Brad Kong

I was sitting on the Ferrari Modena in Miami beach, Florida in May, 2003. You can see my photo in the prologue of UnBrokable*. Now I don't even have a car at all since 2017. What did happen? 

Charles Bukowski, the laureate of American lowlife, bought his first house 23 years "later" than me. His net worth was over $4 million by the time he passed away in 1994. How was this possible?

I found that Mr. Bukowski and I have a few things in common. We both started writing careers at the age of 49. Both had or have one daughter. We both had worked for low income physical jobs quite a while.

But he bought his first house with a mortgage at the age of 58. I bought my condo with full cash at the age of 40. It looks like I bought my house 18 years earlier than him. Still, it took an extra 5 years for him to pay off his mortgage (which is fast). 

As a result, he ended up buying his house 23 years slower than me. Aren’t you curious about the exact reasons? 

My writing models are Schopenhauer, Hemingway and Ma (마광수): Translating hard concepts into simple and easy writings. I like to write easily, simply and clearly. 

My favorite authors are Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo: Both had been interested in and cared about poor people's lives until they passed away. I think that is very noble. These two legendary authors had 10 and 5 children, respectively. I feel lucky that I have only one child to support.

I am living in a small condo with my wife and daughter: I am a minimalist and interested in living in a small place neatly. I bought my place with full cash and have never had a mortgage or rent since 2013.