarossa, an assortment of Mercedes Benzes and several Porsches."

Fast forward... takes a loss!

M.C. Hammer's estate sells for $5 million in Fremont, California
Jet, Sept 8, 1997
The palatial Fremont, CA, estate that rapper M.C. Hammer built recently was sold for $5 million.

The rapper sold the mansion, after residing there for six years, to the Singapore-based communications satellite company for $5.3 million in cash. The 35-year-old performer filed for bankruptcy last year and has since moved to a less ostentatious home.

elliemae says

I know many who bought and actually believed they’d be able to afford long term. Not everyone was a flipper. They were naive, stupd, and otherwise lacked pragmatism…

I know one family that bought. They were able to afford it. They were able to pay the mortgage but had to lie on their mortgage app to secure the loan. But when I questioned her "but how long can you keep this up?" Response: "Do you really think things won't get better? The price will go UP!" So it's true, they wanted to live in it, but was using the myth that it was going to go up as a back up.

We can finally put to rest the right-wing lies about CRA and Fannie/Freddy causing the housing crash:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2010/07/facts-cant-stop-zombie-lee-atwater.html

More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars is seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.
By contrast, homeowners with less lavish housing are much more likely to keep writing checks to their lender. About one in 12 mortgages below the million-dollar mark is delinquent.

lyoungblood says

We can finally put to rest the right-wing lies about CRA and Fannie/Freddy causing the housing crash:

CRA along with the GSEs need to be burned and buried... RIP! They have BOTH failed. Both Fannie and Freddie had accounting fraud which eclipsed Enron, Tyco and WorldCom combined. Yet has any GSE exective been charged? Corruption was a way of life in the GSE backed by friends in Congress.

As for the 'so called' rich enclaves of Palo Alto falling to foreclosures that was already written on the walls back in 2000-2001... if you didnt have lots of stock options during the tech stock bubble you used ARM loan to finance.

Fall Real Estate 2000
Publication Date: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 & Friday, Sept. 22, 2000
Breaking into the market
Yes, Virginia, it is possible to buy a first home in this area--if you're willing to make compromises
by Jocelyn Dong
So you're looking to buy your first home in Silicon Valley. How do you get into the market?
"Stock options," says real estate agent Chuck Atwell dryly. "Being a multi-millionaire."

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/real_estate/fall2000/2000_09_22.lowmarkt.php

kt says

Cain says

I love the comment that the rich are more ruthless.

The problem with the situation is people actually looked at this as an investment. If people said that when buying a new car, most people would think they were nuts. Somehow, housing is more special.

Pardon, I treat my car purchases as investments and I am not crazy. I do research on costs, quality and resale value. If I buy a car for blings, I put a value on that too.

Let me state the obvious. The rich are smarter with finances than the working stiffs.

FICO scores are only important if one lacks resources and must beg for financing.

Duh, they didn’t become rich by letting emotional hang-ups take over.

The banker shills call this being ruthless, I call it being decisive.

What is the logic for J6P not treating his house purchase as an investment?

That does not mean one must get the highest ROI. Make no mistake, if one must trade a big chunk of his life a finite resource to afford, it is an investment.

If not, what is it? A spiritual journey? A civic duty? Meaning of life?

For those with NINJA loans, it is playing with other people’s money.

What a load of manure. Rich people are, for the most part, lucky. I have a couple friends who have a little money and think they are fucking financial geniuses, and both of them have no common sense about money whatsoever. One of them lucked onto a job that paid really well and managed to stash some money away. The other one inherited a bunch of money from his dad. Both of them read these caca get-rich-quick books, and I have to constantly hear about how everyone could be swimming in dough like them if they followed their "investment" advice. God, what a load of horseshit. Both of them would be begging change on the street right now if they hadn't lucked onto some money to start with. Their investment schemes have nothing to do with it. They probably would have more now if they just left their money in the bank. It has been my experience that rich people almost universally overestimate their own intelligence and financial savvy. They think their shit don't smell, but by god it sure as hell does. It's all really just an excuse to be an asshole to everyone and strut about like they're better than everyone else.

As for a car being an investment, you missed the point entirely. The point is, it would be stupid to expect to buy a new car and then turn around and sell it for more than you bought it for, yet millions of dunces think they're automatically going to be able to do that with a house.

