Have to agree on this.
Overseas, no money, no medical insurance, please do not get sick.
Even dental cost a lot. Here Rm1 or Rm2, (forgot which, few months ago just go to gov hospital to have teeth filing on few teeth)

Malaysia is actually quite a economic place for retirement.

Yes, it is. If you can retire... some would have to work till they dropped dead as like the news of the 63yr old bus driver in Penang.

Anyway, the thread is on retiring early, meaning retiring much earlier than the mandatory retirement age of 60. The last few pages were more on seeking wealth and asking for stock tips. LOL.

This is more for elite people and few percentage people.
In current capitalism world, rich become richer only, just like a pyramid tree. Only a number of top people can afford to do so.
Most work until last breath or until retirement age.

Scenario: Debt free since 40 years of age (about 10 years ago), all investment properties paid off, generating positive income, no bonds or stocks bought on leverage, regular dividend and coupon payouts. No major liabilities, no parents to support, no children to worry about. Health insurances bought to the hilt - should we fall ill, everything is covered.

Converted (using a simple assumption of S$ = AUD = RM x 3), the passive income ranges from RM90,000 to RM150,000 per month. The variation is due to certain months, more than 1 bond pays me the coupon due. There’ll also be an annuity that kicks in when I’m 65 years old, that will add an additional RM30,000 per month as retirement income.

We’re both working in Singapore. I’m a medical specialist, she’s an accountant. In Singapore, we are considered upper middle class (I do not presume to claim that we’re amongst the top earners, but we are comfortable with what we have). We’re both looking to retire in Sydney, as I have family there and Australia isn’t exactly too far away from our other relatives in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. We also like the outdoors and the idea of long drives to nowhere excites me.

Outgoings: land taxes, property taxes, council taxes, utilities, food/groceries/dining & the maintenance of 2 cars (we’ll both be driving in Australia), medical insurance premiums, holidays outside and within Australia. I can’t think of much more. We have always lived simply even in Singapore.

My concerns: is 50 too young to retire? Obviously, I won’t completely retire - but part time work on a “want to” basis is quite different. What if I hate working part time? What if there‘s no professional pride or a feeling of accomplishment? Once I walk out of my private practice in Singapore, there’s no looking back. I will need to hand over my patients portfolio to a colleague (obviously it’s the responsible thing to do), and should I hate working in Australia, I won’t have a back up plan to come back to Singapore to start all over again. Won’t be fair to my patients and won’t be fair to my colleague.

Will what we have be enough to retire? Am I worrying too much? As a part time physician, I reckon it’s reasonable to expect a pay cut from what I’m making now. Obviously, even a full time physician in the same specialty and with the same seniority in Australia would make a fraction of what Singapore can pay me. International patients (from Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam for example) are good paymasters - and those will definitely be missing from my roster in Sydney. What more a part time physician.

I reckon what we can make should be more than enough to cover our living expenses and all outgoings in Sydney, yet, there’s always that niggling fear (as irrational as my wife says it is - she should know, she’s the accountant) that “what if it isn’t enough”?

Although we live very modest lifestyles in Singapore, we love the fact that we don’t ever have to think twice (or blink twice, for that matter), should we ever need to put money down for a purchase, or any reason at all. When my uncle needed money to help my cousin pursue her Masters degree, I didn’t hesitate in fronting up the money.

When my Malay friend’s business fell on hard times and he needed help to pay for his 2 children’s education at Marlborough College, I made good my promise and supported them until his business turned around. He hasn’t paid me back yet, but it’s not an issue because I’m not in a hurry to chase.

When my aunt in Hong Kong had lung cancer, we flew up there multiple times over several weekends (up to Hong Kong on Saturday, back to Singapore on Sunday) to spend time with her. These are meaningful things that bring us (and the recipients) joy, and these are things that we are used to doing - all that might have to stop when we retire (we obviously have to start keeping track of our outgoings then), and I don’t know how I’ll react to it.

Money matters aside, there’s also the worry about all this time on my hands and nothing to do. Will my wife and I end up bickering day in day out? As much as I love her and as much as she loves me, we’ve never spent every single minute of our lives together - and retirement might just force us to do that. And we might get into each other’s hair.

On the one hand, I can’t wait to hang up my stethoscope and do the things that I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to do so - before I’m too old to do it. Like drive from Sydney to Perth, or take a train from Perth to Sydney. Like cycle from Sydney to Wollongong. Or go fishing. Our house is just a stone’s throw away from the water.

On the other hand, is 50 too young to retire from full time work? I’m not money minded in the sense I don’t need to make my next million and the million after that. I’m actually contented with what I have at present, and by all logical assumption, our wealth will probably outlast our lifetimes. It’s the fear of retirement that worries me. The fear of trying to find new things to do, because I’m bored of the old ones. The fear that my intellect will be blunted by its lack of use and the lack of challenge. The fear that I will fade into irrelevance earlier than I should.

