Graduate Couples Should Have No Problem Saving $1Million
January 3rd, 2010
If you and your spouse are working professionals making median salaries, it’s not hard for both of you to accumulate $1 million before you reach 45 years old.
Suppose both of you started working at age 25, and always save and invest one-third of your income. If your savings and investments earn just a 3% rate of return a year, you would have accumulated half a million dollars by age 37 and a full million bucks by age 45.
And this is just for median-salaried professionals.
Let’s look at another hypothetical couple who are median-salaried managers. Let’s assume they save more, say 40% of their income. Further assume that they are able to generate a 5% rate of return.
This couple’s savings and investments will hit $1 million before they turn 39. And $2 million by age 46.
When did your savings and investments reach $1 million?
Don’t have a million dollars? Don’t worry. You probably have that upmarket condo, BMW and Birkin bag that you can be proud of. 
What about taxes? Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Saving 33-40% of monthly income is quite high. I don’t know what kinda lifestyle they’re having and they must be living with their parents!
The calculations also don’t consider income taxes. I imagine even if you apply the most optimistic assumptions it would be at least 50 years old for the average graduate Singaporean to have a million.
But with inflation rates of ~5% a year, there’s no big deal if you’re a millionaire in 20-30 years time! 5% inflation for 30 years means in nominal term you need to have ~4.5 million dollars to have the same purchasing power as a millionaire today!
Alan Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Does the 500k involve the value of your flat? or just pure cash and stock?
james Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 10:45 am
it’s obvious that your savings is a function of 3 things: income, savings rate and investment return.
of the 3, only the savings rate is within one’s control. so if you find you are slower than others, try to save more.
3-5% investment return on your entire savings is within the norm, but there are people who make severe losses and there are those who claim more than 10% (dunno how much of their savings they invest, and whether they take on unreasonable risks and leverage).
to Alan Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Alan, I think you should not consider your flat as an investment. But if you have a condo that you rent out, then you can add that in.
Alan Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
ok la .. then still a long long where to go to reach that 1 mil on my own
to be honest , you can reach there by being frugal , i.e no car no toys ( iphone led tv console games or anything with a i -) also no partying..practically people will regard you as boring no life etc
get-real Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Quote title:
“Graduate Couples Should Have No Problem Saving $1Million”
Well, maybe…
1. Provided your investment are not cut in half by the stock market crash.
2. Provided you don’t get locked into an expensive housing.
3. Provided you don’t get retrenched in recession.
4. Provided you are not under-employed because your job has been outsourced.
5. Provided you don’t have to go back to school because your degree is no longer worth much.
6. Provided you are not hit by expensive illness.
7. Provided you don’t have to care for destitute family member.
8. Provided you don’t start a business which failed miserably.
9. And many more…
Basically, I would say it’s quite unlikely that you would not suffered any one of these misfortune and got derailed. That’s why Singapore is NOT awashed with graduate millionaires.
Steven Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Also provided that you marry a graduate who continue to work full time and climb corporate ladder after having children.
According to ML/CapGemini Asia Pacific World Wealth Report 2006, there are about 67000 dollar millionaire (excluding primary residence. So if you move out of expensive condo, rent it out and move into a rented 2 bed HDB, that helps) in Singapore.
With around 4 million population and assuming HNWI number is now 80000, there is about 1 in 50 people in Singapore (or 1 in 25 couple) who are dollar millionaire (and hence probably abit more SGD millionaire, say 1 in 20 couple). So, while not really awah, they are certainly many of them on the street.
Paul Ananth Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
I assume that your couple does not have any children!
Was driving my brother-in-law to the airport the other day with his three kids and we passed by a Lamborghini. He kindly pointed out to them that he had a choice – the three of them or the Lamborghini!
with kids Says:
January 5th, 2010 at 12:49 am
there’s a theory that says if you have kids, you actually save more. this is because you’ll be more prudent and not spend on unnecessary things such as holidaying in exotic places like madagascar. parents will little kids also go out less often, eg to the movies, spas, hotel buffets and shopping, because they have to stay at home to spend quality time bonding with their children.
please Says:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
with kids, the reason why an increasing number of married Singaporeans like myself are considering not having children is because, if I decide to forego kids, with the same amount of the money I have from my hard work, I can “holiday in exotic places like madagascar and go to the movies, spas, hotel buffets and shopping”.
with kids Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
so with or without kids, one should still be able to save up the same amount!
Kevin Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
actually kids are a lot of fun and adds more meaning to the work
Lucky investor Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
It’s possible, but the assumption is that one’s investments do well consistently every year, which is easier said than done. I am pretty sure many investors who placed their hard-earned savings with so-called professional fund managers over the last 5 years would still be seeing a loss, much less any profit. Worse-off are those who invested in structured deposits like credit-linked notes. One has to overcome market volatility, corporate scandals, financial crises and emotions, as well as have a bit of luck to succeed. Personally I have been quite fortunate in my investments over the past 6 years, and managed to turn 200K capital into 1.25M through real-estate and stock.
to Lucky investor Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
that’s very impressive! could you share how you managed to do it? i know luck plays a part, but would just like to see what you invested in and your thought process. appreciate your sharing.
Lucky investor Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Most of my gains come from property. I bought a condo in 2003 when the property market was under-valued with 200K as downpayment, sold in 2007 for 850K profit when the price more than doubled.
Bought another condo earlier in 2009, and price increased by 200K by end 2009. I’m still holding on as I think the price of my unit will increase by another 250K in 5 years time.
The key is to find the right condo, as not all condos have the potential for significant capital gain. Location as well as the plot layout matters a lot.
please Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
sigh lucky u are so lucky to be born in a certain time. In 2003 i was still in school. now i want to play the market like you also cannot..
Steven Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
to Please:
Don’t blame “time” if you want to be rich. You could have bought a lot in March low in stock market and you would have done well. If you had shorted bank shares in end 2008, you would have done well also.
Green revolution is coming etc…there is always opporunities (some easier than the other, but there is always opportunity, up or down)
please Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I wanted to buy stocks in march and went to open an account with my spouse but he took his own sweet time after opening the account and he was very busy with work, said he had no time to care about the stock market or do research on which counter to buy. And because I thought I was going to ride on his account to trade I didn’t buy any then because I didn’t have his password, when I told him to go and check his email, he said he was very busy. When I called the brokerage firm, they said they can’t reveal the password to me though i’m the wife.
to please Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
save up and wait for the right time. when it comes, don’t depend on anyone but yourself. tell yourself: no more excuses.
like lucky investor, i made some money investing in a condo in 2002 and selling in 2007. then i stayed out of stocks and property because i thought they’re overheated. kept telling myself to be patient.
then subprime came and i loaded stocks with my cash savings throughout the trough. i have since sold more than half my stocks to take back my capital plus some good profits, leaving the rest to ride the uptrend. if double dip comes, i’ll load again.
this is my rather-risk-averse investment philosophy. i have to play it safer than the rest cos i have a few mouths to feed and i hate investment setbacks having experienced them when i was a newbie investor.
