Kristy Shen Quotes

“According to business and economics professor Paul Harvey, a great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of entitlement is unmet expectations. If you believe that you’re special, and all you have to do is find your singular passion and turn it into a perfect job, that’s a recipe for disaster. The reality is that the world owes you nothing. You only become 'special' by developing skills that are in demand, which takes focus, grit, and long-term work.”

“Americans throw away eleven million tons of clothing a year.”

“Chinese citizens have an average savings rate of 38 percent. That is massive compared to the American rate of 3.9 percent and the Japanese rate of just 2.8 percent.”

“If you ever want to see a banker sweat, try this: walk into your bank, ask to see a salesperson, and ask to put your savings into index funds. It’s the funniest thing ever.”

“If you were to stop working, your employment income would drop to $0. And if you were to structure your portfolio such that it earned money as dividends and capital gains, you could end up never paying taxes again.”

“In China, Coca-Cola is called Kekou Kele, which means 'Tasty Fun'.”

“It's really very simple. Index investing beats 85 percent of actively managed mutual funds.”

“One of the biggest lies we've been sold is that following our passion is the key. Statistically, following your passion will lead to unemployment or underemployment.”

“One psychology study at Harvard and UVA found that nearly all nineteen thousand participants reported that their passions had changed significantly over the previous ten years.”

“Pleasure isn’t based on an absolute level of dopamine in the brain, but rather on the relative level versus the expected level of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Relative, not absolute.”

“Poor people buy stuff. The middle class buys houses. Rich people buy investments.”

“Property is the worst, since you’re taxed every year whether your house goes up or down in value. Employment income and interest are slightly better, because they’re taxed only when you make money. Qualified dividends and capital gains are the best.”

“Property tax is a wealth tax that they can’t get around. That’s why rich people tend not to hold a lot of their net worth in their primary residence, whereas middle-class people often do (one reason why it’s hard to break out and become rich).”

“Shopping is the easiest and fastest way to get a hit of dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Since this is the same chemical that’s released when we eat tasty things, have sex, do drugs, or accomplish something we’re proud of. I was hooked.”

“The idea of relying on the government is laughable. The government's job isn't to help you! Their job is to find new and creative ways of making your life immeasurably worse.”

“The more stuff people owned, the unhappier and more stressed they tended to be. Conversely, the less stuff people owned and the more they spent on experiences like travel or learning new skills, the happier and more content they were.”

“There are parts of every passion that, when turned into a full-time job, suck. I love writing, but that doesn’t mean I love rewriting chapters over and over again, or getting rejection letters from agents, or poring over the dense legalese of a publishing contract until my eyes bleed.”

“Whenever someone did you a favor or lent you something, you were expected to repay them, either through political favors or with money. Over time, it became ingrained in the national psyche that being in debt to someone gives them power over you.”

“You have to multiply your monthly mortgage payment by 150 percent. This is how much your house will actually cost per month, once all expenses are factored in. If that Rule of 150 monthly cost is higher than your rent, then it makes sense to rent. If it’s lower, then it makes sense to buy.”