Whats your net worth

Originally Posted by Unregistered

47, sole breadwinner, $130k pa. Wife is a housewife. Two kids.
Home is a condo which we bought after selling our flat. Bought for $500k in 2003.
Now it is worth $1.1m. We have no more mortgage.
We drive a two year old car, with $30k loan left.
CPF balance, $400k.
Stocks $50k.
Cash $50k.
Our total net worth $1.6m.

How are we doing?

What is important is to be content. If you want to compare there is no end.

I'm 38 and my net worth is around double yours. But there are many others who are my age or younger with $5M or more. I prefer to focus on personal development and family instead of comparing.

You should celebrate your success. You have achieved the Singapore dream of living in a condo. And it's fully paid! This is awesome at such a young age. There are many who are still paying home mortgages. You own a car and that's the dream of many too. As long as you live in a condo and own a car in Singapore, you are considered successful. You are in the top 10% in Singapore in terms of social status. If you want to know how really fortunate you are, just compare with people in our neighboring countries. Give yourself a pat on your back!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

47, sole breadwinner, $130k pa. Wife is a housewife. Two kids.
Home is a condo which we bought after selling our flat. Bought for $500k in 2003.
Now it is worth $1.1m. We have no more mortgage.
We drive a two year old car, with $30k loan left.
CPF balance, $400k.
Stocks $50k.
Cash $50k.
Our total net worth $1.6m.

How are we doing?

Originally Posted by Grey knight

What is important is to be content. If you want to compare there is no end.

I'm 38 and my net worth is around double yours. But there are many others who are my age or younger with $5M or more. I prefer to focus on personal development and family instead of comparing.

Wow! Good for you. You're right, it is best not to compare with others. It will never end. I'm just contented with what I have. As long as I know I'm growing as a person, that what matters.

Yes and no. Comparison with others is not only natural but necessary for progress. What is important is how one deals with knowing where he stands in relation to others.

A person with positive attitude will find more determination and ways to better himself while a negative person will only see doom and get depressed.

Both at the individual and societal level, contentment leads to stagnation and complacency. In a world that is rapidly changing and progressing, countries and indeed, individuals that stay still will fall behind. Had Singapore been "contented" when it achieved its independence status in 1964 and not sought to progress further as a nation, we will not be where we are right now.

As a 55 yo Singaporean, I have lived through and benefited from the amazing growth and progress that our nation has achieved. Back when I was at "O" levels, the expectation among the neighbors in my kampung was that achieving "O" level was adequate. But luckily for me and my siblings, my parents were forward looking (though they were not highly educated). They compared with the children of their relatives (our cousins) who lived in the city. They were aiming for overseas degrees! My parents then encouraged us to continue studying for as long and as high as we could and not be contented with "O" levels. But some of my neighbors stopped after "O" levels and went to work. In those early years, their families seemed to fare better financially, while our family was really poor while we continued studying. We had to give tuition and worked part time to pay our school fees. Seeing our neighbors buying color televisions, refrigerators, new sofas etc.. were really temptation for us to give up our studies and join the workforce. But persevered, we did.

Fast forward to today, it is now hard to imagine how any parent would ever be satisfied that their children stopped studying after "O" levels. Today, the minimum is a diploma if not a basic degree. Should we be satisfied? Yes, we should celebrate what we achieved, but we should not stop pursuing more. How much more? The answer lies in comparing with others who have achieved more!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Wow! Good for you. You're right, it is best not to compare with others. It will never end. I'm just contented with what I have. As long as I know I'm growing as a person, that what matters.

You are right that we should aspire higher but there will be a point when there is no need to.

For instance, your combined net worth with your wife now is $5m, so would you at the old age of 55 should still aspire to buy a GCB costing $10m? I doubt so. I rest my case.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes and no. Comparison with others is not only natural but necessary for progress. What is important is how one deals with knowing where he stands in relation to others.

A person with positive attitude will find more determination and ways to better himself while a negative person will only see doom and get depressed.

Both at the individual and societal level, contentment leads to stagnation and complacency. In a world that is rapidly changing and progressing, countries and indeed, individuals that stay still will fall behind. Had Singapore been "contented" when it achieved its independence status in 1964 and not sought to progress further as a nation, we will not be where we are right now.

As a 55 yo Singaporean, I have lived through and benefited from the amazing growth and progress that our nation has achieved. Back when I was at "O" levels, the expectation among the neighbors in my kampung was that achieving "O" level was adequate. But luckily for me and my siblings, my parents were forward looking (though they were not highly educated). They compared with the children of their relatives (our cousins) who lived in the city. They were aiming for overseas degrees! My parents then encouraged us to continue studying for as long and as high as we could and not be contented with "O" levels. But some of my neighbors stopped after "O" levels and went to work. In those early years, their families seemed to fare better financially, while our family was really poor while we continued studying. We had to give tuition and worked part time to pay our school fees. Seeing our neighbors buying color televisions, refrigerators, new sofas etc.. were really temptation for us to give up our studies and join the workforce. But persevered, we did.

