I earned exactly the same when I was 35, 20 years ago. My colleagues and I used to joke that our pay was matched to our age. It was like that for a while - we earned $3.3k when we were 33, $3.4k at 34, and $3.5k at 35.

Luckily after 35, things got much better.

But hey, that was 20 years ago. Now I heard new graduates are already commanding $3k - $4k as starting pay.

You are already lucky. I'm 45 and only earning $3k pm. Yes, only $3k. To make matters worse for my ego, my wife, 40, earns $5k pm. Just be contented.

*****.org
halaltube.com

Congratulations on your financial independence.

You are a kind person. Not many millionaires would devote their precious time to do charity work to help the poor and needy.

I am 45 and i make $10k pm only.
My wife is 45 and she makes $15k pm+nice bonus.
I understand it feels bad for ego.

I'm 46, I make $6k pm. Luckily my wife, 43, makes only $4k pm. It would be a great shame if she earns more than me. We paid off our condo mortgage.

You both earn so much. Are you staying in Sentosa Cove?

I am 44, working as a mid level manager, getting only $105k pa. My wife, 41, also a manager, earns $114k pa. We share the monthly mortgage payment of our luxury condo. I pay for the car monthly loan, petrol, maintenance, road tax and all related car expenses, the kid's tuition, our other loan, insurance, etc. I only save $20k pa. My wife takes care of the groceries, kids' pocket money and her personal shopping. She saves $40k pa.

Even though I earn less, I spend more for the family. I will have less for retirement. My wife will have more for retirement. I think I may need to drive a taxi when I retire at 65.

Do you guys have the same experience as me? Am I stupid? Please share. Thanks.

If the wife earns more (say >20% more) than the husband, will the husband feel

Happy that the woman is capable and can share the burden of high cost of living in SG and they together can have a better quality of life e.g. live in condo instead of HDB?

Or will the husband feel that his ego has been bruised? And resent the wife?

Or it really depends on the personality of that particular man???

I think it's quite common nowadays to see women earn more than man in this society.

Its nothing wrong as both will be able to share the high burdens and demands from the daily expenses.

There are many cases of wives earning more than husbands. There is a poster here who is a doctor who said she is supporting her family because her husband is jobless. Some husbands get retrenched when they are at the peak of their career due to office politics.

I thought your wife would be grateful that you are doing (more than) 50% part to support the family. Surely she noticed. I think all women would appreciate that, even if she does not say it out. Such things are good for harmony and positive feelings between husband and wife

In Singapore, if you just depend on husband's income, then be happy staying in a HDB flat and taking the bus. Not many husbands earn $250k pa salaries. If you want a high standard of living - live in a condo, drive a conti car, holidays to faraway places twice a year, dining in high class restaurants, etc - then both husband and wife need to earn income. If wife earn more, never mind, the husband must not be egoistic, just share your life together happily.

yes agree. life is short. just enjoy if both husband and wife have earning power. why bother with who makes more?

I'm 31, earn about $56K pa including bonuses and allowance, in IT line, doing change requests.

Wife is 28, housewife and foreigner.

We buying a 2-room resale flat.

No car obviously.

No children yet, planning to have only one.

We go for cheap holidays, eat at hawker centre, roughly savings about $500 to $700 a month, I buy some stocks here and there, small gains.

Life goes on.

hey your situation is similar to mine.
can you help me understand how to buy stocks?

You can buy BTO HDB flat for only $10k.
Are you a Spprean or PR from India?

50, $140k pa. Wife, 48, $120k pa.
Condo $1.2m, fully paid. Car, fully paid.
CPF + cash savings, $1m.
Plan to retire at 60.
Will downgrade to a 3 room resale HDB flat and use cash balance to retire.
Will not drive any more. Will find a flat near MRT station.

I am a Singaporean, born and raised here.

Not everyone is eligible to buy it at $10K, in the first place, me and wife not eligible for BTO because she don't have PR.

