Waaa 120k pa??? What u working as?

Education: Higher nitec
Income PA: average 11K pm in car sales line
Savings: 103K
Age: 24

Will be buying condo in one to two years time.

Save up more first. In 2 years time, your savings can at most increase by $242k for a total of $345k, that is if you save every cents of your income.

You have time on your side, no need to rush. Buying with lower loan will also give more margin of safety in case of job /income uncertainty

I bought my first condo at 40, and paid for it in full. Savings thereafter were used to build up retirement fund and investment.

Stocks crash reduced my networth growth
 

The slow but steady decline in the STI over the last few months have eaten away our networth by $160k. This was more than our passive income of $130k for the whole of 2015. Haiz.

It is moments like these that you wonder if it is wiser / better to keep your money in the banks (FDs) or to invest in stocks. You keep your $$ in the bank, you worry that inflation will erode the value. You invest in shares and property, you worry about economy tanking which will bring down stocks and property prices.

So what's a person to do?

Looking at the various assets we own - 2 x condos, stocks, bonds, endowments, CPF funds, and ourselves, it is clear to us that we ourselves are our best assets. None of the other assets can generate anything near what we earn in salaries.

So thankfully, the savings from our salaries were able to increase our networth for 2015 despite the loss of $160k in our stocks holding.

Luckily I don't have much in the stock market. I leave most in my CPF. I use my extra cash to pay off my condo loan. Now I am debt free. Are you debt free or still in debt?

I didn't use CPF funds to buy shares, but nevertheless I have substantial cash invested in the stock market. I did use some of my CPF money to pay for our second condo. Today's STI decline wiped out another $28k! Ouch! Don't know how much blood shed there will be, but at times like these, I am really thankful I am still working.

Not sure if the declining market will lead to collapse in the economy. If so, it will lead to vicious cycle continuing stock market decline and shrinking economy and loss of jobs.

Scary to think about it.

The markets are crashing. Are you scared of losing your job? I hope you're not in the engineering or finance sectors. Which company are you working in?

Let's see how far down the stock markets will go. It's looking like 2008/09 all over again with Dow Jones index dropping by 200+ points everyday!

I think at this rate, many people's savings invested in the stocks will be wiped out. Weak companies may fold and jobs will be lost. And in retirement depending on the stocks may be hit badly too.

On the other hand if you are in a stable job, this is a good time to start looking and picking up oversold "gems". Delay buying that new car for now and channel the money into good but oversold and under valued stocks. When the market recovers like in 09/10, your investments will grow multi fold.

You sound confident of not losing your job. May I know what do you work as? Thank you.
I hope to learn from you.

Education: Nitec
Income: 154k for 2015, in property line
Savings: 110k
Age: 23