Anyway, likely semiretire as retire so young very boring...prob move to JB when RTS is up and come to Sg inthe morning with kids to school and work half day then go back with them....

you finally get my point.
you can't retire now given your finances.
you can only retire in your jb house when your net rental income is more than $4k pm today or $6k pm in 10 years time.
you and hubby have to work at least for the next 10 years.
if you earn $150k pa and your hubby earns $150k pa, then you can pay down your loans fast.

not many people can retire in their late 30s or early 40s, only the highly successful bankers and executives can do that. fact of life.

I earned $150k last year and hubby $100k....as mentioned if really want to retire, can sell sg props and have net proceeds of S1.6ml after adding both our savings, put in Malaysian fixed deposit of at least 3%, can get $4000 a mth to retire now too. UoB malaysia had promo rate of 3.9%pa recently too...

Your kids are still in primary school. They have to leave home from JB at 5am everyday to be in school on time. Also with all the new toll charges, it will be costly. If you both are 65 and your kids are working and married and you don't need to commute everyday from JB to Singapore, then $4k pm is enough. With a young family this is not enough.

Also you have to bear in mind the high cost of sending your kids to enrichment and tuition classes. Can cost up to S$500k per kid just for tuition for various subjects. You also want to buy health insurance for your family and this can reach $2k pm easily for the whole family. So, given your family profile, you can't retire now.

Huh, r u crazy? 500k per kid just for tuition , I am not so kiasu for my kids and definitely will not spend so much just on tuition...and what health insurance? My dad never bought such things for me and I am fine, do not think it necessary...anyway, I am a doctor myself so usually treat them myself and specialists will waive consult when they see a fellow dr and her family so save a lot on consult costs....

They can go to international school within walking distance in JB and we can definitely retire now if we want to...r u jealous to keep saying we cannot?

Typo, should be S$500 per kid for tuition. Not impossible, it can cost you $200 per subject and if you need tuition for 2 subjects, then it will cost $400 plus enrichment, another $100. This is for one kid. How many kids do you have?

I'm surprised that you as a doctor don't have any insurance for critical illness, accidents, etc. I'm sure your specialist friend will still charge you for serious conditions. I'm not talking about coughs and colds which anyone can self medicate.

International school? How much per kid do you have to spend? RM100 per month?

Jealous? why should i be jealous? I have gone through life more than you and knows exactly what I am talking about.

Why not you list down all your family expenses here, assuming both of you do decide to retire in JB with $4k pm or RM10k pm. We will be objective and see whether your passive can cover all your expenses.

We are able to tutor our 2 sons ourselves as will be so free since retired, in fact even thought of home schooling them..
Of course I have insurance for myself..
ok, with 4 k a mth
International school plus allowance for 2 sons - $900 (which we can cut down by sending them by bus to Sg school or homeschooling)
Food, mostly home cooked -$1000
Electricity and water -S150
phone - $100 (will cut down by using land line more)
My insurance -$600 (hubby's insurance is self paying from a NTUC shares he bought which gives good dividends)
Malaysian car (paid off as very cheap to buy cars there, 20k can get a good second hand car, road tax , insurance and petrol also cheap) - $400
My mum allowance - $300
Taxes and fees -$200
Entertainment and holiday -$300

Found out that some banks in Malaysia offer up to 3.95%pa on 12 mth deposit now and children as young as 7 can apply. Deposits also insured up to rm250k per person....so can get S$5k plus passive income per mth instead of 4k now...

Why so quiet? Nothing to say now? So r u convinced we can retire in Malaysia now in our early 40s though I am just a humble locum GP?

If you can resolve your kids schooling issue, then you can afford to retire. But i would not recommend home schooling as they will grow up with limited social skills.

There are people who have paid up their HDB flat mortgage and rent their flat for $3k pm and they are also able to generate other sources of passive income from dividends and get in total $5k pm and they are retired or semi retired too in their JB home. But pity the kids who go to school by bus, they have to wake up at 4.30am and leave home at 5am and by the time they returm home, they are exhausted.

Not only a locum GP can retire in JB, even a normal worker can retire if they have paid their HDB mortgage and can rent out at $3k pm.