I will be truthful with you - my package is around A$135k/yr and i am quite comfortable financially in Sydney (my wife doesn't work anymore). I am in the same job for 28 years now. I don't feel my pay is very high though (i am not even in the top 30% wage-earners in Aust). May be this is the reason why i feel rm2-3k/mth is very low.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Sep 24 2018, 05:13 PM

Cost of living in Aussie is higher indeed, I was living there for 2 years or so
Poor days will have Maccies, Subway or pizza from some random shop. Average days can afford some Asian takeaways & rich days can go Western cuisine.

Over here, Maccies is rich kid food & Subway is nearly twice the price of Maccies

No doubt. Cost of living is very high in Sydney. When i go out to Din Tai Fung in KL (Mid-Valley), my bill comes out to rm70 (for my wife and myself. My wife orders without looking at the price. Here i go to Din Tai Fung in Word Square and it will cost us about A$53 for the same meal so when you look at it, i am only making the equivalent of about rm15-16k/mth equivalent in KL. I pay a lot of income tax here and i am lucky to have my employer pay A$25-26k/yr (after tax) to my super (epf) because i have a defined benefit super (which is the best super scheme where the payout is based on our final salary and number of years worked).

P/s: What i am trying to put across is that Msian pay is very low (by international standards) and i am not being dis-respectful or looking down on forummers here.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Sep 25 2018, 12:32 AM

#Macca's

It changed name already?

Jon Jandai is quite interesting, life really can be very simple and easy, however, after living in the city for many years, I might be polluted, make things complicated, the more complicated I am, the more value I need
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21j_OCNLuYg&t=18s​

Hi cfkoon, Can please explain more on investing in yourself(connections)? Is is smth done with purpose? Or just by getting to know anyone we meet along the "path"? Do you purposely only meet or be friend to the "atas" ppl? I believed in the phrase,"You are the average 5 person whom you mix with" but I dont want to do it with ulterior motive, to take advantage of the connections.

P/s: I am in mid 20s, personally would like to mix with ppl with winning mindset(with motive to be a winner!) but lack of this circle of friends. I think LYN is a good platform as I learned a lot from many experienced ppl here rather than reading facts on books.

Anyway, side topic, At the age range of 20-30years, most parents(depend on families) are either near retirement or have become old(never know when they will leave this world). We as the children with low earning power, but want to "give back" thats why maybe some of us will strive harder or work aggressively to earn more though not everyone has the knowledge to do so which not many share here. What's your take on this?

Thank you!

Taking din tai fung as example, it is relatively more affordable in sydney.

Due to income tax being very high here (you pay nearly 40% marginal rates once you hit A$90k/yr), even though it looks very good having a package of A$135k (with A$25k after-tax going to super), i estimate my income being similar to someone getting about rm15-16k/mth (after-tax) in KL.

What i am trying to convey across is that Msian wages are very low (by international standards) - only in the recent few months i understood why people would take such high risks to come over to work here illegally. There is a tv program (shown weekly) here on customs and immigration and i see a lot of young people being refused entry because they came across as someone who intended to work illegally. A good proportion of them are Msians.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Sep 25 2018, 06:54 AM

High income tax in oz land is largely due to state welfares e.g pensions.

Pretty interesting calculation. At first glance, AUD135k translates to about RM400k but after Oz tax, it is actually about RM240k (before tax)and RM192k (after tax). Roughly lah cos after incremental/marginal tax. 40% is killer man. Even 25% feels damn a lot for Malaysians. Welfare states like Denmark even higher at 55%. I wonder what that says about long term future of Oz. Still can grow?

I think govt is now very scared because there is fear if the housing market crashes, this will cause a bad recession in Aust. This is why the govt doesn't want people to 'panic sell' but sellers have no choice if they are highly geared and they cannot meet repayments. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the next 12 months.

We live here so we have no choice but to pay such high personal tax. I am lucky i got A$25,xxx in tax-free super contributions from my employer - if you gross it up, it is more like A$30k (15% input tax on super). I am still able to put in another A$19k/yr of my own money into super. This is why a lot of oldies like me put everything into super because earnings are only taxed at 15%. I can start accessing (partially) my super money next year.

May be we are getting a bit off topic now. Maybe we should let the younger people have the thread back and talk FIRE!!

