How much are you earning per annum?

These are the special circumstances that may make a person decides to buy a car:

1. Withdrawing CPF at 55. For some people, withdrawing their CPF at 55 represents both an opportunity and possibly the last chance for them (and family) to have a taste of car ownership. These people may not necessarily buy a new car but a 2nd hand one. After working donkey years, people will justify to themselves that it is time to indulge a little. And they should as you only live once!

2. Extending their retirement age. A colleague of mine (aged 57) who previously swore that his 10 yr old car would be his last has recently upgraded to the new Sylphy. He has obviously extended his retirement age.

3. Couples having children. I remembered when we were first married, my wife and I were ok with taking public transport. But when our first child came along, having a car suddenly becomes a necessity, because of the bundle of baby stuff to lug along everywhere we go. When more children came along, the car size grew. Now we have an MPV.

4. Even for singles, when they start to earn and save more, the thought of living the good life will creep in. And for these people the car they chose is to reflect their personality and not so much for utility. It is not uncommon for these people to go for conti cars especially cabriolets.

5. Power couples who simply have too much money. When both are earning good salaries and are busy people, having their own cars is a given. And we are not even talking about cheap Jap or Korean cars. We are talking 2 BMs, or 1 BM & 1 Jaguar, 2 Mercs etc....

6. Car "collectors". Here I am not referring to the serious antique car collector. I am talking about the crazy rich people who simply must have more cars than people in their household. I have moved house a few times, and each time I always have neighbours who have more cars than the number of family members. These families will have 1 car for daily use, 1 car for weekend, 1 car for night out, 1 car for long drive to M'sia.

7. The cannot-lose-face people. These are people who cannot lose out to their neighbours/peers. When they see their neighbour buy a car, they also must have one.

8. The cannot-use-my-car-lot entitlement mentality people. In my previous condo, I have a neighbour who was just not happy that the condo fees are the same for owners with and without car. So he went out and bought an old car just to take up 1 car park lot even though he hardly drives.

So, it is not true that people who had not own cars before would not be swayed to own car. What is true however, is that it is difficult for people who own cars to give up their cars. I have tried it for a while and I am back to driving.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If a someone needs a car they will buy one regardless of COE, its just a matter of quantum. With so many options in the market I don't believe the theory of people just waiting on the sides used to taking public transport suddenly deciding to buy a car because of a 20K cost save. You will need a huge drop to the days where COE were priced at 20K to make that kind of impact, we talking about going back to the time where a swift can be purchased for 40 - 50K brand new.

For people needing a car now, they can buy New Conti, Jap, Korean. If too expensive can consider PI save 5 - 20K pending if conti or Asian, not to mention 2nd hand cars. Each option already allows them to save money as much money as their intended COE correction price.

I know about 5 - 8 people whose cars will scrap next year, all of them are looking to replace. Some replace with same model, others replace with Korean makes to save cost, one guy looking at PI car and another 2nd hand Jap car.

Its highly likely the COE at worse will go down by 15 - 20K maybe. Even at that price I doubt it will create a ripple big enough to sway the non car drivers to rush out and buy a car.

49, retired from corporate life, now small business owner, net income $120k pa.
Household expenses, $80k pa. Lives in a 4 room condo, paid up. Owns a 1 year old car, paid up. Current net worth, $2.3m. Wife is a housewife, net worth $200k. Condo is in my name alone but she will be sole beneficiary if I die.

Low income earner, 47 yo, $64k pa. Wife, 43, middle income earner, $80k pa.
Home is an old EC, bought very cheap many years ago. Now fully cleared our mortgage.
Household expenses, $100k pa. Household savings, $44k pa.

Can any guru here advise how can I earn more? Should I go into business since I earn so low and hence my opportunity cost is low? I feel ashamed that I am earning less than my wife.

What kind of business can I earn at least $100k pa?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

These are the special circumstances that may make a person decides to buy a car:

1. Withdrawing CPF at 55. For some people, withdrawing their CPF at 55 represents both an opportunity and possibly the last chance for them (and family) to have a taste of car ownership. These people may not necessarily buy a new car but a 2nd hand one. After working donkey years, people will justify to themselves that it is time to indulge a little. And they should as you only live once!

2. Extending their retirement age. A colleague of mine (aged 57) who previously swore that his 10 yr old car would be his last has recently upgraded to the new Sylphy. He has obviously extended his retirement age.

3. Couples having children. I remembered when we were first married, my wife and I were ok with taking public transport. But when our first child came along, having a car suddenly becomes a necessity, because of the bundle of baby stuff to lug along everywhere we go. When more children came along, the car size grew. Now we have an MPV.

4. Even for singles, when they start to earn and save more, the thought of living the good life will creep in. And for these people the car they chose is to reflect their personality and not so much for utility. It is not uncommon for these people to go for conti cars especially cabriolets.