Read the stickies in the hardwarezone stocks forum, all the information you need is there,

://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/stocks-shares-indices-92/

Are you a degree or diploma holder?

How come your wife cannot get PR? Is she a degree or diploma holder?

I'm a degree holder, wife higher secondary education.

Just wondering why you quoted $250k pa as an example. Why not $300k or $150k?

You think an income of $250k pa is required to own a condo? It is actually not the amount, but more a dual income versus a single income issue. For example if both husband and wife are working and the combined income is $200k pa, they are in a better position to afford a condo than a single spouse working and earning $250k pa. The risk is much higher for the single income earner.

Don't know why men earning less than their wives always think of themselves only. Why are they worrying they will lose face, be looked down by people, no esteem etc.. Have they given a thought how their wives feel? Are they bringing shame to their wives? Are they trying their best to upgrade themselves, work harder or be a better husband?

Is this a direct sales (of health supplements) thing?

I think for fresh grads, the best thing to do once you start work is to continue increasing and showing your worth to your employer through skill upgrading, attending professional courses etc. Don't get distracted by this kind of side jobs. That's is one of the fastest way to lose your main job if found out.

I have 1 or 2 colleagues who tried to earn extra by giving tuition at night or some side jobs, end up they were more stressed and tired. Their job performance dropped which affected their promotion and bonus. End up with bad performance grading.

*****.org
halaltube.com

The best home to buy is a BTO HDB flat as this is the cheapest form of housing in Singapore. Relative to median income, I think this is the cheapest public housing in the world. Relative to income, a $10,000 2 room BTO flat is simply incredible. It is almost free.

The next best thing is of course a resale HDB flat if you don't qualify for a BTO flat. Your plan to buy a 2 room resale flat is prudent. Your salary is big enough to service your mortgage.

You may want to go down to HDB to enquire about your options.

All the best.

The best location would be the Jurong Lake District. The area around the Jurong Lake would be ideal as there are many underutilised, empty land - ex Tang dynasty land, Jurong Golf Course, etc. The HSR station can be connected via an underground travellator (with underground mall) to the Lakeside MRT station to provide seamless travel.

A new mega theme park can also be build at the Jurong Lake area as the lake provide a good scenery. Perhaps we should have a DISNEYLAND there, this could be the largest Disneyland theme park in the world. With the HSR, there will be daily tourists from Malaysia and boost Singapore's tourism further to greater heights.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KUALA LUMPUR — The station for the Republic’s new high speed rail link to Kuala Lumpur (KL) will likely be located either in the west or in the city centre, it was revealed today (April 7) at a press conference at the fifth Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Kuala Lumpur.

Officials said the three likely locations for the station in Singapore are Tuas West, Jurong East or in the city centre.

The KL station will be located in Sungai Besi.

The leaders of Singapore and Malaysia today also lauded the two countries’ steady progress on joint iconic projects in Singapore and the Iskandar region, as well as in other areas of cooperation.

In a joint statement issued at the fifth Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysia counterpark Najib Razak also praised the work of committees that had been tasked with improving connectivity between Malaysia and Singapore, which include a rapid transit system link, a possible third road link, as well as the high-speed rail linking Singapore with Kuala Lumpur.

PM Lee also expressed his deepest sympathies over the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, while PM Najib said Malaysia appreciated the Republic’s prompt assistance in search and rescue operations.

The next retreat will be held in Singapore in 2015.

58K as operation manager
 

58K as operation manager in FMCG company

Interesting how some (Stress on this) people see their "Social Standing" increase once they move to a Condo, I used to know a classmate in primary school like that. The classmate would insist on searching us when we left his condo in case we took something from his house, majority of my pals stayed in HDB so maybe he felt the need to do so seeing everyone else is of a lower social standing and would likely steal his previous ate facts?