Thank you for letting me put my thoughts on the forum. Thank you for taking time to read my concerns, and I welcome any opinions or thoughts you might have - especially from those in a similar age band (pushing 50) or older, and who might actually have entertained a similar consideration previously (or presently).

What is the size of your portfolio ? Do you have a blog that charts out your investment journey please ?

I'm sure even fund managers would like to learn from you !!!

SGD40K equates PER MONTH equates to SGD480K PER YEAR. THIS IS A VERY STRONG ACHIEVEMENT.

You record would better most, if not all of the SG financial bloggers whose articles that I have read, though I may not have read all,... Please share your blog.

Your sentences 1 and 2 are obvious,... even high-yield bonds need money to buy. HY Bonds is part of the instruments, part of the overall portfolio. Of course, it's preferable to pay-up one's debts first before investing,... 4but not necessarily, though,... if returns made from investing is more that the interest-servicing for loans, then it would be better to invest,... safely, don't loose the principal.
Blogging is NOT advertising, you're wrong there. Blogging is a journal of one's journey for record purposes (his own reference too), and well,... if others wish to see and learn from the blog, then the blogger would have done a good deed there by helping others to invest.

If one does not trust bloggers, then what we write here can be taken with a pinch of salt too... as in everywhere else.... this talk will never end. A discussion in an open forum like this needs to be conducted with a certain level of trust. Otherwise,.... it's a waste of time.

Or,... sometimes, there may be a need to 'demonstrate documentary proof' for more convincing effects. I saw some forummers doing this, the most recent being Dividends Warriors putting a shot of his confirmation slip of Rights Application from a DBS ATM.

I'm not too sure if this is good or not,... among friends in a closed group chat is okay-lar,...but in an open forum like this ???

Then again, I can always challenge,.. is that his slip ? Since he covered the personal details,... maybe he picked up the slip from somewhere ?

I agree with your first sentence that bloggers could be marketing stuff too,... yeah, perhaps another objective of a blogger.

I don't take to heart of you hinting that I'm a wannabee. You don't know who I am. And I don't believe you are an economics student.

And you are the one who's foolish for not wanting to learn from the journey of a successful investor. Or to PROUD to learn. Or too jealous to learn.

Instead,... regards people asking for tactics as asking for proof.

Your calculation could be right,... 20mil, could generate 500K per year at 2.5% return. That's why I need to see his portfolio too, observes how he segregates his instruments and how he diversifies.

If he does not reply,... then too bad,.. maybe 'unreal' then.




you all still layan ka?

Yeah bro,... quite agreeable with your first sentence.

To your second sentence, I think if a person works hard all his life to earn a lot from his profession or his work, he will have not much time to work on his investing life. He will not be able to focus. There will always be things 'pulling him away' when he tries to, literally.. sit down to study his instruments. Then his family commitments will 'pull him away' too.

Hence, this doc may be able to accumulate 30mil in his career till today, but he must also know how to save this 30mil and not spend it all away, for he may not have learnt how to 'reproduce' more money from this 30mil. If he is to stop working, then his decumulation phase starts.

Under decumulation phase, he will have to be extra careful.

Otherwise, he can NEVER stop working. For he has never learnt to invest on his own.

I have been unlucky then !!!

With excessive commission paid, it is a tall order for RM to consistently outperform the market .. yr RM is just on a winning streak:)

Yeah bro aspartame,... I think so too,... milking me, that lady,...    but never mind-lar, she gives 'other things' in return,...

Bro iceman,... Bank-of-Singapore,... unfortunately,... does very close mark-to-mkt actions,... everything is marked-to-mkt,... my secretary told me this when she enquired with BOS earlier, when OCBC first bought over this wealth bank from another institution and renamed it to BOS,... forgot which institution it was.

High yield bonds can become total loss bonds...

Don’t be silly... not all products charge explicitly ... some products are charged hideously by packaging it in different ways ...but make no mistake , nothing is free

All investments are NOT capital-guaranteed except for pure FDs from licenced banks by the authorities. And this too,... not the full amt is guaranteed.

Frankly,... I would want the bank to make money too,... I recalled one time. three years ago,.. I think ,... Standard Chartered, SG almost moved out of the share trading business because they charged too low and could not sustain. Retail investors lobbied hard over cyberspace and I think MAS read everything.

In the end, SCB, SG decided to 'let go' of their institutional business but retained the retail investors.

I would prefer to follow SCB.

Similarly today,... DBS Vickers is going to 'let go' of their call-in clients to UOB-KH,... BUT has decided to retain us retail investors who buy via net.

