Whats your net worth

LOL, he didn't say $4m wasn't enough. He said he would not be going to bed smiling, if he accumulated it through a lifetime of hard work. I share his sentiments.

I know of a few people who proclaimed to the world that they would do such and such things when they attained certain wealth or income only to quietly change their position when they reached their targets.

$4m may feel like a lot of money when you are starting out, but not when you are nearing your retirement. For eg. I wouldnt go out and buy myself a Merc or BMW now while I probably would if I was only 35 if I had $4m. I would also buy one for the wife too.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What a sad state of affairs, that even $4M is not enough. In fact, if I have accummulated $4M through sheer hard work, I would probably be happier than if I have achieved it through striking lottery. Perhaps you will feel better if you can make the money work for you, i.e. put in income-generating assets so that the passive income generated can cover your expenses.

Poor guy, 48, owns just a 3 bedroom HDB flat.
Net worth only $300k. Wife's net worth $250k.
Dont think I can retire unless I retire in Thailand or Malaysia.

I used to live in an expensive luxury condo. I sold it at a good profit and use the net proceeds (after deducting my outstanding mortgage) to buy a cheap condo in the West region, paying in full. I also have excess cash to pay off all my car loan, credit card loan. I sleep in peace now as I am debt free. My next project is to save much as much cash as possible for my retirement. Now since I am debt free, I save as much as 60% of my annual income.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Making a living from stocks require big capital. You can't just depend on trading gains, you could fall into the trap of taking too much risk in your trading so as to make up lost income from your previous salaried work. You should just look at dividend income to replace your lost salary. For instance, if you were making $100k pa, you must have a dividend stocks portfolio making up of global blue chips that give you 5% pa, so your investment capital for this must be $2m. You can then set up another fund for trading, say about $500k. This fund is more risky as you will be trading on it.

I sold my landed property and DOWNGRADED to a 3 bedroom condo and then set up my own investment fund worth $3m. The dividend stocks portfolio provide sufficient income for my family. My wife's salary is saved. We have no debt.

If the source of income is from dividends, then there is no such thing as doing full time managing the stock portfolio. If the income is dependent on profits from active trading, then cannot count on consistently beating the market to make a consistent income from it. In gist, once you have accumulated substantial capital to provide dividends that can sustain your lifestyle, then the so called full time stock trading is just meddling to give one a higher sense of achievement. Many people likes to think of themselves as some savvy stock investor......very dangerous mindset...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Define better life?

Should ask your mum. A bigger and more comfortable house? A car to bring her around? A maid to help her with household chores? More frequent holiday trips with her? Bring her to restaurant more often? Give her more pocket money to spend? Let her enjoy the fruits of her labour as your success is her success.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

LOL, he didn't say $4m wasn't enough. He said he would not be going to bed smiling, if he accumulated it through a lifetime of hard work. I share his sentiments.

I know of a few people who proclaimed to the world that they would do such and such things when they attained certain wealth or income only to quietly change their position when they reached their targets.

$4m may feel like a lot of money when you are starting out, but not when you are nearing your retirement. For eg. I wouldnt go out and buy myself a Merc or BMW now while I probably would if I was only 35 if I had $4m. I would also buy one for the wife too.

Well, I'm thinking of retiring in a few years' time and $4M for a couple sound more than adequate. But I can understand that $4M mean differently to different people, depending on how much of it is income-generating and one's lifestyle and so on. I can also understand that targets tend to move when they are reached. Am guilty of it myself. Told myself some years back that I would happily quit my job and work part-time if I have $1M in networth, which I now have, but which I now think is not enough. Hope I will have the courage to do so when I reach my new target. Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to let go.

45, retired executive, net worth $1.8m. Passive income from stocks dividends $90k pa.
Wife, 35, net worth $700k. Salary $100k pa. Lives in a condo, drives a conti car. No debt. Busy doing charity work, nurturing the kids and exercising in the condo gym.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Well, I'm thinking of retiring in a few years' time and $4M for a couple sound more than adequate. But I can understand that $4M mean differently to different people, depending on how much of it is income-generating and one's lifestyle and so on. I can also understand that targets tend to move when they are reached. Am guilty of it myself. Told myself some years back that I would happily quit my job and work part-time if I have $1M in networth, which I now have, but which I now think is not enough. Hope I will have the courage to do so when I reach my new target. Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to let go.

What is your new target? I am reaching $3M networth with my wife and will turn 38 this year, but think it's not enough to quit working

It may sound oxymoron - but to retire young you will need more (to sustain the many years ahead), you need less when you retire at an older age.

For my case, I estimated that my wife and I would require $100k pa upon retirement at 55. And assuming no inflation, and that we live till 85 (that's 30 yrs) we would need $3m at 55. But if we work till 65, we would only need $2m to sustain us for 20 yrs.

Conversely if we were to retire now (at 50), we will need to have $3.5m!

That's I am very impressed with the many posters here who retired before hitting 50. I hope they know what they are doing or else they are setting themselves up for a very bad nightmare further down the road.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What is your new target? I am reaching $3M networth with my wife and will turn 38 this year, but think it's not enough to quit working

Hi,

Came across your post. Just wanted to share that I am retired due to poor health. After so many years of leading an unhealthy lifestyle of a high flying corporate boss, I got sick. Not able to work any more. Now I just manage my own stocks investments which gives me $50k of stocks dividends per year. My wife earns $120k pa. We share our annual expenses of $80k per year. Luckily I have no debt. I am 52 this year, I hope I won't die so soon.

My message to all: money is not everything, take care of your health, don't any how eat and drink, don't womanize.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It may sound oxymoron - but to retire young you will need more (to sustain the many years ahead), you need less when you retire at an older age.

For my case, I estimated that my wife and I would require $100k pa upon retirement at 55. And assuming no inflation, and that we live till 85 (that's 30 yrs) we would need $3m at 55. But if we work till 65, we would only need $2m to sustain us for 20 yrs.

Conversely if we were to retire now (at 50), we will need to have $3.5m!

That's I am very impressed with the many posters here who retired before hitting 50. I hope they know what they are doing or else they are setting themselves up for a very bad nightmare further down the road.