settle for an engineering course or retake exam?

The rising cost of basic living in S'pore a you ahve stated is pricisely why yiou "must" have enough money in your pocekt....
No point envy people who have relax jobs but earns little money..... They will be jumping off cliffs or into reservoirs when they need the money...
I rather have pple pay me big bucks and work longer hours than to have lotsa free time doing nothing and not earning...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The more you earn the more you spend. Early retirement is a dream that many have but few ever realise. Houses and cars are so expensive here in Singapore. Raising a family in SG also drains up alot of resources. The moment we buy a house, we are enslaved to the 30 year loan.

Grass is greener on the other side. My colleagues always talk about when they can finally quit their jobs and move to the easier buy-side role. We envy those that can leave their jobs at 6pm without a care in the world.

Engineer, 6+ yrs, 2nd upper local uni
Total income in 2011: around 75k, and v secure job.
Does not sound too bad but I work v hard everyday..11 h days are common and weekends too. Managed to get a condo. Life is not too bad but cld be better....
What am I doing right now? OT

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Engineer, 6+ yrs, 2nd upper local uni
Total income in 2011: around 75k, and v secure job.
Does not sound too bad but I work v hard everyday..11 h days are common and weekends too. Managed to get a condo. Life is not too bad but cld be better....
What am I doing right now? OT

For an Engineer drawing 75k after 6 years... You are already doing very well... I can safely say that your salary is already amongst the upper quartile of engineers salary in S'pore... If you din know, some engineers in ST who have worked for 10years, dun even earn like 50k annually.... A lot of engineers hanging themselves now..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

For an Engineer drawing 75k after 6 years... You are already doing very well... I can safely say that your salary is already amongst the upper quartile of engineers salary in S'pore... If you din know, some engineers in ST who have worked for 10years, dun even earn like 50k annually.... A lot of engineers hanging themselves now..

I am in engineering field but not as an engineer, and already earning $90k annually. I only have a diploma with 1 year relevant experience. Wow, i really feel sorry for the ST engineers.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Engineer, 6+ yrs, 2nd upper local uni
Total income in 2011: around 75k, and v secure job.
Does not sound too bad but I work v hard everyday..11 h days are common and weekends too. Managed to get a condo. Life is not too bad but cld be better....
What am I doing right now? OT

Assuming your base is 5.5k + 2 month bonus, can buy condo meh?
Current condo price is around 1.2 million
So even at low interest at 1.09%, 1million mortgage of 30year tenor is already $3.2k a month!

I live in hdb, too scare to commit into condo even though earning 100k/year

Wow.. What do you do?? You must either be a property agent or selling insurance right?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am in engineering field but not as an engineer, and already earning $90k annually. I only have a diploma with 1 year relevant experience. Wow, i really feel sorry for the ST engineers.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Engineer, 6+ yrs, 2nd upper local uni
Total income in 2011: around 75k, and v secure job.
Does not sound too bad but I work v hard everyday..11 h days are common and weekends too. Managed to get a condo. Life is not too bad but cld be better....
What am I doing right now? OT

75K and you get a condo? that's very risky isn't it? i know quite a number drawing multiple(s) of what you earn but they stay in HDB flats.

Talk about condo affordability in Singapore:

Me and my fiance are in our twenties with combined income just past the $12,000 pm mark, hence we don't qualify for EC or BTO. We went to see a condo at Seletar over the weekend, quoted a price of $1.5m for a 3BR. We checked our savings (CPF+bank account) and we can only afford a $900k house. So either we go to Punggol/Sengkang, buy a 1/2 BR or look for older 5year+ condo.

Fiance and me are now considering to buy a HDB resale flat instead.

Originally Posted by Anonymous

75K and you get a condo? that's very risky isn't it? i know quite a number drawing multiple(s) of what you earn but they stay in HDB flats.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Engineer, 6+ yrs, 2nd upper local uni
Total income in 2011: around 75k, and v secure job.
Does not sound too bad but I work v hard everyday..11 h days are common and weekends too. Managed to get a condo. Life is not too bad but cld be better....
What am I doing right now? OT

This is the overworked 75k engineer responding....

How did I buy a condo with my average salary? Well, I bought it in 2009 with my spouse who earns even less than me. Look for outer core region condos, you will be surprised that there are some Freehold or 999 condos still going for < 1000 psf in SG even now. If u want a brand new condo for <1000psf, those days are over .... got to be realistic in this exceedingly expensive country.

It is not always risky to buy a condo ... the key is to buy something 1) not in an expensive district 2) resale 3) search for value for money with potential for the upside e.g. future MRT nearby. I am actually a risk adverse person and currently the ratio of my outstanding housing loan to current condo valuation is 50%. (this is because the value of my condo has risen since 2009) The market can do what it likes henceforth, I am in a safe position.

Note however that to buy NOW (2012) is definitely riskier than in 2009.

Try property guru.com to search for something that fits your budget and criteria.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Talk about condo affordability in Singapore:

Me and my fiance are in our twenties with combined income just past the $12,000 pm mark, hence we don't qualify for EC or BTO. We went to see a condo at Seletar over the weekend, quoted a price of $1.5m for a 3BR. We checked our savings (CPF+bank account) and we can only afford a $900k house. So either we go to Punggol/Sengkang, buy a 1/2 BR or look for older 5year+ condo.

Fiance and me are now considering to buy a HDB resale flat instead.

Its probably because your cash + CPF is not sufficient to buy a more expensive condo. With your combined income u can easily service the monthly loan payments ...