SINGAPORE: A man who referred to himself as just a “pretty ordinary guy” said he made S$1.4 million the year before. In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man in his early 40s said he was in the top 1 per cent of earners in Singapore by income, not wealth.
He added that he grew up living in an HDB flat and went to a neighbourhood school. “Now, I have 2 cars (nice but not flashy cars), go on vacation about once a month, and still fly scoot (but only for 1-2hr trips). NO ONE around me, not even my parents know I earn so much. Only my guinea pig, IRAS, and my accountant knows this actual figure. About 500k came from swing trading, specifically buying leveraged ETFs. And 900k is my income”, the man wrote.
He added that he had a graduate degree, but that was not the reason why he was earning this much. He said one of his regrets was not gaining experience through internships, mentorships and international work experience.
“Yes, NS sets u back by 2yrs (3yrs in my time) — don’t use it as an excuse, because growing up in SG gives you immensely more privileges than NS takes away”, the man said. He went on to share some takeaways from his life. The first he said: “Enjoy your life, make all kinds of mistakes — finanicial mistakes, relationship mistakes, career mistakes. You can walk away from most mistakes when u’re below 30”.
He added that money changes one’s mindset. While a person may not be happier earning S$4,000 daily, they would have more options and probably be more fulfilled inside. The man also said that a person’s most valuable commodity is their time and who they spend it with.
Netizens who commented on his post were skeptical. One said: “I read the title, read the first sentence and then saw how long the post was. Didn’t bother to read the rest. Immediately knew it must be some guy with no friends trying to brag about himself to strangers online lmao. Lőṣẹr. Actual rich people don’t bother to do such things. In Singapore, everyone is a millionaire. Just by purchasing a property and a car and paying off all of those over years, including paying for vacations and all of that other life stuff. All of that combined, we would have paid over a million in our life time. That’s how I like to see it”.