Why are Asian-Americans Wealthier? (retirement plan, borrowing, purchase, costs)

[mgt04]

Being a "whitewashed" Asian as seeing the world from two different cultures, I can tell you it all stems from the culture, parental upbringing and the strong family values our parents instill in us from a very early age till the day they rest in peace. It is purely from parental upbringing that the majority of asians have the desire and will to succeed so that we may continue to instill this in future generations in an ever changing society.

I was never "beaten" as one person put it, but definitely spanked when I got out of line as a youngster. And it wouldn't be when I got bad grades but when I was acting up and being bad.

But when was the last time you heard of a young teenage asian girl who got pregnant? Or the last time you heard of an asian involved in a double homicide? (I do realize the guy from the Virginia Tech shootings a few years back was Asian but I blame his family as well for his upbringing) Like I said previously, when the proper moral and family values are instilled on kids at an early age and continued all throughout there life to adulthood, they will know right from wrong.

It is changing however as more and more asians assimilate to what is becoming the "standard American culture of materialism" and choose to disconnect from the asian culture and ideals.

[Bideshi]

They are hard working and generaly better educated. What else do you need to know?

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by AnesthesiaMD

Oh, and I never used the term Euro Americans. You did. I would certainly never belittle the great achievements of all the Americans with ancestry outside of Europe.

Ditto.

I may be of Euro lineage but; I self identify as simply an 'American'.............no hyphens

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

Asians, particularly Northern Asians, are an intelligent people. And, since they've been able to ride on the coattails of affirmative action, in a small period of time they've been able to advance economically quite well.

Asians as a group did extremely well prior to that Affirmative Action nonsense. If anything; many Asian ethnics in at least California are now counted alongside Anglo (non Hispanic) Whites where admittance to a university is concerned.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

I check census stats periodicially PINC-11--Part 1, and the thing that always stands out is that Asian-Americans consistently have higher incomes than other ethnic groups - higher even than non-Hispanic whites. For an ethnic group that is fairly new to the US, that's quite an achievement. Is there something the Asians are doing right that the rest of us can learn from? Are they more entrepreneurial? Better educated? Both? My hunch is that they are more entrepreneurial. They like to take risks. Whenever I go to Chinatown here in Chicago, I'm struck by how many Chinese here could barely speak English, yet they own businesses that seem to print money left and right. I also know a couple who owns a small fast food Chinese restaurant in the suburbs. Their English isn't very good. Yet their son is now a junior in medical school.

Basically, you answered your own question, which is:
- Education. That's the first thing they get when they get here, what I'm told is known as Jewish method; get educated, get rich.
- Self Employment. The restaurant biz is a good for them. In fact, there are more Chinese restaurants in the world than burger joints. Self employment means YOU keep all the profits, as well as all the tax deductions the IRS afford to such enterprises. No one ever really gets rich working for someone else, but working for yourself you can make some very good money.


As a group, it took the Irish-Americans over a hundred years to reach prosperity, same for African-Americans. These two groups typically leave school early and work for firms, never really getting very far ahead.


Source for all this info is a book called "Fewer" by Ben Wattenburg, where he describes demographic changes of the last 30+ years (lower birth rates the world over) and how that will affect world population. Fascinating book.

[LauraC]

They don't have leaders telling them they're victims therefore they don't act like ones in need of help.

[subwayfan]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

There are 2 things that gave the US a leg up over the competition:

1. slavery - $20 trillion (inflation adjusted) in uncompensated labor generated the seed capital that was later used to build American industries from the ground up

2. science - the Founding Fathers were products of the Enlightenment and were strong supporters of the scientific method

Cheap labor is abundant in India and helps fuel India's economy, giving India a leg up in some ways now. While its not slavery, there is a huge lower class that can be exploited for its cheap labor. Often illiterate and having few rights, alternatives to make a living, compared to out in the US. China has a one child policy but India doesn't. The lower income Indian families tend to have more than 2 children. More like 4 esp. if Moslem. They marry at 20, have kids by 25, and the generations are closer together as well.

The Hindu philosophy is that if one is good in life, and then he/she can re-incarnate to something higher in the next life.

That philosophy works in the favor, and helps cool down significant disparities between the lower castes/poor and rich in India, as the poor have hopes in the next life for something better. The Indian rich pay less in taxes relatively, so there is less transferred from government aid to the poor. (e.g. no medicaid, medicare)

The rich in India also don't show off their rich the same way its done here (like in huge mansion type homes). Poor and rich often live closeby, unlike in America where rich live in affluent neighborhoods, poor live in lower income areas and ghettos. The rich will travel more (Europe, America, Dubai, Far East), save money for investing and for tuition for the kids (sending them overseas for MBA programs, engineering programs, etc.).

