Thanks for sharing.

65% is based on our combined MONTHLY salary. Our combined annual income comprises a significant portion in bonuses which is not guaranteed. If bonuses are included, then our expenditure is less than 20% of our total income. Included in the expenditure is again a material amount on charitable giving, insurance payments, income tax payments so day-to-day living expenditure (shopping, eating, holidays, etc) are much less (around 5% of income). I'm not stupid and I'm not a liar.

pathetic me
 

I m 29. wife is 26. wife earn 2k amth. I earn 2.5k amth. no house, no children. live with parents.

both bachelor degree. in 6k debts for myself. wife has 10k savings.

looking at all ur post. I m deeply ashamed...

No need to feel ashamed. Many of the posters here lie. They fantasize earning big bucks. Do you really believe people who earn close to $1m pa living in HDB flat? If they do, they have no shame as they benefit from the rebates given to HDB dwellers.

Anyway, which Uni did both of you graduate from?

Do not despair. There are people earning less than you.

h alaltube.com

Just persevere and work hard. You can also qualify to buy HDB BTO flat.

You are not helping to convince us without telling us what industry you are in. Earning $750k pa in your late 30s is very rare. So obviously you will get these kind of responses - disbelief and scorn.

In our elite admin or military service, yes we do know promising young officers can earn $300k+ pa. So unless they are married to each other, for a young couple to earn upwards of $500k pa is very rare.

How much income tax are you paying?

I think he is not truthful. If he is a true trustworthy man, he will show us his tax returns here.

Ok, what do you need to be convinced. I can provide as much info as possible as long as it doesn't compromise my anonymity.

Age: 39, 37
Work: both in financial industry, in a support function (so not your banker, salesperson, trader etc)
Total income: $509K, $230K (I didn't say I earned $740K, I said "We")
Residence: 5rm HDB, our first property and lived for 14 years.
Car: 6-yr MPV (red-plated as we work downtown and don't drive to work. Use the car only on weekends to ferry kids).
Income tax for FY2014: $44.5K, $1.7K cos of working mothers' tax relief, SRS, CPF top-up etc.
Savings: $1.7m (adding around $300K per year not counting investment returns, as I mentioned we save 65% of MONTHLY income plus whatever is left over from spending the bonus)
Networth: $4.3m at end 2013.

Agree we are in a good position but as I said, I know of many people of my age who are much better financially. So I learn not to compare, but am really sincere in learning from the forumers here to increase my wealth and financial knowledge. tks.

My spouse and I are 42 and 47 respectively and our combined income is just a modest $165k pa and we already live in a luxury condo which is fully paid up. We also own a conti car which is also fully paid up. We are happy with our financial state of affairs and enjoying life. We enjoy the gym and pool every weekend.

Which organisations are both of you working at?

You are funny. Why would anyone show his tax return to proof something to a bunch of anonymous people??

I don't doubt you. It is possible to have very high bonuses in your industry. And like you said, the bonuses is not confirmed and I would think it depends on performance of the business a lot. By not treating those past bonuses as indication of future pay you will get, I guess that's why you live below your means. It is a good and wise move , compared to others who live the high life, only to come crashing down, it forced to go into serious trouble to upkeep their lifestyle when those bonuses don't appear the next fee years.

Your cash position is very strong, it is a good war chest for the next downturn, where you can put it into good use to sweep up value buys in properties and stocks, without borrowing a single cent or affecting your lifestyle.
Well done sir.

well done. you should continue to stay in your hdb flat to be safe. you both can be retrenched any time as you get older and are more expensive. i was let go too. but i was prepared, now i am a retired millionaire, staying in my humble condo. my passive income and wealth is enough for me and my children and maybe can last till my grandchildren. i'm 45.

Which support function are you in? Because $509K seems to be on the really high side for a 39 year old (~14 years of experience) support-function employee. Assuming a 6-months bonus, your basic is 339k (i.e. 28.2k monthly)?

I suspects he lies or telling half truths.

Thanks for taking an interest in my profile.

Let me try to address your queries:

Which organization - a large foreign bank (that's where I will stop at)
Which function - one of the support functions in risk mgt (again that's where I will stop at)
proportion of basic salary bonus - bonus vary from year to year depending on bank and individual performance. last few years bonus vary from 5-9 months.

A forumer mentioned that I live below my means, which is exactly right. I don't know when I will lose my job, or my bonus will get affected so I thot it safe to make sure I save as much as possible and not have my life affected if something bad happens.

I do have aspirations to live in a private property (who doesn't) but I will only do it on my own timing and terms.

