poor and useless will always envy the rich no matter what stats you show and how much help they get...

Maybe this data can help to add some factors in to the reason of why many had less than 1 mil in kwsp after working for 30-40 yrs....

Look at the educational level by % from 1984 to 1997.
Look at the starting salary for people from each education level from 1984 to 1997.

University graduates earned the most, started earning with <900 in 1997
University graduates is only some 4.84% in 1984, 6.21% in 1989 and just 11.19% in 1997 of the population


Inequality and Determinants of Earnings in
Malaysia, 1984–1997*

https://stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu/files/2006/...984-97-2006.pdf

(P/s, I don't hv an University education, and i started to work in 1981 with a starting pay of 180 basic pay, moved jobs and in 1989 reached abt 900)

This post has been edited by MUM: Oct 9 2025, 06:28 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

your make belief sample of "earning at 4k from 25 yrs old at 5% EPF annual dividends for 35 years with 4% annual increments" only reach 1 million in EPF when he reach early 50s. (i had to put 4% as EPF's div to reach your 1.95M at 60 result)

with this assumptions actually mean:
a) uninterrupted work
b) no withdrawal from EPF
c) high starting pay of 4K....

the main challenges would be b and c.

why?
b) if the person took out say 100K rm as depo for a house at age 35, he is delayed in reaching 1m by 2 years.
if the person took out say 300K rm for children education at age 50, he is delayed again by 4 years. (ie 1m at 58 yo)

c) if the person in your example is 50 years old now, when did he started working? back in 2000.
How many persons you know personally were making 4K rm back in 2000?


hence more reasons why the stats is skewed to lower than what we thought it is.
(and prior to like 2018, most people won't have thought of doing self contribution.... )

If u look at the epf statistics, most of the epf members are young..30s and below. Still at early stages of accumulation.

As for RM4k at 25. Most Malaysians dont have that salary when they are at 25. Even nowadays RM2.5-3k is the norm for graduates. And many graduates have a hard time finding jobs. There are also many non graduates.

Ya starting pay at my 25 years of age...back in 90s. was 950...

Hopefully the current gen is able to hit 4k starting pay but the mil they achieved in the future 3 decades from now... Shudder to think of it's value

This post has been edited by gamenoob: Oct 9 2025, 10:00 PM

I add one more factor here. There are just so many uncertainties that you can't really by blanket expect one to really smooth sailing getting annual increment every year etc. During bad times don't even hope for increment

Also, how common is RM4k for a fresh back in 35 years ago, not even today and it was also mainly due to push from change of Labor Law to raise the bar of salary entitled for OT. Just open up job seeking sites and it will tell the story majority of the real world don't pay that amount

One or two cases or even one company does not represent the whole country. Just look at the B40/M40/T20 stat then you know only T10 or 10% of Malaysian household income exceeded RM20k. That is household, not individual

Actually nowadays a also main challenge, especially in some sectors where retrenchment is normal every 6-10 years, and it might set someone months before getting new employment.

Job security n opportunity is no longer a given. Be prepared for a rougher road to FIRE.

yup....

but young ppl nowadays thinking also very different... we old folks find new job then resign... they resign first then look for job... lol

because young generation can earn much easier than us , old ppl. we old people nobody want.

more "awareness" because of more information...
too much credit and liquidity floating around...
opportunities of all types... influencer, talk cock, gig econ like driving, delivery... onlyfans etc

And when all else fails, they still have the ultimate cheat code... FAMA!

There's also the Wealth Bottleneck generation: 4 grandparents and 2 parents funnel wealth into 1 or 2 lucky descendants

💯👍 some thing similar like what young Singaporeans are enjoying now.
The value of the Properties from Grandparents n Parents will end up with them .....

Nah not true. The only reason some jokers can leave their job without securing another job is either:

1. Poor mental health, which affects their long-term thinking
2. Have a security blanket - either parents/spouse to bail them out or an inheritance to fall back to

This post has been edited by contestchris: Oct 10 2025, 02:01 PM

You are missing out on uncles/aunties. More and more people these days are either unmarried or childless (be it by choice or due to biological factors) and their wealth will too trickle down and exarcebate the generational bottleneck.

Join the hype!

Age: 36
Monthly Income: 350K - 450K

House 1 - Bal 360K+ (Market value 370K) - Rental 2300
House 2 - Bal 400K+ (Market value 480K)
House 3 - Bal 3.1M+ (Market value 3.3M)

Cash in bank - 300K+
EPF - 140K+ (Only self contributions)
UT via EPF - 200K+
PRS - 1.8M+
TNG Go Plus - 20K
Watches & Jewelries - 1.9M+ Market Value

Car 1- Porsche Taycan GTS - Bal 610K+
Car 2- Lambo Urus - Bal 1.09M+
Car 3 - Honda CRZ - Fully paid, Parents Drive
Car 4 - Honda WRV - Bal 80K+, Parents Drive I pay

This post has been edited by furuku89: Oct 10 2025, 03:45 PM

Wow. Ur monthly income is very good. But your EPF is very low.
Are you a biz owner? Mine sharing the type of biz?

Looks like you are enjoying your life 😉

Financial Advisory

I no longer have any EPF contributions from employment, but I just maximized my savings through EPF and PRS for my retirement funds.

This post has been edited by furuku89: Oct 10 2025, 03:40 PM

some of us already even prepared our kids to fire even before they start working.

I am genuinely curius about your monthly spent!?

what r the benefits of TNG Go plus?