How much are you earning per annum?

In order for the readers to feel / share your pain, you might want to shed more light on your office politics. Also so that we can avoid the pitfalls when we earn that kind of pay.

In the news, we only hear /read of high flyers falling from grace because of their indiscretion or corruption. For eg, recently the asst director from CPIB who used gahmen money to gamble at the casino, or the military colonel who took advantage of his female subordinates and was discharged.

If it is due purely to office politics, you should be able to find employment with your skills that eanrned you the high salary.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Talk is cheap. You wouldn't know how it feels. Hopefully, one day you will be in my position to fully understand my predicament. I'm giving myself another 6 months to get a suitable job, if I can't, I'll just migrate to some cheaper country in the region to fully retire. I may do some charity work to feed the poor. I'll rent out my two condos and get about S$70k a year, more than enough for retiring in Thailand, Myanmar or Cambodia.

50, 53 years old couple with 2 kids.
$80k household earnings. No car.
Staying in 5 room HDB flat, paid up 5 years ago.
Now flat valued at $900k. We bought at $150k many years ago.
Total net worth including flat is $1.5m.
We will sell our flat and buy a small HDB studio flat when we retire at 65.
We are glad that our flat's value has gone up as it will allow us to retire comfortably.
Our home ownership program is very successful. I thank our government very much.

It is good that you recognised that in Singapore, ordinary people like us cannot afford to retire before 65.

We are not alone (not just counting the majority of Singaporeans) as people in developed countries like US, UK and Australia are also realising that retiring early (before 60) is just a dream.

In Australia, families with household incomes of A$100k pa are struggling to survive, while in UK, many are not ready to retire for fear that they dont have enough savings. Read this : Record numbers of Britons have no plans to retire - Telegraph

As S'pore prosper, things will become more expensive. If the bulk of your wealth is in your property, then be prepared to work till your 70s. The old thinking of selling off your current HDB to downgrade to a smaller flat may not yield sufficient funds for your retirement. Many older S'poreans are finding this out the hard way.

S'pore is a good place to earn money but not for retirement. To live and survive here, you must be prepared to work as long as you can.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

50, 53 years old couple with 2 kids.
$80k household earnings. No car.
Staying in 5 room HDB flat, paid up 5 years ago.
Now flat valued at $900k. We bought at $150k many years ago.
Total net worth including flat is $1.5m.
We will sell our flat and buy a small HDB studio flat when we retire at 65.
We are glad that our flat's value has gone up as it will allow us to retire comfortably.
Our home ownership program is very successful. I thank our government very much.

Hello,

My husband and I are in our late 40s. We are currently earning a combined annual income of $200k. Like a typical average Singapore family, we have a nice 3 bedroom condo and a conti car. We go for holidays twice a year at least. Our annual expenditure is about $160k, hence we are able to save about $40k a year. Over the years we managed to build up savings of $500k. Our condo is now worth $2m and we still have about $300k of mortgage loan left. When we retire in about 20 years time, we will sell our condo and buy a studio condo. We will retire on whatever savings we have achieved by then. Our current combined net worth is only $2.5m, an average amount by today's standards. We aim to reach $4m by the time we are in our sixties.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello,

My husband and I are in our late 40s. We are currently earning a combined annual income of $200k. Like a typical average Singapore family, we have a nice 3 bedroom condo and a conti car. We go for holidays twice a year at least. Our annual expenditure is about $160k, hence we are able to save about $40k a year. Over the years we managed to build up savings of $500k. Our condo is now worth $2m and we still have about $300k of mortgage loan left. When we retire in about 20 years time, we will sell our condo and buy a studio condo. We will retire on whatever savings we have achieved by then. Our current combined net worth is only $2.5m, an average amount by today's standards. We aim to reach $4m by the time we are in our sixties.

Shouldn't your combined net worth, including primary residence, be $2.2m ?

Working: 2m - 300k + 500k = 2.2m

Curious how is it that your expenses are so much? What are the big items making up the $160k that you spent? Is it your housing and car loans? If so, then once these are paid up, you can save more.

I think for a typical family of 4 staying in a condo with maid, and a car would spend only $100k pa or lower. Especially for a mature family.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello,

My husband and I are in our late 40s. We are currently earning a combined annual income of $200k. Like a typical average Singapore family, we have a nice 3 bedroom condo and a conti car. We go for holidays twice a year at least. Our annual expenditure is about $160k, hence we are able to save about $40k a year. Over the years we managed to build up savings of $500k. Our condo is now worth $2m and we still have about $300k of mortgage loan left. When we retire in about 20 years time, we will sell our condo and buy a studio condo. We will retire on whatever savings we have achieved by then. Our current combined net worth is only $2.5m, an average amount by today's standards. We aim to reach $4m by the time we are in our sixties.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Shouldn't your combined net worth, including primary residence, be $2.2m ?

Working: 2m - 300k + 500k = 2.2m

It's $2.5m, forgot to mention our $300k worth of shares.

While our realistic target net worth in 20 years time is $4m, we hope it can reach $5m. With $5m, then we can retire well. Just an average Singapore couple.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Curious how is it that your expenses are so much? What are the big items making up the $160k that you spent? Is it your housing and car loans? If so, then once these are paid up, you can save more.

I think for a typical family of 4 staying in a condo with maid, and a car would spend only $100k pa or lower. Especially for a mature family.

We give our parents (both sides) a combined annual total of $40k. We are filial children.

Aiya, dont try to ******** lah. Describing yourselves to be an average couple reaching 5m. What do u want the rest of the forumers to say?

"wah, u are actually very well-to-do leh"

"wah, u are in fact very much above average leh"

U should go and watch Kumar's show. It aptly describes your stupidity. LOL

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It's $2.5m, forgot to mention our $300k worth of shares.

While our realistic target net worth in 20 years time is $4m, we hope it can reach $5m. With $5m, then we can retire well. Just an average Singapore couple.

[Dark_flan]

Average family dun even have 1m much less to say 2.5m... CPF needs 150k also have prob already. So dun think can classify as "average". I sometimes doubt the authenticity of the facts posted here when I see the facts dun really reflect the reality. Nonetheless I'm happy with the way it is now but hope for the better.. $ always not enough. But I see these days fresh poly grads (totally no working experience, no part time either) are earning way more than when I started out about 3 - 4 yrs back. Sianz.. Ha its my bro.