How much are you earning per annum?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, my spouse and I are also a low middle income family. We are in our mid 40s and we earn an annual income of only $150k pa. We also live in a condo, valued by professionals at $1.2m, no more loan. We have a combined cash and CPF savings of only $1m. Plus other assets, our total net worth is only $2.5m, very low for a couple in their 40s.

Our retirement plan is to sell our condo and then buy the BTO HDB flat for the elderly, costing $100k now. Hope the price will not rise too much by the time we retire at 60.

I am single 37 year old. Live in HDB house fully paid.
Earn 85k per annum.
Consider myself to be middle to upper middle class.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am single 37 year old. Live in HDB house fully paid.
Earn 85k per annum.
Consider myself to be middle to upper middle class.

Not to be a troll but this is lower middle at best in Singapore...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am single 37 year old. Live in HDB house fully paid.
Earn 85k per annum.
Consider myself to be middle to upper middle class.

Sorry to say this, you are in the lower middle income group. To be in the upper middle income group, you should be earning at least $160k pa and your wife should earn at least $130k. And you need to own and live in a condo. This is the profile of the upper middle class.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This is a good observation. There are many people abusing the system. There are people who are rich, e.g. earning $700k pa, but they still insist on staying in a HDB flat and enjoying the utilities rebates meant for the lower income. There are people who still own a HDB flat (and they rent it out) while the enjoy staying in a luxury condo. This is a big loophole in the current housing policy.

People who own private property today cannot buy a HDB flat unless they sell away their HDB flat within 6 months, whereas those who currently own a HDB flat can keep their flat and rent it out while they buy a condo and stay in the condo. HDB flats are for the lower income groups in society and should not be abused and hoarded by the rich and higher income groups. This housing loophole need to be corrected. There are people with multiple private properties and are multi millionaires but they still keep their HDB flat. Shame on them.

I disagree. I live in a condo and also own a HDB flat bought direct from the HBD. This flat is being rented out, providing me a passive income and soon a retirement income. I pay 5-digit income tax every year on my employment income & rent and get practically nothing back from the government since I am single.

The hbd flat that I have bought is probably the only tangible benefit from all the years of paying huge income taxes. So why should I be forced to return or sell my hbd flat then ?
If I lose my job tomorrow, I can rent or sell my condo and move back to my HDB flat. I don't expect the government to take care of me when I get retrenched. I have to make my own contingency plan.

The problem with some Singaporeans is this loser whining attitude : things are not fair, we want the government to intervene. This is real life. No one owes u a living. Compete or be condemned.

I disagree with your disagreement. It is not surprising why you disagree as you are one of those who benefits from the current policy. People like you who are rich high earners should not hoard HDB flats as the flats are meant for the poor and lower income groups. If you want to invest in property, then you should sell your HDB flat and buy another condo. HDB flats are NOT meant for investment but for owner occupation.

If you do lose your job, and you don't have a HDB flat, you can always sell away your condo and buy a resale HDB flat. For instance if your condo is worth $3m, you can sell and get $3m cash and then buy a $200k resale 2 room HDB flat. You can then survive on the $2.7m cash. You can even retire on the $2.7m cash or you can drive a taxi and earn $5k a month.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I disagree. I live in a condo and also own a HDB flat bought direct from the HBD. This flat is being rented out, providing me a passive income and soon a retirement income. I pay 5-digit income tax every year on my employment income & rent and get practically nothing back from the government since I am single.

The hbd flat that I have bought is probably the only tangible benefit from all the years of paying huge income taxes. So why should I be forced to return or sell my hbd flat then ?
If I lose my job tomorrow, I can rent or sell my condo and move back to my HDB flat. I don't expect the government to take care of me when I get retrenched. I have to make my own contingency plan.

The problem with some Singaporeans is this loser whining attitude : things are not fair, we want the government to intervene. This is real life. No one owes u a living. Compete or be condemned.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I disagree with your disagreement. It is not surprising why you disagree as you are one of those who benefits from the current policy. People like you who are rich high earners should not hoard HDB flats as the flats are meant for the poor and lower income groups. If you want to invest in property, then you should sell your HDB flat and buy another condo. HDB flats are NOT meant for investment but for owner occupation.

If you do lose your job, and you don't have a HDB flat, you can always sell away your condo and buy a resale HDB flat. For instance if your condo is worth $3m, you can sell and get $3m cash and then buy a $200k resale 2 room HDB flat. You can then survive on the $2.7m cash. You can even retire on the $2.7m cash or you can drive a taxi and earn $5k a month.

Tsk tsk...such socialist thinking. Good luck whining!!

Here's sharing of our family lifestyle. We are also in the low middle income group. We get a total salary of $165,000 per year. I am 45 and my wife is 43. We stay in a condo in the sub urban region. Now it is worth $900k and our mortgage left is $600k. We upgraded from a 4 room HDB flat. We take the bus and MRT to work. We have 3 kids and they take the school bus to school. We have a maid to take care of the kids after school. We go home at 9pm every weekday.

Spouse, 54, works in a company, $120k pa. Me, home maker, manage household and also invests our savings, can earn in dividends $50k pa. Home is a condo bought in 2002 at $500k, now fully paid up. When spouse retires at 65, we will downgrade to a HDB flat.

I earn $150k pa and spouse $90k pa. We have a terrace in Sg and a 2 bedder condo unit about to TOP. We are buying a semi d in JB. We may choose to live there for a few years as our costs can be reduced and savings grow faster. Then we can pay off our 1.4 million mortgage hopefully in 13 years time. By then, I would be 51 years old, we can save at least S$100k a year if we stay in Malaysia with me just working in the mornings....we can then retire or semiretire in our terrace in Sg with passive income from our paid up properties. We do not have to sell and downgrade to a HDB if we do that....

Your $50k pa dividends income very impressive. Can share how much principal amount you invested to generate that returns? And what kind of investments you put the money in?

Most of my savings are in FDs because as I am near retirement I am hesitant to put them into stocks. So my returns are less than 2% pa. :-(

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Spouse, 54, works in a company, $120k pa. Me, home maker, manage household and also invests our savings, can earn in dividends $50k pa. Home is a condo bought in 2002 at $500k, now fully paid up. When spouse retires at 65, we will downgrade to a HDB flat.