How much are you earning per annum?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I know which doctor you are referring to.
You need to know the background I.e.
a) her hubby is a malaysian
b) she is having difficulty actually retiring there cos her children are still young.

So JB retirement is plausible BUT only for certain people...

I am the doctor u r referring to but both my hubby and I r Singaporeans....

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am the doctor u r referring to but both my hubby and I r Singaporeans....

Hi,

How is your retirement plan getting along? Have you moved to JB to retire? Are your kids in the international school there?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all,

I'm a young professional and have been following this thread for some time now. I'm just curious as to why so many of the replies as quoted above seem to harbour a similar theme of downgrading to HDB upon retirement to generate cash flow to invest in revenue-generating assets.

I am not sure if it is the same person providing this advice, and I am by no means an expert on the matter, but realistically, how many people (especially in Singapore) will feel comfortable downgrading after so many years of working, saving and financial planning to afford private housing, only to retire and have to downgrade to public housing? Further, how many of them would sell their home and move to a 3rd world country like Thailand/JB just so they can convert SGD to the local currency and feel rich? These ideas seem really ridiculous and careless to me, which is why I am asking if anyone actually does and if so, are you really happy?

I mean, the ones who have paid up private housing in Singapore will probably have life insurance and reasonably large nest eggs in CPF anyway, not to mention their cash reserves are probably already being used to produce income from stocks/FD/etc..

Will be happy to debate the issue and see what you guys think of this.. Thanks!

When people are going to retire most probably the are more mature compare to their younger days. Not all people will retired as rich person. I guest majority need to downgrade their comfort level also.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi,

How is your retirement plan getting along? Have you moved to JB to retire? Are your kids in the international school there?

No, still working in Sg though nearly wanted to rent out my terrace and semiretire in a cheap condo there. Can rent a 1950 sq ft condo with just 1300rm. Could have just worked once a week in Sg taking the new shuttle and sell off my expensive Sg car....but kids education held me back....MERS is a push factor though, if situation gets worse , maybe I will change my mind and semiretire earlier....

I may retire in KL at 55 yo. Our children would be working and on their own or staying in their own BTO flats. I can rent out my Spore property for $3k pm and my investments can yield an income of $2k pm. With $5k pm of passive income, I can convert to get RM14k. This amount can allow us to retire as a high income couple in KL. I can rent a 2 bedroom condo in KL city centre for only RM3k pm. The rest of our money can be spent on a car and eating at nice restaurants. I can also save for us to go touring overseas.

Why KL? It is close to Spore in terms of amenities - many trendy restaurants, malls, cinemas, cafes, etc. You won't be bored.

i wouldnt pay too much attention to this thread, 90% of posters are living their fantasy online about making 6 digit incomes and retiring with millions.

Whether one downgrade or not depends on your financial circumstances when retired and early planning. You can see from this forum, many posters moved up to stay in condos even though their HH income qualifies them for HBD or EC. It is highly likely these families will downgrade to HDB when they retire. There is no right or wrong here, only the lifestyle you aspire to lead. Remember, you only live once!

My wife and I are in our mid-50s, both still working. We upgraded to a condo only when we were able to fully pay for it upon purchase, when we were 46. I must say that the quality of our life went up a few notches! We thoroughly loved it, and regretted that we didn't choose to stay in one when we were younger. I can thus understand why people are eager to move into condos even though their HH incomes qualify them for HDB and EC. We are physically more active now. Everything is so convenient that even on days when I come back late from work, I could still swim, work out in the gym, or have sauna. We loved it so much we actually went and bought another condo for investment purposes.

Did the thought of downgrading cross our minds, now that we are in our mid-50s? Financially there should no need for us to downgrade when we retire. We also prefer to age in place. While we do have neighbours who downgraded when they retired, there are a number of retiree families in my condo who could still buy new cars! They are physically active (I see them playing tennis, squash and table tennis regularly) and carry themselves with dignity. We see ourselves in them - healthy, physically active, and still living life to the full when we retire.

We have been preparing for retirement for a long time. With our nest egg near to $6m, and still growing nicely at the rate of $350k-$400k pa, we are looking forward to a good retirement without downgrading. Living within your means, saving and investing are key to a good, dignified and financially worry free retirement.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, I'm the poster you replied to. Thanks for your response, perhaps I should mix with more people to understand the various retirement strategies around. Maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough, though. I don't find it surprising that people are doing that; I just find it somewhat unrealistic if you will.

