How much are you earning per annum?

Education level: ITE Nitec
Job: IT Engineer
Exp: 5 yrs
Salary Monthly: 10K
Bonus: 120K

Working professionals, 48 & 40 yo, husband degree holder, wife diploma holder.
Combined annual income $120k pa.
Sold our fully paid flat for $600k and bought a 3 bedroom resale condo for $1m.
Took a loan of $500k for the condo, paying close to $30k pa in mortgage payments.
Bought a new car, serving a loan of $1k pm ($12k pa).
Other expenses include food, car expenses, children, parents, insurance, etc.
Saves $30k pa. Current total net worth (include net value of condo) $900k.
How are we doing?
Can we afford to retire in our condo or do we have to downgrade to a 3 room flat when we retire? Any gurus here can advise? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Working professionals, 48 & 40 yo, husband degree holder, wife diploma holder.
Combined annual income $120k pa.
Sold our fully paid flat for $600k and bought a 3 bedroom resale condo for $1m.
Took a loan of $500k for the condo, paying close to $30k pa in mortgage payments.
Bought a new car, serving a loan of $1k pm ($12k pa).
Other expenses include food, car expenses, children, parents, insurance, etc.
Saves $30k pa. Current total net worth (include net value of condo) $900k.
How are we doing?
Can we afford to retire in our condo or do we have to downgrade to a 3 room flat when we retire? Any gurus here can advise? Thanks.

u r living beyond your means. the average monthly household income for ppl living in codo is more than 19k (2014 figure), while yours is only 10k.

The $19k per month HH income is the average income of condo dwellers, it is not the qualifying income for one to stay in a condo. So don't confuse.

However average HH income of $19k per month does give an indication of the income level of condo dwellers. If not for households like the above poster, which brought down the average, the income level of condo dwellers is actually higher!

I always feel that people with HH income at $12k per month and below should take advantage of government subsidy and apply for EC. Why compete with those higher HH incomes? After buying the private condo, you put yourself under unnecessary pressure to buy a car just because your neighbours have cars. While they can comfortably afford to, you are stretching your finances.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

u r living beyond your means. the average monthly household income for ppl living in codo is more than 19k (2014 figure), while yours is only 10k.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The $19k per month HH income is the average income of condo dwellers, it is not the qualifying income for one to stay in a condo. So don't confuse.

However average HH income of $19k per month does give an indication of the income level of condo dwellers. If not for households like the above poster, which brought down the average, the income level of condo dwellers is actually higher!

I always feel that people with HH income at $12k per month and below should take advantage of government subsidy and apply for EC. Why compete with those higher HH incomes? After buying the private condo, you put yourself under unnecessary pressure to buy a car just because your neighbours have cars. While they can comfortably afford to, you are stretching your finances.

It is people like them that are pushing property prices up... but they fail to realize their own affordability. The real test comes when economic crisis strikes. The tides will be lowered and we will see who is without swimming trunks. Get ready for fire sales.

You are doing fine, IMHO.
Your MSR is 0.25 which is below the recommended 0.3.
Your TDSR is 0.35 which is below the recommended 0.6.
You are not over leveraged at all.
You still manage to save $30k pa, which means over 17 years (until age of 65), you would have saved an additional $510k.
By the time you retire, you would have cleared your mortgage.
What you need to do is to save up for your CPF Life. You can choose the option that gives you a monthly payout of $1750 when you're 65. You and wife can then get a total of $3500 pm from CPF Life. If your children gives you $1000 pm, your passive income will be $4500 pm.
You can retire in your condo if you wish to. Or if you want more cash, you can sell your 3 bedroom condo and then buy a one bedroom condo at 65. You don't need to downgrade to a HDB flat.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Working professionals, 48 & 40 yo, husband degree holder, wife diploma holder.
Combined annual income $120k pa.
Sold our fully paid flat for $600k and bought a 3 bedroom resale condo for $1m.
Took a loan of $500k for the condo, paying close to $30k pa in mortgage payments.
Bought a new car, serving a loan of $1k pm ($12k pa).
Other expenses include food, car expenses, children, parents, insurance, etc.
Saves $30k pa. Current total net worth (include net value of condo) $900k.
How are we doing?
Can we afford to retire in our condo or do we have to downgrade to a 3 room flat when we retire? Any gurus here can advise? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The $19k per month HH income is the average income of condo dwellers, it is not the qualifying income for one to stay in a condo. So don't confuse.

However average HH income of $19k per month does give an indication of the income level of condo dwellers. If not for households like the above poster, which brought down the average, the income level of condo dwellers is actually higher!

I always feel that people with HH income at $12k per month and below should take advantage of government subsidy and apply for EC. Why compete with those higher HH incomes? After buying the private condo, you put yourself under unnecessary pressure to buy a car just because your neighbours have cars. While they can comfortably afford to, you are stretching your finances.

So what is the qualifying income to stay in a condo? Can tell me please? I wanna know whether I qualify.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So what is the qualifying income to stay in a condo? Can tell me please? I wanna know whether I qualify.

It depends on the amount of mortgage you need to take. If you are a young graduate with no savings, even though you earn $200k pa is meaningless because you don't have the 20% down payment required to buy a condo.

Most people start off with a BTO HDB flat and once they have reached the MOP, they can sell their flat and use proceeds from the sale to pay for down payment. For instance if they buy their BTO flat for $200k and then they sell it for $400k after MOP, they will gain a huge profit of $200k. They can use this as the down payment if their HH income is high enough such that their MSR is less than 30%.

In the case of the above guy, he is able to upgrade to a condo even with a $120k HH income is because he is able to pay a down payment of $500k for a $1m condo. His loan of $500k is manageable based on his HH income.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I worked in this IT company since Feb 2009. I am a fresh grad graduated from a part time IT degree.

Salary for first year till now is as follow :

1st year (2009) : $2400
2nd year (2010) : $2700
3rd year (2011) : $2950
4th year (2012) : $3050
5th year (2013) : $3350
6th year (2014) : $3790
Current year (2015) : $4090

Am I underpaid ?

Very normal salary for Singapore people doing IT.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It depends on the amount of mortgage you need to take. If you are a young graduate with no savings, even though you earn $200k pa is meaningless because you don't have the 20% down payment required to buy a condo.

Most people start off with a BTO HDB flat and once they have reached the MOP, they can sell their flat and use proceeds from the sale to pay for down payment. For instance if they buy their BTO flat for $200k and then they sell it for $400k after MOP, they will gain a huge profit of $200k. They can use this as the down payment if their HH income is high enough such that their MSR is less than 30%.

In the case of the above guy, he is able to upgrade to a condo even with a $120k HH income is because he is able to pay a down payment of $500k for a $1m condo. His loan of $500k is manageable based on his HH income.

What if I have about $500k cash and $240k shares? How much do I need to earn a month to qualify?