From Relationship Manager to Grab Driver

Yet another Grab driver story. 

So this driver told me he makes about $8,000 a month driving Grab.  Turns out he used to be a Bank Relationship Manager (RM). I was curious why he switched from RM to become a Grab driver.

He explained that he used to earn shit load of money as a RM.  While his $8,000 a month from driving Grab was a far cry from the salary he used to make, he actually still saved the same amount each month as before as a RM.

"Earn more, spend more" was what he said.

As a RM, his typical day started at 8 am to receive updates, and thereafter, it was up to him, own-time-own-target. He could essentially "close shop" except for scheduled appointments.  However, most lunch and dinner hours, and way after dinner, were spent entertaining clients. He had no family life as a result.

While much of his work-related expenses could be claimed, the reality was that he had to spend on his personal effects as it was expected in his industry. When he wore a Tag Hieur watch to work, his boss asked him, "What kind of Mickey Mouse watch is that!?"  When he bought a sedan, he was scoffed at for not driving something more fanciful like an Audi.  To go to work, he had to deck out in custom suits.  That's $1,000 gone upfront for the suits.

He recounted one lady colleague, who carried expensive bags to work. And yet he knew, she was living in debt, owing far more than she could really afford.

There was another colleague who made $150,000 to $200,000 of commission each quarter! That's a lot of moolah, over $1m a year. Yet, he was eventually caught stealing from the bank and went to jail. How could a person who earned so much still found the need to steal? He could not understand.

He eventually decided to get out of this game and found that Grab works for him. Now he has more flexibility with his time, and living more healthily. 

I wish him well.

Grabbing to $11,000 a month

Ah no, I did not spend $11,000 a month taking Grab. No, no, no.

I came across yet another interesting person when I took a Grab ride home. It started with a simple question on whether he drove this as a fulltime job. I was surprised to learn that he drove 7 days a week, 15 hours a day!  That's hard work.

When asked how much he made, he said it used to be $15,000 a month when incentives were good. This was net of expenses. But these days, he could only make $11,000 a month. That is quite an impressive income as a Grab driver. I was really surprised he could make that much. I don't recall ever hearing of a Grab driver who could make more than $5,000 a month till today.

Given his income level, I was curious if he made voluntary contributions to CPF. He laughed and shared that he has more than enough and didn't need to do so.

He used to own a commercial laundry service. It's those industrial class type that service hotels. A few years back, he got an offer to buy out his business. The offer was the equivalent of 10 years of income. As he could only make 6% ROI on his business, the offer was too good to refuse. So he sold off and cashed out.

[More on his laundry business another day]

Being a divorcee and with a daughter already in her final year in the University, he didn't have much that occupied his time. So he was happy to be a Grab driver, and even more so because he liked to drive. He quipped that while he was driving his beaten-up car for Grab service, his daughter drove their family's BMW to school.

He takes breaks once in a while, usually a few months at a go, traveling overseas, alone.

Since he started driving, he has cut down on his drinking and smoking. He used to drink everyday. It was probably killing his liver. He now hardly drank. Smoking was still a habit, but he had cut down from two packets a day, to less than half a packet. It's certainly an improvement. I wish him good health.

A pleasant late evening ride.

Bill Gates Wants to Give Me $5Million

I received the following e-mail recently.  What's your reaction?

From: Bill_and _Melinda_Gates_Foundation
Subject: Bill_and _Melinda_Gates_Foundation

I hope this information meet you well as I know you will be curious to

know why/how I selected you to receive a cash sum of $5,000,000 USD),

our information below is 100% legitimate, please see the link below:

please see the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

I BILL GATES and my wife decided to donate the sum of $5,000,000 USD) to

you as part of our charity project to improve the 10 lucky individuals

all over the world from our $65 Billion Usd I and My Wife Mapped out to

help people. We prayed and searched over the internet for assistance

because i saw your profile on Microsoft email owners list and picked

you. Melinda my wife and i have decided to make sure this is put on the

internet for the world to see. me and my wife have cancer and as you

could see from the webpage above, am not getting any younger and you can

imagine having no much time to live. although am a Billionaire investor

and we have helped some charity organizations from our Fund.

You see after taken care of the needs of our immediate family members,

Before we die we decided to donate the remaining of our Billions to

other individuals around the world in need, the local fire department,

the red cross, Haiti, hospitals in truro where Melinda underwent her

cancer treatment, and some other organizations in Asia and Europe that

fight cancer, alzheimer’s and diabetes and the bulk of the funds

deposited with our payout bank of this charity donation. we have kept

just 30% of the entire sum to our self for the remaining days because i

am sick and am writing you from hospital computer.and me and my wife

will be traveling to Germany for Treatment.

To facilitate the payment process of the funds ($5,000,000 USD) which

have been donated solely to you, you are to send us

your full names

your contact address

your personal telephone

so that i can forward your payment information to you immediately. I am

hoping that you will be able to use the money wisely and judiciously

over there in your City. please you have to do your part to also

alleviate the level of poverty in your region, help as many you can help

once you have this money in your personal account because that is the

only objective of donating this money to you in the first place.

Thank you for accepting our offer, we are indeed grateful You Can Google

my name for more information: Bill Gates Charity or Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation

God bless you

Regards MR Bill Gates

--

Oh, the extent of typos! Gave me a headache reading it.  Why do they even try?