How much savings do you have?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

wow...seems like singapore is really a paradise....filled with so much cash-rich employees only in their 30s....hope it's true and these people are not sprouting nonsense...

or are you those making $4k a month only and trying to buy a car and EC when well cannot afford to? need to avoid outing with friends to save some money to ahieve those material wants so that can buy some 'face'?

You will be surprised there are a number of people earning good salaries only in their 30s.
Just take a look at the number of people in the banking industry, they are easily drawing 5-6k/mth by the time they are 30 (some a lot more, I know quite a few myself), so why are you so doubtful?

Even civil servants (graduates who perform decently and I also know quite a few myself) can draw 6-7k a month by the time they are in their early 30s with total annual package exceeding 100k. So it's not that uncommon.

that's pretty true, per annum $100k package is very common for singaporeans in their early thirties, no second thoughts about that....but possible to accumulate $1mil in assets by late thirties? everyday eat bread and breathe wind? kids eat tofus for protein instead of milk formula?

Apart from huge inheritance, very common to see couples here in the forum having over $1m in assets by late thirties...

I think if you start off with a heavily subsidised BTO flat and then sell it off to buy an EC, you could see your HH net worth grow to $1m in your 30s.

I don't have much recollection of what we had in our 30s, but when we were in our mid-40s, our net worth was $2.4m. Mind you, our incomes were so so only.

After a few promotions along the way and luck in our stock picks and property boom during the 90s and 2000s we saw our net worth grew to well over $5m now. We are in our mid 50s.

That's why when I looked at the various postings here, I am confident those couples will reach net worth similar to ours if not more when they reach 55. But they must not have disruption in their employment. Once in their 50s, their incomes should be peaking while their HH expenses would have stabilized, increasing their yearly savings.

They would not need to downgrade when they retire then.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

that's pretty true, per annum $100k package is very common for singaporeans in their early thirties, no second thoughts about that....but possible to accumulate $1mil in assets by late thirties? everyday eat bread and breathe wind? kids eat tofus for protein instead of milk formula?

Apart from huge inheritance, very common to see couples here in the forum having over $1m in assets by late thirties...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I don't have much recollection of what we had in our 30s, but when we were in our mid-40s, our net worth was $2.4m. Mind you, our incomes were so so only.

Thanks for sharing. May I know the range of yearly income you and your spouse were getting through the years? By "so so", do you mean $100k (each) thereabouts, or more?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

wow...seems like singapore is really a paradise....filled with so much cash-rich employees only in their 30s....hope it's true and these people are not sprouting nonsense...

or are you those making $4k a month only and trying to buy a car and EC when well cannot afford to? need to avoid outing with friends to save some money to ahieve those material wants so that can buy some 'face'?

Sadly, i am part of $4k a month who doesn't buy car and house with O level qualification only. Luckily my parents owns a big plantation farms and company. lol. Amen.

[lazyplane]

I read what you are saying but i think your assumptions applies also to your own view. So how do you know your perspective points are not true as well ?

Anyway, i also dunno why i post a reply to your post. so long winded and like telling an old man story.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have shared my thoughts on your perception in the other forum "How Much Do You Earn Per Annum?"

Basically, people's perception tend to be constrained by their own circumstances and the environment and social circles they mixed with. According to one research article, people of the same income class tended to live in the same neighborhood. That is, the wealthy will congregate in wealthy estates, the middle class will live in middle class neighborhoods, and the lower income class will be clustered in lower income neighborhoods. In free economies, this is a logical and natural outcome since people will buy a home within their affordability. The interesting findings from the research are:

1. Everyone regardless of their income class tended to think they are in the middle class. This was because people regardless of whey they stay, tended to only compare with their neighbors in their neighborhood. And seeing that they have about the same stuff as their neighbors, they concluded that they must be average.

2. Because they think they are in the middle income class, they wrongly perceived the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy tended to overestimate the income of the poor, while the lower income tended to underestimate the income of the wealthy. For eg, the guy earning $3k per month may think that the rich guy was only earning $10k per month when in actual fact, the rich guy is taking home $20k or more per month. Likewise the rich guy (with $20k per month income) may think that the lower income guy is earning about $7-8k per month.

3. As people perceived themselves to be middle income class, they tended not to accept that there could be large income/wealth gap. They would not believe in the first instance, if they see claims of income much higher than their own.

Although we lived in an internet connected world, where information are readily available, this kind of perception still persist. This is mainly because salaries are still not publicized and employees are bound not to disclose their remuneration. Very erroneous perception can also occur within the same company. For eg, a low level staff earning $2k per month may think that the directors of the company are earning $10k - $15k per month when in fact, they could be earning $50k per month!

I have friends who are power couples. Both husbands and wives are "rising stars" in their companies and they are only in their late 30s. Their combined incomes are around $400k pa or more. Another phenomenon I observed is that successful people tended to seek out other successful people. So, successful men tend to seek out / attract successful women. What you get are the power couples. By their 40s, these couples could be earning anything from $500k and above.

You don't have to believe anything posted/boasted by the posters, but to disregard high incomes earned by some people would be akin to burying your head in the sand.

Couple mid 30s with 2 kids.

Combined income $10k per mth.
Total saving: $90k
Total stock: $100k
HDB: $130k

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm 31 and my wife's 29 this year. Appreciate if we can get some advice on whether our financial profile is decent and how it can be improved.

- Combined income of ~$210k/year.
- Owns a HDB (outstanding loan is ~$280k; and it's valued @ $510k)
- We both drive and both cars are paid up.
- Have about $260k of cash sitting in various banks (part of them is earning the OCBC 360 bonuses interests; some of them in time deposits giving a meagre 1.2% interest and the rest are just lying around depreciating)
- have about $50k worth of shares (earning about 5% dividends a year)
- we think we are adequately covered by insurance (total premiums of ~$24k/year in various savings plans; life plans; term plans and ILPs)
- anything in CPF OA that is investible has been invested in blue chips (earning 5% dividends as well); the rest of them are earning the CPF interest which is still higher than our HDB bank loan so we've decided not to pay off the loan yet.

We're thinking of buying some gold and also USD fixed deposits as we expect gold to appreciate over the long run and USD should be on the up trend in the next 1-2 years. We're also looking out for commercial properties (can only afford those which cost <$700k for now). Thanks and I look forward to hearing some good advices.

good job. have you thought of joining politics? i heard you and your wife need to be both professionals with cars in order to join.

44 & 46, married couple with kids. Makes $145k pa combined. We upgraded to a 3 room condo, worth $1m, paid up. Our total cpf savings $500k, cash savings $100k. Total net worth $1.6m. Are we in the top 10% in terms of net worth among couples our age? Does anyone know?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

44 & 46, married couple with kids. Makes $145k pa combined. We upgraded to a 3 room condo, worth $1m, paid up. Our total cpf savings $500k, cash savings $100k. Total net worth $1.6m. Are we in the top 10% in terms of net worth among couples our age? Does anyone know?

You are likely to be in top 20% given that 1 in 6 household are millionaire household in SG.