Skeptical Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 7:46 am
I believe that there is something wrong with the title. Instead of “Graduate Couples Should Have No Problem Saving $1Million”, it should be “It is possible for graduate couples to save up $1 Million with median pay, eventually”
Both my wife and I are local graduates and both of us took loans for our studies. When I graduated in 2004, my starting pay was 2,400 (but after bonuses, it was about 3.9K)
It took me 1.5 years to clear my NUS loan of $17,743. I do not have a car but when I bought my re-sale flat in ’07(the reason why I bought a re-sale flat was because I tried applying for new flats for 6 times and my number was always above 10,000) I had a COV of 20K (that was considered MINIMAL in 2007). The place was quite run down, so I have to do very basic renovations that cost me $10K. I had to buy some furniture and that was another $15K.
Realising that I was not getting anyway with my engineering job, I decided to do an online MBA (which I realised later that it was not a good move) at a price of 22K.
My wife and I dun club, dun drink, dun smoke, dun drive, hardly shop and I have paid off about 60K of loan after 5 years. I am a month away from 31 years old and I dun even have 10K of savings to my name.
I believe that this article has made too many assumptions. I too would like to save up 1/3 of my salary but it really isn’t too realistic to do if you would like to have your own place and your parents are too poor to help you with the down payment.
sceptic2 Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Now that you have repaid your study loan, paid the down payment for your HDB and renovated it, and probably earning a higher salary while still leading a relatively frugal lifestyle, how much are you saving now?
Amazed Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Can people who make their 1 million from the 25-29 age bracket share how they made it? People who got it from inheritance/work in family’s company need not apply.
Skeptical Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 12:51 am
To sceptic2:
Actually, I still haven’t finished paying.
NUS loan – 17.7K
COV – 20K
Furniture – 15K
Reno – 10K
MBA – 22K
Total = 84.7K
I only paid 60K so far ……….
So although it is true that I am receiving higher pay now, my lifestyle remains frugal with minimum savings because I still have a remaining loan of 24.7K.
If I were to pay $1K per month from now, it would still take me 2 years and a month to clear the remaining loan (no interest because I borrowed the money from relatives but that is also the reason why I am doing my best to return it as quickly as possible)
When that happens, I will be 33 years old.
Therefore, my scenario will be
1) Married couple who both graduated from NUS (I was from Mech Eng while my wife’s from Civil Eng)
2) Both working. (By then, I would have clocked 8 years while my wife would have clocked 7)
3) Starting with almost zero savings for myself. (my wife would have some savings of her own)
4) Still no car.
5) Another 25 years left to our HDB loan.
Skeptical Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 8:51 am
To sceptic2:
Actually, I have yet to repay all my loans.
NUS loan = 17.7K
MBA loan = 22K
Reno = 10K
COV = 20K
Furniture = 15K
Total = 84.7K
I have ‘only’ paid up 60K so far and still have 24.7K more to go. If I didn’t have all these loans, I would definitely be able to save up a substantial amount of money even after downpaying for a car, but the reality of life is Singapore is that if you do not have any ‘sponsors’,it would not be easy for you to buy a roof over your head (Even if you and your spouse graduated from university and are both working)and if you do get one finally, you would spend some time repaying its miscellaneous cost.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Skeptical : U have time on your side…once all the loans are cleared, u will be on ur way stashing away bigger amounts of savings.
Just curious, u took a loan on ur reno and furniture and COV too???
Skeptical Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Dear Poor but surviving:
I never considered myself an optimistic or pessimistic person as I try my best to be as realistic as possible in my outlook of life. (As much as I believe as I should clear my loans as quickly as possible, life would be meaningless to me if I didn’t take some time or money to enjoy it every once in a while). But I would agree that my present ‘training’ does prepare me for the future when I finally clear my loans and start squirrelling money in my bank account.
As for my loans, I borrowed from the best bank in the world. It is called “Relatives Banking Pte Ltd”
COV + Reno: Borrowed from sister.
Furnitture: Mother-in-law
I do not need to pay any interest for these loans but I still constantly push myself to clear the loans as soon as possible. (It’s only right to do so lah)
I count myself lucky in this aspect because at least my relatives WERE able to lend me the money, and I bought my flat JUST before the market went crazy. I really wonder about those whose relatives are not able to help.
This topic is much bigger than my situation alone and I wrote in just to inform the author that it really isn’t THAT easy for the average couple to save up to a million before reaching 45, simply because I am aware of many others who are in similar or worse financial states as me.
did it Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
my wife and i did it without help from anyone- cov, reno, furniture, studies, you name it.
my wife even had to fork out money to buy new furniture for HER mum when she started working as lowly paid secretary after getting a poly dip.
and both of us still give $2k plus in total to our parents both sides.
ok, my mum did lend me her car to drive, but i would have been fine talking buses.
and we now have squirrelled more than $1m in savings and investments.
there is no secret. just don’t get into the habit of borrowing from others. we only borrow for our hdb and condo investment. just upgraded car to jap mpv with cash.
we are in our late thirties.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
did it : amazing! How did u do it?
did it Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
how did we do it? it’s really no secret. (1) we save a large part of our disposable income. (2) we were lucky and invested in a condo during SARS and bought blue chips early last year. having got burnt with unit trusts when we were younger, we have since never put our money with any funds- anything that’s too good to be true is definitely too good to be true.
we keep telling ourselves that loans benefit the lenders and funds benefit the fund managers.
we are just average-earning professional / manager.
did it Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
we have sold the condo in 2007 and made 200k. sold some of the blue chips and made a further 100k. the rest of the $1m plus are all pure savings now earning a miserly 0.x% in the bank.
did it Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
if we did not have savings, there’s no way for us to exploit the downturns during SARS and the great recession.
that’s why it’s important to save up, for rainy days, retirement and taking advantage of opportunities which definitely will come once in a while.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
did it : U guys have also fully paid up your hdb and/or condo investments?
I’m really impressed.
did it Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
no, still servicing our 30-year hdb loan. as for condo, we also took a 30-year loan after 20% down, but we have since sold it off for a profit as mentioned above.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 10th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
did it: good move.
Skeptical Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Dear Did it:
Congratulations!! It is nice to hear success stories like that. =)
Just a few questions to understand your situation better.
May I know the price of your condo and HDB when you bought it?
What was the COV that you paid for your HDB back then? I am aware that you bought your condo during the SARS period, but did you have to pay any COV for that as well?
May I know what do you term as average earning? (Just a range will do).
