ABOUT

Writing about myself feels a little strange, especially since I’ve never created a blog before. But let’s give it a shot. I’m a second-generation Asian American, and my parents immigrated from Hong Kong, China in the 1970s. Like many Asian immigrants of that time, they came to the United States for a better life and brighter opportunities.

Fast forward several years (many of them), and I believe I’ve lived up to my parent’s expectations. I pursued higher education, built a career in Corporate America, got married, and now have two wonderful kids. We live in the suburbs with the classic white picket fence (yes, literally).

However, the journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing. As a shy 12-year-old acting as a translator, I faced my fair share of challenges. Adapting to a different culture wasn’t easy. Navigating through instances of racism was even harder. And one of the main reasons I felt compelled to create this blog was the lack of personal finance knowledge imparted by my parents. I wished I had someone—a relative, an uncle, or an aunt—who could have taught me about investing rather than stashing money under my mattress.

The goal for Hut Yee Dow is to offer helpful advice for people of many backgrounds, but especially focuses on financial literacy for the underserved Asian community here in the US.

I aim to compile all I’ve learned about effectively managing personal finance and share that knowledge with my kids and, hopefully, others. If I can positively impact just one person through this blog, I would consider it a resounding success!

What the heck is a “Hut Yee?”

Prior to detailing our steps, perhaps we should address the elephant in the room. What the heck is a “Hut Yee?”

Admittedly it all started off as a joke. “Hut Yee” is the phonetic translation or pinyin to the word beggar in Cantonese, 乞兒. Throughout China and a number of East Asia countries, there are a number of beggars on the street asking for money. Some have very sad stories, some choose to do this versus finding a job and some even make considerable income doing so.

I’ve also heard of expressions of people referring to their children as beggar kids (乞兒子). Typically they’re not saying that their children are beggars. It’s more used as a humble expression, down playing their financials.

As for the “Dow” in Hut Yee Dow, besides it being a major stock index that most Americans are used to, it is the phonetic translation of bowl in Cantonese. So Hut Yee Dow’s literal translation is the Beggar’s Bowl where people who choose to give money place their money for the beggar.

So yes, there is some humor and irony in our site name. Another reason for the name was that it was an available .com name!