Middle class Singaporean no more.....Sigh

[indoboii]

@ts, move to indonesia bro!! you will be multi billionaire in rupiah

[kuasimi]

[kuasimi]

[kuasimi]

[JohnBoSeh]

bro kuasimi, well done

[MoJoe313]

Originally Posted by ludwig19

well lets see...hands up anyone in here who can go 15 years without working while still able to maintain current lifestyle. wanna see if its really that common.

I like the way you get your data. Survey SBF for wealth. LoL

Here's something to ponder over. DBS in recent years segregated their wealth management department.

Treasures for those with $350,000 investible funds. Treasures Private Client for those with $1.5m. Treasures Private Bank for those with >$5m.

https://www.dbs.com.sg/private-banki...anagement.page

Do you think their Private Bank is set up to service 10 people only?

[kuasimi]

Originally Posted by MoJoe313

Bro,

So in part, the heavy costs are a result of my decisions. But after numerous cost reviewing exercises, one can't deny it used to be easier for the middle class just years ago. I hope we are still called the Middle Class. It is not as though I cannot survive. But there is not much joy if one has to thrift all the time. It is hardly called Middle Class.

I can understand inflation. It is hyper inflation I can't deal with. QE and low interest rates take the cake. Bad policies increased the Gini coefficient.

1. Auctioning shopping malls land plots to developers directly, put certain essential goods at the mercy of capitalists. Owners try to meet their ROI by increasing rents. NTUC finest, Cold Storage etc pass down the cost to consumers. The game continues next year. Populate this format throughout the country, and this is why we are in this mess. There are fewer low cost wet market landlords to be found. Tell me, when was the last time you found Aeroplane chess, a game we used to play, for sale. It is not as though our kids want higher end toys. Low end toys just can't be found!

Same for food at food courts. The G realized this error by building 2 hawker centres. It recently decided to ramp up to 12. It showed the seriousness of it.

2. I am using the above as one of many policy errors I see happening. Don't want to mention others less I be interpreted as being politically partisan. I am not.

I wonder if we as a country are really richer when all we are trying to do is to purchase the same basket of goods.

It is a known phenomenon that our Gini is one of the highest in the world. There is a diminishing middle class. It is either super rich or poor. You may still be comfortable now. When this trend (or policy) continues, you just get pushed down the ladder one day. Unless you belong to the asset class, not the working man class. Good luck to us all.

Nothing wrong with being Pro WP or Anti PAP. You cannot sit on the fence because Singapore is a democracy. You need to choose sides. Do not be obsess with being neutral else you will need to spoil your vote.

The Media, PA Grassroots, Civil Service, NTUC, Unions, GLCs, Temasek Holdings, GIC etc were suppose to be neutral because of moral obligations and compliance but we all know past 50 years, these entities are only Pro PAP.

[MoJoe313]

Originally Posted by kuasimi

Nothing wrong with being Pro WP or Anti PAP. You cannot sit on the fence because Singapore is a democracy. You need to choose sides. Do not be obsess with being neutral else you will need to spoil your vote.

The Media, PA Grassroots, Civil Service, NTUC, Unions, GLCs, Temasek Holdings, GIC etc were suppose to be neutral because of moral obligations and compliance but we all know past 50 years, these entities are only Pro PAP.

I used to spoil my votes last time. Draw smiley faces on both candidates. Haha!

[kuasimi]

Originally Posted by MoJoe313

I used to spoil my votes last time. Draw smiley faces on both candidates. Haha!

I cannot criticise you for that but you are not giving yourself a chance in shaping your own future, your children's future and your grandchildren's future then.

If you want to qualify to complain then the old cliche stands when voters complain about life and government. The question to you will be "Who did you vote for?"

Too much Singaporean's savings stuck in big ticket items like house, health, education and transport. Expenditures on lifestyle, retirement, family nucleus are ultimately affected.

If Singapore is to be Singaporean and survive then everyone need to do something about it. Singapore is Singaporean ONLY IF YOU CAN KEEP IT. Democracy is not a free ride man.



Why SINGAPORE is NOT the greatest country in the world, anymore.

[Nato17]

Originally Posted by MoJoe313

Like you advocated, I do not work to enrich anyone but myself. This is why I can talk cock at this time of the day. LoL. The difficulty which is not explicit (or I didn't read far enough) is transiting to the asset class. A simple coffee shop costs $15m. Residential homes are cheaper at $1m a pop.

