YTD 2025 Networth tracking thread

[stanlawj]

Keep it that way and you should retire comfortably. The moment you get married and have kids will destroy that equation very fast. You will find whatever you have not enough for your ownself. Keep it up.

Divorce is the real killer. Immediate 50% loss for a man.

 

[sohguanh]

Divorce is the real killer. Immediate 50% loss for a man.

That is why I always say getting married and have kids or even caring for your elderly parents will hamper your retirement but some readers don't think so. I guess every reader has their own definition of what is retirement which may not necessarily be just monies. Or some readers are just too young to kena that stage in life so can talk big or small

 

[highsulphur]

If you read what i elaborated on, 10M is needed to pay for options/choices. One of the options will be starting a family with kids without having to worry about finding a job.

2M needs a fine balancing act, and the room for error or drawdowns in portfolio is small.

so the 10m is for you to get married and have kids comfortably. And not really for one pax to retire

 

[stanlawj]

so the 10m is for you to get married and have kids comfortably. And not really for one pax to retire

Yup, and even after divorce (if the marriage was a mistake), still got 5M.

 

[d9_lives]

Keep it that way and you should retire comfortably. The moment you get married and have kids will destroy that equation very fast. You will find whatever you have not enough for your ownself. Keep it up.

Speaking from experience? Lol...

Imo, DINK is the most efficient and optimal way to financial freedom.
I can't imagine wasting my youth, prime years for kids.
At least 2 decades of thankless servitude...hell no.

 

[highsulphur]

Speaking from experience? Lol...

Imo, DINK is the most efficient and optimal way to financial freedom.
I can't imagine wasting my youth, prime years for kids.
At least 2 decades of thankless servitude...hell no.

I guess you don't have any kids?

 

[DevilPlate]

For a single, the 2M isn't really great because of how much prices have risen for everything. If you rewind time to your twenties, this 2M is actually worth only 1M in purchasing power when you were in your twenties.

10M probably the point at which i will consider comfortable for today. Because that is the point at which you can spend and enough left over to pay for your lover if you wish to have one (or two).

What i think 2M will be enough to buy you is time, knowledge, and also door to better opportunities. Also buy what you need to maintain good health till old age.

2M at 41yo needs to be frugal
But 10M is overkill.

i would think 2M on top of let say a fully paid condo worth 1.5M today for a single at 41yo should be sufficient.
Can always downgrade to HDB or even a 2rm BTO flat in 60s to free up extra cash plus ERS should be quite comfortable.

 

[kickass22]

It seems you most of you need 5M and above to live your life or else you got to live a "Frugal" Life. I wonder how the rest of Singaporeans who earn less can afford to live in Singapore.

What a miserable life they will have.....sigh...

 

[stanlawj]

2M at 41yo needs to be frugal
But 10M is overkill.

i would think 2M on top of let say a fully paid condo worth 1.5M today for a single at 41yo should be sufficient.
Can always downgrade to HDB or even a 2rm BTO flat in 60s to free up extra cash plus ERS should be quite comfortable.

If you going to downgrade... that's not the point.
Because, why not go it all the way: downgrade and retire in Thailand, live in a mud+straw hut at the countryside. Eat rice porridge, eggs and grasshoppers (because can't kill the chicken that lays the eggs)?

It's about paying for what you DESIRE, no longer about what you need.

 

[stanlawj]

It seems you most of you need 5M and above to live your life or else you got to live a "Frugal" Life. I wonder how the rest of Singaporeans who earn less can afford to live in Singapore.

What a miserable life they will have.....sigh...

There's different class of traveling in life. Budget, Economy, Premium Economy, Business, First Class, Private Jet.

All of us have what we need to get to the end destination and will get there. It is what we can afford for our DESIRES that differentiates the experience.

If I can afford First Class, but have no desire for it, Economy is fine. But if I can only afford Economy but desire First Class, that's where the having the extra $M makes a difference.

And you won't know your desires truly until the budget limit is gone. That's when a man shows his true colours: to live a principled life or to live a lust-driven life.

 

[revhappy]

If you going to downgrade... that's not the point.
Because, why not go it all the way: downgrade and retire in Thailand, live in a mud+straw hut at the countryside. Eat rice porridge, eggs and grasshoppers (because can't kill the chicken that lays the eggs)?

It's about paying for what you DESIRE, no longer about what you need.

I agree, no point in downgrading. But what if we never upgraded in the first place and were comfortable with a low level of spending?

I feel everyone has their own comfort line, below which is too cheap and above which is considered wasteful.

For example for me, as long as I have enough time, to travel somewhere in Singapore I would take the Bus or MRT. I never take taxi. Only time I take taxi is when returning from Changi airport, with lots of luggage.

I always take budget flights. I dont see the point of paying extra $200 for SQ Vs Scoot. Sometimes the difference is even smaller and still I would take scoot.

Also if you don't plan to retire in Singapore,2million will go a very long way.

Apparently the 1million USD puts you in the top 1% richest in the world. It would be a shame if you are USD millionaire in Singapore and still you consider yourself as poor.

I mean if you love your job then by all means keep working. But if you hate your job, but still continue to go to work, then I think we need to evaluate if it is worth it. We have only one life after all.

 

[wutawa]

my networth went up $8k for jan. it is a good start and i am really happy.

sold amzn (breakeven) and bought visa and bitcoin etf.
i put bitcoin etf as a separate category from cspx. 4 shades of purple represent shares.

