28 years old. started working at 26 after getting qualified.

starting pay check was 5.2k monthly for 1.5 years; got headhunted and switched firm half a year ago and started with 11.5k for the next 6 months. Salary just got reviewed and earning 12.5k this month.

Cash savings: approx 29k
CPF OA: approx 31k
CPF SA: approx 8.5k

investment linked policy surrender value: approx 6.2k.

Not started investing in stocks; thinking of going into property after accumulating more savings for down payment. target to get first property 1.5 to 2 years from now.

How am I doing? Is there a national savings guide on how much one should have saved by 28 (apart from the JP morgan survey). Just looking for mean values across age groups to compare how I fare.

What profession are you in? Your remuneration of $12.5k pm (at 28) will make a lot of people weep. Does your job has longevity?

Most people at 28 (if graduates with good honours) will be looking at $5k - 6K pm.

this is me. opinions welcome.
 

male, single
25 going on 26
living at home with parents

- worked 2+ years
- current salary $5.0-5.3k/ month
- about 15% of monthly salary goes to my parents (for their love over the years lol)
- bought a $1.2mil condo in 2012 - will TOP in 2015/16 (parents paid down payment of course)
- paid $100k from my own savings so far, currently left with about $20k in the bank
- cpf: unsure of amount

plan:
1. pay up my condo - monthly rental will go into this
2. buy another condo in my mid 30s, abt 10 yrs from now

A $1.2m condo sounds like a stretch for your income level even though your parents paid for the deposit. Assuming a 30-year loan of $960k, and using 3.5% as interest (MAS guide), your monthly installment is $4,300. This amount is more than 80% of your monthly salary, way above the prescribed TDSR of 60%.

Did you obtain the loan before the TDSR policy kicked in?

im not very familiar with the details of the housing loan as my parents deal with it, but i bought the condo in mid 2012 and so the loan must have been obtained then.

once the condo TOPs and a monthly rental income of approx $4k (i hope) comes in, i am hoping that things will get better.

for the record, i do not have any other outstanding loans, ie car/study loan etc.

Ah Xia Kia, then.

I thought I revert back due to some similarities we share. Apologies to others for divesting

I had a similar investment when I was about 27, invested in a apartment (dare not call it condo) 1.1M central location now worth about 2M. This was many years backs and it was also a shared investment with my parents. Difference is when I bought the place I knew how much I contributed, how much they contributed. I arrange the loan (spoke to 4 banks), the lawyers, bargain for freebies, arrange for rental agents, contractors etc.

If you are serious about wanted to buy more in the future I suggest you start making yourself aware of the obligations you got yourself into since its your name its under. Besides the loan have you accounted for MCST charge, property tax, renovation cost etc once the condo TOPs?

You are lucky you're parents took care of it all for you, but it would have been a good learning experience if you did it yourself. You should take the reins now if you really to buy another condo in the future. There is something to learn from every purchase.

I can tell you once your condo TOP its very likely we gonna hit a sh*t of a rental market so you better be prepared for it to stay empty for awhile. Take the time to workout your obligations and be aware of your finances and how much you should save for that rainy day.

Your folks can bail you out of course but they shouldn't have to at the end of the day.

I think the motivation for buying the condo under the son's name was to bypass ABSD. We wanted to do the same using our son's name but he reminded us that by doing so he would miss the chance of getting a subsidized brand new HDB flat. So no choice, we bargained for the ABSD to be absorb by the seller.

clearly a lawyer

12.5k at 28 is still alot for a lawyer though, most in the big firms would be making 7 -8k.

Yep agreed that could be likely, since he put the post as him buying the condo he should be responsible if not aware of the finances behind it and plan accordingly.

It seems you have a son who is savvy in that respect and weigh's the consequences and options, kudo's. I considered that same factor as well but I was a far way off from getting married at the time, thankfully the apartment I bought paid off well (challenging for such returns in today's market).