It’s a bit early for a full update (after all, barely 6 months passed since I added my little contribution into this thread, but quite a bit has changed since then, so it’s worth making an amendment to better reflect the reality.
I’ve sold off quite a fair chunk of my residential properties in Sydney and Melbourne, and I’m now down to only 1 holiday home in Melbourne and 1 in Sydney, in addition to my primary residence there. The reason was an impending rumoured tax change that would severely penalize me if I’m unable to fulfil residency requirements and if any of the apartments are let untenanted (which they can be at times, due to us being rather picky with potential tenants). The ATO has also imposed an additional tax for non-tax residents (since I don’t fulfil the criteria of more than 181 days in Australia) for residential properties…. It was getting painful to see a huge chunk of my rental returns going to the ATO.
So, I’ve aggressively switched portfolios into medical suites and commercial properties. We just picked up another suite recently and now we hold 4 such suites, all tenanted out to long term anchor tenants. Should have done this years ago and saved myself a tonne of grief.
Also, my initial estimation of monthly expenditure has been rendered null and void just in the span of the last 6 months.
As some of you might know, we’ve been travelling back and forth Sydney nearly on a monthly or once 2 monthly basis - and that’s usually on minimum business class and more often than not, First or Suite class. Ticket prices have also exploded exponentially since the Covid reopening. Each ticket costs SGD10,000 return, and that unfortunately quickly adds up.
The wife and I have also been quite indulgent in our pursuit of taking as many Michelin starred restaurants in Singapore as possible. This is with a view of us retiring to Sydney at the end of the year and we want to say that we’ve ticked this item off our bucket list before the permanent move.
We now eat at Michelin starred restaurants once or twice a week, and each time, the average bill is at least SGD500, sometimes closer to SGD1000.
So the new narrative looks more like the one below:
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Age: 51
Occupation: Consultant Specialist Physician in private practice
Status: semi-retired (I spend 6 months in Singapore working, another 6 in Sydney to relax)
Income from work: variable, as I run my own practice
Assets:
1. Fully paid commercial and residential properties in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand
2. Multiple Investment Grade bonds in Singapore and Australia – average returns 5% per annum
3. Multiple Structured deposits in AUD (higher interest, tax free as jurisdiction of issuance is in Singapore) – average returns 4% per annum
4. Insurance annuities (combined) SGD2,000,000 - payout will be SGD10,000 per person, per month upon reaching 65y of age
CPF savings (combined) SGD1,500,000 – Ordinary account returns 2.5%, Special account 4% - payout will be between SGD3,000 to SGD3,500 per person, per month upon reaching 65y of age, but I can withdraw the excess (leaving just the "enhanced retirement sum" behind in the retirement account) - so potentially, I can withdraw a combined total of SGD900,000 upon reaching 55y old
5. Legacy ‘Life insurance’ plans SGD1,000,000
6. Fixed deposits of SGD, AUD, NZD, RM, £ and HKD – average returns between 3 – 4% per annum
7. Savings/current accounts in SGD, AUD, NZD, RM, USD – average interest is 3% per annum (this is my ‘war chest’ where the income & returns go, to be reinvested. It’s a holding account & also acts as my emergency fund)
8. Cash in hand values of SGD120,000, USD10,000, £2,000, HKD100,000, ¥1,000,000, RM3,000, AUD2,000 and NZD1,000
9. Passive income of which the vast majority is reinvested
10. Inheritance from parents: dollar value 0, but they invested heavily in my education while they were still alive, and my mother saw to it that my education was her priority. The value of that early investment: priceless. I am where I am today in no small part due to decisions my parents made on my behalf nearly 50 years ago.
Liabilities:2 vehicles in Singapore, loan-free: the
Macan cost me SGD380,000 & her S450L was SGD608,888 when new2 vehicles in Sydney, paid for in cash: the
Cayenne cost me AUD180,000 and the 911 Carrera GTS was nearly AUD400,000Usual monthly outgoings around
SGD50,000 (
Fine Dining,
travels, discretionary spending etc)
Income, rental and property taxes in Singapore and Australia and property & rental taxes in New Zealand.
Thanks for sharing, really hats off and salute to have come such a long way. Definitely a dream lifestyle that many of aspire to have!
Apr 25 2024, 12:58 AM
(tho still an interesting read)
. Controversial, yes, but I'm more comfortable this way. (Market Value probably RM400k-ish nett transaction fees)
Quote
thank you both. Yes indeed, grateful for what I have and will continue to be so.
0.1080sec
0.22
7 queries
GZIP Disabled