Thank you for pointing me to the existence of this helpful thread! I’ll go through the reading material here - and I’m sure I’ll find it helpful!

Thank you very much again!

I got into medicine not for profit, but for my patients - and it's this attitude and mindset: by putting their needs and concerns first, and not mine, that have made my practice financially successful. I won't be leaving my patients in a lurch. When I retire, I will obviously hand over my patients to a colleague. Their notes, their treatment plans would all be clearly indicated. This is expected of ANY medical professional, and I wouldn't think of doing it any other way.

A doctor is entitled to have hopes and dreams and aspirations just like any other person - and my hope is that I'll be able to fulfill my aspirations while my body is still healthy.

Thanks for the tag, but I’m not here to prove to any of the forum users here about the veracity of my statements. I have nothing to gain from the perceived adulation as I have anything to lose from the incredulity of complete strangers.

But I do have this to say about Dd2318 and his “research” on alleged specialists remunerations in Singapore by way of the screenshot above:

My friend, that screenshot and the data is about as accurate as Pakatan Harapan’s ministerial income declaration. If it gives you and your fragile ego a sense of comfort to say that I’m unable to legitimately earn what I said I do, then, please do not let me get in the way of that perception of yours.

Susan Lim, before she got into trouble with the Sultan of Brunei’s sister, made more money in a year than I could muster in 5 ... or 10. The Chinese have a saying: 一山比一山高。what I make in my specialty and for my seniority is about the average others in my field and age would make. There will be others that take home heaps more, and there will be those that don’t. I don’t begrudge those who are in a more favourable financial position than I am, any more than I would patronise those who are not.

Please, don’t lose any sleep over a forum post of mine. Think what you would, how you would - it wouldn’t bother me, any more than what I stated in that post of mine should bother you.

Good night all.

I apologize if feathers were ruffled (for reasons best known to those who got their knickers in a knot) by the thread I started in another section, and I appreciate the mature way in which the primary purpose of this discussion was brought back into focus.

Anyway, to put a simple perspective into some of the finer aspects of what I said:

I'm nearly 50 years old. I've been working in Singapore for more than 25 years, the last 15 years in private practice. The first 10 years as a doctor in the government service, and I rose to the rank of a consultant.

Let's just focus on the last 15 years. As I've previously alluded, a consultant with the same seniority and experience in the same specialty (I'd rather keep that private & confidential) is expected to make about S$3,000,000 to S$4,000,000 gross per annum. Suffice to say, consultation fees make up only a modest portion of our earnings. Sure, we charge $150 to $200 for a standard consultation, but it's still only a small part of the overall income. Theatre fees/procedural fees/special medications make up a far larger bulk.

These are obviously not medications you'd rock up to your local pharmacy to buy. Biologics, Immunotherapy drugs - these are highly specialized, extremely expensive medications that can and must only be dispensed by qualified professionals. As an example, just by adhering to a mark-up of 20% on the cost price as per guidelines, it’s a fair profit of at least $1,000 - $2,000 per injection (check out Xolair, Humira, Enbrel, Dupixent, Stelara just to quote you a few examples). Those are the kind of figures I'm referring to. Like I said, 一山比一山高. I’m not talking about a script for Panadol or Piriton here. The best paymasters are not the local Singaporeans, but my patients from Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and even Malaysia (ironic).

Multiply that with the last 10 (not even 15) years of private practice, and you'll figure out why a post-tax "war chest" of about S$30,000,000 is not actually that far off the mark (kudos to the person who worked it out backwards).

Bear in mind also that my wife works as a chartered accountant, we have no children & we are both used to (as Malaysian Chinese) the culture of working twice as hard to receive half as much. We delay our need for gratification, and we don't feel the need to flaunt our income by way of expensive, branded items. I wear an Apple Series 4 watch (after my Apple Series 1's battery finally died), and she still wears the Tag Heuer I bought for her at her graduation in Australia. Our daily living expenses are already more than fully covered by her salary alone (she was previously with one of the big 4 in a senior role, she's now an in-house accountant for better hours), with change to spare.

