Difficult to predict how the future would be and it has become a pain to calculate and price risks these days with the way things are going around the world.

These days I am already happy if my investments or business interest does not lose money.

Why spend so much to renovate instead of just selling the terrace and buy a bungalow instead?
Renovation cost is more expensive than new, and the terrace couldn't add much value anyway.

Still ok, more like 1 1/2.

I used a lot more money before Covid because i have a stable job and my investments were all doing very well - made me a bit cocky!! I was telling myself - if my investment returns continues like this when i retire (was planning then to retire early 2021), my passive income will easily be about rm20k-rm30k/mth. How can i finish my money like this as my capital will probably grow higher every year. I was thinking i might need about rm10k/mth for my living costs in KL once i retire (since i don't need to pay rent/mortgage or car loans which are the 2 major expenses for younger people).

Now all shit has blown up once Covid started!! I have never been worried about money before but now Covid makes people scared of running out of money!! The future is so unpredictable now!! I am giving my wife A10k for my retirement present as i have never expected to get a golden handshake. She saw a nice Chanel bag (cost about A$10,500) and wanted to buy it with the A$10k i gave her. I now tell her not to buy the bag as the future is very unpredictable - she is now a bit upset with me !! Can't understand women - why need so many handbags (she already got about 5 Chanel handbags - all very costly eventhough we bought it quite a few years ago. I really cannot understand women

old but unwise

Left with old wife, no kids

Yet so stingy and cheap

U plan to give to ur wife new boyfriend?

Don't know - lah. Last time not scared no money but now after Covid, very scared no money - lah. Lsat time very confident but now spend money very scared - loh.

Stupid Covid make people scared!! Now i am at the peak of my net worth - i am worth more now than just before the pandemic but still scared (my golden handshake added quite a lot more to my net worth). I am scared about how future returns on my investments may turn out because it may be negative quite often from now.

I used to think - i will spend all my money before i die but now after Covid, i feel better with more money!! Even when i die and i have more than what i have now, i am happy.

This stupid Covid has made older people very insecure because the future is very unclear now. I am now supposed to be very happy with quite a big retirement nest egg but somehow i don't feel secure so i dare not spend too much. I am more scared about running out of money than getting Covid nowadays!!

Don't know why but i am sure i don't have depression as i still enjoy going out all the time and feel happy when things are not very expensive !!

Go away how? Money is for what? To improve one's life. By spending it somewhat off the grid they enjoy is fruits without raising official eyebrows

Get it

When you spend it by buying overpriced renovations the money goes away no? Unless you are similar to that chinaman datuk that did not pay the contractor.

Also it is unlikely you would spend that type of renovation money off grid as you would need an architect and engineering drawing to submit for a planning permit. That alone will cost rm15k and though possible usually unlikely that part is off grid.

Pretty sure if you have that type of money to blow you would not be hiring a few Banglas to do it but most likely an experienced project manager and an ID team especially for something with such a major structural component to it.

This type of stand out renovations bound to raise suspicion along the way of someone in the neighbourhood that could just make a few phone calls. Plenty of busybodies about.

It is normal as no one could predict the true impact of the extended shutting down of so many sectors of the world economy.

There is always something pleasing about finding a good thing that is not too expensive.

Like recently I just found a genuine BMW M635csi from 1986. A bit tatty and in need of an engine rebuild, the widow and her brats let it go for rm20k because it is a LHD car. Now having the engine done up and bringing it back to pristine condition to then sell it on. Think there is at least rm50k profit in it.

Wow! Didn't know you are into car restoration. You must know a lot of people in the car industry.

Old man like me only like reliable cars - Toyota is the only car i will buy due to reliability. I would buy a Lexus for prestige but i don't like buying expensive cars (esp new cars) due to high depreciation costs. I used to change cars when younger but now old man already - no-one looks at old and ugly old fags like us anymore

One of my secondary income sources is I am a rebuilder of Jaguar XK and BMC A, B and C series engines as well as a restorer of classic cars, mainly 2 seater British cars.

