How much are you earning per annum?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Lust and greed knows no limit. Don't waste time arguing with such people.

If you need $6m to retire, then 99.9% of Singaporeans cannot retire. You fool.

Some people have the tendency of making conclusions based on their own circumstances. The conclusions are always wrong.

Lets take the above example, just because he cannot achieve $6m in his lifetime, he wrongly concluded that 99.9% of Singaporeans cannot achieve it. You wonder if he is plugged in into whats going on in Singapore.

By making such conclusions, it also revealed a few things about himself:
1. He is not wealthy
2. He is self centered - using himself as reference for whole of Singapore
3. He is envious of others - when you are overwhelmed by jealousy, your judgement is clouded and you cannot read and interpret what is written properly

The first poster didnt say he needed $6m to retire, he said he needed $3m. And thats because he wanted to support a $7k pm lifestyle in retirement over 35 years. He just wanted a 100% margin of safety.

If you can live a very simple and basic lifestyle in retirement, you can retire with much less.

Just remember one thing. The guy who planned for a basic lifestyle will have no room to maneuver when things go wrong. On the other hand, the guy who planned for a more comfortable lifestyle can always downgrade to a simpler lifestyle when the need arises.

This debate on how much is enough for retirement is a never ending one. The simple answer is it depends on your desired retirement lifestyle. For those who need a basic retirement lifestyle, you don't need much. But there are those who want a luxury retirement which means they need to save millions before they can retire.

For the basic retirement, $2k pm for one person or $4k pm for a retired couple is definitely enough. This assumes the couple is debt free and has paid up their retirement home. They will either eat at hawker centres, food courts or cook at home most of the time. They take public transport and contented with holidays in nearby countries.

For those who want a luxury retirement, then they will need $300k pa - $500k pa in passive income. This assumes they live in a bungalow, travel by first class, holidays all over the world staying in 6 star hotels, eat at high end restaurants every day, etc. They will need millions to retire.

For those who are not so well to do here but want to have a good retirement, they can always consider retiring in cheaper countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Phillippines, rural China, rural India, Cambodia, etc.

You choose.

What would be the ideal retirement age assuming you live until 82, our life expectancy.

We are expected to be in ill health for 8 years before we die at 82. So we might have good health up to 74, assuming we don't drink, don't smoke, don't overeat, don't womanize, not highly stressed, not overweight, have enough sleep and rest every day, exercise 3 times a week, etc.

So, if we retire at 65, then our enjoyable retirement years will only be 9 years (74-65). Is this worth it? We work hard from 6 years old in Primary 1 until 65. So we work hard for 59 years (65-6) and we only enjoy for 9 years. Not a good trade off.

We all should aspire to retire early to enjoy life before we get sick at 74 and die at 82. We should all strive to retire at 55 so that we will have 19 good years of enjoyable retirement (74-55) after 49 years of hard work (55-6). This trade off is much better.

Very sad for those who work so hard until they suddenly drop dead before they can enjoy a single day of retirement.

Those who are now already sick with hypertension, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer, liver and kidney diseases, STDs, etc, it is time you review your life priorities. No point for you to continue earning that extra dollar if you risk dropping dead any time. You can stop working and take care of your short remaining years. It's ok to downgrade your home and sell your car. At the end of the day, all the wealth you work so hard for are meaningless. You won't be able to bring them to your grave. Our existence on this earth is short and temporary.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Naive, foolish, sweeping comment. On the contrary, devils are actively working in the minds of lusty, greedy fools who lust for money, power, higher positions on the corporate ladder. Just look at their evil office politics, slandering, back stabbing, cheating, lying, etc just to move up.

You can retire from the corporate world and more into the world of volunteerism. You will be actively helping those in need. This is more meaningful than trying to earn more and more money. Don't be a lustful, greedy fool.

I think the devil is already in your mind and feeding you angry, negative thoughts to post here.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think the devil is already in your mind and feeding you angry, negative thoughts to post here.

You are proud, arrogant and snobbish. Just like the devil.

Many people argue about when to retire. I had no choice but to force myself to retire at the age of 50 due to poor health. I have various ailments which are life threatening.

After quitting my high paying job, I decided to downgrade from my huge landed property and settled in a smaller but comfortable three bedroom brand new condominium unit. In the process I have no more mortgage to worry about. I was also able to invest in income generating assets which gives me good passive income. I am very fortunate that the landed property was sold at a high price and I made a big profit. I was indeed lucky because I bought the landed property when it was cheap many years ago.

Now I am focusing on getting my health back in order. I spend a lot of time in meditation, in therapy and exercising. I also changed my diet. This diet would be impossible for me to maintain if I had continued working in the corporate world.

High stress, lack of sleep, bad eating habits, long working hours and frequent travel were killing me.

