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Originally Posted by Unregistered
My wife and I are a low income grad couple. We have two children in secondary schools. We are both 49 years old and only earning $160k pa in total. Our paid up condo is in the OCR and is valued at only $900k. We drive a small non continental car. Life is not so easy. We worry about our finances. We need to think which place to eat out or where to buy food from as we are very cost conscious. We cannot afford to employ a maid. We can only afford holidays in the Asian region such as HK, Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia. Only once a year. We can't afford holidays to Europe or America.
Our net worth (including our condo and car) is only $1.5m in total. This is very low when we compare with our friends and relatives.
Are there any grad couples here earning as low as us? How do you survive with the demands and expectations from family and society? How are you preparing for your retirement?
Do we have to work till we are in our 70s? What can we do to prepare for retirement? Please help advise. Thanks.
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Having S$550k in liquid assets (after minus condo and car) for retirement is too low for a couple approaching 50 years of age. And considering you have 2 school going children, you will also need to plan for their university education. University education will be the heaviest investment you have for your children and will put you back by at least S$200k. Since you are living in condo, the monthly maintenance will also be quite heavy.
The best approach now is to save up at least half of your annual salary if possible. And put in safe investments that give stable returns. Sell off your condo if possible and have as much liquid assets. But typically people who live in condo for long periods will find it difficult to downgrade to
HDB. And the system in Singapore is such that properties are typically paid for using
CPF. You have to pay back to
CPF the money you used to buy your properties plus the interests incurred. There may not be much remaining after you have sold your property.
At this age, you will also need to start planning for job security. The economic downturn cycles are getting shorter. And companies will use this opportunity to retrench older workers. Being out-of-work will drain whatever liquid reserves you have.
All financial decisions will need to tread wisely now. Good luck.