Well,... I, for one, was ready to believe, and possibly hoping that he was real. I have yet to meet someone with that amt of Passive Income being generated consistently, consciously....

For myself,... everytime I'm able to catch hold of a good income ctr/instrument, after sometime, either that ctr goes bad or another ctr gives problems for which I need to divest, at a profit or by loss-cutting. It's hard to build a consistent Passive income from instruments,...

I'll give a current situation for which I'm experiencing here and now, otherwise,... I might be regarded as a 'blow-water kuda',... 

Today,.. I'm struggling again,... I just divested First REIT which I've been holding for 13 years. FREIT was giving me 11+% of yield vs cost price. Don't know where to put the money.

Then, MNACT started giving me problems. 6.60% vs Cost Price. That day divested a few percent,... got money back also.

I was looking at ec World REIT,... but the hedging technique is really an issue here, the SGD dpu keeps falling.

I bought up SPH REIT for its 'safety' before it acquired Westfield Marion - this was nice timing,... I knew it would make an acquisition soon. Hehe,... but now ? The price fell after halt lifted, as if Westfield Marion was a bad buy.

I'm now averaging UP  , not down on a ctr, but I can't really say this ctr is very safe,....

This is what I am going through currently. Just sharing....

To yr first sentence,... I'm sure the institutional clients (instos, in ASX investment forums) have large assets under mgmt with SCB too,... probably would be larger than retail priority clients. Why would SCB chose to 'push out' the instos to another party ?

To yr fourth sentence, what you said applies to RETAIL REITs only. There are many types of REITs.

1) if you look at the performance charts with dividends reinvested, you may get a rising performance over a certain period. But,..

2) if you look at the performance charts purely on the nav value, the tendency is you will get a falling nav over the same period.

=========

The right growth chart or performance chart is as what you described in (1), with the income distribution reinvested. With the distribution/dividend included, it shows the actual value of your holdings, and thus its total growth/performance in percentage.

There are some sites showing charts on the nav price as you described in (2). As stated, the chart is based on the daily nav price. It may shows the daily increments of the nav price (which is equivalent to the "performance of the fund"), but this is accurate until the next distribution.

After each distribution, the nav price drops. Over a long period with many distributions, over multiple years, the chart based on the nav price would be relatively flat within a narrow band.

The chart in (2) is only good for a short period until the next distribution and not useable over a long period of several years. Best is to simply ignore and disregard these nav charts.

Do take note that the performance chart as in (1) may show a sudden dip after a distribution, but in the following days, the chart will be adjusted to show the correct daily increment/decrement after the distribution is factored in.

Well, back then, SCB SG took in insto clients too,... this was done directly INSIDE SCB SG and not by an affiliation outside of the bank. Perhaps they charged too low and could not cover, hence, had to give up the insto clients to another insto.

Yeah,... when I look at them, seems similar in pattern to HSBC, in some ways,.... Big, spread-out everywhere and fire-fighting here and there. I am not vested in SCB,... but I'm studying hard now on HSBC listed in HK.

Seems to me like the dpu earned in HKD is not really viable for investing,... unless of course, one intends to invest for long term inside HK.

Perhaps you have to find out..
In your carthasis to push and stamp your investment prowess ability to predict future over others,
better pause and think... true or not.

Sifu Master,

Sorry n pls accept my humble apologies. Going forward, will not doubt your wisdom.

True to your words, after hubris comes nemesis.

We then need to wait for the true leader to rise n  show a path towards FI/RE.

Thank you for your sharing. It has been long time since the last good read in this thread. Nevertheless, some key point that I learnt:

1) Avoid debt at all cost
2) Live below means
3) Be the very best in working on the active income
4) Try to very best to manage the wealth

Hope to see more on the "giving" part as well.

Everyone has different view on debt. Like hksgmy he would stay on course of plowing that mortgages with prepayment in mind, its a longer term strategy opposing to the property guru with leverage max with minimal capital outlay and installment and game on the capital gain at the shortest time possible.
That would broadly representing the majority of the self-made millionaires without fancy investment tool, which everyone can do, but not everyone can practice the delay gratification that you have done in your past experience.

Great inspiration as to myself also in the route of pairing down my mortgage and incurring no more consumer debt,  before the year of 40.

I am surprised with Asset >SD30 Million, passive income RM90-120k a month, active income SD300+k a month,
you still have such fear?

I had been reading and watching alot of personal finance articles/videos lately. Just a question, when people(from usa) said save 20%-30% of your income. If i were to translate to malaysia situation, that means our employer and employee contribution already include in the 20% consideration correct? Because seems like usa 401k/roth ira is an optional rather then mandotary unlike our epf unless of course im misunderstanding of the situation.