Sunday, April 23, 2006

predicting the future

No one can predict the future. Which is ironic because it's the biggest investment of your life and yet you can't predict the results. Your future is more risky than any other assets or instruments. But then again, there's such a thing as a calculated risk. This means cancelling out extremely unlikely results of the investment during the decision-making stage. Applying this to your future, there are some things you know you'll probably never do.

For example, you're probably not gonna end your life by chopping off your own head (there are two aspects to this: firstly I personally think suicide is overrated and secondly, it is logically impossible to chop off your own head because you'll be dead before you can finish the act). You're probably not gonna throw your year-end bonus out of your apartment window to grace the traffic below with paper-money rain. You're probably not gonna live in a tent in the wilderness with monkeys, a mode of living made fashionable by Tarzan (except he hasn't got much of a choice then has he).

Nowhere in here says that the situations above are 100% ridiculous and impossible. But the chances of them happening are say, equal to the chances that we'll fly to the moon at the same time, by coincidence, and then decide to have an impromptu picnic there.

So here comes the point of this philosophical mini essay. There are some things that I know I most probably won't be doing. I'll probably not settle down in a suburban area. Much as I enjoy the idyllic lifestyle of my cousin's laidback Sydney suburbs, the fact that his house is an hour's drive away from the nearest big mall suffocates me. Plus I can't imagine myself living in a place where every single shop closes at five, even the grocery and the drug store.

I know I won't want to settle down early and I know I won't want to be a housewife. Cannot imagine relying on someone else's income with no Plan B in sight. Your own income is always a good Plan B, just in case something bad happens like there is unhappiness and extra-marital affairs going on (I'm not saying the hubby'll be the one doing it either). I will want my own high-paying career, my own BMW (well maybe not BMW, the seats are so squeezy), my own savings and my own life.

And speaking of jobs, I know I will never be an auditor if I have a choice. I'm glad for this PWC internship because it's opened my eyes so much. There are just some things people don't say before you take the plunge into the job, because they're afraid of scaring you. Now I know audit is SO not for me.

Do you like chasing nasty people around to force them to give you documents necessary for you to do your work?
Do you like waking up early and going home late at past midnight to then sleep a couple of winks before you have to get up again?
Do you like sitting around waiting for said nasty people to finally give you the documents way too late and then rushing to meet your deadline by staying back even later past midnight?
Do you like spending $30 on cab rides everyday to Tuas / Jurong area to do your work? And also waiting for half an hour for the cab to find where your precise location is in Tuas?
Do you like to experience the aforementioned four for ten years, with longer and longer hours compounded before you get to reap the benefits as a partner?

If your answer to any of the above questions is a No, then auditing is not for you. No wonder the turnover in that line is so high!

So there. A complaint about my dislike for audit, disguised in a philosophical discussion about the future.