I have not come to and write in this forum for some time because of the repeated postings on car COE which I found boring.

But seeing this post compelled me to share my thoughts. This forum is after all about income, so that's what people will post and that's what people will read. I come to see what people say they earn and how much their net worth are primarily because I wanted to know where I stood.

From posters in my cohort, I would know if I am generally in the ball park in my networth for my generation. From posters younger than me, their earnings / net worths will tell me what the cost of living will be like in the future. Let me elaborate.

Long ago, when I was still in the uni (back in the early 80s), people in my cohort were aiming to have $1m and retire. In those days, a $1m was a lot of money, and hard to earn! But with better wages through the years, many in my cohort hit the $1m mark in our mid to late 30s especially for those of us who had wives who are also working. But we knew the $1m will not last long if we were to retire young simply because the cost of living has been going up. And we know that this will continue to be so when you see younger workers earning the kind of salary that we could only earn when we were older. New uni graduates are now commanding starting salaries of $4k or more! We only earned this salary after 5 years on the job back in our time.

So, I am not unhappy because younger people are earning more and have higher net worth than me, I am concerned that my savings may not be able to keep up with the cost of living that will follow the higher wages. $1k psf condos have become the norm. $60k COE looks like it's here to stay. You know, when I bought my first home, a condo, the psf price was only $380! Then there the cost of health care. Right now, I am still healthy and working. My family and my medical bills are covered. Once retired, we will be taking on all the bills on our own.

You can choose to lull yourself into complacency by keeping your eyes shut to what's happening around you, but the longer you keep those eyes shut, the harder it will hit you when you find your savings running out faster than you planned for.

My wife and I intended to maintain our current lifestyle in retirement, and we know how much we need to maintain and sustain that lifestyle. The sum is building up nicely, as in, for every year we work, we will save for 3+ years of retirement expenses. Meaning if we work for 3 years, we would save enough for 10 years of retirement expenses and so forth.