Fast forward to today, it is now hard to imagine how any parent would ever be satisfied that their children stopped studying after "O" levels. Today, the minimum is a diploma if not a basic degree. Should we be satisfied? Yes, we should celebrate what we achieved, but we should not stop pursuing more. How much more? The answer lies in comparing with others who have achieved more!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes and no. Comparison with others is not only natural but necessary for progress. What is important is how one deals with knowing where he stands in relation to others.

A person with positive attitude will find more determination and ways to better himself while a negative person will only see doom and get depressed.

Both at the individual and societal level, contentment leads to stagnation and complacency. In a world that is rapidly changing and progressing, countries and indeed, individuals that stay still will fall behind. Had Singapore been "contented" when it achieved its independence status in 1964 and not sought to progress further as a nation, we will not be where we are right now.

As a 55 yo Singaporean, I have lived through and benefited from the amazing growth and progress that our nation has achieved. Back when I was at "O" levels, the expectation among the neighbors in my kampung was that achieving "O" level was adequate. But luckily for me and my siblings, my parents were forward looking (though they were not highly educated). They compared with the children of their relatives (our cousins) who lived in the city. They were aiming for overseas degrees! My parents then encouraged us to continue studying for as long and as high as we could and not be contented with "O" levels. But some of my neighbors stopped after "O" levels and went to work. In those early years, their families seemed to fare better financially, while our family was really poor while we continued studying. We had to give tuition and worked part time to pay our school fees. Seeing our neighbors buying color televisions, refrigerators, new sofas etc.. were really temptation for us to give up our studies and join the workforce. But persevered, we did.

Fast forward to today, it is now hard to imagine how any parent would ever be satisfied that their children stopped studying after "O" levels. Today, the minimum is a diploma if not a basic degree. Should we be satisfied? Yes, we should celebrate what we achieved, but we should not stop pursuing more. How much more? The answer lies in comparing with others who have achieved more!

You are mistaken. One should strive for personal development but comparison for pride or ego is wrong.

Rest what case? It is ok for those at 55 and older to be passing the baton to the younger generation. If the older generation still have the fire in their bellies, they should not deprived of the opportunities to contribute further. More so for those without the $5m!

What is worrying is the younger generation lulling themselves into a complacement mindset that what they have now is good enough. Anecdotal examples abound where old retirees found out too late what they thought were enough when they retired years back are now woefully inadequate.

You only need to see how the gahmen keeps upping the medisave and special amounts year after year.

For us, in our mid 50s, progressing need not, and does not mean working longer/older nor taking on more responsibilities at work. In the financial aspects, progress for us would mean seeking out and establishing other sources of incomes especially the passive sources. While we are still working these passive income sources help supplement our work incomes and in our retirement, they will become our main income source.

You should try building up your passive income sources when young and see them grow as you aged. It like seeing your children grow up and taking care of you eventually. People who are into this constantly seek out opportunities, compare and learn from each other.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are right that we should aspire higher but there will be a point when there is no need to.

For instance, your combined net worth with your wife now is $5m, so would you at the old age of 55 should still aspire to buy a GCB costing $10m? I doubt so. I rest my case.

Originally Posted by Grey knight

You are mistaken. One should strive for personal development but comparison for pride or ego is wrong.

I totally agree. Most people compare not on personal development but compare out of ego and pride. They want to earn more and more so that they can buy more stuff to show off with the friends, colleagues and relatives. They will not be happy with a bungalow costing $4m, they want more to buy GCBs costing $20m. That is why you see rich people still want to cheat other people so that they can get more and more. These people are drowning in their pride and ego.

I feel many Singaporeans are becoming complacent about our current state of prosperity. They don't feel the urgency and danger of being overtaken by our neighbouring countries. The other countries are not staying still and it is important these Singaporeans wake up to this possibility. Just imagine our women going out to other countries to work as maids!

And yes, it does boils down to pride and ego that people strive to outdo one another. This is as true at the individual as at the national level. The Indonesian president Jokowi said as much. He said he felt ashamed that Indonesian women had to come out to work as maids in other countries, and he vowed to stop this. And the only effective way for him to achieve this is to make Indonesia prosper as a nation and bring up the wealth of its citizenry. And the people have to do their part!

Most times people don't really have a choice, stand still and be overtaken by the next guy or continue to work hard to maintain or extend your status. Singapore has had a good and fast start in this race over our neighbours. We should not squander this for the sake of future generations.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I totally agree. Most people compare not on personal development but compare out of ego and pride. They want to earn more and more so that they can buy more stuff to show off with the friends, colleagues and relatives. They will not be happy with a bungalow costing $4m, they want more to buy GCBs costing $20m. That is why you see rich people still want to cheat other people so that they can get more and more. These people are drowning in their pride and ego.