Again I have aspirations to drive a conti car (better still fully paid up) but I recognise it is depreciating asset and therefore focus on having an arrangement that fulfils my transport needs during weekends but take public transport to and from work.

In this way, I hope to gain financial freedom asap (defined as getting passive income which equal my expenses, or better yet equal my income). That's when I will retire and finally enjoy life.

You are true to your RM profession. You have managed your risk well and has prepared for tail events. Based on your Monte Carlo simulation, you would have predicted that your time as MD of RM in the bank is coming to an end. You have done a fine job.

Anyway, with your net worth of S$4.3m, you need not worry too much as you can always retire now and move to Malaysia. In Malaysia, you will get RM11m, which is enough to retire on. You can live in a big GCB with swimming pool there. Think about it.

Hi,

I am a humble millionaire, who now spends my time working from home. I am a full time investor, and earn income from dividends and trading gains. I live in a nice 3 bedroom condo in an exclusive district in Singapore in a luxury, prestigious condominium development. I earn S$100k pa income from my investments while my wife earns S$110k pa from work. Since we are totally debt free (no more loans from my luxury condo and luxury European car), our annual spending is only S$90k pa.

I am happy with my investments as I am good at it. My investment portfolio value (excludes the value of my luxury condo home) grows every year, and I hope it will grow to S$5m by the time I retire at 65. I will continue to work very hard for the next 20 years in managing my investment portfolio. I think S$5m would be just nice for me and my wife to retire with as the dividends will be able to more than cover my expenditures. We do not need to downgrade from our luxury condo unit when we retire. When we die, our kids will be multi millionaires.

Thanks for all the suggestions on where I should live, what I should do with my money etc.

There seems to be a common perception among forumers that if you earn $X, you SHOULD live in HDB. If you earn $XXXX you SHOULD live in condo, if you earn a million you SHOULD live in a GCB. I really don't see the connection between where you live and what you earn, just look at Warren Buffett.

Again some forumers say that because I earn this much, I should sell my HDB to someone who is more deserving to live here and should not be taking up a place meant for the lower-income. This is nonsense, as long as I meet the HDB rules for living in one, I'm fully entitled to do so. I pay tax as everyone else, I did my NS like all Singaporean males, I make charitable donations like some of you do, why am I not entitled to a HDB? Again, I will upgrade to private property at some point in time, but only on my own terms.

Where and how you live depends on your goals. For me, it's about financial freedom. Whichever way gets me to my goals the fastest is the right way (for me). A lot of what we achieved it through the lessons thought in the book, The Millionaire Next Door, where we strive to be frugal but not miserly. The way for me - is aggressive savings and deploying these savings into investments for $$ to make more $$. If you spend more than you earn, you will never be rich. If you save but leave them in the bank (with the miserly rates) you will never be super rich. It is when you save and invest (intelligently), that you start to establish the foundation of being rich.

Over the years, I saw how good investments are only available to the rich or high income earner. It is really ironic that these investments could have been made available to the lower income but the reality is that it is not. It is only when you get to a certain income level that you can partake in them. But that's for another forum...

Wow, what a turn around. You started off asking for advise and suggestions to grow your wealth faster (that is, if you were the that poster with the $750k pa income), and now you ended up lecturing all and sundry who gave suggestions.

Well done hypocrite!

Thanks for appreciating for posts, unlike others who just pour cold water or chose not to believe what I said.

I am here to learn from everyone. At the same time I am happy to share my experiences but some of the responses I get make me think twice about contributing further. Some say I lie or am telling half-truths, others call me hypocrite...sigh...what I can say is that I'm sincere in contributing, and whatever I have said about myself and my financial situation are all true and it's up to this group whether you believe it or not. tks.

@3937

28 YO , 4.2k / mth , 6 mth bonus. 2nd lower hons engineering grad.

No car, no house, staying with parents. around 60k in stocks and 40k cash savings.

wow being an engineer really sucks compared to financial sector folks here...

Many lies and hypocrites here.

This is realistic:

Husband, 50, driving taxi. Wife, 45, clerk. Annual income $60k pa. Live happily in a 4 room HDB flat, bought cheap from HDB directly, loan paid up.

Retirement plan - Retire at 70, sell flat and buy a studio flat for the elderly.

Be happy. Noone owes you a living.

Some of the info posted here are believable. Do you know that the salaries of our President, Prime Minister and ministers are benchmarked against the highest earning professionals in Singapore? After benchmarking, and after giving a "discount", our PM still makes $2m. So why is it unbelievable when someone claims he makes half a million in an industry that is widely known to be an excellent paymaster?