Thanks again.
did it Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 8:29 am
our exec hdb flat was bought quite high at 30k cov. for condo, there’s no such thing as cov- bank will lend you 80% of the buying price. we paid about 160k for the 20%.
our pay now is slightly above the median salaries quoted by admin in the above article. all along, i believe we were both just average earners, esp my wife who started as a secretary in a stat board.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 9:26 am
did it : did you think about fully paying up your HDB flat? Or is it coz you are the HDB loan rate and figure it’s a good deal?
did it Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 9:43 am
we’ve done some calculations before. we think it’s better to leave the loan as it is for 2 reasons:
(1) hdb rates are very reasonable historically and will continue to be in our opinion
(2) the low-premium hps insurance that we are required to buy seems to be a very good deal- if either of us dies, the surviving one will get the flat free. if we fully pay up the hdb, this insurance will be as good as void, so might as well leave the loan as it is.
furthermore, we’re already in positive territory in our hdb value. there is no hurry to settle this debt even though we as a couple are very very debt-averse. can’t remember who, but someone important said that the only good debt in this world is mortgage- i think it’s definitely true in singapore.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:00 am
did it : for ur pt 2), i suppose that is the worse case scenario. Nobody will wish for that to happen.
Ur HDB is in a prime location?
did it Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:37 am
non-prime, matured estate in the east.
Zillionaire Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I would think it is possible that a graduate couple do accumulate a wealth of SGD1mio with proper planning and wise investment etc. However, unforseen circumstances do happen. Parents do get sick, children do get sick, ppl do lose jobs, ppl do lose $$ in stock mkt, you don’t always get to sell ur condo for a profit. Ur education loan may be all paid up by ur parents, others have a full 20+ K to settle.
All these are hurdles to the SGD 1 mio figure…jump these hurdles and SGD 1 mio is possible….but the fact is there are too many hurdles in life…u just have to fall hard in one and there goes ur 1 mio target….which is why u don’t find alot of 1 mio couple around.
Skeptical Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Dear Did it:
Thank you for sharing. From your story, we do seem to share some common scenarios. (Except for timing lah, because I bought my flat in late 2007)
want to do it too Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
my wife and i are 30 this year…we have about 100k of cash savings now….have a HDB and a car…remaining car loan is about 70k…bought my 5 room HDB at 400k and 5 room HDBs ard my area can easily fetch 600-700k…..we earn a combine monthly income of near to 12k each month but we save only about 2.5k a month together after all expenses….do u think we can earn a million cash by 40 yrs old?
Poor but surviving Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
want to do it: u guys are doing great! 2.5k savings a mth means 30k per year. in 10 yrs it’s 300k. That will be when u r 40. Still pretty decent.
How much outstanding loan on ur HDB?
want to do it too Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Poor but surviving: r u sure we are doing great? 300k at the age of 40, i dont think its fantastic right? Hope to get $1 mil by 45. hopefully the 2.5k savings a mth will continue growing by 10-20% every year and my investments can bring in at least 10-15% annually. outstanding loan on my HDB is about 300k.
On my way Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Definitely do-able to hit 1m by 45. I’m 36, my wife’s 32, combined salary about $12k, expenses about half of that with one kid. Car loan ~$34k, Mortgage ~$265k, no other debt. Combined net worth ~$520k, home not included. Home value as of today is ~$650-700k. If i want to accelerate things, i will just sell my current place and buy a HDB, we have enough CPF to buy a 5-room outright but of course not in a prime location. I’m not too hung up about where i live and what i live in as long as the family is comfortable. I’ve started dollar averaging into blue chips about 18 months back so returns have been ok.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
on my way: 520k net worth is fantastic! U r on ur way to becoming a millionaire by 45.
want to do it: i mean it in a good way. im sure u will hv more than 300k by 40. Ur hse alone is reaping capital gains.
cpf? Says:
January 11th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
do you guys include your cpf balances in your calculations? for my wife and i, our combined net worth excluding residence is 940k if we count cpf. if we don’t count cpf, it’s only 680k.
we’re in our mid-thirties with 2 kids. current combined pay is about 15k. we’re able to save more than half of pay.
On my way Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:12 am
cpf? : At least for me, cpf not included. Looks like you’re doing pretty ok yourself.
Poor but surviving Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 9:50 am
U guys are doing so well.
Kevin Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Did It: Something still do not work out right. Of the remaining 700k in bank, if you divide by 15 years of savings it will still be ~45k savings a year. Did you really save 45k a year?
did it Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Kevin: in the initial years, no. but in recent years, more than that. our expenses increase at a much slower rate than our income, so the more we earn, the higher is our saving rate.
Lucky investor Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
to cpf?: just curious, what are you investing your 680K in? are you just holding cash? personally i don’t hold > 150K in cash, as it will be eroded by inflation. i prefer to invest in stocks or property.
cpf? Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
about 100k in stocks. wanted to invest in a condo last year but chickened out. :p now waiting for the right time to invest in either ppty or stocks. we would rather hold cash than invest at the wrong time. we don’t think holding sgd cash is a bad thing as inflation has always been well controlled here and sgd has already strengthened against usd. also, the government is now trying to rein in asset inflation (i.e. property prices).
cpf? Says:
January 12th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
and a double-dip recession can happen anytime soon despite what our trade minister said yesterday. donald tsang in hk has said hk may enter recession again in mid 2010.
don’t forget our economy contracted q-on-q in 2009 Q4. one more contraction, and we’ll be in a technical recession (i.e. double dip!), though i’m very sure our media here will play down the fact even if it really happens. it’s very obvious why.
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:57 am
cpf: combined net worth excluding residence is 940k if we count cpf – THis is amazing!
Me and wifey at the same age, earning power and family unit as you are and nowhere near your net worth. Care to share how you did it? any outsized gains from investing in properties/stocks?
I must admit may stock gains have been modest – I’m pretty risk adverse.
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:02 am
My net worth (assets including primary residence + cpf, minus all liabilities-mortgages etc) is approx 980K.
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I mean me and wife’s net worth
cpf? Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:10 am
having witnessed the opportunities during the asian financial crisis, we waited a long time for the recent global recession. and we pumped in a lot of money near the bottom, more than 300k. took back capital at end of last year, plus cash profits of about 250k. still holding 100k in stocks. we wanted to invest in a condo last year, but worried about our jobs and holding power (having already vested in stocks), and chickened out.
care to share some info on your net worth?
cpf? Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:16 am
vitae: thanks for sharing. ours is around 1.2m to 1.3m including residence.
cpf? Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:20 am
vitae: yours is quite close lah. almost a mio already! jia you
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Sigh, youve made a bundle. Good for you.. Haven’t really made any serious money from my investments, hence the shortfall.
Assets
Cash – 250
Misc(SRS, Educn accounts) – 40
Stock – 16
CPF – 225
Primary Res- 600
value of car – 25
Liab
Mortgage – 165
Car loan – 7
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:25 am
COF: thanks for your encouragement!
Will look out for opp. One good benefit for being so risk adverse is i have sidestepped a few investment minefields which has exploded for a couple of my friends.
But, no risk no gain right?
cpf? Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
here’s ours. i usu don’t count the car as it’s a depreciating asset, but included it here as well. we also hold some insurance policies that have significant surrender value, but they are not included.
