01
Recently, there is a topic that has been very popular, and I believe many people have paid attention to it - the disappearing middle class.
Real estate is cold, Apple mobile phone price reduction, piano is unsalable, all kinds of signs show:
Consumption related to the middle class is shrinking, and assets related to the middle class are collapsing.
Among them, some economists put forward such a view:
The middle class mostly met a good era, and this group of people caught up with the fast train of the times.
After graduating from university, when the academic qualifications are at their highest, joining a large company or a thriving industry rises in the tide of the times.
Now, with the disappearance of the dividends of the times, the assets of the middle class have also shrunk sharply.
Once the income is reduced, it is equivalent to the cash flow, coupled with the mortgage and car loans, the middle class can easily enter the ranks of falling back into poverty.
Blogger @有值金融 talked about the experience of his friend Zhang Dongyang.
Zhang Dongyang, 40, was originally an investment consultant for a financial company in Shanghai, with an annual salary and bonuses of more than 1.2 million.
His wife is a full-time housewife, and his child is in the fourth grade at an international school.
They live in a house in the center of Shanghai, with a monthly payment of 40,000 yuan, and two cars, with a total monthly payment of 10,000 yuan.
It seems that this is a very happy family, and the days are also very busy.
However, the good times did not last long, and in March 2022, Zhang Dongyang lost his job.
Because the employment environment is not very good, coupled with his age, he has been looking for a job for a long time but has not found it.
The housing loan is 40,000 yuan, the car loan is 10,000 yuan, the daughter's tuition fee is 20,000 yuan, and the daily living expenses have become a serious burden.
The middle class, who used to enjoy the bonus period, how embarrassed it is now after the dividend disappears.
Desperate, the family finally made a difficult decision - to sell the house.
Selling a home can solve the immediate financial crisis, and there is also a considerable amount of money to cover the expenses.
The originally happy middle-class family became overwhelmed overnight.
Most middle-class families rely on decent jobs and stable incomes to maintain their dignity.
After losing their jobs, most middle-class families are vulnerable to falling back into poverty.
According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs 2023 report, nearly 23% of industries will change dramatically over the next five years.
Uncertainty remains, and everyone is teetering on the brink of unemployment.
Money is getting harder and harder to earn, and accepting yourself as worse and worse has become an unavoidable reality in front of the middle class.
02
Economist He Fan said: In the future, the middle class may be the most miserable group of people.
On the surface, they have abundant material conditions, good jobs, and harmonious families.
But in fact, in the great reshuffle of the times, their ability to resist risks is very low.
Life seems to be full of flowers, but in fact it is a mirror of flowers and water, which can be shattered at the touch of a button, and cannot withstand the wind and rain.
In these unpredictable times, the "chill" is still being transmitted to everyone.
The following four types of middle-class families will accelerate their return to poverty in the next few years, and we should be especially vigilant.
1. Face consumption
For middle-class families, in order to show their identity, it is easier for them to pay for face.
In order to reflect his petty bourgeois life, he earns every penny and spends every penny, and spends all the money on playing and enjoying.
As a result, they live a middle-class life on the surface, but they do not have a little middle-class confidence in their pockets.
The writer Gan Yi has a cousin, who is in his forties, and his income is very considerable.
However, in the past few years, the cousin's family has not only not seen any improvement, but has owed more than 100,000 foreign debts.
It turned out that the cousin was very "generous".
Every time I pay my salary, I call my friends to spend, go to the restaurant for a good meal first, and then go to KTV for a night.
In the compliments, most of the money earned in a month was spent.
Not only that, but the cousin is also very "exquisite".
The ones worn up and down all over the body are all famous brands, and the mobile phones are not the latest ones......
In order to save face, the cousin spent money uncontrollably, and finally became a middle-aged bankrupt.
As the old saying goes: it is easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it is difficult to go from luxury to thrift.
Don't spend all the money when you have it, or even spend it in advance, and when you have money, it is recommended to save more in case you need it.
If the crisis has already begun, it is advisable to start with a consumption downgrade to reduce unnecessary expenses.
