Some words of wisdom
 

Hi fellow senior and samster,

Just want to have some insight of your opinion about the situation I am in. Currently in my mid twenties and I am earning 4.4k per month and if I include all the commission and bonus for a smooth year I could take home about 60-64k annual income. Have a fiance and getting married soon. Have a BTO coming up in 2 years time (Price around 470k). Although it seems to be quite a okay picture as stated by some of my friends but I feel like I might be still below the national average standards. Do seniors and fellow samster feel I should be happy with what I have or am I right to feel that I should be doing more about my income status?

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

bro, you are in your mid twenties so presumably that you have joined the work force for a couple of years only. It may be a pre-mature to judge your income capability as you still young and energetic with a long career ahead of you.

you are earning a income of 4.4k. based on national statistic for 2018, you fall right in the 50th percentile. So that mean you are just right depending where you are looking at, left or right.

Above is your current status. Now let see how your next few years will be like.....

Today, you are single earning 4.4K. You are in a position of what you spend what you earn, which you are part of a prime consumer market aside the rich ones. for the sake of discussion, I make a assumption that after deducting your essential living expense (food, transport, mobile and tax), your spending power is 2K and likewise for your other half. i.e. 4K in total.

You have a house coming up in 2 year time. once you draw your keys, your combined spending power will goes down to 3.7K, deducting your monthly S&C and utilities. Then you have your household item and maintenance cost for the appliances, this will set you back to 3.1K. Then we have insurance, for you , your spouse, and your property. this will bring you down again to 2.8K or so.

Bear in mind, i have yet to include your entertainment and shopping expense and also expense for your parent.

If we look further down, and let say both of you decide to have children, now with 2.8K per month to go thru your wife pregnacy period and your new born child, how far will that bring you. once you have another mouth to feed, your expense goes down drastically. It will not matches your annual increment as it is only meant to offset the inflation. also we hv not goes into the part of car ownership or travel holidays.

I can write a whole book on this.......but to summarize, your 4.4K today will only help you thru the next 1-2 years. you will need a lot more in 5 yrs time and 10 yr time. Going back to the Singapore income statistic, remember how the math goes, it is a percentile and the people at the top 30th or 20th percentile are earning 4-10 times of your current dividing among a smaller population compare to the lower 50th percentile where the income drop may be small for every 10th percentile but the population increase drastically.

Thank you for your input. I guess you are right if im alone and don't have much to spend on the amount I have actually us quite sufficient but long term it will not be a solution

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

Human are never satisfied :D

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

TS,
$4.4k is approx national median income. Together with your bonuses and for you to hit it in your mid 20s, you are doing fantastic, imho.

But success with money does not mean success with life. And different people have different markers for success.

I have a banker relative who hit $15k in her late 20s. But she goes home everyday at 10pm. No life. Now in her 50s, she is a Deputy CEO of a large bank and still goes home so late. Got lots of money. No time for her husband and kids. Husband eats out. This is called bad success.

I have a sales friend who hit $20k in her late 20s. Over 2 decades, her industry collapse. She later became a housewife. This is called temp success.

I have an engineer friend who earns $4k in his mid 20s. Today in his late 40s, he is doing $13k. His job v eng. No pressure. 5pm knock off. He has time to enjoy life. This is called good success.

I have friends in their mid 40s with simple jobs that earn <$6000. They are happily married with kids and treat their jobs for what it is - just a job. They have time to focus on other aspects of life. Family. Wife. Kids. Friends. This is called Happiness.

Having lived life a bit, I can tell you the journey is long. There will be lots of ups and downs. You choose the type of success you want and it doesn't mean more money equals more success.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

Bro thank you so much for your insight. You bring wealth to a different light. Yes what you say is very true, true happiness is not always measure by how much you bring in every month but how much you enjoy your life. Thank you kind sir

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

I think what's more important is to find something to do that you are passionate about.

Money should not be the main motivation in your professional life. If you find yourself working only for the sake of money, it will be a meaningless existence.

Just remember, you can always earn back the money but you can never earn back time.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

cannot see income only la.
thats the problem with singaporeans. See everything so 1 sided.
U need to see your current lifestyle also. How about your partner's lifestyle? Can your partner endure such unglamorous lifestyle?

Some people i know earn 12k a mth but spend 20k a mth.
Some earn 1.6k a mth only, but spend $400 a mth.
Do u service a car? Car is expensive liability. 10 yrs of supporting a car can set u back > 200k less than someone without a car.
Then BTO got renovation? Renovation costs? Some spend 50k in it, some even > 100k. 1 of my friends got a resale flat, but no need reno all. Everything plus furniture he only spent about 5k as the things in the flat still in good condition.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

lifestyle will increase as income increase, totally normal.
You are upset with yourself being unable to get more, and it is normal as you are an employee. Want to earn more? simply work for yourself. Salary gives you a living, profit gives you a lifestyle

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

Lifestyle will increase according to income.
Spending will increase according to income.
But the proportion of spending to income may not.
Take example of me.
I use to spend 2/3 of of my income when i was earning like 3k a mth.
after 3 to 4 times income increase, i'm spending like 50%...... then to 40% of my income.
Yes the absolute amount of spending increases. But relative amount for me actually decreased. So i end up saving a lot more than before as well even though my spending still kept increasing.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

I guess it’s up to your own point of view.
I used to earn around your income range. However, no life. Weekends are always working. Public holiday also working. No time for parents and family.
One of my friend intro me another job, took a pay cut. Now earning 3.3 before cpf. But i got more time with my family.
Ex colleague called me stupid. But after seeing my weekend life, they also envy. So i believe it’s up to each individuals.
Depending on what do you deem as important or success to you.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

u need to hv a goal n work towards it.
w the current job situation, even u are earning high salary, do not over commit in bank loans cause u cannot assure your earnings/job is secure down the road.
i always hv a plan to retire early, but i Wish to stay single.
so now near 50 i already retired, rent out my HDB n live overseas. simple budget living but happy n stress free, i visit family n friends Every quarter thks to low cost airlines.
expenses are abt 30% of Singapore in one of the SEA countries,.

Wow bro, sound like a good plan. Retired overseas is always my dream. But cant leave my parents here.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

I'm also planning to retire around 50.
Target is saving up $1m in cash & investments (excluding property & CPF) to generate comfortable passive income during retirement years.

Also have parents to look after. I thinking like worst case, bring parents over. Or at least offer to bring them over. Comfortable life there. But new challenges like making new friends, live in an unfamiliar place, learning new language & find new things to do. Can be exciting but also a challenge.

Re: Some words of wisdom
 

[QUOTE=fallen11;19416235]cannot see income only la.

Some people i know earn 12k a mth but spend 20k a mth.
Some earn 1.6k a mth only, but spend $400 a mth.
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bro, you are very tight to say this
some months I earn only $1,600 and left with only $200.
some months I earn $4k but also left with only #200.
y? massage and drink beer lor!