October 2nd - Perks and Perils of Greener Pastures

         In class today, we continued working on our Car Opportunity Cost Project.  At this stage, Zarima and I have both found our "Dream Cars," and are finding information on those.  My dream car is a 2013 Audi A8.  You can see a picture of it here.  According to this site, the cost of this new car would be $152,295.  Later on in this project, I'm going to see how much it would cost to take out a loan for the car.  I also found the cost of gas for this car over five years.  First, I needed to find the average distance Americans drive per year (13,476).  An Audi A8 gets 23 miles/gallon (this is the average of miles highway and miles city), so I divided 13,476 by 23 to find the number of gallons needed to run this Audi for a year.  I got 586, so I multiplied this by $4.02 (average cost of premium gasoline per mile) and I found that the average cost per year for a 2013 Audi A8 would be $2,355.  Since we are finding the cost for five years, you simply multiply the yearly rate by five and get $11,775.  Next class, Zarima and I are going to start finding the depreciation cost of this Audi over five years, then find how much it would cost to insure the automobile.  This project is exciting because it one lets you dream about any car you want, but also brings you to reality on how much you could save by buying a used, but in good shape, car.
         I recently read Mr. Hallam's article, Perks and Perils of Greener Pastures.  In this article, Mr. Hallam talks about the advantages and disadvantages of living overseas.  Some of the advantages that he points out are that many expatriates enjoy affluent lifestyles.  Especially in Asia, labor is much cheaper so more people can afford gardeners, cooks, and maids, which are fairly rare back in the States.  Also, if a yearly salary for an expatriate is below $92,000 (perhaps a teacher salary?) then they don't have to pay any American taxes.  Of course, there are taxes if you own property in America.  However, one important fact to mention is that if you don't pay taxes (like the expatriate talked about earlier), then you don't get social security benefits.  SS can be huge financially.  "The average US retiree, as of early 2012, reaps $1,230 per month," writes Hallam.  For myself, I'm not quite sure of what I want to do in the future.  I'll probably go into some financial career, banking perhaps, but I'm not sure where.  I consider myself very patriotic and I want to live in and be a part of the great country America, but could I find better opportunities past the border?  I'm hoping I can find a high position inside the US.
         In Tobin's last blog, http://sb-sas17682.blogspot.sg/2012/09/september-24th.html, he talks about his parents' views on the collegiate decision.  His father took a similar route to mine.  They both attended good academic undergraduate schools, Mr. Hamby at the US Merchant Marine Academy and my father at Amherst, but these aren't Ivy Leagues.  Both parents went to an Ivy League for their graduate degree though, Mr. Hamby at Stanford and my father at Cornell.  Mr. Hamby doesn't find any good reason for paying loads of money to go to an Ivy League for undergrad when you can find a similar academic school for a much smaller price.  He believes that the graduate program is more important, and that's why he chose Stanford.