Rayray's (thanks ellie, I really like that name) Rules for Real Estate:

1) Never buy your primary home with the thought of "making money." Buy it for your enjoyment. If you "make' money, that's icing on the proverbial cake. If you want to "make" money, do it with non-owner occupied properties, financed with 15 year fixed (or less) with positive cash flow in good areas only.

2) Pay off your mortgage on your primary home ASAP. NEVER take out a 30 year mortgage, instead, use 15, 10 or best CASH. Being debt free on your primary residence creates financial freedom like few others.

3) NEVER do "cash out refis." If the rates drop more than 2% of your current rate, take advantage by maintaining the same mortgage PAYMENT amount while reducing your TERM. The goal should be to reduce your term, increase your principle, and pay off your loan ASAP. Shorter term loans pay off principle (adding equity) at a much higher rate than do 30 yr. loans.

4) NEVER force your purchase by using creative financing, ARMS, etc. If you can't qualify for a 15 year, fixed rate mortgage, IMO, you shouldn't be buying.

Nomograph says

kt says

Pardon, I treat my car purchases as investments and I am not crazy.

Not crazy, just financially stupid. Unless you are a car dealer, you would be hard pressed to find a worse investment vehicle (pun intended).
No offense, but you reek of someone who desperately wants to appear wealthy to others.

Chill it already.
Reeks to appear rich, he he...
Lets just say to cut a bad investment loose quickly won't make one rich.
But to keep digging will definitely make one poor.
A car to me is an investment, just not the kind that give a direct monetary return.
Say I need a vehicle to work, you don't know if I am a realtor or a saleman.
So the car depreciate, but makes a ton of money for me just like a farmer buying a tractor.
Does that make sense?
My friend tell me his expensive car helped him meet his current wife although it isn't the only thing.
She has a great career and they are happy, so it was a great investment for him as he came out way ahead of the game.

Game (sorry not Ray - edit),
So you have a couple of friends that didn't quite meet your standard of behavior. From that you draw the conclusion rich people universally overestimate their own intelligance and savvy.
Wow, a scientist would be impressed.
There are a lot of self made rich people in the usa. Read Millionaire Next Door.
The idea that rich people mostly lucked or were borned into wealth is a myth.
By rich I defined it as being financially independent and at about 95th percentile of self-worth.
Although you are right that most did not make it with flipping RE, they typically own a modest house.
Try to emulate their behavior would be one way to move up the food chain.
To be successful in business, you better be extremely confident and believe in yourself.
It doesn't hurt to think you are more intelligent that average too.
Look, 4(edit) in 5 business startups fails within 5 years. If you don't think you are above average, you are doomed.
In business, if you do not act on your passion because you are afraid you may fail, you have already failed.

I wonder where are those people who were defending the "fortresses" last year? Oh yeah, they are "different" and immune to price drops. whatever :rolls eyes:

its pretty tough to defend a fortress when the snooty inhabitants bails at the drop of a hat when things get tough

Serpent,

I work in a Cool and Hip department populated mainly by Fortress Homeowners; my partner also works in such a department similarly staffed. Even though they are our peers they can afford to buy those Fortress homes, pay the property taxes on those Fortress homes, get their kids to all kinds of private lessons and tutors, send the kids on the Fortress school summer trip to Provence, drive fancier newer cars and take semi-annual trips back home to places like Shanghai and Mumbai. My partner and I, using traditional ratios for things like housing expense, etc. cannot afford any of these things. So it certainly appears that The Fortress must be populated mainly by rich folks who are working here for the perks.

Could it be that this topic hits a raw nerve with the good doctor and he has to go on a personal attack.
Treating house purchase as an investment has many implications he doesn't like.
One is, it forces people to come to grips with the lowly house debtor having the same rights as the big banks such as JPM Chase and GoldmanSachs in returning a non-performing property to the financier.
This is their mantra:
If the mortgage is not an investment, then you should not treat it like a business, then there is no problem that businesses do this all the time because you are a foolish man to think of your little piithly finances like the CEO of a bailed-out loser. You unwashed are not like the rich so stop think like them.
---
I don't like getting tax banged to restore the system to the exact prefailed structure.
This is not free market in action, they should have failed.
Moral hazard gallore. Default is always an option in a contract.
Maybe if enough people balk in outrage, something good might actually happen.

sybrib says

My partner and I, using traditional ratios for things like housing expense, etc. cannot afford any of these things

That is certainly why we are seeing such areas going into default. It certainly was also true as prices were rising more rapidily than incomes during the boom. Therefore there were other factors. Eventually they will be exposed.. matter of time.

