If your head too small for a big hat then buy a smaller hat lor.

I'll admit that buying any property in SG is difficult for us newcomers cos of the 20% downpayment and ~8% stamp duty. So that 600k private condo you need $170+k cash which is a dilemma I'm facing as well. HDB even worse thanks to COV.

However buying in KL can be very easy - the other day I was looking at a condo in Seri Kembangan that u only need rm1,000 downpayment thanks to a 10% "developer discount." (Incidentally I'm not convinced that SK area has strong enough fundamentals to buy, but that's besides the point). Anyways your 700k house in KL needs rm70k downpayment i.e. sgd29k ... save up for a year, swipe all your major expenses to a 0% installment plan, then buy lor

holy crab ...that's a huge amonunt man

just as big amount as purchasing a car

My take for freshies... spend a bit more and get a master bedroom with attached toilet. Then work hard, work smart... get promotions as quick as possible and invest to kick off the passive income stream... to move on to bigger and better things in 3-5 years time and so on. If you plan for your entire stay in SG to be renting room (kowtow to landlord/main tenant), running after buses and trains, eat economy rice,... because your salary stays more or less where it is now - then it's like the life of a foreign labourer. What's the point of living?

When you're just starting out,.. save. Save as much as you can. From the day I started working, my savings rate has never fallen below 60% of GROSS salary annually.

Saving is second in importance only to Salary. Make sure your salary is as high as possible, as early in your career as possible.

Once you have a decent amount, or have a salary that allows you to save a decent amount each month - invest. I'm a very unsophisticated investor. FDs, shares and only recently, property. That's it. I have no fancy investments.

And I have no fancy investment strategy. I have no time or energy to monitor and analyse. I invest and forget... so I just invest in shares in sectors I naturally understand well ie. 嫖賭飲吹. I basically bought one lot of Genting, BToto, Guinness, Carlsberg, BAT, JT every month or so (sublots for BAT) and increased the number of shares as salary got higher. All of them pay a high dividend, and have cash rich, unchanging/addictive long term demand, low fluctuation, low risk business models. Don't have to monitor , just collect the dividend cheques. Later on, I added on telcos as a sector because it has very much the same dynamics and I happen to be very interested in this field.

After 10-15 years, you'll be surprised how many shares you have accumulated and how much dividend you get regularly.

But don't put all your cash into shares. I'm naturally risk averse, so I built my FD balance to even off the risk. Now, I'm gradually converting some of that FD/cash into property.

Now... you can actually go into property early, instead of or on top of FDs and shares. If I had more knowledge or interest in the property market when I was younger... I would have bought property as well. I'd actually be earning more than I am now in terms of ROI (Return on Investment)... but the risk is that it is absolutely critical to choose the right property (in the beginning... you have only 1, very big, very costly bullet. And in property, there is no effective cut loss).

of coz 20k/month is no where near 10k/month. that is double.

No. That's the only 3

I don't think I can re-apply for my current jobs if I don't have a PhD with relevant experience. Too many PhD looking for jobs out there.

So 6 out of 7 PhD are just normal lecturer, the lowest academic role. Wonder what can a degree holder apply? You in education line?

If it is NUS, you need good post doc to start with.

My 6 months attachment in Melbourne and 3 months training in Sydney there:-
1. Your tax rate is about there depends on the pay scale. The lower or mid range will be almost same. Highest rate will be around 30% and 45% after one figure.
2. Rental is cheaper. House is a lot cheaper. 300k AUD can get a landed one storey unit with car porch.
3. Car is cheaper. Maintenance is similar.
4. Food is a lot more  expensive. Buy a house and cook on your own will be similar to SG. Eat outside everyday you pay the price later when you are old.
5. Anything that is imported are more expensive due to the tax.
6. PR is very hard to maintain if you don't stay there.

Good thing:-
1. If you got PR, no need worry about after you retire or jobless. Unlike SG you have to depend on the saving/CPF that is limited.
2. Life there is good, really good. 5 pm sure off work, my direct boss chase me out of office at 445 pm, happy hour till 6 then go home and cook. A lot of places to visit compared to SG.
3. The food there are fresh.
4. The house is really a house, no grills like ours. Malaysia's house is a prison... to lock ourselves inside. SG is also picking up to be a prison soon.

But I won't go there because its very far from home, you cannot go back home once a week or even once a month. Unless they all migrate to Aust. Hidup!