##struggl`families earn`$7k #Julius/LZ.Y #discipline

Posted on by tiger40490 rendered_on [ Thu, 6 Mar 2025 ] 18:51 UTC

Oth risk — this blogpost is less focused, less specific, less concrete, less rigorous than other blogspots below , but I like the 7k benchmark as a concrete, real-world benchmark.

My neighbor Julius complained about high living cost in SG (and loss of good jobs due to foreign professionals). After I told him about my friend R T whose double income adds up to about 9k gross, Julius immediately replied that a SG family would be lucky and comfortable once household gross income hits 7-8k. I wonder why 7k would be a struggle.

Q: if burn rate can be 4k/M for a family of four, then why is 7k income a struggle? Note the 7k median earlier.
A: a key factor — Median nuclear-family income is higher.

I assume he was describing a /stereotypical/ Singaporean Chinese family with kids (we both fathers of two), and possibly with grandparents to support financial.

  1. CPF deductions — 1~2k fixed percentage. Let’s assume 6K take-home
  2. —- My guesstimates of the G9 biggest (ex-CPF) expenditure categories:
  3. tuition + enrichment … — once surpassed 3k for my kids. ZengSheng feels for a family with 2 kids, childcare is the biggest outlay category
  4. essentials like nutrition, transport, utilities — could be 2-3k
  5. [m] maid — up to 1k. common if both parents work
  6. travel + dining — was almost 1k for my family.
  7. [m] car ownership? Not sure how many “struggling” families would take it on. Perhaps quite a lot.
  8. [m] allowance for grandparents? At least $500 IMO. Aaron Lee agreed, at least for the local Chinese family
  9. [m] mortgage — usually by CPF-OA, but some take on an investment property, with additional mortgage burden.
  10. insurance premiums? life policies, endowments, medical. I only have medical so probably lower
  11. [m=”light” burden in my current carefree life]

— a friend of mine with two kids in Grade 12 and College Y2. Self-employed, so his net income is around 7-9k, after some haircut (He quoted 30% haircut as standard). He did an calculation for his 2019 burn rate . Around 7-8k/M or 七八千. Struggle? He said there is livelihood pressure.

  • including mortgage. (Without mortgage, he said perhaps 五六千, but I feel he was less sure). I guess he has two mortgages for his two condos.
  • including insurance of 一万多 / Y. This estimate is vague, because I didn’t want to poke my nose in
  • probably excluding another 一万多 / Y insurance for a grandma
  • including private car monthly cost, which is needed for his daily work. I doubt he amortized the car purchase cost.
  • no more maid
  • including vacations. His family likes vacations.
  • including $500 piano lessons

I told him my wife spends presumably $1k, so our total burn rate is $4k+. So mine is $3k/M below his. He immediately pointed out mortgage as #1 difference. Car is probably #2 difference. Then we compared our insurance cost. I feel these factors explain about $3k.

— discipline for consistent saving

Q: So how about saving for college/retirement? Such a long-term plan can be very hard to implement. Many would shift focus to near-horizon and save what they can.

Based on this quick check, I now believe saving $1k/M would be challenging for this stereotypical family trapped in a cashflow low ground. ZengSheng also felt this stereotypical family would be hard pressed to save any meaningful amount. I agree with him that for the Chinese, saving at least $1k/M is essential.

This is also the Singapore government’s stance.

Financial discipline is easy for JackZ, RaymondTeo, me, and my dad, but hard for other family members and can be a challenge for my kids.

— FOMO^livelihood

Based on my personal record and analysis, 4k/M burn rate can be sufficient for a family of four, without the level of discipline of the ERE author. So family livelihood is taken care of , but why why would a 7k family feel so bad?

I would say FOMO peer comparison is the main underlying reason.  As stated in ffree^FOMO #9K/M, if you can’t afford the nice things that your neighbors, ex-schoolmates and colleagues can afford, then you feel left behind and poor.