How much are you earning per annum?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

We are not high flyer couple, we only get 120k pa combined.
We live in a HDB flat. We own a small used car.
We are already 50 years of age.
Our net worth is only 800k in total.
How do we plan for retirement?

You still have a few more years of working before retirement. Save as much as possible. When you reach 65, you can sell your flat and buy a HDB studio unit. Or you can retire rich in Thailand.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I want to add that it's quite sad how some people think, like the person above. I think I have earned my keep, all 400k of it. Every cent. I study very hard and stayed in school for many more years than those my age, just to qualify as a lawyer. I did the long hours (more than 2000 hours every year of chargeable time) and long nights at the printers before I was promoted to my level today and make 400k. No I'm not partner. There are therefore others who made more than I do.

ok i'm the one who insulted you and for that i apologize for my lack of better judgement.

however your post to begin with is insensitive and seems like you are just showing off. the part about buying your watches and birkins were the icing on the cake.

if you have cash then invest in property. as with project finance use as little of your own money to make more money for the company. otherwise with your position as a senior legal professional in an offshore firm you have the credentials to get onto other firms as non-exec director positions.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

ok i'm the one who insulted you and for that i apologize for my lack of better judgement.

however your post to begin with is insensitive and seems like you are just showing off. the part about buying your watches and birkins were the icing on the cake.

if you have cash then invest in property. as with project finance use as little of your own money to make more money for the company. otherwise with your position as a senior legal professional in an offshore firm you have the credentials to get onto other firms as non-exec director positions.

Thanks for your reply. Isn't it a bad time to get into property now, considering absd? The watches and Bags are our indulgences and I was trying to demonstrate our decadent lifestyle which would not bode well for our retirement. I was thinking of getting into equity of blue chips. What do you think?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for your reply. Isn't it a bad time to get into property now, considering absd? The watches and Bags are our indulgences and I was trying to demonstrate our decadent lifestyle which would not bode well for our retirement. I was thinking of getting into equity of blue chips. What do you think?

I am no guru, but it is just too easy to notice gov has strong determination to reduce the price to the before running away period. Buy only when they start to peel off those CM.

Originally Posted by nasi lemak

Good to be debt free. Don't be hypocrite though
Although this is achievable for a substantial number of people, an even larger number of the population can never reach this. So it is not typical. Count your blessings and don't keep telling people you are average. Saying that is very disrespectful of others who are really average income and struggling to keep up with rising costs each year.

and who are you to say this person is a hypocrite?

Spouse and I are both in our forties, earning a total income of 150k pa. Even though we do not earn as much as many posters here, we are prudent in our spending. We do not splurge on wasteful things, habits and activities. We save a significant % of our bonuses no matter how small the amount.

We were fortunate to start life as a married couple with a cheap flat. We were also fortunate to be able to upgrade to a condo in 2006 after selling our flat. We bought the condo for 600k and use the sales proceed from the sale of the flat as downpayment. Now our condo has appreciated to 1.2m, thanks to our country's strong fundamentals and growth. We still have about 200k of mortgage left. We are happy with the way our economy is being managed as we see the value of our property and hence wealth grow.

Our net worth, including the equity in our condo, is 1.5m. We hope to grow our net worth to 2.5m by the time we retire when we reach 65. We will then downgrade to a cheaper home and use the rest of the money for our retirement.

Are there any couples in this forum with the same situation as us? What are your retirement plans like?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Spouse and I are both in our forties, earning a total income of 150k pa. Even though we do not earn as much as many posters here, we are prudent in our spending. We do not splurge on wasteful things, habits and activities. We save a significant % of our bonuses no matter how small the amount.

We were fortunate to start life as a married couple with a cheap flat. We were also fortunate to be able to upgrade to a condo in 2006 after selling our flat. We bought the condo for 600k and use the sales proceed from the sale of the flat as downpayment. Now our condo has appreciated to 1.2m, thanks to our country's strong fundamentals and growth. We still have about 200k of mortgage left. We are happy with the way our economy is being managed as we see the value of our property and hence wealth grow.

Our net worth, including the equity in our condo, is 1.5m. We hope to grow our net worth to 2.5m by the time we retire when we reach 65. We will then downgrade to a cheaper home and use the rest of the money for our retirement.

Are there any couples in this forum with the same situation as us? What are your retirement plans like?

You are doing the right things by having a prudent lifestyle with sound saving plan.

I have similar path, i.e. hitting 1.5M NW in my mid-40s, 5 years ago with 200k pa income. Was lucky in my stock investment and also property appreciation, NW has grown to 2.5M now. Plan to retire @55-58 with 3.5M. You have to calculate what you will need to retire depending on the lifestyle and commitments. For me, 2M investible asset will be sufficient, some people will need more but I think this number is achievable for my case. Retirement plan is to continue to stay in current condo, earn passive income and travel the world. I will try not to downgrade as it may not free up too much cash and also there is a cetain lifestyle I want to continue after working for so many years. But your situation may be different.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am no guru, but it is just too easy to notice gov has strong determination to reduce the price to the before running away period. Buy only when they start to peel off those CM.

Took me a while to undrrstand the phrase "running away period"...haha anyway same here, saving up to perhaps obtain another unit once CM gone

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are doing the right things by having a prudent lifestyle with sound saving plan.

I have similar path, i.e. hitting 1.5M NW in my mid-40s, 5 years ago with 200k pa income. Was lucky in my stock investment and also property appreciation, NW has grown to 2.5M now. Plan to retire @55-58 with 3.5M. You have to calculate what you will need to retire depending on the lifestyle and commitments. For me, 2M investible asset will be sufficient, some people will need more but I think this number is achievable for my case. Retirement plan is to continue to stay in current condo, earn passive income and travel the world. I will try not to downgrade as it may not free up too much cash and also there is a cetain lifestyle I want to continue after working for so many years. But your situation may be different.

Thanks for sharing. While we wish we could stay in our condo in retirement, we think this may not be possible. If we can't, we will just move to a resale 3 room HDB flat located near an MRT station.

You should be happy that you are a millionaire couple and lives in a condo. Be grateful as not many people lives in a condo. Help the poor, needy, destitute and orphans.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Spouse and I are both in our forties, earning a total income of 150k pa. Even though we do not earn as much as many posters here, we are prudent in our spending. We do not splurge on wasteful things, habits and activities. We save a significant % of our bonuses no matter how small the amount.

We were fortunate to start life as a married couple with a cheap flat. We were also fortunate to be able to upgrade to a condo in 2006 after selling our flat. We bought the condo for 600k and use the sales proceed from the sale of the flat as downpayment. Now our condo has appreciated to 1.2m, thanks to our country's strong fundamentals and growth. We still have about 200k of mortgage left. We are happy with the way our economy is being managed as we see the value of our property and hence wealth grow.

Our net worth, including the equity in our condo, is 1.5m. We hope to grow our net worth to 2.5m by the time we retire when we reach 65. We will then downgrade to a cheaper home and use the rest of the money for our retirement.

Are there any couples in this forum with the same situation as us? What are your retirement plans like?