Taiwan's Young Financial Tragedy: It's Not Laziness — It's the Wrong Choice at 25
Xiao Chen signed an NT$8 million presale at 25. He thought he was finally stepping up as a man. Fifteen years later at 40, his savings had fewer than five digits, his savings insurance could only be cashed out at less than half its value, and a school-district housing decision nearly broke his family. The labor pension calculator showed his replacement rate was below 50%. Every decision that trapped him was顺 (going along) with human nature. Every decision that could have saved him was against it. The cruelest isn't the pain of a choice — it's that by the time you feel the pain, your other choices are already gone.