Thanks lazyplane for your comments.

My reply:

a. Sometimes it is difficult to communicate the fears with people you know, I do indirectly share the fear that I have but still has to manage it by myself by preparing myself in case of retrenchment.

b. Yes, I do top up SRS and SA account regularly, this year SA would be my last top up as I have hit the minimum sum. I have used my SRS in purchasing of UT and shares and agree with your view about SRS and CPF.

c. Not planning to pay down HDB mortagage as my loan interest is lower than CPF interest. Nevertheless I have prepared the cash to standby in case of out of job. If my job could last 5 more years, I have calculated that my OA would be sufficient to settle the balance loan by then. I have not touch wife's money and has no intention as wife money is always belong to wife. : )

d. Full support. I have top up wife SA since she is not working and my limit has reached. Yes, I believe in term insurance that's the reason why my insurance current surrender value is very low while wife insurance current surrender value is high as she bought for retirement saving. She is expecting to receive $700K when at age 65. As previously she was self-employed that the reason of her low CPF, thus she saved her money thru insurance as the only means of forced saving.

e. The $250K investment is in insurance annuity which I would be receiving monthly payout after 5 years.

f. Parents insurance is only health shield that is paid by me. Not sure whether can they qualify for term insurance as I thought term is mainly purchase in case sole breadwinner pass away and the term amount is suppose to help to tide up the house, children upbringing.

Though their expenses are not high, 4 of them (including in laws) are no longer working with their mortgage fully settled, as filial as we want to be, we give them monthly allowance for them to use on household expenses and medical regular medication on high blood pressure, diabetic.

Yes, we do eat in for health sake rather than saving. Apparently it is not that cheap to eat in too as we eat a lot of organic, healthy food.

g. Not sure time it is due to rat race or rather family time in bringing children, spending it with parents that limit the time that I could spend with friends and classmates. Yet I do ensure I am with my friends and classmates whenever there is difficulty to lend support to each other. I valued friendship very much especially to true friends and never ever will forget their gratitude in helping.

It look like my networth is in good shape compare to other that may be facing more difficulty, my stress is worrying as a solebread winner how would I able to substain to retirement age and bringing up young school going children (1 in playgroup, the other in primary 4). So I may take up Skillfuture from the SingBudget to be trained as skilled worker when the time of layoff is imminent.

I like to gather advice from mid-40's to older, how to prepare one self for retrenchment, retirement, the money in bringing up young children, old-aged parents.

It is blessing that we lived within our means and do not have much loan except mortgage. I started preparing for this worst day since the financial crisis and remind myself that good times doesn't last forever. So never get into private property and large expensive car.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by lazyplane

I think there will be many whom will gladly trade places with you.

To manage your stress level, here some suggestion on personal level financial

a. Write down your fears. Speak to wife / dear one / older folks on these fears and how this managed during their time.

Financially,

b. Top up your SRS regularly. And since you are income earner, also top up your CPF to max out tax savings.

Use both CPF OA and SRS to invest your stocks. No play with stock with outright cash. I find using these accounts make me more long term in my selection of stocks and purchase.

c. Pay down your HDB loan with wife + your own excess OA CPF
No point have too much OA if you are not thinking of buying another property. Cant touch.. so might well reduce your "debt" worry from HDB and save some interest as well

d. For retirement, your CPF looks decent and can meet minimum sum. Consider topping up wife to earn the extra interest. Ignore what silly people said about the CPF. It is one of the best risk free investment and i sense with the govt taking such a hard look at this, it will only be better.

But do up your insurance cover. I am not sure if you are just listed your unit trust insurance link kind of cover.. it seems a bit odd that you have so little while your wife have so much.

For you, make sure you do have lots of term insurance (if you dont) for health, loss of income, etc. Same for wife/kids.
If your insurance value is due to unit trust, i suggest you review with independent FSC.

e. Not sure what your investment of 250k plus is since you listed it separately from stock.. Bonds ? Unit trust ? All investments should be annually reviewed in term of performance , risk and and see if it fits what you are looking for.

f. Parent insurance- get term if they dont have. Health plan sufficient.
Parent will understand. Taking care of them food, accommodation wise is quite basic and actually is not too costly and wont cause a major dent in expenses provided no major health care issue.

Eat in... saves a lot.

g. Finally, find old classmates, friends to talk to. Unfortunately for many Singaporean, we forgotten how impt it is to catch up with friends and to build a social network . Not for financial but for emotional human needs.
The rat race in sg is very draining on time / effort, so shouldnt we come together even more to encourage one another ? we seem to have forgotten that the relationship not just knowledge was what made the difference in our school life and younger days. And this point is based on my own experience.