Like many conservative, hardworking and high-savings folks, I used to look at debt as a bad thing, something to avoid or when I have no choice to go into debt, to pay off them as soon as possible.

I had a mind flip on the impression of debt about 8 years ago when countries all over the world started to lower their interest rates to ridiculous levels. My large savings were just not earning meaningful interests.

I then looked at property investment seriously. 8 years ago, along with the subprime crisis in the US, our property prices were also in the doldrums. So I bought a condo at a relatively low price. And instead of paying in full for the condo, I took the full 80% loan. And here it gets interesting, I have $500k in CPF OA, invested $300k in shares:

Loan interest : 1.05%
CPF OA interest : 2.5%
Shares dividend returns : 5% average.
Rental return (based on 20% payment on property) : 7%

In one simple investment, I am suddenly making my money to generate respectable incomes in 3 ways simultaneously. This has gone for 8 years now and while interest rates have inched up a bit, it is still very attractive propsition for me to keep the status quo.

We worked hard for the money, so it is really nice to see my money working hard for me for a change.