5. Power couples who simply have too much money. When both are earning good salaries and are busy people, having their own cars is a given. And we are not even talking about cheap Jap or Korean cars. We are talking 2 BMs, or 1 BM & 1 Jaguar, 2 Mercs etc....

6. Car "collectors". Here I am not referring to the serious antique car collector. I am talking about the crazy rich people who simply must have more cars than people in their household. I have moved house a few times, and each time I always have neighbours who have more cars than the number of family members. These families will have 1 car for daily use, 1 car for weekend, 1 car for night out, 1 car for long drive to M'sia.

7. The cannot-lose-face people. These are people who cannot lose out to their neighbours/peers. When they see their neighbour buy a car, they also must have one.

8. The cannot-use-my-car-lot entitlement mentality people. In my previous condo, I have a neighbour who was just not happy that the condo fees are the same for owners with and without car. So he went out and bought an old car just to take up 1 car park lot even though he hardly drives.

So, it is not true that people who had not own cars before would not be swayed to own car. What is true however, is that it is difficult for people who own cars to give up their cars. I have tried it for a while and I am back to driving.

Friday evening, the rain in very very heavy. After splashing in the rain for 5 min to get to the taxi stand, (obviously) there were no taxis. Tried 10 min on all the taxi apps (uber, grab taxi, comfort) all failed. Uber has the cheek to tell me I can have UberExec for 3x the normal price (*!$?#). In the end I take the bloody bus. Which packs full of foreigners. My target end point is Town where I can finally have a nice dinner after a long stressful week. From the bus I go to the MRT, which is even more packed full of foreigners and they don't always smell nice. At the interchange I waited for 3 MRT trains to go past because I just Could Not pack into that packed train.

Another circumstance where a person is extremely tempted to buy a car. Can afford it, but its really bad for the wallet and net worth.

I hate the rain.

I agree hate the public transport if rain.
Full of foreigners and always jam pack during peak hours.
What is our country becoming at the expense of economic growth?

Why not just buy a brand new car? You can get a brand new Korean car for less than $100k. What you can do is to sell your HDB flat and get cash. If you bought your BTO flat at $200k, you can sell at $500k. You get profit of $300k which you can use $100k to buy a brand new Korean car. Many people profiting from cheap BTO flats to buy new cars.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Friday evening, the rain in very very heavy. After splashing in the rain for 5 min to get to the taxi stand, (obviously) there were no taxis. Tried 10 min on all the taxi apps (uber, grab taxi, comfort) all failed. Uber has the cheek to tell me I can have UberExec for 3x the normal price (*!$?#). In the end I take the bloody bus. Which packs full of foreigners. My target end point is Town where I can finally have a nice dinner after a long stressful week. From the bus I go to the MRT, which is even more packed full of foreigners and they don't always smell nice. At the interchange I waited for 3 MRT trains to go past because I just Could Not pack into that packed train.

Another circumstance where a person is extremely tempted to buy a car. Can afford it, but its really bad for the wallet and net worth.

I hate the rain.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I agree hate the public transport if rain.
Full of foreigners and always jam pack during peak hours.
What is our country becoming at the expense of economic growth?

without foreigners where will our country be?
please don't bring politics in here. go back to yahoo news or TRS plz.

My previous car was already 8 yrs plus old. I have bought a brand new car to replace it. I find car prices today cheap relative to my income and wealth today. 10 years ago my household income was only $70k pa and I lived in a hdb flat. Today, my household income is $180k pa and I live in a condo which is paid up and I am a millionaire. So to me cars are cheap today. COE prices are low, relative to national income and wealth. Many people are like me or richer than me. COE prices will only go higher as demand is very high relative to limited supply of COE. Our car population is too big and we should start reducing the number of cars on the road to reduce traffic congestion.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My previous car was already 8 yrs plus old. I have bought a brand new car to replace it. I find car prices today cheap relative to my income and wealth today. 10 years ago my household income was only $70k pa and I lived in a hdb flat. Today, my household income is $180k pa and I live in a condo which is paid up and I am a millionaire. So to me cars are cheap today. COE prices are low, relative to national income and wealth. Many people are like me or richer than me. COE prices will only go higher as demand is very high relative to limited supply of COE. Our car population is too big and we should start reducing the number of cars on the road to reduce traffic congestion.

We have the same situation as you do. We just replaced my old 9+ year old car to a new Lexus. 10 years ago, our combined income was only $150k pa. Today our combined income is $500k pa. Our affordability for car has increased tremendously. I believe there are many household out there also same situation. So cars today at COE $70k is truly affordable. Those who are wishing for it to crash can continue to wish until they realize it will not happen.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

We have the same situation as you do. We just replaced my old 9+ year old car to a new Lexus. 10 years ago, our combined income was only $150k pa. Today our combined income is $500k pa. Our affordability for car has increased tremendously. I believe there are many household out there also same situation. So cars today at COE $70k is truly affordable. Those who are wishing for it to crash can continue to wish until they realize it will not happen.

You are rich. You must be staying in a landed property. Which landed property area are you staying in?