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16-09-2015, 12:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
49, income $7450 pm (annual/12), savings $1300 pm
Here's my expenses
Condo mortgage $1200 pm
Car loan installment $1000 pm
Car related expenses $1000 pm
Parents allowance $800 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Utilities and Internet $350 pm
Food and misc $1000 pm
Total $6150 pm
Spouse, 47, $7000 pm, savings $1100 pm
Expenses
Condo mortgage $1000 pm
Groceries and food $2000 pm
Parents allowance $600 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Kids $500 pm
Misc $1000 pm
Total $5900 pm
Any comments on our expense items? Too much? Too little? Ok?
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friend, you are only saving 16% of your combined income. do you have any other income to sustain ? You have kid"s" to bring up and university coming for your kids, thats heavy weight coming. preety dangerous for a middle-incomer family if you loose your job and no other passive income. and..... you are still paying for condo and car installment. Woah....
No throwing cold blanket. you gotta watch your expenditures. Unless you have a couple of hundred thousands for bad weather
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16-09-2015, 07:42 AM
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Are you and spouse working in the civil service? If not, hope your jobs are stable because your expenses will only increase as your children start their uni education. (I assume your children are still young as you didn't list down uni expense)
My cohort of friends and colleagues (around 50 - 58yo) and I are still funding over children's uni education. Some of them had to give up their cars to fund the uni fees, while in one extreme case, the guy had to downgrade from condo to HDB to generate the cash needed.
The uni fees in local unis are around $8k-$15k pa depending on the course. Then there are other fees like hostel fees and special courses and overseas exchange programs. Last year my son went to Switzerland for 2 month exchange program and that set me back by $30k.
Overseas uni fees are $50k-$100k pa (US,UK & Aussie) including living expenses.
At 49, you may get one more shot at promotion, after that, you are likely to stagnate in your career and your job security will diminish year by year.
So, cut down your expenses now and increase your savings as much as you can. Don't forget to invest also as inflation will eat away that savings. For example, the uni fees I paid when I was in uni was $600 pa, now it is $8.5k pa for same degree course!
I know it sounds gloomy, but this is the real situation. Some of my colleagues had planned to retire by 55, but now hanging to their jobs because children still in uni and worse still, got to rebuild their retirement fund! Some more at our age, our jobs are no longer secure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
49, income $7450 pm (annual/12), savings $1300 pm
Here's my expenses
Condo mortgage $1200 pm
Car loan installment $1000 pm
Car related expenses $1000 pm
Parents allowance $800 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Utilities and Internet $350 pm
Food and misc $1000 pm
Total $6150 pm
Spouse, 47, $7000 pm, savings $1100 pm
Expenses
Condo mortgage $1000 pm
Groceries and food $2000 pm
Parents allowance $600 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Kids $500 pm
Misc $1000 pm
Total $5900 pm
Any comments on our expense items? Too much? Too little? Ok?
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16-09-2015, 02:35 PM
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Thanks for all the advice. I have saved for my kids' uni education. So, no worries.
I don't think I can save more unless I sell my car but I don't want our quality of life to go down. I reckon we will just downgrade from our big condo to a small condo when we retire at 60. Our condo is now worth $1.5m and we will pay the loan until we are 60. If we sell our condo for $1.5m and then buy a $600k studio condo, we can get $900k cash. When we reach 65, our CPF Life starts paying us. It will be a bonus if our kids give us allowance just like we're doing with our parents.
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17-09-2015, 09:27 AM
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You have done well since you own both a condo and a car. If you own these, you are among the top 10% in Singapore. Congratulations!
When you retire, if you sell your condo at $1.5m, you can become a multi millionaire if you convert to RM. You will get RM4.5m! With this amount of money you can retire like a business tycoon in Malaysia. You can own a big house, a big car and can employ two maids and a driver.
If you retire in Thailand, even better. You can own 3 big bungalows, own 3 big cars and employ 6 maids and 3 drivers.
Huat Ah !!!!!!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
49, income $7450 pm (annual/12), savings $1300 pm
Here's my expenses
Condo mortgage $1200 pm
Car loan installment $1000 pm
Car related expenses $1000 pm
Parents allowance $800 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Utilities and Internet $350 pm
Food and misc $1000 pm
Total $6150 pm
Spouse, 47, $7000 pm, savings $1100 pm
Expenses
Condo mortgage $1000 pm
Groceries and food $2000 pm
Parents allowance $600 pm
Insurance $800 pm
Kids $500 pm
Misc $1000 pm
Total $5900 pm
Any comments on our expense items? Too much? Too little? Ok?