Don't die for the sake of face, let alone go into debt to save face.
Money should be spent, and nothing should be spent.
2. Follow the trend and invest
When a storm comes, it's not about who can run faster, but who can stand firmer.
At the moment when the general environment is uncertain, following the trend investment is digging its own grave.
Tencent Technology reported such an incident.
After the live broadcast became popular, seeing that many people around him had made money, Zhang Qiang, a boss in Guangzhou, couldn't hold back.
In May of the previous year, he invested in a live broadcast e-commerce integrated service base.
I thought that in the hot atmosphere, the future was bright.
However, only 5 months later, Zhang Qiang couldn't hold on, and the speed of burning money was far beyond imagination.
Live streaming is very profitable, but most of the money earned goes to platforms and anchors.
In less than a month, this live broadcast base was quickly closed, and the building was empty.
In life, many middle-class people do not understand investment experience, do not go through field investigations, and do not understand the business model.
Seeing others making money, they also follow the trend to invest, wanting to realize the dream of making money with money.
The reality is that in the end, there is no return for all the money, and parents and children suffer together.
Don't follow the trend and cast blindly, you must be sensible and be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years.
3. Entrepreneurship blindness
Aurora Studios told such a story.
Thirty-year-old Xu Penghui turned out to be a road officer in a company wholly owned by a traffic management bureau.
This job is relatively stable, and it is not a problem to work until retirement.
In 2015, the demand for cherries in the domestic market continued to grow, and about 30% of them relied on imports.
Xu Penghui smelled a business opportunity from it, and he decided to quit his stable job and return to his hometown to start a business and grow cherries.
Seizing this opportunity and making a lot of money, he could achieve a jump in class, which was his idea at the time.
He sold one house, mortgaged another, invested more than 2 million, and opened a cherry orchard.
The reality is far more cruel than he imagined, there is always bad news every year, two years of heavy rain, frost, snowfall, cherry seedlings have been drowned, flowers have been frozen to death, and only a few fruits have been harvested.
In addition, he didn't know how to plant himself, so he tossed for 8 years, not only lost 2 million, but also owed a lot of foreign debts.
According to the Harvard Business Review, the success rate of individual entrepreneurship is about 10% or even lower.
Don't blindly come out and start a business, especially in this environment.
A single failure in entrepreneurship can cost a family many years of savings.
4. Internal friction relationship
Qing Dynasty scholar Shen Yan wrote in "Nai Shu Xuan Xin Yuefu": The unjust rich are disturbed, and the family and poverty are enough.
A wealthy home, if there is constant strife, will eventually lead to decay and decline, and a poor home, as long as it is in harmony, can also cultivate excellent feng shui.
Many middle-class families have a very high starting point, but their lives are getting worse and worse, just because there is too much internal friction in the family.
Writer Zhang Xin has a cousin who studied graphic design in college and worked for a renovation company after graduation.
My cousin was shrewd and capable, and after accumulating enough experience and connections, he set up his own company and worked alone.
The company is doing well, and he is also very prosperous in the local area.
But in recent years, business has not been good, and my cousin will inevitably have a bad temper when he comes home.
He accused his wife and said: I know that it stinks and is beautiful every day, and I don't do anything, even the children.
His wife, who has been pampered since childhood, is not used to him, and directly scolds back: Is the bad economy caused by me, and is it my reason that the business cannot be done?
The two quarreled so much that they divorced not long after May Day last year.
After the divorce, my cousin was disheartened and too lazy to take care of the business, and finally the company closed at the end of the year.
As the saying goes: if the family is uneasy, the wealth will not be lost.
Family harmony, in order to everything prosperous, rich and long.
The family is full of internal friction, and the final outcome will not only lead to the loss of family wealth, but also make everyone fall into the abyss.
▽
Nowadays, middle-class families are facing many difficulties, and I always believe that seeking stability is the key to the happiness of middle-class families.
In an uncertain environment, seeking stability is no longer a sign of conservatism, but another form of aggressiveness.
Save money ruthlessly, invest cautiously, work steadily, and family harmony.