Good point. If I have $5m and at whatever age, the last thing I want to do is to spend time reading and posting in this forum.

Just curious, what would you be doing if you had $5m or $6m?

Really, it does not take much time to take a peek at this forum once in a while. Less than a minute if I don't see any interesting post to comment on. 5 minutes if I wanted to contribute something. My life doesn't revolves around this. It's more like a quick pee break.

When I am resting at the business lounges in airports I do steal a peek or two at this forum just to amuse myself.

My first post to this forum was in 2010. At that time, there were quality posts and sharing. I picked up a few pointers here and there on investments and also shared a few tips of my own, including my net worth then. I guessed the $5m figure stuck from then till now. I was 50 then, just embarking on the "golden period" of seeing my income peaking while expenses tapering off. It has been a good 6 years since, and I am enjoying the benefits of accelerated savings during this golden period.

One of my sharings, if you like, was on how you can save a $1m or more in your CPF. Build up your CPF well, as it is one of the more robust "investments" you could ever make. When you are retired with no more salary income, and when markets go south, at least you can fall back on your CPF! And you cannot build up your CPF savings if you retire early!

You may protest that CPF gives meagre interest, but don't forget the interest compounds over the years and it is practically risk free. For example, if we wanted or needed, my wife and I could withdraw $40k pa just from interests alone from our CPF savings.

Finally, I don't mind people sharing their life stories. It is when they get repetitive, cut and paste the whole damn post over and over again without new thoughts or insights, and to add salt to injury, they quickly followed it up by praising themselves that brought the standard of this forum to the lows that it is now at.

Thanks for the sharing. I am sure you would have invested in property over the years. I have recently bought a property and am now paying down the loan. Do you think I should use cash so as to build up my CPF which earns a risk free rate or use CPF so as to free up cash for other investment?

Many people here talks about retirement. How much do you really need for retirement? It all depends on your retirement lifestyle. So, what's the typical average Singaporean retired couple's profile and how much do they need? Let's explore.

A typical, average heartlander retired Singaporean couple would be staying in a 4 room HDB flat which they bought cheap, direct from HDB many years ago and would be paid off fully by the time they retire (no more mortgage). They would most likely not own a car (a car is a luxury and not a necessity, especially for a retired couple) and do not employ a maid. They would do their own housework, which is not much for just two persons. They also cook their own meals or buy food from hawker centres.

How much are their expenses (TWO PERSONS ONLY)?

Groceries, hawker food, utilities - $1000 pm
Public transport (discount with PG card) - $100 pm
Medical - $200 pm
Medical insurance premium - $400 pm
Entertainment - $100 pm
Holiday travel (pro rated) - $200 pm
Total - $2000 pm

So, if they can earn a passive income of $2500 pm or $30,000 pa, they can retire before 65. If they don't have this passive income, they will have to retire at 65.

At 65, if they choose the Enhanced CPF Life, they will get $3,600 pm or $43,200 pa.

Technical director, annual income 295k.

Yes, I have invested in properties. Currently we are still holding on to two. One for own stay and one for rental income.

To pay or not to pay up your housing loan, you ask.

For Own stay.
We paid outright the full price of the property upon purchase. This is a 4 bedroom condo and it is our home.

For rental income.
For this property we only paid about 30% and took loan for the rest. We do not intend to pay up the loan if the below conditions hold:

1. Housing loan interest rate is low. Currently for us, the loan interest rate is below 1.5%. It has been low for almost 7 years already. It was only 1.05% when we first took up the loan.
2. We can claim income tax relief for the housing loan interest payment
3. We can make better returns from the money instead of paying up the loan. For eg. we are earning 2.5% interest from CPF. Compounded over 7 years, the interest earned from CPF is closer to 2.8%. That is over 1% more than the housing loan interest rate.

Let's take our case with a loan of $700k. Instead of paying up, we have left the money in our CPF.

Loan interest at 1.5%. Yearly interest = $10.5k (Actually lower than this because the housing loan is on monthly rest basis)

Interest earned from CPF = 2.5% of $700k = $17.5k.

For the last 7 years, we have gained ($17.5k - $10.5k) x 7= $49k (based on simple interest calculation, more if based on compounded interest)

When compared with investment in stocks, the returns from CPF was quite respectable given the fact the stock market had gone through some bad patch the last few months.

And remember, there is still the rental income. At $40k rental income pa, the returns is $40k/$300k which is over 10%! Here I am assuming you pay up only $300k for your rental property.

What if the housing loan interest goes up? If it does go up to beyond 2.5%, then we will consider paying it off. Otherwise, don't pay up the housing loan. Enjoy returns from 2 sources!

40 & 41, 2 kids
140k pa combined, not expecting much increment in future, promotion not likely but good job security
Home, 5 room flat, still paying mortgage, only a small amount left
Car, 3 yo, still paying loan
Net worth 1.2m combined
We are happy, comfortable life
We hope to retire in place at 60 yo

so many people here easily above $80k! so confirm Singapore 80% rich people. look at all the nice cars on the congested road, you will also know. so no more complain to government this no good, that no good. dun tell government to allocate huge spendings to help the poor cos' only very little minority poor people.

Correct. Many rich people in Singapore. The median HH income is close to $100k pa. Not surprising why so many families can afford to buy new cars costing $100k. COE prices will go higher especially since COE quota will be reduced soon. COE prices still very cheap today.

It is a wrong conclusion that 80% of Singapore are rich. Just look at the below data from IRAS and you can see the majority were in fact earning below $80k. And don't forget those who retired early and have no earned income but depending on their wives.

Where do you fit in?

For year ending 2014

Assessable Income. / No.of People
(Gross income less deductibles)

$1m and above / 4557
$500k to $1m / 14,757
$400k to $500k / 11,479
$300k to $400k / 24,268
$200k to $300k / 59,346
$150k to $200k / 70,315
$100k to $150k / 158,244
$80k to $100k / 120,538
$70k to $80k / 86,370
$60k to $70k / 115,089
$50k to $60k / 162,440
$40k to $50k / 224,042
$30k to $40k / 288,519
$25k to $30k / 136,256
$20k to $25k / 71,842
Below $20k - no tax.

Total no. of people : 1.548 m