How much are you earning per annum?

You seem to me a very hurt and negative person. You have to get out of this mental state and rut. Because no matter where you go (big state, small state) you will only see negative things in life and you will always be miserable. You need to find inner peace and it starts with the right mindset.

And you have to do it fast before depression and suicidal thoughts set in. In a bigger country this mental regression and depression can set in faster because of the loneliness and lack of frequent interaction with others. In a micro state like here this process would be slower or even arrested because things here are happening all the time and your mind will be distracted and it would not always focus on the negatives.

It is best you get professional help. I am saying so because I had a classmate who was in this condition, when I studying overseas in very big country. He wasnt happy with the "Blue" coloured party and thought the country was rotting away. He said he would sign up with the marines and get out of the country and at the same time kick some butts. Who knows where he is now

Originally Posted by Unregistered

No matter how much $$$$$ anybody has here, none of them can replicate the exact same lifestyle of non-microstaters in western developed nations. It's simply impossible. Lol. I have pondered on this for years, I've had many rich local friends tell me they have the money and tell me I have the $$$$ to enjoy the microstate for what it is and have the $$$$ to insulate myself from the crowds and disgusting squeezing, public transport, disgusting weather, they told me to throw $$$ to the problem. So don't think I haven't thought about it. I, as a foreigner, have thought of YOUR country more and at a deeper level than you. No amount of $$$$ can replace a normal non-microstate life. Even if $$$ insulates one from some issues it doesn't insulate from all issues. You are so land scarced you don't have power cables that are above ground like in South Korea, Europe and USA!!! Oh my god.

Spouse and I, both 40 years old earn a total of $9k pm. We are currently staying in a 4 room flat worth $400k, paid up. We plan to upgrade to a 3 bedroom EC costing $900k. We will sell our flat and take a loan of only $500k for our new EC. We will pay about $24k pa in mortgage payment (MSR of only 22%). We will soon achieve our last C among the 5Cs. Our social status will go up once we move into the EC in a few years time.

Used to work long hours, even during weekends as a top exec. After many years of doing that and making enough, I decided to retire at an early age of 48 to take care of my health and pursue other interests. I have enough investments and reserves to generate a passive income to feed my family till I die. Spouse who is only 40 wanted to continue pursuing her career. She can practically save all her salary if she wants to. She said she will retire when she hit 50.

We live a simple life in a newly TOP condo. Since I no longer need to show off, I downsize from a 7 series to a smaller 5 series. I'm now free to ferry my family, sending and fetching them from work, school. They are very happy since they no longer need to wait for taxis. We enjoy our ride home, talking about the day's happenings. Our family bonding improved tremendously.

Sorry maybe I missed the point but what exactly where you showing off?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Used to work long hours, even during weekends as a top exec. After many years of doing that and making enough, I decided to retire at an early age of 48 to take care of my health and pursue other interests. I have enough investments and reserves to generate a passive income to feed my family till I die. Spouse who is only 40 wanted to continue pursuing her career. She can practically save all her salary if she wants to. She said she will retire when she hit 50.

We live a simple life in a newly TOP condo. Since I no longer need to show off, I downsize from a 7 series to a smaller 5 series. I'm now free to ferry my family, sending and fetching them from work, school. They are very happy since they no longer need to wait for taxis. We enjoy our ride home, talking about the day's happenings. Our family bonding improved tremendously.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Used to work long hours, even during weekends as a top exec. After many years of doing that and making enough, I decided to retire at an early age of 48 to take care of my health and pursue other interests. I have enough investments and reserves to generate a passive income to feed my family till I die. Spouse who is only 40 wanted to continue pursuing her career. She can practically save all her salary if she wants to. She said she will retire when she hit 50.

We live a simple life in a newly TOP condo. Since I no longer need to show off, I downsize from a 7 series to a smaller 5 series. I'm now free to ferry my family, sending and fetching them from work, school. They are very happy since they no longer need to wait for taxis. We enjoy our ride home, talking about the day's happenings. Our family bonding improved tremendously.

