It's a very long day because I needed to complete two tasks before the end of the day, which had me missing GOP debate completely. However, I would be much more relaxed on Friday and part of the next week. Yes, life is fair, you have to make the efforts one day or the other but can enjoy earlier or later. It all depends.
My dad called me to ask if I was on my way home when I was still in the office. I told him that I would eat dinner outside. I ended up with buying two bacon cheeseburgers at 7-11 after pumping the gas. Turning onto CNN while eating the microwaved burgers, I viewed Anderson Cooper was interviewing Trump. Later on, I saw the highlights of the debate in which Trump was attacked by Rubio and Cruz from right and left on the stage. The scenes looked pretty entertaining.
My buddy who went to the same elementary school in the same class with me from first grade in Beijing texted me on WeChat. We hadn't talked for several months, he would like me to call him. I was pretty tired but called him after 20 minutes nap. I talked about my retirement scenario at age of 65 including pension, 401K, social security benefit and medicare, which will be purely the accumulations of my 32 years professional career in US. Though we won't be as lucky as most of the current retirees who have more pensions and other benefits, we should be covered unless all professional managed investments lose the significant value then. In addition, I also expected to gain on my houses and IRA. My buddy was impressed by Americans' lifestyle, which is pretty predictable if everyone has planned rationally at their young ages. I concurred and recalled that I was wondering why so many American retirees in the novels I read in middle school could own beachhouse and enjoy sunshine in Florida. Were there so many millionaires? They must be very rich. Now, I understand, if I plan well, I will be one of them 15 years later. However, Florida is not the only destination today. For a person like me who doesn't really hate rains and mild coldness in winter, Seattle may be the best even after retiring.
My buddy told me that housing price is surging in China, led by the city of Shenzhen and followed by Shanghai. It also goes up nicely in Beijing but not very much. Foreign currency control is tighten because the country lost significant reserves in last December due to the depreciation of Renminbi. He speculated that the government is scared. He had been trading and investing in stock markets for more than 20 years and was amazed by the volatility in the last two months. Politically, he was even expecting the second "Cultural Revolution" to come. He might be joking or too pessimistic.
His daughter is going to graduate from DePauw and he had filed application for investing immigration for her because she loves living here. It's very difficult for a foreign student to get a job nowadays but may not be hard to get a one year practical training opportunity. She definitely will go to graduate school after the preparation. It's no longer a big deal to travel to States anymore, she may go back to Beijing to prepare for enrolling a US graduate program if the opportunity for practical training doesn't come nicely.
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