Whats your net worth

Your wife is right. It is important to know what makes one happy. She knows, she gets it and she is happy. Happiness is priceless.

No point having lots of money but no happiness and harmony. Money can be earned.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Like you, I am also a millionaire, at least for now. However, I live in a 4 room HDB flat, which is paid up. Since my wife feels we are successful and wants her friends to know she is successful, she is urging me to buy a condo. So, I will be buying a condo which will cost me S$1.5m and since I don't like the idea of having a mortgage for our home, I will be paying in full. So, after the sale of my flat, I will use the sale proceeds plus my cash to pay for the condo.

Since the definition of a millionaire doesn't include our primary home, after I buy the condo, I will no longer be a millionaire as the amount of investable asset I will then have will be less than US$1m. So sad, I can't tell my friends I'm a millionaire any more, the only consolation I have is that I can tell them I now live in a condo with nice big swimming pool, gym and tennis court. My wife will be very happy as she can tell her friends that she now lives in a condo. We are also changing our car to a new conti car. She says it is part of her image building. What to do? We men just follow ...

Good idea. But does he need so much in his retirement? $100k should be enough for a couple with a car and regular holidays to ANG Moh countries every year.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My father is going to be 65 next year. His only assets are his Bukit Timah semi D, which is worth $5m today, and cash of about $1m. I told him that he cannot retire with just $1m. So I advised him to sell his house and buy one of the new condos in the Hillview/ Petir Road area. He can get a nice 2 bedroom brand new unit for only $1m, this is very cheap compared to the condos in Bukit Timah, which is only a few km away. So after selling his house and buying a condo, he will have about $5m to invest. He can easily get 5% annual dividend, which gives him a passive income of $250k per year. He can relax, and travel the world with that kind of income. If he stays in his expensive house, he can't retire.

With so many millionaires now in S'pore, it becomes no fun to boast.

Maybe better to see which income class we belong to. Below I copied from previous post the incoming classes (this was posted in 2011 but looks like still valid)

Very Low - earning lower than $2999 per mth
Low income - earning between $3000 to $4999
Middle-low - earning somewhat between $5000 to $7999
Middle - earning between $8000 to $18999
Middle-high - earning between $19000 to $29999
High - earning between $30000 to $49999
Very High - earning $50000 onwards
Ultra high - they don't use income... they use assets such as $100mil, etc.

Low income earners dream of taking holidays overseas by plane
Middle income earners dream of flying by business class
Upper middle income earners dream of flying first class
High income earners dream of having private jets
Ultra high earners have their own jets.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The two sides to the same coin. On one side, there are the posters who claimed / boasted their million dollars in net worth, on the other side there are posters who do not believe all the claims/boast based on their own situation / peers.

Well, this is really the two sides to the same coin, and it all depends on which side you are in.

Singapore is really a place which has the highest percentage of millionaires in the world:
Singapore No. 1 For Millionaires ? Again - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ

[whizzard]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

With so many millionaires now in S'pore, it becomes no fun to boast.

Maybe better to see which income class we belong to.

You are right. What's the point in boasting unless one wants to live life vicariously.

Better to find out how your millions are going to help make life better and happier for you.

Being a millionaire in Singapore nowadays is no big deal any more. I am also a millionaire when I decided to retire last year at the age of 55. I sold my fully paid terrace house for $3m and then bought a 4 room flat in Jurong in cash. I now have about $2.5m in investments which gives me a passive income of about $125k per year. This is more than enough for my family as our household spendings is only $60k per year. We have no debt, we don't drive, we don't eat in restaurants much, we don't gamble, we don't smoke and we don't drink. We exercise regularly, jogging around the Jurong Lake, have a good night sleep and keep ourselves busy by doing social work. With our lifestyle, we are happy, healthy and don't have medical issues. We love the fresh air around the Jurong Lake. We look forward to the exciting new developments in the Jurong Lake District, which will surely appreciate the value of our flat, which is near the Lakeside MRT station.

I also aspire to be a millionaire one day. We have been saving for many years, we as a family lead a humble life as we continue to live in our first HDB flat, a 3 room flat, even though our family income has increased over the years. Our savings is now $700k and since we have paid up our flat, we are now able to save more. We hope our savings will reach $2m by the time we reach 65, another 20 years to go. We will need to restrain ourselves from buying a car or upgrade to a bigger home. We think $2m for a couple should be enough to retire in Singapore. We don't spend much.

[Jeff]

Let me add what you forgot to always say - don't womanist and don't be gay.e

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Being a millionaire in Singapore nowadays is no big deal any more. I am also a millionaire when I decided to retire last year at the age of 55. I sold my fully paid terrace house for $3m and then bought a 4 room flat in Jurong in cash. I now have about $2.5m in investments which gives me a passive income of about $125k per year. This is more than enough for my family as our household spendings is only $60k per year. We have no debt, we don't drive, we don't eat in restaurants much, we don't gamble, we don't smoke and we don't drink. We exercise regularly, jogging around the Jurong Lake, have a good night sleep and keep ourselves busy by doing social work. With our lifestyle, we are happy, healthy and don't have medical issues. We love the fresh air around the Jurong Lake. We look forward to the exciting new developments in the Jurong Lake District, which will surely appreciate the value of our flat, which is near the Lakeside MRT station.

Don't forget to enjoy life also. The purpose of earning money is for living life. At 65, many things you can't do already.

Don't want to discourage you, but $2m in 20 yrs time could be lower than $1.5m because of inflation.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I also aspire to be a millionaire one day. We have been saving for many years, we as a family lead a humble life as we continue to live in our first HDB flat, a 3 room flat, even though our family income has increased over the years. Our savings is now $700k and since we have paid up our flat, we are now able to save more. We hope our savings will reach $2m by the time we reach 65, another 20 years to go. We will need to restrain ourselves from buying a car or upgrade to a bigger home. We think $2m for a couple should be enough to retire in Singapore. We don't spend much.

50, 54 middle income couple. Total income $200k pa, total expenses $160k pa.
Our expenses are high because we support our parents (both sides) financially.
Accommodation - New condo, fully paid up. Car - Old car. Family net worth $2.5m.
Retirement plan at 75 - Rent condo out to expats. We retire in Maldives or Koh Samui.
Our rental income should be enough to finance our retirement on these islands till we die.

There is no escaping that we all have to work till very old. The problem is what kind of job can we do, what would our health be like and is there job for us as we get older.

Because of the uncertainties, it is thus prudent to plan to reach financial sufficiency by age 55 or at most 60. So if there is job for us, and if we are still able to work after 60, all this will be bonus.

On the other hand, thinking and spending like as if we can work till 70 or older is foolish.

I am 55, already I feel tired and not sure if I can continue to handle the same level of stress. At the same time, I think the company prefers to give opportunities to younger staff. Older staff like myself have to make way. Luckily I am more than ready for retirement as least on the financial front. Children are grown up, no loan, passive income of $100k pa and net worth $5.5m

Originally Posted by Unregistered

50, 54 middle income couple. Total income $200k pa, total expenses $160k pa.
Our expenses are high because we support our parents (both sides) financially.
Accommodation - New condo, fully paid up. Car - Old car. Family net worth $2.5m.
Retirement plan at 75 - Rent condo out to expats. We retire in Maldives or Koh Samui.
Our rental income should be enough to finance our retirement on these islands till we die.