Thomas, I used to think so, too. In the past year though there's been a couple of family junkets to east Asia, three Fortress home purchases, another Fortress complete teardown and reconstruction, a new BMW, a kid going to Stanford, another to some other elite and expensive school, all workaday engineers, not a dotcommer among us. Apparently some rich folks from rich families or something like that, paid their way through grad school and into Silicon Valley I suppose. My partner commutes in a Camry with 99K miles on it, I take public transit, and leave my other old car with 105K miles at the park n ride lot.

kt says

Lets just say to cut a bad investment loose quickly won’t make one rich.
But to keep digging will definitely make one poor.
A car to me is an investment, just not the kind that give a direct monetary return.
Say I need a vehicle to work, you don’t know if I am a realtor or a saleman.
So the car depreciate, but makes a ton of money for me just like a farmer buying a tractor.
Does that make sense?

No, it's pretty much gibberish.

Game (sorry not Ray - edit),
So you have a couple of friends that didn’t quite meet your standard of behavior. From that you draw the conclusion rich people universally overestimate their own intelligance and savvy.
Wow, a scientist would be impressed.
There are a lot of self made rich people in the usa. Read Millionaire Next Door.

I didn't say there weren't. There are some Bill Gates types out there for sure. That's why I said they're lucky "for the most part". I didn't say all.

The idea that rich people mostly lucked or were borned into wealth is a myth.
By rich I defined it as being financially independent and at about 95th percentile of self-worth.
Although you are right that most did not make it with flipping RE, they typically own a modest house.

You're a perfect example of the type of behavior I'm referring to. You want us to believe you are a smart guy, but you can barely string together a coherent sentence in English. "Borned" is not a word. The difference between you and the people in my earlier example, though, is that I don't believe you are rich. I think you are an internet poser trying to make others believe you are rich.

Try to emulate their behavior would be one way to move up the food chain.
To be successful in business, you better be extremely confident and believe in yourself.
It doesn’t hurt to think you are more intelligent that average too.
Look, 4(edit) in 5 business startups fails within 5 years. If you don’t think you are above average, you are doomed.
In business, if you do not act on your passion because you are afraid you may fail, you have already failed.

This is exactly the type of thing my two friends would say. You spew forth a string of empty platitudes about "success", implying that you believe yourself to have more business savvy than others. I think you sound ridiculous. Sorry to be blunt - I'm just calling it as I see it.

The world according to GameIsRigged - The system is rigged and those that got rich are lucky or dumb.
You said "universally", not me. You sound like a bitter loser.
Are you related to that guy that said he doesn't need no stinking graphs to see economic trends?

The USA is still rich by any standard. Many rich people live a modestlifestyle and do not flaunt their wealth. They have money. The top 20% holds 80% of the wealth. They are fearful at the moment but in time they will dip back in. This is what I believe will drive a recovery. You extreme negative types are good contrarian indicator. The market needs to climb a wall of worry, it never go straight up from the bottom.
One thing for sure, it won't be folks like you leading this economy out of the recession.

Yadda yadda, bad spelling....personal attacks, you still didn't reply: What is a house purchase if not it is not an investment?

As for the car purchase, if an item depreciates and sells for less later then it is not an investment?
Ok I buy a 250K punchpress for my factory and in a few years it will be worthless.
It is a damn good investment if it enables me to bid on more profitable jobs.

RayAmerica says

Rayray’s (thanks ellie, I really like that name)...:

Sorry, rayray... I stole the name from someone else, probably Nomo. He's full of brilliant snark. But I think it's cute how you quote me, respond to me, or otherwise target your posts to me.

sybrib says

Serpent,
I work in a Cool and Hip department populated mainly by Fortress Homeowners; my partner also works in such a department similarly staffed. Even though they are our peers they can afford to buy those Fortress homes, pay the property taxes on those Fortress homes, get their kids to all kinds of private lessons and tutors, send the kids on the Fortress school summer trip to Provence, drive fancier newer cars and take semi-annual trips back home to places like Shanghai and Mumbai. My partner and I, using traditional ratios for things like housing expense, etc. cannot afford any of these things. So it certainly appears that The Fortress must be populated mainly by rich folks who are working here for the perks.