Regardless of high income tax in Aus, residents get so much more back in terms of welfare, safety, public amnesties. If I am able to trade 10% of my salary for those things in Aussie (well not Malaysia of course, because you know, Malaysia is still a lazy country and likes doing substandard work) such as public safety, well maintained roads, health benefits - I will gladly pay more to beautify my standard of living. This is the MAIN difference between a second class country like Malaysia and first class country like Aussie.



Back to FI/RE topic, its very simple bro there are many ways to invest in yourself and by that I mean in knowledge and skills. There are many life skills that one can obtain to further improve your financial position. For eg if you are already an Undergrad, you can choose to pursue an MBA during weekends or weeknights. Then in those MBA classes you may be able to meet new friends and connections who all wants to better themselves, they may be 'atas' or not 'atas' (and don't underestimate others, just because they have not succeeded in life now does not mean they might not 10 years down the road - don't meet people with ulterior motives , smart and rich people can sniff those out in a second). Invest in connections means you can be friends with them now and 10 years later you realise that you are lucky to maintain relationship with the guy.

I know lot of young guys want to meet ppl with "good connections" and "winning mentality" but then realistically you have to ask yourself. Why would your peers who are successful (lets say rich too) want to get to know you? Rich successful people want to stick among rich successful guys. Its a tough world, now you have to think - what can you bring to the table (truthfully not everything resolves around money) that allows you to enter to their circle of friends. For eg. lets say you are a doctor (but of course at this age, you have not achieved much) - but you have good knowledge in medicine. When you mix around more "atas" ppl , you can give them free medical advice, give them a quick checkup - and then they will start to think ok this guy may not be successful atm , but he has good medical skills and knowledge. Now 10 years down the road, you are a specialist doctor - now opportunities may arise , those friends who you have been in your circle decides to invest in you and start a franchise clinic - BOOM you are their no.1 choice. Now the same can be said of many other skills and knowledge (accountant, you can help them do tax, architect - you can help them to do free house design - example here la - i don't think i can spoonfeed more, the rest you think yourself.

For side topic, im gonna be realistic here, if you come from average family with not so great background meaning your parents aren't going to be leaving you much (or you may have to support them) then that means you have to work 2x or even 3x as hard. If you are 20-30 and you want to be FI/RE by 30/40 it's going to be tough, you may have to wait till you are 50/60. What you can do? Take on a couple jobs, if you are banker during the day (invest and study computer science at night) then you can part time do projects for others. or study photography and you can take on a couple of photoshoots at low price (so this is what is known as hustling).

It’s basically socializing & networking. As mentioned already, it’s more about what value can you bring to the table?

Life is pretty much giving first before getting anything in return, really like an investment i.e. you have to cough out some money first as capital before getting any returns. So invest in networking too e.g. join seminars or some paid events/functions to meet with certain people. If you’re cheap, start with free events first. Just staying caved up in your house & office ain’t gonna bring you anywhere.

So once you’re meeting people, your first investment paid off. What’s next? How you’re gonna attract people & at least hold a decent conversation? Again, invest in yourself first - personal grooming, skills, knowledge & experience. Thus having a good skill, info & look presentable is important to keep people interested in you.

So once you’re sociable & networking well, keep it up. Continue “meeting up” the high potential individuals more regularly. You wanna socialize with “atas” people, don’t you need you need to “yumcha” in atas or at least slightly above average places? So this cost money too. This is when your lifestyle will grow more expensive as your income grow too. Getting golf club membership, go golfing with CEOs or having access to VIP places, exclusive passes/invites etc etc.

Just start off with free events/function first & work on your basics. As you go along, things will make sense by itself. Most importantly, be sincere & enjoy what you’re doing.

Most if not all gen y & z blow water with wrong group of people. Rich and successful preferred to hang out with their kind, gungho and boastful is a nuisance. those newly rich are likely intend to make $ from new comers.


This post has been edited by icemanfx: Sep 25 2018, 12:59 PM

Sincerely, thank you Mr cfkoon & Mr NightHeart for the advice & notes!

Spent the money to travel the world.

Pretty good read with warrior, farmer and monk analogy.
- https://www.drwealth.com/are-financial-bloggers-suffering/

Choose the path that suits to your personality.

I prefer to be the farmer who harvest dividend and live a monk life. Can or not?

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Sep 29 2018, 06:29 PM

That's your decision and nobody understand U (internally) & your context (externally) better than other. There's always gradient and just pilot thru to the position you feel comfortable as it goes.

You going to hit the wall by acting like warrior if you're farmer mentality. While warrior might feel monk is suffering but monk wouldn't feel so, it merely the perspective on stuff & wanting is diff.