Compare your household income
 

New article published. Includes a tool for you to compare your household income:
Compare Your Household Income 2014 | Salary.sg - Your Salary in Singapore

How is the monthly income defined?

Is it based on total annual income (including bonuses) divided by 12 months? Or is it just based on the monthly salaries without the bonuses?

Eg. Mr and Mrs Tan.

Gross monthly salary for Mr Tan : $13,000
Gross monthly salary for Mrs Tan : $9,000
Total household gross monthly income : $22,000

Bonuses for the year:
Mr Tan : 3 months or $39,000
Mrs Tan : 3 months or $27,000

Total annual household income : $22,000 x 12 + $39,000 + $27,000 = $352,000
Gross monthly income : $352,000/12 = $29,000

Should they use $29,000 or $22,000 ?

Our household income today is $12,336 pm. We upgraded from our flat to condo in 2006. Bought the condo for only $600k and now it is worth $1.1m and now it is paid up. Our other assets comprising cash, cpf and stocks is worth $700k and hence our net worth is $1.8m. We are now 48/40 yo.

Based on the survey, we are supposed to be living in a flat. What should we do? Should we sell our condo and go back to staying in a flat since the survey said so? Pls advise. Thank you.

Lol, the tool doesn't say about age of the households, which can be an important factor. For example, I think the higher HH incomes could be because of more mature families meaning those already in their late 40s and 50s. People who are in senior positions and thus earning more.

While at 48, you are not exactly young anymore. If you don't see yourself climbing up the career ladder and thus earning more, then you are in the wrong crowd.

Have you ever wondered why your neighbors have 2 or more cars? It is because they could afford them.

The tool also doesn't consider the passive incomes the condo dwellers have which could add substantially to their overall income. Already in related forum, you can see many forummers saying their passive incomes hit $100k pa and above.

So the gulf can be indeed big!

58/ 57, $23k pm, we are in the top decile. Live in a penthouse condo. Hope to retire at 65.

As long as they use MOM/IRAS data sources, it is annual/12 I.e. 29k

Saw this footnote in the Singstat report:

"1Based on ranking of all resident employed households by their monthly household income from work (including employer CPF contributions) per household member"

No mention of bonuses and commissions, unlike other reports I've seen.

My wife and I are in our mid fifties with no dependants and we are retired from our full time jobs. We earn a passive income of $7k pm, below the median household income. Our condo is worth $1.9m and we have an investment portfolio and other assets. Our total net worth is $4m. So even with a net worth of $4m, we are still categorized as below median income household. How sad.

u don't sound sad at all, only sarcastic, and a bit of show off

With a net worth of $4m, you are a millionaire couple. Most probably, you are among the top 1% of households in Singapore in terms of net worth. Your $7k passive income per month is considered high since you are retired and debt free. Most retired couple would need an income of $2k pm since that covers their basic needs of food and utilities. Cheer up! You are a very successful retired couple in my view. I would love to be retired like you, I would be comfortable with a $4k pm passive income, assuming no debts.