Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 92572)

I think if we are able to do good, help the less fortunate and humanity in general, we should be thankful. There's no need to be judgemental of others. Being judgemental of others reduces our own credit. Besides, we don't really have the full picture of what and how others are doing their part for society and humanity in general.

I always feel that the best way to help the poor is to give them jobs. Jobs give people dignity, pride and hope. On the other hand, cash handouts reduces their drive to improve their lot perpetuating their poverty.

And quitting your job to help the poor is also not best approach. The poor and disadvantaged in society needs professional help, be it in skills upgrading, tuition for children and whatnot. So these specialized help should be rendered by professionals, people who are trained for them. These people should thus be paid for these services. And payment for these services can come from donations. And you cannot donate if you are not working. So it is important that there are people who can donate money, especially big amount, we let them continue to work and earn, so that they can donate generously.

The second point is about dying. Don't think anyone knows how long one can live. But to quit work early and to wait for death is not a smart move. Life should be lived, if not to the fullest, at least meaningfully. You can live a meaningful life while being gainfully employed at the same time. A lot of things that we want to do in retirement, can be done while we are still working. For eg., yearly overseas travelling, taking up a hobby, reading, running, swimming, etc....

The last point is that we are responsible for ourselves. We owe ourselves not to shortchange our financial future. To avoid that, we must not quit our working life prematurely thinking that we are not going to live long. It is a much better position to have that extra money that we don't need than to run out of money in our advanced age!

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 92579)

You said don't be judgmental, but your comments are judgmental. What's wrong if he wants to retire at 58, it is not as if he wants to retire at 38. Anyway, it is none of your business if he wants to retire at 58. As long as he is able financially and happy, why are you bothered?

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 92563)

We are both commoners, an average middle class couple in our late 40s. We don't make much, just $160k pa in total and save only $30k pa. We lead simple lives, given our modest income. We own a cheap car that gives us the convenience to travel to work and attend to our other needs. We go for overseas holidays once a year.

We live in a humble three bedder condominium, not the luxury type but just a cheap mass market condominium, which we have fortunately paid up.

We have been working for many years. We feel tired working for so long. We are determined to retire as soon as we can so that we can spend more time to rest and pursue our other interests in life. Due to a personal health scare recently, we suddenly realise time on this earth is limited and we could die any time.

We want to spend more time pursuing the more meaningful things in life, less stuff but more priceless experiences such as caring for the less fortunate in our society. We don't want to be like people who spend their whole life amassing a huge fortune but didn't lift a finger to care for the homeless, destitute and orphans. They may just donate money to feel less guilty but they didn't really care in their hard hearts. People who really care are those who will personally serve the less fortunate ones in the homes for the aged, shelters and orphanages. We want to be like these beautiful souls.

We will retire at 58. We will ensure that by 58, our cash savings plus our passive income is enough to cover our expenses from age 58 to 65. From age 65 onwards, we will get funding from our CPF Life plus our passive income. Here is the plan.

Age 58 to 65: Average spending per month $4000 pm or $48k pa. Retire in place in condo.

Passive income $2k pm or $24k pa
Balance $24k pa (i.e. $48k - $24k) will be from our cash savings. So we will spend $168k from our cash savings over 7 years.

Age 66 to death: Average spending per month $5,000 pm or $60k pa

Passive income $2k pm or $24k pa
CPF Life $3.8k pm or $45.6k pa
Total income $69.6k pa
Savings $9.6k pa

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 93219)

As the year draws to a close, it is an opportune time for my spouse and I to reflect upon our successes and tribulations.

Overall, despite some challenges, we are happy with the way things are going. We both are approaching our retirement age of 55. We have achieved well financially. Our condominium unit is almost paid up and can be fully paid up by the time we retire at 55. Our car is fully paid up.

We have grown our assets and savings over the years. Our CPF savings are growing nicely and will provide us with retirement income when we reach 65. We can also collect our CPF money at 55.

At 55, our passive income via our investments plus our savings will finance our retirement till age 65. At 65, our passive income will be from our investments plus CPF Life.

We will be retiring in place in our nice condo and will continue to enjoy the many facilities.

We give ourselves excellent grades for our achievements, given our past circumstances. We were from lower middle income families.

Today we are in the high income group, living in a luxurious condo and owning a comfortable car. We also enjoy overseas holidays every year and can afford to dine in nice restaurants regularly.

Given that only the top 20% of the population lives in private property, we are considered very fortunate and blessed to be among the top lucky few.