Coffeeshops will not be worth $15m in about a few years time. With the new alcohol regulations, it makes no more sense to plough in 15 million for pittance. A lot of coffeshops are going to go under period.

[Nato17]

Originally Posted by MoJoe313

Help me out bro. I am really trying hard not to be stubborn or to sound proud. Why is it almost everyone assumes it is a situation where "I am managing things poorly"?

If you must know, I have a cash reserve of 15 years. Cold hard cash in the bank. Not unliquidated assets, which is separate. I can go 15 years without income and still carry on this lifestyle. That's alot of zeros. I am not mis-managing. Nor boasting. Just alluding to the point that cost of living is rising very fast. Is it very hard to understand?

I concur with you that the cost of living is rising way too fast!

Let me do some simple maths right now for some people who have no sense of numbers.

Let's assume you require 4000 a month to live on during retirement, which isn't much really. I smoke 3-4 packs of cigarettes a day, so my cost is close to about $50 per day and assuming that cigarettes are not going to rise any further than this anymore (which probably is not going to happen). Now, at 4k per month, you basically have disposable income of $130 plus per day. Subtract $50, that leaves $70 per day. Minus away utilities at $20 per day plus $10 for internet/phones etc....that leaves you a grand total of $40 per day. Haven't considered food yet. So assuming you pay $30 per day for you and your wife for food during retirement...what do u have left? $10.

That is just simple maths!

Now, lets dig further ok? Let's assume how you got your $4k is basically through a rental apartment. How much is that worth really? Probably in the region of $1-1.5 Mil. So really, one would be considered middle class probably, yes or no?

We haven't even considered in inflation or the likes of sickness etc. Which is damn scary. I know of a lot of superscale retirees back in the early 2000s and middle 2000s who retired with 1 Mil and above and thought they were going to live a luxurious livestyle etc. And seriously now I see them they are living not well at all. The crux of the matter is, the rules have changed dramatically this last few years and things aren't getting any better!

[tungsten]

I would suggest that one of the first thing you consider to do is to cut down your smoking.

[parrotkid]

It is a fact that inflation here rose faster than income. In fact the inflation figures given by the govt can't be right since many basic need items are rising like 5-7% Per annum.

[IronCurtain]

Originally Posted by MoJoe313

I like the way you get your data. Survey SBF for wealth. LoL

Here's something to ponder over. DBS in recent years segregated their wealth management department.

Treasures for those with $350,000 investible funds. Treasures Private Client for those with $1.5m. Treasures Private Bank for those with >$5m.

https://www.dbs.com.sg/private-banki...anagement.page

Do you think their Private Bank is set up to service 10 people only?

Let's recall this article showing that there are 100,000 millionaires in Singapore.

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/bus...eport-20140619


Sure, there are 100k people to be serviced , but how many percent of the population is that?
Take citizen population as 3 million, then its 3 percent.
Take entire population as 5 million, thats 2 percent.

If your 15 years cash reserve amounts to a million dollars, you are easily in the top 3 percent of the population

If you call yourself middle class, the other 97 percent of the population is low class lah

[MoJoe313]

Originally Posted by Nato17

Coffeeshops will not be worth $15m in about a few years time. With the new alcohol regulations, it makes no more sense to plough in 15 million for pittance. A lot of coffeshops are going to go under period.

Aiyo. You have no idea bro. Never belittle a coffee shop. 5 hawkers each paying $6k a month rental gives you $30k a month. On a standard 3% ROI, thats $12m. Some are willing to go in at less than 3% because it is a limited asset and a safe way to park money. When rents increase, you can work out their corresponding value. The next time you go into a coffee shop, work out mathematically how rich that owner is.

I know a ex char kway teow seller. Started off with owning one coffee shop. Then the next. And the next. Today he owns an entire shopping mall in Australia. Valued at >A$100m. He is now in his 80s. Stays in a humble corner terrace in a outskirt location in sg near his coffee shop. His sons manage his empire.

How do I know? Lets just say I am intimately familiar with private banking. You guys have no idea how many super rich there are in Sg. The more I know, the more I feel like so small like a cockroach, waiting to be crushed by giants. And there are people here on paid salaries who think $8k a month expenses is good. Geez! Look around to see how others accumulate wealth.