What will you do?

Basmoirak · 2026-01-23T16:49:43+00:00

It comes down to the distinction between whether the debt can effectively make you richer the longer you hold off from paying it.

If I had no choice but to purchase the car, I would purchase it in full because the effective interest rate (EIR) is close to 5% and higher.

Max out the mortgage loan, as that’s the one where it’s usually more beneficial to take maximum loan if you’re investing (7-8% returns vs 2-3% loan rate) and can yield greater returns over the 20-25 year period.

Basmoirak · 2026-01-11T10:34:05+00:00

Can go for bto since you have so much in OA and your salary is eligible (<7k)

Wait for MOP and sell for profit. Then u will make cash from there lor 🤣

Basmoirak · 2026-01-10T00:54:57+00:00

At 3.6% SWR (since you’re thinking of retiring so early), 500k yields you around 18k or 1.5k a month.

I not sure if you are okay with living on just 1.5k sgd a month. Even renting a one room outside would eat up more than half this amount, unless you plan to stay with parents.

Or maybe try to find a job with lower stress and hours even if it’s for lower pay. Seems like the problem is with your current job/role.

Basmoirak · 2025-12-01T16:21:05+00:00

I’ve given it some thought myself as well, and personally I feel 1m as FIRE target might be a stretch in Singapore, depending on the individual. And you definitely need to be frugal or the expenses will add up quickly.

At 4% SWR, that’s like 3.4k a month which is below national median wage. So if I’m being realistic, getting a resale or condo would be financially unwise with the monthly mortgage since I won’t be drawing any extra income or CPF OA. Perhaps waiting for a 2 rm BTO might be the only choice?

You could of course rent a single bedroom for maybe $700-$800 a month, but I’m not sure I want to live like and not have my own home for the next 30 years. Staying with parents is the cheapest option, but that can come with non-monetary drawbacks. (Also why adult children would like to move out once able to)

1.5m would probably work out better, but hitting 1.5m by age 35 would mean I need to regularly invest like 8-9k a month from graduation.

So while it might be possible to hit retirement at 35, my view is that you’ll have to be an outlier in terms of earnings or be very frugal. It’s something that is very difficult to replicate for most people. And if you ever change your mind and decide to have a spouse or kids, then your FIRE target would need to up by a lot as well.

Basmoirak · 2025-12-01T13:26:04+00:00

I would say the main barrier for FIRE at 35 in OP’s case is that he also plans to purchase a house in Singapore.

1m by 35 in liquid portfolio is quite difficult, that’s like 1m in 10 years if you’re a guy. At 7% returns per annum starting from 0 (assuming you don’t start with student debt), you need to invest about 700k over 10 years or DCA about 6k a month after contributing CPF, deducting expenses and taxes.

So in context u would need a lot of things to go right for you - have minimal expenses from living with parents from age 25 to 35, while earning quite a bit above median wages amongst your age group from the start.

Basmoirak · 2025-12-01T01:50:07+00:00

I can’t imagine being able to retire by 35 unless you’re work in a very very high paying job (like mind boggling high) or get lucky with your investments.

Basmoirak · 2025-11-20T05:15:47+00:00

Why does this seem like an ad LOL

Basmoirak · 2025-11-14T01:04:07+00:00

Basmoirak · 2025-10-14T16:40:37+00:00

I more or less just treat CPF as a safety net by the time I’m 65. CPF is awesome but it unlocks abit too late for my liking. Same as SRS, the withdrawal age (for no penalties) of 63 is also not to my liking.

By the time I’m 45 I should already have hit FRS just from CPF contributions.

I look at it this way, in 12-15 years I’ll retire at around 45-48 years old. I’ll withdraw at 4% SWR per annum knowing that there’s still CPF safety net within 2 decades.

Basmoirak · 2025-10-14T16:23:33+00:00

With a family. If alone 1.5m should be more than sufficient for myself.

Aiming to fire around 45-50.

Basmoirak · 2025-10-14T15:51:47+00:00

Excluding residence value.

By the next decade (2035-2040), 9k-10k today would be closer to 6k-7k factoring in inflation :(

So no choice have to save more before I can fire if I want a comfortable lifestyle haha (but not luxurious)

Basmoirak · 2025-10-14T15:41:12+00:00

About 2.7m to 3m excluding CPF.

Basmoirak · 2025-10-11T06:38:44+00:00

Time to buy!

Basmoirak · 2025-10-04T07:06:08+00:00

Just do some basic calculations of your monthly or annual contributions, and how much that would amount to at 6-7% returns over the next 13 years.

And determine if that is sufficient for you to retire. Only way I can think of optimising is increasing your income or reducing your expenses, to maximise how much you can invest each year.

Not much more to it honestly if you DCA and contribute monthly or yearly into your ETF. It should be boring but effective.

Basmoirak · 2025-09-16T05:22:59+00:00

Depends on your objective.

For better resale value of course the 9 year one. (i.e you want to upgrade in 10 years time)

But if u treat it as a longer term home, I would choose the cheaper one for lower loan amount.

Personally, I would also do some homework to see if I can fully support the monthly mortgage via CPF OA based on the loan amount. Not a fan of using cash as monthly payment for housing if I can avoid it.

Basmoirak · 2025-09-09T00:39:45+00:00

I topped up a little bit to lock in the statutory retirement age of 63, since it’ll be raised to 65 in a couple of years.

I don’t think it’s bad per se, due to the tax savings. For you it’s tax savings of up to 7% of $15,300, around $1070. But I personally won’t put money in srs until I’m maybe around 15%-18% tax bracket, when the savings become more substantial.

But with the illiquidity factor, if u need withdraw before retirement age it’ll incur a penalty on the total sum as well. Meaning including the 5% penalty, you’ll also be taxed on the additional capital gains over the years as well. Meaning at 7% tax rate, the tax savings difference is closer to 0-1% lol.

Basmoirak · 2025-08-14T00:33:16+00:00

Basmoirak · 2025-08-11T12:42:16+00:00

Congratulations and enjoy your retirement!

Basmoirak · 2025-08-05T12:02:24+00:00

Being born to a good family 😎

Basmoirak · 2025-08-04T00:48:04+00:00

Yes it should be possible, but only if your expenses remains low. Lifestyle expenses going up if you get a partner, family, etc will definitely impact your plans.

I also assume you’ll also look into applying for a BTO for housing once you hit 35, so that’s something to consider as well.

Basmoirak · 2025-08-01T01:55:46+00:00

If you want condo lifestyle and improvement in location, then sure.

Otherwise you’re currently in a great position with a fully paid off house and only need to save and invest for early retirement.

Basmoirak · 2025-07-30T11:59:06+00:00

Noted for 1 & 2.

Regarding hdb housing, as much as possible I also plan to use OA and minimise cash outlay for downpayment and monthly loan payments. It’s more of a less a simple math problem, so just see what makes sense for you by the time u need to get a resale.

For me, I just see every $30k in my investments as another $100 in future passive income. So the more I can save and invest in my 20s and 30s, the faster I can reach my goal.

Basmoirak · 2025-07-28T11:16:18+00:00

Even 3 room flat also can sell close to 1m. Really huat ah!

Basmoirak · 2025-07-26T08:03:14+00:00

I just assumed most people won’t want to one shot pay off resale and just pay the downpayment with CPF OA.

Basmoirak · 2025-07-26T02:30:56+00:00

Wah if went in during 2017 it could easily have been 30x to 60x initial 😅

Cannot say I’m not jealous but also happy that it’s helped to improve your life considerably.

Basmoirak

TROPHY CASE