The rising cost of living, exacerbated by higher interest rates, inflation and supply chain disruptions, has made just living an ordinary life more expensive.
What used to cost $100 in 2019, now costs nearly $116. While most of us understand inflation will take a bite out of our purchasing, the last 5 years has seen prices soar. In comparison, the 5 years prior, from 2014 to 2019, consumer prices actually declined slightly!
For Singaporeans this means living the “Singaporean Dream” is going to cost much more as well. We look at how much this will cost us.
On top of the “traditional” 5Cs, some other important expenses also contribute to living the Singaporean Dream.
Read Also: The New 5Cs: Why The Singapore Dream Is No Longer About Credit Cards, Country Clubs & Cash
Getting Married
For many, the start of the Singaporean Dream is typically when we get married – and begin to build a shared life with our better half. And, weddings in Singapore are anything but cheap!
We found that hosting a memorable wedding dinner at Shangri-La Singapore will cost about $265 per guest (at the lower-end of the costing). This is just a starting price. Alcohol add-ons and other bells and whistles to jazz up the wedding will increase how much we end up spending. For those with about 150 family and friends attending, we can expect to spend $40,000 to $50,000 at the low-end.
Of course, as with any wedding in Singapore, many of us hope to recoup the cost and more!
That’s not all, we need to arrange the wedding outfits, photography, wedding car, and other cultural celebrations. This can easily add up to another $5,000 to $10,000.
Cost of a dream wedding: $60,000
Enjoying An Annual Vacation
After getting married, we cannot forget the honeymoon!
As Singaporeans love travelling, another dream of ours will surely be to continue taking an annual holiday – not unlike our honeymoon – each year. Perhaps, this will also be on top of another nearby holiday getaway.
As our families grow, the annual holiday budget may also balloon.
Just looking at airfares to Japan cost about $800 per person. Many online sources conclude that a two-week stay could set you back $4,000 to $5,000 per person.
If we aim to go on these kinds of holidays in our life, let’s say between the ages of 25 and 75, then it will cost $250,000.
Cost of an annual dream vacation: $5,000 per year (or $250,000 for 50 years)
Buying A Condominium
No Singaporean Dream is complete without the aspiration to own a condominium. According to a CNA article, the median condominium price in Singapore is about $1.6 million. This does not take into account other related costs, including Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) and legal fees. This may come up to more than $50,000.
This amount also does not account for any renovation costs. It’s unlikely we will buy a $1.6 million condo and not spruce it up. At the lower-end, it may cost another $50,000.
Cost of buying a condominium: $1.7 million
Raising 2 Children
While Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate is at an all-time low, the Singaporean Dream still involves having children. Replacing ourselves, i.e. having 2 children, seems like as good a dream as any.
In an article we wrote, we estimated the cost of raising a child to be close to $228,000 until they turn 18 years old. This includes most of the major expenses, including pregnancy-related costs, milk powder and diapers, to childcare and up to Junior College (JC) schools.
Bringing up two kids should cost less than double the amount – perhaps an estimate of $400,000 may be fair.
Cost of raising 2 kids: $400,000 until they turn 18
Read Also: The Average Singaporean Dream: The Realistic Version of The Traditional 5Cs
Children’s Education
Many of us also have aspirations for our children to complete a good quality university education – with the hopes that it will set them up for a good career.
In another article DollarsAndSense wrote, we found that the estimated tuition fee for an undergraduate degree can range from $25,000 to $170,000 to study Medicine.
At the minimum, we should set aside $25,000 for our child’s university education.
Cost of children’s education: $50,000 (for the 2 children we dream about having)
Owning A Car
Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy and own a car. Obviously, we love writing articles about such important and aspirational cost of living purchases, and in another article, we estimated the cost of owning a Toyota Altis over 10 years to be $250,000.
If we were to own a car from 35 to 65, this price tag will jump to $750,000 to own a car over 30 years in Singapore. Of course, we could opt to buy a more affordable car – but it might somewhat diminish the dream.
Cost of owning a car: $750,000 for 30 years
Buying A Country Club Membership
Again, nothing says aspirational living quite like having a country club membership.
Even if we’re not gunning for a country club membership with golf courses, many of the recreational club memberships are going for $20,000 and below. To maintain the membership, we can also expect to spend close to $300 to $500 a month mandatory F&B spends or maintenance. This will come up to about $180,000 over 30 years.
Cost of country club membership: $200,000
Retirement
The dream retirement lifestyle is going to be subjective. That’s why we’re going to make several assumptions here – which you may or may not agree with.
For example, we’re going to assume that the dream is to live in a condominium in retirement. And, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics, the latest figure (from 2018) reveals that households who live in Condominiums and Other Apartments spent almost $8,000 a month.
We’re taking another leap to suggest dividing this by 2 individuals. So, each person will need about $4,000 in income to enjoy a private property standard of living. For reference, the average household expenditure for those who lived in 4-room flats is half at approximately $4,000.
If we want to spend $4,000 a month (or $48,000 a year) for 20 years in retirement, then we will need $960,000 in retirement funds. We’re not going to account for inflation, in the same way that we don’t account for potential returns we can continue earning on our retirement pot.
Cost of retirement: $1 million
Read Also: $773 To $3,015 A Month: Here’s How Much You Need To Spend During Retirement In Singapore Today
Living The Singaporean Dream Will Cost You $4.4 Million
To live the Singaporean Dream, we will need about $4.4 million. Some of the expenses in the list above, such as owning a condominium and owning a car, may be divided between 2 individuals, to further lower the sticker price for individuals.
This is also a lifetime cost, rather than a dollar amount we need to have at any point living our Singaporean Dream.
As always, this article is simply a discussion on how much the Singaporean Dream may cost us. The figures quoted may not be appropriate for everyone, and the definition of the Singaporean Dream may also be much broader. In short – take this write-up with a big pinch of salt.
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