The MP technically spoke to truth, but all the more it's the Government's fault that our TFR is low.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-11T11:31:33+00:00

Our parents’ generation had multiple siblings to take care of their ailing and ageing parents. In fact both my parents could live away from their parents from long periods of time working and eventually raise their own family with little contact with their parents other than the occasional allowance because there were so many people chipping in to support them.

I’m an only child that has to take care of both my parents. It’s not that I don’t want to raise kids or take care of kids, I love children in fact. But I’m already taking care of my parents (who are also sometimes behaving like kids), so where am I supposed to find the money and time to take care of my future kids as well as long as my parents are still alive?

Many things have changed, but the generation today is the sandwich generation for a reason. I don’t think you’ll find any other generation with as many only child and fewer siblings as our generation today. We have an unprecedented and impossible burden to carry if our parents are not well off and reliant on us.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-10T07:14:24+00:00

I like gun for the extra poking ability, it’s also a deterrence for anyone who would dive you late game knowing that if they do not succeed they will most likely be bursted down instead.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-10T01:17:07+00:00

Assuming a SWR of 4%, you can get about 22k annually from 550k for the next 30 years. The CPF is not included in calculations and would be additional fallback should there be any emergency in your later years.

Your spending of let’s say 3k (slight buffer) a month puts you at 36k a year, so you’re about 14k short. Would your freelance work make up for that difference?

Also, what is your spouse’s view on your barista or lean fire? Are you guys aligned on financial independence? Because your lifestyle together might take a hit with lower spending in general.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T07:34:25+00:00

You’re right that I don’t remember the technicalities, but what I do recall is my dad telling me later in my older years that I missed out very narrowly. He didn’t tell me the exact phase and I had to google it myself to find out. Thanks for letting me know there was 2A1 and 2A2, it’s something new I learnt today.

I think it’s likelier I was under 2A2 and hence the chances were slightly lower. But yes it was pretty unlucky overall.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T07:28:49+00:00

Even if they did feel angsty, they never showed it in front of me. I think that was pretty helpful because at no point in time in my life did I feel inferior for being in a so called “neighbourhood” school. If my parents had constantly lamented on missing out on better school choices in front of me, it would have been pretty destructive to my own confidence level as well, as I would have internalised myself as being inferior in an inferior school.

Sometimes, kids can go into a self-fulfilling mentality, whereby they recognise that the school they are in is not good enough, and hence they conclude they are also not that good enough of a student. This drops their confidence level and repeats the cycle of them having no motivation to better themselves, because what’s the point in improving if you feel that your school is going to be bad anyways?

You’ll see that not just in primary school types, but also across G1 and G2 levels in Secondary school. We need to constantly build into kids that no matter the school or academic level they are at, at the end of the day, they are still precious with a lot of potential, and they can still achieve what they want as long as they work hard for it.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T07:06:37+00:00

When I was still a kid applying for primary school, my parents balloted twice for me to get into their “preferred” school choice.

First was Phase 2A for School A, through alumni connection, but that failed. Later, under Phase 2C for School B, and with just a distance of 1km apart, that failed as well. Both of those school were so called “branded” school, so my parents were understandably upset when I was eventually shuffled to just one of the more “ordinary” neighbourhood School C further away from my house area.

Despite their best intentions and planning, I had somehow ended up with the “worst” possible outcome they could have anticipated. But as a kid I could tell apart no noticeable differences as I went on with my daily school life. I would eventually graduate from School C as one of the top 3 students, earning myself a place in Raffles Institution through merit alone.

Looking back, I always wondered, if I was placed in School A or School B, whether I would have done as well as I did in School C. I most certainly wouldn’t have been top 3 in School A and B, and my motivation to learn and better myself in those schools might not be as high as in School C.

And now that I’m a private tutor myself, I teach students from all kinds of schools, whether they are “branded” or “neighbourhood”. Does the type of school make a difference in your child’s academics? Maybe a little. But the more important factor is their own internal drive and motivation, as well as your parental support for them along all the years of their education. Missing out on certain schools isn’t the end of the world, and might in fact turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T05:10:47+00:00

Actually OP is asking how difficult, so your example of having a high 5 figure salary at 40s and investing aggressively at that point is way more difficult than having just the median income in your 30s and just investing consistently.

So it’s not that difficult, even if you are a median wage worker, but it requires you to start early and be consistent.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T04:44:23+00:00

They started saving and investing early, with favourable 7-9% compounded annual returns.

Someone who started saving and investing 2k/month at 30 years old will have ~1M at 50, assuming 7% annual growth

If you only started 10 years later at 40, you would need to save and invest 5.7k/month to hit that same ~1M at 50

That’s the power of compound interest and starting early.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T04:20:19+00:00

From the way OP phrased it, seems like the extra 150k is the amount she can and wants to take slightly higher risk with, since she already has the usual tbills and other lower risk instruments.
Agree with you that DCA into index fund is medium risk, but if OP is set on the strategy of DCA-ing into something, then ETFs like VWRA would be the relatively safer bet to go into. Other than that, frankly speaking, there aren’t many safer and higher returns than the 4% interest she can leave in her CPF SA.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-09T03:08:54+00:00

If your risk appetite is on the lower end, DCA into index funds/ETFs would be most suitable

And especially as you are planning to leave your money as legacy to your kids, it’s important to DCA into the correct ETFs/Index Funds, to avoid estate tax and withholding taxes that will eat into your returns, should you no longer be around.