It's quite common that a young individual in a family, even in the middle class in India will have anywhere to up 3 servants working in the house. And the servants are often kids.

So the student from India's lifestyle:
-No chores in the household, esp. if male. Female expected to learn how to cook.
-Grows up in a much more social environment, and sometimes living with cousins in joint family systems.
-Gets tutoring as a child in subjects. Done afterschool of course.
-cheaper education. example: An accounting textbook in a school system/college in America will be $120 while the Indian text book in the same subject will be made of cheap newspaper like material, and likely costing no more than $5 when converted.

Granted it's not all an easy lifestyle esp. once they hit 20 unless they belong to upper income families. There is overpopulation and with that comes its own problems: get hired, long hours, they work 6 days a week unless they work for a global company, generally harder moving up career-wise, less freedom in social life, and quality of lifestyle worsened by traffic and pollution in the daily routine.

[subwayfan]

Originally Posted by jz8408

Asian-Americans tend to be on average, well-off, but none possess the kind of money or power that the established white dynasties in America have. There aren't any super-rich Asian-Americans, except perhaps for a few tech entrepreneurs like Jerry Yang..

Asian-Americans in my opinion tend to range from middle to upper-middle class. There is emphasis on education and going to college, as Asian culture traditionally values education. What's interesting though is that I believe our parents, as immigrants who started businesses, will be more financially successful than their kids will be when all is said and done. As an Asian-American kid, I wasn't encouraged to take risks. The same risks our parents took in order to succeed in the US are seen as too risky for their kids. They encourage us to study hard and get middle-class jobs. Dropping out of high school or college to pursue business opportunities is unheard of and viewed with distrust.

We generally have been conditioned to take the safe route and rely on being good employees to ensure our well-being. This isn't a bad philosophy by any means, but it surely won't make any you ridiculously wealthy.

Oh and I'm a 1st Gen Asian-American who did graduate from college but is forgoing the 9-5, safe, corporate middle-class dream.

Edit :: also, one must keep in mind that sometimes, the immigrants who make it to the US are the cream of the crop in terms of motivation, ability, talent, intelligence, etc. They are some of the most productive and talented citizens in their home countries, but because of lack of opportunities there or a dangerous, unstable environment, they've immigrated to the US. Thus the group is uncommonly selected for and will often have above average success rates. This is becoming less common as immigration opens up and more and more people are allowed to come into the US.

++ I agree with this.
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Not related but

While there are people (not only Asian) that are moving from mid to upper mid class in America, it seems more aren't, as the only way to really get by well off and move up in America, is by being in law, politics (government), in medicine, or quite successful in business. We're a very tax, insurance and legal heavy society. Like one thinks about how much money goes into elections every 4 years...and then what India's elections are like, you get an idea.

In India and possibly China, where its less influenced by tax insurance and legal rights, these professions don't outperform engineering, IT, finance and accounting, as a profession by as much as they do here. Well, what I think is that with that said and done, there are more income disparities between rich and just the upper mid-income in America, than in India or China. Fewer super-rich Asian-Americans resulting. And Asians are still relatively not as well established in America either.

[eskercurve]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

I check census stats periodicially PINC-11--Part 1, and the thing that always stands out is that Asian-Americans consistently have higher incomes than other ethnic groups - higher even than non-Hispanic whites. For an ethnic group that is fairly new to the US, that's quite an achievement. Is there something the Asians are doing right that the rest of us can learn from? Are they more entrepreneurial? Better educated? Both? My hunch is that they are more entrepreneurial. They like to take risks. Whenever I go to Chinatown here in Chicago, I'm struck by how many Chinese here could barely speak English, yet they own businesses that seem to print money left and right. I also know a couple who owns a small fast food Chinese restaurant in the suburbs. Their English isn't very good. Yet their son is now a junior in medical school.

I think part of that is cultural. Many Asian families stress hard work and studying to get by, and put more pressure on their children to succeed and get a high paying job to support their old parents in old age.

They aren't any more entrepreneurial by nature. The hard work and study of what demands are in the local society go hand in hand for those who are, however, and thus since many Americans see Asian cultures as exotic and interesting will consume effects of them.

[mimimomx3]

I don't know if this specific to the Asian community, but many Asian groups have investment clubs, where members pay $1,000 (or whatever) into a fund. One person is the recipient of the fund and use that money to invest in a business venture as capital. The club continues this way to fund all the members at some point. It relies heavily on trust and connections.