How much are you earning per annum?

29 this year
7 year full time working experience
Programmer --> IT consultant

Not married, no plans to get married yet, nobody wants. No car, no house - staying with parents.


45600 current annual basic. Haven't include AWS and bonus (average 1 - 1.5 mths only).


Am I earning slow?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I see many new cars at HDB car parks. These households are young and don't earn so much. I'm sure $80k pa household income would be suffice to sustain a car.

Indeed. If you go to the new HDB estates where BTO flats are built, you see many cars. These BTO flats are sold so cheaply. This means many families can easily service their mortgage using their CPF and so they have plenty of excess cash to buy new cars, go holidays twice a year, eat at lavish restaurants, send their kids to ballet and piano classes, etc. Singaporeans are so lucky. Not surprising why so many PRs want to become citizens.

Singapore is such a great country. Everything is affordable. I wonder why there are so many people still complaining about minimum wage.

Change car four times over span of 40 yrs = $1m? Let check the assertion.

With my current 2 cars, I have owned in total, 8 cars from 1984 till now, covering a span of 30 years. Why 8 cars? Because my wife and I have our own cars. So how does the costs stack up?

We started with 2nd hand cars bought cheap because before 1990, no COE. Petrol then was also cheap. Way below $1 per liter. Road tax and insurance were lower.

Expenses for our current 2 cars - both Jap, one MPV and one Sedan car. Both bought new, one this year, one five years ago.

Total upfront cost : $ 200k
Loan for 1 year : - $2k (minus because if you take their loan for minimum 1 year, you get discount from car price. The discount is more than the loan interest.)
Insurance yearly: $1k x 2 (after 50% NCD and 5% loyalty rebate)
Road tax : $1.2k + $730 = $2k (round up)
Petrol per month = $350 or $4.2k per year
Car park = free at condo. Condo fees fixed whether got car or not.
Car park outside = free at wife's company, mine = $60 pm or $720 per yr.
ERP charges : zero for daily commute, but if on official duties can claim.
Maintenance = $50 x 2 per month or $1.2k per year.

Total cost for 2 Jap cars over 10 yrs = $200k -$2k + $20k + $20k + $42k + $7.2k = $300k

So, we take the cost over 40 years for 2 cars it is $300k x 2 = $1.2mil.

But if your family has only 1 car (Jap car), the the cost over 40 yrs of car ownership should be closer to $600k.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How much do you spent on your cars through out your life span?
Change 4 times - 1m
Cost associated with owning a car for 40 years - 1m
Total amount spent - 2m
That does not include lost of interest or opportunity cost over the 40 years.

If someone enjoy driving or even have the need to ferry people around etc then the sheer pleasure or convenience is already a good enough factor to override the amount spent.

We might as well factor intangibles like time savings, family time, quality of life etc. The comparison will go on for eternity. Who knows maybe one day petrol will become so expensive everyone will have to take public transport. Then you lament the opportunity lost to enjoy yourself while you could.

Just spend within your means, 6 year old 2nd hand car can be bought for 70K or so easily affordable for most if they choose it to own one. Just enjoy what you can within your means. Carpe Diem

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How much do you spent on your cars through out your life span?
Change 4 times - 1m
Cost associated with owning a car for 40 years - 1m
Total amount spent - 2m
That does not include lost of interest or opportunity cost over the 40 years.

30yo
Sales
$420k/year commission

I have earned about $1.6 million since finishing college in 2008.

Wife 31 yo
Health Economist
140k/year salary but total take home with incentives and bonus 230k


We live middle class.

Life is great in Singapore. We came from low income families and now we are in the middle class group. We first bought a hdb flat and finally we upgraded to a condo. We have paid in full for the condo which is worth $1.5m today. We also just bought a brand new car costing $105k which we paid in full. We have no liabilities. We are in our late 40s and our income is $160k pa combined. Our middle class net worth is $2m.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

There are many COEs available for bidding now. If you have not booked your new car, better get it now before everyone rush to buy. $100k for a car to use for 10 years is cheap. You just need to spend $10k per year. If your family income is $80k per year, no problem buying a new $100k car. You just need to set aside $10k out of $80k for the new car.

Yes, you can afford a car even COE $100k, but don't be selfish and narrow minded. Public transportation in Singapore is already good enough to bring you to every corner within 1 hour.

Don't you think it is better if the roads are clear for the elites to drive on the road so they don't miss their appointments, hence lost their multi-million business?

Don't you think it is better for the govt to save land used to built the extra miles of express ways. We need more greens and open fields to make Singapore truely the best place to enjoy life.

Many people are buying new cars before the lunar new year.

Let's see whether COE prices will go to $70k (for Cat A) by the end of bidding today.

The way to afford a brand new car is easy:

Step 1: Buy cheap BTO flat.

Step 2: After 5 years MOP, sell flat and buy another flat.

Step 3: Get cash and buy new car.


The very cheap BTO flats make it easy to be rich in Singapore.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Many people are buying new cars before the lunar new year.

Let's see whether COE prices will go to $70k (for Cat A) by the end of bidding today.

The way to afford a brand new car is easy:

Step 1: Buy cheap BTO flat.

Step 2: After 5 years MOP, sell flat and buy another flat.

Step 3: Get cash and buy new car.


The very cheap BTO flats make it easy to be rich in Singapore.

My guess would be
CatA $66k.
CatB $72k.