I can see why people would feel elevated if compared a HDB to a Condo back in the 90's, the long corridor with one room bordering the corridor makes it really uncomfortable to sleep.

However the New HDBs these days are styled quite similar to Condo's (except facilities), and its not true that by staying a condo you automatically reside with a better class of people, you always have the boorish types or the show off who drive big cars and smug looks to put up with. Of course we are assuming you live in a normal HDB without your neighbor owing debts or someone peeing in the lift.

From experience the people who like to play this social standing card are typically middle / upper middle class peeps who have barely made it but feel the need to express to the world that that have "made it" and the smiles we have politely grin while we hear the stories of their accomplishments but yet how humble they really are.

That is high. How old are you? Which uni did you graduated from?

$58k per annum?

Being rich is not how much you earn but how much you save. It is also about not worrying of the next paycheck because you never know when you will be out of a job. Being rich is to be financially independent, you are not dependent on income from work. A rich person is one who has passive income which is big enough to cover his expenses.

If you are earning a lot from being a salaried worker or running a business which requires you to to labour, then you are not financially free.

Enough banging on the jurong lake area (if u have been to the real Lake District, u can quickly tell jurong is not even 1% of the real thing!)

Jurong will always be an industrial area No matter how nicely u dress a pig, it will still be a pig

LOL! Dude, you hit the nail right on the head! :D

I wonder if it hurt ?

I totally agree the Jurong Lake District is the best place to build the HSR station. Here are some important reasons why:

1. The JLD is already a happening place with many new offices, malls, etc. So when Malaysians reach Singapore, they don't have to go to Orchard, which is already so crowded. They can do all their shopping, eating, holidaying, etc in the JLD - you have JEM, Westgate, IMM, JCube, and many more. This will reduce the crowd in Orchard.

2. Many businessmen travel from Singapore to KL on a daily basis for business, so if they have offices in the JLD, they can easily take the HSR from their JLD office to KL and saves a lot of time. If the station is in Tuas West, it will a waste of time to travel from their JLD office to Tuas West.

3. The JLD can have a new mega theme park like Universal Studios, Disneyland. This will make it a big attraction for Malaysians. They can simply alight at the JLD HSR station and enjoy the theme park. They can also stay at the new hotel in the JLD. Maybe more hotels need to be built in the JLD.

4. The JLD is the new CBD and Orchard combined, so it must be developed to attract the world to JLD. The development of the JLD can hopefully contribute another 1 - 2% of Singapore's GDP when fully developed. The JLD is a gem in the making.

guys stick to the topic of annual salaries...

42, $5k pm. Wife, 45, $6k pm. Currently living in a HDB exec unit, paid up. Looking to upgrade to a condo as prices have gone down. Aiming to sell our flat at $900k and buying the condo at $1.1m. We should have no problem servicing a $200k mortgage over 10 years. We take public transport so we save at least $2k pm from not owning a car.

39, 37
Combined employment income plus bonus for 2013 = $740k pa
Combined savings = $1.7m (and adding around $300K per year not counting the returns from investments)
CPF OA / MA / SA = $383,000
Live in a 5-room HDB (paid up, worth around $800K)
half-share in 2 condos (partner with relative) = equity stake around $700K
1 Japanese second-hand car (paid up)
Combined networth at end 2013 = $4.3m

Feels contented but still have young kids to support so can't stop working till at least 55 in my opinion.

You cannot retire so early. You need to work up to 65. You must accumulate until $20m then you can retire. With the $20m, you spend $1m over 25 years and then leave behind $19m for your kids so that they don't have to work and can laze around. They will love you.

I think this figure is rather low for working couple of your age band. Need to work extra hard. You should have twice the amount by right.

This is just average. There are doctors and lawyers who make millions per year.
Work harder.

This is a good idea. Many Singaporeans upgraded to a condo after selling their BTO flat which they bought cheap. The HDB actually helped them to upgrade since they were able to profit a lot after selling their flat in the resale market.