[The Korea Herald] How wealthy is 'wealthy' in Korea?

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221204000133

It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won.

Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday.

That's quite the chunk of change to have by age 42. I suppose it is
possible if you saved like mad. Also, that "dirty secret" of inheritance
would help here.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said one needs to have total assets of more than 10 billion won to be wealthy, while 17.5 percent suggested 5 billion won to be the standard.

Haha, 27% think 10 billion is wealthy? Damn.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221204000133

It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won.

Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday.

That's quite the chunk of change to have by age 42. I suppose it is
possible if you saved like mad. Also, that "dirty secret" of inheritance
would help here.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said one needs to have total assets of more than 10 billion won to be wealthy, while 17.5 percent suggested 5 billion won to be the standard.

Haha, 27% think 10 billion is wealthy? Damn.

What do they mean by seed money?

Personal cash that is available to start some sort of venture.

I think it is more of a milestone.

The rich continue to favor real estate investments. The total value of their real estate assets stands at W2.36 quadrillion, up 14.7 percent from 2020. Between 2019 and 2020 their real estate assets increased 18.6 percent.

https://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2022/12/05/2022120501159.html

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221204000133

It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won.

Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday.

That's quite the chunk of change to have by age 42. I suppose it is
possible if you saved like mad. Also, that "dirty secret" of inheritance
would help here.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said one needs to have total assets of more than 10 billion won to be wealthy, while 17.5 percent suggested 5 billion won to be the standard.

Haha, 27% think 10 billion is wealthy? Damn.

It's those Korean jobs that pay 5 or 6 million won a month or more.  That teacher I work with who has been teaching for 22 plus years earning a total salary of 6 million won (Salary and bonuses together).  It is easier to save that amount there.  There are a lot of Koreans paid quite well, almost too well while many others (including us) are paid a pittance.  If you are a foreigner who got in when the getting was good then you may have a good amount saved / invested / housing bought cheap that went up.  But you would have had to get here in the 90's or early 2000's for that (and had no student loans back home to pay off at the time). 

It's those Korean jobs that pay 5 or 6 million won a month or more.  That teacher I work with who has been teaching for 22 plus years earning a total salary of 6 million won (Salary and bonuses together).  It is easier to save that amount there.  There are a lot of Koreans paid quite well, almost too well while many others (including us) are paid a pittance.  If you are a foreigner who got in when the getting was good then you may have a good amount saved / invested / housing bought cheap that went up.  But you would have had to get here in the 90's or early 2000's for that (and had no student loans back home to pay off at the time). 

That dude is not under 42.

Speak for yourself.

You can try to convince yourself with all sorts of excuses why you are not getting ahead, but until you realize that the real reason is YOU, nothing will change.

Didn't you write that you paid back your student loans 7-8 years ago? You could've saved 100 million since then easily. Have you?

Didn't you write that you paid back your student loans 7-8 years ago? You could've saved 100 million since then easily. Have you?

Man, I don't wanna defend  him but inflation is hitting everyone really hard. Just look at ㅎㅋ칠칠의 ego. Ballooned right out to the point it might be unsustainable.

You could've saved 100 million since then easily.

He said 2016. Easy to save 100 mil in six years on an E2? No. (And he also had credit card debt.)

He said 2016. Easy to save 100 mil in six years on an E2? No. (And he also had credit card debt.)

Yepp, the credit card debt...

Okay, then in 6-7 years.
He claims to be making over 40 million a year including housing and stuff. It's not that difficult to put away 12 or even 15 million from that in a year. With interest, that could be easily 100.

That's quite the chunk of change to have by age 42. I suppose it is
possible if you saved like mad. Also, that "dirty secret" of inheritance
would help here.

Depends on what your income is, too. People who have high incomes to begin with aren't going to struggle to make that goal, even while living very comfortably, unless they spend well beyond their means. 

On an E2 salary? Yeah, you'll probably need to save like mad. But it also comes down to how smart you are with what you save.

With all of that in mind, I know someone who started investing her money pretty early on. She's still in her 20s, has lived in Korea for 6 years, still on an E2 visa ALTHOUGH she is currently engaged to a Korean so she'll probably have an F6 by next year. My point is, she has the equivalent of $200k saved up thanks primarily to her day trading and other investments. She started learning it after a year of being here, and has done quite well for herself, especially once she managed to pay off her school loans.

Even without getting married, she would have easily surpassed the minimum standard and probably well before she hits 40.

It's not that difficult to put away 12 or even 15 million from that in a year. With interest, that could be easily 100.

Let’s go with less than seven seeing as how some point in 2016 is less than seven years ago.

6 x 12 = 72. 6 x 15 = 90. What kind of bank gives double digit interest? Gotta go into stocks to get more than 10% a year, and even that is partially down to luck.

Let’s go with less than seven seeing as how some point in 2016 is less than seven years ago.

6 x 12 = 72. 6 x 15 = 90. What kind of bank gives double digit interest? Gotta go into stocks to get more than 10% a year, and even that is partially down to luck.

I'm sure you heard about compound interest. Even if you count with the minimum figures as you did, a 4-5% return on whatever kind of investment would get you to 100k. Or just count with 15 million yearly and that is 90 in 6 years without even investing it.

Let’s go with less than seven seeing as how some point in 2016 is less than seven years ago.

6 x 12 = 72. 6 x 15 = 90. What kind of bank gives double digit interest? Gotta go into stocks to get more than 10% a year, and even that is partially down to luck.

According to the formula for compound interest:
A = P(1 + r/n)^{nt}


A   =   final amount
P   =   initial principal balance
r   =   interest rate
n   =   number of times interest applied per time period
t   =   number of time periods elapsed

Starting at zero, assuming interest is calculated monthly, and adding 15million a year for 6 years, you would need an interest rate of just under 3% (2.95%) to reach 100million.

And how about for 12 million? What would the interest rate needed be to grow 72 million into 100 million?

What is the interest rates given by banks in Korea?

And how about for 12 million? What would the interest rate be?

9.2%

9.2%

How do we get 9.2% interest? Where’s a good place to go?

.sigh.

Or 14 million a year at 5% would get you there...

You are missing the point. Which would be: it is very much doable! Is there only a tiny chance to accomplish it? No!
Is HG anywhere near the target figure? I very much doubt that.

How do we get 9.2% interest? Where’s a good place to go?

Set up a good (lucky) stock market portfolio?
Cryptocurrency?
Casinos, maybe?
 

Or 14.000 million a year at 5% would get you there...

14 million a year is very doable, especially without debt and on an EPIK salary.

Question- If my wife has title to the W1,000,000,000 apartment we live in that I bought back in 2016/2018 for 250,000/500,000 and I have my pension of 10 years (first 10 were wiped out when I pulled the pension scheme and had that crazy month in Thailand)+the 50,000 allowance she gives me for this month for booze, do I still qualify as wealthy? I think I do.