Also consider our attitude towards housing: despite owning private properties in Singapore (and Australia), we continued to live in our humble little HDB flat that we bought the minute we qualified as PRs back when we first came down to Singapore. The savings alone, in living a humble existence, is not something to scoff at. This arrangement continued until our neighbours whom we've gotten to know very well moved away & new ones came in. One of the new neighbours got into some trouble with loan sharks and his house was spray-painted & his shoe rack was set on fire. That was our cue to make like a bat out of hell, right out of the neighbourhood.

We also don't drive flashy cars. She made do with our first car until the wheels fell off (a Honda City, then upgraded to a C-class which she's still driving), and I drive an S-class after the wheels fell off my old E-class (the W211 version). I know some of my colleagues or her friends of similar status would be zipping about town in their Ferraris and Porsches, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with their automotive choice, but that's simply just not our style.

My medical studies were also fully funded by the Colombo Commonwealth Plan scholarship, and included a very generous stipend. So, upon graduation, I had no debt and I’ve worked very hard all my life to avoid debt. My wife’s 1st year in her accountancy degree was initially paid for by my parents, but she applied herself diligently and obtained a University scholarship that covered tuition fees and since we both studied in Australia, my stipend was more than enough for both our living expenses. In this sense, we already had an advantage compared to many of our peers – being debt free from right off the bat.

So that’s a little bit on our background.

In the spirit of this thread, I'll share with you my portfolio (obviously, no need for hard numbers, just %)

50% liquid investments - in SGD & AUD (10:5 ratio)
50% properties - in Singapore & Australia. We've consolidated our property portfolio. We used to have units in Auckland & KL, but sold those as there were too many tax jurisdictions to worry about, and I couldn't do this full time.

Of the liquid assets, I have them split up as follows:

50% bonds (Senior subordinated, Tier 1 or Tier 2, rated - never junk grade) – bond issues from UOB, DBS, OCBC, Sembcorp Industries (not Marine), Credit Suisse, SIA, Wing Tai, Guocoland, SCB, HSBC, and in Australia, I favour Westpac, NAB, ANZ. As you can see, I'm heavily into banks. If they collapse, I'll probably jump from the proverbial 14th floor so beloved in /k. The average return ranges from 3.5% - 5%. If I were to sell off all of the bonds right now, the only 2 bonds that I would lose money on would be Sembcorp Industries & SIA. All the others are in positive territory. A lot of the bonds are also perpetual issues, with a call date some 10 years down the road. This does help with financial planning & stability somewhat.

10% in SGX blue chip stocks - the dividend yields are decent, if not overly exciting. I'd say they pay on average 5-6% returns.

20% in index-tracked stocks, with memory knock-out feature. Mainly in FMCG and consumer/entertainment stocks - like Starbucks, McD, VISA, Mastercard, Pepsi, Disney (by far my best investment so far) and Yum foods. These are slightly riskier assets, but they have paid 8-10% on average. I also have these in Pharma stocks, obviously, as I’m a little more attuned to potential sensitivities brewing in this industry. The key thing here is that I have no issues getting knocked in, should the share prices fall below the threshold, as these counters are also blue chips. I’ll just switch over from collecting the 8% to receiving the dividend payments instead.

20% in cold, hard cash (SGD & AUD). I'm lucky that I managed to lock in the bulk of my AUD savings in 60 - 80 month time deposits, so those are still paying nearly 8% in interest (non-compounded), but I'll have a major headache when those good deals run out in a couple of years' time. As for my SGD, because of my relationship with the bank, I get a special 2.25% return to keep my money with them. The rate is reviewed/renewed every quarter, but they've kept it more or less the same for a while now. Some may say that we’re quite silly to keep this portion in low returns of cash, but it does give us a bit of flexibility and there’s always emergencies that having a bit of money at hand would be helpful.

We also have an annuity plan that will pay us a comfortable income upon official retirement ($10,000 per month in total). We bought ours from AIA.

Of the 50% in properties, we have a mix of residential and commercial units. We are receiving at least 3 – 4% in rental returns. The relatively higher yield is from the fact that we own a couple of commercial shop houses, which are in quite good locations with good traffic footfall. In additional to residential properties in Australia, we also have a couple of medical suites bought in Australia, rented out to my classmates from University (oh, what a small world!) Those are paying quite good returns too – about 5% per annum.

