Apt found - money disappearing.

I finally found an apartment. Its amazing what living in tokyo will do to you. I went from living in a big 1000ft 1br w/ den in the snobtop SF heights to living in 700ft^2 which is considered big in tokyo where I am. I found a place which is about 1280ft^2 as my next destination, at quite a chunk of change but in theory its just a bit over my budget if I factor in typical % of gross for housing. My formula to justify is this:

progressive tax rate between 9mm-18mm yen is 33% fed, and 10% state. So you are looking at a whopping 43% tax rate in that 6-figure zone. At 18mm+ its 40% + 10% or 50% ! Highest in the world as you approach $200k. Anyways I pay rent pre-tax, so it occurs to me.. if rent comes off the top, then I'm saving rent*taxrate, or effectively paying rent * (1-rate). So rent a $4k place? I could imagine I'm paying $4k*.57 = $2280. Hmmm but in the end its still a ripoff!

But see the theory, more you spend on rent, the more you save!?

If I ever move back to the US I will get the big dream house... like our old friend Kawaker once had. But maybe I'd grow sick of it quickly like many do.

Anyways I had this interesting conversation w/ a fellow I work w/ who is 4 years older and 1 rank higher. We wuz talking about buying a house and it surprised me how he said even 10% down payment would be tough as well as monthly mortgage... Hmmm he outranks me I can't imagine he's making less, so is it just BS or what?

It could be BS becuase even my sister tells me she's net negative every month but its a joke because she's net negative after socking 40% of her money into investment/savings. duh....

I missed out on $50k of gains in the market due to inaction. Or you could say I prevented myself from losing $25k ? Hahaha