Assets
Cash – 580
CPF – 260
Stock – 110
HDB – 550
Car – 70
Liab
HDB – 340
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Thanks! Keep it up!
It’s encouraging to see a couple who’s good at saving and managing their money.
vitae Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
hi cpf?
not counting the car is a very good conservative way of looking at your finances.
That’s why I use the scrap (parf) value, and yes, din account for my insurance values, but mine are mostly on term life.
Btw, if we ever need to communicate, here’s my particulars: aquavitae74 on Nimbuzz
struggling Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
32, me sole breadwinner (wife not working)
i don’t play stocks so all in property
namely one freehold and leasehold
leasehold valuation: 800K
freehold: 1.05M
mortgages: 520K + 800K = 1.32M
so my net worth is 530K nia
somemore including residence…(the freehold)
Lucky investor Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
struggling: your mortgage amount is scary big, are you earning a very high income? if not, it may be a good idea to dispose 1 of your properties if you can get a good capital gain from it, cos rental yields are not very good now and prices are hitting resistance.
Lucky investor Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
anyway, just to share mine (not counting cpf, my kids’ education plans, car):
Cash and stock : 270K
Condo (paid-up): 1.45M
No other liabilities
A big chunk (around 1M) was because i was lucky to buy property at the right time. I’m 34, monthly Household income just over 18K.
struggling Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Lucky, you are fortunate to buy at right time. Yes I am earning in top 3% percentile (I earn more than 20K per mth) but even then my instalments cost close to half of what I earn (including property tax and maintenance)
Moreover I pay more tax as single income owner – I am planning to rent one out to subsidise some of the costs. Do you mind sharing how much you bought your property and the gains? Thanks
nic Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Hi struggling, are u a high-flier or scholar in admin service? Coz >$20K per mth is extaordinary high for 32 year old.
Does Your Monthly Household Expenditure Exceed $4,388? | Salary.sg - Your Salary in Singapore Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
[...] nuffnang_bid = "a2aa29ef3b8db0553f19179976f1bea6"; « Graduate Couples Should Have No Problem Saving $1Million [...]
struggling Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Nic, I am not a high flyer, just lucky. I was earning close to 20K a mth since 28 – and you’ll be surprised at how many people younger than me are earning more. It depends on 1) luck 2) profession (sales, especially those in financial industry earns a lot) 3) company you work for (local companies just can’t pay) 4) your own ambition
Even then, lucky investor is much better off cos with a combi of luck and smarts, he is living in a paid off luxury condo with extra cash and stocks while I am only earning rental income and paying mortgages
It’s not what you earn, but how you save and what you use it on
Lucky investor Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:08 am
struggling, i bought in end-2003 and sold in 2007 (cost 600K, realised gain 850K) and mid-2009 (1.15M, paper gain 250K). both times was urgent sales from the owner.
yes, you should definitely rent out one of your condos to help with your instalments for a start (not sure why you haven’t done so). as your income is high, it’s probably ok to continue holding on to the properties as long as you have sufficient cash for 6 months of instalments.
also, maybe you can consider refinancing and increasing your loan tenure as it sounds like you did not take the maximum loan period.
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:09 am
U’re very modest, struggling. Luck is important but without capability, it’s also tough. Mind me asking what your profession is?
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:19 am
Hi Lucky investor, it’s unbelievable to make 850K profit on just 600K capital (>100%). No development gives that kind of upside. The only development I can think of is The sail. Is that what u bought given the timing & pricing?
struggling Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Lucky – 850K gain with 600K starting price? Wow – sounds like you bought carribean by keppel bay! I did not rent out yet as the sale is not complete. I am paying for one property (leasehold) in 10 years (I took adv of the low interest rates and did a refinance) while for the freehold I stretched to max of 35 years. hard to be like you in 2 years time but with some luck the market may shift upwards a bit and I can add another 100, 200K to my net worth :p
struggling Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Nice – thank you but you flatter me. I am not modest – the real humble pie eaters are those who earn more than a million bucks but choose to observe this forum silently, with relish (and perhaps some glee)
I used to be an engineer who switched to sales and climbed my way up to sell in a MNC – you know the drill. If you sell big buck items you get big comm. If you sell washing machines then you get washing machine comm. I say I’m lucky cos not many gets this sort of opportunity – there are easily thousands out there better than me but simply because they didn’t get the chance. Hence I am grateful
haha Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:28 am
you mean the ministers?
struggling Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Lucky – one more question. You are 34, so in 2003 you shld be 27. How did you manage to invest in a condo worth 600K back then? You must have had some huge amounts of cash prepared from sources as I don’t think you would have that much cpf at that tender age. Did you get any help? Your advice can help many young ‘uns here become millionaires in 2014
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:38 am
struggling, are u a sales engineer in a tech-reelated MNC selling expensive technological instruments like those used in hospitals?
I got offered a position selling insurance in a bank but I turned down. I dunno whether it’s a wise decision as i
thought few walk-in customers would want to buy insurance. What do u think?
struggling Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Nic, I’m not – I’m in the IT industry dealing with CRM interface. I’m not an expert nor very successful – all I can say is selling insurance by relying on walk-in customers is futile unless you are a super salesman (which then you wouldn’t want to do this)
But I don’t think there are posts where you sell insurance only – all PFCs I know sell a myriad of products. Best way would be to work in a smaller bank where competition is lesser and easier for you to move up to premier banking or get a back office job that specialises in niche technology / operations / processes and it will be very easy for you to jump ship with minimum 25-30% increment each time ( a friend of mine is doing just that – 3 years in the industry and his pay blossomed from 3.5K to 8K)
These are, of course, my amateur thoughts to share
Lucky investor Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:48 am
nic, i bought the condo in a prime district in 2003 for it’s en-bloc potential, and it really happened in 2007 during the en-bloc madness
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:49 am
i think lucky investor used financing. paid about $100K downpayment and financed the rest. At age of 27/28 should have that if he’s highearner or family loan
Lucky investor Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:55 am
struggling, i bought it with my wife. in the first 3 years of working we had quite good salaries (combined around 6K), were quite frugal and did not have any financial commitment, so we could save > 100K in cash and cpf, and used most of it for the downpayment
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:56 am
No wonder u call yourself lucky. Either u have super good foresight or lady luck loves u or both.Which district btw? 9,10 or 11?
Lucky investor Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:57 am
i guess my case is an example of “good debt”
nic Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Lucky investor, how do u spot a property for enbloc potential? Are you now also staying in old development that u see enbloc potential, the one at $1.45mil?
musicwhiz Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Wow, you guys are such high-net worth individuals that I am stunned and impressed! I’ve learnt a lot from the comments, thanks.
For me, accumulating my first half a million is an ambition for me before I hit 40. Call me slow, but hopefully I can say I am steady! Definitely very tough for me to hit $1 million before 40 (I am 34 now) as I do not invest in property, but plough quite a lot of my net worth in equities.