In my opinion, the crucial factors that some detractors might have missed in their initial scepticism are:

1. Us being totally debt free upon graduation
2. Singapore’s meritocratic system being a haven for talent – they do recognize & reward performance
3. Singapore’s position as a regional medical hub (for me) & a regional headquarters for many MNCs (my wife)
4. The Singapore dollar being stable & relatively strong against major currencies
5. The Australia dollar peaking at 1.31 against the SGD some years ago – I liquidated ALL of my AUD and converted them into SGD at nearly the highest point (having accumulated AUD at an average buy in price of 1.02 – 1.03 over the preceding years leading to that spike)
6. My wife and I being debt free, and without obligations to our elders (my parents passed away many years ago, as has her dad, and she’s estranged from her gambler of a mother)
7. We have no children – so no need to plan for their education costs

So, if you do your sums and add all of that up, you’ll realise that what I quoted, in terms of passive returns of $40,000 to $50,000 a month is easily achievable – and that’s honestly, me being on the conservative side. I will still be working full time in Singapore for the next 2 or 3 years, so I do expect to increase the portfolio significantly, before we make the move over to Sydney to retire.

Thank you for the opportunity to clarify myself.

You’re most welcome, and thank you for keeping things civilised and respectful despite how dodgy it might have appeared initially. A mature discussion with positive participation is a refreshing change from the usual vitriol and venom that gets spat about in /kopitiam - though the latter isn’t without its fun moments. Whilst I maintain I have nothing to prove, it is precisely in the spirit of sharing and mutual exchange of information that I decided to clarify and expand on my initial post (which was lifted and pasted here without my knowledge, permission or intention) - but no worries, I bear no grudges and absolutely zero ill-will whatsoever.

I will be the first to admit that my investing skills are nowhere as honed or sharp as many others here, and I will be the first to say that my financial acumen leaves much to be desired. Much of what I can do, I do because my wife and I generate enough income to do it. Our conservative natures also mean we are probably underperforming when compared with other more savvy investors with a similar pot of funds. But I’m not here to compare the lengths of our genitalia or the diameters of the hairs on our chest. I want to enjoy learning from all of you, and perhaps even contribute in a small way, should an opportunity arise (unlikely as it would seem, what with an amateur like me being in the presence of such learned masters as yourselves).

Someone briefly made a mention about it being surprising or suspicious that I would, as a new member, be familiar with the vernacular of these forums (such as the /k standard of RM20,000/month). Observation is a key tenet in the art of medicine, and I’ve been observing these forums for a few years, before I finally decided it was worth a dip of my toes to test the waters.

Perhaps it’s because of my impending retirement and the fact that I’ll leave Singapore and Malaysia so many miles behind. I trawled the pages in HWZ too, but deep inside, despite being a PR in Singapore for nearly 30 years, I know in my heart, I relate more to my Malaysian brethren and kindred. Our cultures may be similar, but not identical - and the blood in my veins is decidedly Malaysian. Hence, Lowyat instead of HWZ - a little slice of home for me when I find myself permanently in Sydney.

And aspartame, thank you for being a voice of reason. I didn’t go through all that transpired when a few members started insinuating about the merits of my story, but I did catch your post about giving me the benefit of the doubt, instead of condemning me to be a fraud from the get go. Your statement was neutral and non-judgemental; much like how I have to approach every patient’s medical concerns, no matter how fallacious they may sound at first. The benefit of the doubt is always given, lest I commit the greater sin of unfairly judging a person, and harming him as a result.

Interesting medical choice for a nickname though.

As it stands, I’m grateful to see that the vast majority of the participants (at least in this section anyway) are mature, level-headed and magnanimous enough to welcome a relative newcomer like myself to the fold.

We have a house next to the water at Rozelle Bay. There’s another at Double Bay. We’re looking at either one of these to use as our permanent home in Sydney.

This post has been edited by hksgmy: Apr 21 2020, 07:30 AM

I’m sure other experts with far more investment experience that I have will chip in with their suggestions, but here are my humble 2 cents worth - as how I STARTED, not what I do now (the latter which would be irrelevant to your query, and be inappropriately self-serving should I went on that tangent of an answer).

1. Enforce a savings plan. RM40,000/month is nothing to be scoffed at. Admittedly, the cost of living in Austria (if I recall rightly, that’s where you’re based at the moment, correct me if I’m mistaken) is quite high and will eat into your otherwise extremely impressive remuneration package. Cook your meals to last for lunch and dinner, and freeze the rest to last for a few days if need be. Public transport instead of Uber, for example, whenever possible. My wife and I didn’t see the inside of a cinema for years, at the start in our careers in Singapore. Every little bit counts - never disregard the habit of being a frugal saver.

