I can only say you really dont know what you dont know.
I am a generation before you and my circumstances growing up was like what you are going through now. My dad was also a sole breadwinner supporting a big family.
Because he wasnt earning much and yet have to support so many of us till we graduated, you can imagine he has no retirement savings.
Now it is my turn to take care my ageing parents. I am what the government described as the sandwich generation having to care of my own family as well as my ageing parents. We also have 2 sets of parents - including parents-in-laws, to take care of.
Having a family car and a maid is a necessity if you aged parents to move around. And we only have Jap cars. To support our family expenses both my wife and I have to work.
Our expenses of $10k a month is just enough for us to have some semblance of a decent lifestyle.
Some posters ignorantly said studying in the local unis would be cheap. Yes, local Uni fees are highly subsidised but still can come up to $8k to $10K a year just for fees alone. What living and transport expenses? Then there are the exchange programs with overseas unis. What if your children cannot qualify for local uni? Then the expense will balloon!
Luckily for us, we are doing well in our careers. We are earning enough to support our current lifestyle and yet have enough saved up, invested to take care of our own retirement.
Knowing how hard it is to be in the sandwich generation, we dont want to perpetuate this situation to our children when we retire.
Some of the things we did to prepare for our retirement:
1. We intend to work as long as we are needed. So we constantly upgrade ourselves and keep ourselves healthy
2. We invested our savings to establish alternative sources of income. Here I am happy and proud to say that our passive income can almost cover our annual expense (including our
CPF interests)
3. We keep a tight lid on our expenses. For the longest time, our annual holidays was a drive up to M'
sia. Only recently did we go for US, Europe and tours down under.
4. We ensure that our
CPF are padded up. Our SA are maxed out, our MA are maxed out, our RA are maxed out and we keep pumping extra money back into our OA. You may ask what's all this for? It is to earn "almost risk free" interests. Last year, the combined interest we got from
CPF came up to $50K!
5. We eat home for all meals except when at work and once a week we will have family lunch at restaurants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Totally didnt know that having yearly vacations is essential to surviving in singapore.
Sarcasm aside, 10k/mth expenses is actually quite a large sum. I too come from a mature family with 2 kids and my father is the sole breadwinner of my family. We managed to survive on my father's 7k/mth with a japanese car, fully-paid housing loan and CPF loan to sponsor me and my sister's uni fees. We do have the occasional family trips although not yearly.
Cant afford that BMW 5 series? Get a cheaper japanese car or even better, take public transport.
Cant do yearly vacations? Choose a cheaper location or not go at all.
Need a new running shoe? Get the Erke running shoes instead of the Adidas Ultraboost.
Ultimately, it is all about living within your means.
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