How do you define rich!
 

You can use both objective way or subjective (or relative) way to define if a person is rich or not.

Objective way is to define a quantitative value, say $10m. Anyone or household whose networth is $10m and above would then be considered rich.

Subjective way is by comparison. If your friend lives in a condo and you don't, you will say he is rich. Subjective comparison is the most common way that people "decide" who is rich.

When I bought a car for my wife, my neighbours said I am rich. I, on the other hand, think that my neighbours are rich because they saved more money by not having 2 cars like I did.

I find that there are people who feel the need to flaunt their wealth through material possessions. Maybe they are right. Because what is the use of money? You worked hard to earn money for a better life. And you do that by acquiring the material things like condo, cars, nice watches and go travelling etc. They know that they cannot bring their money with them when they die.

On the other hand there are people who will save every cent they earned. They spent minimally on themselves and saved and invest the rest. Maybe they are right also.

Of the two groups, who is the richer? The latter group would think that the first group is rich because of the material possession, and the first group would think that the latter group is the richer because they don't spend much.

You know what? I think the group that acquire material things to better their lives is the richer. Richer through living a fuller life!

The fullness of one's life is not determined by the amount of material things acquired.

The sooner one realises that, the sooner one will become truly rich.

Shallow mind.

Richness is not about material things. Wealth and material possession makes you look rich on the outside. True richness is what is in your heart.

Many rich people are not happy because they have lost their soul.

True richness is to be contented with what you have and having free time to decide on what you want to do with your time. Time is a priceless gift, once gone is gone forever. If you are already rich by most standards but still force yourself to be a slave to a boss just so that you can earn more, then you are not truly rich as you trade your precious time for that extra dollar which probably you don't need.

A truly intelligent person will know when to stop being a money slave. A fool is one who work so hard for material wealth beyond his needs not knowing the true meaning of life.

I dont want to say this, and I know it sounds mean, but you forced my hand by repeating this nonsense

People who cannot make it (or worse, are lazy) usually comfort themselves by saying that money doesnt buy happiness and that they are not slave to their jobs etc..

The hard truth is that they ended up being slaves to those who earned more than them and working harder! And because they cannot save enough, they will have to work even longer, while their bosses would have retired long before.

I thought what you wrote was even handed fair to all parties, surprised that people can still call you "shallow". Reminds me of my post blasting the other guy calling car owner idiots. I agree with your assessment, sounds like there is a jealous old man lurking around. Standard reply formula goes something like this

Poorer compared to him (Working)
work hard and you can aspire to be like him one day

Poorer compared to him (Retired)
Suckers, didn't work hard enough

Equal worth / higher compared to him (working)
Losers, cannot cherish time. Will kanna cancer and die without enjoying their wealth

Super Rich compared to him
Must be ill gotten gain, will have rotten children or some serious disease coming for them.

This is what Singapore has become I guess, people who just aren't sated with their own achievements and feel the need to constantly put others down or show off to them.

Actually I kinda agree with you, but just to add on some of my thoughts...

There's no need to be too obsessed about who is richer (materially) or who is richer (fullness of life). How "rich" one is can only be determined by oneself. Everyone is on their own journey.

For instance, a person chasing material goods doesnt necessarily mean he is vain. It also doesn't necessarily mean he is living a fuller life. He should know the purpose of his chasing of material goods. Example: is he working hard to upgrade to a condo so his kids and wife can enjoy the facilities? is he working hard to buy a car so that he and his family can go to far off places during the weekends? Do these material goods help him pursue greater family time? If yes, then he is having a fuller life by having these material goods.

Another example: is he sloughing away to upgrade to condo, s-class car just to show off to relatives at CNY? If so, then he must ask himself, at the end of the day, is this showing off making him happier? If yes, then ok he is having a fuller life lor. If not, then he should be aware of how shallow a life that is.

Ultimately, it is oneself to judge. As outsiders, lets not be too bothered by whether people are living fuller lives through wealth or not. Let's not judge others and their pursuits.

Oops was distracted by the debate above. Actually was looking at this thread for some savings advice, as I'm feeling a bit lost on my investment journey.

Combined for husband and i (late 20s)

House - 600K ++ (think still havent paid off 300k :( ) But renting out! :):)
Savings - 370k
Stocks, bonds, gold etc - 118k
Cpf - not sure, think about 100k combined (but anyway it is used to pay down house loan)

Cashflow: Every month we add combined total of 13.9k (savings) + 2.7k (rental income) into our savings). Means 16.6k of fresh cash savings each month.
Dividends - Im not sure how much comes in each month.


Anyway, given our age profile and cashflow, are we too conservative in our cash allocation? Should we perhaps allocate more to stocks? (For context, we contribute $600 monthly to a sharebuilding scheme). Is there a need for us to increase this amount?

I have also been reluctant to increase stock allocations and we are planning for a family and I am totally unsure how much money to raise a family. (Any advice on how much it costs as well?)

Thanks!

35 male, wife not working

House: HDB - market value about $700K (outstanding $390K loan)
Cash saving: about $1.1m
Stocks: $230K

Target to hit $5m all in all by 40 and further bless all my love ones around me, especially my parent. Doing sales and venturing into business

How do you intend to grow your net worth from $1.64m to $5m in 5 years? That is like increasing your net worth by $672k every year. Do you earn $1m per year? If so, what kind of business is this? Or are you a salaried worker? What sales do you do and how much you earn?

qft !