Congratulations on reading your life story.
I am in a similar position as yours. Coming from a poor background makes me understand the need to save for a rainy day. I used to watch my parents struggling with unpaid bills with pink notices, quarrels over insufficient household income and yet squander money away in gambling. The desire never to be end up in such situation drives me to study and work hard and saves money to maintain a lifestyle that is comfortable for my family yet sufficient to provide for unplanned event. With a single income of 200 plus k in secured job, money aside, I think what is important is to live life meaningful and spend quality time with one's family. We all need to balance family and work life and yet can contribute to meaningful course.
There are many families out there that are struggling du to poor financial planning and catching up with increasing cost of living. We need to teach our children personal finance - a critical life skill which the school is not paying sufficient attention.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Growing up for us was not so easy as we were from low income families living in small flats. However, with sheer determination we managed to do well in school. Fast forward, we are now both 50 and count ourselves as successful based on where we came from. It feels like going from Third World to First World. We have good jobs with a current household income of $150k per year.
We upgraded from our flat to a condominium unit a few years ago. We sold our flat and bought the condo. We have since paid off the mortgage. For our family's comfort and convenience, we own a car. Sometimes we bought new while sometimes we bought used ones. As long as it can bring us from one place to another, we are happy.
In terms of combined net worth, it is about $1.6m, not a very high amount but certainly above average. We count ourselves lucky as we get to live in a nice condominium project as well as owning a car. These are assets which are considered highly here. We have achieved what we never thought was possible.
As for retirement at age 65, we will retire in our condo where we have many friends. Our neighbours are our good friends. Our retirement income will be from cpf life and annuities.
If you are in your 50s, what's your journey like? |