i want to say thank you to the person who shared this. many of my friends who are in their mid 20s like me have not yet invested in a property. most of their salary is spent on food, partying, staycations and shopping. while i sometimes envy them, i know that it is never too early to start investing and start saving.

my parents both come from very humble backgrounds. all their life they have saved and scrimped on every penny just to provide me with a better future. now about 60 yrs of age, they are both retired and own a number of pvt properties amounting to $11 million (my estimate). the rental income is more than enough to keep us going. of course, while we are not upper-class rich, we are very comfortable. they still do not splurge, we still take the bus/mrt, and we all enjoy cheap hawker fare.

this condo that i bought was my parents' idea. then in my early 20s, what would i have known about investing in property? instead of seeing my money do nothing in the bank, they wanted to see my money put somewhere with potential for growth. we did understand then that with a pvt property, i'd probably never own a hdb. which will hold true as i will most likely breach the income ceiling for a hdb flat.

i know i am lucky to have what i have, to be starting on a higher ground than most others. every investment comes with a risk. i readily accepted it when i bought my property. should the rental market be less than optimal when my condo TOPs, no problem, i have to take it in my stride and deal with it. with holding power, everything will turn out just fine.

Good observation. The legal industry is undergoing a shakeup with offshore firms and that really helped boosted earnings in recent years. that being said, the hours are really long and it essentially is trading long hours for good money. making partner may or may not happen anyway, so being a lawyer is usually employment income, not something that is passively gained and multiplied by itself. there are probably more efficient manners of accumulating wealth.

How much would most ppl by 28 have in savings though? the JPM survey started at 30 - didn't find that very helpful. It would be extremely helpful to save with a comparison figure in mind.

Anytime, I will wish you the best in your future and in property investment,

Just want to add on this, Ironically I think its important to strike a good balance of partying yet future planning. You're only 20 once and once you hit 30 your energy and commitments to other responsibilities will not give you the same opportunity to do so..

I started owning and managing one property like you did, now I am mid 30's and I own 3 investment properties (2 residential, 1 commercial) and I can tell you with every purchase I learnt something be it good it bad (bad ones I had to pay 1000's to find out). Always good to start early. If you are serious about property investments as a approach take time to hone your property picking skills (i.e what location, old or new, rental potential, en bloc etc) and always keep a list of contacts like agents, handymans and bankers. There are many good local property blogs you can read on for more details especially marking timing.

More importantly it will feel good when you're hit 40's and know you have financial security despite your job. :)


Contributing to the savings thread purely liquid assets.

Liquid Stocks: 150K
Cash/CPF and equivalent - 2M
Outstanding Debt obligations - 1.4M

Me (30), wife (19).

3 Fully paid GCB at 1 at Tanglin, 2 at Holland.
5 Fully paid shophouses 3 at Joo Chiat, 1 at Beach Road, 1 at Holland V
5 Fully paid Condo (ranging from 800sqft to 3500 sqft), all are in D9 and D10 area.

Stocks:
Major shareholder of 3 SGX listed companies

Cash:
Not too sure, I leave it to my bankers (3 different swiss banks) to managed. Last I heard was around USD$1.35B

Not too sure how I am doing. I think i am just doing quite average.

Tsk, tsk.

Have you forgotten to take your medication today?

yes, I had. Thank you for reminding.
I called my doctor and he just sent me my $888K tablet that I take daily.

Yep, you are just a average joe. Suggest you downgrade to a hdb 3 room when you retire to free up some cash to see doctor.

Why should I downgrade to hdb 3 room to get the cash to see doctor? I already have the cash. So who need to see doctor actually? You or me?

Business owner, age 27 male Singaporean. Monthly personal income ranges from 5k to 18k, average will be around 8-9k. Annual revenue my company does around almost half a million. Venture is 2 years old plus. There are bad days and good days but I believe there is potential and my partner is joining my company.

Bought a private condo this year for 800k.
No other loans like study or car loan, though I have a car that I am taking over its instalments next month. ($800+ per month)

My savings: 20k+ (because of condo down payment)
CPF: Zero because self-employed

I don't do shares investment as any profit I get is recycled back into the biz since I convert $1 input to $5 output anyway.

My condo will TOP in 3 years+ time. I plan to stay in that unit and buy another unit 5 years from now for rental purposes. If rental market really becomes bad, I'll look elsewhere for property investment, maybe commercial.

Only you will know.