A good friend of mine got a wake up call when he saw many of his colleagues from all levels - junior staff, middle and senior managers - got retrenched due to restructuring. He realized he could be next. So, while he is still safe, at least for now, he has taken some action in his life to be prepared. He sold his condo for $1.5m (he bought it at $600k in 2003 and paid off the loan), and use the cash proceeds to buy a 5 room HDB flat for $500k. He then invested the cash balance and some cash savings totalling $1.2m in strong global blue chips which give him annual dividends of $60k pa. He didn't buy a new car after his car COE expired and he now takes the MRT. Being debt free, he and his family only spends $70k pa. He is earning $80k pa and his wife earns $50k pa. Now they save $120k pa.