SINGAPORE: A man earning S$1,000 to S$2,000 monthly working at a petrol station took to social media asking when one should aim to retire.
In an anonymous post to popular confessions page NUSWhispers, the man wrote: “Curious minds here – what’s the retirement magic number for Singapore, and when should one aim to hit the hammock?”. He asked how others would quantify the numbers and if a good gauge was savings equivalent to “30 times your yearly earnings, with zero debts, living that dream lifestyle (specifically..)?”
He shared that he was “just a broke lad” who did not own a house or car. He earned around S$1,000 to S$2,000 monthly working at a petrol station.
Netizens who commented on his post had advice. One said: “There is no magic no. But there is a formula. Assuming you live till the age of 70….and u want to retire at 55. you take your monthly expenses x the no. of yrs of not working. So that will be 15 yrs or 180 months. if your monthly expenses is 2k, that would set you back 360k + inflation…. I suggest you do two things. Get an education that will increase your pay and get a financial planner. Retirement is decades in planning. So better plan now”.
Another commented: “Don’t target the wrong question. Even if someone tells you the magic number is $2 mil (or whatever), so what? You probably already know that at $1-2k monthly is not enough. Change the question to something a little more within control. “What can I do realistically, to earn more than that?” Your problem is not retirement, your problem is NOW. Keep going, find a different path for yourself”.
Read related: Woman earning S$10K says it takes S$20K to start a family with 2 kids
Earlier this year, a woman took to social media after calculating how much it would take to start a family. In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the woman said that she deserved better than her current partner. “There’s this guy I met online. He’s my age and he cooks steak and shares my faith.I mean the only reason I hold on is because I feel like he’s nice, shares my faith and my wishes and taste. Plus he can cook and clean”, she wrote.
However, the woman added that the man did not give her security or assurance when it came to the topic of cheating. “He’d give me that giggle like he’s hiding something. Weird”, she wrote. She also added that her friend told her that all married men cheat behind their wives’ backs. Because of this, the woman was hesitant to marry but said she did not want to be alone either. /TISG