Whats your net worth

You will enjoy some savings from lower property tax with reduction in NAV.

May I know which age group are you in?

Originally Posted by Mid-class M.K

Came across this forum and like to share some inputs; self-employed

Variable income at 290K-400K annually
Property (ies) 3 condos rented out and 1 residence condo
Car(s) 1 Maserati Quattroporte and 1 E250 Cabriolet
Finance(s) isn't really accurate unless liquidate all properties at book value?
Cpf might have problem to withdraw unless migrate?
Fix-Ds stand at 1M, Savings at 4xxK and T-bills etc. at 500K

This seems to be the norm these days but filled with contentment.

For those who are curious on lifestyle, here is my sharing:

Vacational retreats twice yearly - any country
Dining at casual restaurants almost daily - seldom fine dining
Shopping at malls - not intensely at Paragon or boutiques
Entertainment at bars or ktv lounges - once a month, at most twice
Ciggarette intake pretty light - 2-3 days a pack

Nothing much, just a random guy on the street that you might bump into and he'll apologize in fear of offending elites who yielded million-dollar remuneration packages

Uncle M.K

To the post by Real Person,

Yes, your friend is considerably decent only and rich businessmen won't blink an eye nor will any executives ever consider his proposal. The blatant deception gave away his pole position in manipulating business just by 'facade' factor.

What uncle here can say is that you are in abundance and need not compete with 'rats'. Go ahead and establish your business with blinkers on.

Crudely speaking, what is Gtr? It's merely an ordinary 'sport' car but you are riding on Merc Sbs bus or Volve for older series, no? Hublot watch where anyone can buy with a 2-month salary? Own 2 companies and you can set up another dormant/shell at $1+$315 registration fees? Aggressive holidays and lavish lifestyles with a big fat $0.00 in bank account?

Young man, you are very fortunate to learn people of such statue and by the grace of this virtue, you are bless to divert from such tragic extravagance.

Uncle M.K wish you the best and pardon for the poor language as I didn't undergo formal education

You lead an (should I say) interesting lifestyle for someone whose income varies quite widely (wildly). For how long have you been earning this range of income? And what is your all up net worth and annual expenses? Also you called yourself "uncle", I presumed you are in your late 40s or 50s?

You see, our HH income is $450k to $500k pa and our lifestyle could not be more different. Yes we have 2 properties and 2 cars, but the cars are your regular reliable jap cars. Other than that we lead very simple lifestyle eating at home mostly except for weekends. As such our annual expenses is around $100k-$120k pa.

I guess we come from different backgrounds and moved in different circle of friends.

Originally Posted by Mid-class M.K

Came across this forum and like to share some inputs; self-employed

Variable income at 290K-400K annually
Property (ies) 3 condos rented out and 1 residence condo
Car(s) 1 Maserati Quattroporte and 1 E250 Cabriolet
Finance(s) isn't really accurate unless liquidate all properties at book value?
Cpf might have problem to withdraw unless migrate?
Fix-Ds stand at 1M, Savings at 4xxK and T-bills etc. at 500K

This seems to be the norm these days but filled with contentment.

For those who are curious on lifestyle, here is my sharing:

Vacational retreats twice yearly - any country
Dining at casual restaurants almost daily - seldom fine dining
Shopping at malls - not intensely at Paragon or boutiques
Entertainment at bars or ktv lounges - once a month, at most twice
Ciggarette intake pretty light - 2-3 days a pack

Nothing much, just a random guy on the street that you might bump into and he'll apologize in fear of offending elites who yielded million-dollar remuneration packages

Uncle M.K

To the post by Real Person,

Yes, your friend is considerably decent only and rich businessmen won't blink an eye nor will any executives ever consider his proposal. The blatant deception gave away his pole position in manipulating business just by 'facade' factor.

What uncle here can say is that you are in abundance and need not compete with 'rats'. Go ahead and establish your business with blinkers on.

Crudely speaking, what is Gtr? It's merely an ordinary 'sport' car but you are riding on Merc Sbs bus or Volve for older series, no? Hublot watch where anyone can buy with a 2-month salary? Own 2 companies and you can set up another dormant/shell at $1+$315 registration fees? Aggressive holidays and lavish lifestyles with a big fat $0.00 in bank account?

Young man, you are very fortunate to learn people of such statue and by the grace of this virtue, you are bless to divert from such tragic extravagance.

Uncle M.K wish you the best and pardon for the poor language as I didn't undergo formal education

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You lead an (should I say) interesting lifestyle for someone whose income varies quite widely (wildly). For how long have you been earning this range of income? And what is your all up net worth and annual expenses? Also you called yourself "uncle", I presumed you are in your late 40s or 50s?

You see, our HH income is $450k to $500k pa and our lifestyle could not be more different. Yes we have 2 properties and 2 cars, but the cars are your regular reliable jap cars. Other than that we lead very simple lifestyle eating at home mostly except for weekends. As such our annual expenses is around $100k-$120k pa.

I guess we come from different backgrounds and moved in different circle of friends.

