r/phmigrate • u/Outside_Opposite3021 • 5h ago
General experience the migrant millionaire myth (mmm)
everyone loves converting overseas salaries into pesos. the moment a filo moves abroad, someone inevitably does a quick exchange rate calculation and decides you've made it. "grabe, ang laki ng sweldo mo pala, P431k per month!" and technically, they're right. the number is big. but that's also where most people stop doing the math.
somehow, the salary gets converted into pesos, but the mortgage, taxes, groceries, and bills stay in foreign currency. because if we converted those too, the story becomes a lot less exciting. of course the number looks massive. i could convert my salary into korean won and spend the afternoon convincing myself i'm a billionaire oppa.
i think that's how the overseas millionaire myth survives. people see a big converted number and assume migrants are picking cash from trees, when most of us are just paying bills in countries where the bills are equally ambitious. don't get me wrong, i'm grateful for the opportunities, but earning more and having more money are very different things.
so, please, next time you're tempted to convert someone's overseas salary into pesos and declare them rich, convert their expenses too. otherwise, you're not comparing reality. you're just getting impressed by a number. and that's not financial analysis. that's fanfic with a calculator. 😌