(dang I thought I was subscribed to this thread when I replied to it)
yep.. Thats my feeling too. There are many people I know that live lifestyles that extravagant but they live paycheck to paycheck. I know only 2 families out of my large circle of friends that actually can afford their fortress lifestyle and they both did it though the combination of living extremely conservatively in their younger years and moderate success with start-ups. The rest, either still happily renting or financially on the verge of collapse.
As far as coming from rich families, I know one guy that' grew up in Palo Alto (old money family) but his parents didn't give them any help and they are still renting. One young couple that I know got down payment help when the bought their million dollar shack, but they dropped off the face of the earth because they can't afford to even come out for dinner once in a while anymore.

I think a big part of rich peoples success is the ability to step on people to get what they want. Morals and ethics are fine and good for "blue collar good boy pat on the head" employees but you will rarely stay on top unless you learn to use people and push others out of your way. There might be some filthy rich folks that got their money by hard work and smart choices but I think the vast majority got their money by throwing others under the bus. Damn these morals and ethics! Oops, gotta go, it's time to clock in.

gameisrigged, you are at least somewhat, universally, perhaps, uh, mostly on topic. Good.
My friend...wait I don't want to be your friend seeing how you trashed your two "friends".
This is my last exchange with you. I am tired of wasting time.
Here is my on-topic contribution:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/213855-demographics-and-mortgage-delinquencies?source=dashboard_macro-view

You are clueless as to what it takes to startup a business. I did in my twenties and I worked with
SV networking startups, they were brilliant and hardworking. They all burnt out in the end.
I have the utmost respect for these individuals., they are not like the rest of us.
They are the US's secret weapon.

http://hackfwd.com/documents/The%20HackFwd%20Blueprint.pdf

(hat tip to Ritholtz)

-edit,redundant post deleted

kt says

gameisrigged, you are at least somewhat, universally, perhaps, uh, mostly on topic. Good.

More gibberish from the self-proclaimed financial genius.

My friend…wait I don’t want to be your friend seeing how you trashed your two “friends”.

This is my last exchange with you. I am tired of wasting time.

Don't worry; I already said I'm not here to be your friend. As to my two friends, did I use their names? So what exactly is the problem?

Here is my on-topic contribution:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/213855-demographics-and-mortgage-delinquencies?source=dashboard_macro-view

Yes, the rich are more ruthless than the middle class. Are they more intelligent and do they possess more common sense? No.

You are clueless as to what it takes to startup a business. I did in my twenties and I worked with

SV networking startups, they were brilliant and hardworking. They all burnt out in the end.

I have the utmost respect for these individuals., they are not like the rest of us.

They are the US’s secret weapon.
http://hackfwd.com/documents/The%20HackFwd%20Blueprint.pdf
(hat tip to Ritholtz)
-edit,redundant post deleted

Again, you fail to see the point. You think posting some nonsense "flow chart" is supposed to convince me that rich people are "better" than everyone else? Please, don't make me laugh.

sybrib says

I personally know someone like that, a Fortress resident who owns his home free and clear; dad owns a law firm in Singapore, son worked here in tech on the H1 just long enough to get the green card by marriage, now kids go to the private Mandarin school in Palo Alto, etc

Perhaps should of stayed in Singapore, this region is far too unstable vs the upper rich in Singapore, who have greater politcal/economic clout.

Flocking here doesnt make much sense since our local economy has already passsed maturity.

A "rich palo alto" (??) couple I know, wife is doctor and husband is finance director of tech company hit hard times. Due to a unforseen screw up in his company, he will is unemployed, career washed up and will need to find a different profession. Crap happens really fast around here! Had he stayed in Asia, it would have been over looked.

kt says

You are clueless as to what it takes to startup a business. I did in my twenties and I worked with
SV networking startups, they were brilliant and hardworking. They all burnt out in the end.
I have the utmost respect for these individuals., they are not like the rest of us.

This is very true, the period was brief where a few with great ideas, or borrowed ones from the past created some great enterprises and reaped fast fortunes. Many indeed are long gone. They followed their passion and did well.