I think it’s important to save and invest, too bad my monthly income cannot compare with some of the people here who earn like 12K or 20K a month. Mine is less than $5K a month.
Cheers!
no big deal Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Read Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers’ and you’ll see luck indeed comes first
middleclass Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
On the other hand luck can also be define as preparedness meets opportunity.
Unless you have the other kind of luck born into rich families or struck lotteries I would say that these guys have done extraordinary well either through good ability, planning, execution and vision.
Congratulations and indeed good inspirations for a lot of people.
Lucky investor Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
for those interested in properties with en-bloc potential, you need to look at something called the plot ratio, which i think is the ratio of maximum allowable built-in area to the land size. so, if the current property is using half or less of the maximum area that could be built (sometimes plot ratios get revised upwards), there is potential. also, it’s easier if most of the units are not owner-occupied and if the place is more than 15 years old.
Kevin Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Not meant to be a wet blanket but of all these “lucky” inspirations, there may be 5 or more “unlucky” inspirations.
Do take a read at “Fooled by Randomness” – Taleb.
musicwhiz Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Hi Kevin,
You’ve got a point. Meaning that maybe only those who had found “success” are willing to post here. Those who failed miserably or lost a lot of money may be too ashamed to tell of their experience, thus skewing the population who leave comments. Someone who visits this comments area may well believe that a large propotion have met the $1 million mark, when in reality it may be just a small niche segment.
Regards.
Kevin Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Musicwhiz: So far, I think the only thing that is I can try to control better is my emotions, which is less dependent on luck (always an element of luck there like a pleasant experience). And I try to be less frustrated and upset, and be more happy and satisfied. I am a “happy” preacher.
Pinch of salt Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Comments are without a face and qualifications. Anyone can write in to sell their life stories. Just take with a pinch of salt. Work hard and be contented.
Steven Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@pinch of salt,Musicwhiz…
Those could well be just stories, but there are things to be learnt from it. Singapore is awash with SGD Millionaire (as above – ML/CapGemini Asia Pacific World Wealth Report 2006). Around one in every 1 in 20 / 5% of the couples have a net worth excluding principle residence of SGD1m.
But do remember that the life of the millionaire are not that much difference from the other folks on say 3k/month. They still eat 3 meals and sleep on 1 bed and drive 1 car at a time. They probably still take MRT at times and eat in Mcdonalds too.
Amazed Says:
January 14th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
@Steven, I think that statistics is probably correct, but Singaporeans don’t have to fret about it. A lot of that millionaires are corruptors from neighboring states especially Indonesia, and perhaps Malaysia, and Thailand, so they don’t earn the normal way. Also take a look at the front page of salary.sg where there’s a quote that income disparity in Singapore is like Kenya. What the Cap Gemini could have said is also probably something along the lines of 1 out of 20 Singaporeans is as poor as Kenyans (one example is the Sing Idol runner up, just read up her life story) so count your blessings.
omy Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 1:04 am
you’re in wanbao and omy:
http://showbiz.omy.sg/News/Local%2B...
ntu boy Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Hello all..
Please allow me to call all of you as my senpais/seniors who have experienced the world longer than I have. I am into my last semester at NTU engineering. I just received a job offer, with monthly pay of 4k a month. i would never even dream that I could have started my career with such high pay. What ‘struggling’ wrote is proven here. It’s about being given the opportunity. Also, luck is preparedness meets opportunity – ‘Middleclass’. Looking at the above discussions, I realized there’re a lot of inspirational senpais here, like ‘Lucky Investor’ who is very far-sighted about his real-estate investment, ‘struggling’ who earns 20k a month since 28, ‘Kevin’ who reminds us of the real application of probabilities we learn since sec school.
My goal is to be able to hit 500k savings before I turn 35. The only loan liability I have is currently 18k+ for the tuition fees loan. However, now comes the worry of a lifetime. WHERE’S MY WIFE-TO-BE?! T.T
struggling Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Ntu boy, congrats on seizing this opportunity. When I first came out from ntu engineering I was only earning 2.5K a mth. Took me 2 yrs to get to 4K (!!)
Dun worry abt wife, when you have 500K savings they will line up for you
Grate Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Hi NTU Boy, great to hear that…pls advertise urself to the whole world…i am a NTU alumni (not from engineering school though)…tell the whole world how gd and prestigous it is to go to NTU..that u are being offered in my pt of view a decent pay…..i always think NTU ppl (in general) are more streetsmart than NUS ppl (in general) and more downtoearth than SMU ppl (in general)….
struggling Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I suspect this may start an entire debate but generally the impression is NUS generates good analysts (guys well versed in theory), NTU – pragmatic guys (more action due to more hands-on stuff in school) and SMU are good marketers (present well but may/ may not have substance)
Still not to digress, Ntu Boy, you have a head start of 2 years as compared to me so I believe your goal may be reached faster
wow Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
congrats ntu boy on getting 4k as starting pay. when i started, i did not even hit 3k.
unlucky Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 12:28 am
Lucky investor: how do we know the plot ratio? from developer? also how do we know if the current property is using half or less of the maximum area that could be built?
Also does the district/location matter in enbloc -
unlucky Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 12:34 am
struggling, since you’re in sales based IT role, your income should be commission, which means fluctuating income. How come you are guaranteed 20K per month?
lost and found Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 1:14 am
All: passion and balance lifestyle are critical as well. I’m a NTU alumni too and have worked for 4 years. My starting salary was 4.2k and increment had been fair, >15% annually. I quit without a job this week as I have lost my passion. Hours are long and the things that I’m doing don’t make sense anymore. When I announced my resignation, all my colleagues congratulate me, none asked where I am going.
I spent less than 1K a month, no car and am still living with my parents, while my colleagues bought cars, travel extensively and lived the high life. So they are tied to their job while I have the freedom to leave.
I am active in swing trading as well and given the current market, my weekly profit easily exceed my monthly salary. I could have well be on my way to make 1 million but I just submitted my application to pursue veterinarian in Australia. I considered myself fortunate as I am much happier and I have found what I’m truly passionate about.