Only take on 6 engines per year and 1 or 2 cars per year. I do it more as hobby though.

Nothing wrong with not being into cars if it is not your thing. Also definitely not a bad thing to stick to Toyotas when in Australia or Malaysia or most countries outside of EU and China as replacement parts are the easiest to source.

Do you plan on keeping rental properties in Australia after retirement as a source of income?

Sydney property prices hasn't dropped since the pandemic (esp landed properties). I haven't decided to sell so i might just hold on to the property for the time being. My sister tells me not to sell and she wants to buy it if i want to sell.

I have most of my money in super and i don't know if i should buy another cheaper property in Western Sydney. At the moment the Aussie dollar is fairly strong so i don't know if i should buy more ringgit as the Aussie is quite erratic at times.

I finish working at my organisation in mid-March so i will have to get used to living without a regular income (from my employer). My payout from my organisation can easily last me the next 5 years so i will not need to touch my super for a few years. I don't buy anything usually so my only vice is eating out about 4 times a week (Chinatown). Other than than i lead quite a thrifty lifestyle - i never thought i can change so much after the pandemic as i used to spend a lot more before the pandemic (full of confidence without a worry in life!!).

I guess 4 times a week at Chinatown is not all that expensive if you earn an Aussie salary.

I probably could save a lot more if I consumed more local cuisines here but generally local foods are not all that palatable to me. Also have a gf that is kind of picky with her food as like many Caucasians she has all kinds of allergies.

I have a close friend that used to make a living from student rentals in Melbourne. She literally bought up an entire row within 10 years just before 2005. Whole street became a PRC neighbourhood as her formula was do nothing but find ways to cram as many beds in that property. Heard from her son now all but 2 of those properties have tenants due to the pandemic. Something she definitely never predicted would be this bad.

I think at this moment in time unless you care for high risks best to just refrain from any major investment decisions till 3rd quarter of 2021 when much of the world would have access to the vaccine and most likely much of the storm would have died down.

Personally, we have been divesting a lot of assets in Malaysia especially our residential properties. It has already reached saturation point and any gains will not be above inflation. Anything sold will be put into agriculture land in England closer to the M25 the better.

Kind of sad to divest off as all of it were purchased by my late grandparents who were 1st generation in then Malaya. They had such big hopes and dreams in the 50s and 60s when they put money towards it but now here am I disposing it off but I have to do what I have got to do.

Yes - housing to PRC students are all suffering badly.

I have a lot of friends in Chinatown (business people) and they are all suffering because of the lack of PRC students. Chinatown is very near to UTS and Sydney Uni and the students have all gone back to China and cannot return - i got my payout because of a lack of students (ha. ha. guess where i work ). I initially thought i will get more than A$300k as a payout and it came in about A$50k less. Still okay as my colleagues (with less years than me) all got around A$200k (after tax because long service leave and annual leave is taxable at 32%).

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Feb 14 2021, 07:44 AM

I believe many would never return and it does not appear this is an industry that would recover anytime soon.

My dad was a teaching fellow at a uni in Perth. Mainly out of interest rather than for the money.

He decided not to continue for the following academic year as age is catching up and he prefers legal practice more than academics.

They downsized your payout due to the pandemic or you did a miscalculation?

We are paid 3 weeks for every year of service.

The payout has 2 parts:
Severance pay = No pf years service x 3 weeks pay (mostly non-taxable as it was below tax formula threshold)
Long service leave + Annual leave (taxable at 32%)

I have underestimated the amount of tax payable and there is a cap on the number of years service (i based my calculation without realising there is a cap). I was lucky that i have still a lot of long service leave (even though i have taken quite a fair bit in the last 2 years). My annual leave and long service leave totalled about 14 months and my base pay is slightly over the A$100k mark.

