Some people (Group 0) don’t choose or like to buy a home or any long-term investment.

Some people (Group 1) only buy a single home for own use. No other investments. They leave the spare cash (if any) in CD.

Q: Can we afford not to invest spare cash@@
%%A (short answer): I can afford to be in Group 1 not Group 0

I feel Group 0 tend to save less, even though they leave money (if any) in CD. When I have a mortgage to pay off, I feel the constant motivation/pressure to save. (Look at Aunt Genn.) Now I have no mortgage but I have firm plan to buy a house. I feel a lower pressure but still a real pressure to save.

My ex-colleague Trevor is a special case in Group 0. He invests in stocks and other liquid securities and grows his portfolio steadily. He targets 10% growth every year on his entire portfolio. I don’t know anyone else doing that.

I feel Group 1 is fairly common. Perhaps the default choice. I feel these people are missing out property opportunities [1], but perhaps the property price is so big that their entire savings can buy only half a house and they don’t like a heavy mortgage (me before 2015).

[1] every investment opportunity comes with non-trivial risks.

I feel in that case Group 1 should seriously consider stocks and bonds, or risk losing out in the long run — See Inflation due to property appreciation. However, for me, most of these investments were low return (i guess 2% to 6% annualized)  or stuck for a long time, so I’m not impressed and I am pulling out as of 2017.

Until 2015, Most of my USD was sitting in the bank — like Group 1.

My Biggest concern for Group 0 — they keep paying on rent .. going down the drain. Therefore, the higher the rent, the worse I would feel if in Group 0.

In Singapore, with the public housing provisions, HDB BTO prices are managed and won’t grow out of control. So young Singaporeans could afford to wait till 35 (or 40)? A major benefit as Singapore citizens. Other countries don’t have this policy.

I (Yinghui?) was lucky not to be in Group 0, because I bought a small home early.