I find it extremely painful to be a slave to an increasing number. It makes more sense for the number to come naturally while you are doing something worthwhile.
struggling Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
unlucky, there is a fixed component to my salary…every job has a variable component – an engineer perhaps 20% of his total income. For a banker, the number is much much higher – I dare say 70-80% (they earn 3-4K base + 10-15K comm)
i just give the average based on my total income
unlucky Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
struggling, given what you say, 80% base and 20% variable for engineer like you. that means your base is 16K per mth (80%*20K). Does sale job pay so high base pay coz all sales jobs I know are majority or entirely commission?
struggling Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
I did not say my split was 80 -20. That was for engineer. Mine is more balanced of course. And yes, sales roles earning this is not surprising. If sales in financial industry (even private bankers are sales) the number is easily 2-3 times more. If I sell 1 million bucks stuff then I ought to get 5 figures comm. I may spend same effort to sell a security system worth 10K but of course then I would expect comm to be 3 figures.
beginner Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
implicit in the comments of the successful people here is that stocks and property investments are the way to go.
no one mentioned about profiting from any alternative investments like options and forex trading, wine investments, land banking, timeshare, mlm, and the like.
even unit trusts and managed funds got the flak in one comment.
hope this observation will help other beginners like myself. there are just too many how-to-get-rich advertisements and articles in mainstream media that serve only to distract and even mislead beginners.
ntu boy Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 4:48 am
Hello!!
o_O wow!! Thank you, senpais, for your congratulations!! I’m very inspired to work hard after i’ve played+studied quite hard in NTU. I think the way ‘Struggling’ put it is pretty decent: “the impression is NUS generates good analysts (guys well versed in theory), NTU – pragmatic guys (more action due to more hands-on stuff in school) and SMU are good marketers (present well but may/ may not have substance)”… @Grate senpai, NTU has indeed given lots of opportunity for us to survive in the real world. ppl may call us ‘ulu’ and etc. but because of that, we learn & experience many things which are simply… different… like hearing cannon shots every other morning, seeing a ‘family’ of wild boars crossing the streets from forest nearby, making friends with ppl along school corridors (during FOC especially), never get wet by the rain coz almost every building has linkway and almost every pathway is sheltered, etc… aargh… i’m gonna miss this place >.<
@Struggling: Ur salary skipped from 2.5k to 20k within less than 8 years?! OMG!!! Kudo!!
struggling Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
ntu boy – if you came from engineering then working life may be easier than you expect
I got 20K+ in around 5 years time though like i said lucky and opportunity played a huge part.
I don’t recall wild boars (though there were cannon shots) – breeding problem perhaps? Missed running from one spine to the other.
anyway back to topic – if you also marry a graduate, I am sure your combined household income will exceed 10K in 2 years. With some savvy investing you can get your $1M savings in 10 years i’m sure, though you’ll need to invest more in your future than your lifestyle. I know of some who earn 5K a month but drives a BMW (10 year loan) and finances a condo on maximum loan, and some who earns as much as I do (or maybe more) but drives Kia and stays in HDB. The fruits of your lifestyle will show 10 years down the road.
ntu boy Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Struggling- Thank you for your advice. I’m actually a foreign student who has been studying& living in SG for the past decade. I’ll be obtaining my PR soon after employment, and certainly, I’ll live a normal lifestyle I have now and invest more my my future. Also, CPF is a great thing in my opinion. Having savings of close to a million SGD bucks by the time i’m in mid-thirty will certainly allow me to be able to get back home with sufficient funds to live comfortably. So that’s my goal. Regarding possible life partner, I have been in long distance relationship, and I hope things will work out the best way I can hope for.
my monthly expenditure currently is around 400-500 per month, inclusive of phonebills+hall fees, coz i’m still a student living on-campus. Considering i’ll have to rent a room out of campus later on, this figure will probably increase to around 1.5k per month. I don’t think I’ll need a car here. If such need arises in the future, I’ll most likely rent one from Avis or the likes.
Lost and found – The comment above regarding swing trading (does that refer to the day-trading? I’m seriously curious to learn how it works) serves as a great inspiration to me and others, the juniors who’ll be entering the workforce in the later half of this year. I would like to wish you the very best to your pursuit of veterinarian science.
PR caution Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
did you say you are a PR and plan to save a million and then retire back to kampung?
be careful cos what you said will upset people. don’t you know that many citizens are very upset about the lax foreign immigration policies that our super capable government has implemented. even the PM came out recently to say “citizens come first”. or maybe the elections are near.
mortgage good Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
mortgage is the only good debt.
copied from another forum:
1) Person A bought a semi-D in the newly developed private housing estate in Serangoon Gardens
2) Person B bought a HDB flat and kept the rest in FD, continously putting his savings in it.
3)Person C never believing in borrowing money, saved up and bought his first house , a 3 room flat when he retired while staying in Govt qtrs.
After 30 years, Person A now owns a $2M asset that is unencumbered.Person B a 5 room flat valued at $650K and Person C a 3 room flat valued at $300K. Guess who paid the most in interest and came out best in terms of asset – Person A. The person C who was the most frugal had the least valued asset and he never paid a single cent in interest. So what went wrong with Person C?
The trick is put your money in an investment that grows the fastest with acceptable risk. There is only one in land short Singapore – property.
mortgage good Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
4) D start buying a new 3 room hdb flat back in the 70s, sell it, buy another new 4 room, sell it, buy another new 5 room, sell it.
5) There’s even option E if you care. And that is, if you make enough, you can buy a pte condo and rent it out without selling yr first flat. Stay in HDB, collect rent from condo.
(1), (4) and (5) are all winners.
Steven Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
@mortgage good:
Mortgage debt has a nice characteristic that as long as you can service it, the don’t normally be able to recall the loan even if the price of the property fluctuates (as opposed to equity margin loans which are marked to the market)
However, mortgage is a debt and gives leverage just like any other type of debt. In general of course, land prices go up (due to increased in prosperity and population) over the long term and the caveat are:
(a) One can hold for the long term (no sickness, job losses etc)
(b) You believe Singapore will always be richer and more prosperous as the best in class
(c) Singapore population will always increase (so yah… while ntu boys should excise more street smart in his comment, his present does help the increased of the property prices). If Singapore population is halfed..it would be obvious what would happen to case (1) Guy…
ntu boy Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
PR caution- Errm.. i didn’t say i’m from a Kampong. My hometown is just another big city with high GDP and half the cost of living compared to that of Singapore. However, I feel more acquainted to Singapore more than my hometown, coz this is where I grew up. Also, as a matter of fact, I am not a PR yet, and I am rightfully paying more (much more in fact) for my past tuition fees in Singapore, and I also have to balance 3 parts of my life, namely; work, study, extra-curricular activity. If you never have that kind of experience, you ABSOLOTELY have no rights to judge whether I would upset people here, because everyone has choices to make, and I have chosen to come here to be in IT, instead of becoming a doctor or dentist if i had chosen to further my education back in my country, out of passion and interest to see metropolitan city.
All i wanna say is… open up your horizon, Mr. PR Caution (to be correct: foreigner caution). I have a lot of great Singaporean friends, and whatever you say about your government, ask yourself this: if you have respect for your government, then why are you showing such attitude towards someone such as myself, who has become more Singaporeanised than you can possibly imagine. In my opinion, getting a PR later is a form of paying back to Singapore, for allowing to grow as a person, and as a more complete individual. I have to thank Singapore government for that.
Anyway, this is about Graduate couples living&saving in Singapore. What we do with the money afterwards totally depends on the most fundamental thing of all humans: choices.