I don't think they worry about money. His dad is the principal of a big law firm, and I think he owns a whole skyscraper or something like that in Sing.

The Fortress is not really that big, so it is not difficult to imagine that it's mainly a high concentration of very wealthy people. No wonder the prices are still going up there.

it is pretty ironic to state that "prices are still going up" "like the energizer bunny" in the fortress areas given the topic of this discussion

this whole "rich foreigner" discussion was done many times years ago. I have only seen speculation and not real data to support these arguments

I didn't mean the prices are going up like the Energizer Bunny, although yes, they are still going up as the "rich foreigners" make their competing offers. But I was referring to the household spending in The Fortress residents my partner and I know as colleagues is going on like the Energizer Bunny, - cars, international travel, private tuition, NorthFace casual wear, etc. We are their colleagues, but my casual wear is from Target, except for the ones I got at Wal-Mart.

Wearing designer clothing, fancy cars, buying homes, and vacations doesn't mean they have family money. It's all about living paycheck to paycheck, credit cards, leasing cars, helocs, and option arms. This whole charade can be kept up for years and is the reason our economy is in the shitter. We went thru this discussion years ago. The whole "magical foreign money" argument was used to explain the explosion in Florida and Vegas house prices because there was no way to disprove it (until prices collapsed)

I'll give you a hint Sybrib - rich people don't just magically get rich, unless they are born from rich families. And rich people don't just magically stay rich while squandering all of their money. You see a family that is "wasting" money on private schools, houses in nice neighborhoods, nice cars, etc, but what you don't see is that their parents probably saved for generations and worked hard their whole lives to get there. In asian culture, kids who waste money are not trusted with more money.

You see people that seem "entitled" and don't have to work for their money. What I see are dual income families approaching half million annual income that have been saving money their whole lives and probably have very little debt. They probably have purchased their homes on a 15 year mortgage, made extra payments, and either paid it off already or have paid down the principal significantly. Their kids might go to Stanford but when they get out they'll be making six digit income and paying it back into the family. Asian families work great together because it's like a business venture where everyone that is able to generate income makes it for the family and invests in land and other assets.

I can see how you might be bitter and resent people for living like this, but they are just doing it better than you are. I'm sorry, but with your single income job and small savings, you haven't accomplished nearly as much as them. You can't hold that over their head because they worked harder than you, got more education than you, and were willing to sacrifice more than you.

Just do the best you can with what you have available to you.

lyoungblood says

I’ll give you a hint Sybrib - rich people don’t just magically get rich, unless they are born from rich families. And rich people don’t just magically stay rich while squandering all of their money. You see a family that is “wasting” money on private schools, houses in nice neighborhoods, nice cars, etc, but what you don’t see is that their parents probably saved for generations and worked hard their whole lives to get there. In asian culture, kids who waste money are not trusted with more money.
You see people that seem “entitled” and don’t have to work for their money. What I see are dual income families approaching half million annual income that have been saving money their whole lives and probably have very little debt. They probably have purchased their homes on a 15 year mortgage, made extra payments, and either paid it off already or have paid down the principal significantly. Their kids might go to Stanford but when they get out they’ll be making six digit income and paying it back into the family. Asian families work great together because it’s like a business venture where everyone that is able to generate income makes it for the family and invests in land and other assets.
I can see how you might be bitter and resent people for living like this, but they are just doing it better than you are. I’m sorry, but with your single income job and small savings, you Phaven’t accomplished nearly as much as them. You can’t hold that over their head because they worked harder than you, got more education than you, and were willing to sacrifice more than you.
Just do the best you can with what you have available to you.

ok I have a few issues with your comment: 1st, Sure in general Asians are better savers and usually work together as a family to accumulate wealth, but they are not immune to investment losses and market forces. 2nd, in general first gen immigrants are the savers, their kids..not so much. Many of them are spoiled entitled brats that get what they want easily. I have a relative who gave me crap about owning a big (tube) TV and throwing my money away renting. Later she buys her kid an brand new BMW to drive to college. pssha Yeah they were frugal all their lives but now their investment homes are barely above water if not under. And their kid can't hold a job after finishing engineering school. Yes he still has the car and has dropped who knows how much $ "modifying" it. (ie. Fully "riced out" with gaudy wing and body kit)