“A lot of Chinese people know this: It takes more than one generation to build stability. It takes multiple generations stacked on each other. I made a decision that I would not repeat the cycle of poverty”
Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images I currently save 90 percent of my income. It’s extreme, I know. A lot of people are like, “Oh, you must be planning to retire early, right?” And I’m like, “No!” Retiring sounds nice, don’t get me wrong. But my parents did not immigrate here and work their asses off for 20 years so I could retire in my 30s. I’m here to work, to change the future of my family, and to make life better for my own kids eventually too.
My parents were always taking whatever jobs they could. At first, my dad worked in the meat section of a grocery store. Then he worked as a baker-slash-janitor. My mom still works as a caretaker for an elderly woman. After a little while, they saved up enough money to rent our own flat. We found our mattresses on the street and put them on the floor and slept like that, in the same room, for years.
By the end of junior year in college, I started worrying about what I was going to do after I graduated. I studied psychology, neurology, and child development, and I wanted to get a Ph.D., but then I realized that there was no way I could afford to do that. I mean, I could live off a stipend no problem, but my parents were getting into their 60s and I knew I’d need to support them. They don’t own property, so if they can’t afford rent, they’re out. So I realized a Ph.D.
We live in Seattle and budget-wise, we spend about $1,000 a month between three people — my dad lives with us. We don’t have a car. We rent out the other bedrooms in our home, which covers more than our mortgage payments. My husband and I live in our bedroom — my desk is in here, and so is our dining table. The other three bedrooms are rented out on AirBnb and my dad lives downstairs. I’m used to living like this. I grew up in one bedroom, and I’m still living in one bedroom 20 years later.
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