Ideal salary for living in Singapore is S$6,000: survey

[Runifyouhaveto]

Out of curiosity just went to singstat to take a look. It really is the 70th percentile and above is more than the 12k and it include taking into account cpf. Lucky guess, if you ask me, RUN.

Good brother, are u refering to 70th percentile based on household income, not individual?

Based on this information from you + sam boss's remarks about putting money aside savings n investments
RUN will not be surprised that appx 70% of our population has no bullets left for other significant form of savings n investments, except their CPF n HDB.

 

[Runifyouhaveto]

I will show your post to my wifey

RUN just shown your reply to wifey too.

 

[Runifyouhaveto]

Our seniors here might find it hard to believe the cost of supporting a family "ideally", faced by our brothers in 30s n 40s, as per our discussion topic.

Anatomy of a $6000 income earner + wifey don't work

Personal Expense: $1500
Avg of $50 a day is reasonable, you earn $6000, you will probably need to spend some money to doll up yourself to maintain your professional look (unless you are a fishmonger or wear t-shirts n jeans to work everyday because u are an engineer in a chemical plant with clean-room clothings provided). RUN don't also expect you to eat at hawker centres everyday, perhaps at least there is 1 meal a day, that will cost you more than $10.

Housing Loan: $1500
RUN don't expect you to be contended with squeezing family in a 3-room flat if you make $6000 a month. But our properties are not cheap, forking out $1500 monthly from CPF or cash for a good sized HDB or condo is not unreasonable. So if wifey don't work, good luck to you.

Family Utilities/Phone/Internet + Groceries: $500 + $500 = $1000
Assuming no maid + food for family is home-cooked, you still need to put aside $1000.

2 Kids living expense: $500 x 2 = $1000
You may just send kids just to pri school without tuition or enrichment, but they still need pocket money n basic living expenses right?


The above essentials amounts to $5000 , this excludes your once-a-while vacation, $$$ for old parents, tuition for kids, CAR, gifts, etc.
Conclusion 1: Most middle-income earners don't have the ability to give more than $500 a month for every parent.
Conclusion 2: Most middle-income earners who lives ideally have no meaningful savings or investments other than CPF n HDB
Conclusion 3: Most middle-income earners who tries their best to groom their kids DO NOT HAVE much spare $$$
Conclusion 4: Only middle-income earners who give up one of the essentials (stay single OR no kid, OR small HDB) to can live ideally + with spare bullets to build an investment portfolio that boss sam highlighted.
Conclusion 5: The above illustrates the importance of having Wifey in workforce. Our country should reimburse working married women for hiring maids.

 

[tanwahp]

I thought I'd add a bit regarding this issue.

I agree that overheads were lower then compared to now. However, why then are there so many PMETs my age who are now driving taxis or working as security guards.

I was a PMET in my younger days and I have ex PMET colleagues who have happily retired and love the PAP and I have ex PMET colleagues who are now driving taxis and curse the PAP.

So why the different outcomes when we lived in the same era and worked in the same company? The answer lies in the choices each individual made along the way.

The richest ex PMET colleague that I am still in touch with had one aim in life and that was to accumulate properties. He was a senior engineer who was probably drawing around $6000 at the time. He took a bus to work daily. Never owned a car in his younger days. He's probably worth more than $15 million now.

On the other side of the coin is an ex colleague who used to be a Department head probably drawing about $12,000 per month. He loved his cars. They had to be Continental cars and he changed them often. Nice cars attracted nice looking chicks who needed to be pampered accordingly. You guessed it... he's now broke. If he jumped MRT tomorrow, I would not be surprised. Of course everyone would blame the PAP. I would say he brought it upon himself.

Thank you for the story. I say again, binging on alcohol and continental cars are not part of the expenses we are discussing here.

In fact I would be surprised that someone earning $12,000 per month would indulge on continental cars. This is a hobby for the million-dollar income.

 

[tanwahp]

No they are not. The politicians here are simply on a merry go round. They spend a few years in opposition and a few years in power and this cycle repeats itself. They have their old boy/girl network too. No politician ends up unemployed. When Helen Clarke was kicked out of office, she ended up in the UN heading some obscure organisation which does nothing much but pays her more than half a million annually.

I am sure if elections meant nothing they would not have stepped into politics in the first place.

To many of these politicians, it is the loss of face that matters, not the money.

And if NZ politicians worry about this, we should make sure the PAP politicians feel the same.

 

[lifeafter41]

Good brother, are u refering to 70th percentile based on household income, not individual?

Based on this information from you + sam boss's remarks about putting money aside savings n investments
RUN will not be surprised that appx 70% of our population has no bullets left for other significant form of savings n investments, except their CPF n HDB.

RUN will not be surprised that appx 70% of our population has no bullets left for other significant form of savings n investments, except their CPF n HDB

My thoughts is it's going to be very tough for the children of the 70% if the above statement cuts thru.
Off the cuff calculation as follows:

Couple with 2 or 3 children.
Assuming couple bought flat at 120k years back, though now flat has appreciate to 450k or more.

Burden will be on the children 2 or 3 three children that is going to buy the flat 350k or more.
As for minimum sum, we have not even come to that.