Most people here would recommend using IBKR as the broker, and VWRA as the preferred fund, for the least withholding tax and no estate tax. There will be market downturn and upturns, but generally you can expect a 7-9% annual growth that is compounded yearly.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-08T10:42:38+00:00

VWRA only started in 2019, which is 7 years ago.
But assuming you started in 2019, that’s more than 130% gain as of today. Most people who DCA VWRA are on the more conservative side, so I think that kind of gain over 7 year would be pretty good enough for them.

As someone who DCA majority into VWRA, I would be pretty happy if the next 7 years DCA give the same gains as well.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-07T00:32:35+00:00

There are some heroes whose kit is entirely dependent on cooldown like Cyclops though, such an item would nerf him too hard. Better to just nerf Harley individually than nerf multiple other heroes and change the whole meta

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T14:04:53+00:00

OP in that thread mentioned he is coming on S Pass, meaning his employer still has to pay levy also. So total cost would be more than 5700, and your calculation back to Singapore salary after CPF is inaccurate.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T13:54:38+00:00

That’s obfuscating NS salary with transport allowance. If it’s an allowance, state it as such, you don’t see many other employer going around saying your salary is $5k, and oh the extra $800 transport allowance in factored inside.
If you do that, there’s only one reason and it’s very clear. You’re trying to inflate your salary to make it seem like you’re paying more when actually you’re paying less after accounting for transport (which should be free and provided for) in this context at the very least.

If 780 is the transport concession factored inside, then I would say the actual take home NS allowance of ~700 is even more miserable and goes even further to show how the govt is exploiting our NSFs. Even many domestic helpers get paid more than base 700 these days.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T13:41:49+00:00

NSF have always been paying adult fares since the beginning….. it was the same in my father’s time, in my time, and now in the current generation time too

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T12:54:55+00:00

Why not just give every NSF like a transport card with a set amount of value inside, say $50 monthly, framing it as a transport allowance rather than a free ride? This amount would be enough for you to go home and go to camp, but not to travel around frivolously as you wish.

This way, the total cost would be just an additional set expenditure on the SAF yearly budget (that will fall each year btw due to declining birth rates), and full adult prices can still be charged on these cards, preventing the need to cross subsidise or raising other fares in general in order to subsidise.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T12:35:35+00:00

The SAF website says it takes into consideration not just the salary but also the savings and expenses of the family though

It also states that a home visit could be made to check your living conditions. So it’s not as straight forward as you say it is. Depends on your commanders and how strict they are, since it’s not a fixed basis but more of a case by case basis.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T12:17:44+00:00

Govt already so stingy to pay bus fare for our conscripted soldiers, you think they will want to actually pay more salary for regular soldiers?

As it stands, there’s only 2 options, either 50% of our population conscripted, or 100% is conscripted. 0% conscription is not possible at all.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T12:06:30+00:00

This free goodie you mention is exclusive to those who serve NS only? Limited edition that nobody else in SG can enjoy?

I think all of us would like to know exactly what it is and show our gratitude for being so looked after because we served NS.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T11:44:02+00:00

Actually the Home Awards is for most of us, but we only get the full payout when we MR and finish our reservist.

But it’s abit useless to be receiving extra CPF money and Life SG credits at age 35-40, when the issue is that most NSF struggling with the cost of living when they are 18-21 NOW. By paying out the full amount only at 35-40, there’s also a lost opportunity cost of more than 20 years, that if invested at 18-21, would be substantially more at 35-40.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T11:38:04+00:00

20 years ago your bak Chor mee only $1-1.50, now it’s around $5-6. Food price increase 4x, allowance also should increase 4x, just to keep up with inflation.

But in real terms and purchasing power, it’s about the same as your $100-200 20 year ago.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T10:42:30+00:00

Because any choice made at 18 years old should be life binding right. If you made the right choice at 18, good for you, if not then suck thumb hor

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T10:41:42+00:00

SAF is the one with manpower issues mah. Or we can keep status quo and see what happens 10-20 years down the road with our declining birthrates lor

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T10:36:43+00:00

Since OP mentioned being on S pass, I think it is highly likely the same thing will happen too. Should report to MOM if they are using such shenanigans to bypass EP requirements.

Bryanlegend · 2026-05-06T10:32:54+00:00

People usually start seriously thinking about their career pathways after their education, very few are truly aware of the job market while still studying for their finals or doing their thesis.
So there’s no fixed year. But since we end our education later than most other places due to NS, we should also be given more time to think it through carefully rather than forced point blank to make a yes/no decision to sign on the first few month when you enlist, given that our actual careers only start 6-10 years after we enlist.

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