 

[DevilPlate]

If you going to downgrade... that's not the point.
Because, why not go it all the way: downgrade and retire in Thailand, live in a mud+straw hut at the countryside. Eat rice porridge, eggs and grasshoppers (because can't kill the chicken that lays the eggs)?

It's about paying for what you DESIRE, no longer about what you need.

Downgrade option to HDB is there as safety net.

 

[limster]

It seems you most of you need 5M and above to live your life or else you got to live a "Frugal" Life. I wonder how the rest of Singaporeans who earn less can afford to live in Singapore.

What a miserable life they will have.....sigh...

There's different class of traveling in life. Budget, Economy, Premium Economy, Business, First Class, Private Jet.

All of us have what we need to get to the end destination and will get there. It is what we can afford for our DESIRES that differentiates the experience.

If I can afford First Class, but have no desire for it, Economy is fine. But if I can only afford Economy but desire First Class, that's where the having the extra $M makes a difference.

And you won't know your desires truly until the budget limit is gone. That's when a man shows his true colours: to live a principled life or to live a lust-driven life.

I agree with this. It sort of syncs with what Morgan Housell says in Psychology of Money. Having money doesn't make you happy. Having enough makes you happy.

If you can afford budget airline air ticket for long haul flight and that is 'enough', like what revhappy mentioned, then your expectations and what you can afford match nicely. You are not miserable. (actually revhappy probably can afford a biz class tix once in a while depending on his spending priorities, but thats a separate point.... )

On the other hand, your mindset is that you want to travel business/first but you can only afford budget airline, then you might be miserable (or be overcome by the green-eye monster) whenever you see those in premium classes going to priority queue/priority boarding. (I actually have no idea why there is a rush to board when I am flying biz/first - not as if I am rushing to chope overhead storage space).

When I was younger, I was happy to fly premium and have done multiple 20hr flights to the US in economy (being fit helps you recover better from jetlag). But now I am no longer young, I very much appreciate business lie-flat seats for long-haul flights, and fortunately I can afford a couple of tickets a year thanks to my passive income, so I have "enough."

 

[DevilPlate]

It seems you most of you need 5M and above to live your life or else you got to live a "Frugal" Life. I wonder how the rest of Singaporeans who earn less can afford to live in Singapore.

What a miserable life they will have.....sigh...

Depends how old u retire.

Imo, a 65yo js retired today with a fully paid up HDB, ERS CPFLife payout plus 1M is sufficient.

For a couple ERS X2 is a quite comfortable amt. even better.

 

[DevilPlate]

I agree with this. It sort of syncs with what Morgan Housell says in Psychology of Money. Having money doesn't make you happy. Having enough makes you happy.

If you can afford budget airline air ticket for long haul flight and that is 'enough', like what revhappy mentioned, then your expectations and what you can afford match nicely. You are not miserable.

On the other hand, your mindset is that you want to travel business/first but you can only afford budget airline, then you might be miserable (or be overcome by the green-eye monster) whenever you see those in premium classes going to priority queue/priority boarding. (I actually have no idea why there is a rush to board when I am flying biz/first - not as if I am rushing to chope overhead storage space).

When I was younger, I was happy to fly premium and have done multiple 20hr flights to the US in economy (being fit helps you recover better from jetlag). But now I am no longer young, I very much appreciate business lie-flat seats for long-haul flights, and fortunately I can afford a couple of tickets a year thanks to my passive income, so I have "enough."

Me getting older, less desire to travel far liao haha
nowadays prefer short trips within 8h flight lol

Younger days, i will choose seats with longer legrooms for long flights….that makes me happier lolol.

 

[d9_lives]

I guess you don't have any kids?

Nope. Since I was young, I've seen enough marriages destroyed by kids.

Look around you, there're so many tired and frustrated out of shape parents that are trapped in their sexless, boring and unhappy marriages.
They were young, attractive and full of fun. Now they're just shadow of their former selves.
Their lives, hobbies and aspirations are over once they've kids.
Everything is about their kids now. They've lost their identities.

 

[limster]

Everything is about their kids now. They've lost their identities.

Thats what happens when someone is overly obsessed with a single goal. Need to have balance.
For some people, everything is about making money, they seem to have lost their identities and their 'worth' is determined by how much money they have.

 

[revhappy]

Nope. Since I was young, I've seen enough marriages destroyed by kids.

Look around you, there're so many tired and frustrated out of shape parents that are trapped in their sexless, boring and unhappy marriages.
They were young, attractive and full of fun. Now they're just shadow of their former selves.
Their lives, hobbies and aspirations are over once they've kids.
Everything is about their kids now. They've lost their identities.

The highlighted part is true in my case, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. In our case my daughter is the reason which keeps me going. I am already FI, lol and have no material pursuits. Imagine no kids, how boring life would be.

Regarding marriage, we still follow the traditional Indian system. My wife cooks delicious food for me, takes care of the house and my daughter. I live like a king, don't do any work, just go to office and bring in the money. So I depend on my wife and my wife depends on me. It is a happy coexistence.

We both absolutely love our daughter and can't even imagine life without her.

Not saying your perspective is wrong. Maybe your life is happier without kids, you both have enough pursuits of your own. But in my and my wife's case, our daughter is the essential bond between us.

 

[d9_lives]

Thats what happens when someone is overly obsessed with a single goal. Need to have balance.
For some people, everything is about making money, they seem to have lost their identities and their 'worth' is determined by how much money they have.

Indeed. Money is just a tool.