I mean, theoretically it makes perfect sense to me - stripping down to basic necessities by downgrading, increasing cash flow to fund retirement. It's a simple concept really. In practical terms, however, I'm of the impression that once one gets used to a certain quality/standard of living, it becomes hard to go back to basics (in my opinion at least). I don't mean to bash or put down any of those who do choose to do that, mind. That's why I directed the question at those who may or have already chosen that retirement strategy.

Just wanted to survey if people who have done so are as happy/content as they thought they might have been when they made the choice.

Once again thanks for your input

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Well yes I do expect my income to grow albeit at a slower trajectory, and presumably my spouse will rejoin the workforce after our 3rd child is born (unless we strike TOTO before then! :P). Her expected income would be around 50-60K pa though.

We have considered selling and upgrading, but the market is down right now. Moreover our current place should be easy to rent out as it is near MRT and in the central area. Our thinking is that if in the event we lose our income streams, we could still come back and stay in the smaller apartment, and sell or rent out the bigger one (assuming rent can cover mortgage).



I have gotten advice that "because I am getting older, it would be increasingly difficult to qualify for house loans. So I should try to take as large a loan as possible (with the caveat of not being over-leveraged) while still young." Is there any truth in that advice? Thanks for your advice, it is sound but it seems a bit too risk-adversed?

Well the notion of maximizing your loan stems from the fact that housing loans have one of the lowest interest rates, thus as long as your other investment instruments generate better yield, then it is considered "good debt". So in your case it is more about whether your cash flow will be sufficient to maintain your lifestyle, and whether it will be stable. What if in the event your income stream stopped? A mortgage payment of 7-8K is no laughing matter. Your expenses will likely go up after moving to a condo and remember you are having a new baby.

We downgraded to prepare for our retirement.

We sold our landed property which appreciated 2.5x over a short span of 7 years. We earned a good profit and downgraded to a 3 room luxury condo in a good neighbourhood. Our investments are now giving us a passive income of $75k pa. We hope to retire in a few years time when we hit 55. By then we can collect our CPF monies and our children will be working and independent. They may also be married and staying in their own BTO flats.

Our passive income as a retired couple would be more than enough as we estimate our expenses will be about $40k pa only. We also expect our two children to contribute $500 pm each so we will get $12k pa from them. With this, our income will be $87k pa. We can save $47 pa. Once we reach 65, we should get an additional $3800 pm from CPF Life. Our income will then be $132k pa.

Hi,

Would you and spouse be interested in upgrading to a bungalow? You can make your own swimming pool and a gym. You can enjoy privacy when you swim or exercise.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Whether one downgrade or not depends on your financial circumstances when retired and early planning. You can see from this forum, many posters moved up to stay in condos even though their HH income qualifies them for HBD or EC. It is highly likely these families will downgrade to HDB when they retire. There is no right or wrong here, only the lifestyle you aspire to lead. Remember, you only live once!

My wife and I are in our mid-50s, both still working. We upgraded to a condo only when we were able to fully pay for it upon purchase, when we were 46. I must say that the quality of our life went up a few notches! We thoroughly loved it, and regretted that we didn't choose to stay in one when we were younger. I can thus understand why people are eager to move into condos even though their HH incomes qualify them for HDB and EC. We are physically more active now. Everything is so convenient that even on days when I come back late from work, I could still swim, work out in the gym, or have sauna. We loved it so much we actually went and bought another condo for investment purposes.

Did the thought of downgrading cross our minds, now that we are in our mid-50s? Financially there should no need for us to downgrade when we retire. We also prefer to age in place. While we do have neighbours who downgraded when they retired, there are a number of retiree families in my condo who could still buy new cars! They are physically active (I see them playing tennis, squash and table tennis regularly) and carry themselves with dignity. We see ourselves in them - healthy, physically active, and still living life to the full when we retire.

We have been preparing for retirement for a long time. With our nest egg near to $6m, and still growing nicely at the rate of $350k-$400k pa, we are looking forward to a good retirement without downgrading. Living within your means, saving and investing are key to a good, dignified and financially worry free retirement.