How The Wealthy Cope With A Downturn?

Tabla! is a newly launched free weekly paper in a tabloid format and it reaches out to the growing Indian (expat) community in Singapore. Run by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Tabla! is a welcome addition to the Singapore media space. The latest issue has a cover story capturing the agony an Indian American family is going through in the US as a result of the global financial turmoil. A closer read reveals that the article is a syndicated news item from LA Times.

For months, Mona has anxiously awaited daily calls from her husband while he is at work. They live in Edison, a comfortable suburb in central New Jersey and a 90-minute commute by train from her husband's office in Manhattan.

For the last two years, Amar, 36, has run a technology unit in the capital markets division for Lehman Bros. until it went bankrupt and was bought in part by Barclays. He's still there, adjusting with the change in management. His salary at Lehman's was $400,000, including a bonus and restricted stock options. Amar's base salary, about $200,000, remains the same, but there are no reports yet on what will happen to 2008 bonuses and options. (Link)

While the problems highlighted in the article are real, I'm not sure whether the case would find sympathy with the larger audience at a time when even people not related to the banking industry are suffering the pain in the form of retrenchments, investment losses etc. Most reactions would be similar to what Finally Frugal says in his blog:

Truly, though, I don't think I can stand to read too many more articles about Wall Street wives (or employees, or whatever) who were making upwards of $200,000 and more a year, who are now forced to (gasp!) clean their own houses and make their own meals. (Link)