U had done better than me..I just to retire at 55 years old, doing the same things u are doing now, definitely not with 5 series, will be contended with just a simple Japan Car... then spending such time till my last day come...

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Used to work long hours, even during weekends as a top exec. After many years of doing that and making enough, I decided to retire at an early age of 48 to take care of my health and pursue other interests. I have enough investments and reserves to generate a passive income to feed my family till I die. Spouse who is only 40 wanted to continue pursuing her career. She can practically save all her salary if she wants to. She said she will retire when she hit 50.

We live a simple life in a newly TOP condo. Since I no longer need to show off, I downsize from a 7 series to a smaller 5 series. I'm now free to ferry my family, sending and fetching them from work, school. They are very happy since they no longer need to wait for taxis. We enjoy our ride home, talking about the day's happenings. Our family bonding improved tremendously.

Good for you, bro.

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

U had done better than me..I just to retire at 55 years old, doing the same things u are doing now, definitely not with 5 series, will be contended with just a simple Japan Car... then spending such time till my last day come...

Good enough !

(As long as the car has airbags.)

Recently I came across an article written in the US context on how you could tell whether a person is rich by the car he/she drives.

When I first saw the heading (title) of the article I was incredulous. I thought how shallow can it get that you assess a person's wealth by the car he / she drives. Technically how can it even be an accurate gauge of anybody's wealth by looking at the car they drive.

Only when I read the article that I understood where it was coming from. In the US, they look at your credit history to decide if you qualify for a loan, and if you do, how much they would lend you. So the logic goes that if you have poor credit history, you are not likely to get a loan, and even if you do, you will not likely to get a big loan. This implies that you can only afford a small non-European car (eg Korean car).

On the other hand, people with good credit rating and usually these are the rich, they will get bigger loans with better rates. Again the logic goes that they will be able to buy bigger and better cars!

I was thinking the parallel in Singapore's context would be property investments. Because of the CM and specifically the TDSR, the really rich will be ones able to buy multiple properties. So we can perhaps define only those with multiple properties as rich while those with only one as not rich. In other words, everyone can claim they are millionaires, but how many are rich enough to buy another property under the present TDSR?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

1)Recently I came across an article written in the US context on how you could tell whether a person is rich by the car he/she drives.

2)I was thinking the parallel in Singapore's context would be property investments. Because of the CM and specifically the TDSR, the really rich will be ones able to buy multiple properties. So we can perhaps define only those with multiple properties as rich while those with only one as not rich. In other words, everyone can claim they are millionaires, but how many are rich enough to buy another property under the present TDSR?

1) It must be written by a car salesmen...

2) O no....sick and tired of these property theory again....so you are back here again...

"Wah, so rich" - I heard this comment or slight variatiation of it frequently enough. No, the comments were not always directed at me but between friends, colleagues, relatives or even among strangers that I passed by on the streets.

For eg when a colleague recently upgraded his car from a vios to a Camry, he was immediately teased that he must be rich. Likewise my relatives would tease my parents that they must be rich when we moved into a condo. When my colleagues asked me if I fetched my wife to work every morning, and I told them that she has her own car, I knew already the next thing they would say, "Wah, you are rich".

Interestingly, nobody actually defined what qualifies a person as rich. Is it a person whose networth is $2m, $5m or what? I think for the man in the street, it is as simple as "if you have more than me, you are rich", when in reality both could be struggling financially.

I see many posters here happily proclaiming themselves to be millionaires when that million is a combined networth for both spouses and included the value of their homes. So, yes they might be seen as rich compared to those who haven't reach this stage. But in a country like Singapore where recent property price rises have made many families millionaires, do they actually feel rich? I think not. To these people, as long as they needed a place to stay they cannot unlock the value in their homes and they can only depend on what they earn.

To be "rich" thus, is to have that little bit more than your neighbors. That's where the problem of "following or surpassing the Joneses" come in. Everyone is trying to match up or outdo their neighbors, so that relative to their neighbors, they are rich!