Salary.sg – Your Salary in Singapore

Based on a Straits Times report, the annual income of a local private banker can range from “no more than $200,000″ to “between $600,000 to $1 million.”

Based on information from salary.com, the 75th-percentile Private Banker (junior level) in America makes US$67,188 in base salary, and US$73,008 in bonuses.

From this page in efinancialcareers.sg:

“A junior could expect to earn S$70k to S$100k in overall compensation; a mid-level banker might earn S$100k to S$160k; while the most experienced candidates could earn around S$500k.”

Some interesting comments on this other page in efinancialcareers.sg.

MINDEF has announced that fresh entrants into MINDEF and SAF will get a higher starting pay.

In its press release, I noted that accountant entrants with good honours degrees get the highest increase (16.1%), followed by management executives with good honours (15.8%). Management executives and accountants are part of MINDEF’s non-uniformed officer scheme, or what they call “DXOs” – Defence Executive Officers.

However, the highest absolute starting pay is still reserved for the uniformed combat military officer entrants. Lieutenants with good honours now get a starting pay of $3,860, about 3.2% up from the previous $3,740.

These are the starting salaries for the MINDEF and SAF entrants, sorted from highest to lowest:

1. Lieutenant (good honours) – $3,860
2. Officer Cadet (good honours) – $3,500
3. Lieutenant (degree) – $3,430
4. Accountants (good honours) – $3,180
5. Management Executives (good honours) – $3,080
6. Officer Cadet (degree) – $2,940
7. Accountants (degree) – $2,670
8. Management Executives (degree) – $2,590
9. Lieutenant (diploma) – $2,520
10. Lieutenant (A-level) – $2,160
11. Officer Cadet (diploma) – $2,100
12. Officer Cadet (A-level) – $1,970

Interestingly, a diploma holder makes more than an A-level holder, by up to $360 for lieutenant entrants. So, if you are quite sure you want to stop schooling 2 to 3 years after your O levels, go to a polytechnic!

According to a survey by eFinancialCareers.sg, the well known “financial job marketplace” portal, Singapore bank executives work the longest number of hours.

As reported in the Straits Times, 44% of our bankers work more than 55 hours a week, with Hong Kong and UK not too far behind at 43% and 41% respectively.

The global average is 38.5%.

As for bank executives working less than 35 hours a week, the global average is 7%. We are not too bad at 4%. Hong Kong is perhaps a little better at 8.6%.

The reason for our bankers working so hard is quite apparent:

“… with fat pay cheques, bumper bonuses and career advancement opportunities, local bank executives do not seem to mind the long hours.”

Would you?

Minister Lim Boon Heng said yesterday that the CPF Minimum Sum withdrawal age may be raised to 65 (from 62). Note that you can still withdraw money from your Ordinary and Special Accounts when you reach 55 years old, subject to the rules given on this CPF page. Example: If you are retiring today and [...]

Mr Willie Cheng argued in the Straits Times today that salaries in charity organisations are already governed by market forces. “No one is compelled to do non-profit work. People choose to work in charities at wage levels that they know of upfront and thus fully accept.” But I do not quite understand his point on [...]

I can foresee many more people signing up to become property agents, after the Sunday Times showcased a few hotshots. In the examples cited in the Sunday Times article, one agent earns “between $10,000 and $15,000 a month”, another makes “about $20,000 a month”, and yet another takes home “about $25,000 a month.” As a [...]

Due to the strong upturn in the property market, conveyancing lawyers are now in big demand, as reported in Sunday Times today. In conveyancing, the lawyer helps clients lodge caveats, perform checks, process property transactions, etc. – boring stuff compared to corporate work and litigation. Moreover, the conveyancing lawyer earns much less compared to his [...]

As reported in the papers today, official CPF figures show that employees working in the real estate and financial services industries got the highest pay increase this year. The average increase is 8.3% for financial services and a whopping 23.8% for real estate & leasing services. But what is more interesting (to me) in the [...]

One year after the Medisave Contribution Ceiling (MCC) was adjusted to $33,000, CPF has announced that MCC will be adjusted upwards again, this time to $33,500 effective 1 July 2007. If your Medisave account balance already stands at $33k, which is the previous cap, you’ll need to “top up” $500. This can be accomplished in [...]

The Straits Times reported on front page today that another 5-room HDB has been transacted at a record $720,000. This time, the flat is located at Kim Tian Place, which is in Bukit Merah area, another central location. This follows from yesterday’s news of a Jalan Membina 5-room being sold at $675,000. I did a [...]