Early 50s here. I'm in business for just shy of 20 years and lifestyle funded partially from distributions. Uncle's recent annual expenses are approximately 175K-190K+/-

Based on current market trends, you should be doing considerably well. And yes, 2 properties denote certain social status and there is nothing wrong with 2 reliable Jap cars which serve the purposes of A-B.

What uncle can impart is not about striking rich but balancing out desired lifestyle in life. It has been some years since enlightenment and really fortunate to take a leap of faith in reits, stocks, bonds and index funds during the early days, cash flow has changed since. Networth is based on valuations and seemed to be inflated, perhaps I may need to engage a professional valuator?

Uncle confessed that different circles made a difference but that is not permanent, you are youraelf and nothing will ever stop you in achieving success.

Hello Uncle MK,

Can I ask why you put so much of your liquid assets into fd and tbills? Very low returns...

My net worth seems similar to yours, but I guess my situation not quite the same. I am in my early 40s but retired already. Married but no kids. My investments are in bonds, stocks, pe, and some derivatives. My yearly returns is around 250-450k but expenditure about 200k. Drive a merc and stay in condo. All paid up.

Originally Posted by LLL

Hello Uncle MK,

Can I ask why you put so much of your liquid assets into fd and tbills? Very low returns...

My net worth seems similar to yours, but I guess my situation not quite the same. I am in my early 40s but retired already. Married but no kids. My investments are in bonds, stocks, pe, and some derivatives. My yearly returns is around 250-450k but expenditure about 200k. Drive a merc and stay in condo. All paid up.

To the post by LLL,

No doubt that the stated investments provide lesser returns. Uncle is 'old' already and cannot afford more risks but to hedge away instead. A few hundred thousand in Fixed-Ds do make a difference as opposed to having ten thousands.

Uncle admires your life due to early retirement with passive income but do make sure to hedge through insurances for unforeseen circumstances. I live a life of contentment and hope to impart knowledge to the younger ones.

Glad to learn someone of impressive records

Hello Uncle MK,

Thanks for your suggestions.

How long does it take to establish a strong networth that has minimal fluctuations? When would you call it a day?

Originally Posted by Uncle MK

I'm not a licensed financial adviser therefore only can provide suggestions.

Uncle grew up in a hostile working environment where competition wipes out everything. From the years, uncle learnt that investing in equities like stocks, bonds, index fund or UTs can offer certain growth to one's wealth.

The difficult part is to 'time' the investments hence a safe ground is to perform dollar-cost averaging but in a customize manner to fit your needs. Uncle did not understand earlier and plonk in massive chunks but fortunately, succeeded in these few years.

Hope it helps

Originally Posted by Real Person

Hello Uncle MK,

Thanks for your suggestions.

How long does it take to establish a strong networth that has minimal fluctuations? When would you call it a day?

To the post by Real Person,

Uncle is not a fortune teller, what brings one to success is as follows;

Prudence - save & invest while retaining a normal lifestyle like indulging in restaurants weekly or use the passive income to reward yourself
Knowledge - understand what you are doing at all times, clarity is imminent.
Hedge - always hedge out through insurances etc.

Uncle doesn't know of any legal shortcuts here. To call it a day, uncle interpreted as retired from business, not very soon as business isn't taxing as my employees are helping me and I appreciated their efforts

I am 53 years old semi retired and live on modest income. I live in a two bedroom condo with my wife and drive a 5 year old family sedan . I will continue to drive my car until COE expires and may down size to something like Ford Focus or Honda Civic. I spend 7,500 dollars a month that includes mortgage, car payment and all other expenses.

If you want to accumulate wealth, don't look at the people who are driving exotic cars or living in a expensive condos for inspiration. They look rich, act rich and talk rich. it takes discipline, courage and patience to accumulate wealth. When you see your colleagues bragging about the car they drive or the fancy watch they wear don't envy them. they are accumulating depreciating items. study property cycle and buy value. Live frugally , buy generic brands. surround yourself with like minded people who are inspired by real successful people, not pretending to be successful ones. Being wealthy is about having secured future for yourself and loved ones. Having enough can gives you peace of mind that can make you feel truly rich. you can achieve enough much faster if you limit your wants in your life. If buying stuff makes you happy, then you have to ask yourself serious question what is making you unhappy.

How much is my net worth? let's just say we are very comfortable.

Age 39 and 37

Landed property less loan: $1.9M
Cash and stocks: $800K
Unit trust and endowments: $200K
Cpf: $100K
Car value less loan: $50K
Overseas property: $350K

Total: $3.4M

Still far from our retirement target of $10M

How much is your income and savings? From your savings annually, you should be able to estimate whether you can achieve $10m in your working lifetime.

To hit $10m by 55, you have to grow your net worth by $410k each year. Are you achieving that now? It is good to aim high, but don't stress over it. $8m is also good enough.

With $8m, we are literally having a perpetual money making machine churning out $250k - $300k passive income annually while we relax one corner. It is a happy problem of deciding what to do each month with the money coming in. We usually end up reinvesting the money.

Originally Posted by Banking professionals

Age 39 and 37

Landed property less loan: $1.9M
Cash and stocks: $800K
Unit trust and endowments: $200K
Cpf: $100K
Car value less loan: $50K
Overseas property: $350K

Total: $3.4M

Still far from our retirement target of $10M