I initially thought it is my neighbouring street in Bangsar Baru (Terasek 6) with the same kind of design.

Single story is fetching low 1mil while double story is around 1.5-1.6mil. Rather than spending 500k putting half a story, why not just buy a 2 story instead?

balcony no barrier at all?

This is 1.5 storey terrace house kn?

Not bad, it it legal?

I agree with what you say.

I guess spending 700k nowadays is probably what a 'decent renovation' would cost esp if you want imported material. Also problem with renovations, it is best to move out otherwise whole house can be very messy.

My Terasek house will probably need some renovation.

I will probably need to start off with the roof tiles as the house was built late 1970s - although there is no roof leaks at the moment, i suspect it will probably leak in another few years. The only thing is i don't know whether i will be living in the house when i get back to KL as my wife prefers her condo in MK. Now a bit scared to go back to KL as Covid cases still a little high in Msia 

When i was last went back  to KL in Jan 2020, i had the exterior painted and it costed me rm4k just for the front. I was back in KL for 8 weeks then and saw my neighbour's roof being replaced so i asked the contractor for a quote for my roof and he quoted rm25k-rm30k. He indicated that it will last at least 25 years before i need to start worrying again - i am 59 now so it will last me till i am 84 if i were to live in the terrace.

I actually inspected a 2 bedder terrace (cannot remember the address - i think it was 64 Jalan Terasek) around that time and owner wanted rm1.55mil. Owner wanted to migrate to Melb to be with children. The house was well kept but minimal renovation done. I didn't have the money then as i couldn't access my super - i would have bought it now if i saw something like that again but then my friends and relatives are asking me not to move money back to Msia (unless it is for my own daily expenses). I am now in two minds what to do  .

Sometimes the purpose is to wash money one

Can't spend on actual new property cos lhdn sure pick up, but rather spend on upgrade existing house and interior

Legal approved renovation?

I was given a very good golden handshake to retire after being in the same organisation for 30+ years. I have been hoping to retire sometime early this year so the timing was very good. Now I just need to find things to do - I probably have enough money to live off until I conk off. My wife also has her own retirement assets and we have no kids so we don't have to leave anything to anyone.

Now my goal is to find interesting things to do. I find i have become very kedukut lately because now I have to rely on passive income to live on. She keeps saying my assets will be worth more when I conk than now - I am the typical old chinaman - always very frugal and never want to buy new things.

I think we become frugal due more to insecurity more than anything else. Also Covid has made life a lot more difficult - i am worried about my future investment returns more than anything else!! Most people think with a few million ringgit upon retirement (60 years old) in investments, life is a bed of roses. I am now at that stage now and i am a bit fearful how my future years will turn out. My investments are all moderately balanced (60% risky assets and 40% less risky assets) now - i was invested 100% high risk before the pandemic and one of my superfund dropped 35% in March 2020 (luckily it was my smaller superfund as i have two superfunds). I was shitting in my pants!! I dropped everything to conservative for 2 months (both my superfunds) and lost out a lot as the market rebounded in April/May last year - big mistake on my part. I lost more than A$250 at my lowest point last year March. I have moved all my investment into a balanced position now so i am quite comfortable if there is a market crash again. I used to be very gung-ho and love taking risks before last year's market crash  .

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

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.

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  !!

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

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!!).

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%).

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 

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.

I have no kids and wanted to leave my options open (like retiring in Msia). If i had kids, most likely i would have taken up Aust citizenship because parents usually want to be around children/grandchildren when we get old.

The pension scheme you are referring to (for your dad) is the defined pension super scheme. I am in that scheme too - you can opt for a pension/lump sum. I am in the NSW State Super Scheme (SASS https://www.statesuper.nsw.gov.au/). I can elect to take a pension for life or opt for a lump sum. A lot of my colleagues are in this scheme and they have elected to take lump sum - you can 'double-dip' if you take the lump sum option. The reason why you can double-dip is because you can blow off (or buy a bigger house as own house is exempt) any excess by keeping your assets around A$480k (couple) so that you can still get the aged pension when you hit 67  .

I wasn't aware of it at all - one of my Msian colleagues (taken up Aust citizenship) worked in HR and told me about 6 years ago before she left (also got payout as she was made redundant). She was just a junior in the Uni and was getting about A$72kyr base then - she had a choice between getting A$910/wk (for life) or taking a lump sum of A$620k. She has been working in the Uni for 30 years and she was 65 years old. She took the lump sum and at that time she wanted to upgrade to a bigger house and go on the pension (govt) after that. At that time, i thought she was crazy but now after many years thinking about it, it makes sense!! If you opt for your own pension (from your own superfund) then you will not be entitled to the govt pension.

I don't have much stuff left in Sydney - my wife has been taking a lot of stuff back each time we went back to KL over the past few years. I will probably give away all my furniture to a good friend who used to work with me at the Uni.

Shit - you have a 1965 MGB? Those kinds of car will sell for a decent amount in Sydney (we have a lot of pommies here who loves their MGs).

I don't like to do housework so i would prefer a smaller place when i get older. In Sydney getting someone to do house cleaning will cost about A$35/hr (minimum 3-4 hours). That is why i like Msia - getting someone in is so much cheaper 

Your MGB will sell for a motza in Sydney!

That's why - cannot never finish buying loh.

After that, she will ask - why your retirement savings every year so much more extra? Why don't go buy another Birkin?

She bought 2 Classic Chanel bags in 2015 (Jumbo Classic and another called GST model). One was A$6,250 and the other GST was about A$3,500. The GST is no longer being produced and the Jumbo which costs A$6,250 is now selling for about A$12,500. She then challenges me - tell you sure make money before, you don't believe..... Aiyoh    I told her just because the price has gone up doesn't mean she made money. She kept insisting she has made money!! How to argue like that?