[20]G5 WinnBets :long-term impact@ livelihood[def2]

Posted on by tiger40490 rendered_on [ Thu, 6 Mar 2025 ] 09:53 UTC

k_X_power_descriptor  k_tectonic

See also

Distinct from those above, this blogpost focuses on big personal “bets” — the big decisions we make throughout our career, with profound long-term impacts esp. on family livelihood. (Singapore government used to make technology bets). A few of my winning bets discussed here relate to ffree, carefree,,

Granted none of these wins is eternal, but they stand out from smaller wins. This Group of bets had a /disproportionate/ contribution to my precious carefree life (in the current phase), and my family long-term security in livelihood [1].

Note the risk of oth. This risk would be acceptable if this list is kept below 5.

Note the pff big bets are now moved to 20-punch card .

  • — the biggest winning bets. The more specific the better
  • chose ZLH as wife — 勤俭, 不苛求, 本分. This bet is beyond ranking and should not be ranked.
  • #1 citizenship — chose SG citizenship for all family members, giving up China citizenship
    • bought enhanced medishields + elderShield early, before the offerings became less attractive.
  • #2 U.S. — chose to enter U.S. and WallSt, even though rather late in the game. I chose U.S. as my 2nd “frontline”, rather than HK/China, Canada, Australia, UK. Switching to WStC + real-time Trading tech in 2010.
  • #3a WStC — chose to remain in Wall St contract path for longevity, rather than the traditional VP career path
  • #3b coreJava — more robust (longevity) than c++, jxee, web dev,, Better marketDepth. Plays to my advantage of theoretical, low-level QQ.
    • in 2006 I bet on java .. branching out from Unix/DBA , perl, LAMP, web java -> coreJava4trading
  • #4 in 1999 (decisively) branching out early to dotcom SWE, leaving the engineering sector, then to Unix admin (non-coding). SWE earn more than semiconductor engineers.
  • — other winning bets
  • in 2010 chose to resign from GS, ignoring deMunk’s departure
  • 2017 re-entering U.S. .. leaving the comfort zone, choosing Jay.Hu and getting priority date done
  • MLP job .. was a tactical choice, but it turned out to be a big winning bet (in terms of work-life balance etc)
  • Chose to give my kids a Chinese language education, saving a bundle compared to the Chinese American families.
  • chose to buy overseas properties with current yield
  • NUS — chose NUS, a growing brand
  • UChicago — I chose to invest hugely into my UChicago credential and gained a lifelong prestige , but “livelihood” impact is limited to the CV.
    • To a lesser extent, my NUS credential also appreciated in value over the decades since I “bought”.
  • chose market data domain + bond math domain — almost evergreen domains
  • English — in 1992 (and even after A-levels) I chose to embrace English as a lifelong skill despite insurmountable challenges

— [1] livelihood – 生计

In this context, “livelihood/生计” means … Survival, making ends meet, including those common disasters like job loss (including involuntary retirement ) or medical bills, but there are many derailers too big to protect. See t_ffreeLimitation.