It’s not about money. It’s about fulfilling one’s life’s worth. Before we lose our last breath and peacefully leave this world, I urge you, narrow-minded fool such as Mr. PR caution, to think about what you have done, and what you would like to do if you have had ‘more time’. If you have read until this point and realized there are many things that you wish you had done, go it them done. Stop blabbering to show your childish-attitude-on-top-of-narrow-mindset to a 22-year-old such as myself who rightfully will contribute to Singapore economy upon graduation in return for all the experiences I’ve had thus far in the past decade.
struggling Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
would give anything to be 22 again. Anyway chill it ntu boy not worth losing it over comments in a forum – i respect your endeavors to make it this far and even further in future.
Take care
PR caution Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
you said: getting a PR later is a form paying back to Singapore.
well, getting a PR will also allow you to reap maximum benefit from the lax immigration policies here. stupid of you not to get a PR earlier. but congratulations anyway.
ntu boy Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Struggling- you’re right… thank you, once again, senpai.
PR caution- fyi: student PR requires MALE applicants to serve national service for 2 years. Therefore, i’m applying for professional/specialist PR later. I’ll still pay income tax plus contribute CPF. The benefits are indeed appealing, thus my interest to get citizenship later on if I change my plans and settle down here. Thanks for your congratulations. If u gave it with gritted teeth, it’s better if u didn’t give it at all, you know.
Sincerity has its purposes
PR caution Says:
January 17th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
clever of you not to take up PR as a student. you saved a precious 2 years of your life.
think twice before getting citizenship. haven’t you heard that some new citizens regretted almost immediately after converting to citizens? cos they are no longer a “foreign talent” but a local sheep led by lions who make millions. and as citizens, they lose out to their unconverted counterparts in many aspects, most important of which is having no place else to go back to.
when a PR returns to kampung, it’s called going home; when a citizen escapes to kampung, he’s labelled a quitter and a fair weather citizen.
stay as a PR and balek kampung when you make enough.
sincere advice.
middleclass Says:
January 18th, 2010 at 9:36 am
ntu boy: congratulations indeed for being in a position of envy so make full use of the opportunities given.
Climb the ladder and save wisely and you should have no problems retiring comfortably back home when you are still young and able to fully enjoy life.
asiaone Says:
January 18th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
your article is mentioned in asiaone again:
Millionaire by 45? It’s possi...
risk manager Says:
January 18th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
you do not have to invest all your savings, as implied by the asiaone article.
like some of the people above, i invest less than half of my savings in riskier investments, leaving the rest in money market funds earning a guaranteed interest (these funds are almost like holding cash). overall, i make about 5% return.
when you hear people making 100% return, i bet that most of the time they DO NOT risk 100% of their savings. they would say they made 100k from a capital of 100k, but what they did not say is that the 100k capital was only, say, 10% of their savings.
want to have 1 mil too! Says:
January 18th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
yes have to agree that property is the BEST investment…
wanted to buy a condo in Q4 2005 when got married then, when it was only 550K, but due to worry if we can really afford it, took up a resale HDB and got the 30K rebate.
Now the condo is worth a million, but my HDB is worth only 380K not much increase from the 320K 4 years ago.
result of being too conservative.
After COV, reno (old place, major reno), wedding… we almost wiped out our savings.
we are however grateful for what we have, since started with pays of less than 2K in 2002. The young grads now are so lucky to start with 3-4K! Wow!
We are debt-free (except abt 170K more for HDB), just finished paying the last installment of our car loan.
We give $1.5K mthly to parents & occasionally we bring them out for meals and coming CNY time for some ang baos.
No kids yet, have a part-time helper.
Now we have abt 50k savings, a far cry from the target 1 mil. Always thought i’ve good $$ mgt till i read this article… I’m 29. Wonder if i can have 1mil in cold hard cash when i turn 45….
yah, perhaps if no kiddo comes along then.
ntu boy Says:
January 18th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Thank you all respectable seniors for your best wishes.
I wish you the very best for your family too.
To PR Caution: Thank you once again for your sincere advice. I would like to tell you that I’m from a medium-income family. My dad is a contract worker. My mom is a civil servant with a monthly pay of about 700-800 SGD per month (her credit card until today isn’t even a gold card), with not-so-much annual bonus like we’ve seen in Singapore.
I’ve worked+studied+enjoyed doing participating in CCAs here, which many schools in my country can’t afford.
Anyway, though the numbers may seem small, through sheer hard work of my parents, we live comfortably in our 6-storey terrace house with a Honda CRV, with no more debt nor liability. My goal in life is to become like them, hard worker and great parents for my kids, and better them up in terms of savings and financial planning, in order to support my beloved parents as well as my younger bro’s education, and my future family.
Thus, the time to so-called ‘balek kampung’ will come for me only when I can achieve that goal. I can always visit home anytime anyway…
Moderate Pay Says:
January 24th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
After working for about 11 years after graduation, my monthly gross pay is only about $6250 (include aws and bonuses but exlcude yearly share option worth about $2000 to $3000). However, I manage to
accumulate more than $200,000 in CPF and cash savings and my net worth for my stay-in private property is about $270,000. My net worth for my the other investment private property is about $320,000. Though my private property gain is not
as impressive compared with some people on this forum, but my net worth, excluding stay-in property, is about 0.5 million.
Why I am trying to point out is that you must do investment in order to acheive 0.5 million before turn 40 if you are median income earner.
struggling Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Moderate pay, I guess you can use cpf as part of your nett worth and kudos to you for accumulating such an impressive amount. May I ask why you did not use your cpf to finance your loan (either by downpayment or monthly instalment) so you can free up more cash for investments?
Kevin Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
struggling: Could I know the split between base and OTE for your type of role? Is it 50:50?
struggling Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Kevin, I can certainly do so but may I ask why? It’s not really relevant to the subject…
Kevin Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
struggling: It is for personal reasons. I wanted to see if it is technically risky for me to go into IT sales. From time to time, I get the odd requests from hirers but I usually turn it down without exploring further. But then again, if the base is good enough, and I completely screw up in selling, at least it is an option I can try and get “minimal” wage.
Your 20k monthly average is in line with what I hear as a total package.
Moderate Pay Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Struggling, I did use my CPF for my first private property purchase. As property price was very cheap in 2004, I used part of my CPF-OA for down payment and until now I do not use CPF for my monthly installment – I use cash. For my second private property, I used small amount (about 21K) from CPF and the rest from cash and some from bank loan. I rented the second private property and therefore I do not service the monthly installment from CPF or cash. I also have net income (>$500 monthly) from my rental income.
My net worth from CPF includes OA, SA and medisave, not just OA. I invested some amount from my CPF-OA and SA in unit trusts which gave me good return during boom years between 2004 and 2008. I was lucky to have liquidated my unit trusts investment in 2008.
If you want to invest in property, you save up and wait for property crash.
struggling Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Kevin, my split is 60-40 and my OTE is more than 300K – this line is always risky. You cannot expect just because you have a high base, you are safe – truth is, if you, as you say, ‘suck at selling’ then you’ll probably be let go off sooner than expected. Most companies aim for 50-50 split to drive the sales guys to push harder – also the rewards will be greater if you hit the accelerators. If you are hesitant about this line then my advice is better not take the plunge. It is not like a technical role where you’ll be safe collecting your base for the next 48 months at least even if your performance is below average.
struggling Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
moderate pay, thanks for sharing – sounds like you did well for yourself.
