Comments on: Does Being An Elite Student Mean Elite Income? http://singaporeprofit.com/2007/11/01/does-being-an-elite-student-mean-elite-income/ Sharing Ways to Stretch the Dollar and Maximise Profits Thu, 17 May 2012 19:49:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Sarah Tan http://singaporeprofit.com/2007/11/01/does-being-an-elite-student-mean-elite-income/comment-page-1/#comment-230 Sarah Tan Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:37:16 +0000 http://singaporeprofit.com/2007/11/01/does-being-an-elite-student-mean-elite-income/#comment-230 Hi Mr Wang, Definitely. I think it's just a good reminder to those who think they are great because of their educational qualifications. There are many others who have either caught up with them or have overtaken them. Many of us love to have such inheritance, but I've seen how families fall apart because of this. Hi Mr Wang, Definitely. I think it’s just a good reminder to those who think they are great because of their educational qualifications. There are many others who have either caught up with them or have overtaken them.

Many of us love to have such inheritance, but I’ve seen how families fall apart because of this.

]]> By: mr wang says so http://singaporeprofit.com/2007/11/01/does-being-an-elite-student-mean-elite-income/comment-page-1/#comment-214 mr wang says so Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:52:17 +0000 http://singaporeprofit.com/2007/11/01/does-being-an-elite-student-mean-elite-income/#comment-214 I guess you do realise why the comparison with the education system is not entirely appropriate. There are fixed upper limits in the education system. Thus an extremely brilliant student and an extremely, extremely, extremely brilliant student have only equal ability to inflate the requirements to be in the top 1%. (Both students will just score a max of 11 A1s .... the extremely, extremely, extremely brilliant student will still not be taking 20 subjects and scoring 20 A1s. There is however no equivalent cap when it comes to income earners. Therefore the requirements to be, say, in the top 1% can be grossly inflated by a small handful of super top earners (eg a pop star like Stefanie Sun or Kit Chan). The effect is even more pronounced when it comes to net worth. Eg suppose your billionaire grandfather Khoo Teck Puat dies, and he gives you, his 35-year-old grandson, a small fraction of his wealth. You get, say, just $100 million of assets from him. Instantly you're in top 1% by net worth. Furthermore, you just massively raised the average net worth, of everyone in the top 1%. On a less grandiose scale, if you have rich parents and they give you a house worth say $1,000,000, you're instantly a huge wealth accumulator already. I guess you do realise why the comparison with the education system is not entirely appropriate.

There are fixed upper limits in the education system. Thus an extremely brilliant student and an extremely, extremely, extremely brilliant student have only equal ability to inflate the requirements to be in the top 1%. (Both students will just score a max of 11 A1s …. the extremely, extremely, extremely brilliant student will still not be taking 20 subjects and scoring 20 A1s.

There is however no equivalent cap when it comes to income earners. Therefore the requirements to be, say, in the top 1% can be grossly inflated by a small handful of super top earners (eg a pop star like Stefanie Sun or Kit Chan).

The effect is even more pronounced when it comes to net worth. Eg suppose your billionaire grandfather Khoo Teck Puat dies, and he gives you, his 35-year-old grandson, a small fraction of his wealth.

You get, say, just $100 million of assets from him. Instantly you’re in top 1% by net worth. Furthermore, you just massively raised the average net worth, of everyone in the top 1%.

On a less grandiose scale, if you have rich parents and they give you a house worth say $1,000,000, you’re instantly a huge wealth accumulator already.

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