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17-09-2015, 09:55 PM
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You are right. I will be a millionaire when I retire here. If I retire in our neighbouring countries, I will be super rich. I have many options.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
You have done well since you own both a condo and a car. If you own these, you are among the top 10% in Singapore. Congratulations!
When you retire, if you sell your condo at $1.5m, you can become a multi millionaire if you convert to RM. You will get RM4.5m! With this amount of money you can retire like a business tycoon in Malaysia. You can own a big house, a big car and can employ two maids and a driver.
If you retire in Thailand, even better. You can own 3 big bungalows, own 3 big cars and employ 6 maids and 3 drivers.
Huat Ah !!!!!!!!!!!!
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17-09-2015, 11:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Are you and spouse working in the civil service? If not, hope your jobs are stable because your expenses will only increase as your children start their uni education. (I assume your children are still young as you didn't list down uni expense)
My cohort of friends and colleagues (around 50 - 58yo) and I are still funding over children's uni education. Some of them had to give up their cars to fund the uni fees, while in one extreme case, the guy had to downgrade from condo to HDB to generate the cash needed.
The uni fees in local unis are around $8k-$15k pa depending on the course. Then there are other fees like hostel fees and special courses and overseas exchange programs. Last year my son went to Switzerland for 2 month exchange program and that set me back by $30k.
Overseas uni fees are $50k-$100k pa (US,UK & Aussie) including living expenses.
At 49, you may get one more shot at promotion, after that, you are likely to stagnate in your career and your job security will diminish year by year.
So, cut down your expenses now and increase your savings as much as you can. Don't forget to invest also as inflation will eat away that savings. For example, the uni fees I paid when I was in uni was $600 pa, now it is $8.5k pa for same degree course!
I know it sounds gloomy, but this is the real situation. Some of my colleagues had planned to retire by 55, but now hanging to their jobs because children still in uni and worse still, got to rebuild their retirement fund! Some more at our age, our jobs are no longer secure.
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Too bad your kids didn't study hard enough to get into a local uni.
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18-09-2015, 11:05 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 64
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I find the idea of parents downgrading their lifestyles and sacrificing so much for their children's uni education is ridiculous. My parents put me through local uni with their CPF and i am blessed that i wasn't required to return the amount into their CPF account.
If your kid didn't study hard enough, he can still get a chance at studying at SIM and other recognised unis. They might not look as good as the mainstream local unis or overseas pedigree unis, but they still get the job done.
If parents have insufficient CPF to help fund their kid's uni education, the kid themselves can get a student loan at very low interest rates. Many have done it. In Singapore, no deserving student will be denied a chance at higher education just because of insufficient money.
So parents who downgrade their lifestyles just to fund their kid's uni education is crazy. Even more crazy to send their kids overseas, only do it if one really has alot of money.
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18-09-2015, 11:51 AM
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Hello. Just some background. I've been working since I ORD, did 1 year of freelance work and currently 10 months in my job in a PR agency, 2200 flat.
Just received an offer ystd for a marketing position, $2,500 basic, but may have bonus after some time with the company. Is this about right for someone in my position?
extra note: I just finished my part-time degree and will receive it in Nov. Should I nego for something better by then?
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19-09-2015, 02:35 PM
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Average typical Singaporean middle class couple, 47 & 45, combined income $184,600 pa. Two kids in school.
Owns a 2-year old condominium unit currently worth $1.1m. No loan.
Drives a 1-year old car. Paid up.
We save $40,000 pa.
Our current net worth is $2m, including our condominium unit, car, CPF savings, stocks, insurance and cash. The bulk of our net worth is in our condominium unit and CPF savings.
When can we retire? What is the best way to prepare for retirement? We are open minded in terms of downgrading to a smaller condominium unit or a HDB flat. We are also open to retiring in other countries. Please advise. Thank you.
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20-09-2015, 09:04 AM
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I would not put myself in debt or downgrade my lifestyle to fund my child's education. I have plenty of money in my CPF, they can use 30-40k on their LOCAL uni education. If they can't make it in, SORRY you didn't work hard for yourself. What's the chance they will work hard if I send them overseas? I might end up spending 100k per year and they come back after 4 years with a worthless pass degree. I rather they go SIM.
When I retire, I expect to continue living my life as per normal. Having to downgrade from condo to HDB or selling off my car is hardly called retirement. In fact I should even be able to switch to a brand new car cos my kids will be providing me some extra allowance every month.
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