Average Joe
 

Age : late 30s.
Annual : 150K, wife not working, small family.
Cash : 400K
Stock: 100K
Car: Japanese Sedan, fully paid up.

5 room HDB, took up 30 years loan. I have enough in my CPF to repay loan but prefer to keep cash in CPF account.

Considered debt free. Job is stable and gets to spend time with family. Sure, lots of friends doing better, but why compare. Happy as it is.

How do I buy stocks?

The nickname "average Joe" aptly describes your attitude - average. When we compare with others it is not just to see who is richer, but also to see if we are falling behind. We cannot afford to be complacent and "relak" one corner.

Years ago I had a neighbour who was contented and proud that he was earning $3K a month. He told his wife to be a housewife and that he will bring back the bacon. Unfortunately his pay didn't keep pace with the times, and his pay is now below the median income ($6K for 2012) and even further behind when compared with the average household income of $9.6K per month.

Burying one's head in the sand is not an option really.

Bro, your figures are too low. Below is copied from the salary.sg salary comparison page.

Do you also know that the average household living in 5-room and executive HDB flats makes $10,160 a month? And that those living in condos and private apartments earn an average income of $18,060 a month? Landed property dwellers make the most – at $24,039 per month on average.

The 2013 income figures are as below. Big gap in income between the top earners and low earners

Benchmark Your Household Income 2013
by SALARY.SG on MARCH 5, 2013
The average monthly income of households*living in condos is $19,026. For those families living in landed properties, the figure is $25,419. This is according to the Key Household Income Trends 2012 report published by the Singapore Department of Statistics.

The median monthly household income is now $7,570, up from $7,040 last year. If you and your spouse make a combined income of more than $7,570, your family is better off than half the households here.

Those at the upper echelons make much more. The families in the top 10% (“top decile”) make an average of $30,379, which is disproportionately high. The households in the next decile make just half of that, and the figures for the next few deciles go down linearly:



To benchmark your household income, enter your monthly household income (including employer’s CPF contributions): …

I think the graph can be explained by the long tail at the top end. The spread of household income is actually a bell curve (as with most things), with long tails at both ends.

The "top decile" includes the super rich families at the far end as well as the far far end (think Lien and Lee families), hence skewing the statistic. If you look closely at the bottom decile, the opposite skewing occurs there, though not as apparent due to the fact that the floor for income is zero (while the ceiling is infinity).

Please......falling behind what? Can you really find meaning in comparing an arbitrary statistic such as the median income? Why don't you compare yourself with the median income of millionaires instead.

You tracked your neighbour income from 3K to 6K? I'm surprise pay information is something neighbours share.

yeah, that bro might be average, but he sounds happy and contended. Good for him.

I used to have about $300k in cash but decided to invest in a property. Luckily I did that before the cooling measures. The property has doubled in value over the past 6 years and I'm earning very good rent. Cash savings will be eroded away by inflation but property value will go up. If I had not bought that investment property, I can't afford today. Luckily I didn't listen to some people who advised me not to buy. So, don't hold too much cash. Invest it in property, not overseas but Singapore property.

Yes, I detest average Joes, but I detest slightly above average Joe who look down on the average Joes even more..

Why are you quoting median household income? Anyone one with a half decent education would know better.

At this time and age unless you are getting 300K per annum by early 30s or you are not a player at all.



ha.

HDB Dweller & Jap Car
 

Age: early 40's, 2 kids

Annual Income: $100K (mine), wife (not working any more)
Cash: $548K (mine), $439K (wife)

My CPF: $38K (OA), $112K (SA)
My Stock: $20K
My SRS: $12K
My Insurance current value: $12K

Wife CPF: $1K (OA), $7K (SA)
Wife Stock: $4K
Wife Insurance current value: $149K

5rm HDB balance loan $127K
Jap car fully paid

Don't know what to invest for passive income. Thinking property too high, waiting for opportunity to buy more stocks and plan to start up new business.

Time running out as soon would be in the 50's, 60's.

I am not a risk taker and that's explain why I have no 2nd prty and much stocks.

Appreciate for current situation advise.

Thanks.