I got lucky. It was a close call.

It suddenly dawned upon me that I had taken my health for granted. Only when I got hit with life threatening diseases that I realized my priorities were all wrong. I thought earning a fortune, living in a huge landed property, driving a big continental luxury sedan, expensive vacations, etc will make me happy. I was terribly wrong. All these are of no use if I am dying.

The saying "health is wealth" is so true. I am now healthier and definitely happier. This is what matters most. I hope I can live a longer life.

If someone is retiring in Jan 2018, how much does he need per month? Let's assume his HDB flat is paid up, he has no liabilities, no dependent and he leads a simple retirement lifestyle.

Food = $4 x 3 meals x 30 days = $360 pm (eat at hawker centre or cook his own meals)
Utilities and other household items = $200 pm
Mobile phone = $90 pm
Public transport = $50 pm
Medical fees and insurance = $500 pm
Entertainment and misc = $100 pm
Holidays (pro rated) = $200 pm
Total = $1500 pm or $18k pa

He needs to take into account of inflation which is about 2% pa. So the following year, he will spend $18.4k pa. This is a simple retirement lifestyle which is good enough.

Rich people who wants a super luxurious retirement lifestyle - retire in a bungalow with swimming pool, eat at high end restaurants every day, travel first class, stay in 6 star hotels, drive a supercar, etc, they will need a lot of money to retire. They may need at least $50k pm of expenses.

Whether $1.5k pm or $50k pm of retirement expenses will depend on each person's affordability and choice.

We are ready to retire at 55 because we have paid off our 3 bedroom condo's mortgage and our children are grown up. We are debt free too. At 55, we can also collect our CPF money in our OA.

We have been saving and investing for more than 30 years and now enjoy a healthy income from our investments and savings that would be enough for the two of us in retirement. Our passive income is $4000 pm while our expected expenses is $3000 pm. We can save $1000 pm ($12,000 pa) to take care of future inflation. Our passive income will rise when we reach 65 as our CPF Life (annuity) will give us monthly payouts.

Our monthly expenses for the two of us would include food & groceries ($800), condo fees, property tax and utilities ($600), public transport ($100), medical fees & insurance ($600), overseas holidays ($700), and miscellaneous items ($200).

We plan to do active charity work when our retirement starts. We believe those who are better off and more successful in life must help the less fortunate ones. This way our society will be a more compassionate society. Donating money alone will not be good enough, we want to be on the ground helping the poor and needy.

We do not want to work until our 70s as some may suggest as we might pass away in our 80s. 10 years of retirement after so many years of work is not good enough. We could also be sickly when we approach our 70s. We want to enjoy a longer retirement. We want to travel the world during non-peak seasons (a lot cheaper and less crowded than the typical peak seasons). We want to travel while we are still healthy and mobile. Our 55 - 65 age bracket is actually the best retirement period as we are not too old and still healthy to travel the world.

Besides charity work, we have listed a whole range of activities which will keep us busy and mentally active. We know of successful people who retired in their 50s and they are enjoying every moment of their retirement. There are also high flyers from the finance industry who retired in their late 40s after making a fortune. We look forward to join them.

Property and car are the most expensive items here. If your home is fully paid up and you don't own a car, then you don't need to spend so much to retire. Food is quite cheap if you eat at hawker centres where you can get $3 meals. Don't need to buy drinks as you can always bring your own water. Public transport is also cheap compared to other countries. Healthcare is not cheap but if you have medisave and private insurance, then not to worry too much. If you still want to drive and eat at classy restaurants frequently
when you retire, then you need a lot of savings.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If someone is retiring in Jan 2018, how much does he need per month? Let's assume his HDB flat is paid up, he has no liabilities, no dependent and he leads a simple retirement lifestyle.

Food = $4 x 3 meals x 30 days = $360 pm (eat at hawker centre or cook his own meals)
Utilities and other household items = $200 pm
Mobile phone = $90 pm
Public transport = $50 pm
Medical fees and insurance = $500 pm
Entertainment and misc = $100 pm
Holidays (pro rated) = $200 pm
Total = $1500 pm or $18k pa

He needs to take into account of inflation which is about 2% pa. So the following year, he will spend $18.4k pa. This is a simple retirement lifestyle which is good enough.

Rich people who wants a super luxurious retirement lifestyle - retire in a bungalow with swimming pool, eat at high end restaurants every day, travel first class, stay in 6 star hotels, drive a supercar, etc, they will need a lot of money to retire. They may need at least $50k pm of expenses.

Whether $1.5k pm or $50k pm of retirement expenses will depend on each person's affordability and choice.

For somebody who can sustain $4 per meal for 3 meals per day, 365 a year... $90 per month phone bill sure is expensive...