2. Having said that, if I were in your position, I would transfer a fixed portion of that salary into an account and get that converted into a higher yield currency. Preferably a currency you wouldn’t mind holding should your FOREX play goes all pear-shaped. I did that with my paltry salary in SGD some 25 years ago, and kept buying into AUD, because the fixed deposit yields back then were close to 10%. € yields are beyond bad at the moment, and the Eurozone has been stuck in a quagmire of near deflation for the longest time, so if I were in your shoes, I’d swap € into USD or even RM (assuming you don’t mind holding either currencies). USD FD rates are around 2-2.5% and you can still get 3.5% on RM. I was very very lucky because I timed my purchases right (the AUD was briefly below the SGD when Singtel was in a bidding war for Optus in the late 90’s) and I sold my AUD holdings near perfection (during the commodities boom where the AUD peaked at 1.31 or 1.33 to the SGD). Overnight, I made nearly 30% capital gains on my currency value, not counting the compounded interest that the AUD paid me for nearly a decade and a half of me holding it. Those days are long gone now, but you could still do your version of a “carry trade” with your € and another higher yield currency of your choice).

3. Work more than one job/the stipulated hours. A part time job (in my case, I did locum shifts at hospitals while I was studying for my post graduate exams) or overtime woukd obviously increase your income. Online businesses are quite popular nowadays, although I’d be the first to admit I don’t have Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, so I’m online-naive. Still, you’re much younger (and I suspect, far savvier) than me, so this should be a walk in the park for you, like a fish to water.

That’s what I did when I was in the nascent stages of building my financial portfolio.

I would like to pass the microphone to the real experts now, to hear what they have to say.

Good luck, and over to you guys!

Hello cheefai7,

Thank you for the kind words. I understand those points I listed out are not applicable for everyone, but they worked well for my wife and me, so I thought I'd share them in the spirit of this forum.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "giving" part - but, if you're referring to charity, then my wife is a regular/registered donor/sponsor of the Hospice Association, and I am a regular/registered donor with the Lion's foundation. I believe in giving back to causes that matter to us - and we'll all grow old and sick and pass away, so these 2 charities are close to our hearts.

Ah, you mean contributing here? I’m just an amateur in terms of investment strategies, and I defer to the knowledge and experience of the forum users here with far more practice and wisdom.

And to answer your question, no. We’ve never leveraged on our investments but obviously we had to take loans for our Singapore properties purchases. We did as much capital prepayments as contractually allowed and paid off the mortgages at the earliest opportunity. So, we’ve been debt free since 40 years of age.

As I mentioned, my wife and I are not a typical case. We are both professionals earning a very respectable income each (hers isn’t anything to scoff at either) and her income alone is more than enough to sustain our annual expenditures and multiple holiday trips overseas - the latter being the most expensive expense item on our outgoings. We also agreed early on in our marriage that we did not want children (because I didn’t think we could be good parents and still give 110% at at careers - it’s a lifestyle choice and a decision that we arrived at with much soul searching: 30 years later, we still have no regrets whatsoever).

My philosophy is simple - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, every penny saved is a penny earned. Leverage can unravel too quickly. Margin trading can inflict crippling burns in the blink of an eye. Those strategies are for braver people with wills of steel and courage of lions.

To clarify this point (which I agree to a limited extent): I don’t consider mortgages for a principal dwelling to be leverage - but multiple mortgages that I don’t have the ability to pay off within a set of strict rules that I’ve put in place for myself are a different cup of tea. These properties are at the mercy of valuations and rental sentiments and tax regime changes and if you find yourself requiring a certain rental return in order to pay off a loan due, then you hamper your ability to undercut the next landlord who might not need to achieve a target rental since he’s debt free on that investment property.

It’s precisely because I don’t have the pressure of a mortgage on any of our investment properties that we chose quality tenants even if they pay a slightly lower rental - and paradoxically, quality tenants more often than not end up paying good rentals and on time! Imagine that.