I dare not reveal to my colleagues my actual payout figure because my super plus the payout is way over the million dollar mark (Aussie) while most of my colleagues only came out to A$750k. The reason was because my super balance is very much higher than theirs because i have been contributing extra on my super (to the maximum allowed) over the past 12 years. My colleagues were having a good time and were just putting the minimal required in their super - compounding interest makes a big difference!!

Sorry didn't finish my earlier post as i have to go and have a shower.

Fellow's pay is the equivalent to a senior lecturer which in Sydney Uni is about A$150k (base). You get another 17% super on top of that. We had a lot of fellow(s) in my dept but because of Covid, these positions were terminated as the Uni is burning cash like crazy! All contract positions were not renewed since Covid and these were the first people to go (without compensation). I am a permanent staff so i got compensated for leaving

Does Australia have a state pension system or the superannuation is it? I thought usually the uni would have a retirement scheme that would allow you to draw a monthly pension as well?

Myself my working career has been a bit different from many because EPF I only have 3 years of contribution. However I do have 10 years of paying into CPF and into the German pension scheme due to a technicality when I was employed by a previous employer. Also have 18 years contribution towards UK National Insurance due to employment and owning a business. Thankfully I do have UK Right of Abode and can apply for UK citizenship thanks to a granddad being born in UK and a British citizen. Have not really decided whether to do so or not but I have somewhat decided that Malaysia is just not the place I would like to be and the hobbies I enjoy as well as the lifestyle I prefer are more suited for England or Germany.

Are you in the academics or administration of the uni?

I can imagine the uni must be burning away its cash reserves like no tomorrow due to this pandemic. Does the uni have any forecast on when their enrolment would improve and get back closer to its peaks?

For my dad's case they were only retaining 2 of the 14 fellows, he was asked to stay on but he decided it was better to make way for younger blood to take on the challenges of 21st century academics.

Aust has the aged pension and a couple will get it automatically at 67 (about A$700/week for couple on full pension). It is means tested so you must have assets below A$480k (couple) for a full pension. If you have assets between A$480k-A$880k (house you live in is exempt from the test), you get a pro-rata rate. You will not get anything if a couple has more than A$880k in assets because you are considered 'wealthy'.

I intend to live in Msia when i retire and it is very hard to meet the 2 out of 5 years requirement to keep our PR. It is very hard to stay 2 years out of 5 years in Aust esp for an older person. This will probably mean i may have to give up my PR - my wife definitely will not stay here in Aust as she wants to be with her younger sister in KL(2 years younger than my wife).

I am in an administrative/management role (involved in so many projects in my 30+ years in the Uni) - everything from IT support (Level 1-3), Project Management and HR systems support. I have stayed at the same position eventhough i was doing all kinds of unrelated work - one thing is my job is very easy as i have been here so long i know how most of the systems work. If i move higher up, i will need to be moved from a permanent to a contract position. Permanent positions are much more secure as they are the last to be kicked out. My position statement says i am a consultant (ha. ha. fancy title )

The University now is thinking of cutting more staff (forced redundacies) as the future for Universities is very bleak now - they expect PRC students to be reduced by quite a significant amount in the coming few years.

This post has been edited by Garysydney: Feb 15 2021, 05:20 AM

I guess you have mostly decided that Malaysia will be your new home. Any particular reason why you never took on Australian citizenship after so many years there?

I came close to giving up my Malaysian citizenship in 2009 to take on British citizenship but decided to hold off as at that time UK was going through a major economic crisis that appeared as if it was set to be game over and Asia was the future which was why I agreed to relocate to Singapore.

Did not realise their pension system is means tested and the threshold to be considered wealthy is relatively low considering income levels.

The uni my dad was a teaching fellow at had its own pension scheme for its academic faculty and a different scheme for its administrative staff. However only their permanent rather than contract staff could participate in it.

Your wife might be in for a surprise that her younger sister does not want her around. That seems to be the case with my mum and her 4 younger sisters. She thought she would spend more time with them but they mostly have different interests and priorities .