I don't agree actually, unless you intend to stay a bachelor and not have any kids then possibily? Once you get married (wedding cost) and settle down your cost goes up astronomically a large portion also depends on the lifestyle of your other half. (i.e does she mind not going on holidays at all, does she mind staying with your parents, does she mind taking bus / mrt to bring kids to school then rush to work etc etc)

Sure you can make money from the market, after nett your kids expense mortgage expense etc etc what ever left if you are decently maybe you will make 5% ROI YoY, daring mean taking on risky stocks and doing day trading global markets etc with a normal job I can't see how one can do both.

Most professionals in the 5 - 10 M range would have made the bulk of their network thru property investments, but that time has come and gone and if the market does crash again then maybe (I say maybe cause inflation and money circulation has change the game alot) you can a decent pot

Example in 09 I could buy a landed in my area for 1.5M (decent semi D 3k sq feet), a Condo in the same area would be going for 30% less, today that same Semi D would be going for 4.5 - 5.5 M. Most professionals making a decent wage would have gotten these landed

Some annoying bugger keeps saying how successful he was and how others can replicate his success etc but truth is likely bulk of his money came from real estate and not his actual career. I can tell most of mine came from real estate and for me to replicate the returns I made is unlikely unless one has access to large pool of funds. Larger funds allow access to better stock of real estate with high returns.

A married couple, 48 & 50 yo, living in a 5 room flat. Two school going children. Own an old car. Our annual income in total is higher than the median household income as we earn $130k pa. We count ourselves as fortunate as we live in a nice well renovated flat and we have good, friendly neighbours. We enjoy a comfortable middle class lifestyle. We eat good food and we go to restaurants once a week. We get to go for overseas holidays at least once a year.

In terms of wealth, we are quite wealthy as our flat is worth $600k and we have other assets such as stocks, cash and our CPF savings. As a whole our total net worth is about $1.2m. We are also debt free. In Singapore, the average wealth per adult including residential property is $395k, so a couple's average wealth is $790k. Since our net worth is $1.2m, we are 52% richer than the average couple. So, we have done better financially compared to the average.

How about you? Please share.

42 yr old
$53000 per annum

You're well paid. What do you do?

The schroder Asian income fund pays about 5% interest annually. Every month can get interest. How is this avenue for parking idle funds?

37, about $100.5k per annum

I am interested. Can point me to more info like how to buy and sell, the charges and any other info. My FD is expiring this March and nowadays the FD rate is much lower. Got mine at 1.95% pa but now abt 1.25%. Very pathetic and hence looking for higher yields. I'm more at capital preservation and sustainable yield. Not looking at high yield junk bonds. Tks.

39, 110k, married, no kids, single income, IT background, HDB, no car
Manager, stat board (current job)

I don't know about the rest but the 120K mark seems to be where most people are in IT if they are not in management or sales/business development. I enjoy my work in IT but I feel there is little value to move "up" to mgmt. Just more **** work and more useless politics and people management. I look at my DD and they just play games with other directors, even though all smile smile during lunch.

your wife damn good life....

When you retire, you have these options:

1. Sell your flat for $600k and buy a 2 room flexi BTO flat costing $100k. You then invest your $500k balance in a 5% dividend yield portfolio which gives you a passive dividend income of $25k pa. Your CPF Life can give you $4k pm or $48k pa for a retired couple if you choose the ERS. This give you a passive income of $73k pa or $6k pm. This is a lot for an old couple.

2. You can rent out two of your empty rooms for $800 pm for each room.You get passive income of $19.2k pa from rentals. Plus your ERS, your passive income $67.2k pa or $5.6k pm. This is enough if you dont drive and employ a maid.

3. You can retire overseas. Your flat can give you $2.5k pm or $30k pa in rentals. Plus your ERS, you get $78k pa. If you convert to RM, you get RM 245k pa (S$1=RM3.15). With this amount you can retire in JB like a rich tycoon. You can rent a BIG BUNGALOW with a BIG SWIMMING POOL, buy a BIG CAR and employ two maids. If you retire in Thailand, you can retire like a Thai billionaire. You can travel the world in first class.

The choice is yours.

Your assets are 1. Your HDB flat and 2. Your CPF Life.