As for business expansion loans, those don’t apply to me because of the way I chose to practice my profession in my industry. I always tell my graduate students that they should NEVER prescribe medications or treatment plans that will benefit their profit margins at the expense of their patients. That’s the fastest way to financial and professional ruin. If I don’t owe the bank a tonne of money, then I remove the pressure of having to promote treatment options that are equivocal (they may not harm but they may not be essential either) to help pad up my bill and help me pay the bank.

Obviously different industries require different interpretations of this philosophy but my strict adherence to not biting off more than what I can chew has ensured financial security as well as professional integrity for me.

This post has been edited by hksgmy: Nov 29 2019, 03:46 PM

I wish you all the best!

Wow. Finally ploughed through 79 pages of wisdom and investing experience. Thank you all for sharing. I have to admit, reading all of this and noting how, despite our many different strategies and approaches and beliefs and principles, it’s heartening to note a few common underlying trends.

1. Always save as much as it is practical
2. Always live well within one’s means
3. Start this journey as early and as young as possible

I’m such an amateur compared to all the gurus and their many different strategies here, and to be frank, at my stage in life, where I stand to lose a lot more than I can recover, I will never be brave enough to rebalance my portfolio - but it does make for interesting reading and offers much food for thought.

Thank you all.

It's the classic conundrum - when you come to a certain stage/age in life, you get comfortable with the way things are done and you can't risk upsetting the status quo. If I do something that eats into my portfolio because of massive losses, then I set back my retirement plans. And at my age, I rather be happy with what works than to be greedy and try what might.

Things might have turned out differently if I started earlier.

The $300,000 to $500,000 you mentioned may not hurt you one bit but it will me. Every dollar is 血汗钱, blood sweat and tears, and I owe it to myself and wife (and the patients that endorse and continue to support me financially) to be responsible with how I take care of it.

It’s a very conservative philosophy but it ensures that I am a good custodian of that which has been put in my charge.

Perhaps to some it may not be, but to me, I agree with you whole heartedly - that approach is no different to taking a gamble.

And I couldn’t agree more, 1% here, 5% there, soon I’ll have to work till I’m way too old to enjoy the remainder of my days.

I used to think that way too. But, to be honest, I can’t tell whether it would make that big a difference between say, $30,000,000.00 vs $60,000,00.00 - once it gets to a certain point, I find it rather meaningless. Especially for our existing lifestyles and the fact that we have no children to worry about it.

Different priorities for different people, obviously - but if I ever needed a reminder of knowing when to quit when I’m ahead, I just look up the former PM of Malaysia, Najib Razak. If he only knew how to call it a day, he might still be the PM today, no?

The sad thing is, EVERY politician is in it for himself, never for the rakyat. Doesn't matter who... the outcome and behaviour is exactly the same. Sigh.

I know what you mean. I tried to semi-retire 5 years ago after I passed 45y of age, and failed because I thought it was premature to cut short my professional and financial potential. This time, I'm super determined not to make the same mistake.

Hopefully, in 2 years' time, my plan will be executed and I'll be posting to this forum from Sydney.

Agree. Wife and I have no children - one less variable to consider.

I believe you might have mistaken "obligation" for "attachment". Like I said, it's not a philosophy everyone can understand - but, I come from a school of thought as follows, as taught to me by an old professor way back in medical school:

If you over-invest or over-stretch and you find yourself in need to make more money to fill up the hole you dug for yourself, you put your patients at risk. The doctor that loses money on the stock market may be tempted to over-diagnose and over-interpret a 40% calcium build up on coronary CT screening in a 45y.o as clinically life threatening and recommend a stent.

The doctor that gets asked to top up his margin calls may over-prescribe antibiotics to patients with viral infections who would have otherwise benefited from simple conservative treatment.

As doctors, we are entrusted with the well being and care and lives of patients, because of the unequal distribution of and access to information we possess. We are also beholden to do no harm to our patients. Whilst over-interpreting a 40% calcium build up and placing a stent may seem harmless, the fact that the patient, post-stent, may be put on a life-long regimen of NOACs and Clopidogrel and other blood thinners that may interfere with his normal diet and routine and other medications - that's secondary harm.

Similarly, overuse and abuse of antibiotics will breed superbugs that may end up spreading their resistance elsewhere.

Every action WILL have a ramification. I happen to be in a profession that shuns unnecessary speculation and eschews unjustifiable risks.

Your mileage may vary, obviously.