We are a mid forties graduate couple and our combined income is $160k pa. We live in a condo worth $1m and our CPF and cash savings in total is $300k. We have paid up our mortgage and car loans.

I am sure there are many here who are doing much better than us. However we are contented as we no longer have any debt. We can sleep in peace. As a family we strive to keep our expenses as low as possible. For instance, we don't use the car if not necessary.

We feel blessed that we can still afford to own and live in a condo unit whereas we know there are a million households in Singapore who are still living in public housing as 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. We are among the lucky few who can afford a condo.

We are indeed happy.

landing arcruri
 

I was just like you 5 yrs ago. But my pay then was even lower!

After getting married and pooling resources together with my spouse, we are now living in a condo. And with regular increments every year and not buying a car, we managed an investment property as well. So, you are doing fine for your age... steady saving and wise investments make a huge difference over time.

We are also in our mid forties, combined income is S$350 k. Live in a heartland condo worth $1.4 million fully paid. combined CPF and cash close to $1.0 million ready to plonk when next property dip comes through. Life is great under the PAP leadership. We will continue to vote for them.

With such a high combined income, why don't you upgrade to a bungalow?

Well that's our goal to buy a landed property in the next property market dip....

Are you planning to buy a GCB? Where?

No GCB.... That's for the extreme rich... We are just above average....

oh ok ... sorry if i offended you. what's your budget for the landed?

Us
 

Couple just past mid 30s. Combined income about 650k. Liquid assets (cash cpf stocks) about 2 million. We still have a substantial outstanding loan on our condo, but net equity value on condo about 700k. Aiming to build up net worth to be financially independent by the time we reach 45. I think we need 5m ex prop value to do so.

Wow... in 30s making $650 k. Now you are the ones who can buy GCB!!

There are so many rich forumers here. I am ashamed to share mine, but here's anyway.

Graduate couple, 47 & 48, combined income $130k pa. Staying in a 20 year old HDB flat, bought very cheap, finished paying the loan. Own an old small car.

I think we are among the worst performing graduate couple (bottom 20% of graduate couples) in our age group.

Any graduate couples who are performing worse than us?

38 male, commodities trading.
160k/annum
Audi S5
Condo in Novena
Single
Maltese 4 years old

At this age i would say, i should have spent more time hitting on girls when i was younger. Now, I can easily buy love but that wouldn't be me.

does the 160k include bonuses? seems to be on the low side for a commodities trader.

What's your net worth? $160k pa income while not low, is not exceptional. I am guessing your net worth is around $1m.

Can share what kind of jobs you are in? While there are graduates (degree holders) who may have run out of luck and ended up retrenched or doing low level (low paying) jobs, I find it hard to believe that both husband and wife could be in the same boat.

But this is not something to be ashamed of as long as you are making a living through honest hard work. This is still much much better than those who make big bucks through unscrupulous means.

We are long way from being able to buy gcb. Gcb will cost 20-30m at least. Even if we save very cent we make, it will take another 30 years. At our income levels, even buying a semi d in a good neighborhood is a stretch. Hard truth of high asset prices in Singapore

Don't be sad. You are luckier than billions of people around the world. Imagine if you are living in the slums of 3rd world countries. You are lucky that we have a public housing system that sells very cheap flats (direct from HDB). Now you have a home which is paid up. You don't worry about living on the streets.

You still own a car, whereas billions of people don't own a car. In fact, many people in Singapore don't own a car.

You should be thankful that you both are graduates, not many families in the world even have a uni graduate among them. The education you get is valuable. Anyway earning a combined income of $130k, even though may not be on the high side among graduate couples (this is a fact), is still decent. If you managae your finances well and do not splurge on wasteful stuff, you can still save and have a good retirement eventually.

What you can focus on is to be an excellent employee, who is of great value to your employer. Have a strong work ethic, you may be promoted and earn more.

Just know that there are graduates who are retrenched and has no job and earning nothing, at least you have a job.

Lastly, don't compare with people who earn more than you, this will never end, even if you earn $1m pa, there will be someone who will earn $2m pa, or $3m pa, etc. Live within your means and strive hard to better yourself in your work. But don't forget to contribute back to society through charitable actions.

I hope this encourages you. For me, I been working for more than 30 years in the corporate sector and was earning a lot. I had enough and now decided to retire as I have accumulated enough for me and my family. As a millionaire, now I manage my own investments and happy with what I have. There are other more meaningful things in life to focus on before I die.