I seriously doubt that there will be a property crash anytime soon. In the past, everyone’s talking about the cycle repeating itself every 10 years but i think the government has learned from that. There may be a slight dip, yes, but for it to crash like the yesteryears of yore (2005, 2006) is unlikely with higher construction costs and higher demand. To make money, one may have to be like Lucky Investor, go for enbloc jackpot or invest in strategic locations where they are still relatively undervalued.
Kevin Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Struggling, if the sales cycle is long, it is fair to take a while before people judge whether you suck or not. I know of people in my ex company who left after 2 years in BD not closing a deal.
Cutting-edge stuff is not easy to sell, because most of the times it is not yet ready.
struggling Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Kevin, I agree you can stay longer if the cycle is long but while a poor performing non-sales manager can somehow beef up his resume with projects completed and stuff, a sales guy needs the numbers to prove for it – eg closed X number of accounts or achieved XX% of quota etc. If there are none, then good luck to him finding another job unless he admits to his new employer that he tried out sales and it was not for him, hence he is moving back to the role he is accustomed to. However, if so, he would have lost 2 years – had he spent that 2 years on experience cum skills building he could have moved on to a director / VP position. again, just my thoughts.
never say never Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
>I seriously doubt that there will be a property crash anytime soon.
I’m of the opposite opinion. With countries reining in their stimulus packages, and with louder dissenting voices from the common people against big banks and big businesses leading to political upheavals – we just witnessed a small one in the US – stocks and property may be due for a big correction. Whether you call it a crash depends on definition.
what's OTE? Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
kevin & struggling: what’s OTE? thanks.
lmgtfy Says:
January 26th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
good question on OTE. See:
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=define%3AOTE
Kevin Says:
January 27th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
stuggling: Thanks for your advice. At least if I am going in, I will be going in with my eyes wide open.
Doraemorn Says:
January 28th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Everything is Relative. Imagine if ALL of you had 1 million dollars.
What would that 1 million be able to buy you? A house? No. You would only be able to buy clothes and food with it.
A community of rich people = A community of poor people. Because what you can afford, your neighbor too can afford (since he’s also a millionaire). If everyone can afford to buy it, then that object of purchase will rise tremendously in price and inflation will no longer be in single digits. Which means you’ll NEVER see the end of the road, since BOTH or ALL of you are running at the same time. You’ll never be happy but forever panting.
Don’t get entrapped in the lure of riches.
It is not how much you have, but how little you need that determines your happiness.
Millionaire Says:
January 28th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
The good thing is that many people DO NOT even have half a million.
That said, the happiest people on earth are those in POOR underdeveloped countries like Nigeria, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
On the other hand, poor people in DEVELOPED countries, including Singapore, are NOT a happy lot.
Compare Your Investment Profits | Salary.sg - Your Salary in Singapore Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:05 am
[...] I posted about graduate couples having no problems saving $1 million, I used an investment return of 3% in my [...]
Lee Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 pm
I am best i have no money
Tay Says:
March 5th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
By the age of 45, we might have pay up our expenses up to 1 million dollar in total.
Poor but surviving Says:
March 18th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
damn, im poor!
DI3K+2P Says:
March 22nd, 2010 at 4:52 pm
….We’re in our mid 30s, earning a combined 300k annually (now), but with a landed property, continental car, 3 kids, 2 aging parents, 2 domestic helpers… and we’re still trying to enjoy at least 3-4 good vacations a year… we’re not actually saving much……. maybe a million in 10 more years…. that is if we don’t upgrade to a larger home (which is on the cards)…
DI3K+2P (= double income, 3 kids, 2 parents)
Tick Says:
May 5th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
both of us close to 40 years. making annual close to 300k. 2 kids, 1 old jap car, 1 small condo, 4 parents to take care. trying to live within our means and save up for kids education and our retirement. Comfortable life, but not luxurous lifestyle…
poor but surviving Says:
May 6th, 2010 at 8:58 am
wow tick, u r really doing quite well. I reckon the 300k is a combined figure between you and your wife?
JLLT Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 8:55 pm
i’m 29 this yr , i have a net worth of $450k (cash , stock n unit trust) excluding my cpf n hdb…however my hubby net worth is onli abt 120k. we have a car (car loan is 550sgd a mth, loan left wit another 4-5yrs left).u think i can b a millionaire by 40? i saved more than three quarter of my salary, believe it anot.hdb is service fully by cpf. i have not been lucky in stock n unit trust….
…its really an effort of pure saving thru working hard.
JLLT Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 8:57 pm
ohh.. forget to add on.. we have a baby.
poor but surviving Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
JLLT : U guys are doing well man!
Sad Says:
October 19th, 2010 at 9:39 am
looking at all the comments really makes me think how poor i am. making annual barely 30k…extremely low.. wonder how could I ever be like you guys..
Yup Says:
October 19th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Absolutely, I used to be earning like you but now earning >100k. Singaporeans constantly look down on their own skills thinking you need a ivy league degree or something to move up.
Trick is to be visible in a company and take calculated risks. For me it was to move abroad and join a MNC that valued my bi-lingual (English & Mandarin) skills. My mandarin is not that good but way better than any ang-mo.
You have valuable skills for any foreign company going into China! Make sure you command the proper salary for that!!
tired of saving Says:
February 17th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
JLLT: Hey good job, how do you save so much? is your earning very high and when did you start working?
JLLT Says:
July 23rd, 2011 at 1:10 am
i work since 20yr old. im earning abt $6300 per month. recently took up part time teaching once a wk… as a second job(im v hardworking one)..hehehe. that is extra $800 per mth. but no income during sch holidays. hubby onli earn $3300 in civil service
.. i jus paid up all my car loan last mth to save on interest.. need to work hard for my first million! wish me luck! but truthfully… im pretty tired n drain.. kinda sian already.
Byluck Says:
July 29th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
32yo, wife 30yo, no kids, we live in HDB, combined income 13k, 2 investment properties (outside of HDB).
take frequent short holidays, eat with parents now and then, and weekly outside at least 3 dinners.
Flat is 320k with 200k mortgage (+120)
Condo 1 is 920k with 650k mortgage (+270)
Condo 2 is 1.78M with 960k mortgage (+802k, but 3 other investors so divide by 4 = +200k)
Not much cash savings nor stocks, sold most after 09 recovery. About 600k ‘worth’ in property, 70k in wife’s CPF to meet minimum sum (to drawdown for 2nd ppty)
Lost money in a few startup companies (50k), paper value 200k in another startup that might be sold for more (but don’t know so won’t count it).
Any advice to move faster from here? Don’t really like my job.. and wife will retire to be homemaker if we have kids.